I Was Afraid You'd Find Me Disgusting???????? Not at all????

"This teaching building has a very hidden place."

"I've never even brought Mu Feng or Xiang Guan here. I only learned about this secret from an upperclassman."

An upperclassman? (The girl became wary.)

Thinking of the scene from earlier, when all those girls had flocked toward him the moment class ended, Hua Xin couldn't help snorting inwardly.

If my manhood were still intact, how could Xia Yan be this popular?!

With a ding, the elevator doors opened.

"Come with me." Xia Yan blinked at the girl holding a helmet, then walked ahead to lead the way.

The girl silently stared at the food in his hands.

She wanted to eat?

She wanted Xia Yan to buy her a big meal so she could stuff her little stomach full?

Left turn, right turn, left turn, right turn.

Since the top floor was often used for teachers' activities, there wasn't a single person there at that moment. The empty corridor held only the sounds of footsteps and plastic bags.

Xia Yan walked all the way to the right, then went up a staircase.

These stairs led to the teaching building's rooftop. Since the lock on the door at the right side of the floor was broken, they could easily reach this place.

It sounded like the sort of place in a Japanese anime where the male and female leads met or grew closer.

But they were two men, after all. Perhaps they would become good brothers in the future.

The door wasn't locked, so it opened with ease.

"Hey, Hua, look up?"

After Hua Xin came up, Xia Yan gently closed the door and said with a smile.

"Huh? Where is this..."

The girl suddenly came to her senses, and her pupils contracted.

She unconsciously took two steps toward the front, where there was a wire-mesh railing.

The sports field, roads, trees, blue sky, white clouds, endless city buildings, and the barely visible stream of traffic.

The ancients often said that one could see far after climbing high.

This was the first time Hua Xin understood what those words meant.

(It's so beautiful...)

(So this is what the outside world looks like...)

The girl found it difficult to look away. She walked to the railing, placed her helmet on the ground, then extended her fair little hand from her sleeve and gripped the mesh, staring blankly ahead.

The racing heartbeat and suffocating sensation of looking down from such a height made Hua Xin feel slightly short of breath.

Her mind kept producing the illusion that she was about to fall from the rooftop and crash onto the ground.

She was terribly afraid of heights.

But she still gazed at this world with shining eyes.

This was the first time Hua Xin had seen such a scene with her own eyes. It was completely different from the dark little room where she had spent her days, and from what she had seen in videos.

"Our school's teaching building is very tall, so you can see most of this area from here."

"Isn't it breathtaking?"

"No one will disturb you while you eat here, and you can enjoy the scenery too. I've always treated this place as my secret base."

Xia Yan sat down against the railing and opened the food. A delicious aroma immediately rode the wind into Hua Xin's nose.

"Here, this portion is bigger."

He smiled and handed the food to the girl.

"Thank you."

Hua Xin came back to herself and replied softly.

She was very polite.

The emotions stirred by the scene before her slowly settled. She carefully held the food and walked to a spot a little farther from Xia Yan, then imitated him by sitting against the railing and placing the food on the ground.

(Time to eat, time to eat...)

With her back to Xia Yan, the girl removed her mask, revealing an exceptionally delicate and beautiful little face. Happiness filled her eyes.

She could see a scene like this and eat delicious food too...

This was practically a free pie falling from heaven!?

Because she had been wearing her hood the entire time, her long hair had become damp with sweat. A small lock near her ear had already stuck to her cheek.

"Om nom..."

Hua Xin solemnly picked up a piece of Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs and put it into her mouth.

The sweet-and-sour sauce and firm meat burst across her tongue. The satisfying fullness unique to meat, paired with soft, distinct-grained steamed rice...

Plop, plop.

Tears unknowingly dripped from her eyes.

The girl spat out the bone and gently wiped away her tears.

(Delicious...)

(It's really delicious.)

(These are Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs. They taste just like they did back then.)

For some reason, wiping away the tears did not stop them. Instead, they grew even more plentiful, slowly sliding down her cheeks. Some even dripped into her rice.

