Brother! This is the adoption certificate. I don't want your sister-in-law!

Su Xiao was stunned.

It wasn't because of the hand Xu Niannian used to grab his clothes, nor because of that brand-new notebook.

It was because Xu Niannian finally raised her head.

She must have used up all the courage she had in her life to reveal her face, which had always been hidden under her bangs.

Her face is round.

She doesn't have the delicate oval face; she has a round face with a bit of baby fat, making you want to pinch it.

Her skin was fair and clean, and her lips were pressed tightly together.

The most striking feature was her eyes, which were large and round.

Su Xiao swallowed hard.

good looking.

It's so damn good-looking.

He had seen many beautiful women in his past life.

The female secretary brought by the other party when negotiating business, the female model who accompanies you to dinner, and the female celebrity at an award ceremony on TV.

But Xu Niannian's kind of beauty is different.

She wore no makeup, her school uniform was faded from washing, and her hair was casually tied up with a broken hair tie, but that's what made her beautiful.

It's so beautiful it makes you feel uneasy.

Xu Niannian felt uncomfortable under his gaze.

Those eyes were staring straight at her, as if trying to see right through her.

Her face grew hotter and hotter, and her ears turned redder and redder.

Finally unable to hold back any longer, she shoved the notebook haphazardly into his hands and lowered her head, trying to cover her face with her bangs.

"you……"

Su Xiao took the notebook, looked down at the cartoon cat on the cover, and then looked up at Xu Niannian.

She lowered her head, her fingers twisting the hem of her clothes, her ears so red they looked like they could bleed.

Su Xiao suddenly smiled.

"Xu Niannian".

She didn't look up.

Do you know how good-looking you are?

Xu Niannian's shoulders suddenly hunched over.

She bit her lip, her voice barely audible, like a mosquito's buzz: "...You, you scoundrel."

"Does saying you're good-looking make me a pervert?"

Su Xiao tucked the notebook under her arm and tilted her head to look at her face.

She dodged to the left, and he looked to the left.

She dodged to the right, and he looked to the right, like he was teasing a cat.

"If I said you were a fairy descended from heaven, would you immediately call the police and have me arrested?"

"You, you stop talking..." Xu Niannian covered her face with both hands, a little bit of red skin showing between her fingers.

She had never been praised so openly before, let alone been pursued and praised like this by a boy.

She didn't know how to respond, or where to hide, and wished she could bury her face in her desk drawer.

Why is this person like this?

He was just talking about not wanting to study, and now he's grinning and acting like a hooligan.

And... what did he just say?

A fairy descended to earth?

"Alright, alright, I'm not teasing you anymore."

Su Xiao patted the notebook in her hand, her tone becoming more serious, "Thank you for the notebook, and thank you for your notes."

He pointed to the textbook spread out on her desk, which was covered with notes and annotations. "At first, I really thought you were taking notes for yourself."

Xu Niannian moved her fingers away from her face a little, revealing her two eyes.

Su Xiao looked at her exposed eyes and smiled.

"Thank you for your concern, Xu Niannian."

Xu Niannian immediately covered her hand with her fingers again.

"Who...who cares about you?"

Su Xiao didn't say anything more.

He put the notebook into his backpack, patted the backpack, and turned to walk towards the door.

Fang Yu called out to him from outside the classroom, "Brother Su, what are you having for lunch?" He waved without turning his head, and his figure quickly disappeared at the end of the corridor.

Xu Niannian peeked at his back through her fingers.

The heat on my face hadn't subsided, and my heart was pounding like a drum in my chest.

She lowered her hand, looked at the empty back door, and slowly pursed her lips.

He still left.

He accepted the notebook, but he didn't respond to her suggestion to "study hard."

She sat back down in her chair, her fingers touching the textbooks spread out on the table.

In the textbook, among the densely packed notes, there is still a line of words written not long ago: "The balancing steps of ionic equations".

These are all chemistry notes that Xu Niannian compiled herself.

She wrote for an entire lesson, thinking he would at least take a look.

Xu Niannian lowered her eyes and slowly closed her textbook.

The bitterness in her heart was hard to explain whether it was because he was disobedient or because he refused to stay.

……

Xu Niannian's thoughts drifted back to the beginning of her first year of high school.

She closed her stall late that day.

The market was almost empty. She gathered the unsold vegetable leaves, put them into a burlap sack, and carried it on her back as she walked home.

It got dark quickly, and the streetlights weren't fully on yet. She was crossing the street in such a hurry that she didn't see the electric scooter around the corner.

She was knocked to the ground, and her left leg was trapped under the car.

When they took them to the hospital, the swelling was so bad that the doctor said the bone was injured and they needed to rest.

