There was a sharp sizzle.

The candle was lit.

Ye Yubai carried the candle over to the table and set it down between them.

“At a time like this, it’s such a waste of atmosphere not to have a cake.”

Ye Yubai still had the nerve to joke around.

Gan Lan sighed and started tidying the table.

She put the homework she’d finished into her schoolbag, then took out her Chinese textbook, which she hadn’t studied ahead yet.

Ye Yubai reached out and poked her forehead with one finger.

“You’re holding your head too low. Keep this up and you’ll go blind.”

Gan Lan rubbed her forehead. “None of your business.”

“I’m not trying to control you. Your mom told me to remind you all the time.”

Ye Yubai said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world, as though it really were true.

Gan Lan gave a soft snort.

By now, she knew this was just one of Ye Yubai’s tricks to get her talking.

Seeing how intently she was studying only made Ye Yubai want to tease her more.

He brushed her bangs aside again.

“Hey, Gan Lan, I’ve always wanted to ask you—why were you so sure I’d go see a movie with Meimei?”

The hand Gan Lan had on the page trembled slightly.

Why?

It was simple.

Ye Yubai was childish. He wanted to compete with her over everything.

In a little while, he’d find the postcard in her schoolbag—the one she’d “accidentally” brought home, with Meimei’s name on it.

That childish fool thought his childhood friend had NTR’d him, and he’d been mad about it for ages.

When the day of the movie came, he went to meet her, still sulking.

In her previous life, she really had brought it home by accident. This time, Gan Lan had done it on purpose, knowing exactly what she was doing.

She really wanted to see how Ye Yubai would react.

Probably…

the future Mr. Ye’s jealous expression would be pretty amusing, wouldn’t it?

But before he found that postcard, there’d be a little surprise.

…

“Gnaw, gnaw…”

A sound like something chewing came from behind the cabinet.

Ye Yubai hissed and rubbed his arms.

“Th-this… There’s a rat, isn’t there?”

“Mm.”

Gan Lan kept reading, completely unfazed.

Ye Yubai gave her a strange look. “Gan Lan, aren’t you terrified of rats? How are you so calm today?”

Gan Lan looked up at him. “What good does being scared do? The best way to overcome fear is to face it.”

After graduating, she’d lived in a cheap rental for quite a while. Catching rats had become routine.

By now, she’d completely overcome her fear.

Ye Yubai looked at her with newfound respect. “Yeah. That makes a lot of sense.”

As he spoke, he grabbed the mop beside him.

“I’ll go get rid of it right now.”

Before he’d even finished speaking, a huge black rat darted out from behind the cabinet.

Ye Yubai had just worked up the courage, but the moment he saw it, he let out a shriek and jumped onto a chair.

“Holy crap, th-that thing…”

Gan Lan folded her arms and looked at him helplessly.

“You’re nearly six feet tall and built like a bodybuilder. How can you be this scared of rats?”

Ye Yubai had been afraid of rats in his previous life, and he stayed that way even after returning to the Ye Family and becoming CEO.

This time around, nothing had changed.

“Being scared of rats is perfectly normal! It has nothing to do with whether I have muscles!”

Ye Yubai slowly crouched down, his face twisted with fear.

His hands trembling, he held out the mop to Gan Lan.

“Buddy, if you’re not scared, hurry up and kill it—or chase it out!”

Gan Lan took the mop and put it in the corner.

Then she calmly sat back down.

Ye Yubai stomped his foot in frustration.

“You just gave me that whole speech, and now you’re surrendering?”

“The power’s out. How are we supposed to catch it?” Gan Lan said calmly. “Just wait half an hour. The power’ll be back on then.”

Ye Yubai gave her an even stranger look.

…

Half an hour wasn’t easy to get through.

Ye Yubai dragged over a chair, plunked himself down beside Gan Lan, and shamelessly clung to her arm.

Gan Lan: “…”

Seeing Ye Yubai, a big guy acting like a little bird clinging to her, made her feel incredibly awkward.

In her previous life, everyone had been scared of rats, so they’d all hidden in her room.

Ye Yubai had shamelessly squeezed into her bed, too, and slept there with her all night.

This time, they were still all in the same room, but Ye Yubai was leaning against her like this.

“Ye Yubai, move over. You’re so heavy leaning against me.”

Gan Lan shifted her arm.

But he wouldn’t let go. He shamelessly pressed himself against her again.

“Hey!” Gan Lan poked him in the head.

“You smell really nice,” Ye Yubai suddenly said. “What have you been eating lately to smell so good?”

Gan Lan froze.

Ye Yubai leaned even closer and took a deep sniff.

“It’s kind of like a mix of milk and flowers.”

Gan Lan held her breath and stared at him, dumbfounded.

He stared right back at her, his gaze burning.

Gan Lan’s cheeks grew hot. She shoved him away.

“Get away! What smell?”

Ye Yubai let out a breath and scratched his hair, embarrassed.

“You really do smell nice…”

He muttered to himself, sneaking glances at Gan Lan.

In the orange candlelight, he noticed the blush on Gan Lan’s cheeks.

He chuckled and leaned closer again, deliberately teasing the soft hair by her temple.

“Do you always blush when you’re with me?” As he spoke, he draped an arm over her shoulders. “Look, you’re even redder now!”

Gan Lan gritted her teeth and shoved him away again.

“Can’t you sit up straight? Do you not have any bones?”

Unfortunately, she wasn’t strong enough to push him away.

Her soft little punches didn’t warn him off at all. If anything, they felt like she was playing hard to get.

Ye Yubai felt a little flustered.

Especially when he looked at Gan Lan’s smooth, rosy face—he had the urge to reach out and pinch it.

But then he remembered she was his childhood friend and quickly pulled his hand back.

He was the Ye Family’s only child. If he turned gay, that’d be the end of everything.

“All right, all right. I’ll stop teasing you. Go back to your book.”

Ye Yubai moved a full arm’s length away from her.

He picked up a book and held it between them.

From this angle, he could see Gan Lan’s long, thick eyelashes, her rosy lips, and the worry in her eyes.

“So pretty. What a shame he’s a guy,” Ye Yubai thought regretfully.

If only his childhood friend were a girl.

Then he could…

No. He couldn’t!

The sense of justice and morality in Ye Yubai’s heart immediately rejected the thought.

“How can I have impure thoughts about my childhood friend? It’s not like I don’t have girls who like me!”

But…

None of the girls around him seemed as thoughtful and cute as his childhood friend.

The more Ye Yubai thought about it, the more he freaked out.

He raked both hands through his hair.

Gan Lan glanced at him from the corner of her eye.

She didn’t see the frustrated expression hidden behind his book, but she did see that he was holding his textbook upside down.

“What an idiot,” she thought with a sigh. “Has he gone crazy thinking about girls?”