Xie Zhuran pondered for a long time but still didn’t dare to directly ask about Jiang Li’s situation.
He walked out of the room and sat on the long bench by the door, clutching his phone.
‘Should I go or not? A place by the seaside is perfect for developing feelings, and we might even swim together…’
Just thinking about walking along the beach with Jiang Li in a beautiful swimsuit, sunbathing and swimming, made him clench his fists, unable to sit still.
He suddenly stood up from the bench, pacing back and forth until he got tired, then sat down again.
‘If Lao Song and Lao Jiang knew what I was thinking right now, would they break off our friendship?’
‘Ah, my good brother’s little sister…’
Suddenly, a slap landed on the back of his head!
“Hiss…”
Xie Zhuran rubbed his head and turned around to see his mother standing with her hands on her hips, looking furious.
He couldn’t help but freeze.
“What are you doing sneaking around the door in the middle of the night? Had too much dinner?”
Xie Ma frowned as she spoke.
Xie Zhuran gave a bitter smile. After thinking it over, he told her about his friend’s invitation to Hawaii.
“Oh, going to Hawaii? What’s there to hesitate about? Just go. But your father and I aren’t going.”
Xie Ma mused.
“Why not?”
Xie Zhuran was puzzled.
“You young people go ahead. Your father and I don’t like traveling that far.”
Xie Ma said a few words, then changed the subject. “But since you’re going to Hawaii, remember to bring your girlfriend. And take better care of yourself. She’s young and pretty, but look at you—you look more haggard than your father and I combined!”
Hearing this, Xie Zhuran was speechless.
‘Uh, girlfriend? But that girlfriend was just Wang Li pretending. She doesn’t actually exist.’
Seeing that his mother was about to keep nagging, he quickly changed the subject with a few words, then ran into his room and slammed the door shut.
The soundproofing in the house wasn’t great, but at that moment it felt like the best barrier. No matter what Xie Ma said outside, Xie Zhuran inside didn’t react.
“This kid!”
Xie Ma sighed and continued, “Starting tomorrow morning, there’s no food for you in this house, no water, no air conditioning, and no fan. Honestly, go get your girlfriend! Got it?”
Footsteps approached, and Xie Zhuran opened the door.
Xie Ma chuckled. ‘You little rascal, as if I don’t know my own son’s tricks?’
She turned and walked straight back to her room, ignoring her son’s wail: “Mom, you can’t be so heartless! Am I even your biological son?!”
Even when he knocked, she didn’t respond.
Dong dong — two sounds.
“My sweetie, why are you still up with the lights on so late?” The woman’s voice was low and gentle, like a noblewoman’s whisper.
“Mom, I was just chatting with a friend.”
Sang Tian opened the door and looked at the young and beautiful woman outside.
This noblewoman was naturally Sang Ma.
“Mm. By the way, sweetie, I saw the news about that gender transition disease. Do you have a friend who contracted it?”
Sang Ma recalled, speaking softly.
Hearing this, Sang Tian remembered the reply Jiang Xiao had just sent her. She sighed lightly, nodded, and didn’t hide it.
“That kid has it tough. Being away from home, she must have suffered a lot. Since she’s a friend and a classmate, help her out more in the future.”
Sang Ma also sighed.
“Mm, Mom, I will.”
Sang Tian nodded.
After saying that, her phone beeped with a new message.
She picked it up and saw it was a cat “goodnight” sticker from Jiang Yu. She couldn’t help but smile knowingly.
She immediately replied with a “goodnight.”
But when she looked up again, she saw Sang Ma’s expression was intriguing.
“Sweetie, are you secretly dating? Is this Jiang Yu your boyfriend?”
“…”
Sang Tian paused for a moment, then gently shook her head and explained, “No, that’s my friend’s younger brother.”
‘Her friend’s younger brother…’
Sang Ma smiled but said nothing.
She didn’t linger further, gave a few last reminders, then turned and walked away gracefully.
With a click, Sang Tian closed the door. She didn’t think much about Sang Ma’s misunderstanding, but focused on the Hawaii trip and started forming some ideas.
‘Since Song Classmate has decided to become a girl, I can find a way to dress her up beautifully.’
‘I also want to take lots of pretty photos with Song Classmate.’
‘Back when I thought Song Classmate was a boy, I only dared to think about it, never suggested it.’
She was full of determination.
Meanwhile, the newlyweds who were already in Hawaii on their honeymoon stared at each other with wide eyes. For no reason, they suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.
“Song Qiuyu and Jiang Xiao wouldn’t drag us into filming a short video even during our honeymoon, would they?”
Xia Qi squinted, both suspicious and certain.
‘We can shoot anytime, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime honeymoon trip.’
‘Is their couple time just gone?’
“Mm, it’s possible.”
Lin An adjusted his glasses, glanced at the message Jiang Xiao sent in the chat, and smiled. “But after everything that’s happened with Qiuyu, let’s think of it as keeping her company. Besides, you do enjoy making videos, don’t you?”
“That’s true.”
Xia Qi nodded in agreement.
Each short video allowed her to experience a different character, which was pretty fun.
Just like a role-playing game.
“So, what are you planning?”
Lin An raised an eyebrow.
“First call me ‘baby,’ then give me a kiss, and then I’ll tell you.”
Xia Qi also raised an eyebrow at him. Although they were married, they rarely acted lovey-dovey. The affectionate terms that other couples took for granted had a different meaning for them.
Whoever called the other “husband” or “wife” first would be considered losing.
