Chapter 159: There's no rule against letting you hug

Phone pressed to her chest, Xia Xi closed her eyes and pondered for a moment, but still felt it wasn't good to let Xu Yanfeng break his original plan, so she messaged him: "I can go play ball with you. I probably know all your friends."

His friends are just Fu Li, Tang Yizhou and a few others, right? After hanging out a few times, she wouldn't feel awkward or uncomfortable.

Xu Yanfeng had reservations and asked her to confirm: "Have you decided?"

Xia Xi didn't understand: "What's the big deal?"

After a few seconds, Xia Xi had a sudden thought that something seemed off, and she further asked him: "What sport are you playing?"

Xu Yanfeng replied: "Golf."

Xia Xi fell silent.

She recalled some unpleasant scenes; earlier, to get close to Xu Yanfeng, she had gone to Maple Leaf Lake Golf Course to stage a chance encounter with him, made a huge fool of herself, not hitting a single decent shot, instead digging several holes in the turf. Tang Yizhou mercilessly mocked her, and swinging a club there for a morning could plow two mu of land…

Xia Xi covered her eyes, unable to bear the memory. After that, she hardly practiced golf at all; as time passed, her skills only deteriorated, and if she played again, she'd still only embarrass herself.

She cared about her image and wasn't keen on showing her less-than-excellent side.

Xu Yanfeng probably guessed what she was thinking and sent: "That's why I asked if you'd made up your mind."

Xia Xi sighed; the words were already out, taking them back was impossible, so golf it would be—worst case, she'd go to the course and just cheer Xu Yanfeng on from the sidelines without swinging a club.

She replied to Xu Yanfeng: "I've decided, I'm going."

Xu Yanfeng stopped asking other things: "I'll come pick you up then."

Xia Xi said "Okay."

As the saying goes, "Rain falls incessantly during the Qingming season," the two days before the holiday had been drizzling, and the temperature had dropped a bit.

Xia Xi went nowhere, just camped out in the library studying, leaving early and returning late.

Zhao Lei teased her, saying everyone claims love affects studies, yet she, after falling in love, had become even more diligent; although she had always been serious about her studies before, she never reached the point of neglecting sleep and food, but lately she had been studying in the library until it closed before heading back to the dorm.

Xia Xi's response was: "Who let her date a guy with such an impressive family background and such a sharp mind? If she didn't work hard, how could she match him?"

The atmosphere grew a little tense; Zhao Lei didn't dare to respond, not because she was afraid, but because the topic was too real and heavy—she worried she might slip up, her words inadequate, affecting Xia Xi's mood. In fact, she wanted to say, a family like Xu Yanfeng's makes it hard for them to achieve fruition together.

I heard Xia Xi's family is well off, running a restaurant with a good local reputation, but compared to the richest Xu family, the gap is still considerable.

Bringing this up now seems too distant; perhaps the Xu family doesn't care about pedigree, so Zhao Lei went ahead and shared her thoughts without dampening the mood.

On the last day of the holiday, cloudy turning to sunny, the temperature rose slightly, Xia Xi woke up early and received a message from Xu Yanfeng: "No need to buy breakfast, I've brought yours."

Xia Xi chuckled, replied with a cute little green dinosaur emoji, put her phone down, and proceeded to do her makeup.

In her imagination, Xu Yanfeng should be wearing all white today; she pulled out a spring outfit she'd recently bought online—a white shirt, somewhat sheer, with a matching camisole underneath, and a off-white half-skirt embroidered with some openwork dark patterns.

Wang Qiuyu gave her a once-over: "Whoa, you look so artsy and ladylike."

Xia Xi slung a small bag over her shoulder, turned in front of the mirror, and said: "Occasionally changing up my style—doesn't it look good?"

Wang Qiuyu stared: "With that face, nothing looks bad on you."

Xia Xi was in high spirits, waved at them, and said: "Bye, I'm going on a date."

"Have fun!" they kicked their legs, urging her to hurry up and leave, stop showing off their love.

Xia Xi went downstairs, jogged out, and at the girls' dormitory gate spotted Xu Yanfeng's Mercedes. Both windows were rolled down, he had one arm resting on the windowsill, wearing casual white sportswear—she had guessed right.

