It had been overcast for the past few days. In the morning, the world outside was hazy, like the end of the apocalypse—once you stepped into it, you vanished from sight.
During the lunch break, Ye Qingli bought a bowl of rice with grilled meat and flipped through her contacts as she ate. When the call connected, she swallowed the food in her mouth and brought the phone to her lips. "Dad."
Ye Yaohui was tallying the accounts for the past few days. Hearing his daughter call, he quickly marked his place, put down his pen, and smiled with an "Eh?" Just as he was about to share what he was doing, he heard her speak again.
"Where's Mom?"
She had just called Zhang Luan but got no answer, so she called him to ask.
"..." Ye Yaohui picked up his pen again, pouted, and said in a helpless tone, "She's watering the flowers on the balcony. What's up?"
Zhang Luan had quite a few plants on the balcony and spent ages tending to them every day. Ye Qingli said, "Oh," and added, "I called Mom but she didn't pick up, so I'm asking you."
"Is that our daughter on the phone?"
Zhang Luan's voice came from the other end. Ye Yaohui handed her the phone, speechless. "I thought Qingqing had finally become thoughtful enough to remember her old dad. Turns out it's all for nothing. Here, you two talk."
Zhang Luan took the phone, not forgetting to jab at him. "What's there to talk about with a grown man like you? We have our daily phone chats around this time. Our daughter was obviously looking for me."
Ye Yaohui had come to terms with it. "Fine, fine. So the two of you just gang up on me."
On her end, Ye Qingli bit her chopsticks and listened, a smile spreading across her face. Her dad had always had a pretty "low" status at home.
When the line quieted down, Ye Qingli spoke up. "Mom, it's the weekend tomorrow. Can you help me ask for leave?"
In college, you only needed to ask for leave if you weren't coming back for the night. Zhang Luan frowned and, as expected, asked that question. "Leave? You can go out during the day, can't you? Where are you staying overnight?"
"I want to go hiking with my roommates. It's a bit far, and running back and forth is inconvenient, so we plan to find a hotel nearby to stay in," Ye Qingli said, a hint of coaxing in her voice.
As her daughter, she knew Zhang Luan was susceptible to that. But it was still an overnight stay, and a few young girls going out to play would naturally worry their family.
After a mental struggle, Zhang Luan decided to try one more time. "Don't you have classes this weekend?"
Ye Qingli broke into a grin. "No, I don't have any classes this weekend."
Well, there was no reason left.
After a long silence, Zhang Luan sighed and instructed, "Then you need to report your itinerary to me in advance, or your dad and I will worry."
"Okay."
Once that topic was over, they chatted for a while longer until Ye Qingli said she had class and hung up.
Putting down her phone, Xu Yan walked over and smiled at her. "Your mom is pretty easygoing. Unlike my mom, who's doing everything to stop me. I'm going hiking, not to Myanmar."
"She's just worried about you," Ye Qingli replied with a smile, packed up the textbooks she'd need for the next class, and stood up from her chair. "Let's go."
"Mm."
In the afternoon, they had Advanced Mathematics. Just one class, but it lasted two and a half hours.
Ye Qingli was thin—the type who could eat anything without gaining weight. The classroom chairs were hard, and by the end of class, her lower back ached and her bottom hurt. She took a while to recover before stumbling to her feet.
"Qingqing, are you going to the Youth Association today?"
"No, I have to go out tomorrow, so I'm tired," Ye Qingli said.
"Then eat out tonight?"
"Sure."
Not far from the school was a night market, quite large, stretching several blocks. Old Baldy, their English teacher, said it was all junk food and shouldn't be eaten, but they'd just run into him earlier—one hand holding skewers, the other a sweet drink. The lights from the sign reflected on his face, shifting between red and green. When recognized, he smiled awkwardly and insisted it was his wife who wanted it.
"What a poser." After Old Baldy left, Zhang Yan covered her mouth and snickered.
After much deliberation, they finally settled on a food stall with decent food. But precisely because it was good, every seat was taken.
Xu Yan crouched down, hugging her arms, her brows knitted tightly enough to kill a fly. "It's so cold out here, how can there still be so many people? I'm so done."
With so many people around, bumping into each other was inevitable. Ye Qingli pulled her up. "Let's wait a bit. We can't help it; we came too late."
Meanwhile, at a table by the entrance, a large group was seated, their noise nearly drowning out the sky.
Suddenly, someone nudged a boy who was looking down at his phone, his tone teasing.
"Hey, A Yu, isn't that your rumored girlfriend?"
Xiao Yu looked up and followed his gaze.
Ye Qingli looked different today. Instead of her usual ponytail, she had braided a side braid. Her skull was perfectly shaped, and her profile was beautiful. When she smiled, her eyes curved like crescent moons. Her cool temperament made it hard not to notice her presence.
Xiao Yu's eyes darkened, but only for a second before he lowered his head, flicking the ash from the half-burnt cigarette between his fingers, seemingly unimpressed.
"Oh."
"Hey, isn't that Huang Xu? Even the elite can come to a food stall now?"
Xu Qingsong tilted his chin up, spat out a sunflower seed shell, crossed his legs, and leaned sideways, looking cocky.
As Xiao Yu looked up, Huang Xu walked over to the girls and greeted them. Then he looked at Ye Qingli, said something, and both of them laughed happily.
They seemed pretty close.
"This guy acts all noble all day, eating hot pot and seafood buffets. Why's he suddenly here? Isn't he afraid the smoke will choke him?" Xu Qingsong rambled on, his hands busy with sunflower seeds so he used his elbow to nudge Xiao Yu. "Hey, don't you think he's..."
"Go ask them to join our table."
It was obvious what he was implying. Xiao Yu stubbed out his cigarette and tossed it to the ground, stepping on it.