Chapter 115: My heart is pounding

It was quite early.

Few pedestrians or vehicles could be seen on the street, leaving it cold and desolate.

Qiu Ye held Bai Yao’s hand, strolling slowly along the sidewalk in search of a nearby community breakfast shop.

Those local shops opened much earlier than the school cafeteria.

As the wind blew, Bai Yao’s stomach felt a bit uncomfortable again.

His brow furrowed slightly as he pulled his coat tight and fastened the buttons.

Having his hand held made him worry about people gossiping, and he was too shy to be seen.

Fortunately, it was early in the morning, and the streets were very quiet.

With a faint blush on his face, he stared at the closed storefronts along the street in awkward embarrassment, his mind wandering again.

If he had to say he liked him… at least his time with Qiu Ye was pleasant and harmonious.

There were occasional minor conflicts, but they were always resolved quickly.

At the very least, he didn’t hate physical contact with Qiu Ye, and he even felt something for Qiu Ye’s body.

Furthermore, their hobbies were quite similar; they both enjoyed reading historical novels.

Qiu Ye hadn’t confessed his feelings yet, but Bai Yao had been distressing over it for several days.

‘Right, why hasn’t he confessed yet?’

‘Didn’t he say he liked me?’

‘Maybe it’s better if he doesn’t. That way, I won’t turn into a complete girl because of the System Rewards.’

‘But it can’t be good to stay like this forever — half-man and half-woman, having a period but possessing **Gediao**. At the very least, the menstrual blood is a major problem.’

Bai Yao wasn’t sure if he was ready to become a girl completely.

How would his family and relatives react if they found out he had become a girl?

If this were another timeline where his QQ had been “uninstalled” due to a traffic accident, forcing him to undergo surgery to become a girl, his family might understand.

But now, he hadn’t been in any accident… Was he really going to rely entirely on the System?

He glanced at Qiu Ye beside him.

Bai Yao felt a headache and anxiety, and his stomach hurt even more, but subconsciously, he might still be relying on Qiu Ye.

‘No! A perfectly fine man should rely on himself!’

‘Relying entirely on someone else provides no sense of security…’

Noticing his restless and anxious gaze, Qiu Ye squeezed the small hand wrapped in his palm a little tighter.

Bai Yao’s hand hurt slightly from the squeeze, but he could feel Qiu Ye’s strength and warmth.

He looked at the man beside him, who was more than half a head taller than himself.

Standing there like an iron tower, unshakable, the aggression in Qiu Ye’s brow seemed much more pleasing to the eye, inexplicably putting his mind at ease.

That aggression would never be directed at him.

Although Qiu Ye looked intimidating when he wore a stern expression, he had never intentionally tried to scare him.

As they walked forward and reached a nearby neighborhood, the area began to bustle with life.

A vegetable market sat not far from the community.

At 7:00 AM, the vegetable market was at its most lively.

The middle-aged and elderly residents of the area had arrived early to buy groceries.

The sounds of bargaining, shouting, and arguing, along with the quacking of live chickens and ducks, were noisily interwoven in a deafening clamor.

Once they reached the crowded area, they were seen holding hands by countless people.

Bai Yao had always cared deeply about the gazes and evaluations of outsiders.

He tried to pull his hand away in embarrassment, but Qiu Ye held on exceptionally tight, as if afraid he would run away.

“This place?”

Several breakfast shops had opened on the street surrounding the vegetable market.

The busiest one was almost completely full.

“There are so many people…”

“A lot of people means the food tastes good.”

Qiu Ye pulled Bai Yao into the shop, found an empty spot at a shared table, and pressed him down into a seat.

Bai Yao glanced at the strangers beside him.

‘Sharing a table with people I don’t know is so awkward…’

This was why he never went to busy shops to eat.

He pulled his neck back and moved his chair closer to Qiu Ye until their shoulders touched.

This shop was clearly an old, established brand catering to the neighborhood.

Generally speaking, the taste of a popular old shop wouldn’t be bad.

“Over here!”

Qiu Ye raised his hand to call a waiter.

“Two orders of thin noodle soup, add large intestines. One fried dough stick and two meat buns.”

After speaking, he turned to ask, “Do you eat large intestines?”

“I think so?”

Bai Yao wasn’t particularly repulsed by internal organs.

“That’s fine, then.”

He lowered his head to play with his phone.

Even though they were just out for a meal, it gave him an ambiguous feeling of being on a date.

Moreover, there were too many people around, making him not want to appear too close to Qiu Ye.

He didn’t want people to think he was dating Qiu Ye…

There was a sense of shame, as if his private life was being exposed, and a feeling that people would gossip behind his back.

“What are you looking at?”

Qiu Ye leaned his head in, getting so close that he was almost pressed against Bai Yao’s face, his chin nearly resting on his shoulder.

“Nothing.”

Because the distance was too close, the faint blush on Bai Yao’s face gradually turned into a shy crimson.

“Did Gu Yaoyao ask you to go out this weekend?”

“How did you know?”

Qiu Ye’s eyelid twitched.

That woman actually tried to “raid his base” while Bai Yao was feeling unsettled!

“I didn’t go. I was too lazy to leave the house,” Bai Yao muttered.

“Besides, it’s awkward going out with a girl.”

“That’s true. It’s hard to relax.”

“Yeah.”

‘Thank goodness Bai Yao is a straight man at heart.’

Just as Qiu Ye was feeling relieved, he saw Bai Yao reveal a confused expression and whisper, “She wouldn’t happen to like me, would she?”

‘What?!’

Qiu Ye subconsciously wanted to use some “pick-up artist” tactics to put Bai Yao down, saying something like “How could a woman possibly like you?”

But when the words reached his lips, he changed them to a mocking tone instead.

“You only just realized? Do you have no clue at all?”

Regardless, he still hoped Bai Yao could be a bit more confident.

The breakfast was served.

Qiu Ye tore the large fried dough stick into small pieces and soaked them in the thin noodle soup, soaking a few pieces for Bai Yao as well.

“Eat first.”

“Mm.”

Bai Yao was a single-threaded thinker.

He took a sip of the thin noodle soup, his eyes lighting up as he immediately forgot the previous topic.

“It really is delicious!”

“Do you want a meat bun? They’re also not bad.”

“Yes.”

“There’s a lot of oil, so don’t get it all over —”

As soon as he finished speaking, Bai Yao took a bite.

A pool of meat juice exploded out, splashing all over his face and hands.

He subconsciously closed his eyes, reaching out in a panic for the tissue box, but Qiu Ye had already taken a tissue and was helping him wipe the oil and juice from his face.

Only then did he calm down.

Holding up his hands, which were equally covered in oil, he honestly tilted his face up slightly to let Qiu Ye wipe it while complaining, “You should have said so sooner.”

“Hands.”

“I’ll do it myself… I’m not a child.”

But his hands were still pulled over by Qiu Ye, who meticulously wiped his palms, the backs of his hands, and the gaps between his fingers.

Bai Yao suddenly understood why people described an accelerated heartbeat as “a deer crashing around in the heart.”

The crimson on his cheeks quickly spread to the tips of his ears.

In his shyness, he wanted to bury his face on the table to escape everything, but he was at a loss, his brain stalling.

His entire body froze in place, motionless, as he let Qiu Ye finish cleaning his hands.

He pulled his hands back with a *whoosh*, tucking them between his thighs and staring down at his legs with his head lowered.

“Eat. Why are you spacing out?”

Seeing this, the guest sharing their table let out a soft sigh.

“It’s good to be young.”

“Ah… Oh.”

Bai Yao became even shyer.

He couldn’t even lift his head, nearly burying his face in the bowl.