Lu Nian didn’t finish her next sentence because even if she didn’t go abroad, she couldn’t go to A University. In the future, she could only stay in An Cheng.

For a while, there was just a “Hmm” from the other side.

Then, there was nothing.

Lu Nian sat up straight, leaning against the soft pillow. The faint sound of electricity was very clear, but there was nothing from the other end.

Lu Nian was annoyed by this “Hmm”.

She had imagined Qin Si’s possible reactions—either he would mock her, saying she was fickle, saying she had promised to go abroad but didn’t.

The other possible reaction was…

He… would at least be a little happy, right? If she didn’t go abroad, they would be much closer.

But unexpectedly, it was this kind of response that seemed completely unrelated to him, devoid of any emotional fluctuation—”Hmm.”

It left her breathless.

Without thinking, she said, “Okay, I know you don’t care anyway. I was just casually talking.”

“At night, I woke up from a nightmare, and everyone else was asleep. I dialed the phone randomly.” She was defiant. “It wasn’t meant for you. I just wanted to talk to someone. Anyone.”

Her cheeks burned.

Actually, this kind of thing had happened before, but at that time, she had taken it lightly and didn’t feel like there was anything wrong.

But now, the budding feelings in the girl’s heart were ambiguous and subtle.

She wasn’t even sure herself, but she had suddenly become more reserved and proud.

She was usually gentle and calm. Even if someone was disrespectful or rude, she wouldn’t mind.

But when it came to Qin Si, her emotions seemed particularly impulsive.

Anger and happiness were much stronger than when she was with others.

Qin Si stood up, opened the small fridge beside him. It was empty inside, except for two cans of beer.

He hesitated for a moment, then took one out.

This level of alcohol had no effect on him.

He pressed his phone, making sure the other end couldn’t hear, and pulled the tab on the can.

In the quiet of the night, there was a crisp and fragmented sound.

He said lightly, “I didn’t think so.”

He knew he was never anything special to her, and he didn’t expect to win her affection.

If he wanted it, he had to fight for it.

By any means necessary, even if it made her hate him in the future.

Lu Nian said nothing.

She bit her lip and slowly curled up.

Qin Si used to argue with her at least.

It had only been less than a year since they last met, and he had become so unfamiliar.

The feeling of being able to meet anytime was completely different from being thousands of miles apart.

She hadn’t seen him in so long, she didn’t even know what he looked like now.

She continued, “Are you having fun in college? You haven’t come back for a year.”

Lu Nian wasn’t good at mocking others. She tried to adjust her tone to be sarcastic, but it came out soft and weak.

It felt lacking in strength, completely unlike how natural Qin Si was when he mocked her.

She shut her mouth and said, “Mingge and the others are doing well. Huangmao and Xiaoku have opened their own shops.”

“You don’t have to come back.” Lu Nian said, “Just stay outside forever. Everyone will be fine.”

The can was empty.

His slender fingers involuntarily exerted force, crushing the can.

He raised his hand and threw the can into the nearby trash can, his voice faint, “If you want, you’ll get what you wish for.”

Like ice water, devoid of any emotion, and without any sarcasm, unable to see through anything.

His handsome cheeks flushed, a hint of alcohol in his breath.

He felt like he was on the verge of losing control.

He moved the phone away from himself, completely distancing himself, restraining himself from making any noise that the other end could hear.

Lu Nian bit her lip tightly.

The clock outside struck a new hour, the night was deep, and her heart was in turmoil.

She held onto her phone, wanting to hang up, but she couldn’t press the red button.

She waited for Qin Si to hang up.

But he didn’t hang up.

Lu Nian quickly figured it out.

Because it wasn’t his phone bill, he probably thought it was nice to casually waste a bit of her money.

Unconsciously, she fell asleep.

The girl’s black hair scattered on the pillow, her cheeks snow-white and smooth.

She curled up even tighter, looking even more delicate.

In her dreams, she murmured, “…You better never come back.”

Her voice was extremely muffled, and slightly aggrieved. “Stupid Qin Si.”

Despite how much she missed him.

…

The next morning, she suddenly remembered and checked her phone.

The call lasted for five hours, until it was finally disconnected at eight in the morning the next day.

Did Qin Si fall asleep too and forget to hang up? Did he have moments like this too?

Lu Nian rubbed her face.

Thinking back to last night, her mood was still low.

Did they argue again yesterday? Or was that just their usual way of communicating?

She surprisingly slept well last night, without any nightmares.

After waking up, Lu Nian planned to continue studying in the study.

Miao Miao said, “Nian Nian, did you sleep well last night?”

She looked more energetic than usual.

“No,” Lu Nian replied after finishing her morning routine and tying up her hair.

The month passed quickly.

They would soon have their graduation ceremony, followed by the college entrance exam.

The weather was getting hotter day by day, just like a year ago, and Lu Nian became a participant in the graduation ceremony.

She rarely posted updates, but this time she posted a graduation photo of herself and her classmates.

They had just come out of the auditorium, wearing the full school uniform with knee-length skirts. It was a rare sunny day for taking graduation photos, with a high temperature and bright sunshine.

