"What junk food did he go out to eat?"
"Grilled sausages, skewers, fries, burgers, fried chicken, things like that."
"It’s normal for kids to love eating those."
"I’ve never heard that you love eating those things before." Xia Youqing was puzzled.
"How do you know I don’t love eating those?"
I’ve just moved past the age of loving them.
"You used to often call me, and I remembered what I heard."
"Oh." Ning Youguang said, "That’s because I learned medicine from my grandpa since I was young, and I knew eating those things wasn’t good for the body, so naturally, I didn’t dare to eat much. I’d taste them occasionally."
"Is your brother just tasting them occasionally?" Xia Youqing was furious, "I think he wants to live in a fast-food restaurant."
Ning Youguang chuckled, "It’s not that exaggerated."
Xia Youqing was frustrated, "It’s not exaggerated at all."
"He used to be such a good kid, how did he become so disobedient now?" She said with a headache, "Is it because the rebellious phase has arrived?"
Ning Youguang said, "The rebellious phase is a false proposition."
Xia Youqing was very troubled, "I really have no patience to deal with him like this anymore, and his dad doesn’t care at all."
Ning Youguang asked, "How doesn’t his dad care?"
"How else doesn’t he care?" Xia Youqing huffed, "He lets the child do whatever he wants. Is he trying to raise a tyrant?"
"..."
So—
In a past life, was Yiyi raised into a little tyrant by Uncle Xie like this?
"I think this kid is truly out of line!"
In the past life, without Xia Youqing’s discipline, Xie Yizun did whatever he pleased.
In this life, with her discipline, the child is now hemming and hawing.
Ning Youguang didn’t know whether to feel happy or sad for his brother.
"What’s this about him bothering other students at noon in school?"
"The teacher said he’s noisy, always likes talking and singing, and he gets other kids to join in the ruckus, so other kids can’t rest well, and now they’re not letting him stay at school."
"I’ll call him now to talk to him." Ning Youguang was ready to put down the barely eaten bird’s nest.
"Finish eating first, then call him. Let him calm down a bit; he’s so hot-tempered, just leave him." Xia Youqing stopped her and said, "A kid this age, if we don’t manage him well, I think he’s going to fly out of control."
"I don’t think he wants to fly out of control, he just hasn’t been understood well." Ning Youguang said softly.
Xia Youqing paused, "Are you saying I misunderstood him?"
Ning Youguang shook her head, "I don’t know either, I’ll only know after talking to him."
...
Evening at the National Opera.
The beautiful melody composed by Richard Strauss echoed through every corner of the theater.
On stage, a female actress dressed in a grand, elaborate gown was singing passionately: "If only there could be another ending, how wonderful it would be..."
Clearly, it should be a moment focused on appreciating the opera, yet Ning Youguang’s mind was wandering.
She looked at Shi Wangyue sitting upright beside her and suddenly felt that this winter in Beijing was warmer than previous years.
In the past, she had watched many opera performances, but never felt so comforted and warm as she did today.
It’s as if he just needed to sit there, and he became a wall of warmth.
Solid, resilient, enough to shield from the wind and rain.
This was such a novel experience.
She suddenly thought of their childhood when they performed at the opera occasionally—
Back then, he played the piano, she danced, little versions of themselves clustered on stage with other kids, showcasing innocent childhood.
She used to rarely think of those times and didn’t consider them to hold any special meaning for her.
Tonight, at this moment.
Everything felt different.
Time truly flies by so fast, years have passed in the blink of an eye.
She watched him grow from a silent, delicate, pink-cheeked little boy into what he is today, increasingly showing his most compelling side.
Suddenly she thought, "If she could wish for stability in the second half of her life, standing shoulder to shoulder like this with him and watching the world together seems worth looking forward to."
"What’s wrong?"
Shi Wangyue lowered his head and asked softly.
Ning Youguang’s lips turned up as she leaned close to his ear and whispered:
"I saw the small versions of us from the past."
Shi Wangyue paused slightly before curling his lips into a smile.
...
Back at the dorms in the evening, Ning Youguang and Shi Wangyue blew out candles and unwrapped many gifts.
Included was the set of Hermes tableware that Zhuang Yijing gifted.
It won the greatest favor from both of them.
"Put it in the car tomorrow." Shi Wangyue picked up a coffee cup from the set, playing with it.
"Are you a mouse?" Ning Youguang said helplessly.
"How am I a mouse?" Shi Wangyue said, "This tableware is great, very suitable for our household."
—"I’m just making the best use of everything."
Of course, he had to quickly bring her favorite things back home, so he could have a greater chance of bringing her back with him.
"Do you understand what ’making the best use of everything’ means?" Ning Youguang teased.
"Let various items fully exercise their functions." Shi Wangyue gave a precise noun explanation.
"If you take my coffee cup home, I won’t be able to use it. How is that making the best use of everything?" Ning Youguang was speechless.
"Then come home with me and use it every day." Shi Wangyue raised an eyebrow.
Ning Youguang gave him a sideways glance, "I’m going to thank the rich lady now."
Shi Wangyue could only watch her fleeing back and sighed.
...
Late night.
Before midnight the next day.
Shi Wangyue gently kissed Ning Youguang’s smooth forehead, "Baby, wishing you happiness, not just on your birthday."
...
November 30th, 2025, evening.
On Ning Youguang’s birthday, her social media circle exploded.
The normally quiet Miss Ning unexpectedly posted her first-ever social media update on this day.
The post was a picture.
In the image, a young man sat in the opera house, his clean and upright back visible.
Caption: "Memory is like a storyteller."
Friend Gu Xi almost instantly commented: "You molded a city out of clay, saying one day you’d marry me."
Xia Dai quickly followed: "Youyou went to watch the opera tonight?"
He had a delayed reaction, commenting minutes later under Gu Xi:
"What marry, what do you mean?!"
"Don’t talk nonsense!"
Gu Xi commented publicly: "Cousin is so naive~"
Secretly, she sent him a private message: "As long as love is deep, you can marry on the spot!"
Hmph~
She was a resolute supporter of the Moonlight CP! Everlasting.