Chen Qingqing had never been someone who talked much.
Around strangers, even less so.
She’d given Xu Ye’s roommates a simple hello, and that was about the extent of it.
“Zhang Xinzhou, Jiang Wei — if you two have time this afternoon, head over to Songjiang campus and nail down the vending machine locations. I’ve already sorted things out at Shanghai Institute of Technology — installation should be done by next Friday.”
Jiang Wei’s eyes lit up. “Seriously?”
“Of course.”
She genuinely hadn’t expected it to come together this fast. She knew that without her uncle’s involvement the machines would never have gotten approved so easily, and even though she had no idea what Xu Ye had pulled to make it happen, the news made her happy — because it meant more money, and the dream of buying her own place was getting a little closer.
“I can handle Songjiang by myself,” she said.
Zhang Xinzhou smiled. “Works for me — saves me a trip.”
Xu Ye added, “While you’re there, try to find someone trustworthy — ideally someone you know — to be our on-site rep. Someone to handle restocking, minor maintenance, that kind of thing.”
“Got it, no problem.”
“Li Tongwen, Yang Fei — I’ll transfer your October wages in a bit. Oh, and one more thing.”
Xu Ye walked over to Li Tongwen and pulled out his phone, tilting the screen toward him. “The financial aid application I helped you submit last month — the faculty office approved it. Counselor Su Tong messaged me last night, said the money should come through by end of this month. Looks like you qualified for the second tier — three thousand yuan a year.”
“Thank you~”
Xu Ye made a fist and gave him a light knock on the shoulder. “Say thank you one more time and I’ll actually hit you.”
Li Tongwen smiled but didn’t say anything else.
The whole application had been Xu Ye’s doing from start to finish. He’d pushed Li Tongwen to get the paperwork together, then helped him polish the personal statement — eight or nine hundred words, far more persuasive than what Li Tongwen had drafted on his own — and then taken the completed materials to Counselor Su Tong himself. After that, Li Tongwen hadn’t had to think about it again.
He hadn’t expected results this quickly. He was fairly certain Xu Ye had done more than just submit the forms.
Once everything that needed addressing had been addressed, Xu Ye took Chen Qingqing’s hand and the two of them walked out.
They hadn’t gone far from the fruit shop before Chen Qingqing tried to pull her hand back — but Xu Ye held on.
She turned her head to look at him, eyes doing the talking: why haven’t you let go yet?
“They’re definitely still watching from inside the shop,” he explained quietly.
She didn’t quite believe him, but snuck a look back — and sure enough, the whole group was still staring after them. She immediately turned back around, grabbed Xu Ye’s hand herself, and hurried them both out of sight.
Once they’d turned the corner, she yanked her hand back immediately. Her palm was sweaty from being held so long.
Xu Ye grinned. “Your hand is so soft. Like it doesn’t have any bones.”
She raised a fist in a mock threat. He didn’t even bother moving out of the way, just kept grinning like an idiot.
She had no idea what to do with him. She dug a tissue out of her pocket and started dabbing at her palm, asking as she did, “What are we eating for lunch?”
“Remember back when I was in military training and I told you there was this incredible malatang place near my school? And the complimentary sour plum drink they give you?”
“I remember.”
“That’s where we’re going for lunch. I always follow through on what I say.”
“And after lunch?”
“I’m walking you back to the subway station. Too late in the day otherwise and I’ll worry — what if you miss your stop again?”
She huffed. “Once burned, twice shy. It won’t happen again.”
“You’re pretty scatterbrained though. What if?”
“I’m not talking to you anymore!”
She walked off. Xu Ye called after her quickly: “Wrong direction — over here!”
She spun around furiously and went the other way.
He jogged to catch up.
“Are you mad?”
“No.”
“Then why are you walking so fast?”
“Stop following me. Go away.”
“You’re my girlfriend — who else would I follow?”
“I never said yes.”
“You didn’t say that back in the shop just now either.”
“I was just trying to save you some face.”
“Look at you, always thinking of me.”
“I was not!”
“Alright, alright — I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what, exactly?”
“You tell me.”
“You’re asking me?“
“I’m wrong about everything, top to bottom. Should I kneel down and apologize?”
“Go ahead then.”
In broad daylight like this, Chen Qingqing didn’t believe for a second he’d actually do it.
She was wrong.
The words had barely left her mouth before Xu Ye stepped in front of her, dropped to one knee, pressed his right hand to his heart, and said: “Chen Qingqing, I like you. Will you be my girlfriend?”
Her face went scarlet on the spot. Her heart was slamming against her ribs. “Get up! Get up right now!”
“Does that mean you’re saying yes?”
“Get up first and then we’ll talk.”
“Say yes first, then I’ll get up.”
She stamped her foot lightly. “Fine, yes, I said yes, are you happy?!”
Xu Ye stood back up.
Chen Qingqing was already moving away, muttering under her breath as she went: “Jerk. All you do is push me around.”
What neither of them noticed: across the street, at the exact moment Xu Ye had gone down on one knee, Wang Shiyu was passing by.
She watched the two of them walk off together, brow furrowing, expression unreadable.
“Didn’t he get together with Senior Jiang Wei? Why is he…”
She murmured to herself for a moment, and then a bold idea took shape in her mind: Was Xu Ye playing two people at once?
…
At the malatang restaurant.
They found a table and sat down. The server brought menus; Xu Ye ordered two sets. He noticed Chen Qingqing’s face was still flushed pink and asked with deliberate innocence, “Why is your face so red?”
“It’s hot.”
“It’s seventeen degrees outside. There’s also wind.”
“Be quiet. I don’t want to talk to you right now.” She dug into her bag for a wet wipe, tore the wrapper open, and pressed the cool cloth against her burning cheeks.
Xu Ye smiled. “You don’t have to be embarrassed about it. We were basically already dating before — everything we did before, we’ll keep doing. Nothing needs to change.”
“That’s your version of it!”
“Mm-hm.”
Chen Qingqing had no relationship experience whatsoever, and she’d always assumed that once things became official, everything would shift. Hearing him put it that way was a relief — though underneath the reassurance was a faint, lingering worry. She had a feeling he was going to use this as an excuse to get away with things.
They spent half an hour over lunch, let it settle for a bit, then headed back to the hotel to grab her things.
Xu Ye walked her all the way to the subway station.
“Line 9 to Line 12, transfer at Jiashanlu, get off at South Shaanxi Road, take Exit 7 — that’s the closest to your school. You’ve got it, right?”
“I know.”
“Dress warm. Switch to the thick comforter — winter’s coming.”
“I know.”
“Call me if anything comes up. I’m your boyfriend now.”
She gave him a look, swiped through the turnstile, and stepped onto the escalator down to the platform.
Three minutes later the train came.
She squeezed on. It was just as packed as yesterday — but this time she’d learned her lesson and found a spot where she could see the station display.
The noise and the smell of the packed car still made her uncomfortable, but she didn’t dare put her earphones in, worried she’d miss a stop announcement.
Then, all of a sudden — someone tapped her on the shoulder from behind.
Chen Qingqing’s brow immediately furrowed. She stepped back instinctively, turned around with her guard up—
It was Xu Ye. He was holding one of the overhead straps, head tilted down, smiling at her. “I couldn’t stop worrying about you going alone. So I got on.”
Chen Qingqing took a quick step forward and grabbed a fistful of his jacket.
“You big jerk,” she said, quietly, and she was smiling when she said it.
(End of Chapter 119)