17: Still Fate

Also, there was fate.

“——February 19, 2014, Light Snow.

Happy New Year, Yu Yue.”

“——January 31, 2015, Heavy Snow.

Happy New Year.”

“June 5, 2015, Clear Weather.

Happy graduation.”

“June 12, 2015, Clear Weather.

Tomorrow, I plan to call you.

The contact number you gave me two years ago, I wonder if you’re still using it.

If you’ve changed your phone, I don’t know how to contact you anymore.

… They say if you change your phone, and I can’t find you, then our fate has come to an end.

If I can still contact you, it proves that we still have fate.

I didn’t believe in these things before.

But now, as I write this diary, my hands are trembling.

For the first time, I pray to the heavens that you haven’t changed your phone.

Hope we still have fate.”

It was an extremely hot summer.

After hanging up the phone, Xu Yuanzhe stood on the balcony of his dormitory for a very long time.

The outside temperature was very high, with heatwaves surging in the air, but Xu Yuanzhe’s palms were icy because of the tension from the recent phone call, leaving them slightly moist with sweat.

Leaning against the balcony railing, Xu Yuanzhe lowered his head, looking at the phone that had just displayed a call lasting about a minute.

Yu Yue didn’t change his phone.

Yu Yue’s voice was still the same as Xu Yuanzhe remembered.

Yu Yue remembered him, but that was all.

Xu Yuanzhe had prepared so many things to say for nearly a month, but they were all forcibly interrupted and abolished because Yu Yue was overseas and asleep.

After this phone call ended, Xu Yuanzhe belatedly realized that if Yu Yue didn’t come to B City for university, there wouldn’t be any future between them.

And he didn’t have the chance to tell Yu Yue anything.

He didn’t have the chance to tell Yu Yue that he had a crush on him at first sight two years ago, and for these two years, he had been secretly in love with Yu Yue, waiting for the day to contact him and confess.

Xu Yuanzhe only said one sentence to Yu Yue: “If you come here for university, I can show you around.”

What was that?

How could Yu Yue come to B City just because of such a sentence? Moreover, if Yu Yue hadn’t come to B City, Xu Yuanzhe wouldn’t have any other reason to contact him.

At this moment, the balcony door was pushed open.

A roommate walked out, glanced at Xu Yuanzhe, and smilingly asked, “So, any fate?”

Xu Yuanzhe lowered his eyes and looked at the phone.

After a long, long time, he raised his hand, pressed the burning corner of his eye, and said, “It’s over.”

The roommate was stunned.

But he didn’t say anything more.

In matters of the heart, success or failure doesn’t change life.

Life goes on as usual.

It was summer vacation, and all the roommates had gone home. Xu Yuanzhe was still the same, working, working, working… He had saved up to fifty thousand yuan, and even though it seemed that there was no hope with Yu Yue, he didn’t know why he was still working so hard.

It seems that he had become accustomed to this numb and busy life.

In the early morning of June 19th, Xu Yuanzhe suddenly woke up in the middle of the night. He picked up his phone, inexplicably opened the flight booking app, spent nearly three thousand yuan, and booked a ticket to A City for the next day.

He wanted to spend three thousand yuan to catch a glimpse of Yu Yue.

The next morning at 8:30, Xu Yuanzhe changed into fresh clothes, ready to go out.

Before leaving, his phone buzzed.

Xu Yuanzhe took out his phone to check.

The sender of the message was “Yu Yue.”

The message read:

“I’m going to study in B City, I filled in the application for B University. See you then~”

Xu Yuanzhe lowered his eyes and looked at the message.

As if thinking it was a dream, he read it over and over again.

In the end, the plane ticket was refunded, even though money was deducted, but it didn’t matter.

Xu Yuanzhe returned to his desk, sat down, opened his diary, and wrote on it word by word:

“I have to work hard, find a way to save up to a hundred thousand yuan. I want Yu Yue to live the same life as before when he comes to B City. The little prince I like cannot suffer the slightest grievance.”

“——September 3, 2015, the weather is very good.

I took Yu Yue to eat steak.

He said McDonald’s was also fine, I don’t know if he was considering me.

But I still took him to eat steak.

Seeing him eat happily, I felt content.

At night, I sent Yu Yue back to school. He told me that after finishing military training, he would come to find me and ask me to take him out to play.

I agreed.

