No more! No more!

Twenty minutes later, the bus swayed and wobbled to the station.

Lin Li had just gotten off the bus with a heavy basket on her back when she spotted Tong Yao waiting by the roadside.

She wore a white turtleneck sweater with a long coat in the same color scheme, looking like a lily, standing out against the slightly cluttered background of the train station.

Her gaze slowly moved from the rustic-looking basket on his shoulder to his entire body, and then she fell silent.

"You..." She paused, her voice filled with disbelief, "Why are you wearing a school uniform?"

Lin Li also fell silent. Lost in his excitement, he'd completely forgotten he was still wearing his school uniform. His father had all the clean clothes he needed to change into, and it was too late now…

But the joy of their reunion quickly dispelled the awkwardness. He grinned, opened his arms, and bent down to hug her.

"Stay away from me," Tong Yao frowned, reached out and pressed her hand against his forehead, shoving him away without any mercy. "Dirty!"

Lin Li looked down at her dusty school uniform with a wronged expression, then at her spotless white clothes, and shut her mouth in a huff. She had originally wanted to turn the tables and say that the other girl disliked her, but then she thought about it from her perspective. If she were dressed cleanly, she probably wouldn't want her clothes to get dusty either.

"I should never have worn this outfit!" he lamented inwardly.

The next second, a fair hand reached out in front of him.

"Holding hands is fine." Tong Yao turned her face away, her tone sounding reluctant, but her ears were slightly red.

Lin Li's eyes lit up instantly, and he hurriedly gripped it tightly. Feeling that wasn't enough, he nimbly moved his fingers, and their fingers became intertwined.

He led her forward, his heart pounding with joy, his arm swaying gently involuntarily.

How wonderful!

Tong Yao looked at their clasped and swaying hands and whispered, "Childish." She didn't even realize the doting and indulgent tone in her voice.

Lin Li, taking advantage of the situation, increased the arc of the swaying motion:

"So what if I'm childish?"

"You're so shameless!"

These words instantly evoked Lin Li's memories, and she recalled the image of Lin Li with her eyes closed, her eyelashes fluttering, and her lips turning red during a physical education class.

He suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Tong Yao turned to look at him in confusion: "What—"

Before she could finish speaking, she met Lin Li's unusually serious gaze. No, the focus of that gaze... was on her lips.

Tong Yao panicked and tried to pull her hand away, but Lin Li gripped it even tighter. Watching his face draw closer, her heart pounded like a drum, and she instinctively closed her eyes.

His warm breath brushed against her cheek, carrying the unique, cool scent of a young man. Tong Yao clenched her fists tighter, her knuckles turning slightly white.

Seeing that she did not resist, Lin Li was overjoyed and was about to kiss her—

It was this momentary pause that jolted Tong Yao back to reality.

He was still wearing that dirty school uniform!

I just wore them while fishing, I wonder how dirty they must be!

"Get away from me!" As if she had been burned, she suddenly exerted her strength and pushed Lin Li away. The force was so great that the unprepared Lin Li staggered.

He stood there, stunned, watching the white figure walk away quickly, filled with regret.

If only I hadn't hesitated, I should have just kissed him!

For the rest of the journey, forget about holding hands again.

Lin Li followed Tong Yao with a sullen expression, silently accusing her with a mournful look in her eyes.

The two wandered aimlessly for a while, and before they knew it, it was getting dark.

Tong Yao then remembered the important matter: "You went all this way by yourself? Aren't your family worried?"

“My dad will be here soon,” Lin Li replied listlessly. “We’re staying at a hotel on the street tonight. What about you?”

“I see,” Tong Yao nodded. “Our home is right across from your hotel.”

The courtyard is just a small street with only one hotel.

Lin Li was stunned, but then the gloom vanished and her eyes lit up again: "Then we are really destined to be together!"

Lin Li planned to go to the hotel to put down his fishing gear, but he couldn't find a place, so Tong Yao took him there.

Room 302

Lin Li took off the backpack from his shoulder and accidentally pressed on the injured area of ​​his left arm. A sharp pain shot through him, and he couldn't help but hiss and gasp.

"I need to use the restroom!" He hurriedly pushed open the restroom door and slipped inside.

Looking at his hurried back, and recalling his pretentious poses in the video, Tong Yao immediately made a judgment—this person probably didn't listen to the instructions to apply the medicine at all.

She shook her head helplessly, turned around and hurried home, then took the familiar bottle of safflower oil and returned.

"Knock knock knock—" The knocking sounded on the door.

The sound of water in the toilet stopped. After a while, Lin Li took off her dirty coat and opened the door wearing a black wool sweater, her hair still a little damp.

He complained:

"Tong Yao, where did you run off to? I saw you as soon as I came out..."

He stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence. His gaze fell on the brown glass bottle in Tong Yao's hand, and he froze.

