Chapter 52

It could hardly be called romantic sweet talk, yet Ning Yuxuan’s heart rate suddenly spiked.

She bit the corner of her lip and turned her face away to avoid looking at him: "That sounds nice, but it's only because Aunt Zheng happens to like me, and you're just getting married to me to effortlessly deal with the situation."

Xie Zhiyan replied: "It's not just her who likes you."

Ning Yuxuan's steps came to a halt.

In the silent air, she could hear the chaotic thumping of her own heart.

Ning Yuxuan muttered: "...I hate it most when people only say half of what they mean."

A soft chuckle from the man drifted to her ears.

"It's not just her who likes you," Xie Zhiyan's voice was slightly low and hoarse, "I like you too."

...

In an instant, blood rushed entirely to her cheeks.

Even though it was simply the word "like," she had lost count of how many times she had heard it from others growing up.

Yet Ning Yuxuan felt her face burning frightfully. Fortunately, the sky had already darkened, and the man probably couldn't see the changes in her complexion.

Two seconds later, Ning Yuxuan abruptly quickened her pace, almost breaking into a jog toward the glowing convenience store ahead.

She didn't look back to check Xie Zhiyan's reaction, but judging by the footsteps, the man was closely following her.

Walking briskly all the way to the entrance of the store, she turned back, and sure enough, Xie Zhiyan was right behind her.

Seeing her turn around, Xie Zhiyan met her gaze with an unhurried, leisurely composure.

As if he were asking: Why are you running so fast?

Ning Yuxuan: "..."

She decisively turned her head back, climbed the steps, and entered the store.

The small convenience store in the villa neighborhood wasn't usually very crowded, and the proprietress generally tended the shop by herself.

About two months ago, she heard that the proprietress had taken a bad fall and rested at home for a while.

During that period, the proprietress's son looked after the shop; he wouldn't greet regular customers and would simply keep his head down playing on his phone.

The last time Ning Yuxuan and Xie Zhiyan came, it was indeed the proprietress's son working the register.

Today, however, the proprietress was tending the shop in person, which meant her injuries must have finally healed.

The proprietress, whose surname was Zhong and who was in her fifties, had run her shop in the villa neighborhood for over a decade.

She recognized all the regular customers of the neighborhood, and when Ning Yuxuan came to the store, she would usually chat with her for a bit, addressing her affectionately as Aunt Zhong.

Seeing Ning Yuxuan step through the door, the proprietress smiled and greeted her: "Isn't this Yuxuan? Look how rushed you are, your face is all red. There's no need to rush, you know, I still have an hour before closing."

Hearing this, Ning Yuxuan instinctively covered her cheeks, the heat radiating straight to her palms.

Though she couldn't see the expression on the man behind her, she figured he must be laughing at her.

Ning Yuxuan explained to the proprietress: "No, it's just too muggy outside, the weather made me hot."

The proprietress didn't suspect a thing: "Well, that's perfect. I have the air conditioning running in here, so stay a while and cool off."

Ning Yuxuan responded: "Mm-hmm, Aunt Zhong, has your health fully recovered?"

"Recovered ages ago," the proprietress smiled benevolently. "It was just a minor bump, nothing serious at all. It was my daughter who forced me to stay cooped up at home, insisting I needed extra rest, and only let me out this week."

Ning Yuxuan said: "You should still take it easy and rest more."

The proprietress smiled and nodded: "Will do. Off you go to buy whatever you need, and just let me know if you can't find anything."

Ning Yuxuan said: "I'm going to grab some ice cream and drinks, so go ahead and take care of your things, Aunt Zhong."

Before leaving home, she had checked the refrigerator; apart from orange juice, the rest of the juice was almost completely gone.

Ning Yuxuan headed straight to the chilled beverage section to restock.

Xie Zhiyan's pace was unhurried and steady, trailing right behind her.

Ning Yuxuan picked up a bottle of tomato juice, followed by a bottle of soda.

Turning around, Xie Zhiyan was standing beside her holding a shopping basket.

