Dazzling

Qing Ye and Xing Wu's figures overlapped as they were shielded by this tree trunk, simultaneously hearing the rustling of grass and leaves behind them—clearly someone else had also entered this grove.

Qing Ye instantly widened her eyes and held her breath completely. How could she have imagined that even in such a secluded corner for a chat, they would still run into others? This was downright eerie.

Flustered, Qing Ye looked up at Xing Wu, who had his eyes half-lowered and brows slightly furrowed as if focusing on the movements outside. Fortunately, the footsteps stopped halfway, perhaps because the person found the inner area too overgrown with weeds and didn't proceed further.

A light breeze swept through the grove, bringing a chill. Qing Ye's coat was still left by the bonfire, and she hadn't felt cold during their frantic run, but now that they had stopped, she began to sense the biting cold.

Hunching her shoulders, Xing Wu glanced down and simply pulled her into his embrace, his thick arms wrapping tightly around her. His arms were broad and warm, and as Qing Ye nestled in the crook of his arm, she heard a male voice outside say, "Fang Lei, you..."

She didn't catch the rest of the words because the voice was drowned out by a series of ambiguous noises.

Upon hearing Fang Lei's name, Qing Ye immediately realized who the two people behind them were and what they intended to do.

Her face flushed crimson as she looked up at Xing Wu, whose eyes already held full understanding. Recalling how Qing Ye and Fang Lei had been sneaking around all day, along with that box of condoms Qing Ye claimed to be helping someone pack, Xing Wu naturally guessed what was happening.

But the damn problem was, even though they clearly knew what the two behind them planned to do and how awkward the situation would become, they couldn't just leave now. Firstly, stumbling upon such a scene would embarrass all four of them, and secondly, if Fang Lei saw them hiding here late at night, they wouldn't be able to explain themselves. They had no intention of being stubborn, so their only option was to stay put.

Qing Ye never imagined that one day she would be forced to hide in a grove with Xing Wu, and under such awkward circumstances at that.

Although their bodies were pressed together, even their breathing had noticeably shallowed. In this environment, their hearing was amplified infinitely, and the slightest sound of clothing friction from behind was pure torture.

Qing Ye's heart raced wildly, wishing she could vanish from the face of the earth immediately. What the hell was this mess? They had just wanted to escape and avoid acting like fools spinning in circles—why did they have to run into a live show? With Jin Zhong being such a large place, wasn't this taking things too far? Should she buy a lottery ticket tomorrow?

Although Qing Ye knew Fang Lei intended to seduce Wei Dong, she hadn't expected it to happen in such an environment. Was it really this thrilling?

Xing Wu's lips gradually tightened. As the noises behind them grew louder, his breathing became somewhat ragged. To make matters worse, Qing Ye's soft body was completely pressed against him, and the palm resting on her waist grew increasingly hot, as if some magical force was guiding his hand, making it hard for him to restrain himself.

Before long, Qing Ye felt the change in his body. She stiffened for a moment and instinctively looked up at him. It would have been better if she hadn't—the moment their eyes met, both were on the verge of exploding with embarrassment. They simultaneously turned their heads toward unknown corners, their mingled breaths growing increasingly erratic.

Yet, right at that moment, Wei Dong suddenly said, "Fang Lei, don't be like this."

"Don't you like me?""I... I don't mean it that way. It's just that we can't be together right now."

"Why?" Fang Lei's voice turned somewhat shrill.

"Don't overthink it. The college entrance exam is only a few months away. I don't want any distractions. You should work harder too. How about we get together after we get into the same university?"

Fang Lei's voice began to tremble: "Do you really think I can test into the same school as you?"

An eerie silence suddenly fell around them. Neither of them made another sound. After a long pause, Wei Dong said to her: "Don't give up, okay? I don't want you to regret it."

"What makes you think I'll regret it? Or are you afraid you'll be the one with regrets?"

"Yes, I'm afraid I'll regret it..."

"......"

Then Qing Ye and Xing Wu heard the two actually start arguing over this matter, ultimately parting on bad terms as their footsteps gradually faded away.

Qing Ye finally let out a long sigh of relief - the torture was finally over. She lifted her gaze to look at Xing Wu, only to meet his burning stare. With just one glance, Xing Wu pinned her against the tree behind her, sealing her breath as he nibbled her lips and called her name in a half-hoarse voice: "Qing Ye..."

She responded with a soft "Hmm?" - a sound so tender it even surprised herself.

A dizzying smile curled at the corners of Xing Wu's mouth as he gazed at her with liquid-soft eyes: "That bet... if it really was about this, would you give it?"

Looking into his dazed eyes now, Qing Ye couldn't tell whether he was being serious this time or still playing with her. Her heart pounded like a drum. To be honest, she hadn't considered this question - at least not at this stage. It wasn't that she was conservative, nor unwilling to take things further with Xing Wu. She just wasn't prepared; everything was happening too suddenly.

Her eyes trembled even more violently than before as she weakly said: "I..."

"Silly girl."

Xing Wu suddenly pinched her nose and laughed recklessly: "You can fall into the same trap twice? Top student."

Qing Ye suddenly realized she'd been fooled by him again, again???

She immediately punched his chest: "Jerk!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, a figure emerged from behind the tree. Both of them froze and turned their heads simultaneously, only to see someone even more shocked than they were... Fang Lei.

