“Exactly! There are so many cats and dogs here, I haven’t even remembered all their names,” Lin Xiche found a quiet corner and happily spoke to him. “Then the other day, the director told me that the dog is called Pipi, and I remembered it.”
Thinking for a moment, Lin Xiche added, “So every time I miss you, I go to play with it.”
“…” Xu Fang paused for a moment, as if he couldn’t help but laugh. “Then thank it for me.”
“Thank it? What for? I’ll pass on the message for you.”
“Thank it for taking care of my family’s dog.”
Lin Xiche: “…”
Xu Fang turned the conversation around, and his mood improved considerably. He licked his lips, and in a low voice, he asked, “Have you been going to that rescue center every day recently? How’s it going?”
When she mentioned this, Lin Xiche immediately started talking, telling him everything that had happened during this period, even though she had already told him once on WeChat.
After a while, Lin Xiche suddenly remembered something and called out, “Pipi.”
“Hmm?”
Lin Xiche pursed her lips, her tone tinged with a bit of unease and disappointment. “How long can you talk to me on the phone? Is it only for ten minutes?”
“Ten minutes?” Xu Fang lightly laughed, with a hint of playfulness in his voice. “Do you think I’m in prison?”
Lin Xiche didn’t react right away. “Huh?”
Xu Fang’s voice lazily replied, “I have a day off today.”
Around him, there was a lot of noise, the clamor of a group of guys. Against this noisy background, Lin Xiche heard him continue, “I can use my phone until evening.”
The way Xu Fang said it was like…
Originally, they had agreed that he would give her a monthly allowance of one hundred yuan, but then on the day of the payment, he suddenly told her that the allowance had been increased to one million yuan.
At this moment, Lin Xiche was so excited that she couldn’t even speak for several seconds. Then she confirmed with him, “You can only return the phone in the evening? In the evening? What time is ‘evening’…”
“Five o’clock,” Xu Fang replied in a relaxed tone.
Hearing this, Lin Xiche took her phone away from her ear and checked the time.
It was just past nine in the morning.
By this calculation, she still had eight hours.
Lin Xiche quickly told Xu Fang on the phone, “Wait for me to call you back,” and then hung up. She said her goodbyes to the dogs in the kennel and informed Yu Ni. After packing up, she headed out.
It was still early, but Lin Xiche walked back faster than usual.
On WeChat, Xu Fang sent her a message asking what she was doing.
As Lin Xiche continued walking, she replied, “I’m heading home now.”
Lin Xiche: “I’ll call you back when I get home.”
After a while, Xu Fang seemed to have a sixth sense. He sent her a message that looked stern and firm, even from thousands of kilometers away, it felt like he was scolding her.
Xu Fang: “Don’t use your phone while walking.”
Despite his warning, Lin Xiche continued to send him voice messages every five steps.
She rambled on and on.
When she arrived at the train station, Lin Xiche opened her backpack, took out her water bottle, and took a sip of water. She looked down at her phone and saw that Xu Fang hadn’t replied yet. She wondered aloud, “Why aren’t you answering me?”
Coincidentally, the train arrived.
Lin Xiche boarded the train and walked to the last row of seats.
At the same time, her phone vibrated twice, and Xu Fang sent her two messages.
Xu Fang: [Image]
Xu Fang: “Didn’t finish listening.”
The image showed their chat window, with a row of voice message bubbles, all sent by Lin Xiche. Behind those bubbles, there was still a small red dot.
A small red dot appeared for unread voice messages.
Seeing this, Lin Xiche scrolled back through their chat history and realized that she had already sent over fifty voice messages. According to the screenshot Xu Fang sent, he had only listened to half of them.
Lin Xiche waited impatiently for him to finish listening. Then she made a request: “You have to reply to every one of my voice messages.”
She counted the number of bubbles: “I sent you fifty-two, so you have to send me fifty-two.”
