Sometimes her childish behavior can make you grit your teeth in anger, but when it comes to the clever and mischievous Yu Nan, it feels quite nice.
Zhu Yao suddenly realized, so she liked childish guys? But the people she had entangled with in the past weren't that type...
Before she could think further, Yu Nan splashed a handful of water on Zhu Yao's face, soaking a patch of her shirt.
Zhu Yao: ...
Yu Nan looked at Zhu Yao with a grin: "If it were Lang Xi or Li Yue, they would probably have already beaten me up."
Does this kid... deserve a beating?
Zhu Yao forced a smile, her wet hair sticking to her forehead, making the smile look strained.
"Sister, I don't think you'll be angry. You're so good to me!"
Zhu Yao painfully closed her eyes, raised her head at a 45-degree angle and looked up at the clear sky—the sky was cloudless and the sunlight was blinding. Zhu Yao painfully closed her eyes again.
After all, Yu Nan is the sugar daddy, so she has to be patient... Moreover, Zhu Yao has spent the first half of her life enduring hardship, and she has never lost her temper.
While other children could rely on their parents, her mother wanted to use her for money, and her father wanted her to disappear from the world. No one ever truly chose her, and there was never anyone who firmly supported her.
She could only accept her fate, suppress all her sharpness and show her harmlessness, at least to survive, and then—before those people noticed, escape far away.
Chapter 51 Playing in the mud again
"Sister~"
Yu Nan used her hands, which had just been catching shrimp in the river and touching the mud on the riverbank, to rub Zhu Yao's face and smear the muddy water on Zhu Yao's face.
As someone with OCD, if the person rubbing her face hadn't been Yu Nan, Zhu Yao probably would have slapped that restless hand away long ago.
"Sister, sometimes I feel like I'm going too far, but why don't you get angry?"
She took Zhu Yao on a trip without her consent, causing Zhu Yao to run into a high school classmate she didn't want to see; it was also she who confessed her feelings to Zhu Yao during a live stream, leading to Zhu Yao being doxxed...
Seeing Zhu Yao in pain, Yu Nan's heart was bleeding. At this moment, she really wanted Zhu Yao to yell at her and blame her for doing something unnecessary.
But Zhu Yao always quietly processed those negative emotions, quickly adjusted her state, and then faced her as usual.
Looking at Zhu Yao like this, Yu Nan felt heartbroken and wanted to give herself a good beating for acting on her own initiative.
Now, by smearing mud on Zhu Yao's face, he's actually trying to provoke her and make her get angry at him like a normal person would.
“That’s not your problem,” Zhu Yao said, holding Yu Nan’s face and looking her in the eye. “The problem is with the idiot thirteen who curses and doxes me, not you.”
"As for... riding an electric bike too fast, or... uh... getting your hands dirty... you can't do those things. If you fall, you'll be in pain, and if you eat dirty food, you'll get an upset stomach."
Zhu Yao never blamed her.
Yu Nan was stunned for a long time, unsure whether to be moved or saddened, and only weakly squeezed out, "A top student from Beiling University is swearing!"
Zhu Yao just said "Silly Thirteen," and she heard it clearly!
Zhu Yao: …… (。)
"Sister~" Yu Nan looked at Zhu Yao with innocent eyes, "If we wash our hands, can we eat them?"
Is Yu Nan asking for a beating? Does Yu Nan just want to get beaten up? Zhu Yao's eyes turned dangerous—since you want it, then so be it.
Zhu Yao gently patted Yu Nan's head. "Oh, right."
Just as Yu Nan was about to tease Zhu Yao, she suddenly felt a tightness on her back, as if she were being stared at by a venomous snake, and her whole body went shivering.
Is that Zhu Yao? But even though Zhu Yao was provoked by her and had her face covered in mud, she could still smile at her!
Despite the sweltering summer heat, Yu Nan couldn't help but shiver.
…
Fortunately, it was hot enough in the summer that Zhu Yao's clothes dried in no time. She washed her face in the river and planned to go back to the Yu family home with Yu Nan first.
During the trip, the two also went to the farmers' market and bought the vegetables that Yu's mother had requested, as well as some daily necessities.
Zhu Yao stood aside, watching Yu Nan skillfully haggle with the market aunties, her gestures were incredibly practiced.
As dusk fell, the vegetable vendors packed up their stalls, and the general merchandise stalls gradually came out. Yu Nan squatted in a small stall at the end of the street, rummaging through the miscellaneous items on the stall.
It's a bunch of cartoon animal badges, kind of ugly-cute.
Zhu Yao saw a badge with a knife in its mouth and couldn't help but think of "Yu Miao". The smug look on that little cat was strangely similar to Yu Nan.
Zhu Yao took the cat and paid for it.
"Sister, is that Yu Miao?" Yu Nan's eyes lit up. "I want to find one of you too... I'll see if I have a pig badge..."
Zhu Yao: ...
"No, sister, you're so smart, you're definitely not a pig... Let me look for spiders."
A spider... quietly sitting in a corner, silently weaving its web, connecting the world solely through its web, does resemble her somewhat.
Unfortunately, the stall only had animals on it, not spiders.
"What's your daughter's zodiac sign? Let's pick one; it has a good meaning."
