Chen Hansong barely slept that night.
Xu Ye’s words seemed to carry some kind of magic, lingering in his ears no matter what he did.
Early the next morning, Chen Hansong went to the base of Chen Qingqing’s dormitory building and had breakfast with her at the school cafeteria.
The moment she’d come down from upstairs, Chen Qingqing could tell her father hadn’t slept well — the dark circles under his eyes were severe.
In truth, after she’d gotten back to the dorm the night before, she’d stayed out on the balcony, quietly watching the ground below. When she’d seen Xu Ye walk off together with her father, she’d kept wondering… what would they say to each other, whether her father would berate Xu Ye the way he had before, and whether Xu Ye would get angry over whatever her father said.
So when she got Chen Hansong’s message this morning, she’d come down quickly.
Father and daughter sat in the cafeteria, both clearly with a bellyful of things to say, yet neither willing to be the first to speak.
It wasn’t until Chen Hansong finished eating that he finally spoke. “I’m heading straight to the airport in a bit. It’s gotten cold — remember to dress warmly, don’t let yourself catch a chill.”
“Mm.”
“About you and Xu Ye…”
Just the first half of the sentence made Chen Qingqing tense up slightly, and Chen Hansong noticed. He went on. “I won’t interfere anymore. You’ve been a smart girl your whole life. When it comes to matters of the heart, Dad trusts you’ll have your own good judgment.”
Chen Qingqing lifted her head at that, her eyes full of surprise.
Seeing his daughter’s expression, Chen Hansong said with a wry, exasperated smile, “I only said I won’t interfere. I didn’t say I approve of you two being together. Those are two different things.”
The old father still had to talk tough.
Chen Qingqing quickly lowered her head again and went back to nibbling on a thick-skinned, thin-filled baozi in small bites.
“When the school lets out for winter break, come home early. This year, I’ll talk it over with your mom — see if we can all have a reunion dinner together.”
At those words, Chen Qingqing’s eyes reddened instantly.
She couldn’t even remember the last time the whole family had sat down together for a reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve.
“Dad’s going now. When you’ve got a free moment at school, remember to reply to my messages — otherwise I’ll always be worrying about you.”
Chen Hansong drew a deep breath and stood. Seeing Chen Qingqing keeping her head down, he reached out one large hand and gently ruffled the top of her head, then turned and walked away.
Right up until Chen Hansong walked out the cafeteria door, Chen Qingqing didn’t dare lift her head. She didn’t want anyone to see her the way she was right now.
…
Xu Ye had just come over from the dorm side. When his message to Chen Qingqing went unanswered, he asked Zhang Ruowei, who told him Chen Hansong and Chen Qingqing had headed toward the cafeteria — so Xu Ye made his way there.
Chen Hansong had left barely a step before Xu Ye arrived a step behind.
On a weekend morning, the cafeteria was sparse. Xu Ye only had to give the hall a quick scan before he spotted Chen Qingqing, head down, silently wiping at her tears.
He froze for a moment, then deliberately waited until she’d stopped wiping her eyes before walking over.
He sat down right beside her and asked, knowing full well, “Your dad… left?”
Chen Qingqing nodded slightly. She seemed not to want Xu Ye to see her red-rimmed eyes, so she turned her head a little to the side.
Xu Ye patted his own pocket, meaning to fish out a tissue — only to find he hadn’t brought any. So he reached into the pocket of Chen Qingqing’s top and actually pulled out a pack of tissues, drew one out, handed it to her, and said with narrowed, smiling eyes, “Wipe your tears away and I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything.”
“You already saw.” Chen Qingqing pouted. Even angry, there was something dopily endearing about her.
Xu Ye smiled. “I said I’d pretend not to see.”
She scrunched her mouth, took the tissue, dabbed haphazardly at the corners of her eyes, then stuffed the remaining half of her baozi into Xu Ye’s hand and stood up to leave.
Xu Ye took a bite of the baozi and immediately followed after her.
“What did your dad say to you?”
“Not telling you.”
“You know, your dad actually talked to me last night too.”
“What did you two say?”
“I’m not telling you either.”
“Xu Ye, you jerk. I don’t want to be your girlfriend anymore.”
“No take-backs on that kind of thing.”
“I take it back anyway!”
“The whole world knows we’re a couple now. Too late to take it back.”
Chen Qingqing kept walking without looking back, so fast Xu Ye could barely keep up, still grumbling behind her: “Why are the baozi at your cafeteria so terrible?”
She deliberately ignored him. After several minutes of walking, when she noticed there was no sound behind her, she finally stopped and started to turn around to check whether Xu Ye was still following.
But the moment she turned her head, Xu Ye had already circled around from the other side to get in front of her.
Seeing no Xu Ye behind her, Chen Qingqing — already in a fragile mood — instantly felt the sting of it.
And at that exact moment—
Xu Ye pulled a funny face and grinned. “Were you looking for me?”
She spun back around, saw him making the face, and, furious, balled up her little fists and started pounding them against his chest without stopping. Xu Ye didn’t dodge — he just waited until she’d let it all out, then opened his arms and pulled her into them.
Chen Qingqing squirmed and twisted, trying to resist.
Xu Ye said gently by her ear, “You hit me that many times — letting me have a hug isn’t asking too much, is it?”
Hearing that, she went perfectly still. She sniffled, and slowly rested her head against his chest.
Time seemed to stop in that moment.
A young woman’s body was slender and soft, a hundred times more comfortable to hold than the pillow he slept with at night. Xu Ye had both hands on her back at first; once he saw she’d stopped resisting, he moved his hands to rest on her waist and the back of her head.
Wrapped up completely in Xu Ye’s arms, Chen Qingqing’s first reaction was a racing heartbeat — and then, bit by bit, the ache in her heart eased and let go. In that moment she found she even enjoyed the feeling of being pulled into his embrace. It was steady, warm, full of security.
Xu Ye asked softly, “You busy this morning?”
Chen Qingqing answered just as quietly, “No.”
“Then come help me buy a jacket for winter?”
“Okay~”
Xu Ye reached out and tucked the loose strands of hair at her forehead behind her ear, then took her hand, and the two of them walked side by side toward the mall.
“Qingqing, can you promise me one thing?”
“What thing?”
“From now on, whenever you’re unhappy, you have to call me first.”
“Why?”
“That way I can show up in front of you as fast as possible and cheer you up.”
“I’m not that easy to cheer up~”
“I’ve got plenty of tricks.”
“So if some other girl were unhappy, you’d go out of your way to cheer her up too?”
“Of course not.”
Xu Ye smiled. “There’s only one Chen Qingqing in the world. As long as that one person is happy, that’s enough for me.”
(End of Chapter 130)