I endured the humiliation and humiliation while being besieged by the ghost story elder sister.

Immediately afterwards, Nozomi heard Honoka say with surprise.

"Mio, you're awake! Congratulations, you've successfully become a cute little thing..."

Before Honoka could continue, Nozomi interrupted her silly antics.

"I can still feel it, Fanxia-nee."

"Hey~"

She wasn't embarrassed by what the boy said; she just smiled and tried to brush it off.

The sound of the two talking woke up Arisa, who was standing nearby. After seeing that Nozomi was alright, her reaction was similar to that of Honoka earlier.

After a round of warm greetings, Ximiao sat up with the help of Fanxia. Then, he looked around and suddenly noticed a problem.

Where is Aunt Ashi?

Since Fanxia and Arisa are both here, where is Aunt Ami, who is the most reliable person in their group?

He couldn't help but think that.

"Mom, she went to..."

Just then, the lock on their room door clicked slightly, and a figure carrying many things walked in from outside.

After seeing that Nozomi was alright, Ami was stunned for a moment, and then she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Oh, Mio's already awake. I was just thinking of putting an ice pack on your head to cool it down."

As she spoke, Nozomi noticed that Aunt Ami had a plastic bag full of snow in her hand.

Looking at the beautiful woman's slightly reddened hands, he immediately thought of what Aunt Ashi had gone out to do earlier, and couldn't help but pause for a moment.

"I don't know if I'll need this, but it would be better to apply it anyway, right?"

She didn't consider Xi Ling's opinion when she said this, and looked directly at the two people surrounding her.

then.

Ami, who won the vote by a margin of three to one, forcibly pressed Nozomi down, making him lie obediently in the bedding, cool his head, and rest for a while.

And the three of them are...

"It smells so good! I haven't had oden in ages. In this cold weather, nothing beats this to feel comfortable!"

"Where did you buy this, Mrs. Ashi?"

The two, enjoying the delicious food that Ami brought back, even deliberately sat down next to Nozomi, letting him watch them eat with longing.

Seeing this, Ashi felt as if she had done something wrong, even though she had only gone out to buy some food out of kindness.

But the two of them didn't get to gloat for long. Unable to bear it any longer, Ximiao ripped off the ice pack on her head and sat up abruptly.

Before Honoka and Arisa could react, she took the still-steaming oden, ate a skewer of meatballs in one bite, and stuffed her mouth full.

After a bit of playful fighting, Nozomi, who had been feeling dizzy, was now fully recovered.

However, the oden that Aunt Ashi brought back was never enough in portion size, and before long, everyone's stomachs were rumbling again.

"Now that Mio is alright, how about we go downstairs to the hotel for dinner?"

Asahi couldn't help but make this suggestion.

Ximiao and the others agreed with her suggestion and got up to pack their things, planning to go downstairs for dinner.

After a while.

Having changed into a clean bathrobe, Ximiao walked ahead. Before even reaching the restaurant, she could already hear the lively sounds coming from over there.

Compared to what happened during the day, he was starting to wonder if he had bumped into something strange.

Little did he know, three heavyweight contenders were right behind him...

The hotel restaurant was filled with guests who had gone skiing that day. Apart from a few young couples, the rest were mostly energetic female college students or groups of beautiful women traveling together.

The scene of yin dominating yang made Xi Ling shiver.

"This is?"

He couldn't understand why the people coming to this hotel were all older women who exuded a dangerous aura!

At that moment, Asahi, the person who booked the hotel, quietly explained from behind him.

"I only booked this hotel based on a friend's recommendation... This really surprised me."

She seemed equally surprised by the scene before her.

But soon, after finding an empty seat, Nozomi and her group focused their attention on the menu in front of them.

Looking at the menu in his hand, Xi Ling felt like he was being stared at by thorns. Even without turning around, he could feel those strange gazes scrutinizing him.

His light blonde hair was particularly eye-catching, and one could vaguely hear the group of female college students whispering about him.

Chapter Four: Revealing One's True Feelings

"See that? That child has blonde hair~ and he's so cute. If I had a little brother like that, I'd be smiling in my dreams."

