Xiao's Mother laughed helplessly and quickly said, "Na Na, take him to the bathroom and take a look."
"Alright..." Yu Na walked behind Xiao Chen and pushed him into the bathroom, complaining resentfully, "I'm really done with you!"
"What did I do?"
"Look at you! Don't pretend you don't know!" As she spoke, she forcibly pushed Xiao Chen in front of the mirror.
Xiao Chen glanced at himself in the mirror. His handsome face was still the same, but there were ambiguous lipstick marks around his mouth.
Xiao Chen: ?
Yu Na angrily asked, "You know now, right?"
"Oh-" Xiao Chen was shocked for a few seconds, but soon returned to normal, calmly saying, "I see, that's why my dad kept touching his mouth just now."
"..."
After he washed up, Yu Na realized the lipstick marks still hadn't completely faded away. She took him to the bedroom, took out makeup remover, "Let's try this."
"Since everyone has seen it already," Xiao Chen moved closer to Yu Na, grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. He put his arms around her waist, leaned down and whispered tentatively, "Should we stop hiding then?"
...
When Xiao's Mother went to Qiao Rui's room to find Xiao's Father, she passed by Xiao Chen's room. The conversation inside could be heard clearly—
"Pervert! There are people home!"
"We're both adults in a relationship, what's wrong with a kiss?"
"Mm..."
His door was slightly ajar, leaving just a tiny gap. The scene inside entered her eyes—Xiao Chen had pressed Yu Na against the desk as the two kissed passionately.
Xiao's Mother quickly covered her eyes, pretending she hadn't seen anything. She smiled approvingly.
...
After the New Year holidays, life returned to its normal track.
As Yu Na had said, she strictly checked everyone's homework assignments during the holidays.
In English class, she asked everyone to take out their English assignments and called on random students to read out the answers while explaining them.
As a result, many were caught not having finished just for English assignments.
"Have I been too lenient with you all?"
She looked and sounded very calm. "The amount of homework I assign is completely within your ability to finish. Those who haven't completed it, go out and finish it now. Hand it in to my office later."
At first the class was silent, except for the students she had called out. No one else got up to leave and finish their assignments.
Yu Na leaned against the lectern with one hand. "You've all finished then, right? Good."
She put the chalk back in the tray, wiped her hands, and said, "Then everyone open your assignments and I'll check each one. But if I find anyone hasn't finished, don't blame me for notifying your parents."
"..."
Her words forced out another portion of students.
For the entire day, the air pressure around Yu Na was extremely low. No students dared to chat and joke with her as usual.
During evening self-study, Yu Na took time to go through practice questions.
She still didn't look very happy. After finishing, Yu Na threw the chalk back in the tray, clearly very disappointed with them. She said indifferently, "I'm very unsatisfied with your holiday homework this time. But I won't bother with you all, it's your own business if you disappoint your parents. Alright, keep studying."
For the rest of the time, the classroom was very quiet, with only the sound of writing on paper.
Yu Na sat on the lectern with her laptop open, expressionless, and no one dared to approach her.
But in fact, while working, Xiao Chen had sent her a message on WeChat—
He said he was already waiting for her at the north gate.
Then he sent another—
C:【I just told Teacher Han earlier, let's go on vacation with my parents over New Year】
N:【Great idea! Where to?】
C:【Let's go abroad to an island? Longwan is too cold】
N:【Sounds good~ But isn't someone not afraid of the cold? Isn't someone able to swim in winter too? [mischievous smile/]】
C:【I've probably been spoiled by you these past few days】
C:【At night I can't sleep without hugging you, I get too cold [mischievous smile/][sly/]】
Yu Na: "............"
This guy!
She could feel his annoying attitude even through the screen!
She clenched her teeth tightly.
The classroom had a focused studying atmosphere right now. She had to maintain her cold expression.
Because as soon as she broke, what would follow would be the buzzing whispers all around her like flies.
When she checked her phone, she saw the kung pao chicken recipe Xiao's Mother had sent her.
She also recalled how Xiao Chen's eyes lit up when he ate this dish.
She had a flash of inspiration and decided to try replicating it when she had time.
That morning, Xiao Chen sent her to work as usual.
When they reached the north gate, Xiao Chen said, "I have something to do today, so go home yourself after work, okay?"
