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

Xu Nian sighed and put the book back where it belonged.

Just then, my phone, which had been silent for a long time, rang. It was a notification from the food delivery app that it had automatically dispatched an order.

Xu Nian frowned when she saw the address.

It's another order from Zhou Xiaoman.

......

"Mr. Xu, what did you think of Xiaoman's story?"

Zhou Xiaoman was waiting at the door early, smiling as she awaited Xu Nian's arrival.

"Your book is selling very poorly."

Xu Nian placed the fruit salad she had ordered on the shoe cabinet next to her with a blank expression.

He paused, then continued to ask.

"Is what's written in the book about your background?"

"I am delighted that Mr. Xu has become my reader."

Zhou Xiaoman did not answer. She raised her hand, brushed her cascading purple hair aside, and a hint of sadness flashed across her eyes.

Suddenly, she seemed to sense something and stretched out her nose to take a gentle sniff.

"It seems that someone around Mr. Xu is unhappy because of Xiaoman's presence."

"It's good that you know."

Just as Xu Nian was about to leave, she suddenly felt a sense of disbelief.

How did you know?

He never mentioned his sister's inexplicable hostility towards Zhou Xiaoman to Zhou Xiaoman.

Zhou Xiaoman chuckled twice.

"The scent of white roses is lovely."

She closed the door as soon as she finished speaking.

Xu Nian scratched her head in confusion.

The scent of white roses? What does that mean...?

Suddenly, he seemed to remember something and carefully sniffed his clothes.

A faint, elegant fragrance lingers on it.

It was the scent of perfume that Xu Xi had rubbed onto herself before leaving home that morning.

......

As the college entrance examination draws closer, Xu Xi's pressure to prepare is increasing.

Besides tutoring Wen Yao and her classmates for two hours every day after school, she also studied late into the night after returning home.

These days, Xu Nian has been finding more and more hair while cleaning.

"Little Creek, drink this."

Xu Nian carried a bowl of freshly cooked black sesame paste and placed it on Xu Xi's desk.

"Wait... wait a minute."

Xu Xi kept yawning, her left hand supporting her chin, while her right hand flew across the draft paper filled with calculation formulas.

In front of her was a math problem that was only half-solved.

Xu Nian remembered that before he went out to cook sesame paste, Xu Xi's pen was already on this question.

So much time has passed, and I'm still struggling with this problem?

The sesame paste kept emitting white steam, carrying away its steaming heat from when it was fresh out of the pot.

Xu Nian sighed, picked up a stool and sat down, covering the rim of the bowl with her hand to slow down the cooling of the sesame paste as much as possible.

He didn't urge Xu Xi, but quietly observed her as she focused on solving the problem.

Her handwriting is very beautiful; even on densely written draft paper, every stroke is clearly legible.

Just like her quiet profile, she is both beautiful and very dignified.

Suddenly, a strand of messy black hair slipped down from the top of her head and stuck to the front of Xu Xi's high nose.

She wrinkled her nose, as if she felt a little uncomfortable.

Xu Nian reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Time ticked by, and apart from the soft scratching of the pen against the paper, the room was eerily quiet.

Finally, after nearly half an hour, Xu Xi breathed a long sigh of relief.

She rubbed her sleepy eyes, stretched, and then groggily raised her head.

"Waaah... Brother, what time is it?"

"It's already two o'clock."

Xu Nian's gaze lingered on her thick dark circles, and she couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache.

He really wanted to tell Xu Xi that it didn't matter if she didn't do well in school and didn't get into a good university.

Even if you don't earn money in the future, your brother is willing to continue supporting you.

Upon hearing this, Xu Xi deflated like a punctured balloon and slumped onto the table.

She turned her head to the side, her eyelids drooping heavily, leaving only a tiny slit as she gazed at her brother who had stayed with her all night.

"Drink the sesame paste, then go to sleep."

Xu Nian removed her hand from the bowl and placed the sesame paste in front of Xu Xi.

Fortunately, the sesame paste hasn't lost too much heat; it's still warm.

Xu Xi nodded gently, but remained lying on the table, only slightly opening her cherry-like mouth.

"I really can't help you."

Xu Nian sighed and rubbed her little head.

He knew that when Xu Xi adopted this posture, it was his turn to feed her.

"Ah~ Open your mouth."

Xu Nian scooped up a spoonful of sesame paste, blew on it, and then put it into Xu Xi's mouth.

Xu Xi moved her little mouth for a while, then slowly swallowed.

"Mmm...so sweet."

Her eyelids grew heavier and heavier until finally only her mouth remained open, chewing unconsciously.

After finishing a bowl of sesame paste, Xu Xi wiped her mouth with satisfaction, stretched out her arms, and made a gesture as if asking for a hug.

Xu Nian knew that this meant she wanted him to carry her to bed.

So he squatted down, gently picked up Xu Xi, and slowly walked to the bedside.

But when he tried to put Xu Xi on the bed, he found that her two little hands were tightly wrapped around his chest and he couldn't let go of her.

"Come down, Little Creek, we're here."

Xu Nian gently patted Xu Xi's back, and the only response he received was a soft snore.

Are you asleep?

Xu Nian shook her head with a wry smile and had no choice but to lie down on the bed, becoming the little one's human mattress.

Instead of falling asleep immediately, he took out his phone, turned the volume to silent, and watched a video to learn how to make a dessert called "Walnut and Black Sesame Steamed Cake".

I've heard that this food can replenish the vitamins missing from the hair ends, thus slowing down hair loss to some extent.

Xu Xi's hair is now almost as thin as it was when they first met.

Thinking back to this time last year, Xu Xi's long, beautiful, black hair that reached her waist like a waterfall made Xu Nian feel a pang of heartache.

He studied very diligently, just like Xu Xi when solving problems.

......

From the fresh buds sprouting from the willows to the swaying willows, Yuncheng has officially entered the height of summer in June.

On this day, Xu Xi was unusually not woken up by her brother.

After a full ten hours of rest, she slept until she naturally woke up, and was now full of energy.

"Brother, do you know why the college entrance exam starts at 10 o'clock instead of 8 o'clock?"

Xu Nian, who was frying eggs in the kitchen, scratched his head and thought for a long time, but still couldn't figure it out.

"I don't know, maybe the proctor can't get up at eight o'clock?"

His words made Xu Xi, who was tying her hair, giggle.

"Hahaha~ How is that possible?"

She walked over to Xu Nian and smiled as she wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Because the distance between east and west in our country is very long, if the sun rises at six o'clock in the capital, then the westernmost Xinjiang province will not see the sun rise until eight o'clock."

"In this way, 10 o'clock here is equivalent to 8 o'clock there."

"To ensure that students in Xinjiang Province can participate in the college entrance examination in a good mental state, the exams will all start at 10:00 AM."

"Oh, I see."

Xu Nian turned off the range hood and placed the two freshly fried eggs on a plate.

The outside of the fried egg is crispy and still sizzling with oil, while the yolk is still chewy and not completely set.

Xu Xi loves these poached eggs. According to her, the best egg yolks are those that you can suck out.

"Are you ready to take the college entrance exam in high spirits?"

"Ready!"