Her words sounded like a desperate plea.

But what girl would beg a man not to fall in love with her?

He Haowen finally understood that he had been simplistically assuming Shen Yulan's feelings all along.

This gentle and meticulous girl, who never speaks loudly and always smiles at everyone, has been keeping a secret all by herself.

Her coldness and her avoidance were all for him.

He Haowen felt even more pity for Shen Yulan. He looked down at the crying girl in his arms, gently wiped away her tears with his fingertips, and said softly:

“I don’t care about your past status at all. In my eyes, you are a college student. We both come from rural areas, we both got into college, and we will stay in this city to work hard in the future. We are equal. Don’t say that you are not good enough for me anymore.”

Shen Yulan choked up and said, "Don't you care? Don't your parents care? How could they possibly agree to you being with a widow?"

He Hao smiled and said, "My parents passed away early, and my sister and I depended on each other. My sister got married a long time ago and has her own family. I am all alone and can make my own decisions."

This was something Shen Yulan hadn't expected. She couldn't find a reason to refuse, so she could only stare blankly at He Haowen.

The man before me had handsome features and a deep, affectionate gaze; the rain made his eyes appear even darker and brighter.

"You really... don't care that I've been married before?"

"As long as the next person you marry is me, I don't care."

He Haowen said simply.

His words were too blunt, and Shen Yulan, who was thin-skinned, blushed even in the cold weather.

"Yulan, don't have any more worries, be my girlfriend."

He Hao heard that Shen Yulan no longer refused, so he gently lifted her face.

For the first time, Shen Yulan complied with his actions, tilting her chin slightly up over his fingers.

When Shen Yulan met He Haowen's burning gaze, her ears turned red.

In the narrow, rainy alley, an ambiguous atmosphere gradually rose, and the increasingly rapid breathing of the two could be heard through the raindrops.

He Haowen had been coveting those two red lips for a long time.

He had tried to maintain a gentlemanly demeanor, but ultimately couldn't resist his primal male instincts.

He slowly lowered his head and gently kissed her.

Shen Yulan's body trembled slightly as He Haowen held her tightly around the waist.

The man's lips were warm, and his breath carried a clean, refreshing scent of soap. Shen Yulan recalled that morning when she woke up in He Haowen's bed and smelled the same scent.

She didn't dislike it at all; in fact, she even missed it a little.

The person in his arms was very obedient and did not resist. He Haowen tasted the sweetness and couldn't help but deepen the kiss.

Shen Yulan's reaction was very awkward, almost no different from that of a girl experiencing her first love. She was a little dizzy from the kiss and gripped He Haowen's sleeve tightly with both hands.

"Hold me," He Haowen whispered as he kissed me, "I want you to hold me."

As if bewitched, Shen Yulan slowly, little by little, stretched out her arms and wrapped them around the man's strong waist.

The rain poured down harder and harder, but the two kissed more and more passionately, finding it hard to part.

In He Haowen's arms, Shen Yulan was just a tiny ball, her body so soft it seemed boneless. He Haowen held her tighter and tighter, wishing he could hold her like that until their bodies became one.

He Hao only released Shen Yulan's lips after she became a little unsteady on her breath and cried out a few times like a kitten.

"So, you're agreeing?"

Shen Yulan blushed and remained silent, burying her head shyly in He Haowen's chest.

He Hao was overjoyed, thinking that the rain had really been worth it.

Just as the two were still immersed in the warm atmosphere, Shen Yulan suddenly caught a glimpse of two other people standing in the alley.

She screamed in fright, and He Haowen quickly turned his head to look—

Under the dim streetlights, a boy of about ten years old stood holding the hand of what appeared to be his seven or eight-year-old sister.

The two children stared intently at the two of them with their round, bright eyes.

When did they arrive? How long have they been here?

Shen Yulan was so embarrassed that she almost dug a hole and ran away.

He Haowen barely managed to maintain his composure, coughed, and asked in a teacher's tone:

"What are you doing? It's raining so hard, why aren't you home?"

The little boy blinked and said, "Brother, are you done yet? If you are, please let us through. We need to go through this alley to get home. If you're not done yet, we can wait a little longer."

His sister nodded vigorously.

He Haowen: "..."

The two children seemed completely unaware that they had been watching inappropriate content for children!

Shen Yulan quickly picked up the umbrella from the ground and struggled to get out of He Haowen's arms.

He Haowen took the umbrella, and the two walked one after the other towards the front of the alley.

The two children followed behind the two very obediently.

As they walked out of the alley, the little boy politely waved to the two of them, saying, "Goodbye, big brother and sister!"

Shen Yulan covered her face: "I will never walk through this alley again!"

He Haowen really liked this alley; if it weren't so narrow, he might not have found love so quickly.

"What's there to be afraid of? The probability of running into them again is almost zero."

He took Shen Yulan's hand and led her down the street in a generous manner.

After much trouble, he finally succeeded in confessing his feelings. He felt incredibly light-hearted and couldn't wait to announce to the whole world: Shen Yulan is my girlfriend!

When they were still two blocks away from Shen Yulan's house, Shen Yulan said softly, "Teacher He, please drop me off here."

He Hao said smugly, "No, I'm going to take my girlfriend home."

"Oh dear, why are you shouting so loudly!" Shen Yulan said coquettishly, her face flushed.

He Haowen pulled the person into his arms, and the two nestled under the umbrella, their shadows lengthened by the streetlights.

When they arrived at her doorstep, Shen Yulan opened the door and asked shyly, "Would you like to come in and sit for a while?"

As night deepened, He Haowen, though reluctant, had to say goodbye for the time being.

"It's too late, let's do it tomorrow."

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, he quickly pecked Shen Yulan on the lips again, "I'll wait for you at the school gate tomorrow."

Shen Yulan raised her flushed face and said, "I finish class at six o'clock tomorrow."

After saying that, she suddenly realized that what she had just said was an expression of her anticipation for meeting He Haowen tomorrow!

She shoved the umbrella into He Haowen's hand and ran off.

He Hao grinned and closed the courtyard gate for her.

Remembering that his bicycle was still parked at the gate of Beijing Normal University, he turned back.

To his surprise, when he got to the school gate, he found that his bicycle had been smashed to pieces!

He was about to go into the guardhouse to ask what had happened when an angry shout came from behind him.

"Hey kid!"