The One-Year Promise: A Gentleman's Truce Card

Zhou Yu's voice gradually lowered as she told her story.

He looked down at the person in his arms.

Dania had her eyes closed, her breathing steady, her pink hair spread out on the pillow, and her hand was still loosely clutching his clothes, as if afraid he would sneak away in the middle of the night.

Zhou Yu figured she was probably fast asleep, so he moved as quietly as possible, preparing to slowly pull his arm out.

Suddenly, the person in my arms moved.

Dania opened her eyes and propped herself up.

Under the dim bedside lamp, her eyes shone brightly, showing no signs of sleepiness, as she stared intently at him.

Zhou Yu froze.

In that instant, the "safe evacuation plan" that had just formed in his mind immediately failed to pass approval.

Dania didn't speak, but slowly lowered her head, her soft pink hair brushing against his chin, before she leaned back against him.

Zhou Yu's back muscles tightened little by little.

"Xiao Yu."

Her voice was very soft, with a slurred quality as if she had just woken up, and the last syllable was as soft as a freshly cooked glutinous rice ball.

Before Zhou Yu could respond, Dania's small hands had already groped for the hem of his white vest and clumsily lifted it up.

Zhou Yu took a deep breath and, almost instinctively, reached out and grabbed the two wrists that were wreaking havoc on his body.

Very fine.

He can hold it completely in one hand.

"Stop."

His voice was a little hoarse.

This question is beyond the scope of the curriculum.

That's outrageously excessive.

The next second, Zhou Yu used his waist and abdomen to pull her hand off him, like dealing with a little girl who tried to sneak into the snack cabinet in the middle of the night. He gently put her aside, stuffed her into the soft quilt, and pulled the quilt up to her neck.

The entire sequence of actions was executed flawlessly, serving as a perfect example of the Logistics Department's emergency response plan.

Dania was placed on the pillow, her whole body buried in the blanket, with only her small head showing.

She stared blankly at Zhou Yu.

Her beautiful eyes were first filled with confusion, then quickly filled with tears, and the tip of her nose turned red. She looked as aggrieved as if her favorite strawberry cake had been taken away in front of her, and she was told, "Out of stock, come back tomorrow."

Zhou Yu felt a throbbing pain in his temples as he looked at her, who was on the verge of tears.

He sat up, leaned against the headboard, reached out and pressed his hand on her shoulder, trying to keep his voice steady.

"Dania, calm down, let's analyze this problem."

He spoke very seriously, even with the solemnity one would show when reading out the agenda before a meeting.

"You're not just lusting after my body, you're experiencing the suspension bridge effect combined with a lack of physiological knowledge, leading to a misperception of appetite."

Dania got anxious and shook her head like a rattle-drum.

"I can tell the difference."

Her voice was trembling with tears.

"Sweet and sour pork ribs are sweet and sour pork ribs, Xiao Yu are Xiao Yu; they are different."

She felt this argument wasn't strong enough, so she stretched another hand out from under the covers, first pointing at Zhou Yu, then at herself.

"Moreover, we slept together at the South Sea Hotel."

She spoke the word "sleep" with such confidence and without any ulterior motives that Zhou Yu was almost driven to despair by her own professional ethics.

Zhou Yu closed his eyes briefly.

He discovered that all his workplace rhetoric, rule loopholes, risk assessments, and logical loops became ineffective in front of Dania.

The other party wasn't even doing anything reckless on purpose.

She just trusted him too much.

Trust extends to expressing dependence, closeness, possessiveness, and budding affection all in the way they are most familiar with.

I want to hug you.

I want to get closer.

I want to place my favorite person where I can easily reach them.

Zhou Yu was silent for two seconds, and the legal department, student management office, and logistics approval system in his mind all started sounding alarms at the same time.

In the end, he could only resort to the ultimate weapon of the working class in dealing with unreasonable demands from clients.

Making empty promises.

And scheduling and release dates.

Zhou Yu extended her little finger and offered it to her.

Dania sniffed and looked at him, puzzled.

Come on, pinky promise.

Zhou Yu's tone became serious.

Dania hesitated for a moment, then stretched out her little finger from under the covers and gently hooked it around his.

Zhou Yu looked into her eyes.

I promise you, I'll wait another year.

He paused for a moment, then pronounced each word clearly.

"When you're a little older, when you truly understand what what you want to do tonight means, when you understand that liking, closeness, boundaries, and responsibility are not the same thing, nor can they be clearly compared to a bowl of tripe."

Dania blinked.

Zhou Yu continued.

"Once the deadline arrives, as long as you still think this way, I promise I won't run away or try to fool you."

He paused, then added.

"But before that, all requests that go beyond bedtime stories, back pats, or cuddling to sleep will be rejected. The reason given is that the materials are incomplete and will not be processed at this time."

After hearing this, Dania was disappointed for a few seconds, her little mouth pouting slightly.

She clearly didn't fully understand the complex vocabulary, but she understood "guaranteed not to run away."

I also understood "once the schedule arrives".

So she looked up at Zhou Yu's face, which was full of "a promise is a promise," and the light in her eyes gradually brightened again.

She beckoned with her finger.

"Pinky promise."

Zhou Yu also tightened his grip on her fingers.

"Pinky promise."

Dania thought about it carefully and then added.

No overtime allowed after one year.

Zhou Yu's lips twitched.

"For such an important schedule, anyone who dares to make me work overtime will be forced to write ten explanations overnight."

Dania was finally satisfied.

She shrank back under the covers, rolled into Zhou Yu's arms, rubbed her head against his chest, and found a comfortable position, as if she had finally reclaimed her own special pillow.

Zhou Yu froze for a moment, making sure she was just holding on obediently and not moving, before slowly placing her hand on her back.

Dania sighed contentedly.

After a few seconds, she muttered softly again.

"It's precisely because I know Xiao Yu is a gentleman who wouldn't act rashly that I find... it tastes even better."

Zhou Yu gasped for breath, almost choking herself.

He looked down at the little girl in his arms with her eyes closed, and for the first time began to wonder how many dangerous things Dania had learned from Linnai's pile of messy books.

These things can deliver precise critical hits.

"Sleep."

Zhou Yu raised her hand to tuck the corner of the blanket in, her voice stiff.

"If you say that again, tomorrow the crab roe buns will be reduced from two to one."

Dania immediately fell silent.

After two seconds, she asked softly.

"Is one and a half okay?"

Zhou Yu remained expressionless.

"It depends on their performance."

Dania obediently closed her eyes, but her fingers were still clutching the hem of his clothes, as if she had also noted this "depending on performance" into tomorrow's breakfast schedule.

In the courtyard separated by a wall, the night breeze blew through the lanterns under the eaves, and the light and shadows swayed gently on the bluestone ground.

Chisa stood by the wall, and the fingers that had been pressing on the hilt of the knife finally loosened one by one.

She heard the noise inside.

I heard the words "pinky promise," and I also heard Dania's last, light, mumbled murmur.

Chisa remained silent for a long time.

She had initially thought she was guarding against an external enemy tonight.

In retrospect, Zhou Yu himself was, in a sense, the hardest line of defense to hold.

However, that defensive line still exists.

And it was more stable than she had imagined.

Chisa withdrew her hand from the hilt of the sword, the bell at her waist jingled softly, and she pressed it down with her fingertips.

The courtyard fell silent again.