2013

“Smack——”

On a summer night, with the temperature still climbing, Chi Xiaoman slapped the mosquito on her leg with a dry little smack.

She had her back to Chen Tong, her whole body curled under the blanket like a shy caterpillar too embarrassed to straighten up. Head bowed, she hugged her knees and stared at the crack in the garage wall, lost in thought. Or rather...

Reliving it.

That word surfaced in her mind.

Chi Xiaoman slapped her own calf hard.

How could that count as reliving? That word was bad; it made her sound very... very sappy.

It could only be called surprise!

Surprise!

Chi Xiaoman tried hard to convince herself.

She rubbed the palm that had gone red from slapping it.

With perfect righteousness, she thought—clearly it was Chen Tong who had suddenly gotten affectionate!

And yet so carefully.

With her back to Chen Tong, facing the wall.

Reaching backward.

She wanted to use that awkward posture to grab her phone from the bedside table and check the time.

But even though the single bed was narrow, reaching for something while turned away from it was still too hard.

She stretched for a while.

Still couldn’t reach it.

Instead, the strange posture worked her up into a sweat.

So she curled her fingers and tried to pull her hand back.

But just then——

A round, icy object was slipped into her hand.

The person who put it there brushed her fingers against the inside of her wrist; the touch was faint, but gentle.

Chi Xiaoman’s eyes went wide.

Behind her, the woman slowly withdrew her hand, her voice sounding like a smile, or maybe not.

“Were you trying to take this?”

“Yes, yes.” Chi Xiaoman hurriedly pulled her hand back, then just as quickly turned on her old keypad phone to check the time, and then just as quickly tossed it aside.

After that, she hugged both hands to herself nervously.

Eyes open, she glared at the cracks in the wall, made by age, and said nothing.

At that moment.

It was 2:23 a.m. on July 30, 2013. Not long before, Chi Xiaoman had suddenly shared her first kiss with the woman behind her, the one lying back-to-back with her.

But after a kiss that lasted less than two minutes.

Chi Xiaoman had opened her eyes in a daze.

And very seriously reached out.

Gently pushed this woman away.

Then, like a little insect drugged into confusion, she burrowed into the blanket, dizzy-headed.

Bent over, face hidden.

Not saying a word.

Thirsty as hell.

But too afraid to get out of bed for water. She secretly decided to wait until Chen Tong was asleep before sneaking out to drink.

So Chen Tong wouldn’t misunderstand and think she was dying of thirst because they had kissed.

That would make her seem very inept.

Chi Xiaoman did not like people thinking she was inept.

Because she thought she was very capable.

She even ran a tongue twister through her mind.

Chi Xiaoman burrowed a little deeper under the blanket, licked her dry lips, then stopped immediately.

Then she buried her face in her hands, feeling as if her cheeks were so hot they might melt right off, and muddledly thought—

But why wasn’t Chen Tong saying anything?

Why had she suddenly kissed her without an explanation? Why had she laughed at her when she handed over the phone just now? Why wouldn’t she say anything now? Why wasn’t she angry when Chi Xiaoman pushed her away?

Was Chen Tong looking at her right now or not?

Why, why, why?

Could it be that Chen Tong was the kind of woman who liked kissing people casually? Kiss whoever happened to be around when she was happy?

At the thought of that, Chi Xiaoman hugged herself gloomily.

It was also way too hot.

So hot it made her irritable.

Her mouth was parched, and she couldn’t sleep, so she kicked aimlessly under the blanket.

But after noticing how loud the movement was——

She immediately stopped and didn’t dare move again.

Forget it.

Chi Xiaoman thought. While pressing her lips together where Chen Tong had just kissed her, she thought—

Chen Tong already didn’t sleep well. She shouldn’t make too much noise.

What if Chen Tong had wanted to kiss her more, but because she was too loud, she missed her chance?

But if Chen Tong came to kiss her again, would she push her away? And if she did, how long should she wait before doing it?

Would one minute be right?

Or should she wait longer? If she didn’t push her away, would Chen Tong think she was very inept?

Right.

Would Chen Tong be hurt because she had pushed her away just now, and then stop coming to kiss her?

Chi Xiaoman touched her mouth with a trace of melancholy.

But Chen Tong still wasn’t speaking; no one knew what she was thinking.

So that night.

