The boy’s expression was serious, and the dim yellow light in the room cast a soft halo around him. His gaze never wavered from her.
After a long moment, Lin Tiao moved her lips, and her chin, held gently by his hand, shifted slightly in response.
She said, “Okay, we will definitely be together forever.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yan gave her a deep look. His thumb rubbed her chin, and his gaze was filled with emotions she couldn’t understand.
An unspoken silence followed, which was broken by the sudden vibration of Lin Tiao’s phone. The boy snapped out of his trance, let go of her chin, and awkwardly touched his nose before getting up and walking away.
It was a call from Meng Xin. As soon as the call connected, Lin Tiao heard her tentative voice, “I didn’t disturb you and the school tyrant, did I?”
Lin Tiao felt inexplicably guilty and covered the earpiece, whispering, “No, what’s the matter?”
“It’s nothing. I just wanted to ask if you’re coming back tonight.” Meng Xin, tapping on her keyboard, laughed and gossiped, “What were you and the school tyrant talking about in the room?”
Lin Tiao thought about their conversation tonight, and her ears turned red. She glanced at the time—it was already past ten. She stood up, “Let’s go, I’ll tell you on the way.”
Meng Xin responded with an “Ah” and quickly shut down her computer, “I’ll wait for you downstairs.”
“Okay.”
After hanging up, Jiang Yan walked over and stood in front of her. His tall figure blocked part of the light, “I’ll walk you downstairs.”
Lin Tiao raised an eyebrow and smiled, “You’ve adapted to the boyfriend role pretty quickly.”
Jiang Yan did not deny it. He half-sat on the back of the sofa, turned his face to look at her, and said, “I’m good at adapting.”
“...” Lin Tiao laughed.
“Alright, I’ll walk you downstairs.” He stood up, his long fingers reaching over to her shoulder, pulling her gently towards him, his voice teasing, “Let’s go, girlfriend.”
On a winter night, the sky was dark outside, and the lights shone brightly. The two of them walked down the stairs, their shadows stretching in the light.
Downstairs, it was lively. Meng Xin stood at the bar, chatting and laughing with the little internet manager, showing no trace of the earlier tension.
Jiang Yan walked with Lin Tiao to the alley to wait for a taxi.
The only streetlight remaining in the alley had stopped working due to aging electrical wiring, and the narrow, dark alley could barely be seen with the light from the tall buildings across the street.
The three of them walked side by side.
In the darkness, their clothes rustled as they brushed against each other. The boy’s arm touched hers, and his hand accidentally brushed against hers.
Lin Tiao froze for a moment, her fingers curling slightly.
The next second, he raised his hand, his pinky finger hooking around her middle finger.
A few seconds later, his hand shifted, his long fingers slipped between hers, and his warm palm tightly pressed against hers.
In the darkness, each movement was magnified infinitely.
Lin Tiao held her breath for a few seconds, feeling his soft fingertip gently rub against the area between her thumb and index finger. Her back stiffened, and her nails lightly pressed into his hand.
A few seconds later, she heard a barely audible chuckle, and he repeated the same movement.
“...”
Meng Xin, who had poor eyesight, tripped over a few small pits in the alley and almost fell several times.
After almost stumbling again, she couldn’t help but exclaim, steadying herself, then pulling out her phone to turn on the flashlight. The bright beam illuminated the path ahead and revealed the hands of the two people walking beside her.
Meng Xin: “...”
I don’t even need a flashlight; I can light myself up just fine.
Once they got into the car, Meng Xin immediately started gossiping, “Tiao Tiao, you and the school tyrant are already secretly together, aren’t you?”
“...”
Even the driver in front couldn’t help but glance back when he heard that.
Lin Tiao covered her face, “If your Chinese teacher knew you were using ‘secretly starting a relationship’ like that, they’d probably wake up in anger.”
“Then have you reached a good ending?”
“A good ending is still far off. Right now, we can only be...” Lin Tiao thought for a moment and changed to a more fitting expression, “Walking together into the love river.”
Meng Xin couldn’t help but laugh. Leaning back in her seat, she sighed enviously, “I really can’t believe you and the school tyrant are together. You know, the school tyrant has never had any rumors with any girl before.”
She leaned in closer to Lin Tiao, her eyes shining with gossip, “Tiao Tiao, tell me, what’s the school tyrant like when he’s in a relationship? Is he like the rumors say, cold to everyone, but a clingy little puppy to you?”
