Huo Xiaozheng left Huo Yueze behind and walked away without looking back, carrying Huo Guining.
Chen Zheng wanted to stop him, but Huo Xiaozheng's aura was too intimidating, and he didn't dare to intervene.
Huo Guining, perched on his shoulder, waved goodbye to Chen Zheng.
"Dad, aren't we waiting for big brother to go home together?" she asked.
Huo Xiaozheng replied coldly, "No need. Your brother is very busy."
Huo Guining glanced in Huo Yueze's direction, looking disappointed as if she hadn't gotten enough of the drama. She slumped on Huo Xiaozheng's shoulder and sighed.
Meanwhile, Huo Yueze found himself in an awkward situation.
The girl in front of him was blushing, saying things that made him uncomfortable.
Huo Yueze tried to recall any special memories with this girl but found nothing particularly noteworthy.
Naturally, he couldn't say he had feelings for her.
Huo Yueze spoke with a slightly cold tone, "Thank you for your feelings, but I'm sorry, I don't feel the same way about you."
The girl was taken aback, then timidly lowered her head. "I'm sorry for bothering you..."
"Why do you like me?" Huo Yueze asked, curious.
The girl shyly lowered her head again. "Once, when I had menstrual cramps, you took me to the infirmary despite others' stares, and even bought medicine for me..."
Huo Yueze narrowed his eyes as a distant memory flooded back.
It was during a winter PE class when he had plans to meet friends at the basketball court.
As he passed through a tree-lined path, he suddenly saw a girl crouching in the shade, seemingly shivering.
The boys with him immediately started teasing, but none of them approached to help.
At that time, Huo Guining was in the hospital due to poor health. For some reason, Huo Yueze walked up to the girl and asked what was wrong.
The girl was too embarrassed to explain, just shaking her head.
The boys around continued their jeering, so Huo Yueze sternly sent them away.
He had a good idea of the girl's situation.
"Can you walk?" Huo Yueze asked tentatively.
The girl, too weak from pain to speak, just shook her head.
Huo Yueze thought for a moment, then picked her up and carried her to the infirmary.
As luck would have it, the infirmary was out of fast-acting pain relievers that day.
The nurse suggested trying extended-release tablets instead.
Huo Yueze used his financial means to quickly obtain more effective fast-acting pain relievers.
Seeing the girl fall into an exhausted sleep not long after taking the medicine, Huo Yueze felt relieved and went to the sports field.
"So it was you..." Huo Yueze murmured.
The girl smiled shyly. "You remember now?"
Huo Yueze nodded, then suddenly thought of Huo Guining.
He couldn't help but imagine the future, when Huo Guining might confess to a boy she liked. What if that boy responded the same way he just had...
"I remember now, but I'm sorry, my answer remains the same," he said.
"Taking you to the infirmary and buying medicine that day was just a small gesture on my part."
"You can thank me for it, but you don't need to like me because of it."
Huo Yueze unconsciously stood up straighter and spoke seriously.
"Although I'm rejecting you, it doesn't mean anything about you. You're still an excellent girl."
The girl suddenly looked up.
Huo Yueze gently advised, "You know I have a little sister, right?"
The girl was confused why Huo Yueze suddenly mentioned his sister, but she nodded anyway.
"One day, my sister will grow up and meet a boy she likes," Huo Yueze said, his eyes gradually softening. "But I hope she learns to love herself first before loving someone else."
Thinking of this, Huo Yueze smiled slightly and looked at the girl. "I hope the same for you."
When Huo Yueze returned to the private room, Huo Guining was nowhere to be seen.
His heart sank, and he grabbed Chen Zheng by the collar, shouting, "Chen Zheng! Where's my sister? You can't even watch one person, what use are you?"
His angry shout overpowered even the KTV microphones.
Chen Zheng patted his ears. "Don't yell at me. Your uncle came personally and took your sister away!"
Huo Yueze's heart tightened. "My uncle came? When?!"
Chen Zheng smiled meaningfully. "Right when you were having your moonlit rendezvous with what's-her-name... Ouch!"
Huo Yueze kicked him. "Watch your language! If you can't use idioms properly, read more books!"
He cursed under his breath while pushing the door open to leave.
"I'm going home first. You guys continue!"
With that, he ran off like the wind.
Many cars were parked at the hotel entrance, but none were waiting for him.
Huo Yueze dejectedly walked to the roadside, planning to hail a taxi home.
"Big brother! Over here!" Huo Guining's voice suddenly rang out.
Huo Yueze's eyes lit up.
Not far away, under a plane tree, his uncle's black Maybach was quietly parked.
Huo Guining poked her head out of the rear window, waving her little hand at him.
Huo Yueze ran over and opened the back door.
"I thought Uncle took you away. How come you're..."
Huo Yueze, who had been bending down to get in the back seat, suddenly straightened up, closed the rear door properly, opened the front passenger door, and sat down.
He fastened his seatbelt meticulously.
Smiling, he greeted the man in the back seat. "Good evening, Uncle."
Huo Xiaozheng snorted. "Do I look like I'm having a good evening?"
Huo Yueze quickly shut up and changed the subject. "Uncle Zhou, it's getting late. We should head home."
The car slowly merged into traffic.
Huo Guining, seemingly oblivious to the tension between uncle and nephew, eagerly asked Huo Yueze, "Big brother, did someone just confess to you?"
The quiet car suddenly became lively. Huo Yueze broke out in a cold sweat. "No, that girl was just thanking me for something."
Huo Guining didn't believe him. "How is that possible? That girl's face was all red. I could see from her lips that she was saying..."
Huo Yueze wished he could cover Huo Guining's mouth. "Guining, are you hungry?"
Huo Guining smiled mischievously. "Not hungry. Don't change the subject, big brother."
Huo Xiaozheng let out a cold snort.
Huo Yueze decided to come clean. "Fine, fine. That girl did confess to me."
The gossip fire in Huo Guining's eyes was about to ignite. "Did you accept? Huh? Huh?"
Huo Xiaozheng pushed her back into her seat with one hand. "Sit properly!"
Huo Yueze sighed. "No, I didn't. We're both still minors. It's immature to talk about this kind of thing now."
Huo Guining was as excited as if she had been the one confessed to. "Big brother, what does it feel like to be confessed to?"
Huo Yueze thought seriously for a moment before answering, "A bit nerve-wracking."
"Why?" Huo Guining looked confused. "Shouldn't it be something to be happy about?"
How to explain this to a 6-year-old sister? Huo Yueze looked at Huo Xiaozheng nervously, his tone pleading, "Uncle..."
Huo Xiaozheng glanced at him, leaving the siblings hanging for a while before saying, "It's only a happy thing when the person you like confesses to you."
"Otherwise, it can be quite troublesome."
Huo Guining, with no experience in love, opened her mouth in an O shape.
She envied this kind of emotional journey. Unlike her, who could only observe... or overhear.