Chi Xiaoman felt very hot, very quiet, and even though she had been exhausted all day, she still couldn’t quite sleep. It was strange, and she even felt a little depressed...

As if there were several tiny people fighting in her head, all noisy and clamoring, each one running over to say a few words and then asking her to be the judge and decide which was reasonable...

But Judge Chi Xiaoman, staring hard at the crack in the wall very close to the tip of her nose, couldn’t sort out right from wrong—because the defendant, Chen Tong, didn’t seem to have any intention of pleading guilty or clearing things up, and she also had a pair of eyes that looked as though they’d melted with syrup, making Judge Chi Xiaoman too afraid to turn around and glare at her.

She was afraid that once she turned around, she wouldn’t be able to say a single righteous word of judgment.

And so, in the end, the eyelids she had struggled to keep open didn’t last long.

She fell into a deep sleep.

When she woke again, it was very late; the sun was already shining on her eyelids.

Chi Xiaoman was dazed.

She reached for her phone and looked at the time.

Since she didn’t need to do street promotion at the hotpot restaurant today, she clicked her tongue, squinted, and went back to sleep.

She had slept for less than three seconds.

Then Chi Xiaoman suddenly sprang up from bed.

She stared wide-eyed at the empty bed beside her——

Chen Tong was gone.

When had she left?

And she hadn’t even said anything?

Hadn’t even explained what happened last night.

Chi Xiaoman was quite unhappy.

But on second thought.

She figured Chen Tong might have left early because she was afraid Chi Xiaoman would feel awkward when she woke up.

That was reasonable too.

Still thinking about it, Chi Xiaoman touched the dry mouth she’d woken up with and couldn’t really go back to sleep. So after lying around for a while, she got out of bed, washed up, brushed her teeth very carefully, and when she was spitting out foam she frowned, cautiously striking an exaggerated rubber-man pose in front of the mirror and sticking out her tongue to check it over——healthy color, no ridges; however you looked at it, it didn’t seem like the kind that would make someone regret kissing her right away.

But her mouth really was dry.

That was all Beijing’s weather being too dry.

So dry that her lips had started peeling!

But how could this person be so mean, how could she dislike her just because her lips were peeling... If she was willing to kiss her, shouldn’t she buy her a lip balm and apply it for her very gently while she was asleep?

Chi Xiaoman thought gloomily.

After washing up.

She looked at the two empty beds and sighed, then shuffled around the foot of the bed in her slippers, carrying a cup of hot water that was steaming even in midsummer, and drank slowly, one sip at a time.

If Lang Lang saw her, she might cover her face and scream, “Chi Xiaoman, what are you pretending to be!”

But because Lang Lang wasn’t there.

Chi Xiaoman could pretend to be an elegant movie heroine and finish the hot water in little sips.

Then.

She sat at the edge of the bed.

Gently drew her knees together.

Picked up the copy of Actor’s Self-Cultivation that had been sitting on the bedside table the whole time, sat properly, and started reading page by page.

And then.

She fell asleep.

Leaning against the headboard, in a crooked position that made her waist sore and her back ache.

But after reading that book.

Chi Xiaoman, a love expert who had only started her first relationship after turning twenty, while sleeping slowly came to a sudden realization, and therefore reached one conclusion——

Falling in love and making friends were completely different things. At the very least, she would never kiss Lang Lang.

Of course.

Now that she had kissed someone.

Did that mean——Chen Tong was already her girlfriend?

Chi Xiaoman thought this very seriously, tilting the back of her head against the headboard.

Then she woke again.

Still dazed.

And saw her first girlfriend in this life, Chen Tong, sitting on the other bed and looking at her——

That day the weather was good. The window was small, and some sunlight still came through the taped-over panes, spilling over Chen Tong’s face and making it look blurry, yet still beautiful.

Chi Xiaoman rubbed her eyes, then her ears turned red as she thought proudly——her girlfriend was really pretty.

But Chen Tong probably didn’t know yet.

So Chi Xiaoman felt she needed to tell her in a way that was appropriate, and that wouldn’t make her seem too inept.

Chi Xiaoman blinked blankly.

Chen Tong watched her as she slowly opened her eyes; as if finding her amusing, she smiled with concern in her voice. “Why were you sleeping like that?”

“I don’t know.”

Chi Xiaoman shook her head and simply stated the facts. “When I woke up, you were gone.”

But maybe because she had just woken up, her voice sounded soft, almost like she was acting spoiled.

