On the night before New Year’s Eve, the snack street was adorned with beautiful lanterns, glowing brightly and brimming with the spirit of the holiday.
“This snack street opened last year. There is quite a variety of snacks, though one time Tao Luo had some spicy hot pot here and got an upset stomach, so we should avoid that place.”
Yan Chengfeng said, “I don’t come here often, but since the cafeteria auntie went home for the New Year, and since you wanted me to stay with you for Spring Festival, I had no choice but to…”
Zhen Ning turned his head and gave Yan Chengfeng a slight glance.
Yan Chengfeng tried to keep a straight face, but his smugness was impossible to hide.
Realizing that if he kept talking, there was a high chance Zhen Ning would turn around and head straight back to the base, Yan Chengfeng wisely decided to stop.
They wove through the crowd, walking side by side.
It dawned on Yan Chengfeng that asking “Do you want me to spend the Spring Festival with you?” sounded a bit childish.
But no matter how hard he racked his brain, he just couldn’t figure out what Zhen Ning was really thinking. In the end, he decided to just ask outright rather than waste time overthinking it.
After some time, he heard Zhen Ning say, “I want you to.”
Yan Chengfeng hadn’t expected such a straightforward response.
Zhen Ning paused briefly before adding a specific reason. “Training together at the base in duo queue will be more efficient than solo queue. Also, if you’re here during the five-day holiday, I can use a temporary mark instead of a suppressant once…”
Yan Chengfeng was stunned, then anger flared up instantly. “So, so it’s just for those reasons? Just for a temporary mark? You—”
He noticed Zhen Ning’s eyelashes tremble slightly as he averted his gaze.
Yan Chengfeng stared at Zhen Ning’s profile, and for once, his brain worked quickly. Suddenly, realization struck, and a subtle smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
Zhen Ning was hiding his true emotions.
In that moment, the real reason didn’t seem so important to Yan Chengfeng anymore. Just hearing Zhen Ning say he wanted him to stay was enough.
When he snapped back to reality, he found Zhen Ning had stopped in front of a small, pastel-decorated shop.
“This place seems to be… selling donuts.” Yan Chengfeng frowned. “At this time of night, instead of having some warm noodles, why are you going for sweets right away?”
Zhen Ning looked into Yan Chengfeng’s eyes and said gently, “But they look delicious.”
Yan Chengfeng: “…”
“Well, having dessert to whet your appetite before a meal… Just don’t fill up too much.”
He awkwardly changed his tune. “There’s a long line here, so maybe there’s something special about this place. We… we can try it.”
Donuts, lined up in rows inside the transparent display case, offered a visual appeal that far exceeded their actual taste. Yan Chengfeng had little interest in sweets, preferring more conventional meals and snacks.
But Zhen Ning stood by the window, his profile serene as he examined the display closely.
Yan Chengfeng’s heart inexplicably calmed as well, and he turned to browse with him.
His eyes landed on a tray of donuts, and he paused in confusion. “What… is this shape? Why does it look so strange?”
Typically, donuts were circular, but the ones he pointed at had an unusual half-arc shape. After staring for a while without understanding, Yan Chengfeng assumed they were just defective products.
Zhen Ning looked for a moment and shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Yan Chengfeng furrowed his brows, scanning the colorful array of donuts for a long time before finally shaking his head. “Never mind, you pick a flavor you like. None of these really seem to suit me—”
A sharp-eyed shop assistant noticed them.
It wasn’t clear if she had even heard Yan Chengfeng’s remarks, but she enthusiastically said, “Oh! You have a great eye! The one you pointed at is one of our shop’s special surprise edition donuts!”
Yan Chengfeng: “…?”
As she spoke, the shop assistant used a small tong to take the donut out of the display case.
Yan Chengfeng felt a headache coming on from this kind of forced sale. “Uh, wait a moment. First of all, we never said we wanted this one, and besides, one is enough for us—”
However, the shop assistant had completely mastered the secret to success for a street food vendor—she skillfully ignored what she didn’t want to hear and shamelessly carried on.
With a cheerful smile, she slid two strangely shaped curved donuts onto small wooden sticks and, without giving them a choice, firmly placed one in Yan Chengfeng’s hand and the other in Zhen Ning’s.
She spoke in a naturally lilting tone. “This one has a strawberry glaze, topped with popping candy, and is filled with real strawberry jam. It’s a favorite among many omega customers! And don’t be put off by its unusual shape—it’s designed with a fun little surprise inside~”
Yan Chengfeng: “No, I already said I don’t want—”
But in the next second, the shop assistant took hold of both their wrists and brought their hands together, inch by inch. “Just like this, yes, perfect… Look!”
Zhen Ning: “…”
Yan Chengfeng: “…!”
The two oddly shaped donuts—or rather, donut strips—when placed together, formed a complete heart shape.
The shop assistant beamed. “This is one of our most popular items, called ‘Complete Because of You.’ Many couples come here just to take pictures with it~”
“You two must be a couple, right?” She cranked up her sales pitch to the max. “In that case, if you take a photo holding the donut together for our couple’s wall, you’ll get a buy-one-get-one-free deal! One donut for a whole lot of love—isn’t that a great deal?”
She smiled as she spoke, then looked at Yan Chengfeng with a slightly puzzled expression. “Oh, by the way, what were you saying earlier? I didn’t quite catch that. Could you repeat it?”
Author’s note:
Shop assistant: There’s no donut I can’t sell.
