Xia Yao put her hands in her pockets and walked in the direction of Ji Huai's house while listening to an English podcast. She remembered the layout of the entire community and she had a good enough sense of direction, so she quickly found it.

Xia Yao took off her earphones when she saw Ji Huai walking out of his home carrying the paper bag. Even from a distance, he looked like he was smiling.

"Xia Yai, here you are." The young man raised the bag in his hand. His voice was clear, like the light in the darkness, especially warm in the cold winter.

Xia Yao took her bag and hugged it: "Thank you!"

She had randomly packed her things and wasn't sure what was inside. When she touched the soft fabric, she realized it must be clothes.

"It was nothing." Ji Huai smiled and unconsciously stretched out her hand to pat the girl's head.

Xia Yao saw the move and asked: "Why are you holding your hand up?"

Ji Huai silently retracted his arm with some helplessness and replied: "Let's go, I will take you back."

—Ji Huai liked her.

This thought suddenly echoed in her dull heart; all the signs had been obvious on the rooftop. Every time she stopped talking, there were those kinds of pink bubbles around him like he wanted to confess.

Ji Huai would be a good boyfriend if they started dating, but also a part-time tutor. He could teach her physics and she could help him with Chinese. Not only were they very complimentary, but they also promoted learning.

But falling in love was a waste of time. Not only a waste of time, people that fell in love usually became stupid; it would affect her studying and she would be able to get the first place again!

Xia Yao stepped back, creating some distance, and refused: "No, my house is very close, I can go back by myself."

Ji Huai walked to her side and said softly: "It's dark outside, it's not safe."

Xia Yao was trying to find another way to refuse when Ji Huai's door opened and the housekeeper came out. She pointed at the man and said: "Ji Huai, someone seems to be urgently looking for you."

Ji Huai turned around and the girl quickly added: "Then, I will leave first. See you tomorrow!"

Xia Yao hugged her bag and quickly ran away until she turned around the corner and took a more leisurely pace.

But as soon as she slowed down, her arms suddenly lightened and the huge bag was lifted, blocking her vision. Xia Yao looked down, the person in front of her was wearing black pants and black shoes, like Batman lurking in the dark.

Xu Shizhou lifted the heavy bag. His expression was a bit unpleasant and his voice was somewhat angry: "Did Ji Huai give it to you?"

Xia Yao recognized him and when she thought about it, it could be said that Ji Huai indeed had given the bag to her. She raised her head and answered: "Yes."

Xu Shizhou had just gone out to take out the trash but the bun outside his house was full and he had walked a bit farther to dump it. As a result, he saw Xia Yao as soon as threw it, standing next to Ji Huai and accepting a bag full of gifts before shyly running away.

He had seen them talk on the rooftop after class today, he had also seen Xia Yai pull Ji Huai's arm affectionately; it looked as if Ji Huai had been confessing to her at that time, and now—

Were they dating?

"You just accepted it?"

"I did." Xia Yao stretched out her hand and tried to reach for the bag.

—If she didn't accept her own things, should she give it to him?

Xu Shizhou's face went dark in an instant but it was not too obvious in the dark night. He grabbed Xia Yai's hand anxiously: "Xia Yao! Shouldn't you think about it for a long time?"

Xia Yao didn't immediately resist but asked: "What are you talking about?"

—Why should she think for a long time before getting her stuff back?

—She hadn't thought at all!

Xu Shizhou gritted his teeth: "Because it's him, you don't even need time to consider?"

—She always talked about how learning was the most important but she easily accepted someone else? Was it because he was a top student?

Xia Yao felt that what the boy was saying was weird. She frowned, thinking they were not on the same page but didn't want to really pay attention to it. She tugged at the bottom of the bag and said: "Give it back to me."

The girl used a lot of strength and Xu Shizhou was pushed away. He became even more irritable and raised the bag high.

"No."

Xia Yao thought he was behaving in a very childish way and she rolled her eyes.

"Xu Shizhou, return the clothes to me."

The boy's hand stiffened, he had not expected Ji Huai had already started buying her clothes. It seemed that their relationship was progressing rather fast.

He glanced at the bag and asked coldly: "Those are the clothes he gave you?"

"Yes." Xia Yao stretched out her hand again, running out of patience. As she was about to jump to grab her things, a tearing noise sounded; Xu Shizhou was so furious he tore the bag open.

