Chen Yuan was wondering what day this was.

Then he realized this kind of thing seemed to have happened several times.

He would suddenly run into Tang Siwen buying steamed buns at the school cafeteria. After casually greeting her, she would ask, "Want a bun?"

And he, naturally, would generously accept.

After all, his bottomless acceptance of Fu Zi's "friend fee" proved that he was extremely skilled at freeloading.

Besides, she was a classmate, and a particularly good friend offering you a bun – there was no reason to refuse.

Unless you were full.

Of course, with Chen Yuan's build, even if he was full, he could still eat more.

In short, he just wanted to explain that his asking her for a bun, no, his accepting her bun, wasn't out of line.

Greeting her was even more in line with human relationships and reason, perfectly embodying the pure friendship of high school students.

It was just Bao Bao-daren's behavior that he found a little incomprehensible...

Why wait for me?

And why act like we met by chance, offering me a bun?

Could it be that I'm not just her top supporter?

Thinking of this, Chen Yuan looked at Tang Siwen again. And Tang Siwen also looked at him.

After the two exchanged glances, she turned her head back to look ahead as Chen Yuan turned his head.

No, how could she be so calm!

I already know your secret, can't you be a little flustered?

Ah, that's right, her secret was only known to herself.

It was like how, if he hadn't gone to pee with Zhou Fu today, he wouldn't have seen her asking Xiao Yang to speak up for her.

She really hid herself deeply.

But I remember these coincidences all happened after returning from Ningcheng...

In other words, that trip slightly changed her?

"Oh yeah," Zhou Fu said, looking at Tang Siwen with some curiosity, "Why aren't you staying at school today and going home?"

Tang Siwen was stunned for a moment, then glanced at Chen Yuan. Then, looking at Zhou Fu, she explained, "My mom... my mom recently met someone about her age, and the other person also has a daughter. So she asked me to go home and have dinner together."

Another dinner?

No, Tang Siwen just said that out loud?

It seemed that Zhou Fu wasn't an outsider to her either.

If he was the top supporter, then she was the second top supporter.

"I see..." Zhou Fu nodded, not knowing what to say. After all, it was a family matter, and she couldn't ask too much.

What if she asked something the other person didn't want to talk about?

"So, do you want to go back?" Chen Yuan looked at Tang Siwen and asked directly.

He wasn't an incorruptible official, nor could he resolve family disputes.

But as a friend, her mood was clearly a bit low.

If he just pretended not to hear it to avoid getting involved, that would be too unkind.

"No." Because these two were her important friends, she decided to be a little more honest. So, she lowered her head and honestly said, "I really don't want to go home."

"Is the atmosphere at home bad?" Since they were talking about it, Zhou Fu also got a little more involved and asked with concern.

"It's okay. But I really hate the other person's daughter," Tang Siwen said.

"If that's the case, then there's really no need to go back. It's normal to feel resistant..."

Zhou Fu said, suddenly thinking of something, and asked with a smile, "Then Siwen, do you want to come to my house?"

"Eh?" Tang Siwen was stunned, not knowing why she would suddenly say that.

"Since you don't want to go home and you're already out of school, then just come to my house," Zhou Fu said enthusiastically.

"..." Tang Siwen was still a little confused, not understanding why she would go to her house.

So, Chen Yuan helped translate: "She means, her house is big, and she often takes in beautiful women. You can just go to bed and rest when you're tired of playing."

"This..." Tang Siwen still felt it wasn't good, since there was no real reason.

"Just say it's my birthday and we already made plans," Zhou Fu suggested helpfully.

Tang Siwen didn't know what to do, but she was too embarrassed to refuse such enthusiasm, so she nodded and said, "Then, okay, thank you."

"No need to thank me," Zhou Fu said with a giggle, particularly generous. "My house specializes in taking in beautiful women."

Great, Fu Zi was getting abstract too.

"Then let's get off at Xuefu Road station," Zhou Fu said.

"Can we get off at Jiangning Road first?" Tang Siwen asked.

"Sure, but why..."

Faced with Zhou Fu's confusion, Chen Yuan casually helped explain, "There's a delicious steamed bun shop on Jiangning Road."

After he finished speaking, Tang Siwen looked at Chen Yuan.

After a few glances, she turned her head back again.

Hmm, did I say something wrong?

"Okay, then the next stop is Jiangning Road, let's get off the bus," Zhou Fu said, getting up, hooking her arm around Tang Siwen's, and the two of them stood together at the bus door.

