"Yu Jie..."

"Ah..."

"Alright, let's go after school. Do you want to miss Christmas Eve tonight?"

"Oh..."

I picked up my backpack and got up from the chair. I would be discharged from the hospital on the 24th, and I would start attending school on the 25th. As expected, no one paid attention to me in class, so it was natural for them to treat me as if I had never existed during these days I was away. It made me feel a little lonely, but Su Yuqian would chat with me all day long. Whenever she mentioned tonight's Christmas Eve, she would get especially excited.

"Let's go home first, and meet at xx square at seven o'clock..."

I looked at Zhiye's desk and chair. She hadn't appeared today. Aunt Chuanmei said she would take Zhiye back to Japan these days, so it was impossible for her to come to school, let alone appear in the classroom.

"What am I even thinking? Seriously..." I felt annoyed with my own wandering thoughts.

"Yu Jie... Are you listening again?"

"Ah?" It seemed that Su Yuqian had been talking about how to plan and spend Christmas Eve just now, but I had zoned out.

"What are you thinking about, Stupid Jerry!" Su Yuqian got angry.

"Sorry, sorry. Can you say it again?"

I smiled sincerely and said.

"Will you listen carefully this time?" Su Yuqian asked me.

"Of course... I promise not to miss a word," I looked at her, and she seemed a little embarrassed, turning her face to the side. Her cheeks were slightly blushing as she said, "You don't have to catch every word, just remember the time... being late... it's absolutely not allowed."

"What if there's an unexpected situation?" I joked.

"If there's an unexpected situation... then you should leave earlier..."

"What if I can't find you there? After all, it's Christmas Eve and there will definitely be a lot of people out shopping. And you're not tall, so it's easy to be overlooked..."

Su Yuqian's face gradually turned red as I spoke without much filter. Finally, it burst out like steam.

"You talk too much! Use your phone, you idiot, you moron!"

"Hehehe..." I couldn't help but chuckle on the side.

"Why are you laughing?" she asked.

"I feel much better now," I sighed.

"What? You're just using me to amuse yourself, how infuriating," Su Yuqian looked at me with disdain.

"Alright... It's time to go home..." I held Su Yuqian's hand.

Little did I know, Su Yuqian seemed a bit awkward. "Stupid, why are you suddenly holding my hand?"

I put on a confused look and asked, "Aren't we dating? Aren't we a couple? Don't we plan to get married with the approval of both our parents?"

Unable to refute my rapid-fire questions, Su Yuqian could only whisper, "But we're in the classroom... everyone can see..."

"Are you shy too?" I asked with a smile.

"Me... I'm not shy..."

"Then why is your face so red?"

"Well... it's just because of the cold weather," as I watched Su Yuqian try to conceal her shyness, it really amused me. I couldn't help but tease her a little more, but since there was no one in the classroom anymore, we had to go back.

"Since there's no one in the classroom now, shall we hold hands and walk home?" I suggested.

Su Yuqian didn't say anything, so I assumed she agreed. I held Su Yuqian's hand and walked through the school corridors and the front yard, and then we reached the school gate.

This short walk felt precious to me because it was the first time I held the hand of a girl I liked while strolling in school.

We had walked a little further after leaving the school, but we had to go our separate ways because our homes were in different directions.

"Remember, seven o'clock tonight, xx square. It's five o'clock now, so you have two hours to get ready. You can't be late," Su Yuqian said as she nodded. She took a few steps in the direction of her house, then turned around, looking a bit shy, and said, "Don't have too high expectations either. I won't dress up the way you expect me to..."

Before I could figure out what she meant, Su Yuqian ran away. But what did she mean by that statement? I never had any expectations of how she would dress up. Was she planning to dress up as Santa Claus? That's impossible.

I dismissed these strange thoughts from my mind and headed towards my home.