Xu Fang: “…”
After a string of exclamation marks, he remained silent.
Lin Xiche thought he might find her request unreasonable and didn’t pay much attention. She was about to change the topic when Xu Fang sent her a message: “1. Okay.”
She blinked, a little slow to react.
Xu Fang: “2. In the dorm, roommates are chatting.”
Xu Fang: “3. Just got my phone back, told my parents, and I’ll call you after I finish listening to what you sent.”
…
…
Xu Fang: “51. Why so much to say?”
Starting from Xu Fang’s second message, Lin Xiche understood that he was complying with her request.
She propped her head up with one hand and waited for him to send the fifty-second message without interrupting.
But after a long wait, she didn’t receive the last message.
Lin Xiche hesitated and scrolled up to check her last voice message. Its content was very normal: “I’ve arrived at the train station, waiting for the train. I need to get some change; my transportation card seems to be out of money…”
There was nothing unusual about this message.
Why did he seem to not know how to reply?
The next moment, Xu Fang sent her the final message: “52. Zero.”
Lin Xiche’s brow furrowed slightly, not understanding the meaning of his response.
However, she could finally speak, and Lin Xiche was moved to the point of tears as she replied, “What’s the meaning of your last message? Didn’t I tell you that my transportation card has no money?”
Xu Fang: “No money means zero.”
Lin Xiche hesitated.
That did make some sense.
But she still felt that something was off. After thinking for a moment, she scrolled back up to look at the messages.
She pondered for a moment. Zero, when combined with the preceding number, could be pronounced as “520.”
Thinking of this, Lin Xiche licked her lips, and her palm inexplicably felt a bit moist. After considering it, she cautiously asked, “Does it have any other meaning besides this?”
After half a minute, Xu Fang sent an unprecedented voice message.
His tone sounded a bit unnatural.
“There’s nothing.”
At this moment, there was no one at home. Lin Xiche took off her shoes and quickly returned to her room. The first thing she did when she got home was to tell Xu Fang that she wanted to video call with him.
Xu Fang agreed.
Lin Xiche stood in front of the mirror, tidied her hair, applied some lipstick, and after carefully confirming that everything was in order, she initiated the video call.
Xu Fang answered quickly.
The lighting on his end wasn’t very good.
In the video, Xu Fang’s skin had become darker, making him look more rugged. He was sitting next to several people, and they all crowded around, adding four more heads to the frame. Lin Xiche heard him curse, “Damn,” and the screen shook as if he had flipped from the lower bunk to the upper bunk.
After that commotion, amidst a blurred image, Lin Xiche heard him say, “Get lost, quick.”
The screen continued to sway.
A few seconds later, Lin Xiche finally saw Xu Fang’s face again.
He had short-cropped hair, revealing a smooth forehead and ears. His features were deep and three-dimensional, with a hint of maturity that had replaced some of his youthful appearance.
Lin Xiche stared at him without blinking.
Xu Fang’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and after a while, he said, “Wait a moment.” Then he stuck his head out again and shouted to someone, “Throw me the earphones.”
There was another series of collisions and the creaking of wood.
When he finally plugged in the earphones, Lin Xiche spoke and asked him, “Pipi, what are you doing over there?”
“Training.”
“Anything else?”
“Eating, showering, sleeping.”
“…,” Lin Xiche found him rather uninteresting.
Lin Xiche sighed, “Can’t you be a bit more detailed?”
“We learned marksmanship, crawling, and we have to stand in military posture every day, as well as run,” Xu Fang’s voice was lazy and relaxed, as if he thought these things weren’t worth mentioning, but since she wanted to know, he listed them one by one. “Oh, occasionally we also plant vegetables, clean up, and raise pigs.”
“They raise pigs in the military?!”
…
…
Time is truly a mysterious thing.
When Xu Fang was not around, Lin Xiche visited the animal rescue center every day. She would return home to cook for her grandfather, go shopping, play chess, and share her day with Lin Xigeng. She would also spend time studying her professional books. The days seemed to pass at a reasonable pace.
