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Who would still want to continue?

Xie Huai didn’t dare to linger for even half a moment. He hurriedly walked out of the bathroom, thinking that he had really embarrassed himself today.

In order not to let Jiang Xu sense his embarrassment, Xie Huai had to pretend to be calm and collected. He walked to the entryway and changed his shoes.

“I’m heading home first,” Xie Huai said, pushing open the entryway door and quickly running outside without even glancing at Jiang Xu.

A soft sound of the door closing, and Xie Huai’s figure was shut outside.

Jiang Xu chuckled lightly, taking out his phone to send Xie Huai a message.

Jiang Xu: Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone else.

Xie Huai felt a bit embarrassed, not because of Jiang Xu, but because of himself.

After getting off the elevator, Xie Huai replied to Jiang Xu: Thanks then?

In the end, he was responsible for today’s embarrassment.

Jiang Xu: You’re welcome. Just remember to repay me in the future.

Almost involuntarily, Xie Huai remembered that time when he had joked with Jiang Xu. He had said that if Jiang Xu wanted, he could offer himself, and Jiang Xu had actually nodded.

As he thought about it, Xie Huai burst into laughter. He typed a reply to Jiang Xu: Well, I won’t offer myself, anyway.

Jiang Xu: … I didn’t ask you to offer yourself.

Xie Huai: Right, right, right, it’s better that way.

He didn’t know who had nodded back then.

Xie Huai wasn’t sure what kind of relationship he had with Jiang Xu now. He did feel something for Jiang Xu, but it was just a crush. He had no other intentions, and moreover, he didn’t know what Jiang Xu thought.

Maybe it’s best to leave it at that.

Back home, Xie Huai saw Xiao Huaihuai curled up in its nest.

Xiao Huaihuai is that little black dog, and Xie Huai was really unsure about what name to give, so he just decided to call it Xiao Huaihuai.

Xiao Huaihuai was still small and couldn’t eat too much. Xie Huai walked over to the small bowl placed beside the nest and saw that there was still a fair amount of goat’s milk left in it. At this time, it was too late for Xiao Huaihuai to drink it, so Xie Huai had no choice but to dispose of it.

It was already eleven o’clock when he took a shower and went to bed. After turning off the lights, the whole room became dark. After a while, the room was filled with the even sound of Xie Huai’s breathing.

The next day, Xie Huai was awakened by Mrs. Zhao Li.

“Huaihuai, come out for breakfast.”

“Hmm.” He responded.

Xie Huai slowly sat up, wanting to stretch, but his hands were sore and aching. He couldn’t exert much force, so he gave up. Today was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and he remembered that his mother had told him they were going to his uncle’s house to celebrate.

After changing his clothes, Xie Huai pushed open the bedroom door and stepped out. He saw his mother, Mrs. Zhao Li, smiling as she held Xiao Huaihuai in her arms, playing with it.

Zhao Li kept smiling on her face, she asked Xie Huai: “Huaihuai, is this the puppy you picked up?”

Xie Huai walked over and reached out to touch Xiao Huaihuai’s head. He nodded and said, “Yeah, it seemed well-behaved, so I brought it home.”

“Are you sure it was abandoned and not lost?” Zhao Li looked somewhat surprised as she looked at Xie Huai and asked, “Aren’t you not fond of animals?”

Xie Huai answered Zhao Li’s first question, “The security guard said its mother carried it there and left it. It had been there for a few days without its mother coming back.”

Zhao Li looked at the little cutie in her arms and loved it even more: “Oh…”

“Also, it’s not an animal.” Xie Huai said suddenly.

Zhao Li looked at her son with a smile: “Then tell mom what this is?”

Xie Huai said solemnly: “My son.”

Zhao Li: “…”

“Oh, I’m not even forty yet, and I already have a grandson?” Xie Dad, who had been sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper without saying a word, suddenly laughed.

Zhao Li also chuckled, “Did you give your son a name?”

Xie Huai: “Xiao Huaihuai.”

