Who wants to be a male model after being reborn? I want to be a male god.

Chapter 431 Lan Qiusheng

"Squad leader! Look at those fireworks! They're so beautiful!" Lan Qiusheng shouted, pointing to the sky.

Her eyes reflected a dazzling light.

Xu Wen put away his phone and looked up at the night sky.

Huge golden fireworks burst overhead, like shooting stars streaking across the sky.

“Yes, it’s beautiful,” he said softly.

After sending the text message, I did not receive a reply.

New year, new start.

Xu Wen took a deep breath of the cold air, feeling a corner of his heart slowly melting.

No matter what has happened in the past, life must go on.

At this moment, the family members standing beside him are the ones he should cherish most.

"Brother! What are you daydreaming about? Come in and have some tangyuan!" Xu Ling's voice pulled him back to reality.

"You're here. Let's go eat some tangyuan (sweet rice balls)." Xu Wen replied with a smile, and casually opened the balcony door for Lan Qiusheng.

Lan Qiusheng nodded and followed him into the warm house.

The Spring Festival Gala hosts' blessings came from the television, and outside, the sound of firecrackers continued.

After eating the glutinous rice balls, Dai Guizhen went back to her room to sleep early, leaving the living room to the young people.

Xu Ling watched TV for a while and then became extremely sleepy.

Although she didn't want to sleep, Xu Wen urged her to go back to her room.

It was getting late, so Lan Qiusheng naturally stayed behind.

Just as Dai Guizhen arranged.

Lan Qiusheng slept in Xu Wen's room, while Xu Wen slept alone on the sofa.

Xu Wen felt that the scene in front of him looked somewhat familiar.

It seems like it was the same last year.

He slept on the sofa, while Gu Xingruo slept in his room. At night, she and Xu Ling would pester him for New Year's money.

I don't know if it's because of the change of environment or because I slept too much today.

Xu Wen, lying on the sofa, found himself unable to sleep for a while.

The wall clock in the living room pointed to 1:47 a.m., and Xu Wen turned over on the sofa.

The sofa, which was only recently purchased, was making a creaking sound.

He stared at the white ceiling in front of him.

Countless thoughts were churning in my mind.

When he tried to grasp these thoughts, he couldn't hold onto anything.

He seemed to have thought about a lot of things, yet he also seemed to have thought about nothing at all.

Half-asleep, Xu Wen heard footsteps coming from the other side of the room.

The footsteps were very light, but he could hear them clearly.

The footsteps circled his door a few times before turning back.

A few minutes later, Xu Wen's phone vibrated.

"Squad leader, are you asleep?" Lan Qiusheng's message popped up, followed by a cautious emoticon.

Xu Wen's finger paused on the screen for two seconds: "No."

"I'm having trouble sleeping, can we chat?" Just as the message came in, footsteps could be heard from nearby.

Xu Wen sat up and rubbed his temples.

He glanced out the window.

The night looked cold and quiet, but the moonlight was perfect, and there were occasional sounds of fireworks exploding.

His fingers tapped rapidly: "Let's go downstairs for a walk, it's quiet outside."

He quietly put on his coat and took Lan Qiusheng's down jacket from the coat rack.

Lan Qiusheng was already standing in the living room, wearing a light gray pajamas, his hair loosely tied back, with a few strands falling beside his cheeks.

Her eyes lit up when she saw Xu Wen holding her coat.

"It's cold outside." Xu Wen handed over the down jacket, his voice low so as not to wake his family.

Lan Qiusheng nodded.

She put on her coat and quietly followed Xu Wen out the door.

The unit door closed gently behind me, and the scent of a winter night wafted in.

Only a few streetlights were on in the neighborhood, casting long shadows of the two people.

Xu Wen's breath dissipated quickly in the air. He turned his head and glanced at Lan Qiusheng: "Shall we take a walk in the park?"

"Okay." Lan Qiusheng put his hands in his pockets and followed along with light steps.

The two walked along the stone path toward the small park in the center of the community.

The night was quiet, and there were few people in the neighborhood.

Only occasionally can one hear the sound of fireworks in the distance.

Wen slowed his pace, waiting for Lan Qiusheng to walk alongside him.

"Do you often suffer from insomnia?" Xu Wen asked.

Lan Qiusheng shook his head: "No, it's just that today is a bit special."

She smiled, tilted her head, and said, "It feels strange to sleep in your room."

Xu Wen raised an eyebrow: "Is the bed uncomfortable?"

"It's not the bed that's the problem, it's the pillow that smells like you," Lan Qiusheng muttered to himself, looking down at his toes.

This sentence instantly changed the atmosphere between the two.

