“…”
Xufang felt like he was talking about love and romance with a fool every day.
Seeing Lin Xichi still wearing that expression as if demanding a promise, Xufang’s eyelashes twitched, and he changed the motion of his hand from caressing her cheek to pinching it, with a not-so-gentle force, accompanied by a cold smirk.
“Have you seen me taking care of my dad?”
Lin Xichi blinked and nodded immediately, “Yes, I have.”
“…”
“I’ve also seen you kneeling beside the bed, washing his feet.”
“…”
“In the future, just take care of me like that.”
“…”
Xufang couldn’t argue with her, and he couldn’t do anything to her. His face was clouded with anger, but he couldn’t find a way to retaliate. He said, with no smile on his face, “It’s pretty simple.”
Hearing this, Lin Xichi’s eyes flickered, and she lowered her head to hold his hand, no longer joking.
If she ever felt insecure.
Then Xufang would definitely feel the same way.
The anxieties brought about by their long separation were not feelings that only she could sense.
These feelings were shared between the two people in this relationship.
“Xufang.”
“Yeah?”
“Will you ever want to break up with me in the future?”
“…”
Lin Xichi poked his cheek and asked, “Why are you ignoring me?”
Xufang’s expression became even uglier, and his tone was unfriendly, “I don’t want to respond to such a stupid question.”
Lin Xichi persisted, “So, will you?”
“Hell no.” Xufang’s face turned cold, his palm stroking the back of her neck, inch by inch, and his voice lowered, with a faint sigh, “Stop bringing this up, please.”
“Oh,” Lin Xichi used her finger to poke his eyelashes and seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, “In that case, we can always be together.”
You don’t want to, and I definitely won’t want to.
So we can always be together.
The list of students recommended for graduate study was released in the first semester of senior year.
It was still early in the semester, and September was only halfway through.
Lin Xichi received her graduate study recommendation results a few days before Xufang did. She chose the direction of clinical veterinary medicine.
As for the national defense students, after submitting their graduate study applications, they had to undergo a medical examination at the hospital. This additional step delayed the results.
Although they both knew that Xufang would definitely get the slot, when the news was officially confirmed, Lin Xichi was still incredibly excited and happy.
It felt like a heart that had been hanging in the air had finally landed.
During that period, Xufang was busy with his graduation project.
The selection of research topics for national defense students started earlier than regular university students. They began selecting topics in August, and their graduation projects were due in March of the following year. In contrast, regular university students started selecting topics in December.
Before graduation, national defense students had to spend two more months in the military, similar to internships for regular university students.
Despite the good news, Lin Xichi insisted on taking Xufang out for a meal to celebrate. It was a way to mark the occasion.
Many senior students had already started their off-campus internships in this semester, but most national defense students were still on campus. As they walked to the restaurant, Xufang ran into quite a few familiar faces.
They didn’t dwell on it and went to the barbecue restaurant they used to frequent.
Lin Xichi was in an exceptionally good mood and even ordered two bottles of beer, which was unusual for her.
Her alcohol tolerance was low; one glass could make her tipsy, and two glasses could get her drunk. However, she had a good palate for alcohol. The only symptom was that she became a bit sillier than usual, but she didn’t cry or make a scene.
Thinking that she ordered two bottles with both of them present, Lin Xichi reasoned that it was like each of them having one.
Xufang didn’t stop her.
However, when the two bottles of beer arrived, Lin Xichi immediately hugged one of them tightly and then opened the other one, pouring herself a little into a glass, and started drinking from it.
Seeing Xufang’s expression, which was difficult to decipher, Lin Xichi scolded him, “Don’t you drink all the time?”
Xufang didn’t want to argue with her but couldn’t help getting annoyed by her stingy behavior. He retorted, “Don’t expect me to take you back if you get drunk later.”
Lin Xichi glanced at him but didn’t respond, instead drinking her beer in big gulps.
She looked confident, holding one bottle tightly to her chest and drinking from the other.
“Xufang, I’m so happy.”
What’s there to be happy about with a little bit of alcohol?
