How come you're also my ex-girlfriend?

High attack, low defense; only offense, no defense – that's exactly the kind of person Jiang Yiyao is.

The girl, who originally intended to steal a phone but ended up making a fool of herself, remained silent like an ostrich until she reached the bottom of the apartment building.

"Are you coming in with me right away, or do you want to go home first?"

Xu Yan glanced at Jiang Yiyao, who was silently plotting something beside him.

The girl bit her lip, still resentful, but there was nothing she could do. After all, it was her own doing... a major decision-making mistake, and she wasn't going to be unreasonable to this extent.

As for that recording... we can't mention it now; we need to erase that burning, fleeting memory first.

"...I'll come up myself in a bit."

"OK."

Xu Yan nodded, "I'll give you time to savor it, baby."

"Xu Yan!!"

Hehe~

The boy went upstairs with a sly grin. Back in her room, Jiang Yiyao's face remained flushed. She wished she could disappear from the face of the earth whenever she thought about the blunder.

When Jiang Yiyao changed her clothes and knocked on Xu Yan's door, the food was already on the table, and Xu Yan had also changed into casual clothes.

He was dressed simply in flip-flops, casual wide-leg trousers, and a black short-sleeved T-shirt. The moment the languid-looking young man opened the door, his eyes fell on the other person's empty hand.

Jiang Yiyao glared at Xu Yan. "What are you looking at?"

Xu Yan said irritably, "You came empty-handed?"

"Shall I go back now and get you some US dollars?"

"Haha, I was just joking around."

"snort."

The girl, who had changed into a short skirt and knee-high socks, turned and walked into the living room.

"Yaoyao is so pretty! She's getting prettier and prettier."

As soon as the food was served, Wang Hui couldn't help but praise it.

The girl, switching to her sweet and obedient personality, appropriately showed a shy smile on her face, saying, "No, Aunt Wang, you're too kind."

Xu Jiaan also chuckled and said, "There's no need to be modest. I just wonder which brat will benefit from this."

As they spoke, Wang Hui and Xu Jia'an's eyes fell on Xu Yan's face.

Xu Yan looked up at the two of them and asked, "Is it a family ritual where we have to pray before meals if we're not eating yet?"

I've never seen anyone push their own son into a fire pit, this old man!

"Eat, eat, eat! All you do is eat!"

Xu Jia'an said irritably.

Xu Yan immediately turned on his flashy mode.

Then look at the young girl sitting next to the boy. She always has a sweet and gentle smile on her face, and even the way she eats with her chopsticks is so elegant and graceful.

Forget it, this unfilial son doesn't deserve it. Let's just wait for him to be ready for slaughter.

Although Xu Yan spent most of his time showing off his food, the atmosphere was still quite harmonious, even Xu Yan himself thought so. If Jiang Yiyao were to act like this, she would be presentable in any situation.

She is beautiful and polite, and she doesn't let the elders' words fall on the ground. She is definitely the type that elders like.

"Alright, that's enough about that. You two are in the same school, so make sure to help each other out. Yao Yao, you too, if you run into any problems, you can ask Xu Yan for help. Don't let his seemingly unserious nature fool you, he's actually a very kind person."

After finishing the meal, Xu Jia'an said to Jiang Yiyao with a smile.

The girl reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yes, thank you, Uncle Xu. Speaking of helping out, lately..."

Just as Jiang Yiyao was about to speak, Xu Yan immediately put down his phone and looked at Xu Jia'an, "By the way, Dad, something interesting happened on our way back."

"..."

Jiang Yiyao couldn't help but turn her face away; this annoying jerk was winking at her.

Should I just confront him? That thought popped into my head.

Unfortunately, Jiang Yiyao's phone rang at that moment.

The conversation abruptly ended, and Xu Jia'an and Wang Hui suppressed their curiosity.

Jiang Yiyao glanced at her phone, then stood up and said apologetically, "Excuse me, my mom called. I'll go answer it."

"Oh, it's okay, go pick it up."

Jiang Yiyao went out quickly, as if afraid that the call would be overheard. She didn't answer the phone until she reached her door on the third floor.

A few sounds spread through the corridor. The sky outside had already darkened, but the moonlight that pierced through the clouds could not fall into the empty corridor.

"...It's always these kinds of things. Tell me why?"

"..."

"What do you mean I'm your daughter and therefore this is something I should have to endure? I'm a senior in high school this year, do I have to listen to all this nonsense between you two?"

"..."

"Yes, I wouldn't exist without you, but I shouldn't have to bear all this. Don't you know why I transferred schools and why I moved back alone?"

"..."

"Stop talking, I'm not interested. If you can pass it, then pass it."

"..."

"So what kind of attitude do you expect from someone who's still a student? Do you think I can solve something that two adults can't? Or are you acting this way because you have me as your daughter?!"

"Clatter".

The girl, her face flushed and her eyes slightly red, hung up the phone with such force that it looked like she wanted to poke a hole in the screen.

Her breathing was a little rapid, and her chest heaved noticeably as she gripped her phone.

Suddenly, she gripped her phone tightly and turned around sharply.

