Volume 1: When I Was Young Chapter 30: Give Me a Kiss

  After a pleasant breakfast, Old Man Xia went to the community park to play chess with some old men; Xia Hongjun and He Wenshan continued their loving relationship as they headed to work together; Xia Feihan naturally returned to his own room early. Xia Liqiu looked at the two sticky people beside him, sighed, and also went back to his room to study on his own initiative.

  Although she was also curious about what opera Xiaoyu would sing today, since everyone had put on makeup and started singing on stage, she could only wait for them to take their final bow.

  As soon as the crowd dispersed, her tightly strung nerves relaxed a bit. It's been so exhausting pretending to be a lady! Those small buns had to be divided into so many bites, it was suffocating her. Many times she wanted to open her mouth wide and swallow them whole like a wolf, but she forced herself to endure the torture.

  Watching Zhang Ma take away the dishes and leave, Xia Zhi's true nature was revealed a little bit. His small hands habitually wrapped around Xia Zhi's arm, and he leaned his head on his shoulder: "Xia Zhi brother, do you like it this way today?"

  Good heavens, she had been holding this sentence back for a long time. Heaven knows how much her body yearned to be liberated from the confines of that little dress, her bones itching with impatience; if not for her astonishing willpower, she would have probably burst out by now - the only driving force being to gain Xia Zhi's approval and make him forget the side of her he didn't like.

  "...I like" was almost out of his mouth, and Xia Zhizhen's heart was a little moved. After all, how important did she put herself in to make such a big change because of one sentence from him? When did he last see her wear a skirt? He couldn't even remember what dynasty that was. This persistent elegant posture was something he had never seen before.

  Xia took a deep breath, gently rubbed the hair of the doll, and the unfamiliar touch made him very uncomfortable: "Dudu, sorry, brother said something wrong yesterday. No matter what you say or do, as long as it's yourself, brother will always support and like it. Don't go against your own personality, don't force yourself to change for others, that way you won't be happy either."

  "But if Xia Zhige likes it and is happy, then I'll be happy too." Zhan Zhu Zhu was a bit puzzled, this question was quite complicated.

  "Fool," Xia Zhi still wanted to pinch, but found that he couldn't find the hand feeling he liked, so he had to temporarily take action and pinch her original little nose: "Do you know what's most likable about you?"

  "Heh heh, I'm lively, I'm filial, I'm lovely, I have a sense of justice?" Zhan Zhu Zhu smiled mischievously as she repeated more than half of Xia's words from yesterday: "Anyway, it's definitely not because I'm pretty."

  Xia Zhi was amused by her words and chuckled, shaking his head slightly. "The most likable thing about you is the happy aura around you. It's because you're free, because you're unrestrained, because you're simple, and because you're happy. That's why everyone feels happy when they're with you."

  "So?" Xia Zhi's brother was stunned, what did he mean by that?

  "You look great like this, if you like dressing up like this, I naturally like it too;” Xia Zhi paid attention not to disturb her enthusiasm, lest he accidentally extinguish even this rare feminine side of hers, and War Uncle would probably kill him: “But what I like more is your true personality, Lianlian, whatever kind of person you are, that’s the kind of person I like.”

  Forget about it, let's just pretend yesterday's misunderstanding never happened? Zhan Zhu Zhu didn't dare say that, but asked uncertainly: "So, Xia Zhi Gege won't dislike me because of what happened yesterday?"

  "Sorry, I was wrong yesterday. What I wanted to express wasn't that meaning." Xia Zhi also felt a bit confused: "Today you said so many sentences of liking, can we cancel out the sentence of disliking from yesterday?"

  Zhan Zhan pursed her small mouth, tilted her head, and gazed at Xia Zhi with sparkling eyes without saying a word.

  Xia Zhi was made a bit nervous by her gaze, and couldn't help but smile wryly: "Alright, alright, you tell me, how can Xia Zhi gege make up for his little mistake yesterday?"

  Hehe, this is pretty good, I'm satisfied. "I was upset all night because of your words."

  "Uh-huh."

  "I couldn't sleep all night because of your words."

  "Uh-huh."

  "I deliberately dressed up like this because of your words, look at the one who was just criticized by Grandpa, especially Xia Bucuo's smile."

  "Uh-huh."

  "So," Zhan Zhu Zhu looked at Xia Zhi's gentle face, at his doting and helpless smile, and suddenly had a hint of spoiledness in her tone: "You have to kiss me once, to make up for it."

  She gazed at him, bright as the March sunlight, warm but not dazzling; she bit her lower lip, and a faint white glow appeared, followed by a vibrant red, swirling in his heart; her small hand grasped his, delicate, soft, so tight, conveying body heat, and her deep longing and tension. The green lotus leaf skirt set her off like a water lily, so tender, so fresh.

  Xia Zhi felt her lips were a bit dry.

  He just stared at Xiaoyu, staring at her upturned nose tip, staring at the slight shyness at the corner of her mouth. He wanted to refuse her with righteous words or half-jokingly as before, but this Xiaoyu in front of him made him inexplicably flustered.

  He realized for the first time that Dudu wasn't a tomboy, she had her feminine side; he was slightly doubtful of his own position, had his heart ever been so firm in treating her as a younger sister?

  "Huh? Still not responding? Zhan Yu quietly raised her eyes, planning to take the initiative to pounce if Xia Zhi didn't make a move. Just then, Xia Zhi moved."

  He raised his hand and gently cupped her face, looking into her eyes; Zhan could clearly see herself in his eyes.

  A faint sense of panic, a faint sense of shyness, a faint sense of helplessness, floating on the surface of their minds. The first kiss was an accident, the kiss in dreams was a romantic fantasy, until now, they had not truly kissed in the real sense.

  Her breathing was disordered, her eyes were scattered, her heartbeat accelerated, and a flush of red rose to her cheeks.

  She slowly closed her eyes. Everything in front of her seemed to return to that dream, back to the suburbs, back to the big tree, back to the clear wind, back to the moment when their lips were about to touch...

  Xia Zhi stared at the pink flush on her cheeks, dazed; staring at her tightly closed eyes and long, slightly trembling eyelashes, stunned.

  Then he slowly bowed his head...

  Digression

  Charge! Charge! The brave warriors rise up!