Chen Mo grinned and asked, “Is the school flower really that cold? How do you usually communicate with her?”

Zhao Yayuan replied, “Just normal communication.”

Chen Mo smirked, “Can you reveal how far it has progressed? Have you kissed?”

Zhao Yayuan remained silent.

“Okay, okay, Young Master, I got it, I’m leaving,” Chen Mo said jokingly as he ran off.

He ran halfway, then turned back, “Are you going to play basketball tonight?”

Zhao Yayuan said, “No, it’s almost exam time, I’m going home to study.”

Chen Mo asked, “Do you still need to study?”

Zhao Yayuan replied, “Why wouldn’t I? Even if I’m going abroad, I still need to take exams, right? Without anything, how can I apply to schools?”

At the Zhao residence…

When he returned home, he unexpectedly saw Zhao Tingyuan’s sports car.

“Brother?” He entered and indeed saw Zhao Tingyuan in the living room. “Why are you back today?”

“Back to get some documents,” Zhao Tingyuan said, “And to see my little brother.”

“There’s nothing interesting to see,” Zhao Yayuan said.

“Mom was so happy to see your grades improve so much, she’s overjoyed. She even said that you’ll be an adult next year, and she wants to give you a gift,” Zhao Tingyuan said, “A house or a car? You can choose.”

Zhao Yayuan slumped on the sofa, “Whatever.”

“You can tell mom to come over later,” Zhao Tingyuan said.

Zhao Yayuan wasn’t afraid of heaven or earth since he was a child, he was only afraid of his mother.

Actually, now that he was older, his health was much better than before, but Jiang Wenyin still treated him like a four-year-old child.

“Brother, if you’re going back to school now, can you give me a ride?” he asked Zhao Tingyuan.

“Where to?” Zhao Tingyuan asked.

“To the Lu family.”

Lu Nian was resting at home and rarely went out.

When Zhao Yayuan arrived, Lu Yang happened to be at the Lu residence and came out to greet Zhao Yayuan.

Lu Yang politely said, “Nian Nian is still not feeling well, she’s resting in her room. Otherwise, would you like to come back another time?”

“I know,” Zhao Yayuan replied.

“I only came because she’s not feeling well,” he said, “If she were fine, would I bother coming?”

Lu Yang’s expression turned grim.

To be honest, he didn’t want Zhao Yayuan to go in and see Lu Nian at all.

Ever since their first meeting, he didn’t like Zhao Yayuan.

However, Zhao Yayuan was someone he couldn’t afford to offend, and he couldn’t stop Zhao Yayuan from contacting Lu Nian.

If he wanted to continue mixing in the Lu family and be valued in the future, Zhao Yayuan was someone he had to please.

Lu Nian was lying sick in bed.

When Zhao Yayuan entered the room and saw that she wasn’t asleep, he asked, “What’s wrong this time?”

Lu Nian was startled to see him, “Who let you in?”

She’s a girl, why would she let a boy into her bedroom while she’s sleeping? And she’s lying on the bed like this, with her hair not done and still in her pajamas.

How can she let other boys see her like this?

“I’m not a stranger,” Zhao Yayuan said.

Lu Nian was furious and grabbed a cushion from the bed, throwing it at him, “Get out, I haven’t changed my clothes yet.”

Zhao Yayuan easily caught the cushion, “Then change, I’ll wait for you outside.”

It was actually just a perfunctory remark; Lu Nian didn’t want to go out and see him at all.

The young man had already seen through her.

He smirked, his peach blossom eyes slightly narrowed, “If you don’t come out, I’ll just come in.”

“Or, do you want me to stay here and sleep with you?” he asked, his peach blossom eyes half-smiling, his tone lazy and playful.

“Pervert,” Lu Nian said angrily, wanting to throw another pillow at him.

But she couldn’t.

Plus, she hadn’t eaten much these past few days, and after the menstrual pain subsided, she found herself a bit hungry and had to get up to replenish some food.

“What’s wrong with you again?” Zhao Yayuan asked.

The girl’s eyelids were a bit swollen, making her big eyes look even more moist and clear.

Her long hair was scattered over her snowy white shoulders, giving her a pitiful look.

Lu Nian continued eating without lifting her head, “Stomach ache.”

“Menstrual pain?” Zhao Yayuan asked, “Or is there something else?”

Lu Nian remained silent.

“I guess, did you get rejected by someone again?” The young man’s slender fingers casually played with the tassels hanging from her family’s tablecloth, “You failed to pursue a man, so your eyes are all swollen from crying.”

Lu Nian stopped her chopsticks, looking at him resentfully.

“Did I guess right?”

Supporting his chin, Zhao Yayuan’s peach blossom eyes curved as he smiled, “I told you earlier, he’s not interested in you. Don’t delude yourself.”

“None of your business,” Lu Nian said.

She was too lazy to argue.

“You two have no future,” Zhao Yayuan stretched, “Your family won’t agree, and a man with some pride won’t want to be with you either. I can see that he’s not the kind of person who’s willing to live off a woman.”

“You should let him go,” Zhao Yayuan said, “He’s about to take the college entrance exam, he’ll definitely leave Ancheng soon, just a few months left. With his abilities, he’ll surely do well outside.”

Lu Nian remained silent.

Her gaze was very confused.

What did she really want? Wasn’t her original intention just to make Qin Si happy?

Logically, he hadn’t gone astray, and he had actively severed ties with the Lu family. With his ability, his future was definitely bright.

It was her who had been trying to drag him back to the Lu family, back into this quagmire.

Was she being selfish?

The third year of high school has begun the second mock exam.

