◎The Tower No Longer Exists◎

Because of Tong Yue’s unpredictable “shocking act,” after returning home and showering, Chun Zao’s chat interface was flooded by acquainted classmates. The class group chat was also bustling with activity, full of teasing and envy, all centered around that perfectly composed and highly infectious photo.

A social disaster like her had never received so many “greetings.”

Chun Zao finished scrolling through the still-rolling messages with mixed feelings, selecting a few to reply to stiffly.

She secretly saved that group photo, then hypocritically questioned Tong Yue: Was it you who secretly took the photo?

The paparazzi dog admitted quickly without any guilt: It was me. What, doesn’t it look good?

Chun Zao pulled it up from her photo album, looked at it again and again, honestly: It looks pretty good.

Tong Yue: Then, hurry up and set it as your lock screen wallpaper! Otherwise, how can you live up to my painstaking efforts?

Chun Zao pondered: Too high-profile, not good if my parents see it.

Tong Yue was exasperated: Sister, let loose, sway around, the college entrance exam is over! Why still care about them?

Chun Zao: …

Tong Yue seemed to remember something: Why are you still chatting with me?

Chun Zao frowned: What, are you going to cut ties with me after graduation?

Tong Yue: No, go chat with your boyfriend.

Boyfriend…

Chun Zao stared at these three words with uncontainable joy, her eyes almost squinting into sparkling slits.

Was Yuan Ye considered her “boyfriend” now?

Could she also become his “girlfriend” without any reservations?

Chun Zao stubbornly replied: I’m not like some people who put lust first.

Tong Yue felt wronged: Right, I’m also not like some people who pretended to suffer bitter separation for a year to gain my sympathy, then immediately reconciled and fell into passionate love after the exam, while I’m still in this husband-chasing crematorium.

Staring at her last five words, Chun Zao collapsed on her bed laughing.

After teasing Tong Yue a few more times, the other party directly ignored her, probably going to desperately chase her ex-boyfriend again.

Chun Zao went to the refrigerator to get a box of yogurt, closed her room door, sat back at her desk, opened the lid and licked it clean, then checked on Yuan Ye’s situation: Are you home?

Yuan Ye said: Yes.

She didn’t quite believe it, afraid he was still wandering alone outside and just saying this to avoid her worry: Really?

Yuan Ye: Really.

Chun Zao confirmed again: Really?

Suddenly, the chat interface went dark, and the other party had sent a video call invitation.

Chun Zao froze, her heart rate becoming irregular. She glanced at her room door, then stared at the red and green buttons at the bottom of the screen, momentarily unsure what to do.

With the college entrance exam over, compressed time suddenly became loose, and she relaxed along with it. Her hair wasn’t rushed to be dried, still hanging wet on her shoulders. Her pajamas were a loose oversized T-shirt that her sister had discarded. She looked sloppy and messy.

But the incoming call status never stopped. Even though she didn’t answer for a long time, the other party seemed determined to see her.

Chun Zao pinched her fingers, pulled out a tissue from the desk, folded it, and blocked the front camera.

Only then did she pat her chest and press the accept button.

Connected.

Chun Zao’s face instantly felt like it would explode from heat.

The boy’s nearly flawless face appeared on the screen. She had heard Tong Yue say that faces in video calls get mirror-flipped and look worse. But Yuan Ye’s extremely symmetrical features looked almost identical to usual, even seeming more devastatingly handsome due to the slight skin-smoothing effect.

Especially when he noticed her side of the screen showed a white obstruction.

His brow furrowed, his body leaned slightly forward, and his face suddenly got closer.

So close that Chun Zao’s heart skipped a beat, pounding fiercely.

“Hey, where are you?” His casual and refreshing voice drifted over.

His deep black eyes expressed confusion and dissatisfaction.

Chun Zao cupped her continuously burning face with both hands, saying softly: “I just finished showering…”

Yuan Ye: “So what?”

Chun Zao continued: “My hair isn’t dried yet…”

Yuan Ye: “And?”

Chun Zao cleared her throat, her voice unconsciously softening: “I’m afraid I don’t look good.”

The boy in the black ergonomic chair, hearing this, leaned back and showed an exceptionally bright, brilliant smile, with a hint of helplessness: “Is this the first time we’ve met? Do you need to be so self-conscious?”

Chun Zao huffed in her heart: “This is my first time video calling with anyone!”

“How could you not look good?” His arm returned to the desk edge, scratching his eyebrow: “Take away the tissue.”

