Is the Water Moving, or Is the Heart Moving?

Although this was in open-minded America, and teenagers matured early, such a direct question still left Lin Yuan struggling to respond.

As if realizing something, Liu Yifei hurriedly spoke from behind him, her voice slightly flustered.

"No, I meant it's like how boys like taking girls to horror movies—they just want a chance to play the hero, right?"

"As far as I know, an excellent hunter always appears in the guise of prey."

"So you mean that unless a girl wants to pretend to be prey, she simply won't give a boy the chance to watch a horror movie with her?" The Celestial Fairy truly possessed both beauty and brains; she understood the moment he explained.

"Call it a meeting of minds, an unspoken understanding, or knowing without saying. A simp will never understand the joy of mutual attraction."

"A simp?"

"Uh, you probably have lots of... that kind of admirer around you, right?" Lin Yuan suddenly realized that this term did not exist yet.

But Liu Yifei quickly guessed what he meant. It was something every beautiful woman had experienced.

She smiled but said nothing more.

The two continued onward hand in hand. The scenery beside the path grew more beautiful, and they could faintly hear the sound of running water.

After rounding a bend, a waterfall appeared before them.

Calling it a waterfall was somewhat of an exaggeration. It was really just a small stream splashing down from a cliff about twenty meters high.

Still, the view was lovely. Spray from the waterfall rose from the pool below, casting a tiny rainbow in the sunlight.

The stream was crystal clear, and the stones beneath the rippling water were plainly visible.

"Look, there are fish in the water!" Liu Yifei pointed at the little fish in the stream and cried out in delight.

"Want me to catch one for you?"

She immediately nodded eagerly. "Yes!"

Shaking his head, Lin Yuan took off his shoes and socks, rolled his pants up to his knees, and stepped into the water. "I can't catch fish that small, but I can find you some big crabs."

"There are crabs here?" Her eyes made it clear that she did not believe him.

It was autumn, when crabs were at their fattest. The stream here joined the Hudson River, which soon flowed into the sea, making this the perfect place for blue crabs to grow.

"Of course. We'll boil crabs for dinner tonight. Come down and look for some with me." Lin Yuan smiled as he invited her.

Liu Yifei hesitated, then shook her head.

She was wearing a dark green plaid wool skirt today. To go into the water, she would have to take off her black tights, which was not especially convenient.

"Come on. The water is clear and clean—there's no pollution."

"But your feet polluted it. Look! The fish are floating up already!"

Lin Yuan felt like tearing his hair out. This girl was getting more mischievous by the minute.

His luck was good today. Before long, he reached into a hole and pulled out a female crab weighing around six ounces.

Holding up his prize, Lin Yuan proudly shook it.

"There really are crabs? And it's so big!"

"Want to come down and catch them with me?"

Lin Yuan invited her again. Thinking of how she would have to take off her tights to enter the water, a restless stir rose within him.

"Fine, but I have to take off my tights first. Turn around, and don't you dare peek!"

The tights wrapped around her hips and legs counted as intimate clothing. Taking them off in front of Lin Yuan would inevitably embarrass her.

So Liu Yifei went behind a large rock before slowly removing her tights, revealing a pair of long, jade-white legs.

Lin Yuan did not think much of it. After tying up his catch securely, he continued looking for another crab hole.

But just then, Liu Yifei suddenly let out a startled cry behind him.

"Ah!"

Could she really have run into a bear?

Lin Yuan hurried around the boulder and ran toward her.

Liu Yifei was sitting on the ground, her tights not yet fully removed and hanging around her knees.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. The stones here are too sharp on my feet. I lost my balance while taking off my shoes and fell." The girl's face was red.

Instead of leaving, Lin Yuan stepped forward, slid an arm beneath the bend of her knees, and lifted her in a princess carry.

"I..."

"Let me do it. You might hurt yourself again otherwise."

Having lived two lives, Lin Yuan knew well that at the right moment, a man absolutely could not lose his nerve.

If the timing was wrong, he would seem frivolous.

If he missed the opportunity, only regret would remain.

If he did not know how to advance a relationship, he would only ever be a friend.

She was still a young girl and easily embarrassed. Lin Yuan merely carried her to the stream and gently set her down on a rock.

Then Lin Yuan crouched down and first pressed her skirt into place, making sure nothing would be exposed.

Only then did he lift her foot and slowly roll down the tights hanging at the bend of her knee, drawing them down her fair, tender calf.

Liu Yifei's face turned even redder. Instinctively, she tried to pull back her delicate foot, but Lin Yuan caught it firmly.

"Stop squirming. Let me see if your skin got scraped or if you're bleeding."

"Who's squirming? You're the one holding my foot." She made a small protest but said nothing else.

Holding her ankle, Lin Yuan carefully examined both of her feet:

The tops were fair and dewy, with fine blue veins clearly visible.

Her ten toes were translucent and round, while the soles of her feet bore a healthy pale pink hue.

A fairy truly was beautiful from head to toe. Before her, everyone would become a prison warden, Lin Yuan sighed inwardly.

"Good thing the skin isn't broken. You can relax now."

After checking her over, Lin Yuan set down her delicate foot, casually rolled up her tights, and tucked them into his pocket.

Seeing what Lin Yuan did, Liu Yifei's already flushed face grew even redder, like the crab after it had been boiled.

"Why did you take my tights?"

"You're wearing a skirt, so you don't have pockets. They're long and black, so you can't put them on the ground. If bugs crawled inside, they'd be hard to spot."

Lin Yuan's reasons were always so convincing!

"Fine, then. But my feet... they don't smell, do they?" She still seemed concerned.

How was he supposed to answer that?

Should he say that even the Celestial Fairy's foot-washing water smelled fragrant?

Or that everyone knew beautiful women having smelly feet was a bonus?

Both answers were far too sleazy. Huge points deducted!

For a moment, Lin Yuan was speechless. He could not exactly smell them and then solemnly declare that they did not stink, could he?

Besides, these were tights. If he really smelled them, he would be smelling more than just her feet.

How could Lin Yuan possibly do that?

It would be too frivolous—and too disrespectful toward her.

So he smiled and said, "My nose isn't very sensitive, so I can't smell much anyway. Besides, with how close we are, who would dislike the other?"

Hearing Lin Yuan say that, Liu Yifei let out a sigh of relief.

She stood up and walked barefoot to the edge of the stream, extending her toes first to test the temperature.

Once she found it acceptable, she slowly stepped into the water.

The beauty stood across the water.

Lin Yuan gazed at her lovely figure in the stream. She was so beautiful it took his breath away, like a fairy of the woods.

How had I simply let her slip away in my previous life?

His resolve to hold on to her tightly in this life became even firmer.

"Come on, we need to catch more crabs for dinner tonight." Seeing Lin Yuan staring blankly at her, she smiled and waved him over.

"Okay. Let's see who catches more."

"Go over there! You scared away my crabs!"

"You're cheating! You're not allowed to steal my crabs!"

Laughter rippled through the stream valley, brimming with the spirit of youth.