Why didn't you tell me earlier that my little sister is still waiting for me?

Chen Nanxing picked up a bottle, looked at the label, then at Lin Bufan's "this is the finest nectar" expression, and said incredulously, "This is the... treasured tea you were talking about? And it's countless times better than Master Ma's?"

“Exactly!” Lin Bufan said matter-of-factly, “What is the essence of tea? It’s to quench thirst and bring pleasure. Look at Master Ma, he drinks tea like it’s a ritual, his brows furrowed, as if he’s contemplating some profound truth about life. Isn’t that exhausting? My iced tea, you just twist it open and drink it, sweet and refreshing, the pleasure comes simply and directly, so much more efficient! From the perspective of return on investment, user experience, and immediate feedback on mental pleasure, my tea is the clear winner!”

His twisted logic and self-righteous manner made Xu Hongdou's lips curl into a smile.

Nana was amused by Lin Bufan, and her earlier awkwardness dissipated considerably. She picked up a bottle and opened it, saying, "Now that you mention it, it does seem to make some sense."

Barley whispered, "Actually... iced tea is quite delicious, I drink it often too."

"Look! The eyes of the masses are discerning!" Lin Bufan immediately found an ally, patted Da Mai on the shoulder, and then gestured with his chin to Chen Nanxing and Xu Hongdou: "So, you guys are just bound by those so-called style and taste. You need to learn to appreciate this simple, unpretentious, and soul-stirring deliciousness."

The group sat around the stone table, sipping iced tea and chatting casually about the interesting events of the evening's appreciation event, mainly Lin Bufan and Sang Biao's "wonderful performances" and the astonishing prices. The night breeze was gentle, and the courtyard was tranquil; compared to the hustle and bustle of the open space, it was indeed much more comfortable here.

A bottle of iced tea was quickly emptied, and drowsiness gradually crept in.

"Alright, I've replenished my happiness, time to catch up on some sleep." Lin Bufan tossed the empty bottle into the nearby trash can, stood up, and stretched. "Goodnight everyone, dream on and continue drinking my treasured tea."

Chen Nanxing yawned as well: "I'm a little sleepy. Hongdou, Nana, Damai, let's go back to sleep too."

Xu Hongdou and Nana nodded.

The group returned to their rooms, and the lights in the courtyard were gradually turned off, disappearing back into the tranquil night. Only the faint, now much weaker, voices echoing from the distant open space hinted at the unusual commotion that had taken place in Yunmiao Village that evening.

As the night deepens, everything becomes silent.

Lin Bufan was half asleep when he suddenly felt a weight on his body, followed by a sharp pain in his ear. He hissed and gasped, then opened his eyes abruptly. In the dim moonlight streaming in from the window, he saw Chen Nanxing straddling him, one hand gripping his ear, the other already pressing precisely and threateningly on another spot.

"Awake?" Chen Nanxing lowered his voice, but his tone was vicious: "Tell me! What did you do to Hongdou this afternoon while Da Mai and I were out?!"

Lin Bufan was still dazed, his ears hurt, and his vital organs were being controlled; his situation was extremely precarious. "I...I didn't do anything!" he tried to struggle, but Chen Nanxing was clearly prepared, his knee pressed against him with considerable force.

"Didn't you do anything?" Chen Nanxing tightened his grip on her ear even more. "Didn't you do anything? Why was her face so red when Da Mai and I came back? Like a ripe tomato!"

"Huh?!" Lin Bufan feigned a confused look: "Is Hongdou's face very red?"

"She's incredibly popular!" Chen Nanxing said decisively. "I've known her for so many years, and I've never seen her blush like that before! Tell me! What exactly did you do to her?"

Lin Bufan took a deep breath, his mind racing: "Nanxing, calm down first, let's analyze this from a scientific perspective. Why do people blush? It's caused by the excitation of the sympathetic nervous system, the dilation of capillaries, and the acceleration of blood flow. The triggers are nothing more than a few: shyness, nervousness, excitement, guilt, or... thinking of certain exciting and thrilling scenes."

Lin Bufan observed Chen Nanxing's expression and continued his analysis: "Look, back this afternoon, the courtyard was quiet, just Hongdou and me. As you know, I'm incredibly manly, handsome, talented, incredibly wealthy, and also exceptionally devoted and affectionate... Such a handsome guy sitting quietly opposite her, so close, with such good sunlight, and such an ambiguous atmosphere..."