Hm?

This clever guy guessed what was blocking his view.

He spoke five words very quietly: “I miss you a little.”

When saying these words, the boy didn’t look directly at the camera.

He turned his head slightly, his ear visibly reddening. With the pure white wireless earbuds as contrast, it was even more obvious.

Chun Zao hesitated, then finally had no way to deal with him.

She slowly, bit by bit, slid the “tissue roof” away from the camera.

Yuan Ye’s ever-changing expressions froze, changing from GIF back to JPG, smiling as he waited.

But as soon as they truly faced each other, Chun Zao looked away in extreme embarrassment, covering half her face.

However, laughter still spilled from the corners of her eyes, with nowhere to hide.

A laugh overflowed from the sound card, tickling her eardrums.

Chun Zao looked back to see the boy gazing intently at her, arms crossed, leaning close, unblinking.

What was the upper limit of human body temperature?

Chun Zao felt like a kettle was about to whistle in her head.

She yelled, pretending to be calm, pretending to warn: “Don’t keep staring at me!”

Yuan Ye seemed troubled, his eyelashes fluttering: “Then where should I look?”

Chun Zao said, “Wasn’t this just to confirm whether you got home?”

“Oh,” Yuan Ye then seemed to remember the point, or perhaps this wasn’t the point at all. He raised his phone high, shook it, and the bedroom’s layout and walls flashed by before returning to his face at a slightly lower angle: “Is this enough?”

Chun Zao laughed: “Enough.”

Though she had seen Yuan Ye’s face plenty of times, having it condensed in this small screen space was still different, making her feel at a loss.

She decided to end this shy “face-to-face staring” even in remote mode: “I’m hanging up.”

Yuan Ye: “Can’t you wait a bit?”

Whose gaze could linger more than five seconds under such a devoted stare? Chun Zao frantically made excuses, speaking incoherently, raising the opened yogurt cup in front of her: “I still need to eat yogurt, blow-dry my hair, lots of things to do, very busy.”

Yuan Ye’s tone was casual: “Go ahead and eat. I’m here, I won’t affect you.”

Chun Zao bit her lip: “I’m not performing for animals.”

Yuan Ye seemed to pause at her phrasing, his expression complex and vivid. After a few seconds, he aimed the accusation at himself: “I am. I’m performing for animals.”

He coughed, half-covering his nose, and began imitating some nondescript animal sounds, finally saying: “Watch me while you eat.”

“I look,” he said consideringly, “shouldn’t be too hard to swallow, right?”

Chun Zao’s laugh muscles tensed: “Stop showing off.”

Yuan Ye’s lip line flattened: “Seriously. Let me watch a bit longer. I only saw you for ten minutes this afternoon.”

How could that possibly be enough?

Chun Zao lowered her eyelashes, took a deep breath, overcame her psychological barrier, looked directly at him, pretending to be generous: “Fine. I’ll give you five more minutes to appreciate the beautiful princess.”

Yuan Ye hummed low, lazily playing along: “This servant is deeply grateful.”

The two looked at each other and smiled again, understanding each other perfectly.

“Okay, eat your yogurt.”

“Turn off the video first, then eat.”

“Can’t I eat now?”

“No, you’re watching.”

“What’s wrong with me watching?”

“It’s a bit strange… okay, it’s almost five minutes. I’m hanging up.”

“Don’t hang up, just let me watch.”

“You’re perverted.”

…

After hanging up the video call, chatting with Yuan Ye via text until nearly 1 AM, Chun Zao reluctantly put down her phone and went to sleep.

During this year of separation and exam preparation, she often had nightmares or woke up startled for no reason.

But this night, her dreams were golden, with the scent of flowers, and she slept soundly until dawn.

Unfortunately, biological clocks are hard to change short term. At five o’clock, she opened her eyes. After staring at the ceiling aimlessly for a while, Chun Zao put in earphones, turned on music, and reviewed the class chat group records.

Around four o’clock, there were still people chatting excitedly, discussing where to travel. Some fearlessly posted mobile game five-person ranked match links directly in the group, asking if anyone wanted to stay up all night ranking up.

All the subject teachers only chimed in when someone was estimating scores, otherwise gently allowing everything.

All was quiet.

Chun Zao’s heart was also unusually peaceful.

As if forgotten at the boundary between universe and space-time, returning to that starlit narrow alley she once walked alone, just her by herself, serene and comfortable.

The difference was, now she didn’t need to hide and feel constrained.