"You just hold this seat, and let Xinyu sit down later," Zhou Fu said to Chen Yuan with a smile before getting off the bus.

"Bye-bye," Tang Siwen said, gently waving her hand.

"Well, goodbye, you two."

To avoid suspicion, Chen Yuan chose the safest approach—a fist bump.

After they got off the bus, he thought again about the secret he had glimpsed.

He had always felt that among his female friends at school, the only one he might have some ambiguous feelings with was Nai Fu.

But clearly, their relationship was as pure as it could be.

On the other hand, the silent Tang Siwen had slightly different feelings for him.

Moreover, unlike Li Youyou's level of favoritism, she kept it all hidden.

Since she chose to hide it and hadn't thought about closing the distance, it meant that even if he knew, he didn't need to worry too much.

The two of them were just bun buddies, that was a confirmed fact.

But he still felt a little unreal.

That girl sitting near the door of the classroom, cold as an iceberg, like a flower on a high mountain, a Yukinoshita Yukino-like girl, would actually have such feelings for him one day...

It was too incredible.

At this moment, the bus arrived at its stop.

Xia Xinyu came up.

Chen Yuan directly gave her his seat and got up: "Sit down."

"Hehe, okay." Xia Xinyu accepted with a smile and sat down on the chair. Then she stretched out a hand and grabbed Chen Yuan's hanging hand.

The two of them looked at each other like that, their expressions filled with love.

This was each other's liking, or rather, love.

"What happened today? Tell me about it?" Xia Xinyu asked curiously.

"I was made an example of by a new physics teacher."

"You even have to show off your use of idioms, you really are something..."

"After all, I'm pretty tiger-like." (虎 hǔ = tiger, but also means foolish or reckless)

"And then?"

"And then, Xinyu, you should also urge me to study physics more. I feel like I'll be publicly humiliated by him again next time."

"Okay, I'll do my best."

………

At Zhou Fu's house, the two of them agreed to eat steamed buns together and study together.

Then it turned into the two of them lying on the sofa, watching TV while eating snacks.

Although Tang Siwen was also lying down, she was actually sitting and lying, just stretching her legs out and leaning back on the sofa backrest.

And Zhou Fu was lying directly on her side, with one long leg straight and one knee bent.

From this perspective, Tang Siwen could even see a faint color difference in the hem of her casual yoga pants...

She could see her underwear.

But Zhou Fu didn't seem to mind, since they were both girls.

And now, with the central air conditioning and humidifier on in the house, the state of watching TV while eating snacks was unbelievably comfortable.

"It's okay, my dad is away on a business trip today, and even if my mom comes back, she'll be lying on the sofa like me," Zhou Fu said to Tang Siwen with a smile.

"...Okay."

Hearing this, Tang Siwen also relaxed a little. She held an egg-shaped pillow in front of her chest, arched her knees, and put her socked feet on the sofa, watching TV with Zhou Fu.

"What did she say after you told your mom?" Zhou Fu asked curiously.

"She said she knew," Tang Siwen replied.

"Isn't she angry? After all, it was a family dinner."

"No, she's not angry." Tang Siwen shook her head and murmured, "The so-called family dinner can still happen without me."

Hearing this, Zhou Fu felt particularly sorry for her.

She thought of herself being bullied, just as helpless.

Then, she went to her side, and from behind, gently hugged her, comforting her: "It's okay, you still have me, you have us."

"So soft."

Tang Siwen smiled shallowly, and after praising her, she didn't forget to say, "Like a pillow."

"If I heard you say that in middle school, I would have been even more inferior," Zhou Fu complained.

"Some girls, boys, will use that to make fun of people," Tang Siwen said, looking at Zhou Fu. "But I won't."

"You're so nice. But there aren't many people as nice as you," Zhou Fu said, sitting back in her place, leaning on the sofa, and said with some resentment, "Those people were laughing so hard back then, and then they'll realize that they, no, they'll realize later that their chests won't grow at all, and then they'll know how stupid they were."

"Haha."

Tang Siwen was amused, but after laughing, she stopped for a moment, pulled at her collar, looked inside, and said a little blankly, "Speaking of which, it seems like they haven't grown in two years."

"They'll keep developing, don't worry," Zhou Fu comforted.

"That's good." Tang Siwen relaxed a little.

"Eh, you care about this kind of thing too?" Zhou Fu felt very novel. She thought this girl only liked food and studying.

