Li Xingye was indeed on the verge of being driven mad by Chi Wan.

After he and Chi Wan had confessed their feelings for each other, he slowly began to realize—Chi Wan had probably discovered his feelings long ago.

She was the one leading their relationship, guiding him step by step until he was holding her hand.

Li Xingye could faintly sense that Chi Wan loved watching him lose his usual composure and self-control for her, revealing those flustered, awkward, and intensely reckless emotions that only surfaced in her presence.

Since that was the case, he naturally wouldn’t deny Chi Wan this little pleasure.

But Chi Wan was unhurried, offering only small, tentative tastes that tested the very limits of his self-control, making him fight the urge to roughly press down the hand he had resting on the back of her head.

"Wanwan..."

A hint of grievance crept into Li Xingye’s voice, and the hand resting on Chi Wan’s waist was alarmingly hot.

Chi Wan chuckled, rubbing Li Xingye’s earlobe before giving him another light peck. Her voice was almost bewitching. "Such a good boy, Brother Xingye~ Now, you can have your reward..."

The instant she finished speaking, their positions were reversed.

Li Xingye gently laid Chi Wan down on the sofa. Unable to hold back any longer, he leaned over her, capturing her upturned lips. Then, he deepened the kiss, leaving her no room to speak.

Chi Wan’s eyes were half-lidded as she felt Li Xingye’s fully unleashed passion. A smile played on her lips as she wrapped her arms around his back.

When his kisses became sharp enough to hurt, she would tug hard on his hair.

But the slight sting only made Li Xingye demand more, with even greater frenzy.

He seemed to know that Chi Wan would accept every side of him. And likewise, he was captivated by this side of her.

Only when both of them were completely out of breath did Li Xingye finally calm down from his tempestuous assault. He mimicked Chi Wan’s earlier actions, soothingly planting soft pecks on her slightly swollen lips.

He buried his head in the crook of Chi Wan’s neck, slowly steadying his breathing. After a long moment, Li Xingye let out a deep sigh. "Wanwan, don’t you dare bully anyone else like this."

Feeling the fiery sting on her lips, Chi Wan pointed to her mouth with one hand and pinched Li Xingye’s cheek with the other in mock anger. Half-furious and half-amused, she said, "Hmm? Be clear. Who was bullying whom?"

Li Xingye didn’t struggle, his usual gentle demeanor returning.

He caught the hand pinching his cheek, brought it to his lips for a soft peck, and said with the calm of a man completely satisfied, "Whatever Wanwan says, goes. I can never win an argument with you anyway."

Chi Wan was utterly stunned.

’She felt like this guy leveled up with every confrontation. Listen to him playing the victim like that,’ she thought. ’Give him a little more time, and he’ll be unstoppable!’

Li Xingye chuckled and helped Chi Wan sit up. His gaze softened as he looked at the pendant on her neck. "Wanwan, don’t you have a class this afternoon? Do you want to take a nap here for a bit?"

She hadn’t noticed until he mentioned it, but Chi Wan was indeed a little tired. After all, it was the first day with an 8 AM class, and her internal clock hadn’t fully adjusted. On top of that, their little ruckus had left her energy bar running low.

She stretched and walked toward the bedroom. "Then remember to wake me up, okay?"

Li Xingye’s room, much like the man himself, was simple and tidy.

Although the room was quite large, it wasn’t cluttered. On his bookshelf, besides various kinds of weapons, were several gray-green plants and... a few scattered Lego creations. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

There were all sorts of shapes—houses, cars, even trees.

But you could tell from the details that they weren’t original sets, but rather custom builds pieced together from various kits.

This surprised Chi Wan a little.

Seeing Chi Wan staring at the Legos, Li Xingye smiled. "It’s strange, isn’t it?"

After all, for someone struggling to survive in the apocalypse, something like a "hobby" was a bit of a luxury.

But Chi Wan shook her head. "Brother Xingye, you went through such a huge upheaval at such a young age. It would have been completely understandable if you’d turned to the dark side. But you grew up to be so strong and kind. I feel really lucky."

Li Xingye was finally starting to get used to Chi Wan’s directness. He stroked the top of her head. "Maybe it’s an obsession. The last birthday present my mother ever gave me was a Lego set, but I wasn’t able to take good care of it back then.

"I used to think that if my superpower had awakened just a little sooner, maybe she wouldn’t have died."

The irony was, his superpower had only awakened because of the trauma of his mother sacrificing herself to protect him.

For a long time, Li Xingye lived in a daze. He felt like he had no reason to keep living, yet he didn’t dare throw away the life his mother had sacrificed her own for.

It wasn’t until later, after he saved Qiangzi and Qianqian and saw the deep bond between the siblings, that he finally started to feel human again.

This was the first time Li Xingye had ever spoken to Chi Wan about his life before the apocalypse, about his family.

Though he was vague, Chi Wan could guess at the horror of those days. She couldn’t imagine how Li Xingye had managed to endure such a dark time.

A flash of heartache crossed her eyes. She took Li Xingye’s hand and pressed it against her cheek. "The word ’if’ is always filled with so much regret. We can’t change the past, but at least we can create our own future, right?"

Li Xingye caressed Chi Wan’s cheek and sighed, his voice almost inaudible. "Only with you is there a future..."

Chi Wan didn’t quite hear what Li Xingye said. She looked up, only to have him gently pinch her cheek. "Go get some rest. Otherwise, you’ll be dozing off in class this afternoon."

Li Xingye’s bedding was also a simple black and white. In the corner was a surprisingly retro-style air conditioner, probably original to the building.

Chi Wan was indeed sleepy. Not caring about the details, she flopped onto the bed and fell asleep instantly, having no trouble at all sleeping in a new place.

Li Xingye was impressed by Chi Wan’s excellent sleep quality. His silenced wristband had been buzzing for a while with a barrage of messages from Haozi and the others, all asking how they should thank Chi Wan that evening.

A smile on his face, he leaned over, gently kissed Chi Wan’s forehead, and left the room.

*

Chi Wan had a peaceful nap.

But perhaps what Qin Shi had said that morning still worried her, because she dreamed that Qi Youyou, just like Qin Shi, was being threatened by He Lingfeng over a debt.

Fortunately, the dream ended with her sending He Lingfeng to prison.

So, when Li Xingye gently woke her, Chi Wan was in a great mood. She stretched lazily and headed off to class, full of energy.

But remembering the dream, the first thing she did when she got to the classroom was quietly ask Qi Youyou about her part-time jobs.

Qi Youyou knew Chi Wan was worried about her, so she nodded readily. "The semester just started, so I already told my previous jobs that I wouldn’t be continuing this term."

Although all of them had asked her to stay, Qi Youyou knew her priorities.

Chi Wan could finally relax.