61: Chapter 61 I'm afraid I want to hug you right now

Lu Chengyue froze, then asked, "And then?"

"Then take you to a safe place." He couldn't think of anything else.

Xu Wanning was relentless. "And after that?"

After that? Lu Chengyue was completely bewildered. What else could come after that? He couldn't think of anything.

Seeing him so lost, Xu Wanning kindly reminded him, "Don't you want to do something to me?"

Lu Chengyue clenched his fists, his whole body heating up. His mind was racing with wild thoughts, and he actually broke into a sweat.

A breeze blew by, carrying the chill of early spring. Lu Chengyue stood against the light, sweat dripping from his temples onto his training uniform.

"A-Yue." Xu Wanning called his name and took a step forward.

Lu Chengyue stood still.

She took another step forward, entering his non-safe zone.

Lu Chengyue stepped back. "Don't come any closer." His voice was very low.

Xu Wanning stopped and asked seductively, "Why?"

"Because I'm afraid." Lu Chengyue tried hard to suppress the desire in his heart, doing his best not to look at her.

Xu Wanning smiled and blinked. "Afraid of what?"

Lu Chengyue lowered his eyes to look at her, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Afraid that I might want to hold you right now." His eyes were overflowing with uncontrollable desire.

Xu Wanning froze. It wasn't that she didn't want him to hold her, but she had heard the tremor in Lu Chengyue's voice.

Someone who wouldn't even tremble when facing a life-threatening fire was actually shaking while speaking a single sentence. Just how much desire must he be feeling? "Then hold me."

Lu Chengyue took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He knew Ningning would definitely say that.

He stepped to the side three times and stopped. "Wait until I'm ready."

Xu Wanning pouted. It seemed he felt this progress was too fast. "How long do I have to wait?"

Lu Chengyue continued to take deep breaths. "It won't be too long."

He was afraid that once he took that step, he wouldn't be able to control himself and would hurt her. If that really happened, he would never forgive himself for the rest of his life.

"Ningning, I'm back. Let's go." Lu Zhiyu trotted over, rescuing her brother.

"I'm going to assemble first." After saying that, he walked away without even turning his head. His pace was a bit chaotic, his left and right strides inconsistent—it was easy for him to trip over his own feet.

Xu Wanning watched his retreating figure until he disappeared. She looked down at her own hands; they were also shaking. The desire welling up from her bones was terrifying.

That kind of longing, born from meeting again after experiencing life and death, was terrifying.

Lu Zhiyu pulled her along. "Let's go, let's go. Time to go back and get some sleep."

Xu Wanning followed passively. Along the way, her mind kept replaying everything that happened during The Apocalypse, especially the memory of hugging A-Yue and detonating her crystal nucleus. Her body couldn't help but tremble slightly, and she only calmed down after arriving home.

She was back. She was already back. Everything from before would not happen again. Absolutely not.

After returning home, she went to catch up on sleep and didn't wake up until after 8 PM.

Outside, everyone was busy—some were cooking, some were making ice cubes, and some were exercising.

Lin Wanqiu came over, heartache in her eyes, and took her daughter's hand. "Ningning, you're awake. You must be hungry. Your Auntie Lan saved some food for you."

Xu Wanning smiled like a little sun. "Mm, I'm hungry."

Liu Meilan went to the kitchen and brought over the food that had been kept warm for her. They always used trays because there were too many people, and it was convenient to eat from trays. "Ningning, sit here and eat." She placed the meal on the table in the courtyard.

"Coming." Xu Wanning walked over and sat down. Three dishes and a soup—it was delightful. "Thank you, Auntie Lan!"

"Don't be so polite. Eat more. If it's not enough, there's more."

Liu Meilan touched Xu Wanning's cheek with heartache. The little girl had endured too much. She was the only one with memories of The Apocalypse, and those memories must be very heavy.

She had taken all the burdens upon herself. *Sigh.*

After eating, Xu Wanning joined everyone in their work until 9 PM, when they finished and returned to their rooms.

Xu Wanning took a photo of the moon and captioned it, 'Slept too much during the day, can't sleep,' setting it to be visible only to Lu Chengyue.

Lu Chengyue's message arrived quickly. [What are you doing?]

[Spacing out.] I really can't sleep. How about listening to some A-Yue-style sheep counting?

[Want to go out for a walk?]

Lu Chengyue's reply shocked Xu Wanning. He could come out today? [You can come out?]

[Mm, wait for me 15 minutes.] After sending the message, Lu Chengyue put on his clothes and left in a hurry. Jiang Yishen wanted to ask something, but didn't have the chance.

Xu Wanning quickly changed her clothes and redid her hair. When the time was about right, she snuck out.

Hearing the sound of a car outside, she opened the gate and saw Lu Chengyue just getting out of the car.

He was wearing a black jacket and holding a cup of hot milk tea in his hand. "Here."

Xu Wanning took the milk tea and took a sip. It was hot.

The two strolled over to a nearby bench and sat down. "A-Yue, you didn't just come here to bring me milk tea, did you?" He hadn't said a word since arriving.

"Mm." Lu Chengyue nodded.

Xu Wanning didn't believe it. "Did you miss me?"

He clearly knew she had plenty of milk tea in her space. How could he have come just to deliver milk tea!

Lu Chengyue didn't speak, but his hand was placed in the space between them. His index and middle fingers twitched slightly, as if he were hesitating whether to reach out.

Xu Wanning pretended not to see it and looked up at the stars, casually placing her left hand on the bench as well. "The stars are so bright tonight."

Lu Chengyue, whose attention had been on Xu Wanning's hand, was momentarily distracted. "Mm."

Xu Wanning thought of a theory she had seen before. "Do you know why stars shine?"

"I don't know." He really didn't know.

"Because stars are burning themselves."

It was the first time Lu Chengyue had heard this theory. "Burning themselves to light up the night sky?"

Xu Wanning smiled. "It's not that romantic. It's just to protect itself, making itself a bit more dangerous so it can continue to exist."

Lu Chengyue actually accepted this theory just like that and even thought it made quite a bit of sense. "Being a bit dangerous isn't wrong."

Xu Wanning leaned closer to him. "A-Yue, do you think I'm dangerous?"

Lu Chengyue turned to look at her, his pupils deep. "Dangerous."

"Why?" How was she dangerous?

Lu Chengyue's gaze deepened further. "You are more dangerous than the stars. The stars are in the sky; they can't burn me. But you are right by my side, and I can touch you."

"Haha." Xu Wanning laughed. "What you said seems to make sense."

Lu Chengyue reached out and held Xu Wanning's hand. "Every day, I restrain myself from getting too close to you, afraid of igniting myself and catching fire."

Xu Wanning laughed out loud. "You're a Firefighter, and you're afraid of catching fire?"

He sighed, let go of her hand, straightened his posture, and looked straight ahead. "It's different. I can extinguish ordinary fires, but the fire you ignite... I cannot extinguish."

A streetlamp suddenly went out, and the light instantly dimmed by half.

"A-Yue, come a little closer." Xu Wanning tempted him.

"What for?"

"Come a little closer and you'll know." Xu Wanning continued to tempt him.

Lu Chengyue hesitated for a moment, then shifted ten centimeters toward her. The distance between them became twenty centimeters.

"Come a little closer."