For a week, Xia Xi did not come to class. Her cheap brother didn't come to see her either, he must have been frustrated and desperate for her to leave quickly.

Xia Yao felt very happy and relaxed, and she learned every day. Even though the classmate who sat behind her and the one next to her were overly concerned, she only had her studies in her heart.

Because Ji Huai had helped her move, she invited him, Xu Yinuan, and Sweet Sister to visit her this Sunday. But the Saturday before, she had to go to the mall to buy new clothes with Xu Shizhou.

It was almost December and City T had started to get colder. The weather was gray and cold and not really suitable for a shopping trip.

As soon as Xia Yao woke up, she grabbed her phone on the bedside table and dialed it with her eyes still closed. The person on the other side answered in seconds, sounding rather anxious and excited.

"Hey, Xu Shizhou, it's too cold outside, just transfer me some money and I will buy the clothes online."

He had said he would pay for the clothes he had ruined.

The voice of the teenager on the other end was as lazy as usual: "But I'm already standing at your door."

There seemed to be a vague complaint. They had made an appointment the day before for 9 am.

Xia Yao was taken aback, thinking that she had slept in. She quickly rubbed her eyes and looked at the time on the screen.

"Xu Shizhou, are you crazy? It's only 7 am, are you kidding?"

"I'm really downstairs, you can see me if you open the curtains."

Xia Yao was still a little confused. She had stayed up late accidentally last night and her mind was a little dizzy. Her biological clock had exceptionally been delayed slightly.

She put on her slippers and opened the curtains as Xu Shizhou said. The light was dim in the winter morning but it was enough to illuminate every corner of the room.

Xia Yao narrowed her eyes to adapt to the darkness of the street and looked downstairs in a daze. The young man was dressed in his usual black clothes and even looking down on him, she could see his legs were very long. He raised his head and a smile was on his face.

He beckoned upstairs and looked as if he was shouting something, but because of the window separating them, Xia Yao couldn't hear what he was saying. The girl came to her senses in an instant and thought once again that Xu Shizhou was crazy. He was standing outside on such a cold day, was his body frost-resistant?

"Aren't you cold? Didn't you say 9 am?"

The boy on the other end of the phone smiled and asked: "Are you worried about me?"

"Worried? You must be joking!" Xia Yao pulled back the curtain. Since she had discovered he liked her, she was even less afraid of him and couldn't even curse at him a little. It didn't matter if he was the worst character to mess with in the novel, now she could do whatever she wanted.

"Xia Yao, come down and open the door, I brought you breakfast."

"..." She turned on the speaker to free her hands to change clothes.

Not hearing her voice anymore, Xu Shizhou spoke again: "It's very cold outside, can you bear letting me in the cold wind alone?"

"..." She found a sweater.

"Yaoyao, your boyfriend is cold outside!"

Xia Yao, who had just put the sweater on, was taken aback. Her expression changed and directly hung up the phone before running downstairs to open the door.

—Fuck, this guy was really crazy, he was even deluded.

As soon as the door opened, without even glancing at Xu Shizhou, Xia Yao rushed to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. But when she heard a lot of noise, she opened the bathroom door with her toothbrush in her mouth and looked at Xu Shizhou move around in the small kitchen and take all the pots and pans out.

—He was playing with fire. Literally.

She glared at him and muttered around the toothbrush: "What are you doing?"

Xu Shizhou raised the spatula and touched his nose with some embarrassment: "Fried eggs."

Xia Yao walked to him. She put out the fire, looked up at him, and commanded: "Sit down and let me finish brushing my teeth."

Xu Shizhou obediently raised his hands in surrender and did as she said. He had brought eggs, bread, and ham to make sandwiches but he had never been in a kitchen before and the fire had startled him.

Xia Yao finished getting ready at super speed and tied her hair. After checking on Xu Shizhou at the table, she went to the kitchen.

Xu Shizhou followed her to stand at the door and watched her. Xia Yao felt uncomfortable being stared at and she said: "Stop looking at me, what if I panic and burn the kitchen down?"

"Are you shy?" He asked.

Xia Yao stopped talking and went to cut the sandwiches. She felt that Xu Shizhou and her must have been enemies in their past lives.

The weather was so cold but she had to go buy clothes and this would delay her study again. She had originally planned to spend her weekend in the warmth of her new home but now she only had her evening free.

"There will be a cold wave in a few days, it will take too long to have the clothes delivered if you buy them online." Xu Shizhou replied when she complained and Xia Yao decided to ignore him and think about her math equations instead.

***

Xia Yao didn't feel anything when they first entered the mall; Xu Shizhou had trampled her clothes and it was normal for him to pay her back. But she felt rather ashamed when she saw him carry a big bag.

Her destroyed clothes were definitely not worth that much.

"Okay, that's enough, let's go back!" Xia Yao glanced at him, hoping to stop spending soon.

Xu Shizhou thought about it and realized she had already got quite a lot and he answered: "Okay, then go buy some underwear."

"..."

Xia Yao looked at him in surprise; he was really not embarrassed talking about her underwear so loudly in public. And seeing his expressionless face, Xia Yao felt defeated; she didn't want to pay attention to him anymore and walked in the direction of the exit.

Xu Shizhou's fingers were a little itchy and he was just thinking of touching Xia Yao's exposed hand. When the girl finally relaxed her vigilance and stopped looking at him, he suddenly grabbed her. Sure enough, her hand was as cold as he had imagined but it was also very soft.

Xia Yao raised her head in astonishment and cursed: "Nutjob!"

A big pervert!

Xu Shi Zhou did not have the slightest awareness of being scolded or her being angry but was instead pleased that Xia Yao did not shake off his hand right away. He smiled brightly: "Xia Yai, your hands are cold."

—And he started rubbing it.

Xia Yao shook him away abruptly. She suspected she had been blown away silly by the cold wind, which was the only explanation for not getting rid of his hand fast enough. Once free, she hid her fingers in her pockets.

"Don't hold my hand, we're just classmates, okay?"

Xu Shizhou raised his eyebrows and leaned closer to her: "But what if I want to be more than classmates?"

Xia Yao's eyes slowly widened and while she felt helpless, her tone was firm: "In your dreams!"

"Let's dream together, then!" Xu Shizhou's eyes were dark but also shining with stars.

Xia Yao frowned and looked at him. How could he think about love every day and forget about studying?

Taking advantage of the short distance between them, Xu Shizhou pulled her hand out of her pocket and put it in his instead. His hand wrapped tightly around hers: "I am warm."

Xia Yao's mind was very clear and she took her hand back violently. She glared at the boy again and asked: "Are you auditioning for an idol drama?"

His palm was empty and he was put off by her glare, but Xu Shizhou wasn't angry. He clenched his fist and thought about the feeling of the girl's hand in his.

—So small and so delicate. He could entirely wrap her hand and he wanted to hold it forever.

"For the final exam, if I rank in the top 100, be my girlfriend."

Xia Yao really didn't want to pay attention to Xu Shizhou but seeing she was ignoring him, the boy leaned closer again: "Then top 50. How about the top 50?"

Xia Yao took a step back; he was too close and she could smell his minty fragrance that inexplicably trapped her.

"What do you really want?"

"Isn't it obvious enough?"Xu Shizhou touched his nose, "I like you, Xia Yao. I want you to become my girlfriend."

"Okay!" Xia Yao looked at him and smiled, "Let's talk about it when you grab the first place!"