Hearing Lin Bufan's shameless boast, Chen Nanxing's lips twitched, and he tightened his grip on Lin Bufan's hand: "Get to the point!"

"That's the key point!" Lin Bufan quickly said, "Hongdou is a normal girl. It's only natural that she would be distracted and have all sorts of fantasies when faced with someone as perfect as me! Maybe... her mind has already been racing through the whole process of us holding hands, dating, meeting each other's parents, getting married, our wedding night, how many kids we have, what the kids will be named, and where we'll be buried... The more she thinks, the more detailed it becomes, and the more shy she gets. Her face is as red as a ripe tomato! You can't blame me for this. Blame it on my irresistible charm. It's too overwhelming, and Hongdou can't resist it!"

Chen Nanxing was stunned by Lin Bufan's extremely narcissistic and outrageous analysis. He was stunned for several seconds before squeezing out a few words through gritted teeth: "Lin Bufan... you really are a rare breed!"

"Look, look, even you think so!" Lin Bufan's eyes lit up, as if he had discovered something remarkable: "Then it's not surprising that Hongdou has fantasies about me! This proves that my charm objectively exists and has been tested in practice!"

Chen Nanxing rolled her eyes in exasperation at Lin Bufan's clueless attitude: "Is that what I meant?!"

"Whether that's what you meant or not doesn't matter anymore," Lin Bufan suddenly lowered his voice, his tone slightly seductive, and his other hand wandered to Chen Nanxing's waist. "Now...shouldn't we do something about it?"

"What...what do you mean?"

Lin Bufan nimbly flipped over, instantly switching their positions. He placed his hands on either side of Chen Nanxing's ears, looking down at her. The moonlight outlined his sharply defined profile, and a mischievous smile curled at the corner of his mouth: "Of course, it's just a token gesture."

With Lin Bufan pinning Chen Nanxing beneath him, his heart skipped a beat, but he refused to back down, pushing against Lin's firm chest: "No... I was too intense the other day, my back is still sore, I can't do it today."

"You're talking nonsense," Lin Bufan lowered his head, his nose almost touching Chen Nanxing's, his warm breath brushing against her cheek: "I just treated you last night, relaxing your muscles and replenishing your energy. You should be full of energy now, how could you not feel well?"

“You… what you did was at most physical treatment, but here,” Chen Nanxing pointed to his chest, “it’s not keeping up mentally. I’m tired, I don’t have the energy.”

"It's okay, you just need to lie down quietly, close your eyes, clear your mind, don't think about anything, and don't worry about anything. Leave the rest to me. I guarantee you'll feel refreshed and in a good mood."

"You don't have to care about anything? What's the point of that? What's the difference between that and lying around like a corpse? There's absolutely no sense of participation."

"You're not interested, but I am, isn't that enough? I'll share half of my happiness with you, let you win without lifting a finger, isn't that enough?" With that, Lin Bufan kissed Chen Nanxing without further ado!

While dodging, Chen Nanxing continued to argue: "What's the point of being interesting alone? It's only interesting when two people are together! There's give and take, communication, and resonance—that's what makes it interesting. If you're just putting on a one-man show while I'm just sitting there like a corpse, how boring is that? You know, forced relationships are never sweet!"

Lin Bufan chuckled softly in Chen Nanxing's ear, his breath hot: "Whether the melon is sweet or not doesn't matter, as long as it quenches your thirst."

……

As dawn broke, birds sang sweetly.

Because he stayed up a little late last night, Chen Nanxing woke up when it was already broad daylight.

After biting Lin Bufan's arm twice, Chen Nanxing sneakily prepared to slip back to room 6!

Chen Nanxing gently pushed open the door to room number 6, carefully opening it a crack and peeking half his head in. Just as he was about to look around, a calm voice, slightly hoarse from early morning, suddenly came from behind him:

"What are you doing, sneaking around like that?"

"Ah—!" Chen Nanxing jumped in fright, turned around abruptly, and slammed his back against the door with a thud. Clutching his chest, he looked at Xu Hongdou, who had silently appeared behind him without him noticing, still shaken: "Hongdou! You... how did you get behind me? You scared me to death!"

Xu Hongdou held a glass of warm water, wearing pajamas, her hair loosely tied up, her face expressionless. She glanced at Chen Nanxing, then at the empty room behind her, and repeated in a flat tone, "I'm asking you, what are you doing sneaking around like that?"

"I...I didn't do anything!" Chen Nanxing immediately stood up straight, forcing a smile on her face, trying to make her expression more natural: "I just...wasn't afraid of disturbing your sleep, so I was trying to be as quiet as possible." As she spoke, she squeezed through the crack in the door, her movements a little unnaturally quick.

