Xiao Chen gripped Yu Na's arm tightly.
She obediently followed his footsteps behind him.
Xiao Chen took her to a stand selling roasted sweet potatoes. The owner was an old man wearing a thick military coat, with a kind face.
The sweet potatoes on the roasting grill were all roasted to a dark brown, neatly arranged in a circle on the grill.
Clean and tidy.
Seeing the passing young people, the old man smiled broadly, as if he wasn't here to make money but to enjoy the upcoming visual feast with the youths.
Xiao Chen politely and familiarly said to the old man, "Get us a good one, pops!"
Hearing this, Yu Na couldn't help but laugh out loud beside him.
"Coming right up!" The old man chuckled happily. "I'll get you the best one!"
As he spoke, he carefully selected one from the middle and put it in a bag. "This one is the sweetest!"
"Thank you, pops."
After Xiao Chen paid, he took the roasted sweet potato and handed it to Yu Na. "Have you eaten roasted sweet potato before?"
The fireworks show was about to start and more and more people gathered on the beach. Yu Na sniffed the aroma from the bag with great interest and shook her head. Because of the noisy crowd, she deliberately raised her voice, "No."
She peeled back a bit of the skin and took a bite. Her eyes suddenly lit up, as if she had just tasted some rare delicacy.
Xiao Chen was amused by her reaction. "Is it that good?"
"Delicious!"
The bright orange sweet potato was soft and sweet, oozing syrupy juice that melted in her mouth.
Maybe it was psychological, but after one bite, she didn't feel as cold anymore.
Yu Na ate two more bites, then looked back at Xiao Chen.
He was leaning against a rock waiting expressionlessly for the fireworks show, seemingly oblivious to everything else.
She bit her lower lip, struggling for a moment before poking his arm with her forefinger.
Xiao Chen looked at her. "What?"
Yu Na held out the uneaten part of the sweet potato to his mouth. "Have a bite too." She added softly: "I didn't bite this part."
Xiao Chen's expression flickered for a moment. It's fine actually...he didn't mind.
But he swallowed those words back down.
He lowered his head slightly and took a small bite of the roasted sweet potato.
A flush crept up Yu Na's face, especially her right cheek, which still bore the red imprint of her father's heavy slap.
Now, combined with the blush, her right cheek looked bright red.
Xiao Chen looked at her, his mood complicated as he involuntarily imagined what she had gone through at home during that time.
He finally fully understood why she was unwilling to return to her parents,
and her parents' secret investigation made even him, a grown man, feel creeped out.
Xiao Chen watched Yu Na attentively eating the roasted sweet potato. She took a bite where he had just bitten, and the girl's brows gently curved downward.
"Yu Na."
It was the first time he had called her by name since their reunion. Before, it had always been "Hey you", or straight to the point.
Yu Na: "Hmm?"
Just as Xiao Chen was about to speak, they were interrupted by two approaching girls.
One girl with short hair greeted Yu Na, "Hello?"
Hearing this, Yu Na and Xiao Chen looked towards them.
The short-haired girl was a little embarrassed. "Miss, could you take a photo for us?"
Yu Na gladly nodded, "Sure."
The long-haired girl thanked them profusely and handed her phone to Yu Na.
Yu Na passed her half-eaten sweet potato to Xiao Chen and took the phone, patiently helping the girls take several pictures.
The two girls were very satisfied looking through the photos.
The short-haired girl gave Xiao Chen and Yu Na a meaningful look, as she had seen them sharing the sweet potato earlier.
If they weren't a couple, then what were they?
The short-haired girl said, "Let me take some photos for you two as well!"
"Ah..."
Yu Na rarely took photos of herself, and Xiao Chen wasn't one to enjoy being photographed either. So Yu Na responded awkwardly, "No-"
She had just uttered the first word when Xiao Chen abruptly interrupted, "That would be great, thanks."
Yu Na: ???
Xiao Chen took out his phone and handed it to the short-haired girl.
Not knowing what he was up to, Yu Na could only go along with it.
They walked forward until the background was clear of people. The short-haired girl snapped away, taking nine photos before stopping.
She returned Xiao Chen's phone to him excitedly, giving him a mischievous grin, "Handsome, I can't guarantee the quality, but don't delete a single one, because - " she said mysteriously, "there are nine photos total."
The long-haired girl immediately understood and explained, "Nine photos! Wishing you two everlasting love!"
After that, they thanked them again and left arm in arm, giggling, without waiting for a reaction from the dumbfounded couple.
Yu Na: "..."
Feeling rather awkward, she woodenly asked, "Do they think we are..."
Xiao Chen looked unperturbed. "Who knows, whatever."
His mind was completely on the photos he was flipping through, examining each one closely.
The nine photos were largely similar, almost consecutive shots. But it had to be said, the two of them stood out strikingly among the crowd.
And the girl had used the flash, highlighting their fair, clean skin.
"I thought you don't like taking photos?" Yu Na asked hopefully.
Xiao Chen continued browsing the photos. "Different days, different moods."
"What days?"
Xiao Chen glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "The fireworks show. First time for me too, so of course I'd commemorate it."
"...Oh."
Why couldn't he just say it was because he wanted to take photos with her? Really.
Yu Na tiptoed to peek at the photos. "Could you send them to me too? I want to post in Moments."
Xiao Chen nodded and AirDropped all nine photos to Yu Na.
Yu Na never used filters on her photos. She posted what she took.
As she opened up Moments to start editing, Xiao Chen happened to catch a glimpse and realized with surprise that though she had posted a lot, he hadn't seen a single one show up in his feed.
He raised his brows, his tone teasing. "Did you block me?"
"Huh?" Yu Na was focused on editing her Moments post and didn't catch what he meant.
"You posted so much but I haven't seen any of it in my feed?"
"............"
Yu Na's breathing stopped short. Instinctively she shifted her phone screen closer to her side and retorted, "You were peeking at my phone!"
Xiao Chen scoffed. "As if I'm interested. Your screen's so bright I couldn't not see it."
"Tsk." Yu Na turned down the brightness on her phone screen and explained awkwardly, "Those posts were set to Only-Me visibility...I usually use it to record my life."
Yu Na clicked to publish the Moments post she had just edited.
"You can see this one!" She demanded outright, "Quick, go like it for me!"
Xiao Chen still looked aloof. Sulking like a kid. But he begrudgingly went and liked Yu Na's latest Moments post.
Yu Na felt honey flowing through her heart.
It was the first time she had posted an Only-You visible post and didn't have to fret anxiously, guessing whether he'd hit like or not.
Instead, she had posted it right in front of him, and he had liked it right in front of her.
What a wonderful feeling.
"Oh right," Yu Na suddenly recalled, "what were you going to tell me earlier?"
"Tell you what?"
"When you called my name earlier, before those two girls showed up..."
Xiao Chen drew out the "oh" then said casually, "Nothing much. You should move in with me."
Yu Na blinked. "Move in with you?"
Xiao Chen sounded serious, not joking at all. He emphasized, "Move into my place."