Christmas (II)

Lu Mingfei channeled a bit of Spiritual Power to warm his hands, then held them out toward Su Xiaoqiang.

"Here, you can warm your hands right here."

Su Xiaoqiang glanced at him, and seeing nothing unusual, she reached out and grasped Lu Mingfei's hands.

Her hands warmed up instantly; compared to her own, Lu Mingfei's hands were large, and holding them felt very cozy.

The Little Goddess's hands were so cold—no wonder she complained—while Lu Mingfei felt the faint chill radiating from Su Xiaoqiang's palms.

After a long while, Lu Mingfei asked, "Are you still cold? If you're not, you can let go now."

"Hmm, I think I'm still quite cold. I don't feel like this is warm enough; why don't you hold my hands instead?" Su Xiaoqiang said, ignoring her conscience.

Lu Mingfei didn't speak, but he turned his hands over to grasp Su Xiaoqiang's small hands, holding them tightly.

He had to admit, this was the first time he had ever held a girl's hand like this; it was soft and felt completely different from his own, creating a sort of addictive sensation.

Su Xiaoqiang squinted her eyes, enjoying the moment.

The two of them held hands like this until the end of class.

When the bell rang, Lu Mingfei finally snapped out of it and hurriedly let go of her hand. Good grief, the class had ended before he even realized it.

Lu Mingfei, oh Lu Mingfei, she treats you like a friend, yet you only want to hold a woman's hand—you really are despicable!

Lu Mingfei condemned himself internally.

Su Xiaoqiang sighed to herself that gym class was far too short.

Once class started, the two returned to the classroom, and Su Xiaoqiang poked Lu Mingfei in the waist, whispering, "My hands are still so cold."

Lu Mingfei glanced at her, and seeing her pitiful expression, he couldn't help himself; he gently took her small hand. While the teacher lectured at the front, the two of them held hands under the desk.

After a while, Su Xiaoqiang noticed Lu Mingfei staring straight ahead, listening to the lecture, so she moved her right index finger slightly and scratched Lu Mingfei's palm.

Lu Mingfei turned his head to look at her, only to see Su Xiaoqiang looking down and whispering, "I feel like my hands are still a bit cold."

Lu Mingfei felt the small hand in his grip, which was already warm, and couldn't help but wonder: Is she really cold? Although, holding the Little Goddess's hand was quite pleasant.

So, Lu Mingfei whispered, "Then tell me, what can I do to make you feel better?"

"Hmm," the Little Goddess said, keeping her head down and avoiding his eyes, stuttering, "we could interlace our fingers."

I wonder if Lu Mingfei will hate this kind of pushy behavior.

Lu Mingfei was a bit conflicted. This didn't seem right; was this how you were supposed to warm someone's hands?

Seeing Lu Mingfei remain silent, Su Xiaoqiang added, "My girlfriends and I do this all the time."

Even I don't believe that lie, Su Xiaoqiang thought, Su Xiaoqiang, has your brain short-circuited? The Little Goddess struggled internally.

"If you don't want to, actually..."

Before she could finish, Lu Mingfei had already interlaced his fingers with hers, holding them tightly together.

Feeling the warmth from her palms to her fingertips, Su Xiaoqiang was stunned for a moment and looked up at Lu Mingfei.

Lu Mingfei said with an expression of sudden realization, "You should have said so earlier! So that's what you girls do. As your good brother, I am naturally duty-bound."

Besides, the Little Goddess's hands were so comfortable to hold that he didn't really want to let go either, though Lu Mingfei didn't say that out loud—he was afraid of getting hit.

"By the way, I have something to tell you. Don't have Uncle Chen come pick you up today; I'll take you home tonight."

"Oh!" Su Xiaoqiang nodded obediently.

The snow outside had stopped, and since it was time for school to end, the two packed up and walked out of the school.

"Mingfei, this is a Christmas present for you!" Su Xiaoqiang took a square box out of her schoolbag.

"What is it?" Lu Mingfei asked.

"Hehe."

Su Xiaoqiang opened the box, which contained a white scarf.

"I knitted this at home recently! If you dare to dislike it, you're dead!" Su Xiaoqiang threatened, clenching her fist.

Lu Mingfei smiled as he took it, wrapped the scarf around his neck, and nodded, "It's very warm!"

Su Xiaoqiang's eyes crinkled into a smile; seeing Lu Mingfei like it so much made her feel wonderful inside.

"Mingfei, you didn't want Uncle Chen to pick me up—are we going somewhere?" Su Xiaoqiang asked.

Lu Mingfei reached out, signaling for Su Xiaoqiang to give him her schoolbag so he could help carry it.

After Su Xiaoqiang handed him the bag, he said mysteriously, "I'm taking you to a secret base."

Not knowing what this secret base was, Su Xiaoqiang couldn't help but feel a bit expectant.

Su Xiaoqiang, who had originally been a shoulder's width away from Lu Mingfei, jumped right to his side and reached out: "My hands are cold!"

She then held out her left hand, stood still, and looked elsewhere.

"Sigh!"

Lu Mingfei sighed, carried both schoolbags in his left hand, and took Su Xiaoqiang's small hand in his right.

"How about this?"

"It's not cold anymore!"

The two arrived downstairs at the home of Lu Mingfei's aunt and uncle.

"Are you taking me to meet your parents?" Su Xiaoqiang looked at Lu Mingfei in disbelief.

Lu Mingfei was covered in black lines: "What the hell, stop saying things that sound so ambiguous, just follow me!"

Su Xiaoqiang was pulled upstairs by Lu Mingfei. The two squeezed through the iron gate leading to the roof and stood there. Without any wind, the snow on the roof began to scatter outward, centered around Lu Mingfei and Su Xiaoqiang.

A patch of ground cleared, and Lu Mingfei extended his right hand, slapping it against the floor: "Way of Destruction No. 31: Red Fire Cannon, beggar version!"

A red light flared from Lu Mingfei's right hand, and the ground was dried off in an instant.

"You can even do that?"

Su Xiaoqiang remembered that every time she saw him use these so-called Ways of Destruction before, the special effects were always maxed out; she hadn't expected them to be so practical.

Lu Mingfei sat down next to the humming air conditioning unit and patted the spot beside him: "Come, sit."

"Oh, right." Su Xiaoqiang walked over and sat down next to him.

The two gazed out at the city.

"Back when I was alone, I loved sitting here after school, watching the city until the sun went down. I often spent time here daydreaming or just zoning out. Sometimes I felt like my parents were superheroes, always busy saving the world. It's been so many years since I've seen them that I can barely remember what they look like."

Lu Mingfei reminisced, speaking these thoughts aloud.

Su Xiaoqiang listened quietly, thinking that if she could go back to the past, she would definitely give him a fierce hug, tell that loser, "Big Sis has got your back," and then take him under her wing, taking him out for food and fun every single day.

It was a pity that she couldn't return to the past.

"Of course, that's just how I felt back then. Now, this place is just my secret base. Nobody usually comes up here, and it's quite comfortable to hang out." As he said this, Lu Mingfei stretched his back.

"Oh right, this is a gift for you." Lu Mingfei pulled a small box out of his schoolbag.

"What is it!" Su Xiaoqiang was full of anticipation.