“You… you… what are you doing here?”
Lin Xiyu’s ears turned red as she took two steps back, stammering quite dramatically.
“I came to tell you some incredible news…”
Gu Bin leisurely dangled the bait, deliberately twisting the handlebars as if preparing to leave. “Since someone isn’t interested, forget it.”
“Hey, wait, don’t go!”
Just as he’d hoped, Lin Xiyu’s curiosity was piqued. She reached out and grabbed his sleeve. “What is it? Tell me.”
“Want to know?”
Gu Bin glanced down at the fair, delicate hand clutching his clothes, and his heartstrings felt like they were being brushed by a feather again.
A tingling, slightly itchy sensation.
“Mhmm.”
Unaware of his unusual thoughts, Lin Xiyu nodded eagerly.
“I’ll tell you,” Gu Bin said, a sly glint flashing in his eyes as he set his condition. “But first, tell me why the people in your courtyard were fighting again. Tell me that, and I’ll tell you.”
“Well…”
Lin Xiyu’s eyes flickered, hesitation written on her face.
Family shame shouldn’t be aired in public.
She didn’t feel close enough to him yet to confide all the details of her family’s troubles.
“If you won’t tell me, I’m leaving.”
Gu Bin pretended to be displeased. “Ten thousand yuan for the pay—if someone doesn’t want it, so be it.”
“What pay?”
Lin Xiyu’s breath hitched, her beautiful eyes widening.
“Payment for the documentary.”
Gu Bin chuckled teasingly. “Don’t tell me you were planning to work for free like a fool, never even considering fair compensation?”
“Uh.”
Lin Xiyu flushed with embarrassment, her confidence waning. “There’s pay for filming a documentary? I thought just being on TV was honor enough.”
“I knew it…”
Gu Bin reached out and patted her head with a mix of helplessness and affection. “If I don’t keep an eye on you, silly girl, you’ll get taken advantage of someday.”
Lin Xiyu: “…”
As if he had any claim over her.
What did it matter to him whether she got tricked or not?
The unconvinced silly girl, bending for survival, wrestled with herself for a long time before finally revealing her family’s difficulties.
Gu Bin patted her head again, a flicker of pity in his eyes.
“Stop that, you’re messing up my hair.”
Lin Xiyu’s ears burned; she wasn’t used to such intimate gestures from him.
“Let’s go to the TV station.”
Gu Bin smiled resignedly and withdrew his hand obligingly.
“Right now?”
Lin Xiyu looked apologetic. “Uncle took my bike to handle Uncle Huang’s funeral arrangements. I don’t have a way to get there.”
“Get on, I’ll take you.”
Gu Bin gestured casually toward the back of his bike.
“Is that… really okay?”
Lin Xiyu’s ears reddened again. “The TV station is so far. Won’t it be tiring for you to carry me?”
Gu Bin raised an eyebrow, teasing her on purpose. “Are you heavy?”
“You’re the heavy one!”
Nothing annoyed a girl more than being called heavy. Lin Xiyu bristled up, glaring at him indignantly.
“Then it’s fine.”
Unfazed, Gu Bin pulled her onto the back of his bike. “Hurry up, or it’ll be lunch break soon and we won’t find anyone there.”
“But if I go, there’ll be no one watching the phone booth.”
Lin Xiyu was full of worries. “And it’s not really appropriate for me to ride with you. What if people misunderstand and start gossiping?”
“Misunderstand what?”
Gu Bin narrowed his eyes, feigning ignorance.
“It’s just that…”
Lin Xiyu’s gaze drifted unsteadily, and it took her a long time to mumble two words: “Puppy love.”
“What’s going on in that little head of yours?”
When Gu Bin heard the words “puppy love,” his heartbeat clearly skipped a beat, but he showed no sign of it on his face. Instead, he teased her: “Giving someone a ride on a bicycle counts as puppy love? By that logic, classmates who happen to meet on the way to school and give each other a lift would all be considered puppy love?”