Three days had passed since Xu Jinghan left.

“What’s the point of doing this? You’ve returned the money, and I don’t need any extra compensation. Let’s just say I wasted my kindness on a dog. Don’t call me again.”

Li Qingci had just blocked this phone number when another unknown number called.

Li Qingci: …

“Let’s meet tomorrow. I’ll explain why I did this. I really didn’t mean to. You said before that you’d marry me. You can’t go back on your word. You must follow through on what you said.”

Li Qingci searched his memory. Marry Xu Jinghan? What? When did he ever say that?

“You were the one who forgot me first. I just wanted you to fall in love with me again. Besides—you clearly like me. Don’t deny it!”

“Whether you believe it or not, I’ve actually liked you for many years. I pretended to be poor and vulnerable to gain your sympathy, and I used my face to seduce you. That was wrong of me. But during these three months, I never intended to deceive you. Every day, I willingly cooked and cleaned for you. Just thinking about waking up to see you made me bubble with happiness. I wished I could turn into a cat and stay in your arms all day. Xiao Ci, I—”

Li Qingci hadn’t even finished listening before he was in disarray. Somewhat exasperated, he said into the phone, “Can’t you speak normally? Stop with the coy act! See you tomorrow!”

Li Qingci became frustrated just thinking about Xu Jinghan’s innocent, beautiful face. Although Xu Jinghan hadn’t done anything wrong in these three months, he had indeed deceived Li Qingci. Tomorrow, he’d see what kind of sweet talk Xu Jinghan could come up with.

Li Qingci completely forgot his brother’s warnings before leaving. After all, Xu Jinghan couldn’t do anything to him.

However, when Xu Jinghan arrived the next day, Li Qingci had barely opened the door before being pulled into an embrace.

“What are you doing?”

Xu Jinghan said aggrievedly, “A day apart feels like three years. We haven’t seen each other for three days. Didn’t you miss me?”

“No,” Li Qingci felt it did not have any weight, so he added, “Not at all.”

Xu Jinghan seemed even more aggrieved. “Alright, but Xiao Ci, I missed you so much. I don’t want to be away from you for even a second.”

“I wasn’t upset when you deceived me, yet you’re the one acting hurt now. If you have something to say, spit it out.”

Xu Jinghan carefully took out a photo and handed it to Li Qingci. “Look at this photo. Does it remind you of anything?”

Li Qingci looked at the photo. The little boy was indeed him, but who was the girl of similar height next to him?

“That little girl is me!”

Li Qingci: ???

“In second grade, I transferred to your city’s school for a while. We were putting on a play and needed to choose a princess. During the vote, you said I was the prettiest and convinced the other kids to vote with you. In the end, you were the prince, and I was the princess. You were especially kind to me. I asked if you wanted to be with me forever, and you said you did. I asked if you’d be willing to marry me when we grew up, and you said you would.”

Li Qingci: …

“Who remembers things from childhood?”

“I do! I remember it clearly. Although I transferred schools soon after, I always remembered you. Later, I even snuck back to your city to see you. We passed by each other many times, but you never recognized me. Once, you even saved me when you saw injustice. After that, I was sent abroad. I thought, when I return to China, I must win you over.”

“You’ve been thinking about me for so long?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t you know that’s kind of creepy?”

“I suppose it is a bit.”

Xu Jinghan’s eyes seemed to sparkle, his gaze towards Li Qingci deep and heart-stirring.

Li Qingci covered his eyes and laughed, “I must have owed you in my past life.”