After asking about the amount of the medical expenses, Grandpa squatted in the hospital corridor for a long time.

Later, my leg was almost fully recovered, but I still walked with a limp. The doctor said I would need to rest for at least one or two months.

But before she knew it, school was about to start, and so she became a person with a limp.

On the first day of school, someone noticed her as soon as she entered the classroom.

At first, people just glanced at her a few times, but later some started imitating her walk as she walked by.

He limped, his heels dragging on the ground, and the boys behind him burst into laughter.

She didn't turn around, walked to her seat, put her schoolbag away, took out her textbook, and kept her head down without saying a word.

After that, the students in her class started calling her "Little Cripple".

Every time she goes to the toilet, she can feel someone watching her.

Those gazes came from all directions, carrying undisguised malice.

She could only walk very quietly, trying her best to keep her dragging foot from making a sound.

But it can't stay quiet.

That day after school, Xu Niannian walked home with her schoolbag on her back.

She walked slowly, and by the time she was two streets away from the school, there were hardly any people left on the street.

With each step she took, her left leg would drag.

Several boys from No. 1 Middle School followed behind, deliberately speaking loudly enough for her to hear.

"The way she walks is really funny."

Someone learned a couple of steps and dragged their shoes on the ground, making an exaggerated rubbing sound.

The group burst into laughter.

Xu Niannian's body was trembling with nervousness, and she tried her best to walk steadily.

But the more I tried to walk steadily, the stiffer my left leg became, and the dragging sound became even louder.

She kept her head down very low, her chin almost touching her chest.

A gust of wind blew, making her eyes feel a little sore. She blinked hard but didn't raise her hand to wipe them.

Then the laughter behind me suddenly stopped.

She heard a voice coming from behind her, not loud, but each word seemed to be squeezed out from between her teeth.

"Try saying one more word."

Xu Niannian turned around.

Su Xiao stood in front of the boys, her school uniform jacket open.

He was a head taller than the other boys, and not particularly strong, but just standing there, they all fell silent.

"Is she lame?"

Su Xiao took a step forward. "If you dare say another word, believe me, I'll break your legs. I'll make you really lame."

The group exchanged glances, muttering something under their breath, but ultimately didn't dare say another word before turning and leaving.

The streets quieted down.

Xu Niannian stood under the streetlight, opened her mouth as if to say thank you, but couldn't get the words out for a long time.

Su Xiao glanced at her.

Her eyes were red, but she didn't cry; she just held it in, her lips pressed into a thin line.

He walked over and knelt down in front of her.

"Come up."

Xu Niannian was stunned.

"You live in the alley behind the market, right? It's on my way."

His voice was flat, as if he were talking about something trivial, "It'll be dark by the time you get home, don't dawdle."

Xu Niannian didn't move.

She stood there, looking at the bent back in front of her.

Su Xiao's school uniform was filthy; I wonder where she'd gone off to have some fun again.

Her fingers gripped the backpack strap, and her breathing became somewhat disordered.

Su Xiao turned around, frowning, her expression a little impatient.

"hurry up."

Su Xiao's fierce gaze terrified Xu Niannian.

Her eyes were red, her lips were pursed, and she hesitated for a long time before taking a step forward.

When Xu Niannian lay down, she moved very gently, unsure of where to put her hands, and finally carefully placed them on his shoulders.

Su Xiao stood up, lifted her up, and started walking forward.

As we turned into the alley, a stray cat darted over the wall and meowed.

Xu Niannian blushed, her fingers tightened slightly, and then she buried her head again.

"You just let people talk about you like that?" Su Xiao suddenly asked.

Xu Niannian did not speak.

Su Xiao thought she wouldn't answer.

After a long time, her voice came from behind, very softly, as if afraid of being blown away by the wind.

"What they said is true."

Su Xiao paused for a moment.

He turned his head to the side, but didn't turn his face to look at her.

"No one will say that anymore."

He said this in a very low voice.

Xu Niannian looked at the back of his head; his hair had grown a bit long.

Her eyes started to sting again.

Then Su Xiao spoke again, her tone suddenly changing.

It was as if, after taking a few steps, he realized that what he had just said was too serious and didn't sound like him at all, so he had to quickly make amends.

"Xu Niannian, listen to me!"

He turned his head and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, his gaze vicious.

"You're my team leader. Anyone who bullies you is disrespecting me, understand?"

Xu Niannian was stunned for a moment.

Then her nose started to sting, and her eyes started to sting too.

She lowered her face, buried it in the back of her hand, and mumbled a soft "hmm."

The alley was long, and the streetlights were dim.

The stray cat stood on the wall watching the two people slowly walk past.

Xu Niannian pressed her face against his school uniform, her hands no longer so tense.