Chapter Twenty-Three

You Congxi's steps forward were suddenly halted by a force behind him.

She involuntarily took a few steps back, and before she could turn around, she felt the weight of her schoolbag.

She snapped out of her daze, shook the bag vigorously to free the strap from Chen Yue's hand, turned to face him, and demanded with a furrowed brow, "What are you doing??"

She felt the sudden increase in weight of her backpack behind her, and became even more confused.

What did Shen Yue put in her backpack? A bomb?

Is Shen Yue provoking her?

She watched as Shen Yue leaned over to pull her schoolbag back up, then straightened up and smiled, "I've compiled your Chinese composition summaries from the past two weeks, along with some notes. Go back and do some practice exercises accordingly."

He took a step back, placed his hand on the doorknob of the apartment building, and added, "I was planning to give it to you after school tomorrow, but I have something to do tomorrow, so I'll just give it to you now..."

You Congxi's pupils contracted. Before she could even process what had happened, she instinctively stepped forward and reached out to grab his collar.

Shen Yue's grip on the handle suddenly loosened, startling him. He swayed, and as soon as he regained his footing, he looked up to see the girl rushing towards him.

"......"

The two remained still for three seconds, maintaining their embrace.

Then simultaneously let go and back away.

You Congxi covered his forehead, standing there questioning the meaning of life.

How did they even manage to hug each other?!

She remembered that she had gone there specifically for Shen Yue's collar—

besides.

You Congxi looked up at the culprit's chest.

She only reluctantly intervened to save Shen Yue because she was afraid he would fall to his death, but in the end, Shen Yue was unharmed while she, the kind-hearted person, bumped her head.

His gaze swept over Shen Yue's chest, which was covered by his clothes.

The pain in her forehead gradually subsided, but doubts began to rise in her mind.

Did she bump her chest or her shoulder blade...?

Are boys' chests different from girls', and are they hard?

"......"

Shen Yue watched as she stared intently at his chest, his taut pectoral muscles daring not to relax for a moment, his thin lips pressed tightly together, not understanding why the girl had suddenly jumped into his arms.

Even more embarrassing is that before the brain can react, the pectoral muscles tense up unconsciously along with the hands.

He considered himself to have a thick skin, but now it seems he's actually quite thin-skinned.

With his chest muscles taut but not very prominent, he heard You Congxi say, "...I'm afraid you'll hurt yourself and then blame me."

Ah, Shen Yue suddenly realized that You Congxi was worried about him.

Before he could even feel moved, he heard You Congxi ask hesitantly, "What's that hard lump of flesh under your shoulder? Are you wearing a bulletproof vest underneath?"

You Congxi scanned his upper body and thought suspiciously that this matched her earlier guess that Shen Yue had put a bomb in her backpack.

Shen Yue never expected her to ask this. It was like a pillow being handed to him when he was sleepy. His excellent physique would finally be known to You Congxi!

Ignoring his excitement, he slowly bent his arm and performed a classic bodybuilding move.

You Congxi frowned, puzzled: "Your arm cramped up?"

Shen Yue was still immersed in the fantasy of "Now you must be captivated by me," when he heard this, he lost his composure, lost his strength, and almost cramped up.

"...Pectoral muscles."

You Congxi: "..."

You Congxi: "Are the muscles hard?"

Shen Yue nodded seriously: "Mm."

You Congxi was skeptical, but she did lack common sense in this area, so she had no choice but to accept the statement with some doubt.

Unwilling to give up, Shen Yue continued to try to show off her perfect figure: "You Xiaoyu, look at me."

You Congxi looked up and saw that Shen Yue had changed ten movements in five seconds, raising and lowering his arms, moving his legs back and forth, with an expression on his face that seemed to be determined about something.

You Congxi: "...What kind of dance are they doing, calisthenics?"

Shen Yue silently lowered his raised arm.

You Congxi felt his patience had run out, so he casually waved his hand to send the person away.

She remembered the still-swollen mosquito bites on Shen Yue's skin that had been exposed when he had his seizure earlier, and once again felt a surge of kindness. Before leaving, she reminded him, "Go home and find a repairman to fix the windows, or you'll get bitten to death."

As he spoke, he changed direction and headed towards the elderly women who were watching the commotion.

She saw her as soon as she came in. Even when the elevator arrived, she didn't leave but stood there glancing at her, probably to get revenge for the elevator incident last time.

Thinking this, You Congxi's wrist tightened. This was the second time today that she had been pulled back.

She didn't know what was wrong with Shen Yue, he just liked to grab people's wrists. She couldn't even remember how many times he had grabbed her wrists and pulled her back.

"You have......"

"Did you give me that mosquito repellent roll-on?"

"......"

You Congxi's curse words stopped on the tip of his tongue, and he froze for two seconds, a rare occurrence, his face still showing a frown and an impatient expression.

When did he become so smart?

Before You Congxi could come up with a plausible excuse, he felt an itch on his temple.

Warm fingertips brushed against her sensitive earlobe. Shen Yue lowered his gaze and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Then, with his cold face, he smiled at You Congxi and said:

"When I got home, I begged my grandma to sew some into my pocket, and I carried it with me every day."

The journey through Congxi continued: "..."

ill.

