Summer Leaves 1

After Xia Ye sent the message inviting Lin Yuan to come out at 10 PM, her finger hovered over the 'recall' button for a long time.

Finally, thinking that he had probably already seen it, she gritted her teeth and didn't recall it.

Although Xia Ye was busy making milk tea after sending the message, the corner of her eye was constantly on her phone screen.

Whenever a message notification sound rang, she would immediately pick up her phone to check, but most of them were from training institutions or Song Xiaoxiao.

After making countless cups of milk tea, Lin Yuan's message finally arrived.

"It's too late, I'll be busy tonight."

Xia Ye immediately felt a wave of disappointment. However, soon, a smile unconsciously appeared on her face again.

Xia Ye was very confident in her appearance; the long line at the milk tea shop entrance was the best proof. Although she had a different feeling for Lin Yuan, she was still a little wary of unfamiliar men. After sending that 10 PM invitation, she was still somewhat worried that Lin Yuan would misunderstand her.

But Lin Yuan rejected her. Although she was a little disappointed, this at least showed that Lin Yuan was a gentleman. In this day and age, to be able to stick to one's principles when faced with a girl like Xia Ye made Lin Yuan seem very rare to her.

Many thoughts flashed through Xia Ye's mind in an instant. Then she realized the problem: if Lin Yuan was too much of a gentleman, it didn't seem good either. Because she still wanted to meet and chat with him.

Fortunately, Lin Yuan's second message arrived quickly: "Let's have dinner together tomorrow."

Xia Ye quickly replied with an "Mm-hmm" emoji.

"So much work, you still have to deliver late-night snacks tonight?"

At this moment, Lin Yuan had already put his phone aside and was focused on writing code on his laptop screen.

Xia Ye saw that he hadn't replied to the message and inferred that Lin Yuan must be on his way to deliver food. This made her feel more secure about Lin Yuan.

——

When Song Xiaoxiao returned, Xia Ye was lying on the bed with a face mask on, humming a song while holding her phone, "You are my destiny..."

"Oh, little sister, are you going back to your old profession?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Why did you suddenly decide to put on a face mask?"

Due to financial constraints, Xia Ye had not been able to afford face masks, which were a daily essential for art students during her school days, for a long time.

"What's wrong with putting on a face mask?"

"Is it because working is too hard, and you want to go back to making easy money?"

"No way, when I came back, I passed by a convenience store and saw face masks on promotion, so I bought some."

"Can you please stop singing those disgusting love songs of yours?"

"Oh." Xia Ye wisely shut her mouth.

Song Xiaoxiao leaned closer suspiciously, "Has the Milk Tea Beauty met a rich handsome guy?"

"Oh, my head hurts so much," Xia Ye began to complain, "Every time I go to work, there are so many people lining up at the milk tea shop entrance, it's so annoying!"

"Don't change the subject, I think you're in love."

"No."

"Every muscle on your face betrays you."

"I have a face mask on, how could you possibly see clearly?"

"Sister. Usually, when you come back, you look like a miserable little maid, but today you're putting on a face mask and singing. You're telling me you're fine. Do you think I'll believe that?"

"Uh... my face mask time is up, I'm going to wash it off." Xia Ye pushed open the door and slipped away.

This was originally a three-bedroom, one-living room, one-kitchen, two-bathroom apartment. After the living room and kitchen were renovated, it became a shared apartment with five suites.

Previously, Song Xiaoxiao shared it with four other girls. Later, Xia Ye, due to financial difficulties, moved in to live with them.

The sound insulation here was really poor; you could often hear "Thank you, my XXX big brother, for the gifts you've given" coming from the next room.

This apartment originally came with two bathrooms, but later, because the landlord needed to generate more income, one of the bathrooms was knocked down and connected to the kitchen. The bathroom + kitchen were combined into an extra room.

Originally, four girls sharing one bathroom was already crowded enough; after Xia Ye moved in, it became five people sharing one.

For this, Xia Ye had received many cold stares from the other co-renting girls. Xia Ye knew she was in the wrong, so she tried to minimize her time using the bathroom and would often scrub the toilet and clean the bathroom.

This was life!

Because there weren't many paths before Xia Ye. For work, only training institutions were willing to take her. The only slightly better than nothing option at hand was the slim hope of postgraduate studies.

As long as she got into the formal dance department postgraduate program at Purple Gold Art Institute, Xia Ye's life would completely change. Just like people getting into civil service.

But also like civil service exams, getting into the postgraduate program at Purple Gold Art Institute was very difficult. If Xia Ye had been capable enough, she would have been able to directly enter Purple Gold Art Institute four years ago when she applied for university.

Why choose such a difficult path? It was simply because there was no other way.

And when a person has no other way, if someone is willing to show kindness to you, they will naturally cherish that kindness immensely. Especially a kind girl like Xia Ye. Therefore, she was very grateful to Song Xiaoxiao for taking her in, and equally grateful to Lin Yuan, who was not a relative or friend, for waking her up.

So she developed some different feelings for Lin Yuan.

Xia Ye quickly washed off the face mask and then hurried back to her room, so as to avoid running into the other co-renting girls again.

As soon as she entered the door, she saw Song Xiaoxiao sitting there waiting for her.

"Sit down and confess honestly."

Xia Ye looked innocent, "Confess what?"

"What happened today? Quick, tell me. Ye Zi, I'm not just trying to gossip, I'm concerned about you." Song Xiaoxiao's expression was no longer gossipy but very serious.

"Concerned about what?"

"You've been... quite disheartened lately... I'm afraid you might not be thinking clearly and someone might take advantage of you."

"I just... tonight at the milk tea shop, I saw Lin Yuan come to pick up an order. That's all there is to it. Don't worry, he's a very good person. He's still delivering late-night snacks at this hour. I originally invited him out tonight, and he even refused."

"Heh~~" Song Xiaoxiao showed an expression of someone who had seen it all, "Inviting him out late at night, your brain was already quite foolish. He just refused you, and that makes you feel he's upright, right?"

Xia Ye nodded, "He's always been good. Otherwise, he wouldn't have insisted on giving me a thousand yuan when he saw me working there."

"Xia Ye, listen to me carefully. I, your older sister, have seen many men, haven't I?"

"Uh..." Xia Ye was a bit confused, "How would I know how many men you've seen?"

"In short, this old lady has seen more men than you've eaten meals."

Xia Ye then shut up, because in this regard, she was indeed far inferior to Song Xiaoxiao.

"There are all sorts of men, and they all have various tricks. How can you tell what's real and what's fake?"

Xia Ye clearly didn't understand, "Xiao Xiao, what exactly are you trying to say?"

"Ye Zi, that top-ranked delivery big brother of yours isn't worth your time. Be realistic, think about what kind of life you really want to live in the future. Do you want to keep renting in this city forever?"

Xia Ye argued, "I didn't think that much. I just think he's a good person and we can be friends."

"Friends, my foot! You're just suffering from never having had a boyfriend. And you've always been supported by your parents. Now that you've encountered some difficulties, and someone gives you a little warmth, you're moved to death."

Just as Song Xiaoxiao said.

Xia Ye indeed had little experience in matters of love and relationships, and previously had always lived off the living expenses provided by her parents. It was only after graduation and entering society that she truly woke up as if from a dream.