Although he was scolded for no reason, Long Aotian felt a subtle change in his state of mind.
After finishing the fruits Li Qingxue had left behind, he patted his stomach contentedly and stood up.
Glancing at the pink hair tie in his hand, Long Aotian tucked it into his pocket. "I'll return it to her when I see her," he thought.
......
Li Qingxue rushed straight to her room as soon as she got home.
Seeing her daughter in such a hurry, Li's Mother said, "Slow down, child. Be careful not to bump into something."
"I know," Li Qingxue replied, her voice trailing off as the sound of the door closing echoed behind her.
Back in her room, Li Qingxue jumped onto her bed, quickly covering herself with her blanket, leaving only her flushed face exposed.
Her teeth clenched, and her cheeks were red—whether from anger or embarrassment, it was hard to tell.
"Stupid Long Aotian, you big jerk..."
Being seen like that the first time had already made her incredibly self-conscious.
She hadn’t gone to the riverside for days because it felt too awkward.
After finally convincing herself that Long Aotian and she were just good friends, that he hadn’t meant anything by it, and that it was all just an accident...
Now it had happened again. Li Qingxue couldn’t help but wonder if Long Aotian’s attention was always focused on that kind of thing.
Her heart was a mix of anger and shame.
Angry because Long Aotian was already with Hu Yuying, yet he still had the audacity to look at her underwear.
Ashamed because, even though she felt she should despise him for it, deep down, she didn’t want to.
This inner conflict left the slightly tsundere girl tangled in a web of emotions.
Her mind wandered to the image of Hu Yuying sitting on the back of Long Aotian’s bike, her face adorned with a sweet, innocent smile.
But then her thoughts shifted to the sensation of being pressed against Long Aotian.
Their bodies had been so close that she could smell the faint scent of his pheromones.
She could even feel the rapid beating of his heart.
And the way his laughter sent vibrations through her body.
At this thought, Li Qingxue clenched her fists. She knew she had developed feelings for Long Aotian that went beyond ordinary friendship.
But Li Qingxue also had her pride. At least for now, they could only be friends.
With this in mind, the strange feelings in her heart gradually subsided.
Still, she buried her face in the blanket, feeling utterly embarrassed.
For a moment, she felt like she was being so bad.
Just then, her phone buzzed.
The blanket shifted slightly as her flushed face peeked out from under it.
She unlocked her phone.
Seeing the message, her already red face turned even redder.
She thrashed around under the blanket, muttering, "Ugh, I can’t face anyone anymore. I’m so embarrassed..."
The message from Long Aotian read: 【Your pink hair tie. I’ll return it to you tomorrow at the usual spot.】
A moment later, a pink pair of underwear was flung out from under the blanket.
"If I hadn’t been wearing this color today, I wouldn’t have overthought it," she thought.
Her mind was just too dirty...
Remembering the confused look on Long Aotian’s face when she called him a jerk, she realized he hadn’t been pretending—he really had been clueless...
On the other side, after sending the message, Long Aotian stared at the photos on his phone, lost in thought.
The two photos were slightly blurry, and even after wiping the small screen with his thumb, they remained unclear.
His phone buzzed again.
Long Aotian glanced at it.
Li Qingxue: 【Sorry for calling you a jerk earlier. How about I treat you to something delicious tomorrow?】
If she hadn’t brought it up, Long Aotian would have forgotten about it.
Li Qingxue: 【Please don’t refuse. I really want to thank you. If it weren’t for you, today would have been a disaster.】
Long Aotian looked at the hair tie beside him and replied, "The cookies were pretty good."
Li Qingxue: 【Ok】
Long Aotian exited the chat and took one last look at the photos before turning off his phone and heading to take a shower.
Li Qingxue sighed in relief. "What a huge misunderstanding today turned out to be."
She shook her head and pulled out a piece of lingerie from a small drawer in her wardrobe.
As she held it, her body stiffened, and she quickly checked the items she was wearing.
Her hair clip was black, her phone case was pink, and she decided to wear blue jeans tomorrow—no color clashes with the purple she was holding.
After putting it on, she walked out of her room and sweetly said, "Mom, can you make me some cookies?"
"It’s late. How about tomorrow?"
"No, no, I want them now. Please, please, my dear mommy?"
Unable to resist her daughter’s acting spoiled, Li's Mother gave in. "Alright then."
"Yay, thank you, Mom!"
"How many do you want?"
Thinking of how Long Aotian had devoured the cookies earlier, Li Qingxue decided to ask for more. "A lot."
"Can you finish them all?"
Li Qingxue nodded confidently. "Yes, I can."
"Mom, can I try making some too?" Seeing how effortlessly her mother worked, Li Qingxue felt it couldn’t be that hard.
"Of course. It’s really simple."
Under her mother’s guidance, Li Qingxue washed her hands and started trying her hand at cookie-making.
"I’ll make a bunny shape."
Looking at the "bunny" her daughter had crafted, Li's Mother’s lips twitched slightly.
Good thing she hadn’t let Qingxue take up drawing.
But not wanting to crush her daughter’s confidence, she said, "What a cute little bunny."
Praise from her mother made Li Qingxue even prouder.
To her, her creation seemed flawless, as if viewed through a filter.
After finishing, she packed the cookies into a box to bring to Long Aotian tomorrow.
Once everything was done, Li Qingxue took a shower and got back into bed.
Perhaps it was the satisfaction of her mother’s praise or the freshness of her shower, but Li Qingxue wasn’t sleepy yet.
She opened her phone and started scrolling through her social media feed.
But as soon as she entered, she frowned.
【Till mountains crumble and heaven and earth merge, only then will I part from you...】 (Caption: A shadow under a streetlight.)
【How can you lose something you never had...】 (Caption: A shadow under a streetlight, looking up at a 45-degree angle.)
【I finally opened my heart, only for you to shatter it completely...】 (Caption: A shadow under a streetlight, looking down at a 45-degree angle.)
【......】
She scrolled up, passing by various posts, but they all seemed to stop at (Caption: A shadow under a streetlight, lost in melancholy.)
Li Qingxue frowned. "Why are there so many of these?"
She clicked "block."
Instantly, the once gloomy feed returned to its colorful, lively state.
Feeling much better, she happily browsed through her friends’ updates, liking and commenting on their posts—something that always brought her joy...