When the words fell.

Chen Tong froze for a moment.

Then she curved her eyes and smiled at her again, explaining, “I was afraid you’d be embarrassed.”

“Xiaoman——”

As she spoke.

The woman stood up, seeming as if she wanted to come closer.

At the same time——Chi Xiaoman also abruptly sat up in alarm——

Bang——

The collision happened.

Her forehead slammed into Chen Tong’s chin.

The wind outside the window rasped and rattled.

Chi Xiaoman clutched her throbbing forehead and hurriedly pulled back.

Chen Tong was knocked back a step by the impact, sucking in a sharp breath while holding her chin, but it was obvious that a patch of skin had already turned red at once——

“Sorry,” Chen Tong said, clutching her chin. Perhaps because the hit had been rather hard, even her voice sounded a little strange.

She also kept her distance from Chi Xiaoman after that, as if afraid Chi Xiaoman would get hurt again; her tone remained concerned. “Xiaoman, are you all right?”

Chi Xiaoman blinked, her forehead reddened.

Pursed her lips.

Sat up.

Very prim posture.

And told Chen Tong, who was holding her chin and in too much pain to say much,

“Good intentions.”

Chen Tong blinked and didn’t react.

“Good intentions; you have to have good intentions.” Chi Xiaoman was a little wronged, speaking in a muffled voice.

When she said that, she sat on the edge of the bed like a little sheep with perfect posture, back straight.

And Chen Tong laughed out loud.

But perhaps because her chin hurt too much.

She laughed once and had to stop.

Then she looked at Chi Xiaoman with the same soft, gentle eyes she’d had last night.

Sunlight shone through the glass window, still glowing like neon light. Chi Xiaoman pressed her lips together, but the next second she felt that action had a suggestive quality in this setting.

But she wasn’t trying to suggest anything, and she also felt they couldn’t just stumble into kissing again. She decided this was a formal talk, so she stopped pressing her lips together and instead asked, in a rather unconvincing tone of accusation,

“Chen Tong, do you usually just like kissing people casually?”

For some reason, even though it was a very serious conversation, Chen Tong was still smiling,

“No.”

“Then why did you say sorry?” Chi Xiaoman demanded.

“I wasn’t embarrassed because of that.” Chen Tong explained.

“Fine.” Chi Xiaoman bumped the toe of one slipper against the other. “Then what are you embarrassed about?”

“I’m not embarrassed,” Chen Tong said.

After a pause.

As if to make it sound more formal, she added Chi Xiaoman’s full name and went on, “Chi Xiaoman, that was my first kiss.”

“Oh, okay.”

To be honest, when Chi Xiaoman looked back on this day later, she felt something was off. It was like being a robot kissed once and having its program thrown into chaos, suddenly turning into a different personality.

Every sentence that came out of her mouth might have sounded to Chen Tong like she had a bad temper, and even in Chi Xiaoman’s own eyes it seemed strangely off.

“Who doesn’t?” she even said a little aggrievedly.

So after asking that, Chen Tong hesitated. “Xiaoman, are you angry?”

No, no.

The soft Chi Xiaoman in her heart whispered.

Absolutely not.

The proud Chi Xiaoman in her heart whispered.

And the inept, weak-willed Chi Xiaoman who was being looked at so gently by Chen Tong ended up saying this——

“Since you’re embarrassed, I won’t be angry.”

Chen Tong laughed again.

Chi Xiaoman couldn’t stand being laughed at like this; she wanted to hide, but she didn’t dare look at Chen Tong’s eyes. “Why do you keep laughing!”

Honestly, she felt a bit wronged and wanted, for a moment, to bury her head and hide like she had last night. But staying under the blanket would really make her look petty.

So she decided to go hide outside instead.

But the way out was blocked by Chen Tong.

Chi Xiaoman only moved one slipper a little before stopping.

She looked at Chen Tong hesitantly, hoping Chen Tong would give her a little room.

Chen Tong looked back too. She said no more.

Chi Xiaoman pressed her lips together, wanting to ask Chen Tong to move aside.

But for some reason.

The moment she opened her mouth, her voice trembled——“Chen Tong~Tong~Tong~Tong~”

And then Chen Tong suddenly leaned in.

Lowered her face and kissed her lips for a second time.

It was daytime now, so she couldn’t use not being fully awake last night as an excuse anymore.

Chi Xiaoman’s eyes went wide.

