People strive for higher positions, while water flows downhill.

Choices were made before anything happened, and Wenmo was simply carrying out his choices, just like this love letter, which he had to reject no matter what.

Fortunately, the other party was relatively easy to talk to. I thought it would be more troublesome to deal with, and Wenmo had already prepared to persuade them earnestly before he came.

The result was surprisingly easy.

"Alright, let's go back." Wen Mo stretched and walked casually.

Xia Lian should have been taken out to eat by Yin Tao and the others, so she's probably not at school right now.

Just as Wen Mo was thinking this, a familiar figure in front of the cafeteria made him rub his eyes and stare blankly for a few seconds.

"Wenmo...! Please stay with me... Waaaaah..."

Xiang Xiaonan had a long face and looked very wronged. She was holding something in her arms. Upon closer inspection, the thing she was holding was... Xia Lian?

"Hey! What are you doing to my Xiaolian! Pulling and tugging at her, hugging and cuddling!" Wen Mo frowned and pulled Xia Lian out of her arms.

Xia Lian remained expressionless throughout, instinctively grabbing Wen Mo's sleeve.

Seemingly wanting to whisper something to Wenmo, she tried to stand on tiptoe. Wenmo, seeing this, also lowered his head a little and heard a soft sound.

"On the way back... I ran into Sister Xiao Nan, and then she hugged me..."

Before Xia Lian could finish speaking, Xiang Xiaonan rushed straight to Wen Mo, grabbed his other arm, and shook it back and forth.

"You two came at the perfect time. I was just worried that I wouldn't have anyone to have lunch with today, hehe." Xiang Xiaonan burst into laughter through her tears, her previous mournful face completely gone, replaced by a beaming smile.

"Are you crazy? You've been waiting here for me for so long just because of this." Wen Mo rolled her eyes, but didn't blame her. "Where's Qin Zhou? Didn't he have lunch with you today?"

Xiang Xiaonan shook her head and pouted unhappily, "Qin Zhou took the day off today, didn't you know? I couldn't even see him this morning."

"Are you taking leave? Oh, I see."

Wen Mo nodded in realization, only then remembering that Qin Zhou seemed to have taken leave. He had been so preoccupied with the love letter incident these past two days that he had completely forgotten about Qin Zhou's leave.

Then he spread his hands and shrugged helplessly, "Fine, I'll drag you to dinner today."

"Yay!"

The team changed from a duo to a trio. Xiang Xiaonan was a lively and active girl who would occasionally touch Xia Lian's face while staying by her side, and sometimes she would hug Wen Mo's back.

"Hey, hey, hey, just walk, why are you hugging me?"

"You're so stingy. You never used to talk like that." Xiang Xiaonan pouted and huffed unhappily.

Looking at the little sister next to Wen Mo, Xiang Xiao Nan was also curious. Since their chance encounter at the mall, she had rarely seen her.

It was only at this moment that I noticed Xia Lian's difference; she hadn't shown a single expression from beginning to end, which was quite amazing.

"Hey, Wenmo, does Xiaolian have some kind of illness on her face?" Xiang Xiaonan asked in a low voice with some curiosity, while glancing at Xia Lian with concern.

“You’re worrying too much. There’s nothing wrong with her face,” Wen Mo explained casually.

"Then why doesn't she have any expression at all?"

"No expression? You just can't tell." Wen Mo shook his head. Sure enough, an idiot is an idiot; he can't even see such an obvious expression.

As he spoke, he secretly pointed to Xia Lian's face, then turned back and whispered, "Look, her eyebrows are quite relaxed, and her lips are very calm, which means she's in a fairly pleasant mood right now."

"That's amazing? You could even tell that?"

"Of course."

Wen Mo proudly rubbed his nose. This was all experience he had accumulated over time with his cousin. He could understand a person's joys and sorrows from micro-expressions. Wen Mo even felt that he could write a book about it.

At this moment, Xiang Xiaonan nudged his shoulder again and asked with a strange look, "Xiao Lian's brows are slightly furrowed and the corners of her mouth are downturned. Does that mean she's a little unhappy?"

"Yes, she got a little angry because she saw us whispering."

Wen Mo quickly pushed Xiang Xiaonan's face away, reached out and rubbed Xia Lian's head. Almost instantly, the girl's displeasure vanished, and she squinted her eyes, shaking her head with a satisfied expression.

"Look, it's healed."

"You're really amazing," Xiang Xiaonan praised.

"There's nothing special about it; it's just a matter of practice."

After joking around for a while, the group walked into a mala tang (spicy hot pot) restaurant on the roadside. It was a restaurant they used to frequent, but Xia Lian couldn't handle too much spice, so they changed the soup base to a non-spicy, salty one.

"It's been so long since we've been to this restaurant together." Xiang Xiaonan glanced around and tapped the table with a nostalgic expression. This was the restaurant they ate at when they first met.

"Since it's a rare opportunity to come here, you should eat more."

"It's all because you're always busy spending time with this little girl." Xiang Xiaonan rolled her eyes speechlessly, then reached out and poked Xia Lian's cheek, enjoying the soft, squishy feel.

"Cough cough cough... After all, it's my responsibility to take care of her more."

Wen Mo was speechless for a moment, unsure of what to say. He had indeed neglected Xiang Xiaonan and Qin Zhou during this period.

Wen Mo was nowhere to be seen during lunchtime and after school. Don't ask, he was just keeping his new cousin company.

"It's good that you care about her so much, but you can't do that anymore," Xiang Xiaonan said with a grin, raising her eyebrows at him.

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