Lin Tiao smiled and pushed her head away, “No, it’s not that exaggerated. He just seems more approachable and a little gentler.”
“Alright, I’m officially a lemon now.” Meng Xin sighed dramatically, “Ah, I also want to fall in love. When will I get my sweet love?”
“You’re not the only one. Didn’t someone from another class send you a love letter?”
Mentioning the love letter, Meng Xin rolled her eyes and said disinterestedly, “Do you think someone who writes a love letter pointing out all your flaws and then tells you, ‘I don’t mind these flaws,’ will give me a sweet love?”
"...."
—
Lin Tiao and Meng Xin’s homes were not far from each other; they were separated by just one street. They got out of the car at the intersection and went their separate ways toward their own neighborhoods.
On this winter night, the cold wind howled.
After entering her community, Lin Tiao ran. Normally, the walk would take around ten minutes, but tonight, she made it in five.
She entered the building and typed in her password. The warmth from the heating system immediately hit her face.
Her phone, which had been in her pocket the whole time, vibrated.
Lin Tiao took it out and, without noticing the message, saw that the battery was at 9%. She clicked her tongue and quickly entered the elevator, hurrying home.
There was no one at home. Lin Tiao didn’t even bother to take off her shoes and went straight to her room. After charging her phone for a while, she opened the message.
Jiang Yan: I’ve arrived.
Lin Tiao replied with two words:
Lin Tiao: Just arrived.
After sending the message, Lin Tiao put her phone aside, grabbed her pajamas, and went to the bathroom. After a quick, simple shower that took around ten minutes, she returned.
She turned off the lights, climbed into bed, and picked up her phone. There were three unread messages.
“Hmm.”
“Hmm.”
“I’m asleep.”
Each message had an interval of about five to six minutes.
Lin Tiao couldn’t help but smile. She tapped the keyboard and replied:
Lin Tiao: I didn’t sleep, just finished showering.
Jiang Yan quickly responded:
Jiang Yan: Alright, then get some rest soon.
Lin Tiao replied:
Lin Tiao: Not sleeping.
Jiang Yan: Sleep, go to sleep now.
The next second, Jiang Yan sent a voice message that was only two seconds long.
“Goodnight.”
His voice was low and had a smile in it.
Lin Tiao leaned her ear to the phone to listen once and felt her ears tingle. She raised her hand to rub them, but couldn’t help listening to it again.
Her heart was racing. She curled up in the blanket and rolled around on the bed before finally stopping. She pushed the hair sticking to her face away, took a deep breath, cleared her throat, and then pressed the voice message button, softly saying two words: "Goodnight."
Jiang Yan didn’t reply.
Lin Tiao lay in bed, reflecting on the day’s events, still feeling like she was dreaming.
She picked up her phone and scrolled through their previous chat history.
They hadn’t really chatted much. During the day, they saw each other in class, but it was only around 9 PM when school ended. After getting home and tidying up a bit, it wasn’t long before it was too late to chat. Their conversations mostly consisted of trivial things.
After scrolling through, Lin Tiao logged out of WeChat and noticed the familiar app on her phone’s home screen. She clicked into it.
Her post was at the top of the page, with the title in bold capital letters followed by a golden flashing emoji. The post had already accumulated over 30,000 replies and likes.
She read through the comments and clicked on the upper-right corner to edit her post. She updated it with the following:
“He said, there are no ‘ifs,’ we will definitely be together forever.”
It hadn’t been a minute before the comments exploded.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh what am I seeing?!!!”
“Mr. Anjing is here to catch early love!”
“Is someone in love? Pick me, I’m super sweet.”
“Other people’s love is appropriate all year round, but mine is never right.”
“Today, I am the lemon in the campus love story.”
“Confirmed, let’s get married, we agree!”
“Lemon tree with lemon fruit, under the lemon tree, it’s only me.”
“Put on sunglasses, love no one.”
“Wuwuwuwuwu, my teen couple.”
“Spreading the happy vibes, wuwuwuwu.”
Lin Tiao laughed as she scrolled through the comments, rapidly liking them.
When she posted this help request, she hadn’t expected to get so much attention. As she recorded the moments with Jiang Yan, these comments from netizens were also an irreplaceable treasure.
