Changing out of her gown and removing her makeup, Ye Li got off the car at the Imperial University East Gate close to 11 p.m.
Walking all the way to Fanxing Apartnt, she spotted Xie Yunkai standing at the bottom of the stairs, and Lu Xiaoxiao smiling brightly at the top of the steps.
"Lizi..."
Seeing Ye Li, Lu Xiaoxiao waved to her in surprise. "You’re not going ho tonight?"
"No, I’m afraid I won’t be able to wake up on ti in the morning!"
Ye Li shook her head and asked with a amused expression, "Why aren’t you two talking upstairs?"
The early spring nights were still cold.
Xie Yunkai’s suit jacket was draped over Lu Xiaoxiao, but it did little to block out the chill.
Lu Xiaoxiao hugged the jacket tightly, looking embarrassed. "I didn’t let him go upstairs tonight. Lizi, you should head in quickly so you don’t catch a chill!"
Ye Li nodded and turned to walk into the apartnt building.
Even as she walked further away, she could still hear Lu Xiaoxiao’s playful voice, "Yunkai, you look so handso in a suit. When we’re rich soday, can you wear suits every day just for ?"
She didn’t catch Xie Yunkai’s reply, but Ye Li knew that his response wouldn’t be anything other than "Alright."
Looking back later, Ye Li was already out of sight as Lu Xiaoxiao smiled, loosened her grip on the jacket, and threw herself into Xie Yunkai’s arms, saying, "Yunkai, you’ve been so busy lately..."
"I’m sorry!"
Lowering his head to kiss the top of Lu Xiaoxiao’s hair, a glimr of light began to brighten the somber depths of Xie Yunkai’s eyes.
"Xiaoxiao..."
As though he had made up his mind, Xie Yunkai said softly, "Let’s... not go for graduate school anymore, okay?"
???
Lu Xiaoxiao straightened up in shock. "Yunkai, what’s wrong? Did your aunt’s chronic illness flare up again? Or is it Uncle Xie..."
"No!"
Xie Yunkai shook his head, lifting his gaze to et Lu Xiaoxiao’s. "It’s —I don’t want to pursue it anymore."
"Why?"
Lu Xiaoxiao’s anxious expression gradually cald.
"It suddenly feels... aningless."
The two of them had been together for so many years, not just as lovers but as soulmates deeply attuned to each other’s thoughts.
Speaking earnestly, Xie Yunkai said, "Xiaoxiao, I believe that all the effort we’re pouring in now will eventually yield results, just as serious preparation would ensure our success in pursuing graduate studies. But what happens after that? Graduate degrees, master’s degrees, Ph.D.... and then what? Don’t you feel that much of our effort often leads to results devoid of purpose?"
"On the path to success, there are three types of people. One is soone like Ye Li—soone gifted and born ahead on the starting line. Then there are those who are hardworking, diligent, and financially equipped to fight for it. Xiaoxiao, we’re the third type."
Lu Xiaoxiao listened intently.
And Xie Yunkai continued just as seriously, "We need to give it our all just to reach the sa starting line as them. But by the ti we reach that line, they’re already far ahead on the road to success—perhaps even approaching the finish line. Xiaoxiao, I’m not giving up, it’s just... I don’t want to keep competing anymore."
"Xiaoxiao, let’s get married!"
First, there was that mont when Mrs. Fu called Ye Li "Lady."
Then ca the revelation from Zhong Keke that Ye Li was already married.
From that mont on, a restless desire began stirring quietly in Xie Yunkai’s heart.
And now, as he said it aloud, it felt as though all the burden weighing him down had vanished.
"Xiaoxiao..."
Leaning down, he brushed his lips against hers and said with quiet determination, "I don’t want to pursue postgraduate studies anymore. Just like we said when we first t, after graduating, we’ll go back to the village to beco teachers. I’ll teach math, physics, and chemistry, and you can teach Chinese and English. That way, not only can we stay together forever and take care of our parents, but we can also help more children out of those mountains. How does that sound?"
"Yunkai..."
Lu Xiaoxiao stood there motionless.
Ever since she was eighteen and began liking Xie Yunkai, she had been making a dream.
A dream that belonged solely to her and Xie Yunkai.
From school uniforms to wedding dresses.
From youth to old age.
And when they were old and gray, they would sit hand in hand on a long bench on the school playground, shoulder to shoulder, head resting against head.
But that was their plan for the latter half of their lives.
For now, they were still young, with so many ideals and ambitions left to fulfill.
Xie Yunkai had yet to beco an exceptional physicist or an erudite scholar.
She had yet to earn enough money to take her parents to see Tianann Square or to help Xie Yunkai’s mother get the dical treatnt she needed.
All along, they’d been striving, fighting to beco the bright and shining versions of their imagined selves.
"Xie Yunkai, I won’t let you give up!"
The girl who was always cheerful now carried an expression of unwavering seriousness. "And I won’t give up either!"
"But Xiaoxiao..."
"No buts!"
Before he could finish, Lu Xiaoxiao interrupted forcefully. "I know reality will have many frustrations and countless obstacles, but I believe we can overco them. Just like with the college entrance exams—thousands of troops crossing the single-plank bridge. So succeed, but surely there are those who don’t. And those who don’t succeed—do they stop living?"
"They just find another way to live!"
Lu Xiaoxiao’s voice rang resolutely. "Studying, living, pursuing graduate degrees, working part-ti... I take all of them seriously. Including being with you."
"Xie Yunkai!"
Lu Xiaoxiao descended the steps and stood in front of the tall young man, gazing up at him. "I’m certain, absolutely sure, that our hard work will lead to our own success. And we won’t compare ourselves to others. We’ll simply be ourselves and achieve the success that belongs to us, alright?"
The girl’s determined gaze was fixed on him, her eyes brimming with expectation.
As if no matter what happened, she would stand by his side and face it all with him.
"Alright!"
Xie Yunkai nodded, his eyes eting hers. "Then, let’s get married, okay?"
Married?
Lu Xiaoxiao’s eyes lit up like stars. "But... you’re not even old enough yet, Classmate Xie Yunkai!"
Xie Yunkai froze.
A fleeting look of embarrassnt crossed his face.
Lu Xiaoxiao’s cheeks flushed with shy delight. "Even if you were old enough, it wouldn’t make sense for us to get married right now. People would laugh at us if word got out."
After the college entrance exams, their household registrations had been transferred along with their school records to Imperial University.
To get married, they’d have to go to the student affairs office to retrieve their household registration pages.
And then, word would spread like wildfire across the whole campus. Everyone would know they were married.
Just imagining it made Lu Xiaoxiao’s cheeks blush redder.
"Then, we’ll get married as soon as we graduate!"
Staring intensely at Lu Xiaoxiao, Xie Yunkai’s expression was decidedly persistent.
Lu Xiaoxiao smiled, glancing around before pulling him over to hide behind a pillar. Standing on tiptoe, she kissed him.
"Xie Yunkai, I like you. I like you so much, so much!"
"Xie Yunkai, can I take this as your proposal tonight?"
"Xie Yunkai!"
Step by step, Lu Xiaoxiao glanced back at him, her words full of joy, as though her laughter was still ringing in his ears.
Smiling as he waved at her, Xie Yunkai watched her slowly climb the staircase, pausing near the top to turn back and wave at him one last ti.
Afterward, only the empty staircase remained.
There was nothing else to see.
Lowering his gaze, the shadow in Xie Yunkai’s eyes gradually grew darker again.
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