By the ti Zhou Yuwen escorted Li Shiqi back to her school, it was almost 7 PM. It was the start of evening classes, and the campus of South University was unusually quiet. The sky had darkened, and the distant teaching buildings and the library by the artificial lake were lit up. Zhou Yuwen and Li Shiqi walked silently along the side path next to the plane tree avenue. The large trees cast shadows; occasionally, a breeze would rustle the leaves, making a soft whispering sound.
There wasn't much for Zhou Yuwen and Li Shiqi to talk about. In their past lives, they had no interactions, and now, by a twist of fate, they were brought together. Li Shiqi was a top student at South University, while Zhou Yuwen barely attended a second-tier university. What could they possibly discuss?
Zhou Yuwen only walked her back to ensure that the yellow-haired girls wouldn’t seek revenge on her.
They walked past tree after tree and streetlight after streetlight. Li Shiqi led the way, and Zhou Yuwen followed, forming a hazy, youthful scene.
Li Shiqi wanted to talk to Zhou Yuwen. She felt guilt for causing him trouble, gratitude, and a touch of youthful affection. She had always protected herself and never imagined a boy would co along to shield her from harm. But when such a boy appeared, she couldn’t help but feel a flutter of emotions.
She walked ahead, occasionally looking back at Zhou Yuwen, hesitating to speak. Zhou Yuwen, holding a stereotype of her, kept urging her not to look back.
“Are we at the dorm yet?” Zhou Yuwen’s straightforward question left Li Shiqi no choice but to shake her head and keep walking silently.
Zhou Yuwen didn’t think a girl like Li Shiqi would be interested in a boy like him. In a strict sense, Zhou Yuwen considered himself a scoundrel, but he couldn’t be completely unscrupulous. He couldn’t follow the principle of not wasting any chances with willing girls. He saw himself and Li Shiqi as people from different worlds.
Having experienced marriage, Zhou Yuwen no longer considered remarrying, no matter how great the girl was.
The short walk from the plane tree avenue to the girls' dormitory seed long for Li Shiqi, who wanted to talk to Zhou Yuwen but struggled with her reserved nature. Eventually, they reached the dormitory.
“Are we here?” Zhou Yuwen looked at the new dormitory building and comnted, “It’s a high-class university; even the dorms are better.”
“No, your school is nice too,” Li Shiqi replied softly.
“Okay, I’ll go now,” Zhou Yuwen smiled.
Li Shiqi felt conflicted. She wanted to invite Zhou Yuwen to dinner as a thank you, but her daily allowance was only ten yuan, and she had just five yuan left. If Zhou Yuwen ordered sothing expensive, she couldn’t afford it. She didn’t want to appear poor in front of him but also wanted to spend more ti with him.
“Hey,”
“Oh, right,”
Before Li Shiqi could speak, Zhou Yuwen seed to rember sothing and turned back. He pulled out a wad of money from his pocket.
“According to our agreent, you should get a twenty yuan commission per person. Since you brought thirty people and worked hard all day, I’ll give you a commission of thirty yuan per person. That’s 900 yuan. Plus, I promised an extra 200 yuan reward and another 200 yuan for providing a sales channel, making it 1300 yuan in total. Does that sound right?” Zhou Yuwen said, handing her the money.
Li Shiqi quickly refused, “I don’t want it. I caused you so much trouble; I can’t take it.”
“Why not?”
Li Shiqi looked down, feeling her nose tingle with emotion. She genuinely felt guilty.
“This is yours. Take it,” Zhou Yuwen insisted, putting the money in her hand.
Seeing her still silent with her head down, he said, “I didn’t expect our class representative to be a crybaby.”
Zhou Yuwen’s words made Li Shiqi look up, her eyes watery.
“Then I’ll leave now.”
“Let
treat you to dinner,”
Just as Zhou Yuwen turned to leave, Li Shiqi mustered the courage to speak.
Zhou Yuwen stopped and looked at her.
“Our cafeteria has a great spicy hot pot,” she stamred.
Seeing her nervous face, Zhou Yuwen smiled, “No, thanks. I’m trying to avoid spicy food right now.”
“Then,”
“I’ll treat you to a movie!”
Li Shiqi blurted out, struggling to find the right words. Speaking with Zhou Yuwen felt harder than studying. Studying only required rembering things and writing them in an exam, but talking to Zhou Yuwen needed thinking. She tried hard to find the right answer, but her mind was blank.
Zhou Yuwen was taken aback, sensing sothing unusual.
Seeing his expression, Li Shiqi was slightly disappointed, “Is that okay?”
“Sure,”
Li Shiqi’s face lit up with a beautiful smile.
The tenderness of a bowed head,
So delicate in the cool breeze.
There wasn’t ti for a movie that day, so Zhou Yuwen asked if she was staying for Mid-Autumn Festival. If she wasn’t going ho, they could spend it together.
“Yeah!” Li Shiqi eagerly agreed.
Zhou Yuwen checked the ti and said he needed to go.
“Okay!”
Feeling a strange joy from Zhou Yuwen’s acceptance, Li Shiqi’s heart felt light, like experiencing the first spring breeze or tasting sweet spring water.
Even back in her dorm, Li Shiqi replayed the mont she courageously said, “I’ll treat you to a movie!” and Zhou Yuwen responded, “Sure.”
Everything seed so natural and wonderful.
This was Li Shiqi’s first ti feeling such emotions.
Luckily, her feelings were reciprocated.
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