Xu Hongdou didn't move, just stood at the door, watching her walk into the room before slowly following her in and closing the door behind her.

"Hongdou, why are you up so early today?" Chen Nanxing asked, taking off his coat as he tried to change the subject, his tone deliberately light: "Don't you usually like to sleep in a little longer?"

Xu Hongdou placed the warm water on the table and said somewhat helplessly, "Xie Zhiyuan can't be found. President Xie came over early this morning to ask me what Xie Zhiyuan said to me the day before yesterday, hoping to find out if there were any clues."

Chen Nanxing immediately feigned surprise, trying to change the subject: "Xie Zhiyuan is missing? What happened? Is it because of that incident at school... where he wet his pants?"

"Probably." Xu Hongdou sighed softly. "A boy this age is at the age when he has a strong sense of self-esteem. He came to Yunmiao Village this time because of this matter. Now that the news has spread throughout the village, he naturally feels ashamed to stay any longer!"

Chen Nanxing also sighed, a worried look on his face: "That must be really upsetting. But... where could he have run off to? President Xie must be frantic with worry, right?"

Xu Hongdou nodded: "Yes, we've searched everywhere in the village, but still no news. Mr. Xie doesn't look well." She paused, her gaze returning to Chen Nanxing's face, her eyes sharpening: "Stop changing the subject. What were you up to, acting so suspiciously just now?"

Chen Nanxing's heart tightened, but he tried his best to keep his face normal: "I...I didn't do anything! Didn't I say that I was afraid of disturbing you, so I tried to keep my voice down?"

"Afraid of disturbing me?" Xu Hongdou took two steps forward and looked Chen Nanxing up and down. "When did you go out? I didn't see you when I woke up this morning?"

"I...I woke up early and couldn't fall back asleep, so I went for a walk." Chen Nanxing's eyes darted around, avoiding Xu Hongdou's gaze. "I thought the air outside was nice, so I wanted to get some fresh air. Later...later I saw it was still early, so I went to the village entrance to see if the tourists had left."

"Oh." Xu Hongdou's voice was devoid of emotion, but every word made Chen Nanxing's heart skip a beat: "You just went out for a stroll in your pajamas and slippers, with your hair uncombed, and... all disheveled?"

Chen Nanxing subconsciously glanced down at her outfit, her heart skipping a beat. She'd been so nervous she'd completely forgotten about this! Her brain raced, but she couldn't think of a reasonable explanation, so she could only stiffen her neck and say, "Ah...yes! That's...that's how I went out! Is that wrong? I...I feel comfortable this way! It's morning exercise, you should do whatever makes you comfortable. Who says you have to be all dressed up before you go out?"

Chen Nanxing spoke louder and louder, as if this would increase the credibility of his words, but his eyes involuntarily drifted elsewhere, and his fingers unconsciously twisted the hem of his clothes.

Xu Hongdou didn't speak, but just stared at her quietly. Her usually gentle eyes now seemed to see through everything. Chen Nanxing felt uneasy under her gaze, her scalp tingled, and cold sweat broke out on her back. She almost couldn't maintain her forced composure.

Just a second before Chen Nanxing was about to confess or run away, Xu Hongdou suddenly looked away, picked up the water glass on the table, took a small sip, and her tone returned to its usual calmness, as if the scrutiny had never happened.

“Of course,” she said, her voice light and airy. “Whatever makes you happy.”

Chen Nanxing froze, a lump forming in his throat, unable to rise or fall.

"You...you believed it?"

Xu Hongdou put down her water glass, looked up at Chen Nanxing, her eyes calm and expressionless: "What do you think?"

Chen Nanxing felt guilty under Xu Hongdou's gaze. He opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

"Alright," Xu Hongdou said, turning to walk towards the door. "If you want to sleep, then sleep a little longer. I'm going out to look for Xie Zhiyuan."

"What do you want with Xie Zhiyuan?" Chen Nanxing asked instinctively. "You didn't lose him."

Xu Hongdou gripped the doorknob, paused, and said with a hint of helplessness, "Only Xie Zhiyao and I know about this. Now that he's gone, and since it wasn't Xie Zhiyao who said it, aren't I the prime suspect? Of course I have to find him, explain things to everyone, and clear my name."

After saying that, Xu Hongdou opened the door and walked out, leaving Chen Nanxing alone in the room, stunned.