Only two months left until the college entrance exam.

…….

Ming Ge has been lying in the hospital for several months, living a carefree life without worrying about anything, but finally, it’s all coming to an end.

“I can finally leave the hospital tomorrow,” Ming Ge shouted, “Damn it, my bones are starting to rust.”

He asked the young man beside him, “I’m going to have a celebration tomorrow. Will you stay at the bar or go home?”

Qin Si replied, “I’ll go home.”

Ming Ge looked at him and touched his chin, “Are you not feeling well recently? Your face looks much more sour than usual.”

Qin Si didn’t answer.

He usually had that indifferent look, not showing much emotion on his face.

“I’ve said it before, you don’t need to take care of me,” Ming Ge said, “I can handle being in the hospital by myself, and Huang Mao and the others are looking after the shop.”

Qin Si said, “When you die on the roadside, will your crappy bar go bankrupt?”

Ming Ge paused, “…”

“Anyway, from now on, you don’t have to help me with anything. Just get through these two months first,” Ming Ge suddenly said, “We are all from the bottom rung, haven’t read many books, and have been wandering outside until we’re thirty, with no warm bed at home.”

“You’re different from us,” he said, “You’re smart. You have to study hard and go out. Then you can become… someone important.”

Ming Ge didn’t have much education and didn’t understand business matters, so he could only summarize someone with prospects as becoming someone important.

The young man didn’t refute or interrupt Ming Ge’s sudden emotional speech.

He let Ming Ge talk and packed up his things in the ward.

“For the girl you like, pursue her yourself,” Ming Ge said, “If she likes you, what else is there to say? If she doesn’t like you, we… just have to be forceful. Girls are won over by pursuit.”

“Our conditions are actually pretty good. You’re smart, handsome, and in good shape, although your mouth is a bit venomous, but…”

Qin Si didn’t let him finish. He picked up his shoulder bag and said lightly, “I’ve completed the discharge procedures for you. I’m leaving.”

The door to the ward was already closed, shutting out Ming Ge’s incessant chatter.

He walked home alone.

The house was empty, and the lights weren’t on.

He made a simple dinner, cleaned up, took a shower, and then sent all the shop’s accounts from the past few months to Ming Ge, including information about his hospitalization and recovery precautions.

He didn’t know if Ming Ge would read it.

But he didn’t have the energy to care anymore.

With wet hair, the young man sat at the table and took out the test papers from his backpack.

This was the most stressful time for him, not only physically tired, but also burdened with various things, about the future choices, about the Lu family… and about her.

After that day, he never saw Lu Nian again.

Under the light, the young man’s features looked even more refined and handsome, with his freshly washed black hair, the tips of which were moist, and droplets of water flowed down his slender neck, down his collarbone, and slowly flowed down, disappearing into deeper places.

…He closed his eyes, his expression indifferent, but his thin lips tightly pressed together.

His white skin made the redness behind his ears and on his cheeks even more prominent.

The young man opened the locked room, and the furnishings inside remained unchanged, maintaining the exact same state as that day, even the small wrinkles on the bedsheet remained the same.

He quietly closed the door.

Then, the light went out, and everything fell into darkness.

…

Time passed slowly, the chill of spring had completely passed, and the summer heat began to tentatively spread.

Lu Nian recovered and returned to school.

Everything was the same as before, even Lu Zhihong had been discharged from the hospital.

The results of the second mock exam were out.

Lu Nian secretly went to check the rankings and saw that the familiar name was still at the top.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed that he wasn’t affected.

With just over a month left, as long as this month passed smoothly…

“He will leave Ancheng.”

Zhao Yayuan’s words suddenly echoed in her mind.

Lu Nian pursed her lips, and her mood slowly dropped.

People are selfish.

Although she knew that Qin Si would have a better future, knowing that he was leaving, and might never come back, was not a pleasant piece of news for her.

They had grown up together since childhood, apart from the two years when they were most at odds, most of the time, even if they didn’t keep in touch often, they knew for sure that he was by their side.

A phone call, and they could meet up, instead of being thousands of miles apart.

If her grades didn’t improve, and she really had to go abroad in the future, then the distance between them would not be just thousands of miles, but separated by an ocean.

“Niannian, Niannian.” Tian Yue called her worriedly.

Lu Nian came back to her senses, “Oh.”

“Why have you been absent-minded these past few days?” Tian Yue asked, “Are you still feeling unwell?”

Lu Nian shook her head, “No.”

“Then hurry up,” Tian Yue said, “Didn’t you set a goal to improve your ranking by at least fifty places in the final exam?”

She and Tian Yue were on their way to buy milk tea.

Lu Nian muttered, “It’s a bit difficult. I think I’ll change it to 30 places…”

“Change what! I remember it,” Tian Yue teased, “Hey hey, if the flag falls, Miss Lu will have to treat me to a month of milk tea in the summer vacation.”

Lu Nian, “…”

The two girls chatted as they walked through the campus.

They were both wearing the spring school uniforms of Fuzhong, which made their legs look longer and exuded youthful vitality.

People were coming and going on the campus, and a tall boy brushed past them.

Tian Yue was still chattering away, but Lu Nian’s body stiffened.

In the past, when they bumped into Qin Si on campus, they would tacitly pretend not to know each other. But now…

Although they still pretended not to know each other, watching his back, she suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

Was Qin Si really not going to forgive her?

She was lost in thought.

“Niannian…” Tian Yue tugged at her sleeve.

The shadow approached.

In his palm lay a rabbit pen, a very familiar one.

Lu Nian touched her pocket.

She must have brought the pen out with her after finishing the test. It was empty now.