“…”
Lin An studied her for a moment, then took off his glasses, leaned in, and spoke in a low, husky voice with a smile: “Baby…”
Then the air suddenly went still.
“Ugh… stay away from me! You being so obedient all of a sudden is weird!”
Xia Qi’s eyes widened, genuinely disgusted. Goosebumps were rising all over her body. She couldn’t stand it, really couldn’t—who actually liked such a low, gravelly voice?!
“Baby, we still have to kiss. Baby, are you abandoning me? I’m your husband, baby, baby…”
Lin An leaned in even closer, pretending to kiss her.
“Okay, okay, stop it, you’re killing me with laughter!”
Xia Qi’s disgust turned into an inexplicable laugh, and she couldn’t stop. She threw off the covers and jumped off the bed.
“Scared?”
Lin An watched her flee with a victorious smirk.
“I’m just going to the bathroom!”
Xia Qi shot him a glare and headed straight to the restroom.
“You’re not turning on the light? Not afraid in the dark?”
Lin An said.
“Who’s afraid? I’m not turning it on. If I do, I’ll have to turn it off later.”
Xia Qi felt her way in the dark, stopped in front of the bathroom door, and was about to push it open.
“Heh, clang, clang clang clang, t…”
“Heh, you think that can scare me?”
“Oh? Then you’d better watch out. The ‘you’ in the mirror might smile.”
The moment the bathroom door opened, it faced a mirror. They had just watched a horror movie, and the buff was fully stacked.
Lin An smiled.
The next second, the person who said she needed to use the bathroom seemed to see something. With a scream and a creak, she closed her eyes and flung herself back onto the bed.
The mischievous one took the chance to continue his prank: “Baby?”
“Ahhh!”
Xia Qi was startled, letting out a shriek.
At midnight, the young wife’s cry was piercingly loud.
The next day, it became a hot topic among the tourists in Hawaii.
The more it was discussed, the more it twisted, quickly turning into a hundred, then a thousand versions.
By the time Song Qiuyu and her group arrived in Hawaii, tourists were still talking about it.
Everyone had their own opinions and their own travel pace, but some people stopped to find the parties involved.
“Did you two go that far?”
Song Qiuyu’s sunglasses nearly slid off her face as she propped her chin on her hand, speaking privately with the two.
“No such thing. Don’t listen to those tourists talking nonsense.”
Xia Qi shook her head.
“Qiuyu, do I look like that kind of person?”
Lin An seemed a bit hurt by Song Qiuyu’s suspicion.
“Of course I believe you!”
Song Qiuyu frowned.
After saying that, she took her swimsuit and prepared to go change.
Halfway there, she recalled the moment and scratched her flushed neck in embarrassment.
‘If a person doesn’t look through yellow-tinted glasses, they won’t see yellow.’
‘During the second half of that date, Jiang Xiao teased me mercilessly. I held back with all my might so I wouldn’t make too much noise.’
‘If I hadn’t, maybe those strangers would have gossiped and laughed about us, even turned it into an internet meme.’
‘Lin An and Xia Qi might have other reasons, but we were definitely doing legitimate things!’
She let out a breath.
Then, glancing ahead unintentionally, she saw Jiang Li, already in a light yellow swimsuit, walking together with Xie Zhuran, who had changed into a blue swimsuit.
Jiang Li looked natural, but Xie Zhuran’s body was extremely stiff.
He was moving with the same arm and leg, and he didn’t know where to look.
She couldn’t help but stop.
‘You have to admit, after one semester, Jiang Li has developed quickly. It looks like she’ll be quite stacked in the future.’
Song Qiuyu suddenly felt a little jealous.
She looked down at her own chest and thought, ‘I’ll just have to work harder. Otherwise, in the future, my and Jiang Xiao’s child will go hungry without enough milk.’
‘Mm, am I thinking too far ahead…’
Half her face flushed red.
Then she saw two young men who seemed to know Jiang Li approach and start chatting with her. Xie Zhuran, probably too nervous, was easily excluded and left behind by them.
He was like an old, slow turtle, trudging behind them without a word.
Jiang Li was about to leave with the two guys she knew, but Xie Zhuran was still standing at the back, lost in thought.
Seeing this, Song Qiuyu felt a bit sorry for him and grew anxious.
‘Don’t be a coward, Ha Ji Xie! Jiang Li is leaving with someone else!’
‘No!’
‘A brother in trouble—I should help!’
“Don’t go.”
Suddenly, Jiang Xiao appeared beside her.
“Uh, when did you get here?”
Song Qiuyu was startled.
“That’s not important.”
Jiang Xiao glanced at Xie Zhuran and his sister, frowned, then wrapped a strong arm around his girlfriend’s small shoulders from behind.
“Huh?”
Forced to turn half a circle to face the opposite direction, Song Qiuyu stared blankly at Jiang Xiao, squinting.
“You’re leaving just like that?”
“Do you really want to go over there?”
Jiang Xiao led her forward, looking a bit helpless.
Being both Jiang Li’s brother and Xie Zhuran’s friend, he was stuck in the middle and found it hard to decide.
If he really had to intervene, he probably wouldn’t give Xie Zhuran any chance.
Brotherly loyalty was important, but when it came to dating—especially a first love—it had too big an impact on his sister’s future.
He felt he had some authority when it came to first loves.
“No, I mean even if we don’t interfere, we don’t have to leave. Sneaking along to watch the show wouldn’t be bad!”
Song Qiuyu’s expression was very serious.
Jiang Xiao: “?”