She frowned as Chen Yiyang added, "My treat."
Ding Yuan immediately answered, "Sure, sure!"
Xie Yue scolded from the side, "Da Yuan Zi, have you no dignity?"
Meanwhile, Yun Mi kept staring at Chen Yiyang.
The boy's sharp, dark eyes were fixed on her. His lazy smile carried a hint of mischief.
He was pretty bad, and unreasonable too.
The four of them left the Shanfu campus together.
Yun Mi didn't know how she ended up abandoned by Ding Yuan in a corner, with the oversized presence of Chen Yiyang naturally standing beside her.
As they crossed the street, Yun Mi heard the person beside her ask, "Since I chose liberal arts, you're ignoring me? No more use, so you throw me away?"
The unhurried words were teasing.
In the evening breeze, the girl lowered her eyes, her heart slightly bitter.
Yun Mi said, "No."
Chen Yiyang asked, "Then what's wrong?"
Yun Mi looked up slightly, seeing Chen Yiyang's cold, smooth jawline. She remembered her despair during the arts/science split last time. She gritted her teeth and finally voiced what was in her heart. "Why did you choose liberal arts? Doesn't that mean giving up the recommendation?"
Yun Mi looked away and said, "I thought you'd be in the top class... Chen Yiyang, I originally wanted to get into the top class so I could keep asking you questions."
The girl's straightforward words hung in the evening breeze.
Chen Yiyang froze on the spot.
Yun Mi guessed he wouldn't answer and started to walk away.
But then she heard Chen Yiyang say, "You never asked."
He had never considered studying science.
Yun Mi found it unbelievable. If he was doing math competitions, of course he'd choose science. She said coldly, "So why?"
Many people had asked him that question, but Chen Yiyang had never answered seriously.
It was too complicated a question—about his whole life.
Chen Yiyang looked at the girl before him, who seemed on the verge of an outburst. He asked, "Do you know, Yun Mi?"
With a faint, cold smile, Chen Yiyang began, "Once, during a training camp in Australia, there was a problem about Fermat points in non-Euclidean spaces. I solved it in twenty minutes—pretty fast. But some people could derive it in three steps just by looking at it. I always thought I was smart, but for every smart person like me, there are millions smarter. Talent alone won't take you far. And life—long as it may seem—is definitely short."
"When I was little, I wanted to become someone like my grandfather, but there were always fights at home. Everything related to my grandfather would cause Wen Liangyu and Chen Jici to argue fiercely, sometimes even coming to blows and ending up in the hospital... Wen Liangyu has a respectable job—she's a pillar at the high translation academy—but at home, she'd end up in a physical fight with her legal husband, bloodied mouths and all. So I always avoided my own thoughts... until my little uncle, who grew up with me, passed away. He was young, only twenty-two."
Yun Mi hadn't expected Chen Yiyang to say such things. She stood frozen, realizing he was speaking from the heart.
Up ahead, Xie Yue and Ding Yuan were already arguing heatedly. They had crossed the street first, completely forgetting about the two of them.
At the crosswalk, the green light ahead turned red again.
The little white figure on the pedestrian signal stopped walking.
Recalling the past, Chen Yiyang narrowed his eyes slightly. "He left me a suicide note from the military. I received it half a year after he died. It was a big piece of paper, but only four words: 'China, peace.'"
At that moment, Chen Yiyang thought:
Screw all the weighing of pros and cons. Just do what you want to do.
-
The late-night snack stall was chosen by Xie Yue—a green plastic canopy supported by a few steel poles.
Zhou Shihui was already there with a cold face, having waited for half an hour.
When he saw Chen Yiyang, the displeasure was obvious on his face.
Skewers were laid out on an iron tray. The five of them sat down. Zhou Shihui said a few brief things, then suddenly spoke up, "I brought you all gifts."
Ding Yuan asked, "Me too?"
Zhou Shihui nodded, but his gaze lingered on Yun Mi.
Ding Yuan and Xie Yue both got small wooden horse keychains. Yun Mi's was different.
It had no price tag, and even the gift box had been specially changed. Inside was a dark gold butterfly necklace.
Yun Mi looked at it, then snapped the box shut with a click.
She felt things were getting beyond her expectations.
The keychains for Ding Yuan and Xie Yue were probably retail accessories from luxury brands—there was no reason to give her a fake.
And the necklace in the box was most likely genuine too.
How much must it have cost?
Yun Mi said directly, "I can't accept this gift."
Zhou Shihui's expression stiffened.
Yun Mi said flatly, "I'll take the same as them."