Upon hearing this, Lin Xiche’s grandfather’s expression took on a meaningful look, and he didn’t press the matter further. Afterward, he continued talking to Xu Fang, and his attitude had noticeably softened.
After chatting with his grandfather for a while, Xu Fang prepared to leave when he saw that the old man was getting tired.
Xu Fang picked up his bag and stood up. At that moment, Lin Xiche’s grandfather suddenly glanced at her and said to Xu Fang, “This girl may be a bit foolish, but…”
Lin Xiche’s grandfather struggled to find words and couldn’t say anything for a while. He finally waved his hand and said, “Just treat her well since she seems to like you so much.”
Upon hearing this, Xu Fang paused for a moment and then nodded, saying, “I will.”
Lin Xiche, who was sitting nearby, had a strange expression. She parted her lips as if to say something but ultimately remained silent. She sat cross-legged on the sofa and watched as Xu Fang opened the door and left, only reacting afterward.
Lin Xiche jumped up, leaving behind the words, “I’ll walk him out, Grandfather. You should go to bed early,” before grabbing the keys from the shoe cabinet and heading out the door. As the door closed, the light inside the room disappeared, leaving the hallway in complete darkness. The motion-activated lights didn’t turn on, and Lin Xiche instinctively stomped her foot.
The lights remained off.
Lin Xiche stomped her foot again.
Meanwhile, in the darkness, Xu Fang’s voice sounded softly.
“Don’t stomp; the entire building might collapse.”
Lin Xiche wondered, “Why aren’t the lights on?”
Xu Fang had just reached the floor below, and he heard her footsteps. He activated the flashlight on his phone, providing dim light along with the moonlight. He walked up to her and took her hand, leading her downstairs.
Only the lights on this floor were not working, and the lights on the lower floors lit up one by one as they descended, following the sound of their footsteps.
The corridor was somewhat narrow, and Xu Fang led her in front. He suddenly remembered what Lin Xiche’s grandfather had said earlier and chuckled softly, “Aren’t you afraid of your grandfather getting even more confused when you come out like this?”
“Confused about what?” Before Xu Fang could continue, Lin Xiche reacted and said seriously, “There’s no confusion. I just really like you.”
Xu Fang turned to look at her, but before he could react, she continued, “What do you think your grandfather meant earlier?”
Xu Fang’s thoughts were still on the warm moment from earlier, and he hesitated for a few seconds before responding, “Huh?”
Lin Xiche said, “It seems like he doesn’t believe what I said.”
“…” Xu Fang recalled her earlier statement about thirty years and thirteen years, and he looked at her as if she were a fool. “Thirteen years? I hadn’t even lost all my baby teeth back then.”
Lin Xiche looked innocent. “But I was telling the truth about the secret crush.”
As they stepped out of the building, Xu Fang stopped and signaled with his eyes for her to go back.
Xu Fang’s bicycle was parked in the nearby bike shed. He searched for the keys in his bag while walking towards it.
“But I didn’t mean for him to believe the time I mentioned. After all, when bragging, don’t we always exaggerate things?” Lin Xiche followed him and said, “My main point was the fact that you secretly liked me.”
“When you exaggerate like that,” Xu Fang replied, “it makes it seem like you’re just bragging about everything.”
Lin Xiche thought about it for a moment and found that there was some truth to it. She suddenly felt a bit perplexed but didn’t say anything more. Instead, she stood beside him.
The streetlights in the community were dim, likely due to years of use. The warm yellow light from the streetlights and the bright moonlight intersected, creating a hazy beauty.
One of Xu Fang’s feet was on the pedal, and the other was on the ground for balance. The temperature had dropped again, so he put on the hood of his jacket and adjusted his clothes while looking down.
His eyelashes were long, casting a shadow beneath his eyes. His eyes were lowered, giving him a somewhat cold and indifferent appearance. His lower lip was full, with a pale color and a gentle curve.
Lin Xiche licked her lips and suddenly grabbed the hand he was using to adjust his clothes. With her other hand, she pointed upwards and said to him, “Look, the moon is so round tonight.”
Xu Fang looked up, about to respond with something like “Isn’t the moon on the Little New Year’s Day supposed to be less round?” But before he could say anything, Lin Xiche’s lips met his.
Her lips seemed to have bumped into his teeth, causing a slight stinging sensation.
Her lips were wet and soft.
She was kissing him.
The height difference between the two was significant, and even though Xu Fang was sitting on the bicycle, Lin Xiche still had to exert some effort to reach him.
She tiptoed and found that she was still a bit short, so she resolutely jumped up.
Xu Fang instinctively reached out to support her, letting out a pained groan.
Before he could react, she broke free from his grasp and ran towards the door.
Until she reached the door, she finally turned back and waved vigorously at him, saying, “Pipi, goodbye! Be careful on your way, and remember to sleep early! Goodbye, Pipi!”
After saying this, she used her key to open the door and hurried up the stairs with quick steps.
Leaving Xu Fang standing there in a daze for half a minute, he touched his lips with his hand and suddenly burst into laughter. He looked up, and the voice-activated light downstairs in Lin Xichi’s building was already lit.
She was indeed fast.
Xu Fang stepped on the pedals and rode his bicycle out of the residential complex.
Thinking about how she had turned back just now, speaking at double her usual speed, and her cheeks seemed to have turned quite red. He couldn’t help but smile.
The next day, following her biological clock from school, Lin Xichi woke up at seven o’clock. After breakfast, she sat beside her grandfather and played a game of chess.
Lin Xichi had played chess with her grandfather quite a few times, and although she hadn’t won many times, she still enjoyed it.
As they played chess and chatted, Lin Xichi suddenly thought of something and casually asked, “By the way, Grandpa, did Geng Geng move over here?”
