"Yeah."
"Is it soundproof? Can Xu Qingsong hear us talking?"
"Are you going to say something you don't want him to hear?" Xiao Yu laughed, tossing his phone onto the bed, then sat on a chair to take off his jacket and pants.
Ye Qingli froze, her ears reddening. "...No, just asking."
"Oh, I thought you were going to whisper sweet nothings to me."
He hung his clothes on the rack, turned off the main light, switched on the bedside lamp, picked up his phone from the blanket, and got into bed.
Ye Qingli blushed as she listened to him move around. Xiao Yu lay down and closed his eyes, continuing to tease her. "Say something sweet for your man."
"...Do you have no shame?"
"Why would I be shameless?" He chuckled lightly, as if he were some hoodlum. Then he reasoned with her seriously. "You're my girlfriend; what's wrong with asking you to say something sweet? Go ask around—is that an unreasonable request from a boyfriend?"
Of course it wasn't, and Ye Qingli knew it. She opened her mouth, finding it unusually hard to speak. Her whole body felt like it was burning. Looking at her own reflection on her phone, she shook her head. "I can't say it."
"You need to get over that mental block. Be brave, okay?" Xiao Yu lay with his arm behind his head, clearly enjoying the entertainment, and continued encouraging her. "Just like when you confessed to me. Yeah, just repeat that for me..."
He began recalling that moment: the look in her eyes, the tear at the corner of her eye, their first kiss in the snow. A smile tugged at his lips. "Can you still say it?"
But there was silence on the other end. Xiao Yu grew impatient and opened his eyes.
Fuck!
When the hell had Ye Qingli hung up?
Xiao Yu sat up abruptly. He had been talking to himself on a black screen this whole time, even laughing, making him look like an idiot.
Pissed off, he scowled and sent her a question mark.
Two minutes later, Ye Qingli replied: "My grandma came into the room. She's sleeping with me."
Below that, she added a grinning emoji with big teeth.
Xiao Yu stared at the emoji, inexplicably annoyed. He clenched his jaw and asked, "Are you just making excuses because you don't want to say it?"
Ye Qingli frowned at his message, so she sent him another picture.
Xiao Yu opened it. She hadn't lied—it was a photo of an old lady's leg in cotton pants. He snorted. "Such a coward. Can't even take a picture of her face."
"Taking a picture of her face would violate my grandma's portraiture rights."
"...Who the hell taught you that?" Xiao Yu laughed out of anger.
Fearing he might get really mad, Ye Qingli sighed and quickly tried to soothe him. "Please. I really can't say it over the phone. Can I tell you in person when we meet?"
That seemed sincere enough. Xiao Yu's anger subsided a bit, but he didn't want her to know, so he kept a straight face and replied, "You want me to wait until school starts? By then, I'll probably be furious enough to die."
Ye Qingli: "No, I'll come visit you after New Year's."
Xiao Yu paused. He read that sentence at least ten times. He couldn't tell how bright his eyes were now. "Are you serious?"
Ye Qingli asked, "Don't you believe me?"
"No."
"Then wait for me."