Chapter 27 A Wrong Kiss

After Yu Bai plucked all the chrysanthemums, Chen Ma didn't blame him. Yu Bai took the opportunity to suggest planting flowers in the courtyard, something he had wanted to do since his first day at Jiang Jizhou's house. Chen Ma readily agreed, saying that they would clear the weeds from the courtyard when the weather was nice and plant flowers in the spring.

On the last weekend before the final exams, the weather was unusually sunny. The sunshine for several days melted all the snow, the holly trees on both sides of the street were lush and green, and the courtyard outside the villa was bare soil covered with withered yellow weeds. Yu Bai helped Chen Ma clear the weeds.

Yu Bai hadn't changed his clothes; he was still wearing Yu Gui Gou's fluffy blue pajamas. The glaring sunlight felt warm on his body, and he was already sweating after bending over and working for a while.

"You must be tired. Go and rest for a while, Bai Bai." Chen Ma glanced at the remaining weeds and cleared them away, then told Yu Bai to go and rest first.

Yu Bai straightened up, patted the mud off his hands, and said, "Okay, I'll go get you a cup of hot water."

Yu Bai went to the bathroom to wash her hands. She didn't want to drink hot water; she was hot and tired after finishing her work. Afraid of being seen by Chen Ma, she secretly ran to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of iced mineral water.

Just as he unscrewed the bottle cap and was about to take a big gulp, he heard Jiang Jizhou's cool voice coming from behind him.

"Drinking such cold water will give you diarrhea."

Yu Bai turned around and saw Jiang Jizhou standing on the stairs. He had just gotten up, his hair was still a little messy, and he looked sleepy. The gray fluffy pajamas he was wearing were ones he had bought with Yu Bai, which made him look even more lazy.

"No, I'm so hot." Yu Bai still drank a few sips of iced mineral water.

Jiang Jizhou unconsciously lowered his eyebrows, a little angry, and gave a helpless smile, "Whatever."

Feeling guilty, Yu Bai screwed the bottle cap back on and went to pour hot water for Chen Ma.

Upon going outside, Yu Bai saw that all the weeds had been cleared away. He handed the water glass to Chen Ma, who took a sip of hot water and, after recovering, asked Yu Bai, "Bai Bai, what kind of flowers do you want to plant?"

Yu Bai thought for a moment, "Rose, Chinese rose, hydrangea, crabapple..."

As she thought about it, she could already picture a courtyard filled with colorful flowers, with bees and butterflies flitting about. She also imagined that once the roses were in full bloom, they could be used to make rose petal cakes.

"Want to plant flowers?" Jiang Jizhou walked to Yu Bai's side. He was much more awake and was momentarily stunned when he saw the clean courtyard.

“Yes.” Yu Bai tilted her head, her smiling face reflected in Jiang Jizhou’s eyes like a delicate pink lychee.

Jiang Jizhou was stunned for a moment.

Yu Bai continued, "You should come too. Let's plant flowers together in the spring."

When did the once vibrant courtyard begin to fall into disrepair? It was probably after my mother fell ill and was hospitalized. The flowers in the courtyard were no longer cared for, and they gradually withered and died, just like my mother's life, which eventually came to an end.

He looked at Yu Bai's fair profile, her bright eyes filled with anticipation for the future. His heart softened, and he also felt hopeful for the tomorrow that Yu Bai envisioned.

Jiang Jizhou stared at her intently, then nodded. "Okay."

"Come on, come inside. It's cold outside. I'll make you breakfast." Chen Ma's smile never faded as she looked at Yu Bai and Jiang Jizhou.

"I'll help too," Yu Bai said, following behind Chen Ma.

Jiang Jizhou was the last to enter the house. He closed the door to keep out the cold wind and watched Yu Bai run towards the kitchen. The two ears of the Jade Dog on the hat were twitching, and he couldn't help but chuckle.

