You're dumping me, huh? Fine, then I'll just pick up the school beauty and make her my wif

Su Qinghe slipped her hand back into Jiang Che's palm, and the two slowly walked back along the moat.

The early summer evening breeze was very pleasant, carrying a little moisture, which caused tiny ripples to spread across the river.

Su Qinghe was walking in a daze when she suddenly heard rustling sounds coming from Jiang Che's direction, so she turned her head to look out of curiosity.

Jiang Che was holding his phone in one hand, seemingly editing something.

"What are you doing?"

"Post it on WeChat Moments."

Su Qinghe became even more curious upon hearing this.

She stood on tiptoe, trying to see what was on his phone screen, but Jiang Che was quick and sent it out in a few seconds, then casually stuffed the phone back into his pocket.

Su Qinghe pinched his arm slightly, then quickly took out her phone and opened her WeChat Moments.

Jiang Che posted one of the photos they took today—the one where he leaned down and gently kissed the top of her head.

The caption contained only one word.

"she."

Su Qinghe stared at that word for several seconds, and the tips of her ears slowly began to heat up.

She thought about how he had just sent "her," while she had previously sent "him," and the back-and-forth...

Su Qinghe bit her lip to suppress a laugh, then secretly glanced up at Jiang Che, who was walking nonchalantly beside her.

Soon after, the comment section started buzzing with notifications.

Wang Kai: "Brother Che is awesome."

Bai Yuning: "Oh my, this is so sweet! Wishing you a long and happy life together!"

Liu Mengyao: "Such a sweet romance... I'm in!"

Su Qinghe scrolled through the comments, her smile never fading.

She stared at it for a long, long time before reluctantly putting her phone back in her pocket. As soon as she looked up, she saw Jiang Che looking down at her.

"What are you looking at?" she pouted.

"It's up to you."

"What's so interesting about me?"

"There are plenty."

Su Qinghe's ears started to heat up again. She nudged him lightly with her shoulder and casually changed the subject, "I'm a little hungry after walking for so long."

Jiang Che glanced down at his watch. "It's only 6:30. You ate so many egg waffles this afternoon, and you're already hungry?"

"It's digested." Su Qinghe said matter-of-factly.

"...Okay, what do you want to eat?"

Su Qinghe thought for a moment, then her eyes suddenly lit up. "Let's have hot pot! I want to eat hot pot!"

"it is good."

There just happened to be a hot pot restaurant near the moat that Su Qinghe had been eyeing for a long time.

The shop wasn't very big, but it was doing very well. When the two arrived, the shop was already full, and there were several tables lined up outside.

While waiting for a table, Su Qinghe squeezed next to Jiang Che, tiptoed and peered inside, her eyes filled with an undisguised longing for food.

Once inside the private room and seated, Su Qinghe's first action was to grab the menu and, with a flourish, order a spicy hot pot base.

"I want it extra spicy!"

"Are you sure you want the spicy hot pot?" Jiang Che raised an eyebrow. "You can't handle spicy food, you forgot?"

"No way!" Su Qinghe slammed the menu on the table indignantly. "I just... had bad luck last time."

"This doesn't seem to have anything to do with bad luck. After all, last time you only had a mildly spicy hot pot beef, and you were already crying from the spiciness."

"..."

Su Qinghe was silent for two seconds, then picked up the menu and covered her face. "Anyway, I just want to eat spicy food today, so mind your own business."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Che knew he couldn't persuade this little girl today, so he didn't say anything more.

He took the menu and sorted through the dishes Su Qinghe had chosen, moving the ones suitable for cooking in the spicy broth to the back and leaving most of the dishes for the clear broth base.

Eat something non-spicy first to line your stomach, so that when the spicy food comes in later, it will reduce the irritation to some extent.

But Jiang Che's little plan seems to have fallen through.

After the hot pot broth was served, Su Qinghe eagerly picked up her chopsticks, not caring which of the dishes were better in the clear broth or the spicy broth, and threw them all into the bubbling hot pot.

As soon as the meat slices entered her mouth, the spiciness shot straight up her throat and into her eyes. Caught off guard, her eyes instantly reddened, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.

"Ugh—it's so spicy—"

She covered her mouth, her face contorted in a grimace, and desperately reached for the water glass with her other hand.

Jiang Che pushed the water glass in front of her. "I told you, but you wouldn't listen."

She needs to experience the feeling of being brought to tears by spiciness a few more times, otherwise she won't behave next time.

With a mouthful of cold water in her mouth, Su Qinghe couldn't speak, so she could only glare at him fiercely.

"..."

Jiang Che sighed, silently picked up her chopsticks, and began to cook meat in the clear broth pot for her.

One piece, two pieces, three pieces.

Once it's cooked, I scoop it out and put it in her small bowl, dip it in the sauce, and gently poke it with chopsticks to make sure it's cooked through before pushing it towards her.

"Eat this."

Su Qinghe swallowed the water, sniffed, and looked down at the neatly arranged slices of meat in the bowl. The slight resentment she felt because her words had been right had unknowingly dissipated.

She muttered under her breath, "You were just complaining about me."

"I may dislike it, but I genuinely feel sorry for you."

Jiang Che, without changing his expression, picked up a slice of beef and put it into the pot. "Who told you to be my girlfriend? If I don't take care of you, who will?"

Su Qinghe stared at him for several seconds.

He sat there opposite her, the steaming pot filling the air with white mist, which made his face appear hazy and moist.

He kept his head down, carefully cooking the meat, occasionally glancing into her bowl to make sure there was enough.

For some reason, Su Qinghe suddenly felt a soreness in her nose.

She lowered her face again and silently ate the pieces of meat in her bowl one by one without saying another word.

A small voice quietly emerged from the depths of my heart—this person is truly a good person.

She was so lucky that sometimes she couldn't help but wonder what kind of luck she had to meet someone like him.

So in this lifetime, she could never let go of his hand, no matter what.

……

After dinner, the two strolled along the riverbank on their way home.

The summer nights in Lincheng were very pleasant. A breeze blew across the river, causing Su Qinghe's skirt to flutter slightly.

She linked arms with Jiang Che, and as they walked, she suddenly said, "Che, I want to learn how to make cakes."

Jiang Che was a little surprised. "Hmm? Why do you suddenly want to learn this?"

"Because..." Su Qinghe looked down at her toes, her voice growing softer and softer, "because I want to make one for you by hand for your birthday someday."

Jiang Che paused slightly, then continued walking.

"Do you know when my birthday is?" he asked casually, intending to tease her.

Because he never told Su Qinghe what his birthday was.

But unexpectedly, Su Qinghe answered almost immediately—

"November 23rd in the Gregorian calendar, October 11th in the lunar calendar."

Jiang Che was stunned for a moment; he was genuinely surprised this time.

"No, it's one thing that you know the Gregorian calendar, but how come you even know the lunar calendar?"