Xufang lowered his head to barbecue meat and glanced at her with hidden emotions.
“It’s not about the alcohol.” Lin Xichi lowered her head, took out her phone from her pocket, and showed him a picture, “It’s about them, a couple from our school. Both of them got offers to study at Cambridge.”
Xufang looked at the two people in the picture but didn’t recognize them. “Do you know them?”
“I don’t.”
“Then why are you happy?”
“I’m just envious of them,” Lin Xichi hiccupped and said slowly, “They both have high intelligence, and we only have mine.”
Xufang’s movements paused, and he immediately looked at her with a deep gaze.
“But now that you’ve also got a scholarship offer, I feel like our average intelligence hasn’t been lowered to below normal.”
“…” Xufang really wanted to walk away right then.
Lin Xichi quickly finished one bottle of beer and opened a new one.
She was drinking so unrestrainedly that Xufang couldn’t help but focus all his attention on her, feeling that she was genuinely happy and not just using alcohol to drown her sorrows. This put his mind at ease.
After two bottles of beer, Lin Xichi’s consciousness became a bit blurry, and she became slower in her movements, acting a bit foolish.
When Xufang saw her trying to pick up meat from the plate with her bare hands while barbecuing, he was frightened half to death.
Xufang simply walked over and sat down beside her, holding both her hands to prevent her from moving recklessly. With his other hand, he continued to barbecue the meat and fed it to her when it was ready.
Once she was full, Xufang tidied up and helped her up.
They paid the bill and left.
Even though she could still walk, but she stumbled and swayed as if she were a toddler just learning to walk. She kept talking incessantly, constantly pestering Xufang to carry her.
Worried that she might fall, Xufang didn’t say much and crouched down to lift her up.
Lin Xichi rested her chin on his shoulder and chatted away, her hands restless, often rubbing against his face as if he were a toy.
Xufang’s hands were occupied holding her legs, so he couldn’t free them, except to remind her when she covered his eyes.
The rest of the time, he let her fidget as she pleased.
Eventually, she stopped talking about anything else and just kept calling him.
“Xufang.”
“Yes.”
“Xufang.”
“Yes.”
…
…
“How many times have I called you?”
“Forty-three times.”
After talking for a long time, Lin Xichi seemed to get tired, and her voice sounded drowsy. “Xufang.”
Xufang was unusually patient and replied softly, “Yes.”
She moved her cheek closer to him, her breath brushing against his face, carrying the scent of alcohol, yet not unpleasant at all.
“It seems like we’ve grown up.”
“Yes.” Xufang looked back and could see her long, dense eyelashes and her clear, innocent eyes, just like in all the moments they had shared before. “We’ve grown up.”
Over the next three years, Xufang pursued his master’s degree at the military academy in B city, while Lin Xichi continued to stay at S University.
Both of them had their own responsibilities, and during these three years, they had to spend more time apart than together. However, Xufang’s graduate program had longer breaks during holidays and summer vacations compared to his undergraduate years.
During breaks, Lin Xichi occasionally visited B city to spend time with him. Likewise, when Xufang had some free time, he would come to S University to see her.
They stayed in touch every day, and during breaks, they had more time to be with each other. The three years passed, and it wasn’t too difficult to endure.
In Lin Xichi’s eyes, even though Xufang couldn’t be with her all the time, when she felt down or wanted to be with him, she could find him.
Both of them completed their three-year master’s programs. Lin Xichi graduated half a year earlier.
After graduation, Lin Xichi returned to Xicheng. After several interviews, she found a job at a pet hospital in the city center, which was quite far from her grandfather’s house. She had to wake up an hour earlier every day to commute.
After struggling for a month, Lin Xichi rented a one-bedroom apartment near the hospital. It cost her an extra 3,000 yuan a month, but it gave her an extra hour of sleep each day, making her feel unexpectedly happy.
Lin Xichi, tired from her work at the pet hospital, was back at her apartment in Xicheng. She often found herself too exhausted to do much after work and would take a quick shower and fall asleep.
