"Xi Xi, why aren't you leaving yet?"

At the school gate, Xue Lan suddenly appeared behind the young girl, patting her on the shoulder with a mischievous grin. "Did you get a boyfriend? Waiting for him to go home with you?"

"Tomorrow is Saturday, surely you have some date plans, right?"

The young girl remained silent, not even glancing at her.

Xue Lan didn't feel awkward at all; instead, she kept chattering away about gossip, like who was dating whom and who broke up with whom.

Strangely, even though Chen Xi didn't respond, she didn't refuse to listen either. She stood there quietly, looking at the school gate as if lost in thought.

A small car slowly appeared in front of the two girls, honking at them. Xue Lan immediately waved to the person inside the car, then turned to bid farewell to her friend:

"Xi Xi, my mom's here to pick me up. See you next week!"

Chen Xi still stood there, silent, not even greeting the woman in the car. She just looked outside the school, as if expecting someone.

Amidst the bustling crowd, a conspicuous red electric scooter appeared, and she walked straight towards it.

"You're late," the young girl glanced at her watch and said, "3 minutes and 27 seconds."

Yan Feng's mouth twitched, feeling a bit embarrassed. He repeatedly apologized, steadied the scooter, and after the young girl settled in, he twisted the handlebar and drove forward.

Facing the wind, the man smiled and asked, "How was your day at the university?"

"It was okay."

The response seemed hard to continue the conversation, but he wasn't discouraged and persistently asked, "Since you just transferred here, have you made any new friends?"

Chen Xi paused for a moment, then shook her head.

"No."

Yan Feng was once again at a loss for words, unable to endure the awkwardness between them, he had to keep quiet.

On the road, amidst the heavy traffic, the young girl sat on the back seat of the scooter, looking at the man's waist in front of her, her eyes flickering as if pondering something.

Her hands on the seat were gripping tightly, but far less stable than when they rested on his waist that day, yet...

Chen Xi frowned slightly, bit her lip, and turned her gaze to the side.

Ahead was a red light, and the scooter carrying them slowly came to a stop. Her gaze naturally fell on a nearby bus.

Through the glass, inside was a woman holding a child, eating a lollipop handed to her by the child, smiling contentedly.

Chen Xi quickly shifted her gaze elsewhere. For her, looking at rows of lonely trees was better than seeing others' happiness.

At this moment, Yan Feng, sitting in front, asked, "By the way, tomorrow is Saturday, Little Xi, are you free?"

The young girl responded with a light "hmm."

He continued, "Then tomorrow I'll take you to buy some daily necessities. I mentioned before that you need some clothes for everyday wear."

Chen Xi again responded with a light "hmm," barely agreeing.

The red light ahead turned green, and the man twisted the handlebar, the scooter surged forward, and after some hesitation, the young girl tightly gripped the seat beneath her.

…………

The next morning.

Yan Feng took Chen Xi to the mall.

Perhaps this girl hadn't bought clothes much before and wasn't very talkative, so she looked adorably clumsy, following the man woodenly. When a salesperson approached, she instinctively hid behind him.

But buying clothes was indeed a challenge for Yan Feng. As a 28-year-old single man, he had never been to women's clothing stores to buy clothes. If it weren't for the slow delivery of online shopping, he wouldn't have braved the awkwardness to discuss the comfort of women's clothing with the saleswoman...

After some selection, Yan Feng bought the girl two sets of seasonal clothes, along with pajamas and some intimate wear that he signaled the store clerk to pick out with his eyes and gestures.

At that moment, the man sat on the sofa outside the fitting room, sweating profusely.

Damn, who knew how he managed to communicate with the lingerie store clerk with gestures and expressions? The whole process was pure torture, almost being mistaken for someone with a disability, more nerve-wracking than negotiating his biggest deals.

Just then, the fitting room door slowly opened, and Yan Feng turned his head, momentarily stunned.

Clear eyes, snowy skin, a sight to behold, dressed in a blue and white pleated skirt that complemented her exquisitely beautiful face, creating a stunningly picturesque scene.

Most importantly, Chen Xi looked so much like her mother.

The moment the young girl stepped out of the fitting room, Yan Feng was momentarily dazed, as if he had truly returned to the past, seeing the young Bai Xi walking towards him, smiling gently, with those eyes like autumn waters...

His gaze met a pair of eyes cold to the extreme, and his wandering consciousness immediately returned to his body. Yan Feng felt his throat dry, swallowed, and nodded, not daring to look at the young girl again.

"It suits you well."

"Mm..."

Chen Xi didn't say much either, just lowered her head, pinching the hem of her skirt with her small hands, letting out an almost imperceptible sigh of relief, and only followed the man out of the clothing store after he got up.

It was nearing noon, and Yan Feng took the young girl into a noodle shop by the roadside.

"Hello, what would you like to eat?"

The waitress was a young girl, warmly greeting the two of them.

Seated, Yan Feng looked at the transformed, stunning young girl in front of him, suppressing the déjà vu of Bai Xi in his heart, and asked with a smile, "Little Xi, is there anything you'd like to eat?"

The response was casual, just one word: "Anything."

The man chuckled, suddenly recalling that he used to say the same thing when he went to noodle shops with his sister, probably because he wasn't familiar with the place and felt a bit shy.

So he casually ordered two plates of fried noodles and a small plate of smashed cucumber. Just as he was about to finish speaking to the waitress, his gaze caught the young girl's overly slender arms.

"Add a plate of cold beef salad," Yan Feng instructed.

Before long, the fried noodles were served, but to Yan Feng's surprise, the cold beef salad he ordered for Chen Xi remained mostly untouched.

She probably really didn't like it, but he couldn't force her. It wasn't much anyway, and he could eat it himself to avoid waste.

The man continued eating his noodles, checking messages on his phone, while on the other side, Chen Xi, sitting opposite, used her keen hearing to catch a faint sound.

"Did you see them? The two people sitting over there."

At a nearby table, two girls were whispering to each other.

"I saw, I saw. That guy is so handsome, and the girl is so pretty. Her skin is amazing, it's making my heart flutter..."

"I bet they're siblings! How about we go ask that guy for his WeChat?"

"No way... I think they look more like a couple..."

Hearing this, Chen Xi was momentarily stunned, her chopsticks clattering onto the table. She immediately turned her head, her eyes cold, glaring at the two girls.

"What's wrong?" Yan Feng asked with concern.

"Nothing," Chen Xi resumed her previous posture, looking at the man's bowl with only a little fried noodles left, and slowly said, "Weren't we going to buy daily necessities? When are we leaving?"