The next morning Xu Ye called everyone at the company together for a short meeting. There wasn’t much to it — mainly what everyone needed to have ready before term started.

After it broke up he got a call from Qin Zhiwei saying he was already at the school gate. Xu Ye hung up and went straight over.

Qin Zhiwei had clearly put some thought into how he looked before coming out today: a gray wool jacket, black pants, white shoes, and a mask over his face. So long as he kept the mask on he looked pretty sharp. Xu Ye still picked him out at a glance.

Xu Ye pulled over at the curb, got out and tossed him the keys. “Drive slowly,” he told him. “Follow the navigation.”

Qin Zhiwei caught them, laughing. “Relax. I wouldn’t dare go too fast anyway.”

“If you get there early, find somewhere nearby to park. You can’t leave a car standing on that road by the station.”

Qin Zhiwei checked the time. “Right. I’ll head over, then. Shen Xinyi gets in around three.”

“Mm.”

Qin Zhiwei got in, waved to Xu Ye, and stepped on the gas.

He’d been practicing every day since the car was bought on the fifth day of the New Year, and he’d picked it up fast. It wasn’t that Xu Ye was worried he couldn’t drive — he was worried about how he’d handle it if he ran into something unusual. Driving is a skill like any other, and without three to five years behind you, you can’t call yourself a seasoned driver.

On the drive back Qin Zhiwei was worked up the whole way.

Over the month or so of the winter break he’d dreamed about Shen Xinyi at least three times. To keep his figure he hadn’t dared touch anything rich, and he’d been out running with Xu Ye every morning; he’d started on skincare over the break as well, and his face had got fairer and clearer. He could not wait to see her and show her how much he’d changed.

That’s how love works.

It starts from nowhere, and then it runs deep.

Those few hours dragged on forever for Qin Zhiwei. He was beside the station by half past one, found somewhere he could park, and started waiting. He waited right up to half past two before he messaged her: “How much longer?”

Shen Xinyi: About forty minutes. Have you been waiting long?

Qin Zhiwei: No, I only just got here myself.

Qin Zhiwei: I’m still a way from the station. Message me ten minutes before you get in and I’ll come over.

Shen Xinyi: Okay~

A few lines back and forth, and Qin Zhiwei went happily back to waiting.

At three o’clock Shen Xinyi finally sent one through: “Nearly there. You can come now.”

He fired off a reply and took the car out of the lot.

Shen Xinyi stood at the roadside with both hands resting on the handle of her suitcase, watching car after car go past. She began wondering whether to message him and ask where he’d got to, but then remembered he was driving and couldn’t be looking at his phone, and stopped herself.

She waited about ten minutes before he finally pulled up in front of her. He got straight out, scratching his head awkwardly. “Sorry — I had no idea this road got so backed up. I sat through two rounds at a red light back there.”

The change in him over the month came as something of a surprise to her. She was blank for a second before she answered, “It’s fine. I haven’t been waiting long.”

Qin Zhiwei came forward quickly, put her suitcase in the trunk for her, then thoughtfully opened the passenger door, and only got in himself last. He stepped on the gas and they headed back.

Once the doors shut the atmosphere turned a little charged. Both of them looked like they had something to say and neither knew how to start. Several minutes went by, and then the two of them suddenly spoke in unison. “So—”

“You go first.”

“You go first.”

Qin Zhiwei grinned foolishly. “Xu Ye’s going over to your school tomorrow to spend the Lantern Festival with Chen Qingqing. I… should we go with them?”

Shen Xinyi: “Sure. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve played third wheel to those two anyway.”

Qin Zhiwei: “What were you going to say just now?”

Shen Xinyi answered with a laugh. “I just felt awkward and wanted something to say. I didn’t actually know what.”

Qin Zhiwei asked at once, tense, “Do you feel awkward when you’re with me?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

She said it quickly. “I mean, if there are only two people in a car and neither of them says anything, then it gets awkward.”

Qin Zhiwei: “My fault, my fault. I’m no good at talking.”

Shen Xinyi: “Haha. I’m not much better.”

Qin Zhiwei seemed to want to talk to her a while longer, so he drove slowly. A fifty-minute trip took him a solid seventy.

Watching her get out and lift her suitcase to go up, he felt an odd reluctance to see her go.

How was it that time crawled at one and two o’clock, and now it was going this fast?

Shen Xinyi wheeled her suitcase into the girls’ dormitory, looked back and saw him still standing there like an idiot. She hesitated, came to a stop, then suddenly turned around and walked back out. “So… you came all that way to get me. Let me buy you dinner tonight?”

Qin Zhiwei was so pleased he could have burst. “Sure,” he said quickly.

Her face went red. “Wait downstairs a minute, then. Let me put the suitcase up first.”

“Okay.”

…

In the dorm.

“Did you and Xu Ye really stay together the night before last?”

“Uh.”

Zhang Ruowei’s eyes went wide. “So did you two…?”

She stopped halfway, raised her hands and clapped three times.

Chen Qingqing had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but from the look on Zhang Ruowei’s face she knew exactly which way her mind had gone. She explained quickly, “We had a twin room. One bed each.”

“Xu Ye didn’t do anything to you?”

“No!”

“Seriously?”

“Yes!”

“That doesn’t seem possible. He hasn’t got some sort of problem in that department, has he?” Zhang Ruowei answered her own question almost at once. “No, no. If there were a problem he wouldn’t be as dirty-minded as he is.”

The two of them were still talking.

And then Shen Xinyi pushed the door open from outside and came in.

She slid her suitcase under her bunk, put her bag over her shoulder, and said to the pair of them almost straight away, “I’m going out to eat. If you go out tonight you can lock up, I’ve got my key.”

“Wait a bit and we’ll all go together.”

“Uh…” Shen Xinyi went red. “Qin Zhiwei’s downstairs.”

And with that she hurried off, embarrassed.

Zhang Ruowei ran straight out to the balcony, and the moment she saw Qin Zhiwei drive off with Shen Xinyi she shook her head. “It’s only been a month. How is it I feel like the pair of you have both fallen?”

She got out her phone and called Jiang Yu, and the moment it connected she was shouting into it. “Girl, hurry up and get back here. If you don’t, tomorrow it’s just going to be me playing third wheel on my own.”

(End of Chapter 201)