Tong Yao ignored his stunned expression, stepped into the room, and closed the door behind her. A faint scent, her own, immediately filled the small space.

“Expose your arm,” she said firmly, “to apply the medicine.”

Lin Li touched her nose and sat down on the edge of the bed as instructed.

He glanced at Tong Yao, then grabbed the hem of his sweater with both hands and deftly pulled it up—

His entire slender upper body was instantly exposed to the air, and his skin developed tiny bumps from the sudden contact with the cold air.

Tong Yao's face flushed instantly, like a ripe apple. Her eyes darted away in a panic, and her voice trembled as she said, "I... I meant for you to show your arms! I didn't ask you to take your clothes off!"

"Oh." Lin Li scratched the back of her head, looking innocent, and made a move to put her sweater back on.

"Never mind!" Tong Yao sighed helplessly, then took a deep breath and tried to calm her racing heart. She unscrewed the cap of the safflower oil bottle, poured some of the brown liquid into her palm, and rubbed it vigorously to warm it up.

She knelt on the bed and reached out to grab his left arm. The boy's arm had smooth lines, but the large, purplish-red bruise was particularly glaring at the moment. Her cool palm, coated with pungent medicinal oil, covered it and began to massage it vigorously.

"Hiss—!" Lin Li gasped, her muscles tensing instantly. "Be gentle!"

"Ouch! It hurts!" he screamed, wincing in pain, trying to pull his arm back.

Tong Yao gripped his wrist tightly, her fingertips turning slightly white from the force. Pointing to the bruise, she said irritably, "I told you to put on the medicine yesterday, but you wouldn't. Now it's all bruised. How can you not rub it in? Just bear with it!"

"No, no! Spare me!" Lin Li begged repeatedly, her expression contorted.

Seeing his miserable state, a barely perceptible smile flashed in Tong Yao's eyes. Instead of relaxing, she deliberately increased the pressure, feeling the tension and trembling of the muscles under her hand.

"That's enough, that's enough! My hand is going to break! It's really going to break!" Lin Li's wails echoed in the room.

Just when he felt he was about to faint from the pain, Tong Yao suddenly let go of his hand, nimbly rolled off the bed, went straight into the bathroom, and turned on the tap.

The room suddenly fell silent, with only the sound of rushing water remaining.

Looking at her oily, burning arms, and then at the closed toilet door, Lin Li felt a strange sense of emptiness and disappointment welling up inside her.

The next second, he was startled by his own thought—he was actually... a little unsatisfied?

When Tong Yao came out with a tissue, wiping her wet hands, this was the scene she saw—

Lin Li was still sitting shirtless on the edge of the bed, her head slightly lowered, staring straight at her with a look that was a mixture of grievance and resentment.

Her gaze swept quickly over his well-defined abs and the red mole on his collarbone, and her ears burned a little. She forced herself to remain calm and asked:

Aren't you cold?

In the dead of winter, shirtless, he looked like a fool.

Lin Li was taken aback by her question, glanced down at her bare upper body, and felt both unconvinced and self-assured:

"Can't I feel hot? I just applied the medicine, and it's burning."

As he spoke, he deliberately fanned himself with his hand, but his eyes secretly glanced at Tong Yao to observe her reaction.

Tong Yao crumpled the tissue she used to wipe her hands into a ball, accurately threw it into the trash can in the corner, and gave him a disgruntled look:

"Put on some clothes if it's hot, don't act like a hooligan here."

Even so, her gaze lingered for a moment longer on his muscular chest and abdomen.

Lin Li keenly caught this glance, and the slight disappointment in her heart instantly vanished, replaced by a sense of pride.

He slowly picked up the sweater, deliberately dawdling while muttering to himself:

"Just wear it... why are you being so fierce?"

The movements were so slow, it was like some kind of performance art, with every muscle line saying, "Look, look!"

Tong Yao was both annoyed and amused by his blatant attempt to "seek attention." She crossed her arms, leaned against the wall, and decided to openly admire him, a playful smile playing on her lips.

"What? Does three-year-old Lin need me to help you get dressed?"

Lin Li, caught off guard, blushed slightly and quickly pulled her sweater back on, muttering to herself:

"Who needs your help..."

After getting dressed, the room suddenly fell silent. The scent of safflower oil lingered in the air.

Lin Li rubbed her nose and tried to make conversation: "Um... thank you."

Tong Yao raised an eyebrow: "Thank me for what?"

"Thank you..." Lin Li hesitated, and after a long pause, she finally managed to squeeze out, "Thank you for bringing me the medicine."

"Good to know." Tong Yao straightened up. "If you misbehave again next time, I'll give you another massage."

As she spoke, she made a gesture to reach out and pinch his arm, which had just been treated with medicine. Lin Li reflexively pulled back, but in doing so, he grabbed Tong Yao's wrist.

"Let go!" Tong Yao was startled by the burning heat of his palm, and then scolded him, but her voice lacked some of its confidence.