On this day, she had worked overtime again, and when she returned home as usual, she sent a long string of messages to Xufang, mostly about what had happened that day. After typing the last word, she finally felt relieved and pressed the power button to turn off her phone.
After some time, perhaps just ten minutes or so, though it felt like a whole day due to her fatigue, Lin Xichi heard her phone ring.
It irritated her, and in her half-asleep state, she fumbled for her phone to answer the call. She was too tired to have any clear awareness and didn’t even know who was calling; she just hoped the caller would hurry up and finish the conversation so she could hang up.
The caller seemed to sense her lack of enthusiasm and his tone became enigmatic.
“Tired? Go to sleep.”
The next day, Lin Xichi got up early.
While munching on a piece of bread at the dining table, she suddenly remembered the phone call from the previous night. She wasn’t entirely sure if it had been a hallucination in her half-awake state, so she curiously checked her call history.
To her surprise, there it was.
Last night at 10:30, Xufang had called her.
Lin Xichi blinked her eyes, struggling to recall what he had said last night. Failing to remember, she gave up and sent him a message on WeChat, asking about it. Afterward, she got ready for work and headed to the hospital.
At work, Lin Xichi also noticed that Xufang hadn’t replied to her messages.
She didn’t dwell on it and went about her duties. In the morning, a young patient arrived, a male kitten just over 12 weeks old. He looked lethargic and unenergetic.
Lin Xichi asked the cat’s owner about the general situation. The cat had received its first vaccination two weeks ago and started vomiting and showing signs of an allergy about half a week later. The symptoms persisted, so they decided to bring him to the hospital.
Lin Xichi didn’t think too much and grabbed a thermometer, shook it gently, and then applied some lubricant. She carefully lifted the cat’s tail and inserted the thermometer into its rectum.
After one minute, she removed it, wiped it clean, and looked at the reading.
40.2 degrees Celsius.
The normal body temperature for a healthy cat ranged from 38 to 39.5 degrees Celsius, so this temperature was indeed on the high side.
The cat’s owner, a young girl, looked worried as she kept her eyes on her kitten. Her voice trembled as she spoke, “Doctor, it’s my first time raising a cat, but I always ask when I don’t understand something.”
“I checked online, and it said that cats should be at least 10 weeks old before getting vaccinated. So I waited until he turned 10 weeks old before taking him to the hospital for vaccination… That should be okay, right?”
Lin Xichi reassured her, “You did the right thing.”
She made a diagnosis of feline distemper and prescribed medication for the cat. As she watched the kitten in a critical condition and the girl on the verge of tears, she couldn’t help feeling a bit sad.
Lin Xichi didn’t work overtime that day. After finishing at her normal time, she found herself not very hungry. She bought a cup of instant noodles and some snacks at a nearby convenience store and headed home.
As she ate, she checked her phone.
Busy as she was, she suddenly realized that a whole day had passed, and Xufang still hadn’t replied to her.
Lin Xichi frowned and sent him a message: “Where are you?”
Still, no reply.
She decided to call him.
No answer.
Lin Xichi guessed he might be in the middle of training and didn’t think much of it. She continued on her way home.
Entering her apartment complex, she noticed that the lights in the area were dim, and there weren’t many people around. As she reached a corner, a car suddenly approached, its headlights shining directly at her.
Lin Xichi saw her shadow and another one.
She instinctively turned to look.
Behind her was a tall man wearing a hooded jacket and slim-fit pants. He had a hat on and a mask to keep warm, even though it didn’t seem that cold.
Due to the lighting, Lin Xichi couldn’t get a clear view of his face, and she quickly turned her gaze away.
When she arrived at her building’s door, she fumbled for her keys and opened the door.
She stepped inside.
After a few steps, she realized the door hadn’t closed as she expected. Lin Xichi turned to look, and to her surprise, the man had held the door open and followed her inside.
The door closed with a bang.
The motion-activated lights turned on.
Lin Xichi saw the man’s eyes and met his gaze, her eyes briefly traveling up.
She lived on the third floor, and she stopped at her door. The man continued walking up, maintaining the same pace as her, and eventually stopped on the third floor as well.
Just right.
Standing right behind her.
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