Huo Chao was momentarily stunned when he saw Shu Jia Er.
When did she get here? Did she see Shu Er?
With her hands on her hips, Shu Jia Er circled around Huo Chao in small steps, looking like a chipmunk from a Disney cartoon.
Huo Chao: ???
On the surface, Shu Jia Er appeared calm, but inside, she was a mess. She kept circling around Huo Chao, just like a chipmunk, trying to settle her emotions.
The bell had already rung, and nearby students holding drinks were rushing back to their classrooms. As they passed by, they couldn’t help but glance at the two of them.
Because the scene looked so strange! But everyone was hurrying to class and didn’t stop to watch. Plus, they wouldn’t dare to gawk at Huo Chao, nor would they dare to ask him anything.
Just as Shu Jia Er was about to circle him a few more times, Huo Chao grabbed her arm. “Aren’t you dizzy from spinning around like that?”
Shu Jia Er stopped. Normally, she would’ve stubbornly said, “No, I want to keep spinning,” but today, she wasn’t in the mood for her usual antics.
Once she stopped, they both fell into silence.
From the classroom building, voices echoed loudly with students greeting their teachers, signaling the start of class. Only the two of them remained outside the sports equipment room, standing there, staring at each other.
Shu Jia Er felt that this awkward silence wasn’t her style. She took a deep breath and suddenly asked, “Is it because I saved you?”
“What?”
“I heard what you said to her just now. Are you standing so firmly by my side because I saved you when we were younger?” Although it was taking advantage of her body’s original identity, strictly speaking, it wasn’t Shu Jia Er who had saved him. But transmigrating meant inheriting everything about this body, didn’t it? Once she transmigrated, she had become this person completely.
Huo Chao had already guessed that Shu Jia Er might have overheard something, and once he confirmed it from her, he felt relieved. Being overheard was far better than being misunderstood.
If Shu Jia Er had misunderstood, that would have been a disaster.
After all, Huo Chao had become pretty mentally prepared after everything Shu Jia Er had put him through.
He smirked, “Of course not.”
In life, you meet many people; sometimes, you help others, and other times, they help you. But it’s all driven by kindness, without any romantic implications.
We’re past the days of “repaying kindness with one’s body”. From the beginning, he only planned to use money to repay the kindness, ensuring the person who saved him could live comfortably for the rest of their life. He never considered giving himself as part of the deal.
But now?
He didn’t mind “repaying in person” one bit.
Shu Jia Er clasped her hands behind her back, her fingers tightly interlocked. For the first time, she felt a bit shy, nervous, and uncertain. Yet, she tilted her head and asked the question weighing on her mind, “Then, what is it?”
“Because it’s you.”
Because you’re cute, beautiful, and you appeared in his life unexpectedly. You sowed seeds in his barren world, and slowly, they blossomed, filling his entire life with color.
Of course, saying this aloud would be far too embarrassing, so Huo Chao kept it to himself.
But Shu Jia Er was already satisfied. She tilted her head, fluttered her long eyelashes, and tapped her right cheek with her hand.
“The princess allows you to kiss her—just once, okay?”
Huo Chao chuckled, leaned down, and planted a loud, affectionate kiss on Shu Jia Er’s right cheek. Her face turned a little red.
Huo Chao’s voice dropped to a low, slightly husky murmur, “Shu Er Er, does this mean we’re together now?”
Since she’d willingly let him kiss her cheek, surely that was her way of accepting him, right?
With a flushed face, Shu Jia Er nodded. Though she accepted, she still needed to make things clear. “You have to be unconditionally good to me, love me, pamper me, listen to what I say, and try to fulfill all my demands. You can’t look at other girls or smile at them. If any girl tries to hit on you, you’ll have to tell her that you’re taken. Can you do that?”
Her demands sounded strict. For most guys, her words would’ve been enough to make them run for the hills, muttering “lunatic”, “idiot”, “brain hole”, “remember to take medicine” and so on. Not that Shu Jia Er would care about them, anyway.
Huo Chao thought about it seriously and decided he could manage it.
“I can do it,” Huo Chao said, stretching out his hand and coughing lightly. “From now on, you’re the only one who gets to hold my hand.”
Shu Jia Er confidently took Huo Chao’s hand; this is her boyfriend’s hand—if she didn’t hold it, who would?
By the time Shu Jia Er returned to the classroom, the class had already ended.
As soon as she sat down, Ning Meng leaned over excitedly, “Little Ear, you didn’t run into any trouble, did you?”
Shu Jia Er shook her head, smiling from ear to ear, clearly in a great mood. “Nope!”
“Then why were you gone for the whole class? Old Zhang asked where you went, and I told him you weren’t feeling well and went to the school clinic.”
Shu Jia Er, sorting through her books for the next class, laughed and said, “Thanks, Ning Meng.”
Seeing how happy Shu Jia Er looked, Ning Meng’s curiosity was piqued, and she quickly asked, “Little Ear, you still haven’t told me what you were doing just now?”
“Oh,” Shu Jia Er replied with a grin. “I was taking a stroll around campus with my new boyfriend.”
