Extra Chapter 13:

Lu Xiao and C Luo came out after finishing their meal. "Are you sure you don’t need me to take you back?"

"No need. I’ve received your thanks, so from now on, we don’t owe each other anything." Lu Xiao didn’t want this to drag on indefinitely.

This wasn’t what she intended from the start.

She also had no intention of getting too involved with someone like C Luo.

C Luo could clearly sense the distance in Lu Xiao’s words and tone.

"Do you have to draw such a clear line between us? You saved my life. No amount of thanks would be too much."

"That’s how you see it. For me, this is the perfect place to stop. Don’t make me regret saving you. You don’t need to see me off. I can get back on my own. Goodbye." Lu Xiao waved at him, walked to the other side of the road, and hailed a cab. She was heading back to school; she had class in the afternoon.

Even though she skipped the evening self-study sessions, she still attended her regular classes.

When Lu Xiao returned to school, she noticed more probing gazes landing on her.

It wasn’t surprising. After all, C Luo and his large group had made quite a conspicuous scene earlier, so it was inevitable they would attract attention.

This was exactly why she didn’t want to get involved with him.

Just as she reached her classroom door, she saw Ares coming out of the room next door. Their eyes met, and Lu Xiao had a gut feeling he wanted to say something to her.

And Ares did indeed have something to say. Just as Lu Xiao was about to enter the classroom, Ares hurried forward. "Wait. Can we talk?"

"Is it urgent?"

"Yeah, a little." Ares nodded. In truth, it wasn’t just "a little." He was very anxious.

"Then where should we go?"

"How about the athletic field?"

So, the two of them left the academic building and went to the athletic field, to the same spot they had walked before.

Lu Xiao walked ahead, then turned to face the boy following her. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Can I ask who that was who picked you up at noon today?"

"Is that important to you?" Lu Xiao tilted her head, a curious look on her face.

"Yes, it’s very important to me. I want to know the answer. Is that okay?" Even so, Ares’s words didn’t make Lu Xiao feel impatient or annoyed. In fact, she could sense a certain cautiousness in his question.

"Someone I saved by chance a while ago. We’re not close. He came to thank me today." After Lu Xiao explained, she saw the boy in front of her seem to let out a sigh of relief, which she found a bit surprising. "Why do you care who he is? You seem a little nervous."

"Yeah, I am nervous. Lu Xiao, I think... I think I’m starting to like you. That’s why I was so concerned about who he was. I was worried he would take you away from me." Ares didn’t hide his feelings, confessing what was on his mind. He knew that suddenly saying all this to Lu Xiao might seem strange to her.

But he didn’t want to hide it. He wanted Lu Xiao to know how he felt.

He didn’t want to miss his chance with Lu Xiao simply because he failed to express his feelings in time.

Whether Lu Xiao liked him back or not didn’t matter. He just wanted to tell her that he liked her.

He didn’t want to hide anything, nor did he want to make Lu Xiao guess his intentions.

Lu Xiao truly hadn’t expected Ares to confess just like that.

Her eyes widened involuntarily. "Do you... know what you’re saying?"

"I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life." Ares’s reply grew firmer, as if saying the words out loud had made it all less difficult.

Lu Xiao was suddenly at a loss for what to do. She didn’t dislike Ares; she was even a little happy about his confession. ’But why?’

She voiced her thoughts, asking, "Why would you like me? I don’t think I’ve done anything for you."

"You don’t need to do anything. Just you being here is enough for me to like you." There was no logic to it.

It was as if he, Ares, was fated to fall for Lu Xiao.

No reason, no logic. He just liked her.

"Do you hate it?"

"No, I don’t hate it. In fact, your confession made me happy. But Ares, I’m not sure if this happiness is the same as ’like,’ so..."

"That’s okay. Whatever you decide, I can accept it. I’ll work hard, I’ll keep trying to get closer to you. I won’t give up."

Seeing Ares so eagerly express his determination, Lu Xiao burst out laughing. "Do you think I’m rejecting you?"

"No... Am I not?" Now it was Ares’s turn to be flustered.

Lu Xiao smiled and took a step closer to him. "No. What I’m trying to say is, while I’m not sure if I like you yet, I’m willing to give it a try with you. Maybe after we try, I’ll find that I do like you. Or you might discover that I’m not as great as you think. So, do you accept my proposal?"

"I won’t! I won’t stop liking you! I accept!" Ares had never imagined that such good fortune would befall him, that Lu Xiao would accept him just like that.

Seeing the undisguised joy on the boy’s face, Lu Xiao felt a bit of it rub off on her. She smiled and said, "Ares, I’ve never been in a relationship before, so I don’t really know what it’s like. If I do anything wrong, please bear with me."

"I haven’t either. We can work on it together." Ares held out his hand.

Lu Xiao said nothing more, simply reaching out and taking it. "Together."

They looked at each other and smiled, as if they had just sealed a pact.

Naturally, quite a few people witnessed this scene. Leaning against a window, Su Da watched the two of them with their fingers intertwined, muttered a curse under her breath in frustration, then turned and ran off.

News that Lu Xiao and Ares were together spread quickly. As the people involved, neither of them denied it.

Faced with how naturally the two acted, the rumors gradually died down. After all, the couple in question were open about their interactions and showed no signs of denying their relationship, so there was no point for anyone else to keep gossiping.

As for Su Da, she didn’t cause any trouble or show up again, as if she had tacitly accepted what had happened.

As the end of the year approached, Lu Xiao came home one evening to find her father, Kelan, leaning against the living room sofa. He glanced at the flowers in her arms and said, "Since you have someone you’re interested in, you can bring him home for dinner sometime."

Lu Xiao looked up at him. "He’s not just someone I’m ’interested in,’ he’s my boyfriend. And haven’t you already spied on him?"

Kelan hadn’t expected to be found out. He let out a light cough to hide his embarrassment. "Even if I’ve seen him, we haven’t been formally introduced, have we?"

"Alright, fine. I’ll mention it to him and see what he thinks."

"Good. Make sure you set a time. It’s not like I’m always free, you know!"

"I know, I know!" Lu Xiao waved a hand dismissively, carried the flowers back to her room, and then told Ares about it. "My dad wants to meet you. Want to come over for dinner tomorrow night?"

"Okay!"