Xue Yanchen saw hope again and declared firmly, "I, Xue Yanchen, would never betray anyone."

The male educated youth nodded and whispered in his ear, "I still trust you. I have a novel about Soviet love under my kang (heated brick bed). I can lend it to you to read. But you must be careful not to read it in our dormitory."

"I know, I'll be careful."

Taking advantage of the fact that no one else was in the dormitory, the male educated youth gave the novel with the new cover to Xue Yanchen, who immediately put the book into his clothes.

After lunch, he took his books to the mountain. Since most people are staying indoors during the winter, few people come to the mountain. He found a sunny spot on the mountain and sat on a rock to read.

The weather has been fine since the heavy snowfall, with bright sunshine and rising temperatures instead of falling.

Especially in the afternoon, standing under the sun, you can feel the warmth of the sunlight.

After entering Luo Jingyan's space, Fat Tiger was afraid of being taken away by Zhuang Feifei, so it usually only stayed in Luo Jingyan's room. Luo Jingyan wanted to take the two cats to the mountains for a walk so that Fat Tiger could get some fresh air.

Most of the snow on the mountain had melted, so she let the cats out. The two cats ran and played around, and then disappeared from sight.

However, Luo Jingyan wasn't worried about them; they would come back to her on their own once they had had enough fun.

Luo Jingyan gathered some firewood and put it in her spatial storage, and picked up fallen leaves from the ground and threw them into her spatial storage to make a nest for the chicks.

She suddenly saw a man sitting with his back to her in a sunny spot ahead, and the man's back looked just like Xue Yanchen's.

She always seems to run into Xue Yanchen here. Is it just a coincidence, or is it because Xue Yanchen comes here so often that she sees him so frequently?

At that moment, he was looking down, whether he was thinking, looking at something, or simply sunbathing, it was unclear.

She had served in the military and wanted to test his composure, so she decided to scare him.

So she tiptoed, trying not to make a sound, and quietly walked over to him from behind.

Yes, it really is Xue Yanchen.

"Brother Xue!" she called out to him. The man was not as shocked as she had imagined. Instead, he calmly turned around. This composure was something he had developed through long-term training and combat. Luo Jingyan's little tricks could not scare him at all.

However, when he saw that the person who came was Luo Jingyan, he became a little flustered. He was not ready to confess to her yet. He tried his best to look normal: "Jingyan, you're here too."

"I was bored at the educated youth settlement, so I came here for a stroll and unexpectedly saw you. Brother Xue, what are you doing here?"

"I'm about the same age as you, just came here to soak up some sun."

Xue Yanchen subconsciously closed the book. Luo Jingyan's gaze shifted downwards and she noticed that he was holding a book in his hand, which he quickly closed, rolled up into a tube, and held in his hand.

"Brother Xue, you're reading a book. What book are you reading? Can I take a look too?"

"There's nothing to see here. I was so bored that I came here to read."

"Brother Xue, I'm also very bored. Can you let me take a look? It's not some kind of shady book, is it?"

Xue Yanchen knew he couldn't hide it anymore: "You really want to see?"

"What's wrong with reading a book? Unless it's a banned book."

He nodded, then handed her the book: "Take a look."

Luo Jingyan didn't answer immediately, but asked him, "Brother Xue, do you trust me that much? Aren't you afraid that if I find out, I'll go back and report you?"

"If I'm scared, I can just leave without saying all that. It's the contents of this document..."

"What's it about?" Luo Jingyan asked with a curious heart. She took the book, unfolded it, and found it was a romance novel. She couldn't help but laugh. "Brother Xue, I didn't expect that a grown man like you, who isn't the bookish type, would also like to read this kind of book."

The girl's smile was more radiant than cherry blossoms in spring, dazzling Xue Yanchen for a moment.

He pursed his lips, gazed into Luo Jingyan's eyes, and finally blurted out, "Jingyan, I like you. Can we be a couple?"

"Hmm?" Luo Jingyan was momentarily stunned by his words, but she could already feel her cheeks burning. She subconsciously turned her head away, took a few deep breaths, and then turned her head back.

Xue Yanchen said, "Isn't this too sudden? Don't panic, I'll give you time to process and consider this."

Luo Jingyan touched her face. This was the first time she had blushed over something like this in both her past and present lives. She had encountered people confessing their feelings before, but never like this.

It has to be said that she really had feelings for Xue Yanchen.

She said to Xue Yanchen, "Brother Xue, this is a bit sudden. I wasn't prepared at all."

"Me too, I wasn't ready yet. I originally read this book to find the right words to express my feelings to you, but I didn't expect to blurt out my feelings before I even found those beautiful sentences."

"It's okay, either way is fine."

"So, you agree?" The man was overjoyed and couldn't help but open his arms, wanting to hug the little beauty in front of him. But when he thought about their current relationship, he paused in the air for two seconds, then pulled his arms back and jumped up and down a few times.

Seeing him so happy, like a child, Luo Jingyan smiled too.

However, she has her own secrets: her own space, her own cat, and the fact that her parents were sent to the countryside.

She's not ready to be honest with him yet. If they get married in the future, she'll at least let him know about her family situation, and she'll tell him more secrets in the future.

Xue Yanchen is indeed a trustworthy person, but she is not prepared to tell him her secrets unless she can trust him completely.

At this point, people are dating with marriage in mind, and Xue Yanchen is definitely no exception; she can't treat it lightly.

“Brother Xue, I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to be dating right now. Let’s continue being friends and get to know each other better before we talk about dating.”

Xue Yanchen nodded: "Okay, Jingyan, I respect your decision."

He had a secret he didn't want to hide from Luo Jingyan, and he would tell her when they officially started dating.

“Jingyan, even though we’re not officially dating now, I can still visit you often, just like we used to.”

"Can."

That's great.

Although he can't hug her, kiss her, or even hold her hand yet, it's enough for him.

Not far away, Fatty Tiger and Black Tiger, having had their fun, ran back to look for Luo Jingyan. Black Tiger noticed that Luo Jingyan was with Xue Yanchen and quickly told Fatty Tiger to stop abruptly.

"Fatty, don't go over there yet."

Fat Tiger abruptly stopped the cat's paws and asked Black Tiger, "What's wrong?"