Why haven’t you left yet? (1)

The moment the elevator doors closed.

Yue Qianling looked at herself in the mirrored walls and finally let out the breath she had been holding.

The elevator descended slowly, and in this confined space, she could distinctly hear her own light and heavy breathing.

She didn’t know what was going on with Gu Xun.

In the many encounters before, he had always ignored her, but now that they couldn’t even maintain an “acquaintance” relationship, he seemed to be able to see her.

She subconsciously took out her phone, wanting to tell Yin Xue about what had happened in the past few days, but when she opened WeChat, her finger paused.

She couldn’t be so weak.

Just because someone said, “Can we exchange WeChat,” did she have to go back to doing reading comprehension again? Wasn’t the high school Chinese test paper enough?

He just rejected you a few days ago, so what other meaning could there be?

Do you still want to be tormented by your own expectations and fantasies?

Thinking of this, she remembered the somewhat presumptuous photo she had posted half a year ago.

Yue Qianling opened it up and looked at the blurry figure in the photo. After staring at it for a moment, she pressed delete.

Then she continued to flip through it.

Although she didn’t post much, there were always some late-night melodramatic creations, which only she knew why she posted them.

After a few seconds, Yue Qianling deleted all but three or four posts from her Moments.

***

When Yue Qianling left work and returned home, the sky was still bright.

As she walked to the entrance of the community, Yue Qianling unexpectedly encountered Gu Xun again.

Sometimes she wondered if the heavens enjoyed playing tricks on her.

Otherwise, why was it that whenever she tried her best to completely erase him from her mind, he kept appearing in front of her?

Even Murphy’s Law couldn’t always be verified on her alone.

After a brief eye contact, Yue Qianling quickly averted her gaze and turned left with a blank expression.

The building she lived in was actually on the right, but the daily necessities she had recently bought began to arrive one by one. Today, the courier called to inform her that they were stored in the courier station to the left of the community.

After taking a few steps, Yue Qianling sensed something, so she looked to the side.

Coincidentally, Gu Xun also looked over, and their eyes met again.

The setting sun was shining brightly which made his gaze appear even more distinct.

The number of times they had met on this day was just too many, and Yue Qianling felt a strange feeling.

But she didn’t think much about it, withdrew her gaze, and muttered in a slightly unpleasant tone, “What a coincidence.”

Gu Xun walked beside her, lowered his eyes, and smiled. “Not a coincidence.”

Yue Qianling suddenly turned her head and glanced at him angrily.

In the sunlight, the fuzz on her cheeks was clearly visible. Her lips were slightly pursed as if she were angry again.

Gu Xun could only turn his face away, looking to the other side, and muttered to himself, “I did it on purpose.”

Unfortunately, Yue Qianling didn’t hear what he was saying.

The two of them walked in the same direction, maintaining a distance of two meters between them.

Yue Qianling didn’t look to the side again until they reached the courier station. She stopped and found that Gu Xun’s destination seemed to be here as well.

There were a few people ahead waiting in line, and Yue Qianling subconsciously didn’t want to stand behind him. Therefore, she quietly quickened her pace.

However, her legs were much shorter than his, so Yue Qianling was still a step behind. She could only stand behind Gu Xun.

A few seconds later.

Yue Qianling finally realized why she subconsciously wanted to go ahead just now.

Because as soon as she raised her eyes, she saw Gu Xun’s back up close.

If she didn’t raise her eyes, she could still smell the scent of laundry detergent on his clothes.

Probably because the weather was too hot, Yue Qianling pursed her lips irritably and took a step back quietly.

She figured that if she was a little further away from him, her mood wouldn’t be so complicated.

A few minutes later, Gu Xun got his package, which was a small box that he could easily hold in one hand.

When he turned around, Yue Qianling deliberately lowered her head to look at her phone. It wasn’t until he left that she raised her head and provided her pickup code.

The staff at the courier station checked and said, “Oh, this one is outside.”

Yue Qianling walked to the door but found that Gu Xun hadn’t left yet.

