The girl seemed to be captivated by the boyish, refreshing scent emanating from the oversized clothes.

She pulled the wide neckline further away, lowered her head and buried it inside, greedily inhaling the minty scent.

With my eyes closed, I inhaled the scent I had been dreaming of.

Like a dream, Anyou thought.

Her eyelashes, as thin as cicada wings, fluttered gently, and her thoughts drifted away.

The boy on the basketball court dribbled skillfully, leaped into the air, and slammed the ball into the basket with a graceful movement.

Sweat mixed with sunlight dripped down.

Their innocent smiles were even more dazzling than the sunlight.

That was Ye Zhou, who was fourteen years old.

"Huh? What are you doing?"

In a daze, An Youhe quietly peeked out from her collar a pair of bright, doe-like eyes.

When Ye Zhou came out of the shower, he saw the girl burying her face in her collar.

A breeze blew in, causing the curtains to flutter.

The wind ruffled the girl's hair.

"I……"

An Youhe hadn't figured out how to defend herself yet.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

Sparks and lightning.

Ye Zhou walked over and closed the window a little.

"It seems you won't be able to go back today. The rain doesn't know when it will stop, and your place is quite far away."

The girl lowered her eyes.

"Yes, I need to call Grandma and tell her, she'll be worried."

Ye Zhou braced himself against the windowsill with both hands. "Okay."

An Youhe made a phone call and explained her current situation. In order to avoid her grandmother from overthinking, she deliberately obscured Ye Zhou's gender, only saying that she was temporarily staying at a classmate's house for one night.

I hung up the phone.

Ye Zhou had a faint smile on his lips.

"Seriously, what were you doing just now? Why did you bury your head in your clothes?"

An Youhe avoided eye contact, biting her lip, unsure how to answer.

With a creak.

The door opened.

Zhou Ping came in and changed into slippers, and immediately noticed An Youhe.

"This is?"

Ye Zhou spoke first: "It's my classmate celebrating my birthday. It's raining outside, so I'd like her to stay at our place for the night."

An Youhe stood up from the sofa and said, "Hello, Auntie."

Zhou Ping glanced at the little girl and said, "This little girl is really cute!"

Ye Fan stepped aside from Zhou Ping to look, holding a beautifully crafted large box in his hand.

"Wow, this is the first time I've seen my son bring a female classmate home!"

Zhou Ping scolded, "Don't be so dramatic, you'll scare the young girl."

An You stood obediently and nodded to Ye Fan, "Hello, Uncle."

Ye Zhou pulled An Youhe to sit down and continue watching TV.

Turning around, I saw my dad giving me a thumbs-up, his mouth movements were very exaggerated.

He truly is my son.

Ye Fan placed the cake on the dining table with a smile.

"Son, shall I introduce you to your classmate?"

Ye Zhou rolled her eyes. This man just wanted to know the name of his future daughter-in-law.

"Her name is An Youhe."

Ye Fan smiled and nodded.

"Dad, hurry up and go help Mom. She's in the kitchen by herself."

An Youhe stood up as well, "I'll go help too."

Ye Fan quickly said, "No need, you're a guest, how can I let a guest help me! Have a good chat with Ye Zhou, it's been a long time, hasn't it?"

After saying that, Ye Fan's tall figure squeezed into the kitchen.

An Youhe sat on the sofa, feeling somewhat uncomfortable, as she had never been a guest in anyone's home before.

Moreover, I have never received such warm treatment before.

A short while later, Ye Fan came out of the kitchen and placed bananas, washed apples, and grapes on the table.

"It's nothing. I just came to deliver some fruit and chat a bit more to get to know each other better. It's perfectly normal for classmates to know each other's birth dates and times."

Ye Zhou couldn't take it anymore, "Dad!"

Ye Fan's eyes indicated that he understood. "Then I won't bother you any longer."

A soap opera is playing on TV, full of melodramatic love and hate entanglements; you slap me, I slap you back.

I ate some fruit for a while.

An Youhe finally couldn't sit still any longer. She stood up and said, "I'll go help your uncle and aunt."

Ye Zhou nodded, "Oh, go ahead." Girl, doing this will only make the two elders like you more.

An Youhe went into the kitchen, and Ye Zhou turned off the TV.

He actually didn't like watching these kinds of soap operas, but An Youhe seemed to enjoy them.

He went into the room and used the time to continue optimizing the algorithm.

It was time to eat.

The table was covered with dishes, mostly home-style dishes such as stir-fried green peppers with pork, stir-fried green beans, and cold lettuce salad.

The fact that their family can cook so many dishes at once means it must be for an important occasion.

Ye Fan raised the plastic cup filled with beer.

"Son, although you've turned eighteen, your nineteenth year is also extraordinary. You've finished the most arduous part of your academic journey. Although university life may not be easy, with less academic pressure..."

But you'll find that university isn't as carefree as you imagine. The complexities of social relationships can be even more difficult to navigate than academics. For example, what if the person you like doesn't like you back? Of course, that kind of thing is unlikely to happen to my son, Ye Fan.

Because he inherited his father's wisdom and handsome appearance... cough cough, I digress. Anyway, son, happy birthday, and may you always be happy!

Ye Zhou, Zhou Ping, and An Youhe all had orange juice in their cups.

Just like every year in his previous life, Ye Fan would prepare a long and tedious speech for Ye Zhou's birthday. Ye Zhou would always be impatient and blow out the candles before Ye Fan could finish speaking.

After so many years, upon returning, Ye Zhou finally understood that every word he spoke was from the bottom of his heart, and there was no nonsense involved.

Ye Zhou was much more composed now, raising his glass and saying, "Thank you, Dad."

It was Zhou Ping's turn to speak. This was a family tradition for birthday celebrations, where everyone would offer their blessings. It was a rare occasion each year when genuine emotions were expressed.

"Xiaozhou, you and your sister have always been the pride of our family, but don't feel pressured. You don't have to be someone else's pride. Don't live for others, live for yourself. If you can't love yourself, how can you learn to love others?"

Your father and I share the same opinion: we want you to be well and live a happy life. We know that being successful is tiring. Your parents didn't provide you with the best environment to grow up in, but we didn't bring you into this world so you would suffer. We have love in our hearts and want you to see a beautiful world full of love.

Ye Fan, a tall man of 1.8 meters, pouted and put his arm around his wife's shoulder.

"Wife, I never knew you loved me this much."

Zhou Ping was being strangled and couldn't breathe. She patted the man's back and said, "Get off me! The other kids are watching! Aren't you ashamed?"

Ye Zhou smiled and gently took the girl's hand under the table.

"Make a wish and blow out the candles!"

A hand twitched under the table, and Ye Zhou whispered, "Make a wish with me."

An Youhe blinked, seemingly unsure of what to do, and then saw Ye Zhou close his eyes.

She closed her eyes too.

She made a wish, opened her eyes, and found the boy waiting for her to blow out the candles together.

"call--"

The two of them blew out the candle together.