The white rose I picked up cried and said she liked me.

With trembling hands, Xu Nian carefully pushed open the envelope.

A light blue letter appeared in my hand.

The handwriting is neat and the strokes are beautiful.

To Xu Xi.

Seeing these words is like knowing them.

The sound of raindrops tapping on the green tiles at dusk reminds me of your quiet profile.

The ink marks are faint and cannot contain the deep affection I have for you.

Do you remember the last monthly exam? We were in the same exam room, and I was the silent admirer behind you.

You wrote with lightning speed, your confidence filling the exam paper. At that moment, a breeze swept through, and the delicate fragrance of your hair lingered in my heart.

Perhaps from that time on, I began to mentally trace the meaning of this letter that expressed my feelings.

......

Xu Nian couldn't bear to read any further.

He felt his mind go blank and he lost all his strength.

With a "thud," the schoolbag fell to the ground, scattering books all over the floor.

It seems that something most important in my heart has been taken away.

He stared blankly ahead, speechless for a long time.

......

"Um... thank you, brother!"

Xu Xi yawned and, half-asleep, took the schoolbag from Xu Nian at the school gate.

She instinctively reached out to hug Xu Nian, but Xu Nian gently dodged her.

"elder brother?"

The little guy looked puzzled, his sleepiness fading a bit, and a big question mark seemed to appear on his head.

"I still have orders to deliver, I have to go now."

Xu Nian avoided eye contact, twisted the accelerator, and drove away from No. 1 High School.

He was in a state of utter confusion and his mind was elsewhere.

Yes, Xu Xi is so outstanding and so beautiful.

It's perfectly normal to have outstanding guys pursuing you.

Is keeping love letters in your bag a sign of acceptance?

That's normal, after all, the younger sister may look like a child, but she's already an adult.

There will also be boys you like, and you'll probably have feelings for the opposite sex around you.

"Wait, bro, I ordered beef rice, why did you bring me beef noodles?"

When he came to his senses, he was already standing in front of a house with a bowl of rice noodles in his hand.

Xu Nian lowered her head and looked at the information on the order; it was indeed a beef rice bowl.

"Sorry, I misread it, please wait a moment."

He hurriedly returned to the electric scooter and searched for the correct lunchbox in the insulated box.

They turned the insulated box upside down, but couldn't find a single dish that contained a rice bowl.

Did they pick up the wrong meal?

Xu Nian painfully patted her head and braced herself as she approached the somewhat angry man.

"Sorry, I think I picked up the wrong meal. I'll go back and get you another one and send it over by express delivery."

"Forget it, I'm canceling. You've already exceeded your time limit, and I have to go out. I don't have time to wait for you."

The man glared at Xu Nian and angrily slammed the door shut.

"Feel sorry..."

......

"Xu Nian, what have you been doing? You gave me five bad reviews and three order cancellations this morning?"

Xu Hu's roar came from the other end of the phone, bringing Xu Nian back to her senses from her daze.

"Sorry, Tiger, I won't do it again."

Xu Nian shook her head, forcing herself to concentrate.

...

He ran into Qi Yu while picking up his food in front of a noodle shop.

"Brother Xu, what's wrong with you today?"

Qi Yu stretched out his hand and waved it in front of Xu Nian.

"I'm fine."

"Nonsense, you usually don't get two or three bad reviews a week, but you've got five this morning alone."

"Why don't you take a break? I'll cover for you on the afternoon shift."

After nearly ten seconds, Xu Nian gently shook her head.

Qi Yu sighed. Judging from Xu Nian's reaction, he knew that something must have happened to him.

"Brother Xu, you always keep everything bottled up inside."

As he spoke, he took the meal out of Xu Nian's insulated box and put it into his own insulated box.

"Humans are social animals, so if anything's wrong, just tell us. Tiger is worried about you too."

"I'm really fine."

Xu Nian shook her head.

He didn't know why he felt empty inside after seeing that flowery love letter written to Xu Xi.

"Alright, stop overexerting yourself. Go back and rest. You can continue when you're feeling better."

Qi Yu patted Xu Nian on the shoulder, got on his electric scooter, and rode away.

As he watched Qi Yu's retreating figure, the customers' curses still echoed in his ears, and the phone calls urging him to hurry up with his order seemed to keep ringing.

Suddenly, the sizzling sound of oil in the pan reached Xu Nian's ears.

When Xu Nian came to her senses, she found herself in her kitchen, with a pot of shredded potatoes that were already smelling burnt in front of her.

It's been several minutes since I last stirred it...

Xu Nian rubbed her temples and dumped the pot of shredded potatoes into the trash can.

A lot of potato shreds were stuck to the bottom of the pot, clinging to it like a plaster. Xu Nian had to use a lot of effort to scrub them off little by little with a steel wool pad.

I intended to cook lunch, but by dinner time I still hadn't eaten.

Xu Nian sighed and wrapped the dishes she had painstakingly prepared in plastic wrap.

It's already this late, let's just wait for Xu Xi to come back and eat together.

He lay on the table, staring blankly at the clock on the wall.

The hands moved second by second, emitting the mechanical sound of gears turning.

Two hours have passed before we knew it.

The dishes on the table had been reheated and were now cold again.

Logically speaking, Xu Xi should have arrived home an hour ago by this time.

Xu Nian took out her keys and prepared to go out to search.

But when his hand was on the doorknob, he hesitated.

Xu Xi is an adult now, and we should give her some space.

If she really has a boy she likes, shouldn't he, as her nominal older brother, keep some distance from her?

Her hand was quietly lowered, and Xu Nian sat back down at the dining table, intending to wait another half hour.

Even if she went on a date with that boy, she should have gone home before dark.

...

After an unknown amount of time, the sound of the door lock turning came from inside.

"Brother, I'm back."

Xu Xi walked lightly to Xu Nian, her beautiful eyes showing signs of exhaustion.

She reached out, ready to hug Xu Nian as usual.

But Xu Nian blocked her way.

"Brother, what's wrong with you today?"

Xu Xi looked confused.

At school, she learned from Zhao Lin that Qi Yu had told her that Xu Nian was acting very strangely today.

"It's nothing... Why are you so late today?"

Xu Nian's Adam's apple bobbed, and she asked in a hoarse voice.

"It's my turn to do chores today. I sent a message to my brother, didn't he see it?"

Xu Nian paused for a moment, then took her phone out of her pocket, only to realize that it had been turned off sometime during the day because she had forgotten to charge it.

For some reason, Xu Nian silently breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wash your hands and eat."

Xu Nian picked up the now-cold dish and went back to the kitchen to reheat it.

The atmosphere at the dining table was unusually quiet.

Xu Nian absentmindedly chewed on her rice, her thoughts already drifting to a distant, unreachable place.

Xu Xi, on the other hand, was severely sleep-deprived due to staying up late to study for several days, and even started to doze off during meals.