During the day, the heat was like being in a sauna, so oppressive it made people irritable. But at night, the gentle breeze caressed the face, cool and pleasant.
The night grew deeper, and the last bus had long left. From one end of the street to the other, only a couple of student tables at the street-side food stall remained, their laughter faintly drifting through the air.
Ning Chu actually really liked summer nights. When she used to stay up late, she’d often go downstairs at midnight, buy a bottle of cola from the 24-hour convenience store, and leisurely stroll down the quiet streets.
But now she carried a burden.
She supported Wen Yang’s arm, feeling the weight on her steadily lessen.
“Are you awake?”
By the time they walked from the dormitory to the school gate, Wen Yang’s drunkenness had been largely swept away by the evening breeze.
“Mm, just have a headache.”
“Should I call a ride-share?”
It was late, and it wasn’t easy to get a ride.
Ning Chu had already tried calling for a car, but no drivers were accepting the request, and the platform was trying to trick her into paying extra.
“Otherwise, we’ll have to walk back...”
“Ride a bike?”
“No, you’re drunk.”
The streets were nearly empty, with no cars or people in sight. Wen Yang hesitated, but still followed Ning Chu’s advice.
Though his mind had cleared, Ning Chu still worriedly held onto his arm, afraid that he might fall if he wasn’t careful. Even if he did fall, there was a high chance she would fall along with him due to their size difference.
Wen Yang rubbed his aching eyes, trying to keep them open, looking down at the girl beside him whose face was tense with concentration.
The dim streetlights reflected off the girl’s translucent skin, her cheeks flushed and pale, glowing faintly under the light, as if she were radiating her own glow.
“You’re beautiful.”
“What?”
Ning Chu looked up in confusion, her eyes wide, staring at Wen Yang.
“I’m saying you’re beautiful.”
“Well, of course I am~” She proudly put her hands on her hips, “Did it just occur to you that I’m pretty?”
Seeing the girl so delighted by the compliment, Wen Yang’s expression softened even further. He gently freed himself from her grip, taking her cool little hand and tightly wrapping it in his palm.
“No need to support me anymore.”
“I’m afraid you’ll fall.”
“You won’t be able to hold me up.”
Ning Chu knew this too but still mumbled nonchalantly, “At least I’ll try. It makes me feel more at ease.”
She clung ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ to his arm like a child, swinging her steps back and forth, her eyebrows curved in a smiling crescent.
“Wen Yang, Wen Yang~ I secretly took pictures of Shaoqing drunk!”
“Do you think he looks dumb? He was still drinking even though there was no alcohol left!”
“Oh, and there are older photos too... He and Wang Jie were sitting on the little cart, hugging each other!”
Ning Chu was sharing the embarrassing photos she had taken, and the thought of laughing at them in the future made her beam with smug satisfaction.
Hearing her cheerful laughter, Wen Yang put on a serious face: “You didn’t take any of me, right?”
“Of course not!”
“Let me see?”
“You don’t trust me!”
At the mention of that, Wen Yang immediately knew he’d been caught in the same trap—she’d taken embarrassing pictures of him too. He laughed and countered, “It’s clearly you who don’t trust me. You’re too scared to show me your photo album.”
“Not true~”
Ning Chu was already deleting the photos.
After deleting for a while, she finally reluctantly handed over her phone, a little nervous: “You can look, there’s nothing bad in there!”
Wen Yang took the phone and skimmed through the little images in her album. They were all screenshots from her phone or emoji packs from their chats.
He then opened the “Recently Deleted” folder, which was also empty.
“Your album is pretty clean.”
“Right?!” Ning Chu let out a small sigh of relief.
Then Wen Yang, who was familiar with the routine, opened an app with a lock and tried entering a few passwords.
All of Ning Chu’s previous precautions had been rendered useless. The app contained hidden Xiaohuangwen (little emperor literature), explicit pictures, photos of her roommates, and, of course, a large collection of photos of Wen Yang.
Ning Chu immediately realized something was wrong. She snatched the phone back, her face flushed with embarrassment. “How do you know my password?!”
“I’ve been using it for years. You told me your password when you showed me your Xiaohuangshu (little emperor uncle) years ago.”
“I clearly changed it...”
Her password had originally been her birthdate, and she’d used similar passwords for everything, from apps to games, usually with just her birthdate or a combination of upper and lower case letters.
This allowed Wen Yang to crack most of Ning Chu’s accounts.
“How come your phone has so many explicit pictures?”
Ning Chu, flustered, shoved the phone back into her pocket, her cheeks now bright red. Still, she bravely retorted, “I’m a succubus! What’s wrong with keeping some naughty pictures?”
“When did you take so many photos of me?”
“I can’t take pictures of my boyfriend?”
Seeing Wen Yang still teasing her, she raised her hand as if about to slap him.
Wen Yang hurriedly surrendered: “Okay, okay, I shouldn’t have guessed your password.”
“You shouldn’t have looked at my phone! I’ve never looked at yours!”
“Okay, okay.”
Seeing Wen Yang back down, Ning Chu didn’t press the issue any further, though the red flush on her face didn’t disappear.
She gazed up at the sky, which was too dark to even see the moon, the night as black as stagnant water. But this didn’t dampen her mood. She still walked lightly beside Wen Yang, as cheerful as ever.
“I can’t walk anymore... still no drivers accepting orders~”
Because of her period, Ning Chu started feeling tired after just ten minutes of walking, and the ride-share platform still hadn’t responded to her request.
The night breeze, which had initially felt pleasant, now irritated her abdomen, the pain stronger than usual.
Her eyes slyly darted over to Wen Yang: “How about you carry me?”
“I just sobered up...”
Before Wen Yang could finish his sentence, Ning Chu suddenly lunged at him from behind, wrapping her arms around his neck and lifting her legs, hanging on him like a koala.
“Hurry! I’m going to fall!”
Wen Yang had no choice but to steady her, his hands gripping her thighs, carrying her comfortably on his back.
Her small frame, barely 1.6 meters tall, was hardly a burden to him. The thin summer clothes made it easy for him to feel her soft curves and body temperature.
“I’m still drunk, okay?”
“My feet hurt, my stomach hurts...”
Ning Chu rested her chin on Wen Yang’s shoulder, her voice a little whiny as she mumbled, “I just want to go back to sleep.”
“Why did you even come out when you’re feeling sick?”
Wen Yang tightened his grip on her thighs, stopping in place to steady himself. He shook his head a bit to clear the last bit of drunkenness.
“Hold on tight, let’s go home and sleep.”
“Okay~”
“Don’t choke me!”
“You told me to hold tight!”
With Wen Yang carrying her, their figures stretched long under the streetlights, their noisy voices echoing from one end of the street to the other.
