Chen Shuo held his breath, not knowing where to look.
Just as Su Xiyan's soft lips were about to meet Chen Shuo's, someone accidentally hit the back recline button of the passenger seat.
The front passenger seat reclined backwards.
Chen Shuo was lying on the reclined seat, and Su Xiyan also lost her balance in the cramped space, falling towards Chen Shuo.
Chen Shuo instinctively put his hand on Su Xiyan's shoulder to stop her from falling into an awkward position.
In that instant, the two were very close to each other, close enough to hear each other's breathing and heartbeat.
Their eyes met. Su Xiyan's eyes were cold yet fiery hot.
Those eyes were like they had a magic power, making Chen Shuo feel he would sink into them the next second.
He quickly averted his gaze, reaching out to open the car door, "It would be easier if we switch positions!"
After saying that, Chen Shuo got out of the car.
Watching Chen Shuo's back as he left, Su Xiyan felt very annoyed inside.
Too much! He escaped again!!
Then, Chen Shuo drove Su Xiyan's car, heading north towards his home.
Su Xiyan sat in the passenger seat, playing on her phone, sneaking glances at him from time to time to see if Chen Shuo was looking at her phone screen.
Because right now Su Xiyan was telling her best friend Cheng Xinran about her progress with Chen Shuo.
After briefly explaining, Cheng Xinran directly sent her multiple question marks.
In summary, it was just one sentence: I told you to kiss and hug him, not to complete it so quickly!
So it turns out she was too impatient?
Luckily, she didn't scare Chen Shuo away.
Su Xiyan felt that although the feeling of love was wonderful, she still needed to restrain herself a bit.
From now on, she was going to change her approach!
After driving for over an hour, they finally arrived at Chen Shuo's hometown.
Chen Shuo's home was in an old neighborhood in the northern part of Sucheng. The neighborhood was quite old, still having those old 5-story buildings without elevators.
As night fell, many middle-aged women were dancing in the neighborhood square, while middle-aged men watched on the sidelines. Occasionally a few unretired men would join the dancing.
Seeing Chen Shuo return, several elders immediately beamed:
"Isn't this the Chen family kid? Back from school for vacation?"
"Just a few months without seeing you, seems you got even more handsome!"
Chen Shuo politely greeted several elders: "Grandma Li, Aunt Liu, Auntie Ye."
The middle-aged women noticed Su Xiyan behind Chen Shuo, their gaze immediately drawn to her:
"Oh, what a beauty this young lady is! So delicate!"
"Even I have seen girls from all over at my age, never seen one as pretty as her!"
"Shuo Shuo, she is..."
The middle-aged women asked meaningfully, "Could she be your girlfriend?"
Chen Shuo: "Well..."
Before Chen Shuo could answer, Su Xiyan confidently stepped forward to interrupt him with a gentle smile, "Yes! I'm Chen Shuo's girlfriend. You can call me Little Su."
The middle-aged women beamed, "So she really is Shuo Shuo's girlfriend?"
"Shuo Shuo has grown up, able to bring a girlfriend home after just a few months of college."
"No way, I have to call my eldest grandson right now. Tell him to learn from Shuo Shuo and find a girlfriend this pretty too."
...
After greeting several familiar elders, Chen Shuo brought Su Xiyan towards his building.
Under the night sky, Su Xiyan curiously looked around the neighborhood Chen Shuo grew up in, seemingly wanting to relive his past through the plants and scenery.
The lights in the corridors were broken, flickering on and off.
Afraid Su Xiyan would trip walking in high heels, Chen Shuo turned on his phone's flashlight to light the way.
The casual thoughtful gesture made Su Xiyan's lips curl up sweetly in the dim light.
Chen Shuo's home was on the second floor.
He took out his keys from his backpack and opened the door.
The long uninhabited house had a cold deserted smell.
With a snap, he turned on the light.
What appeared before Su Xiyan's eyes was the layout of an ordinary household.
Compared to Haiyi Apartment's upscale decor, Chen Shuo's home had a true lived-in warmth.
"No extra slippers, let me get the guest ones from the cabinet." Chen Shuo took out a new pair of guest slippers from the front hall cabinet.
But Su Xiyan pointed at the ones Chen Shuo was wearing, "I want to wear yours."
Chen Shuo: "...Forget it, you're the guest. Whatever you say goes."
Su Xiyan corrected Chen Shuo, "Chen Shuo, watch your words. What guest? I'm the future mistress of this household."
After saying so, Su Xiyan leisurely wandered through Chen Shuo's home as if she really was the mistress.
Under the TV cabinet in the living room was a family portrait photo frame that Su Xiyan picked up and curiously examined.
The house hadn't been lived in for a long time and Chen Shuo still had a lot to do!
First he went to turn on the electric water heater so there would be hot water to shower later at night. Then he took out four sets of bedsheets from the closet to make the beds.
The house was small with just two bedrooms.
The main bedroom was where Chen Shuo's parents slept. The second bedroom was Chen Shuo's room.
After making the beds, as Chen Shuo walked towards the living room he said to Su Xiyan, "You can sleep in my parents' room tonight! They haven't lived here for years. I've put on all new sheets and covers for you."
Su Xiyan didn't reply. Sitting on the sofa holding something as she looked through it, occasionally laughing out loud.
Seeing the empty spot next to the TV cabinet, Chen Shuo had a bad feeling!
What Su Xiyan was looking at couldn't be...
As expected, when Chen Shuo went over, in Su Xiyan's hands was his family photo album!!
That photo album was very thick with an old red plastic cover, printed with gaudy decorative flowers.
It contained all of Chen Shuo's photos from birth until now.
At that time it was popular for parents to take bare butt photos of their kids, a real source of black history!!
If Su Xiyan saw those...
Chen Shuo was instantly mortified!
Su Xiyan pointed at a childhood photo of Chen Shuo, "Haha! Chen Shuo, you looked just like a girl as a kid!"
"If not for you wearing split-crotch pants, I really would have thought these were photos of your older sister or younger sister!"
Damn it! Look if you want to look!! Does this woman need to critique too??
Chen Shuo quickly flipped the photo album forward, "Better to look at my gallant handsome photos when I grew up!"
Su Xiyan flipped the album back again, "No way, I haven't finished looking yet!"