Zhao Li got goosebumps. She looked at her son, who was twenty centimeters taller than her, and wondered how he could give the puppy such a cheesy name. Xiao Huai Huai, huh?

Seeing how shocked his parents were, Xie Huai suddenly felt very satisfied.

He also posted an update on his social media:

—My son, Xiao Huaihuai.

The picture showed the little black dog sleeping soundly in its nest.

After breakfast, Xie Huai noticed that his phone had been constantly ringing. It was probably the class group chat again. He picked up the phone, opened it to take a quick look, and he was right.

The group was filled with Mid-Autumn Festival greetings. Xie Huai joined in by typing “Happy Mid-Autumn Festival” and then exited the chat.

Xie Huai had a relatively small number of WeChat friends. He had added a few relatives, and the rest were almost all classmates from his class.

Many people had sent him Mid-Autumn Festival greetings. Xie Huai replied with “Same to you” to each one before realizing that WeChat had a group messaging feature…

He scrolled back through his chat history, reaching the last message. Finally, he found the message Jiang Xu had sent him.

Exactly at midnight, Jiang Xu had sent a message: “Xie Huai, Happy Mid-Autumn Festival.”

Xie Huai’s heart skipped a beat. He opened the conversation with Jiang Xu, typed “Jiang Xu, Happy Mid-Autumn Festival,” and then clicked send.

In truth, he and Jiang Xu didn’t exchange many messages on their phones. Even if he checked now, it might take just a few seconds to scroll to the top.

Firstly, because Xie Huai wasn’t much of a WeChat user, and secondly, because he and Jiang Xu didn’t have much to talk about.

Xie Huai slowly scrolled up and realized that Jiang Xu would send him holiday greetings on every occasion, always at exactly midnight.

Including Xie Huai’s birthday.

If it was just holiday greetings, Xie Huai wouldn’t think too much of it. However, the fact that Jiang Xu also sent him birthday wishes so punctually made Xie Huai find it hard not to read into it.

Lost in thought, his phone chimed again with a message from Jiang Xu.

Jiang Xu: Mid-Autumn Festival gift, want it?

Xie Huai: Yes.

Jiang Xu: Come downstairs.

Xie Huai was stunned for a moment, then stood up and quickly said to his parents: “Mom, Dad, I’m going downstairs to get something.”

After speaking, he opened the door and rushed out.

“Those who don’t know would think his girlfriend was giving him a gift, he’s so excited,” Zhao Li said while holding Xiao Huaihuai. She watched Xie Huai’s figure disappear and shook her head with a tut.

Jiang Xu was standing not far away, near a resting chair. As soon as Xie Huai stepped out of the elevator, he spotted him.

Jiang Xu’s gaze lifted from his phone, and he looked up, meeting Xie Huai’s eyes.

Xie Huai walked over and stood in front of him, asking, “How did you come here?”

“Mid-Autumn Festival gift.” Jiang Xu handed over the thing he was holding to Xie Huai.

Xie Huai reached out and took it, his voice low, “What is it?”

“Wait until you get home to see for yourself,” Jiang Xu didn’t reveal what was inside, “I just don’t know if you’ll still like it after all this time.”

What could be so mysterious? Xie Huai wondered.

Jiang Xu took a look at Xie Huai’s clothes and asked, “Are you going out today?”

“Well,” Xie Huai nodded, “I’m going to my uncle’s house.”

“Where’s Xiao Huaihuai?” Jiang Xu recalled the morning’s WeChat post by Xie Huai and chuckled lightly.

That name sounded really odd when spoken by Jiang Xu.

The tone made Xie Huai feel like Jiang Xu wasn’t addressing the little black dog’s name, but him.

Xie Huai stayed silent for a few seconds before saying, “Just give it some goat milk, I’ll be back tonight anyway.”

“Give it to me,” Jiang Xu said.

Xie Huai was surprised, “Are you really going to take care of it for me?”

