NOVPUB"Maybe it's because the Princess lost interest," Shen Mochen said with a smile. "That's why she broke up with me before my birthday."
"I've seen her photos, the Princess is really pretty, it's such a pity!"
Shen Mochen laughed, "There's nothing to be pitied, I never had such thoughts from the beginning."
Xia Yusi tilted her head, it seemed like he wasn't lying. 𝔫𝔬𝖛𝖕𝔲𝖇.𝖈𝖔𝖒
From the information Xia Yusi gathered today, Shen Mochen had a first love, unfortunately affected by some beast, almost two years ago. During these two years, Shen Mochen didn't find another girlfriend, even though he was very popular among girls, he remained chaste.
In fact, being chaste is not uncommon, there are plenty of boys in high school who haven't dated. But many honest guys aren't naturally that way; they just don't have the capacity to mess around, so they choose to be honest.
But Shen Mochen clearly wasn't one of them. With his looks and emotional intelligence, even if he didn't take the initiative, countless beautiful girls would throw themselves at him. Being able to maintain self-control in such circumstances is truly rare.
Even after coming to First Middle School, he actively concealed his appearance, choosing to remain unknown until finally, he was exposed.
It was shocking indeed. Everyone instinctively shows off their best qualities in the crowd, especially someone with the super good looks like Shen Mochen. But Shen Mochen could bear the loneliness. Only those saints from ancient times possessed such self-control!
The more Xia Yusi learned about Shen Mochen, the more surprised she became, and also, the more she liked him.
Xia Yusi asked, "Can I ask you again, do you really like Xia Qingrou?"
"I do," Shen Mochen replied.
"Then, may I hear the reason why? I don't want to be brushed off like yesterday."
Shen Mochen thought for a while and, still half-truthful, replied: "Actually, at the beginning, I didn't. I had just arrived at the Buque Team, and there were mostly girls around. I thought having a steady girlfriend would be better to avoid potential awkwardness in the future, so I started dating Qingrou. But later..."
Shen Mochen went on to describe some everyday interactions with Xia Qingrou with embellishments, as if he truly developed feelings over time.
After the story, Xia Yusi smiled faintly, "I understand now, thank you for liking her so much. Besides being pretty, she has many flaws in her personality, I hope you can be accommodating!"
"I think Qingrou is very good, very kind, and very brave."
"Brave... I never thought someone would describe her with that word," Xia Yusi blinked, "You know, she's been a timid one since she was little; she could never do anything right, and would only pitifully beg us for help. When out playing, she would always hide behind my older sister and me, like a little tail. Her courage is that small. If she did poorly on an exam, she'd hide outside, too scared to go home, to the point that our parents almost called the police."
"That sounds quite cute."
"Cute?" Xia Yusi got furious when she brought up this incident, slapping the couch, "You haven't experienced that kind of scene; the whole family was almost driven mad looking for her. And guess how we found her? She was hiding in a fast-food restaurant, ordered a pile of food, then lost her money and couldn't pay, so they held her there until she could call her parents!"
Shen Mochen's mouth twitched; it was too funny. Got a piece of her dark history!
"Later, she got a beating at home and learned her lesson. Whenever she did poorly on a test, she'd say her class didn't have a test, or she'd alter the grades herself, thinking we wouldn't notice. But we saw through it a long time ago; we just didn't hit her so she wouldn't run away from home again."
Shen Mochen truly felt that, in such cases, a punishment was still necessary.
"But, you guys really have a good relationship..." Shen Mochen said softly, "Just hearing you talk about it makes me feel envious."
"Good? It's just that our parents are busy, so my older sister and I often take care of her..." Xia Yusi smiled broadly, staring straight at Shen Mochen, "Haven't you heard her complain that I often steal her things?"
Shen Mochen instinctively leaned back, "Second Sister, you don't like me, do you? You were just testing me yesterday?"
Xia Yusi's expression suddenly became tender, "Who says that? Can't I like someone while testing them?"
"Actually, I can understand your concerns. You and older sister always see Qingrou as a younger sister whom you think needs care. But in our team, she isn't a little sister; she is an older sister. She doesn't need extra protection; instead, she takes care of us."
"Really? It seems she has grown up a lot!"
"Yes, she often cooks for us, and during combat, she also pays attention to protecting her teammates... We have a teammate who has difficulty with her legs, with a rather volatile personality, but somehow she gets along best with her."
Xia Yusi was slightly stunned, deep in thought, "I didn't realize... she even learned to cook."
"People grow..."
"She hasn't been home for two years; I really feel like I don't know her anymore."
Shen Mochen was stunned, "She hasn't been home for two years?"
Xia Yusi gave a wry smile and took small sips of her beer, "Yeah, although we video chat regularly, the distance is still there... We asked her to come back, but she always says she's too busy. We wanted to visit her, but she told us not to. Plus, our parents are busy, and older sister and I have our own studies, so it kept getting postponed. This is our first meeting in two years."
That really was... Shen Mochen was momentarily at a loss for words.
"So, when I heard she got a boyfriend, I had to come and meet him no matter what..." Xia Yusi sat up straight, "Actually, I'm not just representing myself, I'm representing our entire family!"
"Haha, then I'll need to make a good impression," Shen Mochen said with a smile.
"Don't be so nervous. I rushed over mainly because of my little sister's personality. You know, she gets nauseous around men, so we were curious what her boyfriend would be like... thankfully not a girl! On my way here, I was worried that maybe her 'boyfriend' would be one of those..."
Xia Yusi gestured slightly, revealing a helpless smile. Shen Mochen understood; considering it's fundamentally unacceptable to her nature to be with men, it's reasonable she suspected her relationship with those masculine women.
"Also, she often talks about her teammates, always mentioning how pretty they are... praising them nonstop..."
"Hahaha, that's good. Qingrou still likes men."
"Yes, I was very surprised that she had no aversion to you. Even with our father, there could only be slight touches in everyday life; anything prolonged wouldn't work... But looking at your face, it makes sense now."
"Thank you for the compliment, this face is probably my only good feature."
"Don't be so modest!" Xia Yusi finished off her beer in one go and looked at Shen Mochen earnestly, "You know, I don't really like guys either."