Then I saw the boy carrying a trash bag above the stairwell.

Xu Yan's expression was slightly awkward. He noticed the somewhat fierce look in Jiang Yiyao's eyes. That look might not be one of disgust towards him, but rather the exasperation of having something she didn't want others to see exposed.

The boy lifted the trash bag in his hand. "I came to throw away the trash. I didn't hear anything just now."

Seeing Xu Yan's nonchalant expression, Jiang Yiyao's tense expression actually relaxed.

She shook her head. "It's okay if I hear it, I'm used to it."

Xu Yan thought to herself, if hearing that it was nothing, why did she have to come all this way to answer the phone? Actually, when she saw who was calling, she already had a premonition, didn't she?

He didn't say much, just nodded slightly, "Mm."

As he spoke, he was about to walk past the girl downstairs. Jiang Yiyao, who was holding her phone, was looking down, seemingly lost in thought.

In the instant the motion-activated light illuminated, blurring their silhouettes, she heard the boy's voice behind her.

"If you're bored, how about we go downstairs for a walk?"

Jiang Yiyao turned to look at him. The boy carrying the trash bag was standing at the entrance of the building, seemingly ready to go down at any moment.

Logically, or rather, based on her past personality, she wouldn't want to communicate with anyone at a time like this. She felt she didn't need comfort or sympathy, or rather, that comfort or sympathy at this moment would truly hurt her.

But she nodded. "Mm."

"Bang!"

The trash bag was easily tossed into the trash can by the tall, slender boy. Moonlight filtered through the eaves of the high-rise buildings and merged with the light from the streetlights, illuminating the black hair of the boy and girl.

Xu Yan didn't say anything special, and neither did Jiang Yiyao. The two of them walked towards the outside of the residential area in a tacit understanding.

The boy occasionally looked down at his phone, while the girl behind him walked with steps that were sometimes light and sometimes heavy. She would step on the boy's shadow, only to find that when she stepped on the shadow, she was also standing in his shadow.

As the wind blew from across the street, the headlights of a speeding car swept away the two people's shadows.

Xu Yan suddenly stopped and looked at the girl next to him. "I deleted the recording, really."

Jiang Yiyao, who had also stopped, put her hands behind her back, looked up, and seemed somewhat displeased.

"Are you pitying me?"

No.

"A man's gentleness is a cheap thing; you won't get any girls that way," the girl said, wrinkling her nose.

Xu Yan glanced at Jiang Yiyao casually, "Don't give me that, just say so. You're the type who responds better to gentle persuasion than force."

"Bang."

Jiang Yiyao lightly kicked Xu Yan's shin, but it was practically harmless. She looked up at the boy with a reproachful expression.

"Xu Yan, if you're only talking to me like this because you pity me, I'll really hate you."

"oh."

"Oh, what does that mean?"

"I see."

"Then why are you looking at your phone?"

"I'm trying to find a way to recover the recording."

"You f***ing! No way!!"

Jiang Yiyao lunged forward, determined to get the phone out of the boy's hand, no matter what.

The streetlights illuminated two figures that seemed about to merge into one, gesturing wildly and pushing each other.

"ah..."

With her wrist grabbed, Jiang Yiyao successfully snatched Xu Yan's phone, but she was almost pressed against the boy's chest.

The phone screen was shining, illuminating her flushed cheeks.

Xu Yan held his breath, looking closely at her flawless face.

Her heart was pounding, but her hand slowly loosened. The girl who had taken the phone lowered her head, her dark hair trying to hide her blush.

"Huh? Why is it a movie?"

She looked up in surprise; her phone screen displayed a picture of a successful movie ticket purchase.

Xu Yan touched his face and then looked up at the moon: "Thinking about watching a movie or something..."

"Then why did you buy two movie tickets? Hmm? You're not planning to go on a date with me, are you?"

With her eyes narrowed, Jiang Yiyao seemed to have regained the initiative and began to exert pressure.

Xu Yan scoffed, "It's just a parent-child activity, what kind of date is that?"

"That's true, since you like playing with tiles. Call me Mom and I'll go with you to see it."

Jiang Yiyao shook her head and swayed her body, her curvaceous figure moving in a very pleasing way, making a "DuangDuang" sound.

Xu Yan could only sigh.

Who ruined Wa's reputation like this?!

"Go if you want, don't go if you don't. I'll go by myself."

He took the phone, turned around, and left.

"You're just being arrogant. I can see the favorability rating above your head."

"You've been playing too many niche games, haven't you?"

"Sigh, even so, I still have to remind you that if you fall in love with me, you'll get hurt a lot."

"Then who is it that you bleed every month for?"

"Dare you lower yourself any further?!"

"Jiang Yiyao, you shouldn't love me too much. I'm also a boy who can easily hurt people."

"Tsk, you're just a toy at heart. Don't you know your destiny is to be discarded when you're tired of playing with you?"

"Yeah, you had a lot of fun on the back of my bike this afternoon, didn't you?"

"I'll chop you up!"

As she cursed, Jiang Yiyao skipped and hopped after the other person's back, giving them a light kick.

He jumped into Xu Yan's shadow.

……