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Chapter 877 - 874: What’s Different Now

Chapter 877: Chapter 874: What’s Different Now

He spoke softly, like he was murmuring to himself, or perhaps like a helpless sigh, but each word deeply etched itself into Tong Xiaohua’s heart.

Tong Xiaohua trembled again, looking deep into his eyes where, filled to the brim, was her reflection.

"Yan Bo, please don’t do this! If you do, it will fill me with guilt!"

At that moment, in addition to some inexplicable and unclear foreign emotions, Tong Xiaohua indeed felt a heavy sense of guilt towards Yan Bo.

The ordinarily affectionate Yan Bo blinked and smiled.

"Silly girl, there’s no need to feel guilty. Matters of the heart are always voluntary. It’s my choice to be good to you, that’s on me, but I never thought to use it to hostage your feelings."

Yan Bo, as proud as he was, never insisted on anything from anyone.

All the more so for the girl before him, the one he liked, he couldn’t bear to impose on her.

Tong Xiaohua remained silent, firstly because she didn’t know how to respond, and secondly because she was too moved to speak.

Apart from her parents and Uncle Ming, she couldn’t think of anyone as foolish as Yan Bo who would give to her so selflessly, expecting nothing in return.

"Okay, it’s late, go home, take a bath, and get a good night’s sleep."

Even though Yan Bo wished to sit with her until dawn, he hadn’t forgotten how she had been yawning all the way home.

She was just an eighteen-year-old girl burdened with her family’s duties on top of her normal schoolwork. To say she wasn’t tired would certainly be a lie.

Reminded by him, Tong Xiaohua did indeed feel a bit tired, and besides, Yan Bo still had an hour’s drive home.

"Hmm, it is getting late, and you’ll get home very late."

Tong Xiaohua walked with Yan Bo around to the other side back to the mansion, this time taking only about ten minutes.

"If you’re interested in these buildings, come over next time during the day, and I’ll take you around."

"Then it’s settled. Whenever you have time, you can let me know."

Yan Bo didn’t have any business trips planned for a while, and as long as Tong Xiaohua said the word, he could drop everything to come over.

In his eyes, every moment alone with Tong Xiaohua was a beautiful date.

The two of them stood at the gate of the mansion, chatting for a bit longer, both Yan Bo and Tong Xiaohua having a hard time parting.

In the end, it was Yan Bo who patted Tong Xiaohua on the head, "Alright, go inside, it’s late!"

It was only after he saw Tong Xiaohua enter the house and close the door that Yan Bo returned to his car.

That night, it seemed as if nothing special had taken place, but both Yan Bo and Tong Xiaohua were now aware that something between them had changed.

This was especially evident in Tong Xiaohua.

If it were before, she would usually go straight to bed after her bath.

But that night, after her bath, instead of going straight to sleep, she took her mobile phone and books to bed.

She set an alarm on her phone, telling herself it was to remind her when to go to sleep.

However, every few minutes, she would pick up her phone to check it.

After confirming there were no messages or calls, she couldn’t help but feel a slight sense of loss.

It appeared that Yan Bo was a man of double standards.

When she went home, he wanted her to send a message to let him know she was safe, yet he wouldn’t do the same?

Just as Tong Xiaohua was indignantly scorning Yan Bo, her phone "dinged" with the sound of a message alert.

Tong Xiaohua hurriedly picked up her phone, tapped it open, and sure enough, it was a message from Yan Bo.

"I’ve arrived home, have you gone to sleep?"

Tong Xiaohua had already forgotten that she had previously promised him to take a shower and go to bed; instead she honestly replied to him.

"Nope, still reading!"

"Still reading? Go to sleep!"

Yan Bo’s words were crisp and decisive, even carrying a bit of a sharp edge, but in Tong Xiaohua’s memory, his image was deeply rooted as gentle and tolerant.

"Just a little while longer..."

It was only a few seconds after Tong Xiaohua sent this message that her mobile phone rang loudly.

"Do you have an exam tomorrow?" As soon as the phone connected, Yan Bo asked.

Tong Xiaohua was a bit confused. "Who said there’s an exam tomorrow? School has just started not long ago!"

"If it’s not for an exam tomorrow, then go to bed early. It’ll be you who suffers if you ruin your health."

Tong Xiaohua snorted disapprovingly. "It’s still early, isn’t it? I usually go to sleep at two or three in the morning, and now it’s only eleven!"

Ever since she took over all the affairs of the Tong Family, Tong Xiaohua’s daily routine had undergone an earth-shaking change.

In the past, although she also had to follow her dad around, he generally let the driver take her home after ten o’clock.

But in just two or three short months, she had gotten used to her current sleep schedule.

"Now is the best time for deep sleep. Don’t argue, hurry up and go to sleep!"

Yan Bo’s tone, although still very gentle, now carried a hint of command.

Tong Xiaohua looked at the book on her lap that she hadn’t turned the page of for half an hour and couldn’t help but giggle.

"Okay, I’ll go to sleep. You should sleep early too."

"Still laughing? You have no regard for your health, and you still have the nerve to laugh!" Yan Bo, completely unaware of what Tong Xiaohua was laughing about, reproached helplessly.

"Yan Bo, you sound like my dad!" Tong Xiaohua laughed.

Tong Xiaohua’s mom had always been indulgent towards her, especially since her elder brother started training the little girl as if she were a boy, her indulgence only grew.

However, her elder brother was much stricter and more nagging towards Tong Xiaohua.

Only in the matter of Yan Bo did her elder brother seem exceptionally tolerant.

"It doesn’t matter who you say I resemble, just go to sleep now, good night."

"Alright, I’m off to sleep, you should sleep early too, good night!"

It was a completely mundane conversation, yet the two involved seemed oblivious to that, babbling for nearly ten minutes before they actually hung up the phone.

Tong Xiaohua closed the book and placed it on the bedside cabinet, then smiled gleefully at the screen-locked phone for a while before placing the phone on top of the book.

...

The next day, Tong Xiaohua, who had afternoon classes, arrived at the classroom on time.

Accustomed to sitting in the back row, she entered the classroom through the back door and subconsciously glanced over the vacant seats there.

A tall, thin student waved at her from across the room, which she naturally ignored, because she didn’t have any friends at school, not even acquaintances, it seemed.

"Tong Xiaohua, over here!"

It wasn’t until the boy’s shouting reached her that she turned her gaze towards his face.

Perhaps afraid of being ignored again, the once seated student had already stood up; his tall, lean figure was particularly conspicuous among the seated students.

Tong Xiaohua looked at the boy, feeling baffled, as his face was very unfamiliar, until, seeing his tall, thin frame, she remembered who he was.

This person was no other, indeed the student who had sent her roses yesterday, Zeng Xianghai.