He just stood there, the afterglow of the sun shining on him, his pupils reflecting a faint amber color, and he was looking down at his phone.

Hearing someone coming out, he looked up and met Yue Qianling’s gaze.

“Why haven’t you left yet?”

He didn’t expect to hear this sentence, which sounded strangely familiar.

Gu Xun’s eyes swept over the various large packages piled in front of him. He tilted his head and said, “Can’t I bask in the sun?”

What a green plant you are.

Yue Qianling no longer looked at him and bent down to find her own package.

“3045…” Yue Qianling silently recited the pickup code in her mind, but when she saw the box with the code, she was dumbfounded.

Wasn’t it a simple installation shelf?

Why was it so big?

“Do you need help?”

Gu Xun’s voice suddenly came from above her head. Yue Qianling was stunned for a moment but didn’t look at him.

“No need, thank you.”

After saying that, she put her phone in her bag and bent over to hug the package box.

“……”

It’s okay, I can do it.

Yue Qianling took a deep breath and tried to straighten her back.

But this thing was too heavy.

After walking a few steps, Yue Qianling was already struggling and, moreover, the box was taller than her when she hugged it, completely blocking her vision. She could only look at the road with her head tilted.

In addition, she felt like Gu Xun was walking behind her.

That faint gaze fell on her back, making her feel the road was even harder to walk.

Not far from the courier station was an uphill road. Even though Yue Qianling was mentally prepared, she still couldn’t do it.

She walked slower and slower, and she couldn’t see the road clearly. When she heard the sound of a child running towards her, she subconsciously stepped back, and her entire body lost balance.

“Ah—”

The the moment she fell backward, Yue Qianling subconsciously screamed.

But this sound stopped abruptly when she bumped into the arms of the man behind her.

The stifling wind seemed to freeze in the air at that moment.

She once again smelled that faint scent of laundry detergent.

She didn’t need to turn around to know who she had bumped into.

And it seemed like she had stepped on his foot too.

Yue Qianling was stunned for a moment, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and suddenly realized something.

This box was indeed too heavy.

Life had to go on, and as long as they were neighbors, they couldn’t avoid running into each other.

If she kept embarrassing herself like this every time they met, how could she live?

If she didn’t want Gu Xun to think she still couldn’t forget him, perhaps acting as if nothing had happened was the best umbrella?

Thinking of this, she put down what she was holding, squeezed out of the gap between Gu Xun and the box, turned to look at him, and said calmly, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Without saying much more. Gu Xun stretched out his hand to Yue Qianling, and she took the small cardboard box from his hand.

Then, Gu Xun picked up her box, and they walked towards the building they both lived in.

The two of them just entered the elevator in silence.

It wasn’t until Gu Xun put the box on the floor that he spoke as if talking to himself, “Why is this thing heavier than you?”

“……”

Yue Qianling lowered her head and looked at the black footprint on his white sneakers, and decided not to argue with what he said this time.

When they reached the 13th floor, Gu Xun placed the box outside her door.

While Yue Qianling fingerprinted the lock, she once again said in a toneless voice, “Thank you.”

Gu Xun looked up. “Do you need help moving it inside?”

“No need to trouble you, I can do it myself.”

After a moment of silence, Gu Xun hummed in agreement and turned to open his own door.

However, when the door opened, he didn’t enter. Instead, he leaned against the door frame, unabashedly staring at Yue Qianling.

Yue Qianling had her back to Gu Xun at first, and when she found that she couldn’t push the box, she went around it and dragged it in.

However, it seemed to be caught on something and couldn’t be dragged in.

Just as Yue Qianling was getting anxious, the weight in her hands suddenly lightened.

The box blocked her view, and she couldn’t see the man behind the box.

She was stunned for a moment, and then then she retreated with his help.

Inside the apartment, they were still separated by the box, and neither of them could see each other.

Finally, Yue Qianling’s voice finally had some emotion when she thanked him. “Thank you.”

“No need to be polite.”