Lin Xichi turned to the next page, staring at the blank paper, and suddenly didn’t know where to start. She scratched her head with the pen, feeling a bit puzzled. She then picked up her phone to search for advice online.
There were many different answers online, and they seemed comprehensive, but some were contradictory.
For example, one said, “You have to be good-looking.”
Seeing this, Lin Xichi didn’t even bother to look in the mirror and continued to browse other people’s answers in a good mood. But she quickly found another one that contradicted it: “Even if you’re good-looking, it won’t matter if he doesn’t like you.”
“…”
Lin Xichi continued to read for a while, and the more she read, the more she felt that it was unreliable. She closed her phone and stared blankly at the beige lined paper, her eyes vacant.
Soon, Lin Xichi figured it out. She thought of it as if it were studying, setting daily tasks and accomplishing them. Every day, she would make progress, and over time, it would surely yield results.
After all, learning was something she excelled at.
Slow and steady wins the race.
This kind of thing couldn’t be rushed; rushing would have a counterproductive effect.
Lin Xichi silently admonished herself and then noted the date in the upper right corner of the page.
DAY ONE: September 16, 2011, Saturday.
So, what should the plan be?
Lin Xichi had never done this kind of thing before and didn’t know how to go about it correctly. She could only follow her initial thoughts. She suddenly remembered that there were three basketball games in the Engineering Department tomorrow, so she would definitely see Xu Fang.
Thinking about how she had drunk his water today, Lin Xichi remembered that Xu Fang seemed to be mad at her.
The Architectural Department and the Mechanical Engineering Department would compete in the afternoon, and it would end around three o’clock. Thinking about this, Lin Xichi glanced at the lower right corner of her computer screen; it was almost nine o’clock now.
About six hours.
Because of a bottle of water, Xu Fang hadn’t spoken to her for six hours.
Lin Xichi pursed her lips, wrote the first plan slowly, and decided to give him a bottle of water when the basketball game ended tomorrow. She would also compliment him in a subtle way, not too obvious.
But then she thought about how many girls had given water today and had admired the male athletes with excitement after giving it. Lin Xichi felt that her plan was too cliché.
Moreover, Xu Fang hadn’t accepted water from other girls today, and she hadn’t seen him talking to any of them.
Perhaps he didn’t fall for this.
But there was only the basketball game tomorrow, and it seemed like there was nothing else she could do. Besides, the idea of giving him water still seemed necessary.
She decided to change her approach…
But she still had to give him a bottle of water since she had already promised. Lin Xichi pondered for a moment, hesitating to scratch out “one bottle” and change it to “a box.” She then added “TBD” (To Be Determined) after complimenting Xu Fang.
After making her decision, Lin Xichi didn’t dwell on it any longer. She stretched lazily, closed the notebook with satisfaction, and picked up her professional book to read.
Around ten o’clock, Nie Yue and Chen Hanyi returned to the dormitory at the same time, and they brought Lin Xichi a portion of scallion pancakes from the cafeteria. Lin Xichi hadn’t had dinner; she had only eaten some snacks to fill her stomach, and now she was hungry.
She thanked them with a smile and took a bite of the scallion pancake. Just when she was about to enjoy her food, Lin Xigeng called.
Lin Xichi blinked, having a premonition that she was going to talk about Xu Fang. She picked up her scallion pancake and left the dormitory, answering the phone in the hallway.
Lin Xichi leaned on the railing, gazing into the distance. “Hello?”
The evening breeze gently blew away the fatigue and heat of the day. A few faint stars twinkled in the sky, along with some drifting clouds. The view from here was broad, and besides a few academic buildings, Lin Xichi could also see a small part of the playground. However, due to her nearsightedness, she could only make out a few moving dots on the plastic running track.
From another angle, she could see the brightly lit outdoor basketball court.
It was a pleasant evening.
Lin Xigeng’s voice came through the phone, despite it being two hours later, she still sounded very excited. “Lin Xichi, I told you not to act impulsively. You didn’t do anything impulsive, did you?”
Lin Xichi was a bit puzzled. “What do you mean by acting impulsively?”
Lin Xigeng exploded, “I mean, did you confess to Brother Xu Fang?”
At this, Lin Xichi almost sprayed out the food she was chewing. Her tone also became excited. “How could that be? I’m not that foolish!”
“Oh.” Lin Xigeng sighed in relief. “That’s good then.”
“…Why do you have so many opinions about Xu Fang?” Lin Xichi recalled, but couldn’t figure out what Xu Fang had done to upset her. “You just said he’s tall and handsome.”
“I just said that casually. I thought he was next to you.” Lin Xigeng snorted and continued, “Brother Xu Fang’s temper is really bad. You should find someone with a good temper. Don’t let this illusion blind you.”
“What illusion?”
“Do you get a racing heart when you see him?”
Lin Xichi nodded. “Yes, when he gets close to me.”
“Do you feel really happy when you see him?”
“Yeah.”
“And when he gets too close to other girls, do you feel upset?”
“Yes, that too.”