"Oh right! My sister is four years older than me... Is she born in the Year of the Snake?"
"Yes, I was born in the Year of the Snake."
Yu Nan searched high and low, finally finding a green snake wearing glasses and reading with its tail—it looked like a top student snake…
Like the cat with the knife in its mouth, the green snake was ugly, yet strangely cute, making it more and more likable the more you looked at it. Yu Nan couldn't put it down.
Zhu Yao took the cat, and Yu Nan took the snake. The two of them walked out of the market hand in hand, put their things on their electric scooter, and went home.
As dusk settled on the horizon, wisps of smoke drifted from distant chimneys, carrying the aroma of cooking from nearby homes. Students in school uniforms walked home in groups, kicking pebbles and laughing.
The moment Yu Nan's right hand touched the handlebars, it trembled violently.
After a long afternoon of intense hand use, her palms now feel like they've been pierced, and she can't even reach for the handlebars to brake.
Zhu Yao grasped Yu Nan's dodging right hand and carefully examined the scar that ran across her palm—the area around it was slightly red, and the nearby muscles could be seen twitching from time to time.
"Does your hand hurt?" Zhu Yao gently blew on the scar.
When Zhu Yao gently asked her a question while holding her hand, Yu Nan felt a little shy and turned her head to say "Mmm".
The evening breeze blew by, making my calves feel a little itchy yet comfortable—just like Zhu Yao gently blowing on her wounds.
"I'll drive."
"Huh? Weren't you just scared?"
"You've been driving for so long, and you've learned how to do it"—the confidence of a top student.
Yu Nan stood to the side carrying groceries, while Zhu Yao sat in front of the electric scooter. She tentatively twisted the handlebars, and the scooter shot off with a "whoosh." Because Zhu Yao's feet didn't leave the ground, the front of the scooter was tilted high.
Yu Nan: Cough, I think I turned the speed up to the maximum when I stopped just now.
After adjusting the gears, Zhu Yao familiarized herself with the electric scooter and quickly mastered the skills, circling around it several times.
Zhu Yao parked the electric scooter in front of Yu Nan, patted the back seat, and said, "Get on, I've got it all figured out."
Yu Nan sat trembling behind Zhu Yao.
Hmm... it's driving quite steadily. Yu Nan became bolder and tentatively reached out to wrap her arms around Zhu Yao's waist.
Just as her hand was about to touch Zhu Yao, Zhu Yao suddenly shifted gears and accelerated.
Yu Nan leaned back slightly, failing to wrap her arms around Zhu Yao's waist.
Damn it! She's been longing for that intimate moment! She wants to be intimate with Zhu Yao!
Just as Yu Nan was filled with resentment, Zhu Yao suddenly braked, and Yu Nan slammed forward into Zhu Yao's back, then took the opportunity to hug her tightly.
Once she put her arm around him, she wouldn't let go. Yu Nan buried her head in Zhu Yao's shoulder and could feel Zhu Yao's hair fluttering around her face.
"Yu Nan," Zhu Yao said with a hint of helplessness, "get up for a moment."
"Sister, I want to hold you..."
Zhu Yao took a deep breath, "Let's go back first..."
Yu Nan said, a little aggrieved, "Can't I hug you outside?"
"No, it's dark and I don't know the way."
Although Zhu Yao has a good memory, she was too scared to remember the way when she left Yu Nan's house...
Yu Nan made a blunder and honestly gave Zhu Yao directions. The two returned to Yu Nan's house, parked the car in the garage, and carried the groceries into the house.
Yu Nan's father was reading the newspaper by the fireplace, while Yu Nan's mother was watching TV and eating sunflower seeds.
Hello, Uncle and Aunt!
"You two are back! Oh my god, Xiao Zhu, what happened to your face? Yu Nan, were you playing in the mud again?"
The word "again" is used well; it seems that Yu Nan has smeared riverbank mud on other people's faces more than once or twice.
"Even a quiet girl like Zhu Yao has to put up with your antics!"
"Hehe, Zhu Yao is from Beiling University! I still smeared mud on her."
Zhu Yao: Help! Don't say it!! Shut up!
Unfortunately, it was too late; Yu's parents' eyes were practically shining with envy as they looked at Zhu Yao.
"Look at them, and then look at you!" Mother Yu said, exasperated. "Alright, you two go take a shower! Come down for dinner when you're done!"
"Mom, we're sleeping right now. We'll get up in the early morning to eat."
Yu's mother glared at Yu Nan, "Why aren't you sleeping properly? Why are you dragging Zhu Yao along?"
"Um...we work together...our schedules are similar..."
"Alright, young people have their own ideas," Mr. Yu said with a smile, pulling Mrs. Yu aside. "Are you two sleepy? Why don't you go take a nap first, and then wake us up when it's your wake-up time?"
"Ah...don't you guys go to work?"
"Oh, what are you saying? My daughter rarely comes home, how could that be more important than going to work? Alright, you guys do what you want, don't try to take care of us old folks!"
"You just spoil the child so much, you've really pampered him to the extreme!" Mrs. Yu retorted to Mr. Yu, muttering under her breath.
After the two were ushered upstairs, Yu Nan's parents took pots and pans into the kitchen.