Her grandfather contemplated the chessboard and spoke slowly, “Yes, she moved here in November.”
“Oh? Why did she move here?”
“She said your parents’ place was too noisy, and she wanted to find a quieter place to study.”
Unlike Lin Xichi, Lin Xigeng had chosen to live in the school dormitory since the beginning of her high school years and only came home once a week. With the pressure of senior year, it was understandable that she didn’t want to be disturbed by the noise at home.
Lin Xichi didn’t ask any further.
Lin Xichi accompanied her grandfather to buy groceries and cook. When they had some free time, she studied her professional books and chatted with Xu Fang. The day passed quickly, and before she knew it, it was already dark outside.
Her grandfather went to bed punctually at nine o’clock every day, and since the living room was close to his room, Lin Xichi didn’t want to disturb him, so she went back to her room to play with her phone.
She thought about how once it passed midnight, it would be her birthday. She felt a bit excited, wondering when Xu Fang would come to see her. Normally, he was quite punctual.
Between 11:55 PM and midnight, at any time within that range, he would arrive.
She didn’t urge him; she felt that since they were in a relationship now, he should take the initiative a bit more and not always arrive exactly on time, as he used to.
He showed no sincerity at all.
She lay on her bed, lost in thought, and suddenly heard the door of her house seeming to open and then close again. Lin Xichi was startled and checked the time.
It was already half-past nine; who could it be at this hour?
Lin Xichi looked puzzled in the direction of the door, starting to doubt whether she had heard things. Then, she heard footsteps, and the sound was getting closer to her room.
She suddenly realized and immediately jumped up to lock the door.
There was a brief pause after the footsteps, followed by Lin Xigeng’s clear voice, “Why did you lock the door?”
Hearing this voice, Lin Xichi breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door, “Why are you back? Isn’t it just after evening self-study?”
“I skipped it,” Lin Xigeng casually tossed her school bag to the ground and lay down on the bed tiredly. “Well, I only skipped half a period.”
Lin Xichi sat cross-legged next to her, curious, “How did you manage to sneak out? I remember you need a reader’s card, and the security guards won’t let you out without it.”
“Yeah,” Lin Xigeng looked proud, “I used yours.”
“…”
“They don’t really check carefully. When they saw I had this card, they let me out.”
Lin Xichi pinched her face and then noticed that her complexion was paler than before, her long hair that used to reach her waist had been cut to her shoulders, and there were dark circles under her eyes. She looked like she hadn’t had enough sleep, and she even seemed a bit thinner than when Lin Xichi last saw her in October.
“Why do you look so terrible?” Lin Xichi frowned. “I feel like when I was in senior year, I looked a hundred times prettier than you.”
Lin Xigeng glanced at her and didn’t bother with her, getting up to grab her clothes and head to the bathroom for a shower.
While Lin Xigeng was in the shower, Lin Xichi became bored again. She lit up her phone and checked it, only to find that Xu Fang still hadn’t contacted her. She sighed disappointingly, wondering if he had forgotten.
Perhaps it was the speed she had developed from living in the dormitory, but just ten minutes had passed, and Lin Xigeng had finished her shower. Shivering, she jumped into bed and crawled under the covers.
Seeing her like this, Lin Xichi couldn’t help but say, “Are you sure it’s okay to skip class like this? Doesn’t the dormitory do roll call?.”
“It’s fine,” Lin Xigeng mumbled, “We’re close to the college entrance exam now, and the teachers are lenient. There are two students in our class dating, and the teachers are turning a blind eye to it.”
“Oh, I see.”
Lin Xigeng acted as if she didn’t care at all, “At most, I’ll call my parents.”
As the two of them continued chatting, Lin Xigeng gradually drifted off to sleep, her voice becoming slower and sleepier. After struggling for a while, she said, “I’m going to sleep for a while, wake me up when it’s almost midnight.”
Lin Xichi couldn’t help but tease her, “You want me to wish you a happy birthday and then wake you up?”
“I only slept at around four last night…” Lin Xigeng’s voice became lower and slower, “I’m so tired…”
And then she really fell asleep.
Knowing that senior year was indeed exhausting, Lin Xichi didn’t wake her up and tucked her in with the blankets.
Afraid that the sound and vibration of her phone would wake up Lin Xigeng, Lin Xichi turned it on silent mode and played with it for a while. When she checked the time again, it had just passed ten o’clock. She was feeling a bit tired herself now, so she got up, turned off the light, and set an alarm for half-past eleven.
She didn’t know how long it had been, but Lin Xichi suddenly felt a bit anxious. Her heart skipped a beat, and she opened her eyes. Everything was dark, and the only light came from the faint moonlight streaming through the window. She reached for her phone on the bedside table, feeling a bit dazed as she stared at the time in the top left corner of the locked screen.
1:30 AM.
Either her alarm hadn’t gone off or she hadn’t heard it.
The screen also showed dozens of missed calls.
Lin Xigeng’s stirring had woken her up a little, and she asked sleepily, “What time is it now? Is it past midnight?”
This made Lin Xichi suddenly remember something, and she took a deep breath. She immediately got up, opened the door of her room, and ran out. She didn’t even have time to put on her coat, and she was still on the phone as she opened the front door.
The hallway was still dark, and the property management hadn’t fixed the broken light yet.
Lin Xichi put her phone to her ear and dialed a number. She was about to run downstairs when she heard a pleasant ringtone nearby.
She subconsciously looked down.
Xu Fang was squatting in front of her house, wearing a black coat that made his face look exceptionally pale. He glanced up when he heard her and his eyes seemed even deeper in the darkness.
Then, he hoarsely muttered a curse, “Damn.”
“It’s freezing.”
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