Should I buy flowers the first time I ask a girl out?

Luo Lianqing did not answer his question directly. Instead, she asked, "Why do you ask?"

That was actually an answer in itself.

Wen Ce looked at the smile on her face. She clearly looked happy, yet he suddenly wanted to reach out and stroke her hair, touch her face, and tell her it was all right.

For no reason.

He breathed out. "I just get the feeling you weren't happy. You've never mentioned your friends abroad."

Actually, it was not just her friends abroad. Even when it came to friends back home, he had only ever heard of one "Miaomiao."

Luo Lianqing rarely even mentioned her parents.

So when she said it was her first time visiting a wet market, Wen Ce had suddenly asked a baffling question.

And received an answer that, though indirect, was still an answer.

Luo Lianqing reached over to take the things from one of his hands. Wen Ce tried to move them behind him, but she took them anyway.

"I don't really have many friends, I guess. I wasn't happy abroad either, but my mother lived there, and she had custody of me." Luo Lianqing glanced at him, seemingly joking. "That's all I can say. I can't tell you everything about my past."

With that, she walked ahead. Wen Ce followed her. "Then who can know about your past? Not even friends?"

"Wen Ce, that's not fair. You're always asking me questions, but I haven't asked you any." Luo Lianqing did not turn around, simply walking on with a smile in her voice. "Someone would have to be very, very important to know about my past."

"A boyfriend?" Wen Ce blurted out.

Then he saw Luo Lianqing slow down ahead of him and turn to look at him, smiling. "I suppose that counts too? Do you want to know about my past?"

Do you want to be my boyfriend?

Wen Ce froze in place. The sunlight was too fierce now, stabbing his eyes until they hurt.

Ahead of him, Luo Lianqing turned and walked away after saying that, as though she had no intention of waiting for an answer.

That also left Wen Ce uncertain. Did she mean what he thought she meant?

The walk from the wet market to their residential complex was not actually very far.

For the rest of the way, they each had their own thoughts and did not speak.

Once they reached their floor, Luo Lianqing handed the groceries to Wen Ce. "I'm going back to shower and change. Can I come over at noon?"

Wen Ce nodded. "Sure. I've been away so long that my place needs airing out too."

Luo Lianqing nodded. Their earlier conversation had left the atmosphere between them a little awkward.

As Luo Lianqing opened her door, she heard Egg Yolk meowing inside.

Wen Ce could not help asking, "What did you mean just now? What if I do want to know?"

He had not intended to speak so bluntly and abruptly, but perhaps there had been too much contact today, from helping her put on her shoes to that accidental kiss at the market, and that hug that ended almost as soon as it began.

It made Wen Ce feel that Zhou Chi was right. Luo Lianqing probably felt the same way he did.

So he could not help speaking up.

He asked a question that, given his personality, he would never normally have asked.

Luo Lianqing stood in the doorway. Egg Yolk had already come to her feet and rubbed gently against her.

She lowered her eyes. "Maybe it means what you think it means. See you in a bit."

The door opened, then closed.

Wen Ce looked at the closed door and breathed out.

But what he thought it meant was whether he wanted to be her boyfriend, right?

Not for the sake of that past, but simply because he really wanted to be her boyfriend.

He was not satisfied with that hug of less than three seconds, or that accidental kiss.

He truly wanted to keep holding her, to touch her openly.

Humans were greedy creatures.

Wen Ce took off his glasses and looked at the door before him. Whether or not that was what she had meant, it counted as that now anyway.

Only when the sound of the door opposite opening and closing reached her did she move.

Luo Lianqing, who had been leaning right against the door, crouched down and scooped Egg Yolk into her arms. "Egg Yolk, I was so brave just now..."

Wen Ce had been so gentle today that the little thoughts she had managed to quiet somewhat had stirred back to life.

Besides, Wen Ce felt truly different now that he had returned.

"If what Miaomiao said is useful, he should have feelings for me too, right?" Her hands were trembling a little, her strokes over the cat somewhat erratic. Egg Yolk meowed in displeasure in her arms.

Then the cat struggled free and jumped out of her arms.

And finally ran off.

Luo Lianqing stayed crouched behind the door for a while before standing up.

She had already said it, anyway. There was no taking it back.

Remembering how Wen Ce had rejected Qin Yanran, Luo Lianqing lowered her eyes. At least he would be much gentler if he rejected her, right?

They were friends, after all...

Finally, she breathed out, changed her shoes, and went into the bedroom.

Wen Ce took a shower first after returning home. Once he had undressed, he could not help reaching out to touch his waist. Luo Lianqing had wrapped her arms around it earlier.

Unfortunately, she had let go too quickly.

Despite the hot weather and all the mingled smells in the wet market, he had still been able to smell that sweet fragrance on her.

Her beautiful legs suddenly flashed before his eyes, along with the sensation of them brushing past the tip of his nose.

And the sight of his hand around her ankle.

His skin was neither particularly dark nor pale, but Luo Lianqing was very fair. When he held her ankle, the contrast in color was striking...

Especially beautiful.

Wen Ce suddenly muttered, "Fuck." He had been too busy lately.

He had pretty much fallen asleep the moment he hit the bed every day.

As a twenty-one-year-old young man, he had normal needs.

For example, right now, his body's response to certain images in his head was perfectly natural.

Wen Ce glanced at the showerhead. Cold water or hot?

Finally, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he leaned lightly against the wall.

Water fell from the showerhead, and mist soon rose in the bathroom.

Wen Ce spent rather a long time showering.

He had showered twice, after all. When he came out, his body still carried the chill of a cold shower.

As he dried his hair, his gaze happened to fall on the open cabinet. There was a cardboard box inside, the gift Luo Lianqing had given him back then.

To this day, Wen Ce had never used it.

He sighed. "I hope I never get the chance to use it. After all, what I want more is the person who gave it to me."

At the thought of Luo Lianqing's bright little face, Wen Ce belatedly realized how dry his throat felt.

He left the bedroom and went to the kitchen to get a bottle of chilled mineral water.

After drinking more than half of it, he felt it had done little good.

Was the weather too hot? Was that making the fire in me burn especially fiercely too?

Wen Ce sighed. It could also be because he knew perfectly well that only two doors separated him from the person he wanted.

Just thinking about that made him start heating up, from his mind to his body.

Whatever happened, perhaps they could watch a movie at home together after lunch today, then chat.

And ask, Senior, would you be my girlfriend?

Wen Ce hesitated for a while before sending Zhou Chi a message. [Should I buy flowers the first time I ask a girl out?]