It seems to be developing in an ambiguous direction.

Xu Wen cleared his throat and changed the subject: "How's work going in Jinling?"

"Yeah, it's good." Lan Qiusheng continued the conversation, but he was clearly distracted.

After walking a few steps, she suddenly stopped and turned to Xu Wen: "Class monitor, I have something I want to tell you."

Xu Wen stopped and faced her, saying, "Go on."

Looking into the girl's eyes, he already guessed what she was going to say.

Lan Qiusheng took a deep breath and said softly, "I've figured out a lot of things during the six months I've been in Jinling."

Her fingers unconsciously twisted the zipper of her down jacket. "Work takes up most of my time, but whenever I have a moment to myself, I think of you."

Xu Wen didn't interrupt her, but listened quietly, his gaze fixed on her slightly trembling eyelashes.

"Do you remember when I was still in Linjiang, the time I confessed my feelings to you in the park? You said back then that we were better suited to be friends." Lan Qiusheng raised his head and looked directly into Xu Wen's eyes.

Xu Wen nodded, memories flooding his mind.

That day, the two walked to the park together, and Lan Qiusheng confessed his feelings.

"I thought to myself, what would we be like now if you had agreed back then? This thought has appeared in my dreams countless times." Lan Qiusheng's voice was very soft, almost drowned out by the wind.

Looking at her nose, which was red from the cold, Xu Wen suddenly felt an urge to reach out and touch it.

But he just shoved his hands deeper into his pockets: "There are no 'what ifs' in life."

"I know I just don't know when it started, but I can't live without you anymore. Even after I went to Jinling, what I look forward to most every day is still receiving news from you." Lan Qiusheng smiled, but the smile was somewhat forced.

A thin layer of frost had accumulated on the park bench. Xu Wen brushed it away with his hand and gestured for Lan Qiusheng to sit down.

She sat down carefully, maintaining a perfect distance between them—neither too distant nor too intimate.

“Lan Qiusheng, you know my situation. Gu Xingruo and Xia Ning.” Xu Wen rarely called her by her full name, which made the girl's body tense slightly.

“I know! Although I don’t know the whole story, if... if they never come back, could you…” Lan Qiusheng interrupted him urgently.

Her voice trailed off: "Could you turn around and look at me?"

The night wind tousled her hair, and Xu Wen instinctively reached out to brush it aside, but stopped in mid-air.

Lan Qiusheng, however, moved her face closer to his hand, letting his fingertips touch her cheek.

That small patch of skin was cool and soft.

“I’m different from them. I will never leave. No matter what happens, I will wait for you here.” Lan Qiusheng mustered her courage and grabbed Xu Wen’s hand, which was trying to pull away. She knew that a lot had happened in Linjiang recently.

Xu Wen was at the center of the vortex.

Now Gu Xingruo is gone, and Xia Ning is gone too.

But she won't leave.

Xu Wen did not pull his hand away, letting her hold it.

He could feel the calluses on her palms.

Those are the marks left by holding a pen and typing on a keyboard for a long time.

This girl has been working hard silently ever since they met, giving her all in both her studies and her work.

"Qiusheng, I will not give up waiting for Gu Xingruo and Xia Ning to come back. They will definitely come back." Xu Wen's voice was deep and gentle.

Lan Qiusheng's eyes instantly reddened, but she laughed, her tears glistening in the moonlight: "Class monitor, you're going too far. I'm the one confessing my feelings, yet you're mentioning other women."

She released Xu Wen's hand and wiped her eyes: "Even so, I still like you."

Another explosion rang out not far from the two.

This time I was very close to them.

It almost completely drowned out Lan Qiusheng's voice.

But Xu Wen heard it clearly.

Looking at Lan Qiusheng's tearful smile, Xu Wen suddenly remembered how she looked when they first started working together.

She always followed behind him, carrying thick stacks of documents, her eyes filled with determination.

"Since you can accept Gu Xingruo and Xia Ning existing at the same time, why can't you accept me? I don't care at all, as long as I can always be with you." Lan Qiusheng took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind.

After saying that, she suddenly leaned forward and, before Xu Wen could react, her lips were already pressed against his.

The kiss was light, like a snowflake landing on my lips, a fleeting coolness and softness.

Xu Wen did not dodge.

When Lan Qiusheng stepped back a little, anxiously observing his reaction, he simply looked at her quietly, his eyes showing neither surprise nor disgust, but a complex and tender emotion.

"Aren't you angry?" Lan Qiusheng's voice trembled slightly.

Xu Wen shook his head and reached out to wipe away the undried tears on her face: "I should have thought of that sooner."

"What are you thinking about?" Lan Qiusheng asked.

