No sooner had the words left her mouth than the doorbell rang. Upon opening the door, she saw He Nan standing at the entrance, calling out crisply, "Big Brother He."
Just as her footsteps reached the door, it swung open, clearly without checking the peephole first; she had just unlocked it directly. He raised an eyebrow, "So sure it was me outside the door?"
In the midst of speaking, he had already entered, carrying something to the living room and placing the item on the table, before casually sitting down on the sofa, as if he was in his own house.
Shen Mianmian closed the door behind her and, squinting her eyes with a smile, said, "Not many people know I live here, and no one else would be knocking on my door late at night, except for you."
She poured a glass of cool boiled water for He Nan, and just as she put the cup down, she heard him say, "Didn’t you ever think it could be a bad guy?"
Sitting next to him, Mianmian didn’t even need to think before she blurted out, "I wouldn’t be afraid even if it was a bad guy because you live right across from me."
With Big Brother He living across, she felt particularly safe.
Moreover, the security in this complex was good; there were always guards on duty at the community gate at night.
"You trust me that much?" Even though what she said didn’t carry any other implications, He Nan’s mood lifted at her words.
Even though he wasn’t smiling and there was no change in his facial expression or voice, Mianmian felt like his mood had improved from before, and her mood was lifted as well.
"You were the first person to be kind to me. If I can’t even trust you, there probably isn’t anyone in this world worthy of my trust."
Shen Mianmian felt that these flattering words were a bit too obvious, and before he could reply, she changed the subject, "Big Brother He, what have you brought?"
The thing on the table was wrapped in a red bag, apparently containing brown paper boxes that looked like bricks, block by block; without opening them, one really couldn’t tell what was inside. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭•𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦•𝘯𝘦𝘵
A glimmer flashed in He Nan’s eyes, sweeping across her fair and clean face so quickly that Mianmian hardly noticed.
"Some pastries and sugarcubes, brought by Yiyang from Beijing, see if you like them."
"Did Big Brother Ruan go back home?"
Since moving to the city, the two of them had seen each other almost every day, and with more interaction, Mianmian wasn’t as scared of him as before, nor as restrained.
She took a box of pastries out of the bag and tried to open it, but the packaging was so good that she struggled with it for a while. Silent, He Nan took the box from her hands and opened it effortlessly.
A sweet scent wafted out, making Mianmian’s eyes light up instantly.
Inside were blocks of mung bean cake, six in a box.
She pinched a piece and tasted it, squinting her eyes with delight, "Big Brother He, this is sweet and really delicious. You should try a piece too!"
With that, she offered him a piece.
He Nan usually didn’t like sweet food. Seeing the mung bean cake she handed over, his brow furrowed slightly, but he didn’t refuse and took the piece from her hand to eat. Suddenly, he felt that the sweets he used to dislike weren’t that bad after all.
"Doesn’t it taste really good?" Mianmian tilted her head and asked him.
Her eyes gleamed as she looked at him, with some crumbs of the mung bean cake still on her lips, which made her look especially adorable. He felt a slight impulse to reach out and wipe away the crumbs from her mouth, but he refrained from doing so.