The train arrived in Xi Zhou at seven in the morning. Xi Zhou was still cold, frost on the windows. As the carriage door opened, cold wind rushed in, and every breath came with white puffs of air.
Everything was as before.
After sitting the whole way, Ye Qingli felt her butt was numb. When she stood up, she found her back was stiff too. Xiao Yu had walked for a while before he noticed she wasn't following. He turned around and saw her clenching her fist and punching her back.
"Not much of a physique, huh?" Xiao Yu said with amusement. He hadn't slept well either, and when tired, a deep crease appeared on his eyelid, making him look a bit fierce.
"..." After sitting on the train for seven or eight hours, who wouldn't feel uncomfortable? And she had only gone back to Gu Cheng for him.
Ye Qingli silently rolled her eyes at him in her heart, then pretended to be fine, straightened her back, and walked toward the boy in front.
They flowed with the crowd out of the station. They were lucky; a taxi pulled up just as they got out.
They got in and sat down. Xiao Yu said, "Xi Zhou Normal University," then pulled a bill from his pocket and handed it to the driver.
The train station wasn't far from their school, but there were many traffic lights on the way, and drivers rarely used the meter. It was always a flat fare: twenty yuan.
The driver took the money.
Ye Qingli watched quietly without a word. Just before getting off, she calculated the cost of last night's tokens, train tickets, dinner, and this taxi fare. Then she opened WeChat, found their chat, and split the bill with him.
Xiao Yu had his phone on silent. He was leaning back against the seat, dozing off, completely unaware.
Ye Qingli idly scrolled through the page and noticed that the last money she had sent him was never accepted. She usually found the payment notification annoying, so she had turned it off, and the expired transfer notice had naturally vanished.
She hadn't noticed when she sent him a message yesterday either.
She turned off the screen and looked up. Xiao Yu looked beautiful as he slept. He had a small head and small face, handsome brow bones, dark eyelashes drooping, breathing evenly through his nose. Ye Qingli had thought earlier that he looked very gentle when quiet.
But this time was different. Now she felt he was a little pitiful.
Bad relationship with his family, being set up, slandered, and now short on money.
He shouldn't have been like this.
Ye Qingli was so lost in thought that she didn't even notice when the car stopped. When Xiao Yu opened his eyes, he saw her looking at him with a gaze like she was watching a puppy. He was startled, then put on a stern face.
"Are you cursing me again?"
"..." What was this guy always thinking? Did he have persecution paranoia?
She had just thought he looked gentle and pitiful.
It would be better if he never woke up.
Ye Qingli rolled her eyes at him, turned around, pushed open the car door, and got out. While sizing him up, she didn't forget to retort, "Yeah, I've been cursing you the whole way. I even called you stupid for only figuring it out now."
"..." Xiao Yu bit his lip.
How had she suddenly changed?
If it were before, he would probably sulk for a while. But today was different. He felt he had become much more magnanimous. Hearing these words didn't annoy him at all; in fact, he felt a little happy.
Compared to her timid earlier self, this way of talking was fun.
"Oh," he responded from behind, indicating he heard. But his tone was off; to Ye Qingli, it seemed like he actually agreed with her.
Had he been scolded silly?
Entering the school gate, they were about to part ways. Ye Qingli had a higher math class to attend, and Xu Yan was already waiting for her in the classroom. Xiao Yu planned to go back to the dorm and catch up on sleep. He was stunned. "You hardly slept last night, and you're still going to class?"
Just then, a few girls passed by, heard their conversation, paused, then widened their eyes, covered their mouths, and ran off giggling.
"..." His words were really ambiguous. No need to guess—they must have misunderstood.
"It's okay, I'm not that sleepy," Ye Qingli said.
She wished she could find a rag and stuff it in his mouth right now. She had been in university for two months and known him for only one month. This one month had been a disaster for her reputation. With the rumor that she was a player and he was one of her fish, it was like a circle radius, spreading everywhere.
Her reputation was ruined.
Although the university's admission score was high, and Xiao Yu had come in with good grades, he had slacked off afterward, attending classes only when he felt like it. Ye Qingli was a good student. He didn't want to waste her time any longer, so he raised his hand and left.
Just a few steps away, Xiao Yu suddenly hunched his shoulders. To put it nicely, he wasn't wasting her time. To put it bluntly, he was too cold. His hoodie was also dirty, and he wanted to get back to the dorm to take it off and wash it.
Ye Qingli watched him from behind and suddenly smiled. Then she walked toward the teaching building.
There were still five minutes until class. Ye Qingli arrived at the classroom before the teacher came in. She scanned the crowd of students until an arm reached out.
Xu Yan called her, "Qingqing, over here!"
Ye Qingli trotted over and sat down next to Xu Yan. Xu Yan handed her backpack to her, and Ye Qingli smiled and said thank you.
Xu Yan rested her chin on her hand and watched her busily prepare, then said worriedly, "Qingqing, you basically spent the whole night on the train. If you're tired, it would be fine to go back to the dorm and get a good sleep. You can borrow my notes later."
Compared to her, Xu Yan studied more seriously. Her family was from the countryside and not well-off, and she had been raised with the idea that "study hard to succeed." So she had been diligent all these years. Sometimes Ye Qingli didn't understand certain problems, but when she asked Xu Yan, it was like hitting an acupoint—she got it immediately.
"It's okay, I'll sleep at noon," Ye Qingli said casually, brushing off the topic. Seeing that Ye Qingli still seemed energetic, Xu Yan couldn't contain her curiosity about gossip.
She nudged Ye Qingli's elbow, covered her mouth, and leaned in excitedly. "Tell me the truth, do you kind of like Xiao Yu?"
"Huh?" Before Ye Qingli could process the meaning of those words, her face turned red first.
If the basis for this was that Ye Qingli had rushed to Gu Cheng right after returning to the dorm yesterday, having lied to her mom and asked for leave, then she admitted she had been a bit impulsive.
Impulsive enough that she didn't seem like herself.
She had never done anything like this for anyone.