The inside of the pocket had a soft cashmere texture, completely sealing out the icy wind. Xi Liye’s palm was dry and warm, even slightly hot. Heat flowed steadily from his skin to hers, quickly dispelling the numbness and stinging in her fingertips.
“I’ll warm the other hand in a bit,” Wen Chu heard Xi Liye say.
Wait, what?!
Mr. Male Lead, are you a dog? Why are you being so obedient?!
And you’re holding a girl’s hand this easily? Where is your sense of “male virtue” and boundaries?!
Lightheaded, Wen Chu allowed herself to be led into the cafeteria by Xi Liye. Since it was a Saturday morning, the place was nearly empty, yet she still insisted on finding the most remote corner possible.
There was no helping it; a corner was the “dream destination” for anyone with social anxiety.
Xi Liye asked about her preferences and then went to get the food.
Wen Chu sat down and looked at the hand he had just warmed. Her fingertips seemed to retain the lingering warmth of another person’s touch. She watched Xi Liye’s tall, upright figure as he unhurriedly selected items at the service counter, and she began to silently reflect on her behavior.
Was the physical contact not intimate enough?
His reactions to her tricks had been too casual. He was indulging her so much that she clearly hadn’t hit his bottom line yet. If this continued, how was she supposed to make him disgusted? How were they supposed to break up?
No, I need to step it up!
Just as she was strengthening her resolve, Xi Liye returned with two trays.
He placed one in front of her—a bowl of steaming seafood porridge, several light side dishes, and a cup of hot milk emitting white vapor.
“Thanks,” Wen Chu whispered. She scooped up a spoonful of porridge, blew on it, and carefully put it in her mouth. The porridge was soft, savory, and perfectly tempered; it was indeed delicious. The warm food hit her stomach, slightly dispelling her physical chill and nervous tension.
When Wen Chu bit into a sliver of shiitake mushroom in the porridge, her eyes lit up. An idea suddenly struck her.
“There are mushrooms in the seafood porridge,” Wen Chu said, looking up at Xi Liye.
Xi Liye looked puzzled.
Wen Chu accused, “I hate mushrooms!”
Xi Liye felt a bit helpless. “But when I asked you earlier if seafood porridge was okay, you said it was fine.”
“Well, I didn’t know they would put mushrooms in it,” Wen Chu said, feigning grievance.
From their interactions so far, Xi Liye only felt that this girlfriend he had somehow acquired was incredibly high-maintenance. Moreover, if he questioned her too much, she was prone to getting “prickly” and angry.
She needed someone to coax her.
For the sake of keeping their future relationship manageable, he felt he shouldn’t indulge her bad habit of getting angry easily. He should reason with her properly.
“Wen Chu, you said it was fine when I asked. The fact that there are mushrooms you dislike isn’t my fault,” Xi Liye said with a hint of gravity.
Is the male lead getting angry?
Wen Chu was excited internally, but on the surface, she maintained a pitiful expression. With her eyes downcast, she looked like a little kitten with drooping ears.
“But… I really just don’t like eating them,” she said, her voice turning slightly “jia” (high-pitched and cutesy). Even Wen Chu felt a wave of nausea at her own voice.
So bratty! Wen Chu gave herself a mental standing ovation for her acting. Who could possibly stand this?
Seeing Wen Chu’s pitiful state and hearing her weakened, cutesy voice, Xi Liye’s irritation vanished instantly.
“Last time.”
Xi Liye reached out and pulled her bowl toward himself.
Then, under Wen Chu’s dumbfounded gaze, he picked up a pair of clean spoons and began to meticulously pick out every single sliver of mushroom from her porridge—one by one.
Watching the “purified” seafood porridge, Wen Chu was completely stunned.
Wait… what is the situation?
Do men actually like that cutesy “jia” voice?
How vulgar!
She opened her mouth, but not a single word came out.
Xi Liye looked up. Seeing Wen Chu still frozen, he tilted his brow slightly.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Is there something else?”
“…N-no, nothing else,” Wen Chu said stiffly. She lowered her head and took a spoonful of the mushroom-free porridge.
She comforted herself silently.
It’s fine, it’s fine. We’ve only been together a few days. The female lead won’t show up for another six months. I still have half a year to break up with him.
After soothing her soul, the two finished their meal. According to the standard date procedure, it couldn’t just end with a meal—even though Wen Chu desperately wished it would. After all, in this weather, lying in bed in the dorm was much more comfortable.
After some discussion, Wen Chu finally locked onto a target from the many “must-do date activities” for couples: Perler beads (bead-crafting). Her reasoning was solid: the environment was usually quiet and artistic, it didn’t require much conversation (avoiding awkward silences), and having a specific task meant things wouldn’t get weird.
Most importantly, there shouldn’t be many people at this hour. It was the ultimate comfort zone for someone with social anxiety like Wen Chu.
Moreover… before she transmigrated into the book, she had seen this online and really wanted to try it, but her fear of leaving the house had stopped her. This was the perfect chance to play.
Wen Chu thought Xi Liye would look down on such an activity, but he was surprisingly easy to talk to.
It shouldn’t be like this. In the original novel, isn’t the male lead a dark, psychotic obsessive? Why does he feel so gentlemanly in the early stages?
The craft workshop was tucked away on the second floor of a creative arts building. The decor was warm and unique, with the faint scent of coffee and wood lingering in the air. Since it was a weekday morning, there weren’t many customers—only a couple whispering and laughing in a corner, and a girl making needle-felted wool by herself.
Wen Chu breathed a private sigh of relief. The environment was perfect: few people, quiet.
She was a bit afraid of interaction, so she didn’t ask the receptionist for an introduction. Instead, she picked a package herself, grabbed two baseplates, and several large boxes of color-sorted beads. She chose a pattern of a cute kitten with its head tilted for herself, and handed Xi Liye a pattern of a bright red, adorable fox along with the corresponding bead box.
“You… want to try this?” She tried to make her tone sound both considerate and natural.
Xi Liye took the pattern and glanced at the color block instructions. He said nothing, simply following her to a bright, long table by the window.
The process was exceptionally peaceful at first—one might even call it harmonious.
Wen Chu immediately threw herself into the work, using small tweezers to carefully pick up beads and place them one by one according to the pattern. Gradually, she found joy in it. The sounds of the outside world faded away, leaving only the light click-clack of beads hitting the plastic baseplate.
As she watched the pattern slowly become complete, the corners of her lips curled up. This was an experience she never had as a shut-in before transmigrating, so she cherished the opportunity.
Beside her, Xi Liye was also slowly assembling the red fox. However, his gaze gradually drifted toward Wen Chu.
His eyes swept over her eyelashes, which cast a small shadow on her eyelids as she looked down, and her cheeks, which were slightly puffed out from concentration and tinged with a healthy pink hue.
He had to admit, this girlfriend he had acquired through a series of coincidences was very beautiful.
Moreover, this kind of beauty precisely hit a certain secret preference hidden deep within him—one that even he himself might not have been fully aware of.