Chapter 83: Three Years Abroad

The plane crossed the vast Pacific Ocean and landed in the Western Hemisphere. By sheer luck, Lin Hexi managed to catch the spring enrollment season in the United States.

The admission procedures for University B were handled by someone sent by You Yueteng to supervise him, and they didn’t seem concerned about him contacting You Chong. They gave him a brand-new phone and SIM card, but there was no intention of returning his passport.

Lin Hexi negotiated the freedom to choose his major in exchange for agreeing to move into the house they provided. The weekend before school started, he locked himself in the bedroom on the second floor of the house and used the new phone and number to call You Chong.

The number he dialed, which he remembered clearly, was correct, yet You Chong’s phone never connected.

He dialed the number, one that was ingrained in his memory, over and over again, but all he got in return was the constant busy tone repeating on his phone.

Lin Hexi felt lost and disappointed.

He wasn’t even sure anymore whether it was because You Chong didn’t want to hear his voice anymore, or if You Yueteng had used some means to make sure he could never reach You Chong’s phone again.

The start of the school term arrived quickly, and Lin Hexi no longer had any spare time to think about the matter. The challenges and pressure from the fashion design courses, both in terms of language and the subject matter, were enough to overwhelm him, leaving him feeling utterly exhausted and barely able to catch his breath.

In addition to that, in order to avoid using the money that You Yueteng had deposited into his bank account as much as possible, he had no choice but to find a job at a restaurant near the school.

On his first day at work, Lin Hexi encountered a rude customer who deliberately made things difficult for him. At that moment, Wells, who was also dining at the restaurant, stood up and intervened to help him out of the situation.

Lin Hexi’s friends all thought that Wells had fallen for him at first sight, but Wells said he already knew him and even found a photo on his phone from two years ago in China.

In the photo, there wasn’t just him and Wells, but also Wells’ friends and You Chong.

Only then did Lin Hexi gradually match the person in front of him with the blond boy from his memories.

Wells and his friends became the first group of people Lin Hexi befriended in the U.S., and they helped him gradually adjust to life and studies at the American university.

And that photo on Wells’ phone became the only effective remedy for Lin Hexi’s insomnia every night.

Wells didn’t know about his breakup with You Chong and often expressed his confusion—why was Lin Hexi working at a restaurant every day when he was living in such a big house in America?

In his second year of studying in the U.S., Lin Hexi finally managed to free up some time to attend social events.

Wells threw a party at the house he shared with other alumni, and at the party, Lin Hexi got completely drunk. He clung to a Chinese student with black hair and black eyes, repeatedly murmuring You Chong’s name.

The Chinese student was at a loss, and the friends who didn’t understand Chinese rushed over to help him. In their clumsy efforts to lift him onto the couch, they noticed that his eyes were tightly shut, and the corners of his eyes were slightly red.

The next day, after sobering up, Wells learned the full story of why Lin Hexi had come to study in the U.S.

Lin Hexi’s American friends gathered around the couch, brainstorming ways to help him retrieve his passport from his supervisor.

From that day on, Lin Hexi gradually started staying out all night and frequently visited the villa where Wells lived with his roommates.

Lin Hexi told the people sent by You Yueteng that he had found a boyfriend in the U.S., and he maintained a relationship with Wells’ roommate for nearly half a year. Finally, just before graduation, he managed to get his passport back from You Yueteng’s people.

However, after getting his passport, Lin Hexi was tied up with graduation-related matters and was never able to return to China as he had hoped.

The year he graduated with his master’s degree, he used a recommendation letter from his school mentor and his design work from school to land a job at a well-known American fashion brand. Using his job and boyfriend as excuses, he moved out of the house he’d lived in for two years, completely freeing himself from the supervision of those people.

And indeed, that was the truth. After leaving school, Lin Hexi lived and worked alone in the U.S. for another year. Occasionally, he would travel to other cities with his boss to attend fashion shows, but he never had the thought of returning to China.

When Wells came to his city on a business trip, he invited Lin Hexi to a bar for drinks. Surprised to hear that Lin Hexi had stayed in the U.S. after finding a job, Wells asked in disbelief, “Have you really not returned to China at all?”

Lin Hexi shook his head, as if unwilling to elaborate, and simply said, “No.”

Wells showed a rather perplexed expression.