The lights at the school gate were bright and blurry, shining on Yu Yue’s face.

I really wanted to confess to him immediately, but I knew it would scare him.

So, let’s take it slow, starting as friends.”

When Yu Yue’s military training ended, of course, Xu Yuanzhe didn’t wait for him to come.

During military training, Xu Yuanzhe chatted with Yu Yue frequently.

When Yu Yue finished military training, it happened to be a weekend. Xu Yuanzhe immediately took a car to find Yu Yue.

But he made a mistake.

Yu Yue had many activities that day.

He had to attend a class meeting, a class reunion, and a gathering of the club he joined during military training. Even after military training, he couldn’t relax; from morning till night, there were gatherings.

Xu Yuanzhe came all the way from his school, a journey of nearly two hours. Now that he was asked to go back, he didn’t want to. He wanted to stay by Yu Yue’s side, but he was afraid Yu Yue would mind. So, he told Yu Yue that he happened to have a part-time job nearby and came to take a look at Yu Yue before leaving.

Xu Yuanzhe also told Yu Yue that if the gathering ended, he could come to a certain bubble tea shop to find him; he finished work at ten in the evening.

This was a well-calculated time by Xu Yuanzhe.

Leaving at ten in the evening meant fewer cars and taking the last bus back to school. It was around half-past eleven when he could reach the school, just in time before the dormitory closed.

So, Xu Yuanzhe really waited at that bubble tea shop the whole day.

He bought a cup of bubble tea, sat by the window, and looked at the gate of Yu Yue’s school.

Xu Yuanzhe waited from morning until noon, and from noon until evening.

The time on his watch gradually turned to eight-thirty.

Xu Yuanzhe glanced at his phone, but Yu Yue hadn’t sent him a message.

But Xu Yuanzhe still planned to wait until ten o’clock.

At nine twenty-five, Xu Yuanzhe threw the empty cup into the trash can, picked up his backpack, and prepared to go to the bus stop.

However, just as he pushed open the door of the bubble tea shop, he saw a figure running towards him not far away.

Yu Yue rushed over from the other side of the road, ran up to Xu Yuanzhe, panted for a long time, supporting his knees. Finally, he raised his face, smiled, and said, “Are you off work? Fortunately, I made it! The gathering just ended!”

Xu Yuanzhe looked at Yu Yue.

For some reason, he suddenly felt that Yu Yue was really good.

This little prince, held in the palm of his hand, still considered others. Although he had already worked hard enough after the military training, he still had to attend so many gatherings. Yet, he didn’t forget that Xu Yuanzhe was waiting for him here.

It was already late.

But the two of them still decided to take a stroll.

Xu Yuanzhe forgot about any last buses.

Yu Yue told Xu Yuanzhe that he actually hadn’t eaten anything at the gathering because they kept pulling him into games and gave him some drinks. His stomach was still empty.

Xu Yuanzhe hadn’t had a chance to speak yet.

Yu Yue spoke first, “Let’s go to McDonald’s! I want McDonald’s.”

So, Xu Yuanzhe took Yu Yue to McDonald’s.

This was the two of them, sitting face to face in a small McDonald’s by the street, having an affordable meal.

Xu Yuanzhe felt that McDonald’s tasted better than that steak.

He didn’t know if Yu Yue felt the same way.

Maybe it was just because he was too poor, so he couldn’t get used to eating steak.

After finishing McDonald’s, Yu Yue, holding a cup of iced cola, walked on the slightly elevated steps along the roadside, swaying. Xu Yuanzhe couldn’t help but reach out, guarding Yu Yue’s side. If Yu Yue were to stumble, he would definitely catch him at the first moment.

But Yu Yue walked quite steadily.

When they were about to reach the end, Yu Yue suddenly stopped.

Holding an iced cola, he turned his head to look at Xu Yuanzhe, his eyes slightly curved and sparkling.

Yu Yue said, “I increasingly feel that coming to B City for university was the right choice.” He paused slightly, then suddenly swayed, subconsciously grabbing Xu Yuanzhe’s fingers. “After all… after all, not everywhere you go, you can meet such a good friend like you.”

In the moment when Yu Yue grabbed Xu Yuanzhe’s fingers.

Xu Yuanzhe felt like an electric current flowing through his body.

Unconsciously, he curled his fingers and held Yu Yue’s fingers as well.