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

Su Xiao quickly composed herself.

He cleared his throat, his fierce expression fading, and adopted a more normal tone: "Why don't you take the exam? It's worth a thousand yuan."

Xu Niannian lowered her head, her finger lightly tracing names along the edge of her textbook.

Several seconds passed before her voice finally broke through the silence, very soft, as if it were drifting out from between the pages of a textbook.

"You are more important than money."

Su Xiao was stunned.

He opened his mouth, but the prepared remarks got stuck in his throat.

It took him quite a while to find his voice.

"Then... what about the thousand yuan?"

Xu Niannian kept her head down, her fingers lowered from the edge of the textbook and placed on her knees.

"I'll just help Grandma sell some more bok choy this weekend, it's okay."

When she said "It's okay," her tone was very calm.

It seems that a thousand yuan is not a huge sum of money that she needs to work hard to earn, but a small amount that she can save by selling a few more cabbages.

It seemed that giving up a life-changing opportunity was less important to her than a single word from him.

Su Xiao looked at her.

She sat there quietly, her thick bangs covering most of her face, her school uniform faded from washing, and the cuffs were covered in lint.

She had nothing, yet she still thought he was more important than money.

Su Xiao completely lost the will to tease her.

Xu Niannian's gentleness wasn't the kind that came from saying things that moved people, but rather from her genuine thoughts and intentions.

She said she would really go if she helped her grandma sell more cabbages.

He sits in the market from morning till night, bagging cabbages one by one and giving change. He is criticized by picky customers who complain that the cabbages are not fresh enough and say with their heads down, "Give me a discount next time."

Those hands would turn red from the cold in winter and sweat profusely from being stuffed in plastic bags in summer.

She's always been like this, and she doesn't think it's a problem.

Su Xiao leaned back in his chair, adopting a nonchalant posture, and deliberately spoke in a nonchalant tone as well.

"You think you can just say you don't want it?" He raised an eyebrow. "Even if you don't want it, I still do."

Xu Niannian turned to look at him, her eyes filled with confusion.

"Go, we must go."

Su Xiao tapped her knuckles on the table twice, as if making a major decision. "It's a full 1000 yuan. If I don't go, what will we do if we run out of money later? Will you support me?"

Xu Niannian stared at him blankly, blinking her eyes repeatedly.

Their brains probably haven't processed it yet.

Su Xiao immediately sighed, "Never mind..."

Xu Niannian panicked and waved both hands in front of her chest as fast as she was swatting mosquitoes.

"No, no..."

Her voice trembled with anxiety, then she slowly lowered her head, placed her hands back on her knees, her fingers intertwined, and her face turned red from the tips of her ears to the roots of her neck.

She used very, very small...

So quiet that only the two of them could hear it.

"I'll take care of you."

Su Xiao leaned back in her chair, staring blankly at Xu Niannian, whose face was flushed and whose mouth was slightly open.

In his past life, he had seen countless women.

In bars and karaoke rooms.

The women had exquisite makeup, polite smiles, and would look him in the eye at just the right moment when they spoke.

Sometimes when he's drunk, he'll joke around with them.

If I run out of money, will you still love me? Will you still support me?

meeting!

Of course!

They rushed to put their hands on his arms, as if they wanted to lay their hearts out on the table for him to see.

Each one of them had sincere and beautiful eyes.

But no one could match Xu Niannian's gaze when she said those words.

There were no fancy words, no superfluous expressions.

She simply lowered her head, blushed, and said earnestly, "I'll take care of you."

It was as if what she said wasn't sweet talk, but a decision that required no doubt.

When she said that, her eyes were filled with a pure and sincere willingness, untainted by anything else.

Su Xiao looked at her and suddenly smiled.

"Then go ahead."

He put his arm behind his head and rocked the chair. "I was just kidding you."

Xu Niannian was stunned for a moment.

She looked up at him, her eyes still glistening with tears, a few unshed tears clinging to her eyelashes.

Looking at his smiling face, she finally realized what was going on.

He was just saying all that to scare her.

She lowered her head, her voice soft and muffled.

"You bastard, you're bullying me again."

Su Xiao chuckled, leaned forward, and brought his ear close to hers.

His breath hit her earlobe, warm.

His voice was very low, so low that only the two of them could hear it.

"What's this? I'm going to bully you for the rest of my life."

Xu Niannian's face flushed red instantly, from her forehead all the way down to the roots of her neck, and her head was practically steaming.

She buried her face in her textbook, her ears sticking out, red like two ripe strawberries.

Fang Yu, who was in the back row, saw this scene and dropped the spicy snack he was eating onto the table.

As soon as the bell rang, Su Xiao was about to move closer to Xu Niannian when someone suddenly grabbed her by the back of her collar.

Fang Yu dragged him into the corridor, acting mysteriously, and even glanced back into the classroom to make sure Xu Niannian hadn't followed him out.

Su Xiao leaned against the corridor railing, impatiently adjusting her collar.

"Fang Yu, you'd better really have something urgent to say. If you dragged me out here just to chat nonsense, I'll slap you across the face."

Fang Yu swallowed hard, rubbed his hands together, his expression somewhat conflicted, but he still spoke.

"Brother Su, haven't you been getting a little too close to Xu Niannian lately?"

"and then?"

"I advise you to forget about it."

Fang Yu leaned closer and lowered his voice, "If you're talking about other girls, I have no problem with it. But Xu Niannian... with her family background, her grandparents are so old, and she herself is timid and honest. We..."

He scratched his head. "Let's not mess with her. She's too pitiful. Su-ge, please don't play with her."

Students come and go in the corridor.

Some people were chasing and playing around, while others were dribbling basketballs in the corridor, the ball bouncing on the ground with a thud.

Su Xiao remained silent.

He leaned against the railing, looking at the row of poplar trees outside the teaching building.

As the wind blew, the leaves rustled and revealed their silvery-white undersides.

He remained silent for a long while.

Then he turned his head and looked at Fang Yu.

"I forgot to tell you."

His voice wasn't loud, but every word was steady.

"I take relationships very seriously."