Li Sitong stared at the paper in her hand, startled. "This isn't right—I've done this test before."
Ye Chen gave an awkward cough. "I—I must've remembered wrong. There's no review material today. Actually, the main reason I asked you here was to give you lemonade."
"Ah!"
Li Sitong's face was speechless.
No papers, just lemonade?
This guy's awful.
Ye Chen smiled.
"Don't look at me like that. I never said I'd bring you papers; you imagined that yourself."
Li Sitong: "And you think you're justified?"
"Big liar."
A faint blush rose on Li Sitong's fair cheeks; her voice carried a hint of coquettish anger. "Jerk. I'm going home then."
With that, Li Sitong ran outside.
In her rush, she forgot even her schoolbag.
Only at the doorway did she remember.
She spun around to retrieve it—and bumped straight into Ye Chen.
Ye Chen swung her bag in his hand and grinned. "Come on, I'll walk you home."
"N-no need."
"It's fine. It's drizzling outside; let me."
As he spoke, Ye Chen deliberately hoisted the bag high and winked smugly at her.
Li Sitong hopped twice, unwilling to admit defeat, stretching to reach it.
Alas, it was too high.
"Give me my bag."
"I'll hand it over once you're home."
"…"
Cheeks flushed, Li Sitong stamped her foot and headed downstairs.
Ye Chen followed with a chuckle.
Side by side, the two descended the stairs.
Their arms and hands brushed occasionally.
Breathing in the faint fragrance of the girl beside him, feeling her every breath,
Ye Chen thought, This feeling—wonderful!
It had just rained; the pavement was slippery.
Ye Chen extended his hand.
Li Sitong stared blankly at him.
What does reaching out mean?
Is Ye Chen asking to hold my hand?
Should I refuse?
Reading the bewilderment in her eyes, Ye Chen gave a gentle smile. "Si Tong, we're good friends, right?"
Li Sitong nodded. "Of course we are."
Ye Chen smiled. "Then friends holding hands is perfectly normal."
"But—"
With an enticing glint in his eye, he pressed on, "Look, you and Yu Weiwei are friends too, and you two hold hands all the time, don't you?"
"That's different. Yu Weiwei's my best friend—and she's a girl."
Head lowered in shyness, Li Sitong murmured, "Besides, you're a boy; boys and girls shouldn't casually hold hands."
The corners of Ye Chen's mouth lifted.
This girl seems carefree, but when it matters, she's nowhere near as bold as Xia Yingluo.
"What era are we in? Girls keep calling for gender equality—how can you discriminate against us guys?"
"I—I'm not discriminating."
Li Sitong felt dizzily persuaded by Ye Chen's nonsense.
Somehow she sensed he was wrong, yet everything sounded so reasonable.
Seeing the look in her eyes, Ye Chen's own eyes lit up.
Looks promising.
Where there's opportunity, you grab it.
Reborn, Ye Chen had learned one truth: fight for everything—
don't wait until it's gone to regret.
Life doesn't rewind; heaven usually gives you only one chance.
Staring at Ye Chen's outstretched hand, Li Sitong's heart tangled in conflict.
Dad had said a girl must protect herself outside and never let a boy take advantage.
Yet Ye Chen's words made sense—he and she were best friends.
Friends holding hands shouldn't count as being taken advantage of, right?
And the road was so slippery; Ye Chen was only afraid she might fall.
"Just this once—yes, just this once."
Li Sitong let herself be talked into it again.
Though her cheeks burned, she extended her small hand.
Under the light, her jade-like arm looked translucent, almost crystalline.
Seeing her hand reach toward him, Ye Chen was overjoyed.
He quickly wrapped it in his own.
Soft and silky—Ye Chen gave a light squeeze: slightly cool, wonderfully smooth.
"L-let's go."
Only Li Sitong's shy voice pulled Ye Chen back to his senses.
"Let's go."
Together they walked beneath the streetlamp.
Just then, Grandpa Wang next door happened to pass by.
Seeing the two come out hand in hand, he couldn't help giving a thumbs-up.
"Worthy of the Ye family's son—I remember Ye Zheng did the same thing when he was young." Old Wang shook his head and sighed.
Because it was raining, the bike was out of the question.
Ye Chen, still holding her hand, led her out of the complex to flag a cab.
Li Sitong's mind felt a mess.
Feeling the warmth radiating from Ye Chen's palm, she felt an inexplicable sense of safety.
A feeling so very comfortable.
Once on the main road, Ye Chen hailed a Taxi.
Nervous, Li Sitong's palms were already faintly damp with sweat.
Inside the cab, she realized Ye Chen was still tightly holding her hand.
Outside it was because of the slippery road—so why was he still holding it now?
Yet she didn't pull away; their hands remained clasped together.
Li Sitong studied Ye Chen's profile.
A clean, fair face with sharply defined contours.
Deep, dark eyes gleamed with captivating light.
So incredibly handsome!
At this moment Li Sitong's mind was total chaos.
Li Sitong, what's gotten into you?
You've fallen!
Thus the Taxi stopped at the entrance of her complex.
Ye Chen paid, and they got out.
Under an umbrella, Ye Chen walked her inside.
They arrived at the Villa's gate.
Ye Chen said to the still-dazed Li Sitong, "All right, you're home—see you tomorrow."
With that, he turned and left.
Beneath the streetlamp, Li Sitong watched Ye Chen's departing figure.
She gazed for a long time.
Only when his silhouette vanished around the corner did she slowly come back to her senses.
"Ah! Ah! Aaah…"
Li Sitong, what happened to you today?
She stared blankly at her own small hand.
Today I actually held hands with a boy.
But that feeling—so wonderfully romantic!
Looking in the direction Ye Chen had gone, Li Sitong couldn't help stamping her foot.
"Hmph, big liar."
Collecting herself, she finally stepped into the Villa.
From the Villa window, Li Li quietly watched the scene unfold.
His feelings were complicated.
The two had clearly walked in holding hands.
Evidently, Li Sitong and Ye Chen were dating.
By his nature he should separate them—
after all, how could his precious cabbage be so easily uprooted by some pig?
Yet because it was Ye Chen, he hesitated.
Inside the house, Li Sitong was visibly guilty.
Li Li asked, "Si Tong, do you and Ye Chen like each other?"
Meeting her father's gaze, Li Sitong realized he'd probably seen something.
Still, faced with such a direct question, her cheeks flushed and she didn't know how to answer.
She drew a deep breath and nodded. "Yes."
Seeing her expression, Li Li basically read her heart.
Li Li gave a wry chuckle. "Before I knew it, my daughter's grown up."
"You're eighteen; you have the right to date. Dad only wants to remind you—the National Higher Education Entrance Examination is almost here, don't lose focus."
"Dad, I won't. My grades are already third in the Whole School; I did really well in the last Mock Exam."
Li Li nodded; he knew his daughter never lied.
"Dad used to forbid you from mixing with the opposite sex because you were young and I feared you'd be hurt. Now that you've met a boy you like, I only ask one thing: a girl must protect herself and stay reserved—understand?"
Li Li looked at Li Sitong, his eyes full of fatherly love—yet tonight they also carried a trace of loss and helplessness.