First fell the white underwear, then the more colorful ones, then all the clothes. Her white panties flew the farthest and fell on the grass on the side of the road. Xia Yao took the broken bag, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it at Xu Shizhou.

She looked at him coldly and shouted: "Are you insane!"

She was embarrassed but she was mostly angry.

Xu Shizhou didn't feel the ball of paper that hit his body but was blinded by the dazzling white on the grass and his eyes turned red.

They were even close enough for Ji Huai to buy her underwear!

Xu Shizhou was going crazy. He looked at the girl in front of him and couldn't help but stretch out his hand and try to pull her into his arms.

Xia Yao was angry but when she saw the boy's red eyes, she was a little scared, and the fact that Xu Shizhou was not someone easy to provoke came to her mind again.

When he pulled her hand, she was stunned for a second and leaned forward instinctively. She was about to be embraced in an ambiguous position but she saw the clothes at her feet.

She couldn't step on them!

"Damn, you're insane!" With this shout, Xia Yao's head fiercely planted on the boy's chest. Xu Shizhou stood straight and Xia Yao's feet didn't move, and the two of them formed an odd triangle.

The girl's angry voice sounded from his chest, a little muffled. Xu Shizhou tried to calm himself down and held Xia Yao's head, trying to not think about the underwear gifted by Ji Huai anymore. How did he even know her size?

Instead, he took a step forward on Xia Yao's clothes and broke the weird-looking triangle. He was mad with jealousy and he gritted his teeth: "Yes, I'm crazy."

Xia Yao saw him walk on her clothes and she cursed and tossed Xu Shizhou's arms, no longer able to control the need to hit him.

She was about to give in to the impulse when the boy's low voice sounded in her ears: "I like you so much that I'm going crazy."

Xia Yao's fist she had just raised froze in the air and her whole body was petrified in Xu Shizhou's arms, forgetting to escape. But after a second, she started to struggle again.

"Are you drunk?" Xia Yao broke away from the hand that was still holding her head and raised her eyes to look at him. Sure enough, his eyes were red and so were his nose and ears; he did look intoxicated.

"I am not!" Xu Shizhou retorted.

The embarrassment of his confession disappeared all at once; Xia Yao only thought he was crazy and drunk.

Xia Yao kept glancing at his face and then at what the boy was standing on. There was a school uniform on the pile and her heart became even more annoyed.

"You say you aren't, but you step on my clothes! If you were sober, would you walk on my stuff?! I'm giving three seconds to get away from them!"

Xia Yao was still concerned about the clothes Ji Huai gave her! Xu Shizhou stomped his feet angrily and yelled to overwhelm Xia Yao's own voice: "I'm stepping on it, so what? Do you feel sad because she gave them to you?"

Xia Yao looked down at her clothes and saw that one of them had been trampled to pieces.

Xia Yao: If Xu Shizhou isn't crazy, I for sure am now.

She did not hesitate at all; she reached out and pushed Xu Shizhou vigorously, with only the thought of destroying him in her heart.

Bu Xu Shizhou was tightly holding her shoulder and did not let go. Xia Yao lost her balance too; Xu Shizhou landed on the ground and smoothly caught the girl in his arms.

***

The neatly-dressed butler was indeed looking for him and his voice sounded from behind him: "Young Master, you must know why you were sent to the Xia family house."

Ji Huai looked at the man for a split second and his gaze fell back on the girl who was holding a paper bag and running away.

—Was she in a hurry to go back to her studies?

As soon as she disappeared from sight, Ji Huai turned around and went back in. As he passed the housekeeper, he heard his voice again: "Young Master, your father wants you to get along with miss Xia Xi, not the girl just now. Although Miss Xia Xi is not the biological daughter of the Xia family, she is the jewel in their palm. When the time comes, Xia Xi will be your fiancee, you should have less contact with the other girl."

Ji Huai chuckled. His eyes were indifferent and detached like never before and the loneliness in them was chilling.

"Are you telling me how to handle my life?"

The housekeeper was startled; the young master had always been kind-hearted and had never spoken to him in that stone. He was a little scared and quickly said: "I do not dare."

Ji Huai didn't spare another glance and went straight upstairs. He turned on the computer and hacked into the surveillance of the movie theater. After calculating the time, an image appeared on the screen and he sent it with a single click.

Xia Xi, his fiancee? Outrageous.

But marrying a daughter of the Xia family was pretty good.