Why are you always thinking about dating me?

"So hurry up, your sister is waiting for you to tell her a story."

What story do you want to hear today?

"Listen to Thumbelina."

"Okay, here it is, I'll tell you now."

Lin An doesn't need a fairy tale book because he can memorize many stories. It's not a difficult thing for him. He can memorize them because Xu Qinghuan likes to coax him by asking him to tell her stories.

Xu Qinghuan lay there obediently, listening to his gentle voice in her ear, without closing her eyes, looking into his eyes with a bright smile.

..............................

The following morning marked the second day of the countdown to the National Day holiday.

Lin An woke up early, got out of bed, and made breakfast for Xu Qinghuan. Then he went to the classroom, ready to start his day with plenty of energy.

Although his daily life was the same every day, Lin An felt happy as the holidays approached. After all, who doesn't like holidays? He didn't have much to worry about at school, since he could see Su Yuejin during the holidays anyway.

Wait, why did I think of Su Yuejin?

Lin An dismissed the thought immediately, since Su Yuejin was probably the only person he kept in touch with at school. It wasn't until he reached the classroom door that he remembered there was another person, someone he could usually see at school but not outside of school.

Luoshui River.

Luo Shuishui always arrived at the classroom very early. Like him, the classroom was still empty at this time. There was a thick fog on the autumn morning, and the playground outside the corridor was covered with a white fog.

Lin An likes fog because it's rare and therefore very beautiful.

Luo Shuishui was wearing a white sweater, loose white jeans, and a single ponytail. She looked pure and cute. She was leaning on the balcony, looking at the mist, seemingly lost in thought.

Hearing footsteps, she turned around and, as expected, saw Lin An.

Lin An figured he had nothing else to do, so he walked over to her, thinking he'd chat for a bit. Luo Shuishui sniffed lightly, which startled Lin An for no apparent reason.

I always feel that Luo Shuishui is more like a puppy; her nose is so sensitive.

"Tsk tsk, this time it smells like two women. You last night...?"

"?? I went drinking with two girls last night and you could smell it too? There was no physical contact, okay?" Lin Anren was stunned.

"Huh? I was just kidding." Luo Shuishui burst out laughing when she saw Lin An's frantic state.

"..." Lin An found himself speechless.

"See, you always give yourself away." Luo Shuishui's smile was gentle.

"..."

Lin An really wanted to say, "No matter what, it has nothing to do with you. Why do you find pleasure in this?" But in the end, he didn't say anything because it didn't matter to him.

"What are your plans for National Day?" Luo Shuishui asked him.

"Not at the moment. Oh no, I think I'll be busy for two days. One day I'm going to a comic convention, and the other day I'm going on a date."

The comic convention was something I had arranged with Su Yuejin on October 3rd. We were going to a pretty big comic convention. I agreed to go with Su Yuejin because I really wanted to go too. I'm such an anime fanatic, I've never been to one before.

The date with Xu Qinghuan hadn't been set yet, because Xu Qinghuan hadn't decided what to do. But Lin An wasn't in a hurry. He didn't have any particular place he wanted to go. It didn't matter where he went, as long as he was with her.

"That seems to be a very busy person."

What about you? What are your plans for National Day? Traveling?

“My parents are planning to go out on the 2nd… I don’t really want to go. It’s fine to stay home alone.” Luo Shuishui answered softly, then suddenly turned around and stared into Lin An’s eyes.

"So I'll be lonely during the seven-day National Day holiday. Would you like to take a day to keep me company, you busy person?"

"Huh? I think you don't need to accompany me, right?" Lin An looked helplessly into her eyes.

"Rejecting girls is such an easy yet cruel way to do it." Luo Shuishui's tone was relaxed, without a trace of the disappointment or surprise one would expect from being rejected, as if she had already anticipated the outcome when she asked the question.

"No, no, it's not that bad."

"I plan to go to the square with my friends to busk," Luo Shuishui said softly.

"Singing for money, just to experience life, right?"

“Ah… if that’s how you see it, it doesn’t seem wrong. Just think of it as building up your courage.” Luo Shuishui replied gently, and Lin An nodded. This did seem like something she would do.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing, Lin An."

"Ok?"

Luo Shuishui turned around, then reached out and gently patted his shoulder. "I've been a bit lazy with updates lately, so I suggest you write more."

"You're still reading that story?"

"Why not read it? It's quite interesting, isn't it?"

"I always feel like you've seen through all my weaknesses," Lin An replied somewhat helplessly. He was referring to the online novels he wrote. Luo Shuishui was a loyal reader, and with her intelligence, she could surely analyze his values ​​and behavior from every word.

After all, a person's entire personality and beliefs will be revealed in their writing; they cannot be concealed.

"No, Lin An, you have almost no weaknesses in front of me right now. Why don't you consider telling me your weaknesses? That way I can get along with you easily."

"Ah, of course I have weaknesses."

"uh-huh?"

“I am greedy for money and lustful, the latter more so than the former, especially for smart, self-righteous girls. Whether they are foolish or intelligent, they all particularly fascinate me. You belong to the latter, Luo Shuishui.” Lin An took a step closer to her.

Luo Shuishui tilted her head in confusion, then understood what he meant.

"I'm really good at women's Sanda (Chinese kickboxing)." She looked at Lin An as he approached, then tilted her head back and hummed.

