Chapter 48: I don't mind you, we've kissed anyway.

Lin Yu shook his head.

"So you don't know." Su Wanwan's eyes lit up. Just as she was feeling pleased, she heard Lin Yu say:

"When I shook my head, I meant I cannot tell you whether Shen-ge has someone he likes. I would never betray a good friend."

Su Wanwan slightly frowned. "The way you put it makes it sound like he *does* have someone he likes. Does he really have a white moonlight? No wonder he ignores me."

No, she had to ask him face-to-face.

The corners of Lin Yu's lips curved upward into a silent smile as he continued scrubbing the clothes.

Su Wanwan pressed on, "Then what was his reaction these past few days when he saw the notes I wrote? You can tell me that much, right?"

Xie Beishen suddenly bolted upright from the bed.

Lin Yu recalled how Shen-ge looked every time he laid eyes on those notes.

His heart was all aflutter.
He was experiencing his first awakening of love.
He was completely captivated.

Today, because he didn't receive a note at lunch, he couldn't even finish his meal.

Every time he looked at those notes, he would smile. He rarely used to smile before; it was simply unwatchable.

Yet he couldn't speak of it. If he did, Shen-ge would surely hack him to pieces.

He shook his head. "Even if I knew, I wouldn't say. I don't betray good friends."

Su Wanwan let out a cold "humph." "You really are a loyal friend."

She pouting her lips. "Sigh, you're completely clueless about everything. Well, are the injuries on his hands healed yet? Surely you know that much."

Lin Yu thought for a moment. "This I do know. They're healed."

"You really something else. Be more careful next time. In this scorching weather, infections happen the easiest," Su Wanwan said.

Lin Yu abruptly halted his hands. "Shen-ge's hand injury has nothing to do with me. The one who beat him up wasn't me."

*Clatter.*

The sound came from Xie Beishen's room.

Su Wanwan and Lin Yu simultaneously turned their gazes toward Xie Beishen's room.

Su Wanwan quickly stood up and walked toward the room.

In her mind, she was still pondering Lin Yu's words: if Xie Beishen's hand wasn't injured by him, why had he lied to her last time and claimed Lin Yu caused it?

Just then, as she reached the doorway, Xie Beishen was in the midst of picking up an enamel mug from the floor.

Obviously, the sound just now had been made by the enamel mug, and water stains were splattered across the floor.

Su Wanwan still gave a light knock on the door.

Xie Beishen turned his head to look at her, placed the enamel mug back on the table, casually picked up a bottle of soda, cracked it open, took a large gulp, and set it back down.

Su Wanwan walked in with a smile. "Xie Beishen, we haven't seen each other for a whole week. Did you miss me?"

"Can you speak properly? Straighten out your tongue," Xie Beishen said.

Who could withstand such a sugary-sweet voice?

Outside, Lin Yu was utterly dumbfounded. Su Wanwan was simply too direct.

Su Wanwan looked at Xie Beishen with sparkling eyes. "Did you receive my notes? Why didn't you reply to them?"

Her gaze was so scorching that Xie Beishen almost drowned in it. He hurriedly averted his eyes. "Received them. Didn't have time to reply."

Every single note was luring him; how was he supposed to reply?

Su Wanwan's gaze dimmed slightly.

She looked at the dozens of bottles of soda on the table, which hadn't been there the last time she came. "Do you like drinking this that much? You bought so many."

Xie Beishen glanced at the soda on the table. "I drink them occasionally. If you want one, help yourself."

Outside, Lin Yu dug at his ear. Shen-ge hadn't even drunk a single bottle of the ones he bought. His own share had long since been finished, and when he asked this guy for one, he wouldn't part with a single bottle, as if they were just put there for decoration.

Su Wanwan glanced at the soda bottle he had drunk from. "I want some, but I can't finish a whole bottle by myself if I open a new one."

"Then take the rest home to drink." Xie Beishen picked a fresh bottle from the table and placed it in front of Su Wanwan.

Su Wanwan pointed to the half-finished bottle of soda he had drunk from and asked, "Can I drink this one instead?"

Xie Beishen lifted his eyes to look at her. Her sparkling eyes seemed filled with stars, gazing at him with burning intensity.

"You drink the new one. Th-this... I've already drunk from it."

Su Wanwan decided to just be straightforward. She had been chasing him for so long with zero progress; it was driving her mad.

Did this guy really have a white moonlight?

Su Wanwan pulled a chair over to Xie Beishen's bedside and sat down. Face-to-face, she said directly:

"I just want the one you drank from. Do you agree or not?" Her clear eyes unconsciously carried a trace of nervousness as she stared intently to gauge his expression.

Surely she was direct enough now.

Xie Beishen's ears instantly grew hot. "That's what I've drunk from. Do you often drink things other people have already drunk from?"

He remembered his grandfather talking about how back in the war days, several comrades would share a single coarse-grain bun, and they would all take turns drinking from the same canteen.

It must be because conditions in the countryside were limited. Since coming to the countryside, he had seen many people do things like that.

Could Su Wanwan be the same?

"How is that possible? I find things other people have eaten from repulsive. Besides, you aren't just 'other people'." Su Wanwan paused, then added, "I don't find you repulsive. Anyway, we've already kissed."

Who told him to be so dense? She naturally had to be direct.

*Clatter.*

That sounded like the basin falling outside.

Xie Beishen's eyelids twitched uncontrollably and fiercely. A faint flush rushed across his entire face.

His heart thumped wildly, *thump, thump, thump*.

The people he had liked back in the residential compound always expressed their romantic interest very subtly.

He had never seen a girl so bold and direct.

He quickly stood up from the bed and walked toward the door.

Xie Beishen saw Lin Yu holding a washbasin, staring right into his room.

Shock was written all over Lin Yu's face. When on earth had these two kissed? How come he had no idea?

Xie Beishen glared coldly at Lin Yu before slamming the door shut with a heavy thud.

Only then did he turn back to walk toward Su Wanwan.

"Su Wanwan," he called her name, his deep gaze fixed upon her. "I am going home in half a year, and half a year after that, I will enlist in the army. Once in the troops, I won't be able to come out for a very long time. I heard your older brother is also in the military—hasn't he also been away for a long time without coming back? If the two of us get together, we will be separated most of the time. Can you accept that?"

He would never be someone who toyed with feelings. Once they started dating, it was a matter for a lifetime, with marriage as the ultimate goal.

In half a year he would enter the military. Even if they started dating now, their chances of meeting in the coming years would be few and far between.

He had grown up in the residential compound and had witnessed far too many couples whose relationships deteriorated due to long-term separation.

If they became a couple, he would definitely have to take her back to the capital.

In the compound, he wouldn't be able to accompany her every day either. For a recruit just entering the military, it would be extremely difficult to meet up. Could she adapt to living in the compound and living with his family?

Furthermore, his grandmother would certainly disapprove of him marrying someone from these parts. He would strive to persuade his grandmother, but would she face this together with him?

There were simply too many problems to resolve once they got together. Dating meant a lifetime commitment.

The primary question right now was whether she could accept a long-term separation—at least for the first few years of his military service.

Su Wanwan was momentarily stunned. She hadn't expected Xie Beishen to bring this up. Thinking of her older brother, hadn't he indeed stayed away for over three years without returning?