Shi Yang took Zhao ii and left the park directly.
While biking ho, Shi Yang pressed Zhao ii’s head with his chin and instructed, "ii, don’t ntion what you saw just now to your parents at ho, okay? Otherwise, your parents might think I’m leading you astray."
Zhao ii nodded in agreent, her small expression extrely calm: "Mm, I know, I definitely won’t tell anyone. But actually, it’s no big deal. It’s always on TV. Isn’t it just two people getting together and biting lips? I’ve seen it before."
Shi Yang pressed down with his chin forcefully as a warning, making Zhao ii yelp in pain.
Shi Yang scolded her, "Watch less of such TV shows in the future!"
Zhao ii shrank her neck back and behaved quietly.
The sumr vacation passed quickly. After Shi Yang received his university acceptance letter, his father arranged to hold a banquet for him. A lot of people ca that night, and Shi Yang’s father took Shi Yang’s mother and him around to et friends.
Zhao ii sat with her parents in the best seat in the front row, craning her neck, searching around for her Brother Yangyang.
Shi Yang had a genuine smile on his face, politely listening to his father introduce him and his mother to friends, while he cooperated and greeted them courteously.
Shi Yang occasionally turned his head to see what Zhao ii and her parents were doing. Whenever he turned his head, he always t Zhao ii’s smiling gaze.
A warm current surged in Shi Yang’s heart, and he secretly smiled and winked at Zhao ii across the crowd.
When the banquet ended, Shi Yang’s parents were busy seeing off guests. Shi Yang slipped out of the restaurant by himself and nestled on a sofa chair in the corner of the hall to calm his emotions.
Tonight was the first ti Shi Yang’s father introduced Shi Yang and his mother to everyone. Shi Yang leaned back on the sofa chair, savoring the complex feeling of sourness and slight bitterness that ca after his internal ecstasy.
Zhao ii sneaked out to find Shi Yang. She squeezed onto the sofa chair next to Shi Yang, and just as she was about to speak, Shi Yang turned around and hugged her tightly, burying his face into her shoulder.
Zhao ii was stunned for a mont but then slid her hand under Shi Yang’s arm to hug him back, trying to make her small body as comfortable for Shi Yang as possible.
Zhao ii didn’t ask anything, and Shi Yang didn’t say anything either, but Zhao ii clearly felt that her always invincible Brother Yangyang had beco exceptionally fragile at this mont, as if a breeze could cause deep cracks.
Zhao ii pursed her lips, imitating her mother’s comforting motions, gently patting Shi Yang’s back to express her silent support.
Zhao ii actually didn’t know why her Brother Yangyang seed so sad at that mont. In her view, going to university was sothing that would make parents and friends proud, sothing good, nothing to be sad about.
Shi Yang held Zhao ii quietly for a while, rubbed his face against her shoulder twice, and then raised his head.
Zhao ii was just about to ask why Shi Yang wasn’t happy when she saw Shi Yang’s eyes suddenly redden, and his thick eyelashes lightly tremble, showing genuine emotion and revealing subtle feelings.
Shi Yang reached up and rubbed his eyes with force, blinked upwards, and then looked down at Zhao ii again, with a slightly embarrassed smile: "Today was the first ti my dad introduced and my mom to his friends. I was just a bit too happy."
It was the first ti in Shi Yang’s life that he honestly expressed his true feelings to outsiders, showing his vulnerable side. In his mind, he completely considered Zhao ii as one of his own, with no need to hide anything from her.
Shi Yang went to the provincial capital for university, and Zhao ii officially started fifth grade.
Fifth grade for Zhao ii wasn’t much different from the fourth grade. Other than changing classrooms and deskmates, she still spent her days being mischievous in class, consistently ranking in the top three on exams.
In the second week of Zhao ii’s fifth-grade year, her family got a landline phone, belonging to their ho. The phone was installed by soone arranged by the factory. Anyone who wanted to install one just had to pay, and workers would co to set it up and connect the signal for use.
Since Zhao ii’s family got their phone installed, Zhao ii insisted on making a long-distance call to Shi Yang every day. She would call, Shi Yang would hang up, and then call her back.
Liu Xiue often nagged Zhao ii, "Don’t keep calling your Brother Yangyang for no reason. Long-distance calls are so expensive!"
Zhao ii lowered her eyelids and said nothing.
Her Brother Yangyang went to university, and they’d be apart for almost half a year without seeing each other. If she didn’t keep in touch with calls, Zhao ii feared Shi Yang would grow distant and wouldn’t want to play with her anymore.
Every ti Zhao ii thought about the possibility of her Brother Yangyang, after four years of university, forgetting who she was, she felt uneasy. She absolutely couldn’t allow that to happen, not even the slightest hint of it.
During winter break, Shi Yang returned and went straight to report at Liu Xiue’s grocery store with his luggage.
Liu Xiue had gone ho to cook, leaving Zhao ii and Xu Xu to mind the store.
At that ti, Zhao ii and Xu Xu were roasting tangerines together. Xu Xu was helping to roast, while Zhao ii carefully peeled the roasted ones, wrapping them in newspapers.
When Shi Yang opened the grocery store door, Zhao ii and Xu Xu both turned their heads. Zhao ii’s eyes widened in surprise, and she shouted excitedly, "Brother Yangyang!"
Xu Xu was just turning to look at Shi Yang when sothing hot suddenly burnt his hand. He quickly lowered his head to find that Zhao ii, in her excitent, had thrown the peeled tangerine into his lap.
Zhao ii dashed into Shi Yang’s embrace, spreading her arms wide for a hug, and shouted excitedly, "Bro! Brother Yangyang!"
Shi Yang tossed aside the suitcase and reached out to hug Zhao ii. If the grocery store wasn’t so cramped, he would’ve loved to spin Zhao ii around a couple of tis.
The two of them hadn’t seen each other for half a year, both feeling the eagerness and excitent of reuniting. Being in each other’s arms felt completely different from their playful embraces before, bringing a sense of finally finding their "tribe," kindling a joyous reunion.
Zhao ii buried herself in Shi Yang’s embrace, deeply inhaling the scent of cold and warm mingled, from the down jacket of him. Holding him tight for a mont, she raised her head to confirm it was indeed her Brother Yangyang, who hadn’t changed one bit, still the person who cherished and liked her.
Zhao ii happily tugged at Shi Yang’s clothes: "Brother Yangyang, lean down."
Shi Yang’s eyes glowed with a smile as he leaned in cooperatively.
Zhao ii wrapped her arms around his neck, planted a loud kiss, joyfully expressing her happiness.
Xu Xu pursed his lips and stood silently on the side, clutching the still hot roasted tangerine through the newspaper, watching Zhao ii clinging to Shi Yang. Suddenly, Xu Xu instinctively realized that vying for affection was his true path in life.
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