Having heard the earlier argument, they had specifically waited until there was no movement before relaxing. Who could have predicted that after Wei Dong left, Fang Lei hadn't moved at all? Now three people, six eyes, all showed expressions of shock.

Of course, the most shocked was Fang Lei. When she discovered movement behind the tree and saw with her own eyes that it was Qing Ye and Xing Wu, her worldview was instantly refreshed N times over. Trembling, she asked: "You two... German Orthopedics?"

"......"

This was exactly why they hadn't wanted to come out earlier. It wasn't that they were afraid of Fang Lei knowing about their relationship, but that some things were just too difficult to explain. But since they'd already been caught, they had no choice but to brace themselves and explain.

After the initial shock, Xing Wu had quickly recovered, returning to his usual indifferent expression. Qing Ye awkwardly glanced up at him before saying to Fang Lei: "Well... we're actually not siblings. There's no blood relation between us. Our families just know each other."Fang Lei's eyes widened as she quickly absorbed the information from Qing Ye, then tentatively asked, "So you've been together for a while?"

Qing Ye lowered her gaze and replied, "For some time now."

Fang Lei stood completely still for a long moment, seemingly piecing together this sudden revelation, before finally responding, "No wonder."

It was a rather cryptic remark—who knew what she meant by "no wonder"? Was it no wonder their sibling-like bond seemed so strong?

As the realization sank in, Fang Lei felt a hint of awkwardness. She glanced at the small red box in her hand that she had been about to discard and said somewhat flustered, "This is so sudden. I didn't prepare anything... How about I give this to you? Wishing you... a swift path to happiness."

She tossed the Durex into Xing Wu's hands and immediately turned to flee.

After all that back and forth, the Durex that Qing Ye had been carrying around for days had somehow found its way back to them. Xing Wu looked down at the small box in his hand, utterly baffled as to why Fang Lei had run off like that.

He tossed the little red box lightly and squinted with a half-smile. "Well, when someone's this eager to give a gift, it'd be rude to refuse. Should we use it?"

"..." Again? She wasn't about to fall for that trick a third time.

As they walked back toward the bonfire area, Qing Ye nudged him and asked, "Seriously though, I promised I'd do anything for you. What are you planning to have me do?"

Xing Wu stood against the light, his Adam's apple sharply defined. Though Qing Ye didn't know why she noticed it, she suddenly found his Adam's apple quite attractive—especially the way it moved when he swallowed, which was particularly captivating.

Before she could stop herself, she reached out to touch it. Just as her fingers were about to make contact, Xing Wu grabbed her hand and shot her a sharp look. "You can't just touch a man's Adam's apple."

"Why not?"

"You could die."

"Really?" Qing Ye instantly retracted her hand, her face full of confusion.

Xing Wu gave her a teasing glance and said, "I haven't decided what I want you to do yet. Let's keep it on hold."

"Hopefully you'll just forget about it over time."

"Don't worry, I won't forget."

When they returned to the bonfire area, the ridiculous spinning dance had finally ended. A few people were still hanging around, unwilling to leave. If not for the teachers' rule that everyone had to be gone by 9 PM, these kids would probably have partied all night.

Someone had connected their phone to the speaker via Bluetooth and was playing some intense music, turning the place into a chaotic dance floor.

Qing Ye thought to herself how fortunate it was that Jin Zhong was located in a remote area with no residential neighborhoods nearby—otherwise, someone would definitely have called the police by now.

She walked along the edge of the area but couldn't find her jacket. Xing Wu also helped search around and asked, "Still no luck?"

"Nope, I took it off right here. My phone's still in the pocket—try calling it."

Xing Wu took out his phone and dialed Qing Ye's number, but it showed as unreachable. Qing Ye turned to look for Shi Min and found her filming Xiao Ling Tong's hilarious dancing with her phone.

Qing Ye ran over and asked, "Shi Min, have you seen my jacket?"

Shi Min glanced toward where they had been sitting earlier. "Wasn't it over there?"

"It's not."

Nearby, Pang Hu overheard them searching for the jacket and suddenly remembered something. "Oh shit... that jacket someone threw into the fire earlier... it wasn't yours, was it?"

Qing Ye's face instantly turned pale. "Where?"Pang Hu pointed toward the bonfire platform. Qing Ye rushed over and spotted a small section of military-green hat brim at the edge of the platform. The fur on the hat had long been burned away. After searching around without finding her hat, it became clear this jacket thrown into the fire was most likely hers.

Xing Wu also approached and asked, "What happened?"

Both Shi Min and Pang Hu hurried over. Qing Ye was visibly furious, her face dark as she turned to Shi Min and Pang Hu. "Did either of you see who took my clothes?"

Pang Hu shook his head. "J-just half an hour ago, s-someone asked whose j-jacket was on fire. N-no one answered, s-so I didn't pay attention either."

Shi Min was still recording with her phone. Noticing this, Xing Wu frowned and asked, "How long have you been recording this video?"

"I started right after the bonfire dance ended. Luo Xin from Class Three's phone died, so she asked me to record it to send to the publicity department later."

"Can you turn it off now?"

Suddenly understanding Xing Wu's intention, Shi Min immediately stopped the recording. The group all gathered around Shi Min, leaning in closely.