"Go wash up and go to sleep. You can have anything in your dreams."

Judging from what the group of female college students were saying, they clearly mistook Nozomi and her friends for a family on a trip.

There were always a few eyes subtly observing Xi Ling, making it impossible for him to eat in peace.

"What's wrong, Mio? Is it because the food doesn't suit your taste?"

Seeing that Xi Ling, who was sitting next to her, hadn't touched her chopsticks much, Fan Xia thought that his head hadn't recovered yet and couldn't help but worry.

"Oh? It's nothing... I was just thinking about something else."

As he spoke, he picked up a piece of sashimi, dipped it in wasabi soy sauce, put it in his mouth, and began to eat the food in front of him.

This scene was witnessed by Arisa, who was sitting opposite Himo. Her beautiful, wine-red eyes seemed to be deep in thought.

After dinner.

Ximiao and her group returned to their respective rooms. After taking another shower, Fanxia snuggled into bed early, picked up her tablet, and started watching a soap opera while waiting for her wet silver hair to dry naturally.

Xi Ling, who had also taken a hot shower, originally planned to go to sleep after drying her hair, as she was exhausted from the long journey today.

He lay on the pillow for a while, unable to fall asleep no matter what, so he simply wrapped himself in warm clothes and went to the small balcony of the room, intending to enjoy the night breeze for a while.

As soon as she opened the door, the biting night wind instantly woke Ximiao up.

Perhaps it was because of the good weather today, but he only needed to sit in his chair and raise his head slightly to see the beautiful starry sky.

This inexplicably relaxed Ximiao, and she silently exhaled, watching the white mist slowly rise, finding it quite amusing.

at this time.

"Can't sleep?"

He looked in the direction the sound came from and saw Arisa, still wrapped in a bathrobe, on the balcony of the next room, asking him a question.

"Arisa? What are you doing here?"

"Can't sleep either, so I came out for some night air. Is it wrong to suffer?" she said half-jokingly.

Then, the two fell into a silence.

They knew exactly what they wanted to say, but they just couldn't bring themselves to say it, so both of them kept their heads down, not daring to look directly at each other's faces.

a long time.

Suddenly, Hiyo said, "Lately, I've felt that you're acting a little strange, Arisa. Is something on your mind?"

"Why would you say that, Mio?"

She looked at Xi Ling, who was still gazing at the snow scene in the distance, with some curiosity, wondering how he had discovered this.

"I can't quite put my finger on it... I just feel like you're acting a little different than usual, Arisa."

"That's it..."

She didn't know what to say about Mio's mysterious intuition.

Since he had already asked her about this matter, Arisa decided not to hide it any longer. After finding a chair to sit down, she wanted to have a good talk with Himiko about what happened between the two of them.

After thinking for a moment, she spoke to Ximiao again.

"What kind of person am I in your eyes, Mio? Or rather, a devil? I'm a little curious about how you see me, Mio~"

"Eh?"

When Arisa asked this question, Nozomi was taken aback, not expecting her to ask such a thing.

Seeing the boy's somewhat amusing reaction, Arisa couldn't help but smile, and then sat down in the chair, waiting for his answer.

Seemingly sensing her intense gaze, Xi Ling became a little nervous, her speech becoming somewhat hesitant and stammering, which was quite adorable.

"If I had to say... I don't think you're a demon, Arisa."

"Huh? Don't I look like a demon?"

The girl began to wonder if she had been too nice to Ximiao, to the point that he had become arrogant.

"However, this kind of Arisa doesn't give me a bad feeling, it's just..."

"only?"

"Arisa, you no longer have that feeling from when we first met on the tram."

At this point, Hio seemed a little guilty, stealing a glance at the expression on Arisa's fair and pretty face.

Thankfully, she wasn't angry. Once she confirmed this, Ximiao couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Do you want to know what you look like in my heart, Mio?"

"of course."

He responded without hesitation, just like Arisa had done earlier, somewhat anticipating her answer.

however.