"Okay." Yu Na had originally wanted to cook for him today, so she asked, "Can we have dinner together tonight then?"
"Sure, I'll be back once I'm done with my things."
He didn't think at all that Yu Na wanted to cook herself. He assumed she wanted to eat out together, since the only thing Miss had ever cooked for him so far was sandwiches, nothing else. Moreover, she wasn't very good at cooking either.
He didn't know that because Yu Na wanted to replicate the kung pao chicken for him, she had spent days carefully studying Xiao's Mother's recipe over and over, while also looking up authentic methods on a certain app.
Yu Na wanted to surprise him and didn't reveal it in advance.
She made a note of the ingredients she needed to buy in her memos.
After work on Friday, Yu Na went to the supermarket herself and bought some ingredients according to her memo.
Back home, she washed all the ingredients clean and prepped them.
Time to show off her skills.
Before starting to cook, she texted Xiao Chen: 【Come to my place for dinner tonight】
After sending the text, she put her phone down by the cutting board.
She figured Xiao Chen was probably busy and wouldn't reply too quickly, but shortly after she sent the message, his reply came back.
Yu Na was cutting ingredients. Seeing her phone screen light up, she got distracted for a second. Her hand slipped and she accidentally cut herself.
Yu Na sucked in a breath from the sudden pain. Luckily the cut wasn't deep. After simply treating it and taping on a bandaid, she returned to the kitchen.
Only then did she pick up her phone to check Xiao Chen's reply—
C:【Got it baby】
C:【Wait for me about an hour more】
The corners of Yu Na's lips curved up and she replied: 【Okay】
Around an hour later, Xiao Chen really did return to Huating One.
Following the sounds, he walked to the dining room. On the table were three dishes, all hometown dishes of his.
Among them was a serving of kung pao chicken that looked a little odd.
Xiao Chen glanced towards the kitchen and saw Yu Na busily working away.
She was plating sliced fruit.
This scene seemed to overlap with a beautiful dream of his.
He walked into the kitchen and hugged her from behind, "What are you up to?"
Yu Na was startled by the sudden embrace before recognizing it was him. She relaxed and said, "Cooking for you."
"What made you want to cook for me all of a sudden?"
Yu Na turned around to face him, looking extremely shy, "You're always the one cooking for me before, I can't always just let you give."
"Silly girl," Xiao Chen chuckled gently, "Did you forget what I told you back then?"
She didn't recall, "Hmm? What did you say?"
"From now on, I'll take care of you," Xiao Chen leaned down and kissed her forehead. "You don't need to give anything for me. You just need to love me well."
Xiao Chen held her in his arms. "Last time when I saw how satisfied you were eating your mom's cooking, I wanted to try making it for you too. But—" She looked at the table sheepishly, "My cooking skills compared to your mom's...the presentation isn't great. You're not allowed to dislike it!"
Xiao Chen indulgently pinched her cheek, "I like eating anything you make."
The two went to the dining room. After Yu Na put the fruit down, Xiao Chen suddenly noticed the bandaid on her forefinger. His brows furrowed as he walked to her side and took her hand, "What happened?"
"It's nothing," Yu Na hid her hand behind her back, "Just a small accident, doesn't hurt."
Xiao Chen's heart clenched. He tilted up her chin and lowered his head to kiss her.
Unlike his usual aggressiveness, this kiss was very gentle, inevitably drawing one to fall captive.
Yu Na craned her neck and put her arms around him, trying her best to respond.
Wanting to take the initiative, yet always losing to him.
Xiao Chen lightly clasped the back of her head, kissing her lips, tasting, probing, chasing, hooking, entwining.
The temperature in the dining room gradually rose along with their ambiguous sounds.
Xiao Chen put aside his usual casual attitude. Amidst the atmosphere permeated by their intimacy, he sincerely confessed his feelings for the first time: "I really...like you so, so much."
Yu Na's eyelashes fluttered slightly.
She slowly squeezed out a sentence from the kiss: "I don't want to be apart from you, what should I do?"
Xiao Chen heard this and released her.
The two were still very, very close to each other, even closer, so that their lips would be pressed tightly together again.
Xiao Chen's breathing was heavy, and he asked hoarsely: "Then can I sleep with you tonight?"
Yu Na kept her head low, her face flushed from the previous kiss.
She nodded almost imperceptibly.