They had already spent so much time in the sports equipment room that they decided to just skip class altogether and wandered around campus hand in hand.
New!
Boyfriend!
Highlight that—it’s gonna be on the test!
Ning Meng’s gossiping spirit ignited. “Who is it? Is it Mr. Huo?”
Shu Jia Er nodded and joked, “Yep, it’s him, it’s him, it’s him—your favorite fried chicken and milk tea, Huo.”
“Ah!”
Ning Meng couldn’t hold back a squeal, and everyone in the class looked over.
She quickly waved her hands to signal that everything was fine, then covered her mouth tightly to stop any more squeals from escaping.
After her excitement died down a bit, Ning Meng leaned over and whispered, “Little Ear, congratulations! Does this mean we’ll get more milk tea in the future?”
“Yes!”
“Ah!”
Even though Ning Meng had long anticipated this day, she was still genuinely happy for Shu Jia Er when it finally arrived.
They are now really together!
And now, Shu Jia Er is already somewhat of a rich girl who could buy milk tea for the whole school at any time.
But she figured that making such a grand gesture out of nowhere might shock people to death, so she decided to take it easy. Last time’s fanfare for the campus goddess title was already high-profile enough. If she did something like that again, she might end up as the school’s public enemy among the girls. There was no rush for milk tea; she’d get around to it.
Shu Jia Er didn’t even mention this idea to Huo Chao and planned to buy milk tea for the whole class herself sometime.
A week later, on a Wednesday after school, all the students and teachers at the school were once again treated to milk tea on Huo the Big Shot’s tab—and this time, he also sent out candies.
Of course, this time there was no delivery person shouting dramatic slogans, but it didn’t take long for everyone to realize that, once again, it was Mr. Huo’s doing.
The delivery person simply dropped off a batch of milk teas and candies equal to the number of people in the class and then left. The class monitor helped distribute the items.
When Shu Jia Er received her milk tea and a box of candies from the class monitor, she was totally bewildered.
Huo Chao went and did something like this behind her back?
What was he up to?
Just then, Ning Meng squealed excitedly into her ear, “Oh my god, could this be wedding candy?”
Wedding candy? What the hell?
They weren’t getting married, so where did the engagement candy come from?
Ning Meng quickly grabbed the candy box to show Shu Jia Er, her face brimming with excitement. “Little Ear, look, there’s a line of text under the box.”
“Huo Chao & Shu Jia Er, together since 2019.10.21, to last a lifetime.”
Shu Jia Er: …
She thought she was already high-profile enough, but when Huo Chao goes all out, she’s completely overshadowed.
Today is October 27, 2019, only six days since October 21, 2019.
It’s only been six days! Six days! And he’s already announcing their relationship to the whole world, eager for everyone to know they’re together—even giving everyone candy to celebrate.
If they ever break up in the future, today would likely become a joke among students and teachers, repeatedly discussed as a source of amusement.
Aaaah, Shu Jia Er felt like she was going to lose her mind.
She pulled out her phone, ready to message Huo Chao, and right then, she saw his recent message on WeChat:
[Brother: How’s the taste of your own candy?]
Shu Jia Er: !!!
What taste? She hasn’t even eaten any yet.
Her fingers flew across the screen, typing:
[Xiao Er: Why so sudden!]
Huo Chao’s response seemed completely natural: [Brother: Sudden? It’s already been six days.]
What did he mean “already six days”? It was just six days.
[Xiao Er: Why did you give them candy?]
[Brother: After we graduate, most of these people won’t see us again, and they won’t get a chance to have our wedding candy. So I had to give it to them early.]
So that was his reason.
Alright, that explanation was flawless and left no room for argument.
Although Shu Jia Er grumbled about it, her heart felt incredibly sweet.
She thought that even if they broke up one day, it wouldn’t matter—they’d still have these beautiful memories, and there would be no regrets in her youth.
[Xiao Er: Isn’t this a bit too high-profile? (⊙o⊙)…]
Her inner girlish feelings bubbled up, and she couldn’t help adding an emoji while messaging Huo Chao.
[Brother: If we don’t go high-profile, how will everyone know we’re together?]
Alright, that reason was also irrefutable.
Now, the whole school knew they were together.
Although the school was open-minded and didn’t oppose relationships among high schoolers, the expectation was that couples would support each other academically without disrupting other students.
With Huo Chao’s high-profile approach, they were likely to spark some resentment.
Especially from single students, who’d probably be envious.
But Shu Jia Er couldn’t help feeling incredibly happy.
She unwrapped a candy and popped a piece of chocolate into her mouth.
The rich white chocolate melted, filling her mouth.
Eating her own candy was, indeed, very sweet.
Just then, Ning Meng unwrapped a candy and tasted it. After just a few seconds, she was on the verge of squealing again.
It really lived up to being from Mr. Huo—it was incredibly delicious, even better than brand-name chocolates like Ferrero, Godiva, and Hershey’s.
Whimpering, she exclaimed, “Woo woo woo! It’s just too delicious!!!”
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