Lin Yilin held Jiang Linyuan’s hand, her face flushed beyond belief, her heart feeling like it was about to leap out of her chest.

Did Senior mean we were together now?

We’d been holding hands for so long, and his words just now didn’t seem like a joke either.

Thinking about it, she felt dizzy.

She’d read in books that medieval noblewomen loved tight corsets, the restrictive undergarments squeezing people until they couldn’t breathe, and they’d faint at the slightest provocation.

Every time this topic came up, Lin Yilin thought it was absurd, totally unreasonable, but now, this boy beside her had only said four simple words, and she was already struggling to catch her breath.

“Senior, so… what are we now?”

Lin Yilin mustered her courage, her voice trembling.

“Hmm? If I said we were just friends, would Xiao Yilin get mad?”

“Answer me seriously at a time like this!”

Lin Yilin shouted in frustration and embarrassment.

“Even if Xiao Yilin torments me in every way, we’ll be best friends forever!”

“…Why does it have to be me tormenting you as the premise!”

Lin Yilin was a bit angry and threw Jiang Linyuan’s hand away!

What kind of “best friends forever” was that? I don’t want it!

Did the boundary you mentioned mean you wanted to be just friends for life?!

Thinking of this, Lin Yilin felt like her heart was being squeezed hard by someone, painful, ice-cold.

Had she been rejected? Senior probably meant that she could only ever be his friend.

“Xiao Yilin, actually, I’m not a virgin.”

“…Why are you suddenly bringing this up?”

Lin Yilin tilted her head up, her voice trembling.

“Xiao Su did it.”

Ah, Senior Su, I should have known all along.

Though I’ve never been in love, I’m not stupid.

Going to Yanjing together, coming to Southern Fujian together—wasn’t that just a romantic couple’s trip for two?

Why did I… why did I have to barge in?

I… wouldn’t it be fine if I just stayed a passerby? If I hadn’t asked this question today, I’d still be that silly Lin Yilin.

“Don’t cry, okay? If Uncle and Auntie see this, they’ll definitely chop me into mincemeat.”

Jiang Linyuan took out a tissue and wiped Lin Yilin’s face.

She flung her hand, knocking his away, her voice choked with tears:

“I… I’m not crying! Even if Mom and Dad saw, they wouldn’t have any reason to chop Senior into mincemeat.”

“Why wouldn’t they?”

“I… I’m just being one-sided here. You and Senior Su are a perfect match…”

Lin Yilin sniffled, then reached her hand out again:

“Give me the tissue.”

Jiang Linyuan handed it over, and Lin Yilin snatched it forcefully:

“Tomorrow when I wake up, we’ll act like nothing happened.”

“Can’t do that.”

“If you can’t, then why reject me?! Why say such ambiguous things?! Why not just make it clear?!”

Lin Yilin’s eyes were red as she stared at Jiang Linyuan, her voice so bitter and angry that the little dog on the ground scurried away in fright.

Jiang Linyuan tried to wipe her tears, but she stopped him.

“I’m sorry, I… I lost control of my emotions a bit. I… I’m going to take a walk…”

Lin Yilin didn’t dare look at Jiang Linyuan anymore. She started to jog toward the yard gate.

Jiang Linyuan grabbed her hand:

“I’ll come with you.” 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

“No.”

“I want to clear my head too, but I’m afraid I’ll get lost. Didn’t you say this village is easy to get lost in?”

Jiang Linyuan said.

Lin Yilin was silent for a moment:

“Let go. Just follow behind me.”

Sigh, it was still too rushed.

The two walked out of the yard.

Lin Yilin led the way, Jiang Linyuan following behind. Neither spoke.

“Senior, do you think I’m annoying?”

Suddenly, Lin Yilin asked.

“Why would I think that?”

“You and Senior Su are so close. Don’t my little antics at home seem ridiculous?”

“Never.”

“Senior, you don’t need to comfort me. It’s just a heartbreak, that’s all.”

Lin Yilin’s voice regained a bit of its usual liveliness.

“It’s not comfort, and it’s not heartbreak.”

Jiang Linyuan said.

“Hmm, I guess you’re right. This should be called unrequited love failing, not heartbreak.”

Lin Yilin nodded.

“Xiao Yilin…”

“Senior, no talking!”

Lin Yilin cut him off, speaking on her own:

“Senior, you know? Mom told me during dinner that you and Senior Su have a special relationship, and bringing her here was actually to make me back off.”

“But I didn’t believe it, because I thought Senior wasn’t that bad. He’s the kind of person who can casually tell a girl ‘I like you,’ so why would he use such a roundabout way to reject a girl?”

“I told Mom that if Senior doesn’t like a girl, he’ll tell her straight to her face: ‘You and I can never be.’ And then, like a fickle playboy, he’ll go tell the next girl ‘I like you,’ and when he doesn’t like her anymore, he’ll say ‘I don’t like you.’”

“So… being rejected by Senior… I’m… I’m not sad at all… just… a little down, hehe, okay, maybe a bit upset… it’s just… just…”

As Lin Yilin spoke, her footsteps and voice stopped together. Sobs echoed through the quiet village path.

“I still have tissues.”

Jiang Linyuan handed them over.

“Thanks.”

Lin Yilin took the tissues, wiped her tears, choked for a moment, then continued:

“Senior, when did you and Senior Su start?”

“I don’t remember.”

“That won’t do. You need to remember the start of your relationship. It’ll be your anniversary. Every time you celebrate, you’ll recall your sweetest moments together. Also, Senior Su loves to bully people. Senior, you can’t always spoil her, or she’ll…”

“Xiao Yilin.”

“Or she’ll always have the upper hand in arguments, and in the long run, your relationship won’t be healthy…”

“Xiao Yilin.”

“Also, Senior, after you’re with Senior Su, you need to keep your distance from other girls, like me…”

“Xiao Yilin.”

“You won’t let me speak!! After rejecting me just now, you’re being this bossy!”

Lin Yilin wiped her tears with her fingers and shouted.

“My relationship with Xiao Su is complicated, not what you think.”

Jiang Linyuan said.

“How could it be any different? You’ve already… been that way, so what else could it be?”

Lin Yilin muttered.

“If I had to put it bluntly, it’s actually similar to my relationship with Xiao Yilin.”

“Senior, you’re doing it again…”

“I’m not lying to you.”

Jiang Linyuan looked up at the sky and said:

“I like you, Lin Yilin.”

His voice was very soft, but it landed perfectly in Lin Yilin’s ears.

Catkin-like snowflakes fell from the sky, probably one of the rare snowfalls in Southern Fujian as early spring approached.

White snow landed on their shoulders and dusted their hair.

The weather was so clean that even people’s hearts and tongues had no impurity, spilling out only the most straightforward, unadorned joy.

Jiang Linyuan looked at the dazed Lin Yilin in front of him and said it again:

“I like you, Lin Yilin.”

In that moment, Lin Yilin thought a lot, but faster than her thoughts was the endless joy surging in her heart.

She thought, if she said nothing.

Then the two of them could stand like this under the snow, holding this moment until their hair turned white together.