The next morning, Chu Tian got up early and drove towards the airport.

He had listened to Hou Yichuan complain about his bittersweet study abroad experiences all night, and now he felt like he was having auditory hallucinations.

Today, Xu Qingqiu was flying back on the first flight of the morning, expected to land around ten, so he needed to hurry to pick her up.

Of course, another thing on his mind was how to cover for his sister-in-law, since he'd promised her he would, and promises were meant to be kept.

Most crucially, Xu Ruyan's words had been deeply etched into his heart.

"All the guys at our school know that to date someone, you have to win over her best friend first. Are you saying you don't even value me, her actual sister?"

Recalling Xu Ruyan's disdainful look, Chu Tian felt somewhat ashamed.

Honestly speaking, I have no experience in such matters, but it somehow seemed very logical when I heard it, Chu Tian thought.

Although he didn't believe Xu Ruyan would deliberately trip him up, it still wasn't good to break a promise to a young girl.

In truth, it's mainly because the matter isn't a big deal, just a bit of cover-up; Xu Ruyan likely just wants to save face and avoid embarrassment, he mused.

After waiting outside the airport for more than an hour, he finally saw Xu Qingqiu and the others coming out.

"What are you looking at?"

Once she got into the car, Xu Qingqiu couldn't help but glance at the back seat, only to see it was completely empty. A hint of disappointment flashed across her eyes, but she recovered quickly.

However, Chu Tian, who had been watching her the whole time, saw everything and asked with a half-smile.

"Ah? Nothing, let's go. Yiyi and the others have already left~"

Realizing that Chu Tian had noticed her little movement, a blush crept up Xu Qingqiu's face as she hurriedly changed the subject.

"Hahaha, it's here~"

Seeing her truly blush, Chu Tian then took out a box from beside him.

"Ah?! What… What is this?"

"A power bank. Do you like it?"

Xu Qingqiu had her own power bank, but Chu Tian noticed that as the weather cooled down, her hands often became ice-cold.

So he specially bought a power bank with a hand-warming feature.

"Wow! Is that a little bear?"

Xu Qingqiu's eyes lit up as she looked at the fuzzy pink and white power bank in the box, unable to hide her surprise.

"I picked this one especially. It can charge your phone and warm your hands."

"It's too cute! I really love it!"

Looking at the fluffy polar bear dressed in a flashy pink hoodie—and importantly, wearing a hood—Xu Qingqiu was overjoyed.

This is just the beginning, Chu Tian thought to himself.

"There's a zipper here. Open it and see."

"Hmm? What is it?"

"You'll know when you look."

Xu Qingqiu opened the zipper, and before she could fully open it, a necklace slid out.

"Is this a necklace? Did you buy it?"

"Of course, it's for you. Do you like it?"

Without a word, Xu Qingqiu put it on her neck, opened the vanity mirror in the passenger seat, smiled as she checked herself out a few times, then turned to Chu Tian.

"Does it look good?"

"Beautiful!"

Her creamy neck and the delicate necklace falling over her collarbone were so captivating that he couldn't take his eyes off her.

"Mwah~ Thank you~"

Feeling the fleeting tenderness on his lips, Chu Tian's heart was filled with delight.

However, on the way back home, Chu Tian realized that compared to the necklace, Xu Qingqiu seemed to like the little white bear even more.

"Be gentle. Don't rub it into a mess before we even get home."

"But it's so adorable! How can a power bank be this cute? I love it so much!"

It seems that girls all like these cute and adorable things. When cuteness is combined with pink and fluffiness, it's game over. It's simply unbeatable.

Just take Xu Qingqiu as an example. Normally such a composed person, yet now she wasn't even paying attention to Chu Tian, focusing all her attention on the little bear in her hands the entire way.

The way she couldn't get enough of it even made Chu Tian a bit jealous. Had he found himself a rival in love?

"By the way, you didn't explain clearly over the phone, what exactly happened to my sister?"

Luckily, reason finally returned to her mind, and Xu Qingqiu hadn't forgotten about important matters.

"Hey, it's nothing serious, just an accidental injury from a fall."

"Really? Did you ask whether any classmates might have bullied her?"

"No, there's no need for me to ask. I had dinner with her last night, and during that time, her roommate even called."

"From their phone conversation, you could tell that their relationship in the dorm is really good. It didn't seem like there were any conflicts."

"Think about it, if their relationship in the dorm were bad, the tone and way of speaking would be different, right? And if there were troubles at school, the roommate would be the first to know, and it would be evident in their conversation, right?"

Chu Tian wasn't making this up; it was indeed the truth, just like his own college experience—you can instantly tell whether relationships are good or bad.

Those who aren't close are all overly polite, sarcastic, or simply don't talk at all.

Only those who are close to each other would casually call one another 'son,' always trying to get one over on each other.

Last night, while they were eating barbecue, Xu Ruyan received a call. The person on the other end immediately asked her to treat them to a meal. This request was naturally met with a look of scorn and disgust from Xu Ruyan. But the roommates just laughed it off, acting spoiled and mischievous, finally convincing Xu Ruyan to bring some tasty treats back.

Just from this, you could see that Xu Ruyan's status in the dorm was definitely not low, and her relationships were not bad at all.

Hearing Chu Tian's explanation, Xu Qingqiu also breathed a sigh of relief, but she still felt a bit uneasy.

"Since our parents can't come, she's here all alone, relying on me to look after her. If anything were to happen, I wouldn't know how to explain it when I get home."

"Thank goodness the injury isn't serious. That nearly scared me to death!"

"Let's not go home first. How about we go see her instead?"

The moment Xu Qingqiu finished speaking, Chu Tian felt his whole body go numb.

He had just promised his sister-in-law. If he brought her older sister to see her the very next day, wouldn't that offend Xu Ruyan terribly? How could this be okay?!

"No, let's go home first. You must be tired from traveling all this way, and besides, what can you do there?"

"Kids nowadays care about their pride. If she's walking around with panda eyes and you make a special trip to see her, do you think she'd be happy about that?"

"Wouldn't you also not want people to see you when you're in a mess? Especially people you know, it's so embarrassing, right?"

As Chu Tian spoke, he carefully watched Xu Qingqiu's expression, afraid that she would insist on going.

"Really? Then how come it was fine when you went?"

"Don't even mention it; I got scolded so badly. You have no idea how many phone calls I had to make before she would even come out!"

"Not only that, but when I first saw her, I almost laughed because I couldn't hold it in. She didn't give me a single pleasant look, not to mention I made her cry from anger…"

Realizing something was off, he stopped talking abruptly.

"Cried from anger? No way... really?"

Looking at Xu Qingqiu's eager face, Chu Tian felt something was not quite right.

He nodded honestly, and to his surprise, Xu Qingqiu could not help but burst into laughter.

"Haha, you're saying Xu Ruyan cried because of you? Tell me the truth, did you laugh out loud?"

"Huh?"

Chu Tian looked at her, puzzled. What's with these sisters? he thought. One is more abnormal than the other.

"Hahaha, Chu Tian, let me tell you, my sister has quite the temper, and she's also incredibly stubborn. I've hardly ever seen her cry since we were kids, and I can't believe you made her cry the first time you met her, hahaha..."

Xu Qingqiu laughed so hard while patting his shoulder that her eyes couldn't even open fully.

Chu Tian was left speechless.

Was she really this happy about her own sister crying? This older sister didn't seem like a very good person, did she? No wonder Xu Ruyan didn't want her to know.

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