That night, Lin Hexi lay in bed in his apartment, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Wells’ question replayed in his mind.

He sat there, hugging his blanket, lost in thought, and repeatedly looked at the photo on his phone.

It wasn’t true that he had never returned to China. Before the company’s acceptance letter arrived in his inbox, he had quietly bought a ticket and gone back.

The city, after two years of absence, felt a bit unfamiliar. As Lin Hexi stepped out of the airport, he realized that he had nowhere to go.

He took the subway from the airport to University Town, transferring at Lin Hexi Station. Along the way, he couldn’t help but recall that late night two years ago when he and You Chong had once taken the subway to Lin Hexi Station.

But now, as the subway stopped there again, the only people standing beside him were hurried strangers. He no longer knew where to find You Chong.

Lin Hexi wandered aimlessly through the university town.

You Chong and the others had already graduated from University A. When Lin Hexi went to the place they once lived in at Chengnan Community, the door was opened by a girl with an unfamiliar face. The Alaskan dog that happily ran past on the street didn’t recognize him. The alley beside the bar now had new stray cats, but they no longer easily accepted food from strangers.

In the end, he sat in the bubble tea shop that he and You Chong used to visit and used his phone to look up the address of You’s company headquarters.

Lin Hexi sat in the café across from the company building for a long time, but he didn’t dare to lower his head to play with his phone.

Before the sun set that evening, he finally saw You Chong walk out of the building—or rather, You Chong and a young, beautiful woman.

Lin Hexi connected to the café’s Wi-Fi and found the news of You Chong’s engagement online.

He suddenly remembered the time two years ago in the U.S., when he had been unable to reach You Chong by phone.

It wasn’t that his own phone couldn’t get through—he had tried using Wells’ and other friends’ phones as well, but it was always the same: the call never connected.

Lin Hexi called over the server in the café and borrowed their phone. He typed in the number he knew by heart.

Through the floor-to-ceiling window of the café, Lin Hexi saw You Chong standing across the street, waiting for a car, as he lowered his head and pulled out his phone.

The next second, the call connected, and a voice both familiar and distant reached his ears.

Lin Hexi held the phone in silence for two seconds before hanging up.

So, it wasn’t that the calls couldn’t go through—it was that You Chong had blocked all calls from foreign numbers, he thought.

The two people across the street had already gotten into a car and left. Lin Hexi returned the phone to the server, sat quietly by the window for a moment, then changed his flight back to the U.S. and got up to leave.

The setting sun dipped low in the sky, casting fiery, brilliant hues across the evening clouds. Lin Hexi stood by the street, trying to hail a taxi.

One moment, the bustling city street was filled with the rush of vehicles, and the next, it suddenly became empty and quiet.

You Chong, who had already left in the car, appeared once again on the opposite side of the street.

Lin Hexi froze in place.

It seemed that You Chong hadn’t noticed him, as he lowered his head and pulled out his phone to answer a call.

Lin Hexi finally reacted, his heart pounding wildly in his chest. Without thinking, he dashed across the street toward You Chong.

But You Chong vanished from his sight, as if out of thin air.

Lin Hexi stopped at the side of the road, gasping for breath. Sweat dripped from his forehead into his eyes, making his vision blur.

He raised his hand and wiped his eyes vigorously. As his vision gradually cleared, the ground beneath him began to tremble without warning.

The setting sun had completely disappeared into the night, and the buildings and the café on both sides of the street collapsed with a thunderous roar. The ground sank deeply, and the sky itself seemed to fall and cave in.

Lin Hexi abruptly opened his eyes, waking from the dream.

The phone by his pillow chimed briefly, and the screen lit up with a boarding reminder from the booking app, notifying him that his flight was in ten hours.

Lin Hexi sat up in bed, staring absentmindedly at the sleeping laptop on his bedside table for a moment. He raised his hand and tapped the enter key.

The laptop resumed its activity, and the screen remained on Lin Hexi’s email inbox.

It was an email from Fang Qingning, containing only a single short line of text, but one that Lin Hexi had read over and over again.

Lin Hexi tore his gaze away from the screen, closed the laptop, and squeezed his eyes shut, burying his face in the blanket. His mind went blank.

It turned out that meeting Wells had already been months ago.

It turned out that more than three years had passed.

It turned out that You Chong was about to get married.