A second later, looking at the woman’s eyelashes trembling slightly during the kiss, she reflexively squeezed her own eyes shut. She couldn’t quite say what she thought about the kiss; she only quietly let out a breath of relief in her heart, and the only thought in her head was——

Luckily I brushed my teeth so thoroughly just now, and drank a lot of hot water too; that should count as kissable, right?

But because neither of them was very experienced, Chi Xiaoman also couldn’t judge whether Chen Tong’s kissing skills were good or bad.

She only felt that when kissing, her head went light and floaty, while her feet seemed heavy as they rooted themselves to the ground and refused to move.

It was almost like standing on her head.

So every time she stood on her head, could that also count as practicing for kissing in advance?

To be honest, Chi Xiaoman was terribly flustered and distracted.

In the span of a minute, all kinds of strange thoughts spun through her head.

And so when the kiss ended.

When Chen Tong’s long black hair tangled with her own tousled hair, when Chen Tong cupped her face with her soft palm and slowly pulled away, lowering her lashes and glancing at her lips with tenderness like water——

Chi Xiaoman felt so embarrassed under her gaze that she caught sight of Chen Tong’s chin, still red from being hit earlier, and suddenly said, “Chen Tong, does your chin not hurt when you kiss me?”

Chen Tong was still looking at her. Her lips were moist, glistening.

Because Chi Xiaoman probably wasn’t very good at kissing. When she kissed, she had no technique; after being kissed by her, the woman’s lips looked a little swollen.

Chi Xiaoman felt even more embarrassed.

Her ears red, she said,

“Chen Tong, when our one-month anniversary comes, buy me a tube of lipstick, okay?”

But asking for a gift on her own initiative would make her seem very rude, so after saying it, Chi Xiaoman hurriedly added, “Actually, you don’t have to buy it. I’m not insisting you do. I can buy it myself——”

Before she could finish.

Chen Tong kissed her lips again.

Chi Xiaoman’s voice broke off in her throat and turned into sticky syrup, flowing around inside her mouth.

This kiss lasted longer than the previous two.

After it ended.

Chen Tong’s mouth was red too, and looked even more swollen.

Chi Xiaoman kept her lips tightly pressed together, her face red as she glanced at Chen Tong, then looked down at the toes of her slippers. She licked her lips and didn’t dare speak again.

Because she felt Chen Tong might kiss her again at any moment.

It was very rude to talk while kissing.

But after waiting a bit.

Chen Tong still didn’t kiss her again.

So Chi Xiaoman had no choice but to pretend she didn’t care, lift her face, wipe her burning cheeks at random with the back of her hand, and seeing the lipstick all smudged from being kissed around, the edges of her lips red and swollen...

She wanted to help wipe it off, but didn’t know if that would be appropriate, so she put her hand obediently on her knee and said very politely, “Is my mouth very dry? Sorry.”

Chen Tong smiled at her.

She looked at her like this a lot; not saying a word. They were clearly eyes with a touch of melancholy, but because she smiled so much, they were always curved, making her seem like the high moon, and also like water—gentle, full of feeling.

Chi Xiaoman scratched at her chin. “Then are we in a relationship that can kiss legally now?”

Chen Tong smiled and nodded. “Not legally, but reasonably.”

“Reasonably how?” Chi Xiaoman asked directly and cautiously.

“What do you think?” Chen Tong looked straight at her.

The woman slowly withdrew the hand that had been supporting her face.

She placed it on her own knee.

Her voice was very light. “What do you want us to be reasonable about?”

To be honest, Chen Tong should be the kind of person who didn’t like taking the initiative.

Chi Xiaoman blinked and stopped pressing her for speaking so vaguely. “Okay.”

“Then Sister Chen Tong, let me through first,” she said softly.

Only now, at twenty, was Chi Xiaoman starting her first relationship. She didn’t really know what loving someone would make her become, and only then did she realize——

It turned out that liking someone in real life was not the same as the kind you saw in film and television, where they looked into each other’s eyes and spoke tender, soul-stirring lines. Real liking could make her tongue-tied, make her want to run from Chen Tong’s eyes, make her turn completely into a different Chi Xiaoman.

In her fluster, Chi Xiaoman could only find an excuse, feeling she needed to leave the scene of the “crime” to calm down a bit, so she said to Chen Tong,

“I need to go tell Lang Lang; from now on, if she comes to find us, she has to remember to knock.”