You Congxi turned and left with a straight face, completely unaware that her ears were burning red.

-

The next day after school, Shen Yue deliberately covered his entire arm with mosquito repellent rollerballs and pretended to bump into You Congxi as she packed her schoolbag. After being teased a few times, he was satisfied and followed the girl with his schoolbag.

As they walked to the school gate, You Congxi was about to ask him what he was up to when a pure black minivan drifted up in front of them.

You Congxi paused, and Qu Qi beside him fell silent instantly.

They came out a bit late; most of the students had already left the school gate, and the area around them became unusually quiet after this cool little steamed bun made its appearance.

Under the influence of this atmosphere, You Congxi and his companion held their breath, their eyes fixed on the small steamed buns in front of them—

The car door slowly opened.

"Grandson!" came a bold shout.

You hear his voice before you see him.

"grandmother!"

A more penetrating reply came from behind, and You Congxi jumped up, watching as Shen Yue rushed forward, one hand on the car door and the other on the roof, looking exactly like a doorman who had been laid off and was now seeking new employment.

First, a pair of pink trendy shoes appeared, followed by leather pants, a red racing suit, sunglasses, and short, curly silver hair.

Qu Qi opened her mouth slightly and nudged the equally silent girl next to her with her elbow: "...Just now, Shen Yue called this, uh, trendy old lady, what was her name again... Grandma?"

"Grandma, you look so handsome in this outfit today." Shen Yue nudged Xue Meiying, his lips as sweet as honey.

He then introduced her to the two stunned girls next to him: "This is my grandma, known as the 'Flower of Xinghai'."

"Grandma, this is my friend."

Xue Meiying patted her eldest grandson's head, took off her sunglasses, and was stunned when she saw the two pretty little girls in front of her: "Oh my, how come these two little girls are so beautiful!"

She turned to Shen Yue and asked, "How can you, a simpleton, be friends with people?"

Her eldest grandson is good in every way, and good-looking too, but he's just not very bright. He's usually a very clever boy, but he goes silent when it comes to matters of the heart. She even wondered if her grandson was missing a nerve in his brain.

Shen Yue could tell what the old lady was thinking just by looking at her eyes. He put a little force on Xue Meiying's shoulder, spun her around, and tried to shove her into the car.

"Please get in the car first, I'll be right there."

"Hey, you brat—"

Bang.

Shen Yue closed the car door, clapped his hands, and immediately felt that the world was much quieter.

His grandma is great in every way, except she's too outgoing; she might scare You Congxi.

After regaining her composure, You Congxi politely waved to Xinghai's "flower" who peeked out from behind the car window to greet her, along with Qu Qi.

Is this really Shen Yue's grandmother?

She's dressed even more fashionably than her grandson.

You Congxi thought of the non-mainstream T-shirts that Shen Yue often wore and couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey, You Xiaoyu," Shen Yue called to her.

As You Congxi snapped out of her reverie, she saw Qu Qi leaning against the car window, chatting animatedly with Xue Meiying. She glanced at the boy in front of her, who seemed hesitant to speak.

"What's wrong?"

Shen Yue glanced back at his grandmother, who was chatting animatedly, then turned back and shook his head: "It's nothing."

"Oh, then we'll be going now." You Congxi immediately tried to pull Qu Qi away.

"Hey, wait a minute!"

You Congxi paused in your tracks.

Shen Yue coughed lightly: "Hey, the mosquito repellent roll-on you gave me is pretty good. Do you have a link? I want to buy some for my grandma too."

"I'll send it to you on WeChat when I get back."

Seeing that You Congxi was about to leave again, Shen Yue subconsciously pulled her wrist, then quickly let go.

You Congxi threatened with a dark face: "Try touching my wrist again."

It's not over yet.

With a determined look, Shen Yue quickly and quietly said, "Be careful on the road. If you see any idiots, call me and I'll be right there."

Before You Congxi could react, he opened the car door, bent over, and climbed into the little bun. The grandfather and grandson drove off.

You Congxi stared at the car's rear end as the little steamed bun got further and further away, thinking that Chen Yue's frame must be folded 180 degrees inside.

Qu Qi linked arms with her, saw the smile on her face and shared her thoughts: "You also think Sister Xue is really interesting, right? I've even added her on WeChat. Do you want her? I can recommend her to you."

You Congxi repeated, "Sister Xue?"

Qu Qi nodded: "Sister Xue said she likes it when people call her that. She's such a nice person. We even made plans to go out for milk tea sometime."

"...You call Shen Yue's grandma 'sister,' so what do you call Shen Yue?"

I got a grandson for free.

Qu Qi laughed and said, "Of course, everyone should talk about their own situation. I don't want to be Shen Yue's grandmother."

You Congxi imagined the scene of Shen Yue calling her "Grandma" along with Qu Qi, and she held back her laughter until her cheeks ached.

The sun sets again.

As You Congxi casually listened to Qu Qi embellishing the gossip he had heard about the whole school that day, he suddenly remembered that Shen Yue had dawdled for a long time before finally asking about mosquito repellent roll-on.

She pursed her lips, which couldn't help but curve upwards, and kicked a pebble one last time under the slowly turning blue night sky.

If you're worried, just say so.

What an idiot.