After breakfast, Yu Bai went to the city library to study for tomorrow's final exams, as arranged by Ming Jing. Jiang Jizhou, who never studied before exams, went to the library with Yu Bai when he heard she was going to study.

It was a lucky coincidence; as soon as I arrived at the library, I saw Mingjing waiting for Yu Bai outside.

Mingjing was a little surprised to see Jiang Jizhou. "Jiang Jizhou, you're here for review too?"

Jiang Jizhou raised an eyebrow. "Hmm."

Mingjing chuckled, "The top student and the second-ranked student in the grade are studying with me, so I have to post this on my WeChat Moments."

Yu Bai smiled slightly, pursing her lips.

Jiang Jizhou didn't review the material; instead, he sat next to Yu Bai and read an extracurricular book, while Yu Bai and Ming Jing were working on math practice papers.

Yu Bai has a little quirk: when she's racking her brains over a difficult problem, she starts twirling her pen. The last multiple-choice question on this test was really hard, and she unconsciously started twirling her pen again. As she twirled it, the pen fell to the ground. It was very clear in the quiet library where you could hear a pin drop. Yu Bai felt embarrassed and quickly bent down to pick it up.

Jiang Jizhou picked up the pen before she could. Yu Bai touched his hand and instinctively tried to pull it back, but Jiang Jizhou directly grasped her hand. Enveloped in his warmth, Yu Bai blushed and tried to struggle, but he held on even tighter.

Yu Bai looked up and glared at Jiang Jizhou. Their eyes met, but she found that she was only a few centimeters away from his face. His long eyelashes almost brushed against her face. A blush like the sunset spread across Yu Bai's face, and her eyes flashed with panic and helplessness. She looked more like a delicate and luscious pink lychee. There seemed to be dewdrops on her lips. Jiang Jizhou suddenly felt his mouth go dry.

The surroundings were extremely quiet, and Mingjing was still engrossed in doing math problems. An indescribable ambiguity was flowing between the two of them. Yu Bai felt a tension and shyness that made it hard to breathe. She looked away from Jiang Jizhou, but his handsome peach blossom eyes still held a faint smile as he stared at Yu Bai. Suddenly, he leaned closer, and Yu Bai felt her lips touch something soft. She kissed Jiang Jizhou's cheek.

Like the dazzling fireworks of New Year's Eve, they exploded in my blank mind in an instant, and the falling sparks bloomed into colorful flowers, making my heart flutter.

Yu Bai's face turned bright red, and her ears rang. She suddenly pulled her hand away, her lips leaving his face, and pretended to sit up as if nothing had happened. But her heart, pounding so hard it felt like it was about to burst out of her chest, betrayed her.

"You kissed me."

Jiang Jizhou leaned closer, a nonchalant smile playing on his lips, his voice clear and slightly husky and alluring.

Upon hearing this, Yu Bai felt a surge of heat rising from the lips that had just kissed his cheek. He subconsciously licked his lips, feeling even more embarrassed. Yu Bai gripped the pen in his hand tightly and ignored Jiang Jizhou.

The mockery in Jiang Jizhou's eyes became even more pronounced.

Yu Bai wanted to bury his face in the table, just then Ming Jing gently poked Yu Bai with the pen. Yu Bai, who was already on edge, jumped like a frightened bird, while Ming Jing looked completely bewildered.

"What's wrong?" Mingjing asked softly.

Yu Bai snapped out of his daze, forced himself to remain calm, and shook his head.

Mingjing pushed the test paper in front of Yu Bai, pointed to the fill-in-the-blank questions, indicating that she didn't know how to do them, and asked Yu Bai to write down the steps for her.

Yu Bai hadn't written down the problem yet. She pulled out a piece of draft paper and started working on it. She took a deep breath and calmed herself down before slowly getting into the zone.

Fortunately, this question was relatively simple for Yu Bai. Learning from his previous experience explaining problems to Ming Jing, Yu Bai wrote out each step in great detail this time, along with the formulas and some problem-solving strategies.