Time passed bit by bit.
At almost midnight, Lin Tiao heard the sound of a door opening and closing in the living room. She rubbed her eyes, ready to get up and go out.
A sharp voice interrupted her actions, “Lin Yongcheng, do you feel that you’re doing right by me and by our daughter?”
“Yi Song,” Lin Yongcheng’s voice was filled with helplessness, “You know, the Lin family only has me as a son.”
“Don’t you know what my mom said before she passed away?”
Fang Yi Song replied, “Your mom’s thinking from that time can’t compare to now. So what if there’s only one? Is it not enough? Isn’t this child still from the Lin family? Isn’t it still your bloodline?”
“Yi Song.”
The argument gradually faded into Fang Yi Song’s sobbing.
In the darkness, Lin Tiao froze, even though the room was warm with the heating. She felt as though she had fallen into an ice cellar, coldness spreading throughout her body.
Her phone fell onto the bed, its screen still lit. She glanced at the time: 00:10.
Seeing this time, Lin Tiao actually felt a little relieved that this dreadful situation hadn’t happened yesterday.
That day was so beautiful and memorable that it shouldn’t have ended in such a regretful way.
At 3 AM, Jiang Yan returned to his room. He saw the last voice message Lin Tiao had sent him.
He turned off the lights, leaned against the headboard, and clicked on the brief voice message. The soft, youthful voice of the girl echoed in the room.
“Goodnight.”
After sending the goodnight voice message, Jiang Yan left his phone upstairs to charge.
When he saw the new message, he followed his principle of always replying to his girlfriend’s messages no matter when he saw them. He typed three words and sent them:
“See you tomorrow.”
After sending it, he placed his phone back on the bedside table. When he turned his gaze away, he paused for a moment.
There was a feature on WeChat.
When the other person is typing or sending a voice message, the status section would show what they were doing, such as "typing" or "recording."
At that moment, Jiang Yan saw that the status next to the words “girlfriend” changed to “typing...”
"..."
Jiang Yan glanced at the time: 3:20 AM. His girlfriend had said goodnight and that she was going to sleep at 11:20 PM, so there was a gap of four hours in between.
He rubbed his brow with his hand, silently waiting for her status to stop, and waited another minute. Still no message from his girlfriend, who, despite saying she was going to sleep, was clearly still online.
As this was Jiang Yan’s first experience with love, he found himself deep in thought. After a few minutes, he realized he couldn’t figure it out, so it would be better to just ask her directly.
The most taboo thing in a relationship is when one person doesn’t ask and the other doesn’t speak up. He decided to completely eliminate this taboo from his own relationship.
He sent a message:
"Still not asleep?"
Lin Tiao replied quickly:
"How do you know I’m not asleep?"
"We’re in sync."
Jiang Yan chuckled softly, his long fingers tapping the keyboard. In the dark room, only the corner by the bed was lit.
"Why aren’t you sleeping?"
"Can’t sleep."
Lin Tiao wasn’t sure how to explain, so she decided to change the topic. “Maybe it’s because it’s my first time in a relationship, and I’m a little excited. Aren’t you excited?"
"Excited." Jiang Yan flipped open a book, finding the last place he had read, then pressed his finger on the spine. “But no matter how excited I am, you still need to sleep. Tomorrow is Monday.”
"Does that mean tomorrow isn’t Monday for you?"
Jiang Yan chuckled and leaned his head against the wall. “I can skip class.”
She sighed. “I want to skip class too.”
She wanted to escape this home, this place.
The two of them chatted casually for more than half an hour.
Jiang Yan closed his book and decided he wouldn’t let her off the hook anymore. “Alright, you need to sleep now. Get some rest. Tomorrow morning, I’ll bring you breakfast. What do you want to eat?”
"That dumpling place we went to last time."
"Okay, I’ll get it for you. Just don’t be late."
"Mmm." Lin Tiao lay in bed, thinking about what she had heard tonight. She covered her eyes with her hand and whispered, “Jiang Yan, why are you so good to me?”
Jiang Yan was silent for a moment before answering, “You deserve it.”
Lin Tiao fought back tears and forced a smile. “See you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.”
After hanging up, Lin Tiao wiped her eyes. As she put down her phone, she received two more messages from him.
“When you’re upset, tell me. I’m your boyfriend, not anyone else.”
“Goodnight, baby.”
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