Otherwise if she keeps barging in and catches us kissing one day, that’ll be bad——Chi Xiaoman didn’t say that very directly, because it really wasn’t convenient.

But Chen Tong wouldn’t let her go.

She looked at her and stretched one leg across the space between their two narrow beds, blocking Chi Xiaoman.

Chi Xiaoman touched her face.

It wasn’t easy to move her leg either.

She was wearing very little in summer.

Skin against skin; it got hot easily.

“Xiaoman.” Chen Tong looked at her for a long time and called her name, her voice still carrying that quality Chi Xiaoman found sappy, but now with more of something else she couldn’t quite read.

“Hm?” Chi Xiaoman looked at Chen Tong. For some reason, after kissing a few times, whenever she saw Chen Tong’s face she felt terribly embarrassed.

But since they were dating, she should still be patient with her first girlfriend and not make herself seem like she didn’t know how to date. “What is it?”

Chen Tong didn’t speak. She didn’t wipe away the smudged lipstick, but she still didn’t let her leave.

She just tilted her head and looked at her like that.

The smile gathering at the corners of her eyes was beautiful as dust in sunlight.

Chi Xiaoman blinked dumbly. “Or do you want to keep kissing a little longer?”

Chen Tong laughed again.

This woman was strange today too; every time Chi Xiaoman said something, she laughed once.

After slowly laughing herself out.

She looked into her eyes again, soft and direct. “Yes.”

Chi Xiaoman’s eyes widened.

She had only been joking, assuming Chen Tong would just laugh and step aside.

But unexpectedly.

Chen Tong smiled, then called her name, “Xiaoman.”

“Hm?” Chi Xiaoman was at a loss.

The woman frowned slightly, as though hesitating over whether to be a generous girlfriend or a petty one in front of her.

In the end, she still chose to follow her heart.

She scratched the palm of Chi Xiaoman’s hand with her finger and said very lightly, though with a request,

“Can you kiss me too?”

Can you.

The words were clear, the volume low; it sounded a little willful.

But after thinking about it, Chi Xiaoman felt it was only right.

“Okay, okay.”

She told Chen Tong.

Then.

She moved in very awkwardly.

Her shoulders hunched.

She licked her lips.

Just as she was about to get close, she suddenly stopped and very politely told Chen Tong,

“I’m going to kiss you now.”

Chen Tong smiled, but also cooperatively closed her eyes and said softly under the sunlight, “Okay.”

Chi Xiaoman held her breath and leaned in.

But she was still afraid Chen Tong would think her mouth was too dry.

So she picked up that empty hot-water cup, took a sip, and barely moistened her lips a little.

Then she leaned in again.

Half-squinting.

Watching Chen Tong’s expression.

And then.

She steeled herself and kissed her.

But because Chi Xiaoman truly knew nothing about this.

So even when she kissed, she only pressed her lips against Chen Tong’s and then stiffly stopped moving.

Both hands were obediently placed on her own legs, and she herself was motionless too, like a scarecrow standing in a field to drive away birds.

So in the end.

It was Chen Tong who took the initiative to continue the kiss.

And after who knew how many kisses, she broke away, came over and hugged her, both arms draped over her shoulders, her face and the tip of her nose very close, her gaze also very close, staring at her for a long time in the hazy sunlight, sticky skin pressed against her face.

A hug.

Has always been more capable than any other intimate gesture of making Chi Xiaoman feel that she was in love.

A certain stiffness, a certain softness.

Because it happened in summer, it was hot and sticky, with a strong sense of presence; it could make a person remember it for a long time.

Maybe back then she still wasn’t good at kissing, and when she saw Chen Tong’s lips swollen from her biting, she would feel embarrassed.

So she was more willing to hug.

No need to face each other.

No need for Chen Tong to see her red face and flustered expression.

No need to seem immature, or inexperienced with love.

And it wasn’t hot.

They hugged face to face for a while.

Chi Xiaoman rather reluctantly stretched out a hand to turn on the electric fan set at the foot of the bed—it was an old fan moved over from the landlord, with wire mesh, and when it blew it rattled creakily like a little old lady; when it turned its head, it would suddenly stop to think for a moment, then continue again.

The fan rattled and blew.

It whipped their hair together, slowly cooling the hot air and letting it flow through the hug.

