The Senior's Love-Testing Tool (43)

"I picked them up from the trash can this afternoon."

After saying that, Zhao Yan's voice paused slightly. Fearing that Xie An would misunderstand her as having some strange habit, she hurriedly continued to explain.

"Because I'm a member of the Environmental Protection Association, I sometimes go through residential areas to collect recyclables—at least once a month. Items that can be reused are collected; some are handed over to the club, some are sold to the recycling station, and some can be kept for ourselves."

"This afternoon, I was doing a collection near the Ning Hai dormitories and happened to see these gloves at the very top of a trash can."

She seemed a bit embarrassed to continue, hesitating for a moment before speaking. "Even though they were stained with black mud and dirty water, they looked very cute. I just happened to be lacking a pair, so I took them back and washed them."

To be honest, Zhao Yan also suddenly felt she was a bit neurotic. She didn't know what had possessed her to go rummaging through a trash can for a pair of gloves.

Not only that, she liked them so much she couldn't bear to let them go.

If... if Xie An really wanted them, she could still painfully part with her favorite things.

Xie An pursed her lips and smiled. The mirth rippled at the corners of her mouth—a smile like warm sunshine, yet also like a lingering spring rain. Zhao Yan was dazzled by her smile, her heart skipping several beats.

She's so beautiful when she smiles.

Thinking this, she noticed an intensely resentful gaze coming from Li Wei and coughed a few times, covering her mouth in guilt.

Xie An placed the gloves back into Zhao Yan's hands and explained unhurriedly, "I knitted these gloves. I originally intended to give them to someone else this afternoon, but she didn't accept them and even threw them on the ground."

A hint of indescribable bitterness flashed in her eyes. "A gift that cannot be given seems to lose its meaning to me. That's why I threw them in the trash, considering it a way to reconcile with myself."

"However, I didn't expect someone would pick them up and even wash them so cleanly."

Through the soft fabric of the gloves, Xie An held Zhao Yan's hand. Her eyes seemed to contain the entire starry sky, brilliant and sparkling.

"Thank you, A Yan."

"Thank you for treasuring my heart."

Zhao Yan truly hadn't expected such a reason. Hearing that the person had thrown the gloves Xie An had painstakingly knitted onto the ground, she was both shocked and angry. Hearing Xie An thank her, her heart felt sour and even more distressed, and her eyes actually turned red in an instant.

"The kind of person who doesn't know how to treasure someone else's heart doesn't deserve the gift you gave."

She suddenly hugged Xie An, comfortingly patting her back. "It doesn't matter. I will take good care of them."

Even if this gift didn't belong to me at first, since I picked it up, I will protect this piece of your heart.

Xie An was just about to slowly hug her back when she was suddenly grabbed by the shoulders and forcefully pulled out of Zhao Yan's embrace.

Before her mind could process what was happening, a voice that was both charming and laced with fury rang in her ears: "Xie An! What are you doing!?"

Jin Yan Si could never have imagined she would see such an eyesore of a scene.

She had originally been wandering aimlessly with Shi Qiao Qiao and her teammates. The stalls here all sold the lowest quality defective products, which she didn't care for at all. The reason she came out was just to clear her head, but clearly, this was a terrible decision.

The crowd here was growing thicker, and the shouting and noise flooded her ears. What was even more annoying was that there were always some "flies" who didn't know their place, crowding around to ask for her contact information.

Shi Qiao Qiao saw her impatience, but since Jin Yan Si didn't proactively suggest going home, she proposed going for a stroll by the nearby artificial lake, where it would be much quieter.

Jin Yan Si agreed. Shi Qiao Qiao bid farewell to the others and dutifully followed the Eldest Miss toward the lake. It was during this walk that Jin Yan Si unexpectedly noticed Xie An at a small stall.

Xie An was wearing a short, light pink padded jacket and a milky white scarf, laughing and talking about something with the girl opposite her.

Coincidentally, that round-faced girl was also wearing a pink padded jacket, though it was a long style. She wasn't wearing a scarf, but a neatly folded white scarf was placed at a corner of the stall.

The styles and shapes of their clothes were completely different, only the colors were similar, but even so, from a distance, they looked like a pair of sisters in matching outfits.

This discovery made Jin Yan Si extremely uncomfortable. Her footsteps paused, and she turned around, unconsciously walking toward Xie An's stall.

Shi Qiao Qiao noticed Jin Yan Si's sudden change of direction. Just as she was about to ask, she saw Xie An in that direction and didn't ask further, only following silently.

She didn't originally know Xie An, relying entirely on Jin Yan Si frequently mentioning the other party in front of followers like them. She had even intentionally organized several parties just to introduce Xie An to them.

The Eldest Miss, who was always headstrong and spoiled, had intimately hugged Xie An's arm and even sweetly called her "Sister." That image was something Shi Qiao Qiao found hard to forget even now.

She was truly quite curious about how Xie An had managed to capture this difficult-to-please Eldest Miss.

At the same time, her heart felt an indescribable sense of weariness.

She had done so much work, diligently pleasing Jin Yan Si, yet the result wasn't even worth a casual sentence from Xie An.

Shi Qiao Qiao shed a handful of bitter tears for herself.

Driven by a vague sense of unease and intense jealousy, Jin Yan Si walked quickly toward Xie An. However, when she was only one stall away from Xie An, she suddenly stopped, a look of frustration appearing on her face.

What kind of stupid thing was she doing?

Xie An was the daughter of a mistress. Her approaching her was only to more easily return to the Jin family. Her existence was a crime, a stain on the perfect marriage of the Jin couple.

She was the person Jin Yan Si should hate the most.

The two of them had completely fallen out this afternoon. What was she doing by pushing forward now?

Was she seeking humiliation?

Xie An was wearing matching sister outfits with someone else, and her new friend was some kind of unknown person. It had nothing to do with her. She didn't care at all and wouldn't be impulsive.

Jin Yan Si kept brainwashing herself, wanting to ignore the sense of unwillingness in her heart. However, all these internal conflicts vanished completely when she noticed the light pink gloves in Xie An's hand.

As expected, Xie An had picked them back up.

Hearing it from others and seeing it with her own eyes carried a different impact.

Hmph.

Pretending to be iron-willed in front of her, hadn't she gone back in disgrace to pick them up anyway?

Xie An just couldn't let her go.

True, after being stuck to a great beauty like her for a month, it was impossible to let go so easily.

Jin Yan Si felt the gloomy emotions that had bothered her all afternoon lighten significantly, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously rose.

This time, she had a reason to step forward.

She wanted to intentionally ask Xie An why she had picked the gloves back up, and then enjoy her awkward and embarrassed expression!

Jin Yan Si walked over elegantly, her chin slightly raised. Xie An was only a few steps away from her. She was just about to call out to the other party when she was frozen in place by the conversation between the two, her face turning white in an instant.

It turned out that the one who picked up the gloves wasn't Xie An, but this round-faced girl.