She had the confidence and courage to face everything.

From leaping from a glass tank to a spring stream, eventually flowing into rivers and seas.

So, taking advantage of this gap, she gathered the courage to search for comprehensive college entrance exam answers and estimated her scores.

Finally exhaling slowly, smiling as she relaxed her chest.

Birds sang outside the window, sudden rain would stop, and nights would go far away.

A new day’s clear sun could always break through clouds, a bright ray illuminating everything.

Due to frequent urging plus increased agency fees, Yuan Ye quickly found his ideal house.

The agent was also puzzled. When eagerly recommending better locations and superior housing to this young man, his attitude became increasingly cold, only saying: No need to look at others, just this area.

On the third day after the college entrance exam, Chun Zao received a phone call from Yuan Ye saying he was moving, with joy evident between the lines.

Chun Zao asked during the call: “Do you need any help?”

Yuan Ye said, “Not much stuff. I hired a moving company very quickly.”

Chun Zao still said, “Give me the address.”

She registered a new WeChat with only Tong Yue and Yuan Ye as friends. After hanging up, the two shared their respective locations.

The dots on the map almost overlapped, only separating when zoomed in.

Chun Zao couldn’t help but exclaim: This is way too close. The name looks familiar too: it’s the complex across from my house, right?

Yuan Ye said: Yeah, still a bit far. Too bad your complex had no vacancies.

Chun Zao emphasized: It’s already good enough! Be careful, my mom sees you again like before from upstairs and takes it out on you.

Yuan Ye entered reckless mode: I don’t care about her.

Chun Zao was impressed by his current “arrogance”: Screenshot taken, will show her when I get a chance.

The boy immediately softened: Please don’t.

He quickly retracted that “I don’t care about her” and rewrote: Let her, anyway I’ll always be good to her daughter.

Then: That’s fine. Screenshot it.

Chun Zao couldn’t help but laugh: So cheesy.

Yuan Ye disagreed: How is the truth cheesy?

Chun Zao steadied herself: Me too.

Yuan Ye seemed confused: Too, what?

Chun Zao typed shyly but solemnly sent: It will be good for you. Always good to you.

The chat window was quiet for a few seconds.

Yuan Ye returned her own medicine: Cheesy.

Chun Zao gritted her teeth and retracted her impulsive “declaration of love.”

The other side immediately panicked: Don’t retract it.

Chun Zao deliberately ignored him.

Yuan Ye sent a voice message, serious: “My fault, really wrong. Not cheesy, not cheesy at all, almost cried when I saw it.”

He even made buzzing nasal sounds: “Please, send it again.”

Chun Zao listened with great amusement, playing it several times, never getting tired of it.

So annoying, how could he be both handsome and so cute, so irresistible, always making her happiness meter spike to near short-circuit levels.

When re-editing that retracted message, she replicated her previous words, but before sending, she deleted them all. Staring at the blinking cursor, she thought they still lacked a ceremony, an unfinished oath. The tower no longer existed, and the curse was lifted. Maybe the long-haired princess decided to climb over the fence, maybe that brave boy had already climbed to her side.

So, she arrived at the garden where she could walk on level ground.

She wanted to tell him completely and thoroughly what she couldn’t say that night: Yuan Ye, I like you. Can you date me? I promise I’ll always be good to you and never leave you again.

The typing status started and stopped in the chat.

Finally, completely still. He called directly. Chun Zao answered.

The boy’s voice was like a clear breeze washing past her ear: “Please…”

He couldn’t stop laughing: “These words, shouldn’t I be the one saying them?”

Fortunately, her parents had gone out to play cards, so Chun Zao could sit in her room and speak freely: “What’s wrong with a girl saying it?”

“Nothing wrong,” he was breathing in, his tone carrying wet meaning, completely different from the fake crying just now: “It’s just… the two furniture installers are looking at me strangely.”

Chun Zao grinned at this, also moved to tears by this real change. Even across the receiver.

“Wait for me.” Yuan Ye seemed to go to the balcony, the ambient sound becoming more spacious.

“Chun Zao,” he called her name clearly: “I like you too. Like you very much, very much, very very very very very… that kind of liking.”

Chun Zao listened with tears and laughter. How many “very”s was he going to say? Infinite? How many digits are after π’s decimal point? Would he ever finish?

Finally stopping, the boy was solemn:

“I’ll always be good to you too, never leave you.”

“I swear here. Unless you get tired of me someday, I won’t leave until I die.”

Author’s Note:

So sweet!