It was late at night, and even with the door closed, I could still faintly hear the croaking of frogs.

The room was dimly lit.

Xu Yan was held in someone's arms, and the breath on her lips finally released her mouth, no longer lingering.

She took two deep breaths quickly, then suddenly froze.

Xie Zhuo gently bit her collarbone.

The movements are so subtle that you might not even notice them if you don't pay close attention.

But the two of them were standing too close.

So close that Xu Yan could clearly perceive every subtle change in the person opposite him.

The candlelight flickered again.

Xie Zhuo finally slowly lifted his eyelids and, when his eyes met Xu Yan's, said something other than the repeated title.

"Tonight...is that okay?"

As the crisp, refreshing scent enveloped the sweet aroma once more, Xu Yan let out a soft hum.

Xie Zhuo paused, then his eyes darkened as if they could drown someone.

The breaths intertwined, enveloped, and finally merged into it.

Xu Yan was trembling uncontrollably.

He tried to grab the kang (a heated brick bed) with his fingers, but couldn't find anything to hold onto.

When I turned my head to look at it, I saw the flower wreath that Xie Zhuo had made for me that morning.

It's been there for a while; the willow branches on the wreath are still okay, but the wildflowers look a bit wilted.

I should have watered it.

A crisp, refreshing scent swirled around the flowers.

The petals trembled involuntarily, and the stamens instinctively tried to contract.

"Relax," Xie Zhuo said, his eyelids lowered, his gaze unreadable.

The wildflowers are no longer wilted; they look like a mimosa plant. If they could decide for themselves, they would have already wrapped themselves in the bed sheet next to them.

Of course, it has no say in the current situation.

“Baby,” Xie Zhuo’s voice was a little hoarse again.

"Don't be nervous," he said.

Perhaps it was the allure of the night, but Xu Yan finally followed his gaze and looked down, then abruptly looked away as if startled.

Their breaths mingled.

The atmosphere rippled.

The crisp, cool air turned scorching hot.

When it wrapped around the flower stamen again, it brought out a bit of moisture.

Xu Yan thought Xie Zhuo seemed to laugh, but then thought she misheard.

Consciousness blurred again.

Xie Zhuo reached out and touched the petal, then, taking advantage of Xu Yan's inattention, moved a little closer to him.

A faint, sweet floral scent can be smelled.

Xu Yan's biological clock finally broke down after so many years. When she got up from the kang (a heated brick bed) and looked outside, the sun was already high in the sky.

Xie Zhuo probably wanted to keep her from being woken up by the light coming in, so he covered the original curtains with a spare sheet.

The light in the room was not glaring.

Xu Yan moved his arms and legs.

Well enough.

It's not that exaggerated.

This is probably the result of her going for a stroll outside every morning lately. If she were still in the modern world, sitting around all day without exercising, she probably would...

As she was thinking this, preparing to get off the kang (a heated brick bed) and put on her shoes, she almost slid right off the edge of the kang.

"..."

I misjudged; I didn't feel it before, but now I realize my legs are sore and weak.

"Awake?" Xie Zhuo walked in and saw Xu Yan sitting on the kang in a daze, and paused for a moment.

"Mmm," Xu Yan responded, feeling a little embarrassed to look at him.

"I cooked some porridge," Xie Zhuo said, looking a little awkward. He rubbed the tip of his nose before continuing, "Why don't you bring it over and have some?"

In the end, Xu Yan didn't listen to him and ate inside. After calming down, she felt she was ready to walk, so she washed up and sat under the pear tree.

Da Bao and Xiao Bao were still very happy to see her, chattering away endlessly.

“Third Uncle said Third Aunt isn’t feeling well and needs to sleep a little longer,” Da Bao said, then looked closely at Xu Yan’s face again. “Third Aunt, are you sick?”

Xiao Bao also tilted his head to look.

“…No,” Xu Yan’s throat was still a little sore.

I guess I used it a bit too much last night.

She cleared her throat. "I'm not sick."

When Da Bao and Xiao Bao heard her voice, they frowned slightly.

"Then why is your voice hoarse?" Da Bao asked.

Before Xu Yan could say anything more, he answered, "It must be because Third Aunt didn't cover herself with a sheet at night. Didn't Third Uncle tell you that you should cover your stomach at night? Otherwise you'll easily get sick."

Xu Yan: "..."

Your third uncle never told me this.

“But you can drink sweet porridge when you’re sick,” Xiao Bao said from the side.

As soon as he finished speaking, Xie Zhuo brought over a bowl of porridge.

Xu Yan glanced into the bowl; it was made with rice and pumpkin.

The red and white combination looks quite nice.

But if she remembered correctly, Xie Zhuo used this sweet porridge to coax people.

She raised an eyebrow slightly, and her eyes met Xie Zhuo's.

"The taste should be alright," Xie Zhuo said.

Xu Yan stared at him a few more times, and before Xie Zhuo could bear it any longer and turned away, she looked away first.

The taste is indeed very good.

It tastes sweet.

While waiting for Xu Yan to eat, Xie Zhu checked the words the two little brats had written that morning. Then, after they finished packing up their notebooks and pencils and ran to Xiao Shuanzi's house to play, he turned his attention back to Xu Yan.

Xu Yan didn't braid her hair after washing up in the morning. Instead, she used a small wooden stick, about the thickness of her little finger, that was on the windowsill as a hairpin to tie up her long hair.

She never liked her hair to be slicked back and shiny, so she always styled it loosely.

It has a casual and lazy feel to it.

Xie Zhu stared at her for a while, and before she could detect any other reaction in a certain part of her body, he restrained himself and looked away.

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