"I heard that boys prefer bigger ones," Tang Siwen said, a little seriously.

"You care about what boys think?" Zhou Fu felt amused and asked jokingly, "What kind of boys do you like?"

"I..."

Just as Tang Siwen was about to open her mouth, Zhou Fu's phone rang.

Then, she went to answer the phone.

Tang Siwen just hugged her knees and watched TV on the sofa.

And while Zhou Fu got up and paced back and forth while talking on the phone, she picked up a piece of snowflake pastry from the dessert box on the coffee table and put it in her mouth.

When she ate it, she immediately showed a happy expression.

But after eating, she found some crumbs had fallen on the sofa.

Then she quickly got off the sofa, took a tissue, knelt on the ground, and wiped the crumbs into the trash can.

"..." Zhou Fu looked at Tang Siwen suddenly wiping the sofa, feeling a little strange, but didn't say anything, still talking to her mother on the phone, "Okay, come back now. My classmate is at home... Oh, it's definitely a girl. Don't scare her, and bring some good food on the way, my friend has a good appetite."

After chatting, Zhou Fu hung up the phone.

Tang Siwen cleaned the sofa, turned around and looked at Zhou Fu, wanting to ask something, but was too embarrassed.

"Speak up, you can say anything to me," Zhou Fu said very generously. "As you can see, I'm a very casual person."

Seeing her say that, Tang Siwen nodded and asked, "What good food?"

"So cute!"

Zhou Fu was amused, went up and rubbed her face, kneading it vigorously.

And Tang Siwen also had a good temper, not getting angry at all even when she was rubbed into mochi.

"If I had met you earlier, what would Chen Yuan have mattered?" Zhou Fu suddenly sighed.

"Huh?" Tang Siwen was taken aback, not understanding. "Chen Yuan?"

"Ah, what I mean is..." Zhou Fu was a little embarrassed to tell the truth.

And the truth was that her best buddy was still Chen Yuan.

"Who's your best friend?" So Zhou Fu simply asked back.

Tang Siwen thought for a moment, then pointed at her and said, "Girl, it's you."

"Eh, isn't it Cheng Haiying?" Zhou Fu asked, puzzled.

"No." Tang Siwen shook her head, smiling slightly. "It's you."

"My best girlfriend... no, female friend is also you."

The two of them confessed their feelings to each other like that.

Under limited circumstances, the two were already the best of friends.

The two of them played at home for a while, and then Zhou Fu's mother came back.

She greeted Tang Siwen and praised her as 'a very pretty little girl', then took out some slightly spicy duck necks and duck wings that she had brought for them to eat.

"Is it raining outside? Why is it dripping?" Zhou Fu asked her mother.

"Yeah, I got a little rain on me when I got on the bus," her mother said, returning to her room.

"Since it's raining, then Siwen, you can sleep with me tonight, why don't you just not go home!" Zhou Fu said happily.

"I..."

Tang Siwen was stunned for a moment, hesitant to speak.

"It's decided, I'm going to make the bed!"

Zhou Fu decided on her own.

Then, she returned to her room, preparing to change to a bigger blanket and get an extra pillow.

After she had roughly tidied up the room, she returned to the living room.

Then, she found that Tang Siwen was gone.

"Siwen? Siwen?"

Zhou Fu began searching for her in the house.

But unfortunately, she didn't find Tang Siwen.

Ah?

Did she go home?

Why didn't she tell me she was leaving...

"That's right, she must know that I wouldn't let her go, so she just sneaked away..."

Zhou Fu sighed, feeling a little dejected.

She wanted to send Tang Siwen a message, but felt that her leaving directly might be because she didn't want to bother her.

So if she tried to persuade her now, it might make things even more difficult.

"Sigh..."

Zhou Fu had no choice but to sit listlessly on the sofa, looking sideways at the pitter-patter of the rain outside the floor-to-ceiling window: "If that's the case, at least take an umbrella with you."

Like that, she could only watch TV alone, bored, for half an hour.

Just when she was about to yawn, there was a sudden knock on the door.

Eh?

Zhou Fu went to open the door, puzzled.

Then, she saw Tang Siwen, her hair a little wet, standing outside the door with a cloth bag in her hand.

Zhou Fu: "?"

"You said I could stay overnight at your house..."

Tang Siwen looked at Zhou Fu and explained seriously, "So, I went home to get my pajamas."

(End of chapter)