"Be friends? With me?" Wen Mo was stunned, not knowing why she suddenly had this idea.

But seeing Xia Lian's expectant gaze, how could he possibly object? After a moment's thought, Wen Mo finally nodded.

"I have no objections."

Upon hearing Wen Mo's agreement, Xia Lian opened her mouth slightly, and all the disappointment in her eyes vanished instantly. She nodded her head adorably, and the long ponytail behind her head swayed, making her look inexplicably comical.

"Wenmo is a friend."

The hem of her dress that she was clutching had moved from behind her to beside her, and the two walked side by side, a rare sight for them.

"But, is it really okay for me to be your first friend?" Wen Mo scratched his cheek, looking at her with slight hesitation.

"It can only be Wenmo...!"

Hearing his question, Xia Lian's beautiful eyebrows furrowed slightly, and her voice rose a few decibels as she looked up at Wen Mo earnestly, "Because Wen Mo is very good to me."

"Haha, I'm quite flattered."

Her mind drifted back to the way Wenmo and her older sister interacted. Xia Lian seemed to have thought of something and lowered her head to rummage through her pockets.

"Wenmo, here you go."

She shoved something into Wen Mo's hand. Wen Mo was taken aback, opened his palm, and saw that it was the candy that Xiang Xiaonan had given to Xia Lian earlier.

"Give me?"

Xia Lian nodded slightly seriously, and at the same time, she reached into her pocket again, took out all the remaining candies, and put them in his hand.

"All of it, for you."

Wen Mo paused, not understanding what she meant, and just kept staring at the candy in his hand.

Seeing that he didn't react, Xia Lian silently unwrapped a candy for him and gently put it in his mouth, while opening her mouth and whispering "Ah—".

"No, no, no, this is too strange!"

Wen Mo quickly waved his hand, not understanding why he was being fed candy.

Seeing that Wen Mo refused, Xia Lian lowered her hand and hung her head in disappointment.

"You're not going to eat...?"

She could only stuff the candy into her mouth, her tone becoming dejected, "Just now, that older sister gave me candy too, and Wen Mo ate it..."

Blinking, Wen Mo listened carefully to her words, and his mind suddenly cleared.

"So you want me to eat one too? Just like that lady from earlier?" He blurted out his conclusion, even though it was so childish it was laughable.

Hearing this, Xia Lian, who was still eating candy, nodded slightly, but couldn't hide her disappointment, "Because we're friends... so..."

Seeing this, Wen Mo felt inexplicably hurt by Xia Lian's dejected appearance, as if he had deeply hurt her feelings.

Am I being a bit too much...?

He didn't say anything, but silently took out a candy from his pocket, examined it carefully in his palm, and it was unclear what he was thinking.

On the other side, Xia Lian was still immersed in the sadness of Wen Mo refusing to eat the candy she fed her, and seemed somewhat lost in thought.

The candy in her mouth slid around on her tongue, but it was still lemon-flavored. The strong sourness dominated her taste buds, and she couldn't taste any sweetness at all.

“I said, Xiao Lian.”

"Um……?"

Wenmo's face showed a hint of hesitation and embarrassment, as if he was preparing something. "You're eating a lemon candy, right?"

Feeling the sourness in her mouth, she nodded.

"I see." He said, turning his face away, a hint of pink appearing on his earlobe.

Xia Lian tilted her head in confusion, just as she was about to speak, Wen Mo suddenly stretched out his hand in front of her, his fingertips holding a peeled peach-flavored candy.

A blush crept onto Wenmo's face, her lowered eyes unconsciously concealing her shyness, and a hint of restraint flashed across her half-pursed lips.

He never imagined he could do something so embarrassing and shameful.

But for his cousin's sake, he did it all!

His hand trembled slightly as he held it in mid-air, not daring to turn around and look at the girl's expression.

Xia Lian stared innocently at the candy Wen Mo was holding between his fingers, and seeing his shy face, she seemed to understand what he meant.

A few seconds passed, and the silence made him feel unprecedentedly embarrassed and ashamed. Just as he was about to say something, he felt as if his fingertips had been kissed.

He didn't turn around, but he already knew what had happened.

"Thanks."

She remained expressionless; if it weren't for the candy in her mouth, one would think nothing had happened.

Xia Lian's disappointment and gloom had long been wiped away by that candy, and her clear pupils reflected Wen Mo's embarrassed face in front of her.

The atmosphere between the two became subtle. Perhaps it was only Wen Mo's perception that things were subtle, but at least Xia Lian was still staring straight at him as if nothing was wrong.

"How is it?" Wen Mo suddenly asked, the pink on his earlobes still lingering.

Xia Lian froze, tilting her head in confusion. "What?"

"Is it sweet now? In your mouth."

Upon hearing this, she finally understood Wen Mo's question and nodded gently, looking a little dazed.

The lemon candy in my mouth is gradually melting, the sour taste is slowly disappearing, and the delicate sweetness of peach candy is taking over the entire mouth.

"It's sweet."

Wen Mo listened, managing a forced smile.

He thought to himself with a touch of melancholy, even though he had said sweet things, he still had no expression on his face. He had hoped that he could make Xia Lian smile.

"Why do you suddenly want to make friends?" Wen Mo glanced at the time, then focused his gaze on her.

Xia Lian paused slightly and did not answer. Perhaps there was no answer to this question, because she did not know why she suddenly wanted to make friends.

After a moment's thought, she realized that having friends wasn't important; what mattered was the word "Wenmo" that followed.

“Being friends makes us closer.” As if she had thought of the answer, she raised her beautiful eyes, her gaze serious. “So… I want to be friends with Wen Mo.”

It wasn't that I suddenly wanted to make friends; it was that I wanted to be friends with Wenmer.

Although the two had only known each other for a few days, Xia Lian didn't understand why, but she wanted to become closer to Wen Mo than Xiang Xiaonan.

Hearing this, Wen Mo sighed softly and didn't take it seriously. "You'll make a lot of other friends in the future, especially after you start school and meet even more people."

Xia Lian did not answer, but the emotions in her eyes darkened further, especially after mentioning the word "school".

No, it won't.

She clutched Wenmo's clothes tightly in her hand.

"I have Winmer, that's enough."