It gave many girls the opportunity to take a beautiful graduation photo in the last few days of high school.

There were many likes and comments.

Huang Mao added Lu Nian as a friend and urgently saved the photo, then sent it to the group.

【Mingge】: Is this Nian Nian? Graduating already? So beautiful, she’s grown into a beauty.

Although Lu Nian had been beautiful since she was young, now, at eighteen, her beauty was even more remarkable among the crowd. Like a clear spring, pure and lively, she stood out exceptionally.

【Xiao Qu】: Time flies.

【Huang Mao】: Yeah, it’s true. Girls change so much as they grow older, and they become more and more beautiful.

Qin Si usually didn’t speak in the group, only when they needed to solve something or when they had caused some trouble and needed Qin Si to intervene.

This time was no exception.

But suddenly, a message popped up in Huang Mao’s private chat.

“Qin Ge?”

Huang Mao immediately sat up straight, eager to see what good news there might be.

“Retracted in the group.”

“Deleted the photo.”

Just two lines.

Huang Mao: …He acted quickly.

[Ming Ge]: I haven’t saved it yet, why retract? Let someone see it later, let him see how stunning Nie Nie is now.

(He did have a strong suspicion, but he didn’t dare to say.)

On the phone screen, the girl smiled subtly, with a gentle expression, clear and bright eyes, and slightly raised pink lips, talking to the girl beside her.

The girl was slender, with delicate curves, wearing the full formal school uniform of the attached middle school.

The skirt was very short.

Just above the knees, making the girl’s waist slender and her legs long.

Although he had been in the attached middle school for many years, he couldn’t remember how long the summer school uniform skirts for girls were.

He had never seen her wear such a short skirt when they were together before.

Who was she wearing it for?

He pursed his lips, suppressing his emotions, forcing himself not to think about it anymore, and looked away.

The photo was saved.

It wasn’t the first time.

After that night at Lu’s house during the winter vacation, he had gradually accepted his despicable means and thoughts about her.

It had been too long since he last saw her, and he couldn’t restrain his thoughts.

He even calmly thought, if they met now, would Nian Nian just tell him to get lost?

Would he even be able to leave, or would he still be shamelessly circling around her like a dog, willing to do anything as long as she said so?

The college entrance examination came quickly and ended quickly.

It was just two days.

When Lu Nian walked out of the examination room, she didn’t feel much.

Lu Family’s car was waiting outside early, Lu Yang smiled, “Nian Nian, luckily, I’m here to pick you up for dinner, let’s have a good meal, and you can sleep in tomorrow.”

“Where do you want to go for vacation?” Lu Yang sat in the passenger seat, turned around and asked her, “Just let Uncle know, Brother can accompany you.”

Nian Nian was looking at her phone.

Obviously, everyone had come out of the exam room, and there were over 99 messages in the class group, still scrolling down in pages.

Lu Yang was surprised, “Class gathering?”

“Yeah.”

Lu Nian said, “After graduation, everyone plans to get together one last time, after all, we’ll be scattered all over the place later, it won’t be easy to meet up again.”

Lu Yang obviously wanted to object, but in front of Lu Zhihong, he was used to not expressing any opinions and waited for Lu Zhihong to speak first.

Lu Nian had lost some weight compared to before, and she was a bit taller, her skin still pale without much color, making her look delicate and frail.

When she looked down, she seemed particularly pitiful.

Lu Zhihong remembered her endless studying before.

“Go ahead,” Lu Zhihong said, “Finish eating and come back, I’ll ask Lu Yang to pick you up.”

A faint smile curved on Lu Nian’s lips.

“Fenghua Hotel, Room 301, hurry up.”

“Add a ‘1’ for coming.”

Lu Nie smiled with her eyes bent, sent a “1”, and added her name as a note behind it.

The place they gathered for dinner was a very upscale restaurant.

When Lu Nian entered, she found it was a very large private room, with a small screen in the middle, big enough to accommodate more than double the number of people.

“We’re sharing with Class 2,” Tian Yue said, holding a glass of orange juice, “Because we booked too late, there were no private rooms left, and then Zhao Yuyuan said we could share with them, they’ll split their room in half for us.”

Zhao Yayuan?

He’s so kind?

Someone had already sat down beside her.

Originally, Tian Yue was sitting on Lu Nian’s left, and a boy was on her right.

The boy was patted on the shoulder, and Zhao Yayuan smiled and said to him, “Brother, switch seats.”

The boy knew Zhao Yayuan and quickly complied.

Zhao Yayuan sat down beside Lu Nian, “Is your dad willing to let you out?”

Lu Nian, “…”

She felt like someone had been sneaking glances at them the whole time, it shouldn’t be her imagination.

She silently moved her chair a bit to the side.

Zhao Yayuan didn’t push further,

“Shall we go sing KTV later?”

After finishing the meal, everyone felt unfulfilled and wanted to go out again.

Tian Yue asked if Lu Nian wanted to go, and Lu Nian actually wanted to continue, but she shook her head slightly, “My dad called, he’s probably urging me to go back.”

As expected.

“Give me your phone,” Zhao Yayuan beckoned to her.

Lu Nian hesitated for a moment, then handed over her phone.