Upon seeing this, Mingjing burst into laughter, giving Yu Bai a look of mixed emotion and gratitude, and gave him a thumbs up. However, she caught a glimpse of Jiang Jizhou's displeased gaze and was taken aback, wondering how she had offended this powerful figure.

She carefully took her test paper and continued to work on the questions honestly.

Yu Bai's mind was still spinning. She felt as if she had been hit by a meteor, dizzy and disoriented, after accidentally kissing Jiang Jizhou.

Not daring to look at Jiang Jizhou, Yu Bai kept his head down looking at his exam paper, still thinking about the scene and feeling of kissing Jiang Jizhou just now.

"Want to do it again? Let me kiss you instead."

Jiang Jizhou's deep, magnetic voice entered Yu Bai's ears, and her face, which had finally cooled down, turned red again, but the images from his words involuntarily flashed through her mind.

"asshole."

Yu Bai muttered a soft scolding to Jiang Jizhou, her gentle voice carrying a hint of shy annoyance, which earned her a nonchalant laugh from Jiang Jizhou.

Yu Bai blushed, gave a soft hum, buried her head in her work, and ignored Jiang Jizhou.

After finishing a set of test papers, it was exactly 11:30, just lunchtime. Mingjing also finished hers and immediately wrote a note to Yu Bai, saying she was going to have lunch.

So, the group packed their bags and went out to eat.

Jiang Jizhou asked Yu Bai and Ming Jing, "What do you want to eat?"

Yu Bai was still embarrassed and didn't answer Jiang Jizhou because of what had just happened, but seeing that Jiang Jizhou was calm and seemed to have done nothing, Yu Bai suddenly felt a little depressed. When he asked earlier, did he kiss other girls before? He seemed quite calm and skilled at it.

Mingjing quickly interjected, "Winter is the perfect time to eat hot pot!"

Mingjing is a loyal hot pot lover.

"Is hot pot okay?" Jiang Jizhou asked Yu Bai for his opinion.

Yu Bai nodded.

"Okay, then I'll treat you to hot pot." Jiang Jizhou smiled.

Mingjing grinned, "I benefited from Bai Bai's generosity, President Jiang is so generous!"

Yu Bai looked up and met Jiang Jizhou's gaze. His indifferent gaze fell on her, making Yu Bai even more depressed.

After finishing their hotpot, Mingjing took a taxi home, while Jiang Jizhou and Yu Bai walked home since they lived closer to home.

"Are you unhappy?" Jiang Jizhou's voice was very gentle.

While eating hot pot, Yu Bai didn't say a word. He looked depressed, like a rabbit with drooping ears, which made people feel sorry for him.

Yu Bai remained silent, looking sullen.

Crossing the street, we entered a bustling pedestrian street, which was crowded because it was close to the scenic area.

Yu Bai asked softly, "Have you kissed other girls?"

Jiang Jizhou paused for a moment, then a smile appeared in his eyes, but he did not answer immediately.

There were flower vendors by the roadside, with bunches of beautiful flowers displayed on the tables, the blossoms trembling in the chilly wind.

The flower seller was a little girl who was helping her parents set up their stall on Sunday. Her face was red from the cold. As Yu Bai and Jiang Jizhou walked by side by side, she noticed Jiang Jizhou glancing at the flowers. She quickly said, "Big brother, buy a bouquet for your girlfriend."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Jizhou's smile deepened, and Yu Bai wanted to explain, but Jiang Jizhou simply said, "Okay, I'll take this bouquet."

Jiang Jizhou picked up a bouquet of flowers and gave it to Yu Bai. The sweet fragrance of jasmine filled Yu Bai's heart.

"I have never kissed any other girl."

"You are the first girl to kiss me, and the first girl I ever gave flowers to."

Jiang Jizhou smiled, his tone very serious.

The fragrance of flowers filled the cold wind. Yu Bai hugged the flowers, her nose red, and smiled foolishly at Jiang Jizhou.