Hua Xin ate the other dishes while crying, but she didn't touch the Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs again.

"Hey, Hua, what should I call you?"

"Hua Hua? Xin Xin?"

"But I feel like those names don't sound very good for a boy, so I thought I'd ask what you think."

Xia Yan looked at the girl's back and set down his chopsticks. He spoke very seriously, without the slightest hint of teasing in his voice.

"..."

Hua Xin's mouth was stuffed until both cheeks bulged like a hamster's. After hurriedly swallowing the food, she licked her lips, still unsatisfied.

Hearing Xia Yan's question, she hesitated slightly, then said softly:

"Xin."

"Just call me Xin."

"All right, Brother Xin."

"?"

Hearing the "brother" that Xia Yan blurted out, the girl almost lost her composure.

Was he really this familiar with people...?

That's right. We boys are naturally gifted at loving others. Calling a brother "brother" is perfectly normal. Who told me to have such overwhelming personal charm? (Tsundere.)

Hua Xin stuffed another large mouthful of rice and Fatty and Lean Skewers into her mouth, glossing over the matter of what to call each other.

Eating was more important for now.

Thinking this, the girl picked up her chopsticks again and started eating.

"Hmm..."

"Xin Xin, you can't keep calling me Class Monitor either..."

"?"

(Chew, chew, chew.)

(Weren't you the one who said calling me Xin Xin wasn't manly enough?! I even let you call me Brother Xin, and you still call me that!)

(I'm going to bite you to death.)

The girl angrily bit into a piece of Guo Bao Rou, as if she were treating it like a piece of Xia Yan.

But the crispness and sweetness of Guo Bao Rou were clearly beyond anything Xia Yan could compare with.

"When there are other people around, just call me Xia Yan."

"Privately... how about calling me Little Water?"

Xia Yan seemed to have remembered something amusing, and he spoke with a smile on his lips.

"My grandpa gave me that nickname. How could someone whose name contains fire have a nickname like Water...? It sounds strange, right?"

"Only you and my grandparents know this name."

Xia Yan wasn't lying. That was the truth.

But his goal was also to establish a "secret only the two of them knew" with Hua Xin, strengthening their seemingly fragile friendship.

Many friendships began with a shared secret.

"Little Water?"

Hua Xin set down the plastic food container, now completely empty except for the Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs, and softly repeated the name.

Wasn't there some sleazy guy online who was also called Water?

The doubt caused by the name flashed past. There were too many people with the same name in this world. There were even several million people called Zhang Wei. Besides, how could this sunny, popular, warm-hearted guy possibly be the same as that sleazy pervert?

The girl put her mask back on, carried the container, and returned to Xia Yan's side.

"You've already finished? It's only been a few minutes..."

"Uh, then let's go to the activity hall..."

Xia Yan stood up hesitantly. In reality, he had been frightened by the girl's eating speed.

His eyes swept over her thin body... It was hard to imagine that a child like this could instantly wipe out enough food to feed someone who had worked all day at a construction site.

"Aren't you eating?"

Hua Xin surprisingly didn't seem afraid. Instead, she seriously looked at the large amount of food remaining on the ground.

"I'm not very hungry... so... I'm already full."

Xia Yan suppressed the ache rising in his heart and spoke softly.

He understood what the girl wanted to do now. He also understood what she meant by asking that question.

Hua Xin silently picked up the food from the ground, closed the lid, and placed it into the black plastic bag in her hand.

Feeling the weight in her hand, she looked at Xia Yan and asked happily, "Can I eat it?"

"I don't mind."

Xia Yan immediately turned his head away and looked up to the other side, refusing to let his emotions show. His eyes faintly shimmered.

She was clearly eating his leftovers. Why did her eyes still hold such joy and anticipation?

After a long while, he finally spoke half-jokingly, trying his best to keep his voice calm:

"I was afraid you'd find me disgusting."

"Of course not. The food here is really delicious."