Xie Yujia was walking step by step with her right hand carrying groceries and the left holding her backpack straps.
The road was divided into sections by the shadow of the utility poles, and Hao Ren strode past the sections over and over as if he was accompanying her on her journey.
All of a sudden, this scene seemed familiar to him. Time went back to his childhood when he drew blocks on the ground and played hopscotch while holding each other's arms. He took a look at Xie Yujia; she was so kind and gentle just like a newlywed.
Relaxing slightly in the sunlight, Hao Ren felt like it was hard to tell if he was in the past, in the present, or in the future.
Walking into an old neighborhood, Xie Yujia led Hao Ren to a dusty building after making a plenty of turns.
After they got to the third floor, Xie Yujia smacked a dark security door. "Brother! I'm back! Open the door!"
Bang! The shabby security door was pulled open forcibly. Xie Wanjun, who was in a worn shirt, appeared like a small mountain.
Looking from the doorway, the apartment seemed quite tidy, but the decorations were the most basic. The real rich people should already have moved out of older residences in an old neighborhood like this.
"Come in." Xie Wanjun made way for them. Otherwise, nobody could go through while he was standing in the doorway.
"I bought some mushrooms, some celery, and some peanuts," putting down the plastic bags full of vegetables, Xie Yujia said.
"You don't have to report that to me…" Xie Wanjun waved his hand impatiently.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"You would think that my purchases are not good if I didn't tell you..." Xie Yujia rolled her eyes at Xie Wanjun.
Seeing the siblings arguing with love and sentiment, Hao Ren had no chance to get a word in. Therefore, he went to find a spot to sit down.
"Fine, fine, I'll cook today." Xie Wanjun lost the argument to his sister eventually, and he picked up the plastic bags and walked into the greasy kitchen.
He was wearing a pair of XL sports shorts, and his husky legs were even thicker than the short concrete poles that were used to stop the cars outside.
"Have a seat." Xie Yujia pulled out a chair before getting him some tea.
Hao Ren's fondness for Xie Yujia grew when he saw how hard-working and virtuous she was. He only saw the 'Class President' who was serious about everything at the university. However, the person he saw at the moment was Xie Yujia in real life.
"Yujia, take him to your room to rest. I'm going to cook now, and it will be too smoky and greasy!" Xie Wanjun yelled from the kitchen.
In an old apartment like this, the kitchen was just an area without a door to separate it from the other rooms. As a consequence, part of the cooking smoke would flow into the living room. However, it would be too hot in the kitchen if a door was installed.
Xie Yujia felt a bit upset at her brother for asking others to go into her bedroom casually.
However, she didn't want to bring Hao Ren to her brother's messy bedroom. Thus, she pulled Hao Ren up by his sleeve and said, "It's greasy out here, come to my room!"
Hao Ren was pulled into her bedroom, and he wanted to exclaim at the fact that he was invited to the Class President's home and even her bedroom, which was something he never thought would happen.
There were some old posters on the wall, and the quilt on the bed was folded nicely. However, there was a string hanging from the room, on which were Xie Yujia's…
Seeing Hao Ren's eyes moving in that direction, Xie Yujia blushed. She rushed over and took the items off the string and then quickly put them away in the drawer; she acted calm and composed throughout the process.
Hao Ren coughed twice, pretending that he didn't see anything at all. Then, he turned around to look at the pictures under the glass layer of the desk.
Among all the pictures, there were recent pictures as well as old ones, and Xie Yujia was in every one of them.
Hao Ren went through the pictures successively; he saw Xie Yujia in middle school, high school, and also some fainted black-and-white pictures of her when she was in elementary school.
"I never thought that Xie Yujia, who is always so serious in class, could be so cute in her childhood…" Hao Ren said to himself.
As for Xie Yujia, she slowly walked towards him while still blushing. "They are just pictures of my childhood, nothing interesting," she tried to explain.
Staring at the pictures, Hao Ren asked, "You like the sea too?"
"Yes, I went to the seaside a lot when I was a kid," Xie Yujia answered as she stood beside Hao Ren and also looked at the pictures.
Being close to Xie Yujia, Hao Ren could easily feel the warmth coming from Xie Yujia's arm and shoulder with his extraordinarily sharp senses.
"Hehe, everyone loved to go to the beach when they were a kid as long as they were born in East Ocean City."
Sensing the shyness in Xie Yujia's voice, Hao Ren stopped staring at her childhood pictures. He turned his face toward her and asked, "You live here with your brother?"
"And also with my uncle and aunt, but you won't meet them today as they went out for dinner and will be back late," Xie Yujia said.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"So Xie Wanjun is your cousin?" Hao Ren realized instantly.
"Yes." Xie Yujia nodded, "My parents don't live in East Ocean City anymore, but I study here. Thus, I have been living at this place ever since middle school,"
Hao Ren nodded. "No wonder Xie Wanjun and Xie Yujia don't look alike, but they are so close to each other as if they are real siblings."
"I like to call him my brother since we are really close, but he rarely lived here since high school. He went to a full-time boarding school and only came back on weekends once in a while. Not to mention when he went to university and rented his own place, he is almost never back; he has to go to the stadium for training," Xie Yujia continued.
"Alright, that's why." Hao Ren lowered his voice and asked, "Is your brother terrible at studying? So playing basketball is his only choice for a career?"
Xie Yujia shook her head unexpectedly and replied, "My brother is doing excellent at school! Even now, he is one of the best among all the fourth-year students at East Ocean University! Please don't assume that he is doing terrible. He is smart, or I should say that he is even smarter than me. If I'm confused about any questions, he is the one that helped me out!"
Hao Ren was surprised at her response; he didn't expect that the 'gorilla', who was incredibly good at basketball, was also excellent at school as well as cooking!
"I know my brother plays basketball all the time, but he has already received an offer with a full scholarship from Stanford University. He will go to the United States for postgraduate studies once he finishes his fourth year!" Xie Yujia said.
Hao Ren opened his mouth subconsciously and felt like things were becoming even more unbelievable.
The guy who was known as the strongest person in East Ocean University was indeed incredible.
"Yujia, come out for dinner! I just prepared a few dishes!" Xie Wanjun yelled from the kitchen.
"Let's go!" Xie Yujia walked out with Hao Ren.
As soon as Hao Ren walked out of Xie Yujia's bedroom, he saw a couple of plates of freshly stir-fried vegetables placed neatly on the black table. When he turned to look at the hefty man, Xie Wanjun, there was already something different in the way he looked at him…...