“Yeah, since I’m the only one at home, it’s not like I have anything else to do,” Jiang Xu said in a tone without much emotion.

It sounded a bit lonely.

It would be fine to have Jiang Xu take care of it for a day.

“Okay, I’ll go up and bring it down, you wait for me.” Saying that, Xie Huai was about to go upstairs.

Jiang Xu grabbed Xie Huai’s hand, and Xie Huai looked back at Jiang Xu.

“Huh? What’s the matter?” Xie Huai was puzzled.

“No need,” Jiang Xu said, “I’ll go up with you.”

Zhao Li was playing with Xiao Huaihuai when she heard the sound of the door opening, she turned and noticed that besides her son, there was another boy standing at the door.

He had fair skin and was quite handsome, but he seemed a bit difficult to get along with.

“Hello? Are you Huaihuai’s classmate?” Father Xie looked at Xie Huai, then at Jiang Xu, and finally his eyes fell on the boy his son brought back.

“Yes, hello uncle and aunt, my name is Jiang Xu.” Jiang Xu greeted them politely.

Zhao Li likes this kind of polite child, and her first impression of Jiang Xu was quite positive.

“Mom, he heard that we wouldn’t be home today, so he volunteered to help take care of my son,” Xie Huai explained.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Li’s fondness for Jiang Xu increased significantly. She thought to herself that a classmate who could offer to do this was already quite impressive.

So, Zhao Li handed the little Huaihuai over to Jiang Xu and smiled, saying, “Then we’ll leave it to you, classmate Jiang?”

Jiang Xu looked at Xie Huai and replied, “Sure, I’ll take care of… Xiao Huai Huai, don’t worry, Auntie.”

He deliberately emphasized the words “Xiao Huaihuai.”

Xie Huai picked up on that.

But why did Jiang Xu say it like that?

Lost in thought, Jiang Xu had already left with Xiao Huaihuai in his arms.

When he got home, Jiang Xu saw that many relatives had arrived. His parents had been chatting with those relatives, and they seemed to be having a good conversation.

is parents were engaged in conversations with them, and it seemed to be going well.

Although the living room wasn’t filled to capacity, it certainly didn’t look like there was no one at home.

Jiang Xu closed the door, and the sound caught the attention of the relatives. His parents also looked in his direction.

“Nephew has grown so tall?”

“Looks like he grew a lot taller than last year.”

“And he’s gotten even more handsome.”

…

Only Jiang Xu’s parents noticed the little thing he was holding in his arms.

“Xiao Xu, you go out for a bit and bring back a pet?” Mother Jiang asked.

“Whose puppy is this? It looks quite well-behaved.” Father Jiang followed up with a question.

“Me and my classmate’s son. The good looks came from us,” Jiang Xu’s earnest reply momentarily silenced the entire living room before erupting into laughter.

Mother Jiang quickly caught on and chuckled, saying, “You picked it up together with your classmate, right?”

Jiang Xu nodded, “Yeah.”

Xiao Huaihuai in his arms seemed uneasy with so many people around. After exchanging greetings with the relatives, Jiang Xu carried Xiao Huaihuai back to the bedroom.

Xie Huai sat in front of the desk in the bedroom, and on the desk was the Mid-Autumn Festival gift Jiang Xu gave him.

Xie Huai opened the box and was stunned when he saw what was inside.

It was a season pass to a large amusement park.

There was a note below: “When you want to go, find me, I’ll accompany you.”

Back in his first year of junior high, the place Xie Huai wanted to visit the most was an amusement park. However, he had never been there because his parents were too busy to accompany him. So, at that time, what he wanted most was a trip to an amusement park.

Until now, he had never been there once, not because he lacked company, but because he had forgotten about it himself.

Xie Huai’s eyes welled up with tears. He hadn’t expected that something he had mentioned in passing back then would actually be remembered by someone all these years later.

Now, he understood the meaning behind Jiang Xu’s words: “Just don’t know if you still like it after all this time.”