However, when she was with Xu Fang, time seemed to fly by. They could spend hours just talking and doing nothing else. It felt like taking a short nap during the day and waking up to find that it was already evening.
Time quickly moved from 9 in the morning to 5 in the evening. However, Lin Xiche’s mood was not as gloomy as it had been on the day she sent Xu Fang away. This time, she could even jokingly tell him not to get any feces on him while cleaning.
Xu Fang was infuriated by her remark.
Every Sunday was Xu Fang’s day off, and their superiors would give them access to their phones in the morning, taking them back in the evening. Having this one day off made Lin Xiche look forward to it.
Waiting for this day seemed easier than she had initially thought.
Lin Xiche continued to go to the rescue center every day at exactly 7:30 in the morning. Except for Sundays, regardless of the weather, she was unwavering in her commitment.
Her responsibilities at the rescue center had expanded beyond cleaning and feeding. Now, she also bathed and groomed the cats and dogs.
Lin Xiche made many new friends there, and the animals started to warm up to her as well.
She really loved the place.
One day, as Lin Xiche was packing up and leaving her house, she noticed Yuni standing nearby. Yuni appeared to be on the phone, speaking loudly, and she seemed to be crying.
Lin Xiche’s steps hesitated, and she thought that it might be awkward to approach her directly. She was about to return to her house when Yuni ended the call and sat down on the ground, shoulders trembling, looking very weak.
Lin Xiche hesitated for a moment and then walked over, quietly asking, “Yuni, are you okay?”
Soon, Yuni looked up with red eyes and whispered, “I’m fine.”
Since it was her personal matter, Lin Xiche had no intention of probing further. She took a pack of tissues from her bag and handed it to her.
Lin Xiche wasn’t good at comforting people, and at this moment, she didn’t know what to say. She felt that leaving might not be a good idea, so she stood beside Yuni, looking somewhat foolish.
After wiping away her tears, Yuni patted Lin Xiche’s shoulder and signaled for her to go back home. After that, she entered the restroom.
Lin Xiche stood there for a while and then, not long afterward, turned and left the compound.
On the other side,
Xu Fang had just finished dinner when the squad leader called him to the back of the house to feed the pigs.
Yutong followed behind him, holding a toothpick in his mouth and looking nonchalant.
The pigpen was made of brick walls and had a simple wooden roof.
Xu Fang walked into the pigpen, his lips pressed into a thin line, as he poured the feed into the troughs.
Yutong raised one hand, mimicking a pose for taking a picture, and said, “Our Xu Ge is born to be a pig feeder! Handsome as ever!”
Xu Fang glanced at him, then lowered his head again. He didn’t argue with Yutong and asked in a low voice, “What’s the date today?”
“The 6th, why?” Yutong replied while leaning on a nearby brick wall, casually tapping it. “Oh, the 10th is our departure day. Thinking about it, we’ll be free in just a few days. I can go see my Keke sister, and you can go see your Chichi.”
Xu Fang remained silent.
“Why?” Yutong extended his hand to pat Xu Fang’s shoulder. “It’s just a few days. Can’t you wait?”
For the first time, Xu Fang uttered a low “hmm” that sounded slightly heavy. He scoffed, “Can’t wait.”
Yutong let out a sigh. “Actually, I really want to see my Keke sister too.”
Xu Fang looked over, his expression ambiguous, as if he wanted to find the same emotions in Yutong.
But in the next moment, Yutong changed the topic. “But can you not stand in the pigpen, looking at the pigs, and making it seem like you miss your girlfriend so much?”
“…,” Xu Fang remained silent.
“This way, I might start feeling sorry for Chichi,” Yutong said, raising his hand and patting Xu Fang’s shoulder. “She’s not going to wait for you for just a few days, right?”
Xu Fang: “…”
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