Taking Liu Yifei back to Northeast China for the Chinese New Year has sent the entire internet into

The power of example is endless.

Seeing this, the other children eagerly began to perform.

A little girl with pigtails recited "Ode to the Goose" in a childish voice, her front teeth still slightly protruding.

"Oh, oh, oh, Qu Xiang sings to the sky~"

Fang Yu waved his hand and rewarded her with a piece of candied bean curd.

Another chubby boy, after holding it in for a long time, told a lame joke that wasn't funny at all.

Fang Yu happily gave him a spicy candy strip.

For a moment, the small courtyard was filled with the children's laughter and the crisp sound of food being eaten.

Liu Yifei stood under the eaves, motionless.

She looked at Fang Yu, watching him squat on the ground, patiently listening to a child stuttering as he recited the multiplication tables.

Then, she solemnly handed him a candied hawthorn and said, "Eat slowly, don't choke."

The warm afternoon sun shone obliquely on Fang Yu, outlining a soft profile on his face.

Fang Yu's face no longer held its usual playfulness and laziness; instead, it displayed a gentleness and patience that even he himself was unaware of.

At that moment, Liu Yifei suddenly felt a little dazed.

The man before me is the same man who wrote "make a living with my face" in a flamboyant style on the kang table.

And that martial artist who, amidst the howling wind of blades in the snow, recreated the legendary skills of a notorious bandit family.

It gradually overlapped with that singer who held a guitar and sang "Congratulations on getting rich".

He is like a collection of contradictions.

It can be down-to-earth or refined.

You can be lazy, or you can be focused.

She can be sharp-tongued, or... gentle.

This complex and vivid sense of reality flowed silently through her heart like a warm current.

The chat in the live stream also took on a different style at this moment.

[Wow... Fang Yu is so patient with kids! Is this the same social media tyrant? I'm totally charmed!]

[Look at the way the fairy sister looks at him! She just stood there, staring at Fang Yu, without saying a word... That look!!! Ahhh, I'm dead! It's sweeter than any love confession!]

[I saw it, lady upstairs! She was watching so intently! She even seemed to be smiling! That's definitely a look of attraction!]

At this moment, Fang Yu was truly shining.

Just then, Fang Yu picked up a string of candied garlic.

He looked with a smile at the last little girl who hadn't received a "reward".

The little girl looked to be only five or six years old. She was beautifully sculpted, like a doll from a traditional Chinese New Year painting, but she was very shy and always hid behind others.

They wanted it, but dared not go forward.

"Little sister, they all have it, you're the only one missing."

Fang Yu shook the rock candy garlic in his hand.

"Do you want it or not?"

The little girl looked at the crystal-clear object with longing in her eyes, but also a little scared, and kept backing away.

Looking at the little girl's greedy yet timid expression, Liu Yifei's heart almost melted, and she couldn't help but speak up.

"Fang Yu, stop teasing her."

"Give her a string of hawthorns."

Fang Yu glanced back at her and shook his head.

"No, the rules cannot be broken."

Liu Yifei frowned.

Why are you explaining rules to a group of kids?

But Fang Yu had already turned his gaze back to the little girl.

"Little sister, look at your brother Tiedan, he sang a song and is now eating."

He held up one finger and pointed at Tie Dan'er, who was gnawing on it with his mouth full of oil.

"Your girlfriend memorized a poem and is now eating it too."

He then pointed to the little girl who was happily hugging candied tofu.

"None of them are difficult, right?"

The little girl nodded through the gap.

"Then come out and stand in front of your brother."

Fang Yu patted the snow in front of him.

"Just tell me what you want."

The little girl bit her lip and hesitated for a long time.

Finally, she slowly emerged from behind the older child, taking tiny steps.

The new cotton shoes made a soft crunching sound as they stepped on the snow.

She walked up to Fang Yu and tilted her head back so that she could barely reach his eye level as he squatted down.

"elder brother……"

The sound was so faint it was like a mosquito's hum.

"I...I want it."

"What do you want? Speak louder, I'm getting old and my hearing isn't very good."

Fang Yu cupped his hands to his ears, looking serious.

Liu Yifei, who was standing next to her, twitched at the corner of her mouth.

You're 23 years old and your hearing isn't good?

The little girl mustered her strength and spoke a tiny bit louder than before.

"I want that... sparkly one..."

She stretched out her chubby little finger and pointed at the rock candy garlic in Fang Yu's hand.

Fang Yu looked down at the garlic in his hand, then at the pure longing in the little girl's eyes.

She had no idea that the thing was filled with garlic.

She simply thought that something shiny must taste delicious.

Fang Yu couldn't help but chuckle.

"Okay, that's brave enough."

"But just wanting it isn't enough."

He then held up another finger and waved it in front of the little girl.

"You'll have to give me something in return."

The little girl became anxious, her little hands clenched even tighter, and her round eyes began to well up with tears.

She thought for a long time but couldn't figure out what she was good at.

He can't sing, he can't recite poems, he can't even recite Tie Dan'er's "I found a penny on the side of the road".

Just as the little girl's eyes began to redden, she seemed to suddenly remember something.

She tiptoed and whispered in Fang Yu's ear.

He spoke a sentence very quickly, in a voice that only the two of them could hear.

Fang Yu's expression changed.

First stunned.

Then the corners of his mouth slowly turned up, higher and higher, until finally he tilted his head back and laughed.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

He laughed so hard he bent over backwards, and slapped his own thigh.

"make a deal!"

Fang Yu casually put the rock candied garlic in his hand aside, turned around and picked up a string of proper, bright red rock candied hawthorns from the wooden board.

He bent down and offered the money to the little girl with both hands.

The little girl's eyes instantly lit up like two stars.

She carefully took the candied hawthorn, then turned and ran away, forgetting to even say thank you.

She ran three steps, then seemed to remember something, turned back, and called out sweetly to Fang Yu.

"Thank you, brother!"

Then it ran even faster, like a startled little rabbit.

As Liu Yifei watched this scene, the corners of her mouth unconsciously curved upwards.

She walked over to Fang Yu and asked in a low voice.

"What did she say to you?"

Fang Yu straightened up, glanced at her sideways, and gave her a smug look that said, "Guess what?"

"Say it already," Liu Yifei nudged him.

Fang Yu pointed to Liu Yifei's cheek, and the smile on his lips widened even further.

She said—

He paused for two seconds on purpose, whetting everyone's appetite.

"Brother, the lady next to you is so pretty."

Liu Yifei was stunned for a moment.

Then, as if by reflex, he turned his head to look in the direction the little girl had run off in.

The pretty little girl was squatting by the wall, licking the sugar coating off the candied hawthorn stick.

Seemingly sensing Liu Yifei's gaze, the little girl looked up and smiled at her.

That smile was as pure as the first snow of winter.

Liu Yifei's heart suddenly softened.

"...Really?"

"Go ask her yourself." Fang Yu crossed his arms and tilted his chin toward the little girl.

Liu Yifei stared at him for two seconds.

Fang Yu looked back, his expression calm, without the sly smile he usually wore when he was being cheeky.

……

I can't tell.

What this guy says is a mix of truth and lies; it's never easy to tell the difference.

But for some reason, she chose to believe it.

"You..." Liu Yifei turned her head away and muttered something, her voice so soft that even she couldn't hear it.

Her earlobes were tinged with a faint pink.