(23)

Great, great.

I finally made it into the study break that comes once a semester.

I really felt like I was going to be useless if I kept studying (smile.jpg).

After my last class, I sat in the car and texted Liu Leyao, asking her if she had any plans for the break.

Liu Leyao replied slowly, “Want to fly to the East to play?”

Sure ya. I had just typed these two words and hadn’t had time to send them.

Yan Han’s chat window popped up.

It was a three-second voice message.

My hands trembled as I opened it and placed it to my ear, listening intently.

“Want to go out together during the break?”

His voice was soft and deep.

I could imagine him with his long eyelashes lowered, leaning close to the phone as he said that.

I went back to Liu Leyao’s chat window and deleted the words “Sure ya.”

Then I replied to her.

“Sorry, I’ve got plans ha.”

“…” Liu Leyao replied. Through the text, I could almost see her speechless expression. “Yan Han also asked me.”

My fingers froze.

I kind of wanted to cry.

(24)

Mirror, mirror, tell me, is my crush is gay or not? Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah.

(25)

In the end, our five-person squad decided to go camping at a nearby dam.

But we scheduled it for three days later because Yan Han still had work to do these next two days.

I immediately felt a pang of sourness in my heart when I heard that. I felt sorry for him.

Then I immediately felt guilty for having eaten that $200 steak of his earlier.

When Xu Pengpeng saw my heartboken expression, he immediately frowned and waved his hand.

“What’s with that look?”

“Yan Han, he…” I hesitated.

“No need for that ha.” Xu Pengpeng explained, “Brother Yan drives his sports car to the city, parks it at a $20 an hour parking lot, and then works at McDonald’s for a $23 hourly wage. Who works like that if they’re a decent guy?”

Alright, I heard you.

Yan Han wasn’t broke—he just had a hobby.

I blinked, finally feeling relieved.

Just now, I even considered financially supporting him so he’d suffer less.

(16)1Author had a typo with number but I’ll just follow it.

Xu Pengpeng borrowed a bunch of camping gear from his ex- roommate. The tent had transparent tape stuck on it—who knows how many people had used it before.

Our group of five drove in two cars.

I stood between the two cars.

Which one should I take?

Yan Han walked over with a cooler, stretched out his long arm, and opened the passenger door of his car.

“Get in.”

I beamed with joy.

Liu Leyao, holding a box of bottled water, looked at me speechlessly.

“Fix that smug face of yours.”

I couldn’t be bothered to explain to her what it felt like to be personally greeted and welcomed into the passenger seat by the person you liked.

I took the box of water from her hand with one hand and helped her put it in the trunk.

fvck, it was heavy.

We each got into our respective cars. Ma Jiaming, with his sunglasses hanging from his mouth, was the last to come out. He met my gaze as I sat in the car.

He smiled, revealing a set of neat white teeth.

But my heart sank.

Sure enough, he opened the back door of our car.

“Hey, bro!”

(17)

Once Ma Jiaming got in, he wouldn’t stop talking.

He complained about this professor, then that teaching assistant.

Last semester, he took four courses and failed two. Dear, is it at all possible that the problem lies with you?

Ma Jiaming was from Shanshan province. To inherit the family business, he came to this rural place to study the top-notch program.

Mining Engineering.

The difficulty of the major matched his overconfidence.

Those who know, know.

Yan Han listened calmly, his long fingers tapping on the steering wheel, making a rhythmic thumping sound.

“I can help you with calculus. I studied science in high school.”

Ma Jiaming lunged forward, grabbing the headrest of my seat like a gorilla and shouting,

“Bro, you’re my dear brother!”

I hate it.

Why did I choose this shitty architectural design major?

It made me have no common topics with Yan Han.

(18)

While waiting at a red light, Yan Han turned to look at me.

“Did you not get enough rest? Why aren’t you talking?”

Ma Jiaming had already said everything—what was left for me to say?

“It’s nothing, I’m just listening to you guys.”

I smiled at him.

He looked at me and smiled back, his eyes curving gently, looking soft.

He handed me the phone from the car’s central console. “Pick a song you like.”

I took it, noticing there was a password. Just as I was about to hand it back—

“The password is 0088.”

“Oh.”

I unlocked his phone.

I swear, I had no intention of invading his privacy!

But as soon as his phone unlocked, it was on the WeChat screen, and my little dog avatar was pinned right at the top.

“You…”

With the last bit of rationality, I suppressed the scream stuck in my throat.

He had pinned our WeChat chat to the top.

He had pinned our WeChat chat to the top!!!

“What’s wrong?” Yan Han asked me as he started the car.

“Nothing.” I tried to suppress the trembling in my voice. Why were my hands shaking so much? “Let’s listen to Jay Chou.”

“Okay.”

(19)

When we parked at the rest area to take a break, Ma Jiaming got out of the car and switched to the other vehicle.

“Hey, why did you come over?”

Xu Pengpeng asked him.

“I give up. That ‘Romantic Cellphone’ song has been playing a hundred times without changing.”

Yan Han sped off, leaving a cloud of dust that blew right into Ma Jiaming’s face as he hadn’t closed the door.

“He doesn’t get it.”

I said to Yan Han seriously.

“Mm, he doesn’t get it.”

(20)

“You smile while browsing, the romance on your phone.”

“So this is how suddenly love can arrive.”

Who’s singing a duet?

Oh, it’s the two of us ya.