Ning Yuxuan cast a silent glance at him and placed the two bottles of beverages into the basket he was holding.

Xie Zhiyan calmly inquired: "Not buying the usual brand of tomato juice? It's over there."

The man's chin lifted slightly, gesturing toward the shelf holding the brand Ning Yuxuan usually drank.

Ning Yuxuan glanced at him sideways: "Not buying that one, I want to try something new."

Xie Zhiyan: "Alright."

Ning Yuxuan picked and chose further, placing two other beverages and a carton of milk into the shopping basket.

After finishing these selections, Ning Yuxuan glanced at the man.

The ice cream freezer was located not far from the beverage cooler, right along the path they had walked in.

However, the aisles between the shelves in the small convenience store were narrow, and if two people encountered each other face-to-face, they would have to turn sideways to let each other pass.

Ning Yuxuan raised her chin, signaling Xie Zhiyan to make way so she could go first.

Xie Zhiyan lifted his brow slightly and took the initiative to step aside.

Ning Yuxuan brushed past the man's shoulder, and suddenly felt a slight resistance at the hem of her dress.

Looking down, the lower hem of her midi dress had caught on the shopping basket.

In the midsummer season of Beicheng, the air remained muggy even at night, and she had worn a watermelon-red dress when she went out.

The dress was newly purchased, made of a sheer gauze material, with a length reaching her calves.

Ning Yuxuan tried giving it a gentle tug, but it wouldn't budge; instead, the fabric became even more tightly entangled.

Not daring to move further, she found herself caught in a dilemma between advancing and retreating.

She considered hardening her heart and pulling her skirt free with force, but hesitated, fearing she might ruin the garment.

The dress wasn't terribly expensive, costing less than four digits.

Yet it was brand new and had barely been worn twice; if the sheer fabric tore a hole, it couldn't be mended, and the entire dress would be ruined.

Ning Yuxuan looked at Xie Zhiyan.

The man leisurely looked back: "Need help?"

Ning Yuxuan glared at him: Now you know to ask?

Seemingly reading the dissatisfaction in her eyes, the corners of Xie Zhiyan's mouth curved upward slightly.

He bent down slightly.

Fortunately, he didn't wait for her to say "yes" before taking action, otherwise Ning Yuxuan might not have been able to keep herself from getting exasperated with him.

Ning Yuxuan observed Xie Zhiyan's movements.

Xie Zhiyan's movements were unhurried as his fingers navigated to the spot where her skirt hem was caught, carefully separating the fabric from the shopping basket.

Only then did Ning Yuxuan see clearly that the fabric had hooked onto the metal screw securing the shopping basket's handle, requiring a precise angle to release it. No wonder her earlier brute-force attempts had failed to pull it loose.

Xie Zhiyan wasn't the type to take cheap liberties; when he said he was untangling the dress, his fingers touched only the specific portion of the fabric that had caught.

However, no matter how proper his movements were, the shifting of that section inevitably caused the rest of the dress fabric to move and sway.

The hem brushed back and forth against the skin of her lower leg, sending a slight tickling sensation through her.

Ning Yuxuan forced herself to stay perfectly still.

Finally, after ten agonizingly long seconds, her dress was successfully "rescued."

Xie Zhiyan lowered his hands: "Done."

Ning Yuxuan's lips parted slightly as she spat out the two words: "Thank you."

She turned around and continued on toward the freezer.

This time, as she walked, she pressed both hands against the hem of her skirt to prevent it from snagging on anything else, whether it was the shopping basket or the shelves.

The ice cream options in the freezer remained the same old reliable varieties. She picked out a few according to her tastes and tossed them all into the shopping basket Xie Zhiyan was holding.

After selecting the ice cream, she paused for a moment and told Xie Zhiyan: "I'd like to buy some snacks to keep at home, too."

Xie Zhiyan gave a slight nod: "Shall I go first this time, or you?"