Xu Yanfeng also saw her, his expression slightly stiff, he picked up the paper bag on the passenger seat, leaned over the center console, and opened the car door for her. Xia Xi had just walked up, reaching to pull the door handle, when the door was suddenly pushed open from inside; she froze for a moment, then bent and got in.

A weight settled on her lap—Xu Yanfeng had placed a kraft paper bag there, the breakfast he'd brought for her.

Xu Yanfeng rolled up his window, looked at her, and said with a hint of hesitation: "You're dressed like that… to play golf?"

"Why not?" Xia Xi countered.

Xu Yanfeng wanted to say the skirt might be inconvenient, but he swallowed the words. Never mind, as long as she was happy, he reminded her to fasten her seatbelt.

Xia Xi didn't even glance at the seatbelt, leaned left, and wrapped her arms around his right arm.

Xu Yanfeng was surprised, eyebrows slightly raised: "What are you doing?"

"We haven't seen each other in a few days—can't I hug you?" Xia Xi stared into his eyes and accused him, "No kissing, no hugging either? Do you have any sense? What kind of relationship is this, am I dating a monk?"

Xu Yanfeng: "……"

Before he could say anything, she already had a barrage of comments ready; if he dared to refute even a sentence, she would surely kick up a fuss.

Xu Yanfeng paused a moment, his voice steady and calm, trying to avoid a tone of rebuttal so as not to provoke more dissatisfaction: "It hasn't even been a few days—just two. And I never said you couldn't hug me."

Those two points, he needed to make clear.

Who knew Xia Xi would still be dissatisfied: "Are you arguing with me?"

Xu Yanfeng wanted to protest his innocence—what part of his words sounded like rebuttal? Wasn't he just communicating calmly with her?

"Xia Xi, who exactly is being unreasonable?" he laughed.

Seeing the faint curl of his lips, Xia Xi decided to magnanimously forgive him, instantly switching gears, she whispered softly near his ear: "Honey, your smile is especially… alluring." Her heart pounded like a startled deer, and she really wanted him to hear it.

Xu Yanfeng stopped laughing; hearing that nickname made it impossible for him to laugh: "Eat your breakfast, it'll get cold soon." He spoke in a cold, detached tone.

Xia Xi quickly changed the subject: "Do you like me?"

Xu Yanfeng blinked, his guard instinctively rising as he looked down at her—what new charge was she about to pin on him?

Xia Xi shook his arm: "Answer me."

Xu Yanfeng said: "I don't like you—why would I be with you, just to create trouble for myself?"

"Then when did you start liking me?" Xia Xi pressed, holding back the upturn of her lips.

Xu Yanfeng pressed his lips together, unwilling to lie, but if he answered truthfully, she'd have leverage over him. Since there was a long stretch between his falling for her and agreeing to be together, she'd realize his apparent indifference during that period was just an act.

"Why aren't you speaking?" Xia Xi had been watching him; he wasn't just silent, he turned his face toward the window, clearly hiding something.

She held his face, turned it to face her, and guessed a bit: "Did you actually like me all along? How long? Since New Year's? Surely not just last semester?"

Xu Yanfeng refused to speak: "Xia Xi, we're going to be late."

Xia Xi grit her teeth in silence, realizing she wouldn't get an answer, and let go of him.

Xu Yanfeng leaned over to buckle her seatbelt; she opened the paper bag on her lap, expecting a sandwich or xiaolongbao, but found a bowl of noodles and a drink instead.

"Such a hardcore breakfast?" Xia Xi muttered, then tore open the container lid—it was snow-vegetable minced meat double combo beef noodle soup; the scent instantly triggered her memory of it, she froze for three seconds, looked up at Xu Yanfeng, and asked, "How did you know I like this noodle dish?"

That shop is far from the school, but she had eaten there a few times back when she was at Lao Xiao Qu.

Xu Yanfeng had an utterly ordinary expression, as if it were no big deal: "You posted it on your Moments."

Xia Xi completely doesn't remember having posted such a Moments update; even if she had, it was a long time ago, back when she was at Lao Xiao Qu. Could it be… she realized something, and turned to look at him again: "Did you go through all my Moments from the past few years?"

What else did he discover???

Xia Xi frowned, racking her brains to recall, forgetting what outrageous things she had once said on her Moments.