"The thought that you would call me out on New Year's Eve to confess your feelings, just like that time in the park before," Xu Wen's lips curled up slightly.

Lan Qiusheng burst into laughter through his tears: "Because only at times like this do I have the courage."

She wiped away her tears and asked cautiously, "What about that just now?"

“I don’t dislike you, but I can’t make any promises to you,” Xu Wen said honestly, his eyes lighting up as he looked at her and spoke softly.

He chuckled to himself.

I guess I'm better suited to be that manipulative, womanizing green tea bitch.

"I don't want any promises, I just want you to know how I feel. You can continue to wait for them, I won't bother you. I just hope you can allow me to like you," Lan Qiusheng said eagerly.

Xu Wen gazed into the distance.

He recalled Gu Xingruo's resolute departure, Xia Ning's red-eyed words, "Wait for me to come back," and then looked at the girl in front of him who had been silently watching him from the very beginning.

"Are you cold?" he suddenly asked.

Lan Qiusheng paused for a moment, then shook his head: "It's not cold."

But he sneezed as soon as he finished speaking.

Xu Wen sighed, took off his coat and draped it over her shoulders: "Let's go back. Tomorrow is the first day of the new year. We can't sleep in."

Lan Qiusheng wrapped his coat, still warm from Xu Wen's body, tighter around himself and followed him back.

As they reached the entrance of the building, she suddenly grabbed Xu Wen's sleeve: "Class monitor, thank you."

"Thank me for what?" Xu Wen asked.

"Thank you for not rejecting me, and thank you for letting me kiss you." Her eyes were like two clear springs in the moonlight.

Xu Wen chuckled and reached out to ruffle her hair.

The two had never been so intimate before.

"Go upstairs quickly, don't catch a cold," he said with concern.

Back inside, the living room clock showed 3:20 a.m.

Xu Wen stood in front of the sofa, watching Lan Qiusheng tiptoe towards the room.

At the corner, she glanced back at him and silently said, "Goodnight."

Then it disappeared into the shadows of the second-floor corridor.

Xu Wen lay back on the sofa and found that the pillow did indeed still smell of the shampoo Lan Qiusheng had used.

It has a light jasmine scent.

He closed his eyes, the sensation of that light kiss still lingering on his lips.

My phone vibrated again.

Xu Wen took out his phone. It was a message from Lan Qiusheng: "I think I've left my heart by the lake. Can you help me find it?"

It's hard to imagine that a normally serious and dedicated working person would actually say cheesy pickup lines.

Xu Wen stared at the message for a long time before replying, "Go to sleep, we have to get up early tomorrow."

After posting this, he added, "Goodnight, Qiusheng."

A soft, happy sigh came from the room, followed by a slight creaking of the mattress.

Xu Wen held his phone to his chest, listening to the ticking of the clock, and for the first time felt that this New Year's Eve might not be so desolate.

Outside the window, the first rays of dawn of the new year are slowly rising.

Xu Wen didn't know what the future held, but for the moment, he allowed himself to immerse himself in this warmth.

It's like allowing a snowflake to linger in your palm, even knowing it will eventually melt.

After New Year's Eve, the relationship between Xu Wen and Lan Qiusheng seemed to have changed, yet it also seemed unchanged.

Most of the time, the two of them were still working seriously.

But occasionally they might engage in some intimate actions.

These subtle actions are well hidden and no one has noticed them yet.

After Meituan withdrew from Nanjing, the market there temporarily stabilized.

Lan Qiusheng said that her work was almost finished, and the school would have more classes next semester, so she wanted to apply to be transferred back to Linjiang.

Both of them knew that this was just an excuse; she just wanted to be closer to Xu Wen.

Lan Qiusheng knew that something was wrong with his first love, so he didn't dare tell anyone.

She was alone, immersed in this small happiness.

It may not have been as dramatic as other people's first love, but it was enough for her.

Lan Qiusheng finally understood that sentence.

"My world was once a dark place, until you came into my life and brought color back."

Although she hid it well, she couldn't fool someone's eyes in the end.

That person was Ding Yue.

One day, she asked Lan Qiusheng with a questioning look on her face, "Lan Qiusheng, you're not in a relationship, are you?"

"No, no."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Lan Qiusheng knew he had been exposed.

Ding Yue continued to ask, "With Xu Wen?"

I already said no.

This denial was resolute, but it couldn't be hidden from Ding Yue.

She nodded knowingly and did not blame Lan Qiusheng for concealing the truth.

Ding Yue simply sighed softly, her expression unusually serious, and smiled gently: "Perhaps this is not bad for you either."

(End of this chapter)