The man's voice was calm, carrying no discernible subtext, yet Ning Yuxuan always felt she could detect a hint of teasing amusement in his eyes.

He was definitely reminding her of how she had insisted on walking ahead of him earlier, which was what led to her dress getting snagged.

This time, Ning Yuxuan behaved wisely: "You go first."

Xie Zhiyan obediently walked in front, leading her to the snack aisle in the adjacent row.

Coming to the store had originally been intended only for juice and ice cream; buying snacks was an unexpected addition.

Ning Yuxuan swept her gaze across the shelves, searching for anything worth trying.

Her eyes lingered for a moment before stopping at the very top shelf, which held shrimp crackers.

Ning Yuxuan was not short, and estimating the height, she figured she could reach that bag of shrimp crackers if she stood on her tiptoes.

However, remembering the earlier incident with her dress getting caught, she hesitated, stroked her skirt hem, and ultimately looked at Xie Zhiyan.

Had she known it would come to this, she wouldn't have worn a dress made of this fabric.

This time, Xie Zhiyan didn't ask whether she needed help, but simply asked in a gentle voice: "Which one do you want?"

Ning Yuxuan: "At the very top, the shrimp crackers in the orange packaging. One bag is enough."

Leveraging his height advantage, Xie Zhiyan easily reached up and took it down for her.

"Anything else you'd like?" he asked again.

Ning Yuxuan simply stopped doing the work herself and delegated the job entirely to Xie Zhiyan, having him retrieve two more types of snacks for her.

Several large bottles of juice, five or six ice cream bars, plus three bags of puffed snacks—the shopping basket was practically full.

Ning Yuxuan glanced at her "spoils of war" and felt satisfied.

"Let's go," Ning Yuxuan said to Xie Zhiyan. "Let's go check out."

Noticing the man looking at her, she instinctively smoothed down the hem of her skirt and added: "You go first."

Once bitten, twice shy.

A flicker of amusement crossed Xie Zhiyan's eyes as he took the lead and walked ahead.

Arriving at the checkout counter, Xie Zhiyan helped unload the items from the shopping basket.

The proprietress waved her hands enthusiastically: "No need, no need, let me handle it."

As she spoke, her hands moved deftly, scanning the barcodes while chatting away with Ning Yuxuan: "Yuxuan, is this your boyfriend?"

Ning Yuxuan furrowed her brows slightly, sensing that something felt a bit strange about that statement.

Before she could fully process it, Xie Zhiyan had already answered for her: "I am."

The population density in the villa neighborhood was low, and it was rare for anyone to visit the convenience store at this hour.

The proprietress had a naturally talkative disposition, and as she scanned the items, she chatted cheerfully with Ning Yuxuan: "You used to always brag to me about your boyfriend—how tall he was, how handsome his facial features were, describing him as if he were peerless in heaven and earth. After hearing about him for so long, I finally get to see him in the flesh today. He truly is a man of exceptional talent, even taller and more handsome than I imagined."

Ning Yuxuan finally realized what felt off.

She had indeed mentioned her boyfriend to the proprietress before, but back then, her "boyfriend" was someone else entirely.

The proprietress was warm and friendly, exchanging small talk with all the regular customers in the neighborhood.

Back then, under the influence of the original plotline, Ning Yuxuan had been infatuated with Gu Yunhao, eager to sing praises of her boyfriend to any passerby. Naturally, whenever she spoke of Gu Yunhao to the proprietress, she never spared any glowing adjectives.

Constantly praising him as "tall and handsome" and the like.

The proprietress probably didn't pay much attention to variety shows or Weibo trending topics and had no idea that her breakup with Gu Yunhao had caused such a massive uproar on the internet.

In the proprietress's mind, she still assumed Ning Yuxuan was as sweet as honey with the boyfriend she had previously talked about.

After all, whenever she brought up Gu Yunhao in the past, she always wore an expression of deep devotion, stubbornly preserving her pride by omitting all the ways Gu Yunhao treated her poorly and filling her words exclusively with stories of their romance.