Looking at her slightly flushed cheeks, Lin Li suddenly thought of a way to "get revenge." He tightened his grip, and taking advantage of Tong Yao's unsteady center of gravity, he swiftly flipped her over—

"ah!"

In the blink of an eye, Tong Yao was firmly pressed down onto the soft bed by him.

"What are you doing!" Tong Yao realized the ambiguity and danger of the position, and her usually cold voice became completely flustered. She put her hands on his chest, but couldn't push him away even a little.

"What are you doing?" Lin Li grinned mischievously, his free hand deftly slipping through her open coat and precisely targeting her armpit, his fingers beginning to move restlessly, "Squeak squeak!"

He was ready to face her screams and writhing.

However……

Tong Yao: "..."

Lin Li: "..."

The person beneath him didn't react at all, only looking at him with a pair of clear eyes, a look of speechlessness and...as if he were an idiot.

"Aren't you afraid of being tickled?" Lin Li stopped what she was doing in disbelief.

Taking advantage of the moment, Tong Yao forcefully pushed away the person pressing down on her, sat up, tidied her slightly messy short hair, and regained her calm tone:

"I'm not afraid."

She looked up and saw Lin Li's defeated and incredulous expression, then suddenly asked, "What? Are you scared?"

Lin Li's heart skipped a beat. She tried to remain calm, but her voice unconsciously rose eight octaves: "No... I'm not afraid!"

Tong Yao tilted her head slightly, drawing out her words, her eyes full of suspicion: "Oh—?"

Before she could finish speaking, she swiftly poked him under the armpit with her finger!

"Pfft—hahaha... Ouch!" Lin Li reacted as if a strange switch had been flipped, bouncing back with a huge reaction, laughing and dodging at the same time, almost rolling off the bed.

"Aren't you afraid?" Tong Yao stood up, looking at him with a calm expression, and approached him step by step.

Lin Li couldn't help but laugh as she backed away until her back was pressed against the hotel room door.

"I'm not afraid! Hahaha... Don't come any closer!"

Seeing Tong Yao's "keep being stubborn" expression and her gesture of chasing after him, Lin Li finally broke down, yelled, flung open the door, and rushed out without looking back.

"Don't come any closer!"

Tong Yao watched his retreating figure as he hurriedly fled wearing only a sweater, and couldn't help but follow him out of the room, leaning against the railing on the second floor.

A cold wind blew in, and she thought to herself: This guy, running out dressed so lightly, isn't he cold?

The thought had barely crossed my mind when I saw that familiar figure running back, shivering, jumping up and down in the cold at the hotel entrance.

Lin Li also saw her upstairs. A look of embarrassment and annoyance flashed across his face. He lowered his head and quickly bypassed her, running upstairs.

Tong Yao watched his disheveled figure walk out of the hotel. Standing at the hotel entrance, she finally couldn't help but cross her arms and chuckle softly, her shoulders trembling slightly.

She was just worried...

Just then, a car slowly stopped in front of her.

The car door opened, and Tong's father, carrying fishing gear, got out of the car with a smile on his face.

"My house is right across the street, come over for a drink sometime!"

"dad?"

Tong Yao watched in surprise as her father got out of the car.

Tong's father looked at Tong Yao and introduced her to the people coming down from behind, saying, "This is my daughter."

Lin's father got out of the car with a bag in his hand. He was taken aback when he saw Tong Yao, then smiled and said, "This child is so beautiful!"

Hello, Uncle.

Tong Yao looked at Lin's father and greeted him softly, "This person looks a bit like—"

Is this Lin Li's father?

"Okay, okay, okay."

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Tong's father, Lin's father called out to the various aunts and uncles sitting in the car.

“Let’s go, Aunt Wang, Uncle Li…”

Tong Yao went home with her father and asked, watching his retreating figure:

"Dad, why did you come back in someone else's car?"

Tong's father's expression stiffened, and he cleared his throat somewhat awkwardly, his gaze drifting elsewhere.

"Ugh... Don't even mention it. I was fishing in someone's fishpond, and the host mistook me for a guest at a banquet, insisting on taking me with him in the car..."

He paused, trying to save face, and raised his voice a little: "I quickly explained later! They heard that I lived in the courtyard on the street and it was on my way, so they kindly gave me a ride."

Tong Yao nodded, her face expressionless, and casually tossed out a sentence before going upstairs:

"So, you still didn't catch any fish?"

After saying that, he turned and went upstairs, leaving behind a back view that seemed to say, "I knew it."

Tong's father was speechless after his daughter's words. He stood there, muttering to himself resentfully towards the stairwell:

"I just set up my fishing spot, and there haven't been any fish yet... If I hadn't been pulled back, I would have definitely caught a fish if I had fished a little longer! That big dip of the float means it must be a big one..."

His voice grew softer and softer.