“It’s five o’clock. Shouldn’t we be setting off?”

Jiang Yu checked the time and asked, a little excited.

Zhang Ruowei turned to Chen Qingqing. “Qingqing, give Xu Ye a call. Ask him when he’s coming to get us.”

“Oh.”

Shen Xinyi was still in the dark. She hadn’t mentioned that it was her birthday, and it wasn’t until she saw all three of them changing their shoes that she said, startled, “Where are you all going?”

Zhang Ruowei laughed. “It’s your birthday, isn’t it? We’re going out for your birthday.”

“What?” Shen Xinyi sat blankly for a couple of seconds before she got to her feet. “I never told any of you it was my birthday.”

“You’ve got Qingqing to thank for that. On the first day of term we all said when we were born, remember? And Qingqing put everyone’s birthday in her WeChat contacts.”

That left Shen Xinyi feeling warm inside. “I kept it from you on purpose,” she said, the picture of injured innocence, “and you knew all along. You’re awful…”

Zhang Ruowei opened her arms at once and pulled her in. “All right, all right. Go and get ready. Xu Ye will be here for us any minute.”

When Chen Qingqing’s call came, Xu Ye left Qin Zhiwei at the restaurant, drove over to the school alone and collected all four of them.

While he was gone, Qin Zhiwei went to the cake shop nearby and brought the cake he had ordered that afternoon into the private room.

About twenty minutes.

Then Xu Ye came in with everyone.

Hearing the door, Qin Zhiwei was on his feet at once, his eyes going straight to Shen Xinyi. He scratched his head, put the present he had bought the day before into her hands, scratched his head again and said with a foolish grin, “Happy birthday~”

Shen Xinyi’s cheeks colored. “Thank you,” she said quietly.

Youth is never better than this: someone you like beside you, a close friend you can tell anything, and a crowd of half-mad friends to laugh and fool around with.

Dinner over and the birthday song sung, the six of them started on the cake.

Qin Zhiwei had meant to buy a bigger one, but Xu Ye talked him into a six-inch one. Zhang Ruowei and the others were watching their figures and each had only a small slice, and on the principle that food should not be wasted, what was left went to Xu Ye and Qin Zhiwei between them.

It was nearly eight when they came out of the restaurant. The car only seated five, so Xu Ye took Zhang Ruowei, Jiang Yu and Chen Qingqing back to the dormitory first, then messaged Qin Zhiwei to ask whether he should come back for the two of them.

Qin Zhiwei answered quickly. “No need. Go straight back to school. I want a bit longer out here with Shen Xinyi.”

“You could try holding her hand tonight.”

“Mm.”

Two messages sent, Xu Ye left them to it and drove back to school.

…

Under the streetlights.

On the pedestrian street.

Qin Zhiwei had been walking alongside Shen Xinyi, and after Xu Ye’s message he edged quietly closer to her as they went.

He thought he’d done it without her noticing. But Shen Xinyi had seen him getting closer some time ago.

This time she didn’t move away as she had before. She carried on walking as though she had no idea.

They were close enough now that their arms brushed against each other every so often.

Qin Zhiwei went red for no reason he could name. He gave himself a talking-to, then started deliberately letting his hand touch hers.

Once. Twice. Three times.

Shen Xinyi had worked out what he was doing some time ago. Her own cheeks were faintly pink by now, and inside she was thinking, You great idiot. I haven’t moved my hand. If you’re going to take it, take it.

The next time his hand touched hers, she opened her palm on purpose, and their hands closed together as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

Both their palms were damp with sweat, and neither of them was breathing evenly.

Qin Zhiwei felt the blood rushing everywhere at once. His back was wet through, his shirt soaked with it.

In that moment, both of them felt as though everything around them had been shut away in some other world.

In that space there seemed to be no one left but the two of them.

Maybe it was nerves, but Qin Zhiwei’s grip kept tightening. And with her hand held in his, a rush of heat went from her palm up her arm, along her neck and into her ears.

Shen Xinyi started to speak and stopped several times, and at last managed, “Could you — could you hold a bit less tightly?”

Qin Zhiwei jumped and let go at once, red-faced, saying over and over, “Sorry. Sorry.”

“It’s all right.” She shook her head gently, and seeing him looking down at her, she lowered her own head too.

And at that moment, with his brain overloaded, Qin Zhiwei said something Shen Xinyi would still remember clearly decades later.

“Xinyi. I’m going to live the rest of my life for you.”

…

Xu Ye got back to the dorm at twenty past nine.

Shower, laundry, and by the time he was lying on his bed it was ten.

He messaged Chen Qingqing. “Is Shen Xinyi back?”

Chen Qingqing: Just now.

Xu Ye: That late? Sounds like Zhiwei got what he wanted.

Chen Qingqing: Got what he wanted?

Xu Ye: They must have held hands.

Chen Qingqing: Been playing the meddling strategist again, have you?

Xu Ye: I have not.

Xu Ye: Nothing to do with me.

Xu Ye: Don’t you think the two of them look like a married couple?

Chen Qingqing: They’re all right.

Xu Ye: Though next to us, obviously, we look far more like one.

Chen Qingqing: Ha.

Chen Qingqing: Ha.

Chen Qingqing: Ha.

Xu Ye: What’s that supposed to mean?

Xu Ye: We’ve slept together and now you pull your pants up and don’t know me?

Chen Qingqing: ???

Chen Qingqing: Say one more thing like that and I’m blocking you right now.

Xu Ye: All right, all right, I’ll stop. Are you in bed?

Chen Qingqing: Not yet.

Xu Ye: It’s this late. What are you still doing?

Chen Qingqing: They’ve changed the timetable. We don’t have an early eight on Mondays any more, so we can sleep in tomorrow.

Xu Ye: Video call, then.

Chen Qingqing: No. I’m soaking my feet. I don’t have time.

Xu Ye: Please~ /pitiful/ /pitiful/

Chen Qingqing: That doesn’t work on me any more.

Xu Ye came straight out of WeChat and messaged Zhang Ruowei. “Zhang Ruowei. You still owe me a photo of Qingqing’s legs!”

Zhang Ruowei was entirely willing. “Wait there!”

A minute later.

Zhang Ruowei: legs1.jpeg

Zhang Ruowei: legs2.jpeg

Zhang Ruowei: legs3.jpeg

Zhang Ruowei: Two extra for you.

Xu Ye: /thumbsup/ /thumbsup/ /thumbsup/

Xu Ye: Zhang Ruowei, you are a good person.

(End of Chapter 219)