“…” Lin Xigeng gave up after just three questions. She was now uninterested in continuing. “Do you feel this way about other guys? Have you met any other guys in college? S University is said to have a lot of handsome guys, right?”
“I’ve met a few,” Lin Xichi thought for a moment and frowned, “but how can they compare to Xu Fang?”
In fact, Lin Xichi’s thinking was quite simple.
Even if she didn’t have any romantic feelings for Xu Fang, among the few male friends she had made in college, none of them could shake Xu Fang’s position in her heart. So it was needless to say whether they would affect her mood.
Lin Xigeng understood her meaning and remained silent for a few seconds before asking again, “Then do you think Brother Xu Fang likes you?”
Hearing this question, Lin Xichi suddenly remembered what she had blurted out when she was drunk that day, the words “Pipi likes me.” Her thoughts at that time were truly just the kind of liking between friends.
However, Xu Fang’s reaction seemed significant, as if he was shocked and disbelieving. Lin Xichi tried to recall what he had replied but couldn’t quite remember it. All she could recall was that he had used the word “??” (idiot) twice.
Combining these two expressions, there were two possible interpretations.
Lin Xichi hesitated and asked, “Do you think I’m an idiot?”
Lin Xigeng now couldn’t stand her downplaying herself. She was afraid that Lin Xichi might have a wrong impression of herself, thinking that she was trying to climb too high by pursuing Xu Fang. “Definitely not.”
“Okay,” Lin Xichi affirmed and interrupted her, “then Xu Fang probably doesn’t like me.”
“…”
For some reason, Lin Xigeng suddenly felt a bit sympathetic towards Xu Fang.
The next day was Saturday.
The other three roommates had no plans, and it happened that the College of Agriculture had already selected the third-place team the day before. Today’s game was the last one, featuring the Department of Animal Medicine, which had several members from their class. However, the university’s sports department was handling the water supply, so they didn’t need to bring any.
Lin Xichi wanted to give water to Xu Fang, so she stopped by the supermarket on the way.
Until October, Lin Xichi’s living expenses were entirely managed by Xu Fang. On the last occasion, for Mid-Autumn Festival, Xu Fang had given her a thousand yuan, but after spending on transportation to go home and various other expenses, she didn’t have much money left.
Lin Xichi scanned the drinks section and noticed a box of water for 32 yuan. Although she could afford it, she suddenly noticed another type of water: five liters per bottle.
Normally, others would bring 500 ml bottles.
If she brought such a large bottle of water, she would have ten times more water than the others. Importantly, this large bottle was only 12 yuan.
She had saved 20 yuan.
But Lin Xichi’s motive wasn’t about saving money. She thought that not many people would bring such a large bottle of water. If she gave Xu Fang such a big bottle of water, it would make him look good. Maybe he wouldn’t be mad at her anymore. Once she figured it out, Lin Xichi happily picked up the bottle of water and headed to the checkout.
Her other three roommates were waiting outside the dorm. When they saw her carrying such a large bottle of water, Nie Yue’s eyes widened. “Why are you carrying such a big bottle of water?”
Lin Xichi blinked. “I’m going to give it to someone later.”
“…?”
Because Lin Xichi was watching a game from a different department than her roommates, she said goodbye to them at the entrance of the sports center and found He Ruliang and Ye Shaowen at their usual spot.
As soon as they saw each other, Ye Shaowen began teasing her about the water. Even He Ruliang, who had given up playing games, was looking at her with a weird expression.
Was it really that strange?
Lin Xichi, holding the water bottle, felt a bit embarrassed as she sat in her seat.
Suddenly, her idea of giving water to Xu Fang seemed a bit foolish.
Would Xu Fang refuse to drink it later?
Supporting her chin with the water bottle, Lin Xichi watched Xu Fang run and move on the basketball court. His black hair and red lips looked quite attractive. But today, he seemed to be scoring fewer goals and lacked enthusiasm.
Soon, the halftime whistle blew.
Xu Fang slapped hands with his teammates and lifted his shirt to wipe the sweat off his face. He was about to return to his seat to get some water when his eyes narrowed, suddenly noticing Lin Xichi sitting on his seat, holding the large water bottle.
“…”
Xu Fang walked over, somewhat puzzled. “What are you doing?”
Lin Xichi handed him the water bottle and said softly, “I brought you water.”
Xu Fang: “…”
He felt like he couldn’t handle this.
Xu Fang thought that Lin Xichi was a very peculiar creature. From her expression, it didn’t seem like she was joking when she brought him such a big bottle of water.
He remained silent for a moment.
However, this was within Lin Xichi’s expectations. She lowered her head and casually asked, “Aren’t you going to drink it?”
Laughter from his friends in the distance could be heard. Xu Fang didn’t need to think to know that they were making fun of him.
His temple twitched, and he was about to grab a normal-sized bottle of water from a nearby box when he suddenly noticed the somewhat downcast mood of Lin Xichi. Xu Fang raised an eyebrow, bent down to squat in front of her, and stared into her eyes. His impromptu words changed into something else.
“Well, you have to give me some too then.”
Leave a Reply