The white rose I picked up cried and said she liked me.

Xu Nian snapped out of her daze, subconsciously touching her nose, looking somewhat embarrassed, and her tone was a little unnatural: "Uh, long time no see."

"Mr. Xu really has no sense of romance."

Zhou Xiaoman smiled gently, her eyes sparkling with tenderness. Her cascading purple hair swayed softly in the evening breeze, releasing a faint fragrance of violets that was refreshing and delightful.

"We promised each other back then that I would visit Xiaoman sometime, but Xiaoman has been waiting for two whole years."

Xu Nian knew he was in the wrong, scratched the back of his head, and gave an embarrassed smile.

Shortly after his release from prison, he promised Zhou Xiaoman that he would tell her about his experiences in prison to provide her with creative inspiration.

But not long after, he completely forgot about it and put it to the back of his mind.

Zhou Xiaoman smiled faintly, stepped aside to make room, and gestured for them to come in: "This isn't the place for reminiscing. Let's go inside."

Xu Nian nodded and followed Zhou Xiaoman into the aquarium.

Upon entering the venue, we stepped into the underwater walkway area.

Colorful fish swam slowly in the azure sea, like a moving rainbow, a beautiful scene that amazed Xu Nian.

Stepping into this place feels like entering a mysterious and beautiful underwater world, where everything around you is so novel and fascinating.

Xu Xi, standing to the side, was just like a curious child. One moment she was lying on the glass, staring at the eight-legged octopus with her big, round eyes; the next she was running to the slowly swimming turtle and waving her little hands in rhythm with its swimming, as if she wanted to race it; and then she was leaning over the sleeping little fish, suddenly banging on the glass and watching the little fish wake up in fright and frantically wag its tail to escape, laughing so hard she almost fell over.

Zhou Xiaoman led the way, her high heels clicking crisply.

Along the way, sanitation workers who were cleaning would stop what they were doing and greet her respectfully.

"Hello, curator."

"Hello, curator."

...

Zhou Xiaoman smiled and nodded in response to each of them.

"Huh?" Xu Xi suddenly stopped, frowning slightly, and asked with a puzzled look, "Sister Xiaoman, why didn't I see Crispy Shark today? Where did it go?"

"It's shy, so it's hiding."

As Zhou Xiaoman spoke, she raised her hand and gently waved it towards the dark depths of the sea.

Before long, a pair of deep eyes slowly emerged from the darkness. The waves rolled, and the small fish and shrimp around seemed to sense something, scattering and fleeing in all directions.

The next second, a behemoth slowly appeared before everyone's eyes.

It has an extremely fierce appearance, and its sharp teeth look particularly ferocious under the cold light.

Xu Nian looked at the enormous creature and a sense of fear instantly rose in her heart. She subconsciously took two steps back.

On the other hand, the shark named Crispy swam slowly to Zhou Xiaoman's side and gently rubbed its head against the glass, like a kitten begging for food from its owner, showing a gentleness completely opposite to its fierce appearance.

The stark contrast made Xu Nian's lips twitch involuntarily.

"Crispy is very well-behaved, Mr. Xu, there's no need to panic."

Zhou Xiaoman noticed his panicked expression, smiled, and explained.

"It originally belonged to another aquarium, but that aquarium was poorly managed and eventually went bankrupt and closed down. Most of the marine life in the aquarium starved to death because no one fed them, and Crispy was also starving and almost buried in that abandoned venue."

"Later, your white rose bought it and sent it to me. Since then, Crispy has never gone hungry again, and it has been more obedient than the other sharks, never throwing a tantrum."

"Like abandoned stray cats, once adopted, they become more docile, fearing being abandoned again."

Xu Nian nodded, seemingly lost in thought.

He couldn't help but recall how Xiaoxi looked when he first took her in; her overly mature and sensible nature made his heart ache.

Xu Xi, her big, bright eyes sparkling, gently tapped the glass next to Crispy Shark, then turned to Zhou Xiaoman and asked, "Sister Xiaoman, Sister Xiaoman, has Crispy had dinner today?"

"Not yet." Zhou Xiaoman shook her head with a smile. "The museum just closed not long ago. We have to wait for my nuns to finish cleaning up before we can feed it."

"Can I feed it?" Xu Xi's little face was full of anticipation.

Zhou Xiaoman glanced at the enormous Crispy Shark, then at the petite Xu Xi, and couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle, teasingly saying, "I'm afraid that won't work."

Why?

"You go feed it, but it's never full," Zhou Xiaoman said with a smile, gesturing with her hand.

"One crunchy bite, and I could eat ten of you!"

After she finished speaking, the two girls burst into laughter.

Seeing this scene, Xu Nian recalled her past reckless actions and felt both amused and exasperated.

Two years ago, Xiao Huomiao said he would send Zhou Xiaoman to feed sharks, and it turned out that she really did just feed sharks.

He thought that Xiao Huomiao had sent Zhou Xiaoman to be fed to sharks and even erected a tombstone for her in the cemetery. Just thinking about it made him feel incredibly embarrassed.

After passing through the long underwater boardwalk, you will arrive at a hall displaying various marine life specimens.

Zhou Xiaoman walked straight to a stone wall with a line of faint writing carved on it: "Curator's Office, No Visitors Allowed."

She fumbled on the wall for a moment and gently pressed a hidden switch.

Immediately afterwards, the stone wall in front of them rumbled and receded to the left and right, revealing a wide doorway, behind which lay another world.

"Xiaoman, I'm leaving my brother in your care now." Xu Xichong blinked at Zhou Xiaoman, pointed her little finger to the polar animal exhibit not far away, "I'm going to see the little penguins, hehe."

"Uh... wait a minute..." Xu Nian hurriedly reached out, trying to stop Xu Xi, but before she could finish speaking, Xu Xi disappeared like a gust of wind, leaving only a cheerful figure behind.

Xu Nian looked in the direction where Xu Xi had disappeared, then turned to look at Zhou Xiaoman beside her, a hint of embarrassment on her face.

He was too naive and slow-witted to see Zhou Xiaoman's affection for him.

Now, after years of experience, he has matured considerably.

Looking back on all the moments I shared with Zhou Xiaoman, even someone as slow-witted as me could understand something.

He is now a married man with a girl he loves, and should keep his distance from other women.

It's still somewhat inappropriate for a man and a woman to be alone in a room together, especially since the other person used to like him. Even if he has a clear conscience and would never do anything inappropriate, it's still not quite right.

What's more, Xiaoxi herself is a complete jealous person.

He had only treated Zhou Xiaoman to a meal once, accompanied by Wen Yao and Zhao Lin, which aroused Xiao Xi's extreme jealousy. In the end, she kissed his lips until they bled and hurt for several days.

That's why he wanted to stop Xiaoxi and have her stay with him to listen to Zhou Xiaoman's class. This would put Xiaoxi at ease and avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings.

But to his surprise, Xiaoxi ran away on her own, deliberately leaving him and Zhou Xiaoman alone. This left him feeling somewhat like Louis XVI, completely bewildered and unsure of what to do.