Lin An was stunned for a moment, "What normal girl would study this?"

"Yes, I have a very powerful aunt. She's incredibly good at Sanda (Chinese kickboxing)." Luo Shuishui said this, then winked at Lin An. As Lin An took another step closer to her, a hint of panic finally appeared in her eyes.

"What do you want to do? I'm not as easy to bully as other girls. If there's too much physical contact, I might get angry."

Lin An stopped in his tracks, looking into her slightly serious eyes.

"Shui Shui is such a pure and innocent girl."

"Immortality, is that a compliment to me being a fairy?"

"You're not wrong."

"But even fairies can fall in love, can descend to the mortal world, and can also long for the kind of romance they desire."

Luo Shuishui suddenly took a step forward, reached out, and generously put her arm around Lin An's shoulder, gently embracing him.

Chapter Sixty: Self-Knowledge

Lin An's body became somewhat stiff, cold, or burning hot.

It wasn't because Luo Shuishui had any magic; it was simply that Lin An felt this wasn't something Luo Shuishui would do. Luo Shuishui was so conservative and gentle, how could she suddenly reach out and hug him?

But after about two or three seconds, Lin An seemed to have figured it out again.

Luo Shuishui hugged him very lightly, just a gentle embrace, like the etiquette of friends reuniting and saying goodbye, without any lust. Lin An felt as if he were hugging a very soft pillow, the girl's delicate body so soft, yet he dared not reach out to hug Luo Shuishui, his hands hanging nervously in mid-air.

"You can hug me for a little while," she whispered gently.

So Lin An reached out and gently embraced Luo Shuishui. It was very, very gentle. Luo Shuishui's body was so soft and especially warm. When he looked down, Lin An seemed to smell the scent of gardenias in her hair, or perhaps the fresh scent of jasmine. He was a little confused, but being embraced like this, his heart seemed to beat a little faster for no reason.

That gentle embrace... so gentle that he didn't want to let go, he wanted to just keep holding her like that forever, no matter how long it took. Lin An's heart seemed to skip a beat again.

He stared blankly at Luo Shuishui's profile. Luo Shuishui just smiled gently, her mouth moving as if she were counting from 10 to 1.

Lin An inexplicably felt a sense of fear. He watched as Luo Shuishui's pink lips moved slightly, and the numbers changed one by one until they reached 1. Only then did he realize that under this intense pressure, he was holding Luo Shuishui tighter and tighter.

It's like...reluctant to let go.

Luo Shuishui finished counting, then let go of his hand. Lin An had no choice but to let go as well. He watched Luo Shuishui take a step back and then lean on the railing again. Her eyes were clear, but Lin An was somewhat dazed.

"Why……?"

"You seem a bit lost lately, so here's a comforting hug from your ex-girlfriend." Luo Shuishui winked at him.

Lin An stared blankly at her lovely, bright, and gentle appearance. His heart was racing for no reason. The embrace just now, that wonderful touch and fragrance, made his heart restless and his blood unable to cool. He hurriedly murmured, "Luo Shui Shui... you are like poison."

"You even scolded me after I hugged you." Luo Shuishui seemed somewhat annoyed.

"No, it's a compliment."

"Next time, you should say it's the antidote."

Luo Shuishui gently patted his shoulder, but without any hesitation, she walked into the classroom. Lin An watched her back, watched her ponytail swaying gently, and then reached out and punched himself in the chest.

Okay, I've calmed down.

Lin An was almost captivated by this little vixen. For a moment, he even had the thought of kneeling down at Luo Shuishui's feet and becoming her dog. But then he thought, this guy is doing it on purpose, deliberately trying to make him think that way.

So he absolutely couldn't think that way, but now that he thinks about it, Luo Shuishui is a really interesting girl.

Lin An followed Luo Shuishui into the classroom, but Luo Shuishui's eyes held a hint of mockery. "Punch yourself in the chest, does it hurt?"

"...Are you looking at me?" Lin An's lips twitched.

"I bet you're thinking right now that I'm a bad woman trying to suddenly offer you some comfort and tenderness, so you'll fall into my arms? So you need to calm down, so you can't become obsessed with me?"

Lin An's lips twitched again.

"But I'm doing this simply because I want to. If you're delusional, you've already lost, Lin An."

Lin An was taken aback, but upon further reflection, it seemed that this was indeed the case.

So he stared blankly at Luo Shuishui, and only then did he realize that Luo Shuishui was actually a kind girl.

"Shui Shui, are you an angel?"

"No, that's not true." Luo Shuishui shook her head.

"Moreover, this is an occasional perk with an extremely long cooldown." Luo Shuishui didn't mention a date, so it's an indefinite extension.

She probably acted on impulse.

She may have been being gentle for a moment.

That's such a shame.

Luo Shuishui gave a soft hum, as if mocking herself, "It's your own fault for not appreciating me. When we were dating, I never showed you any superiority, disdain, or unreasonable behavior. I was always very gentle and wanted to be a good girlfriend because I really liked you back then."

"But... I never expected that even someone like me would still be scumbed to by you. So, I'm really resentful. No matter what I do to you, you should always compensate me in some way. You shouldn't be angry, Lin An."

"You always assume I'm malicious, but I don't wish you dead, so why think so much? Or do you think I would love you? Whether it's true or not, are you afraid of being loved?"