Chapter 75: Chapter 75: Reaching a Hand Toward Li Xingye

Seeing Chi Wan defending Xiahou Yu, and even praising his good manners, made Li Xingye grind his teeth in frustration.

He had been clearing out the city’s remnants, but he’d lost the heart for it now. So, he just sat on the roof of a wrecked car, pulled out one of the long, thin biscuit sticks that Chi Wan loved, and began to CRUNCH, CRUNCH on it.

In truth, Li Xingye didn’t care for snacks. But Chi Wan loved to hoard food, especially her favorite treats. Taking advantage of the fact that they wouldn’t spoil in her space, she stocked up relentlessly.

He had seen Chi Wan eating these biscuit sticks many times. Whenever he caught her, she would stuff a couple into his hand, saying good friends had to share good food.

So he’d picked up the habit, too. Whenever he was thinking or just bored, he’d pull out a couple to chew on.

But Chi Wan was frowning, her eyes fixed on the hand he was using to hold the snack. ’Even if he didn’t kill the zombies himself, he touched their Crystal Cores! How can he eat with unwashed hands!’

"Wanwan, that Xia—"

Li Xingye was cut off by a hand that suddenly appeared at his lips.

Chi Wan was equally shocked. It had been a completely subconscious action, but how had she actually snatched the biscuit stick right out of Li Xingye’s mouth?!

The two of them stared at the half-eaten biscuit in Chi Wan’s hand, looking at each other in bewilderment.

Li Xingye was the first to react. He leaped off the car roof, suppressing his excitement, and said softly, "Wanwan... try reaching your hand out again."

Chi Wan’s heart began to race as well. She swallowed nervously and cautiously extended her hand toward Li Xingye’s face.

The moment Chi Wan’s hand rested on Li Xingye’s face, the warm touch left them both momentarily stunned.

The next second, her hand was covered by a larger one.

"Wanwan! Your hand... Your hand can reach me?! Does that mean I can also..."

Li Xingye was usually calm and self-possessed; it seemed all his excitement and loss of composure were reserved for Chi Wan.

But he couldn’t be bothered with that now.

He didn’t notice how intimate their posture was. His mind was consumed by a single thought: ’If Wanwan can come over, does that mean... I can go over, too?!’

Overjoyed, Chi Wan suddenly realized her hand was still being held against Li Xingye’s face by him. She stifled a laugh, a mischievous idea popping into her head.

With a playful glint in her eye, Chi Wan gently caressed Li Xingye’s cheek with her fingertips before saying softly, "Brother Xingye, holding onto me like this won’t help you confirm your theory."

Li Xingye snapped back to his senses. Seeing Chi Wan’s bright, sly smile and feeling the tickle on his cheek, he snatched his hand back as if he’d been shocked.

But the unique fragrance that clung to Chi Wan seemed to linger on both his face and his hand. It was like the brightest sweet orange on the branch; get a little closer, and you could embrace the sweetness of an entire summer.

The realization made Li Xingye blush from his ears all the way to the base of his neck.

Chi Wan chuckled lightly, pretending not to see the face that was practically steaming. "Well, hurry up and see if you can enter the space."

"Right, right, first I’ll see if I can enter the space..."

Li Xingye had never been so flustered. He just wanted to find something to do, anything, to distract himself.

After some trial and error, they discovered the good news: as long as Chi Wan was holding Li Xingye’s hand, she could pull him entirely into her space.

The bad news, however, was that even with Chi Wan’s help, Li Xingye still couldn’t appear in her world.

But for Li Xingye, this was more than enough. At the very least, he could finally see a glimmer of hope’s dawn.

He could finally appear beside Chi Wan in his entirety, even if it was only inside the space.

It was just that, watching Chi Wan circle him a few times, getting a little too close as she compared their heights, made Li Xingye inexplicably nervous. ’There are only the two of us here... me and Wanwan...’

The spot they were in happened to be the flower garden he had meticulously tended to earlier. Beside the flowers, which were in full, radiant bloom, was a tranquil lotus pond and a pavilion.

Although Li Xingye had never been in a relationship, the thought ’This is like a date with Wanwan’ immediately surfaced in his mind.

The part of his rational mind that had always warned him, ’You can’t let yourself fall for her,’ crumbled completely before the real, tangible Chi Wan.

Meanwhile, Chi Wan, who had only ever been able to watch Li Xingye through a "screen," was now filled with the excitement of a 2D character coming to life.

She felt none of the awkwardness of a first "online-to-IRL" meeting. Suppressing the urge to get handsy with him, she leaned in with a grin to compare their heights. "Brother Xingye, I didn’t realize you were so tall! And your shoulders are so broad!"

At 172cm, Chi Wan was considered quite tall in the south, but standing in front of the towering Li Xingye, she discovered for the first time that she had the potential to be cute and petite.

She was extremely satisfied with her luck. The one she’d picked up was a ridiculously tall, handsome, god-of-war-level expert. And on top of that, he seemed to be a champion of pure love who blushed whenever she got close?

’Isn’t this a total jackpot!’

Seeing that Li Xingye seemed a little uncomfortable, Chi Wan naturally tugged on the corner of his shirt and led him toward the pavilion. "Come on, come on. We just finished fighting. Let’s wash our hands first, then get something to eat and rest."

However, the moment Li Xingye sat down, he immediately returned to their previous topic. "Wanwan, that Xiahou Yu from before... his voice sounded a bit mature. How... how old is he?"

Chi Wan hadn’t expected that after finally managing to enter her space completely, the first thing on his mind would still be Xiahou Yu.

’I guess he really does care a lot, huh...’

Hiding the smile on her lips by taking a bite of a snack, Chi Wan said in a serious tone, "I heard Grandpa Xu say he’s not even twenty-six this year? Apparently, he had already taken over parts of his family’s business while he was still in college."

"And after graduating, he managed to win over all the shareholders who opposed his authority with his results within two years. I don’t really know much about this stuff, but he sounds like a very capable person~"

Watching Chi Wan praise Xiahou Yu so unreservedly, Li Xingye couldn’t help but lower his gaze, a sour feeling welling up in his heart.

But he also knew this was just Chi Wan’s straightforward personality. He couldn’t very well allow her to praise him but forbid her from praising others, could he?

But the more he thought about how wonderful Chi Wan was, the more it pained him that he couldn’t stand by her side and compete on a level playing field with those who might have designs on her.

’Since I can enter the space now, maybe there’s a way to get to Wanwan’s side in the future. In that case, maybe... I can try a little harder to win her over?’

Lost in thought, Li Xingye didn’t respond to Chi Wan right away.

Combined with his slightly drooping eyes and the way he sat obediently in the wicker chair, he looked just like an abandoned puppy.

Chi Wan’s heart suddenly softened. ’Maybe I shouldn’t be testing him like this?’

But before she could say something to smooth things over, Li Xingye suddenly looked up, a serious expression on his face. "So, a guy like that... a lot of girls must like him, right?"