Chi Xiaoman no longer remembered exactly how long she and Chen Tong had hugged in the rented room that day. She only felt that later she was like a hot little snowman on the verge of melting; she had to go outside and walk around to cool off, wash up with a shower, come back clean, and keep hugging again. Then repeat, over and over, like two people who, from the moment they were born, had only ever known how to embrace each other.

The temperature that day was high; it was very, very hot inside the garage. Chi Xiaoman sweated a lot, and by the end she might have had to wash her whole T-shirt again.

A whole day had been wasted too. Chen Tong probably hadn’t expected her to keep hugging her for so long without letting go, so she wiped the sweat from her for her, then leaned near her ear and asked with a smile when she was going to work.

Hot wind seeped into the garage from the wall.

The temperature slowly rose. Chi Xiaoman, with no ambition whatsoever, shook her head and said softly,

“Sister Chen Tong, I want to keep hugging you a little longer.”

Because the hotpot restaurant wasn’t open that day, there was no street promotion, and it wasn’t time for the cinema shift yet. But Chi Xiaoman hadn’t even written a single word of the advertisement draft.

At that time she only did something very simple, picked up her keypad phone and checked the time——

July 30.

Chi Xiaoman felt this was an extraordinary anniversary.

So she decided, in all seriousness, to give herself a day off.

After that Chi Xiaoman put down her phone and said shyly to Chen Tong, “Sister Chen Tong, I’ll go to the cinema later and bring you back popcorn, okay?”

Then she thought bringing only popcorn was too stingy, so she nervously added more to her promise,

“And also bowl cakes, fried rice cakes, egg tarts, fried milk, double-skin milk, tangerine peel red bean paste...”

She rattled off a whole list.

Then she realized everything she’d named was cheap-looking street food.

So she shut her mouth stiffly and didn’t say any more.

And Chen Tong laughed, then in their sticky shared warmth, patted her back generously and answered a different question entirely: “Xiaoman, when our one-month anniversary comes, I’ll buy you a tube of lipstick.”

How strange. After kissing so many times, only now was Chen Tong saying this.

How strange. After kissing so many times, Chi Xiaoman’s palms still went sweaty when she heard that sentence. She should have been able to plant her hands on her hips and ask, why wait a month?

But remembering that it was she who had mentioned one month first, and Chen Tong might just be following her lead, she felt too embarrassed to ask for more.

Chi Xiaoman reflected on herself. The more she thought about it, the more she felt she hadn’t behaved well all day; in fact, she had even very badly said, right after kissing, that she was going to find Lang Lang.

After a while of self-reproach, she thought Chen Tong might get angry, so she hurriedly explained, “Sister Chen Tong, don’t misunderstand. I just said I was going to find Lang Lang. It’s not because I’m closer to Lang Lang, and it’s not because I don’t like you...”

“Mm.” Chen Tong didn’t interrupt. She only slowly spoke after noticing Chi Xiaoman hesitate and stop short, seeming genuinely concerned and asking directly, rather carefully, “Then why?”

Chi Xiaoman froze.

She couldn’t see Chen Tong’s eyes, but she could see the little mole behind the woman’s ear—black, and maybe because she had sweated, it looked shiny, almost sensual.

After staring blankly for a while, Chi Xiaoman muddledly thought——after all, she was young; she ought to be responsible, and could be the one a little bolder, a little more generous, the one who didn’t mind who kissed first or who confessed first.

So after hesitating, she wanted to kiss the little mole behind Chen Tong’s ear, but she was too embarrassed. In the end she only brushed her cheek against Chen Tong’s the way a small animal would show closeness and affection, and then whispered, “Because I like you.”

And when the woman’s breathing lightened, when the shoulders and back she had her arms around trembled, and when there was a long pause before she lowered her voice and hesitantly called her “Xiaoman,”

she emphasized it especially seriously,

“Sister Chen Tong, I like you.”

In 2013, on July 30, Chi Xiaoman fell in love for the first time in her life. Like someone who understood nothing about romance at all, she did nothing during the summer that was supposed to be busy; she simply hugged Chen Tong for a long time, and concluded that love should begin with a very solemn “I like you.”

Much later she would learn that this was the only one.

[Author’s Note]

Updating Little Neon on time for its thirty-fourth day [glasses]

Today is the cute little Xiaoman cat and the cute, innocent Sister Tong heh heh heh (so the sunglasses are changing to glasses now)