Dawn was breaking, with heat waves blanketing the ground. July and August marked the hottest stage of Xi Fu’s summer, coinciding with the highest temperatures in recent years. Yun Li ran up and down the building, her body sticky with sweat.
Today was the day Yun Ye would start university.
It had been over two months since Yun Li returned from England.
Yun Li wiped the sweat from her forehead and tossed Yun Ye’s luggage into the trunk. Duidui, their dog, wagged its tail excitedly, running back and forth between the siblings.
Yun Li checked the list, counting the items. “We shouldn’t be missing anything, right?”
“I’m going to college, not fleeing for my life,” Yun Ye quipped. Yun Li had packed enough for him to survive in the wilderness.
Seeing her mutter “Seems like we forgot the milk powder” and head back inside, Yun Ye quickly pulled her back.
“Let’s hurry, don’t keep Waiwa and the others waiting,” Yun Ye said, pushing Yun Li towards the driver’s seat while he walked to the passenger side.
He glanced at her, took two steps forward, then stopped. Turning his head, he asked, “You’re going out dressed like that?”
“Yeah,” Yun Li replied, casually looking down at her outfit. “Is something wrong?”
“Nothing,” Yun Ye shrugged. “Yin Yunyi’s brother will be there too.”
Only then did Yun Li realize she was wearing only a tight, short T-shirt and extremely short shorts. Her style had changed dramatically over the past year.
She let out a delayed “Ah” and handed the milk bag to Yun Ye. “Here, take this.”
Yun Ye didn’t move.
Yun Li urged, “Hurry up.”
Yun Ye frowned slightly, looking somewhat impatient, but took it anyway. Disliking his attitude, she stared at him for three seconds, then suddenly hit him hard on the head.
Caught off guard, Yun Ye grew annoyed. “What are you doing?”
Yun Li remained silent and hit him again.
“…” Even a saint would lose patience with such needless provocation. But seeing her expressionless face, Yun Ye held back and decided to yield. “What do you want?”
After a moment of silence, Yun Li’s expression softened, and she lowered her hand. “Nothing.”
Yun Ye’s lips formed a straight line.
Yun Li’s eyes curved downward as she stated matter-of-factly, “Just knocking some sense into you.”
“…”
Back in her room, Yun Li rummaged through her closet. Her clothes were either the sexy styles she had brought back from England or the formal wear from her internship. She reluctantly found a modest white T-shirt.
Still unsatisfied, Yun Li changed and came out again.
Yun Ye grumpily handed the milk bag back to her. “Take it.”
“Mm,” Yun Li responded vaguely, eyeing his short-sleeved jacket. She spoke slowly, “Who bought you this jacket?”
Yun Ye didn’t answer.
After three seconds of eye contact, he couldn’t be bothered to argue and just nodded at her.
Yun Li felt the sleeve of his jacket, pondered for a moment, and then suddenly said, “Take it off.”
Yun Ye: “?”
Yun Li: “Let me try it on.”
“…”
The drive from home to Xi Fu Airport passed many new buildings. The last time she had driven this route was a year and a half ago when she picked up Fu Shize at the airport.
In the blink of an eye, Yun Ye was starting university. Today was the freshman registration day at Xi Fu University of Science and Technology.
When Yun Li returned from England at the end of June, Yun Ye and Yin Yunyi had just received their exam scores.
The young couple’s dreams came true – both scored well above the cutoff for Xi Fu Tech and applied for the Communications major.
Yun Ye kept smiling while playing with his phone. Yun Li glanced at him and asked, “Have you confessed yet?”
“Heh, your brother doesn’t need to confess,” Yun Ye said smugly.
“Why isn’t Dad sending me off today?” Yun Ye asked.
Yun Li scoffed, “You have the nerve to ask.”
After submitting his college applications, Yun Ye went to Nan Wu under the pretext of learning to drive. He stayed there for a month or two and got his license along with Yin Yunyi.
Despite Yun Yongchang owning a large driving school, Yun Ye had agreed to go there on the surface but privately followed Yun Li’s example of acting first and asking for forgiveness later.
Yun Yongchang was furious, probably fearing his son would become a live-in son-in-law next. He remained sullen for quite some time.
While Yun Ye enjoyed his freedom in Nan Wu, he left this mess for her to deal with. She was exhausted from her internship every day, only to come home to their father’s sour face.
The summer sun gilded Xi Fu, with towering buildings scattered like stars, heat waves stretching endlessly.
Yun Li parked the car. As soon as Yun Ye unfastened his seatbelt, he tried to rush out. Yun Li grabbed him and walked towards the convenience store. “Let’s buy some water.”
Yun Ye complained about the delay, “Didn’t you drink at home?”
“It’s for my future sister-in-law.”
Yun Li wasn’t sure when she had learned to handle these social niceties. In England, without support and struggling with the language, she often found daily life inconvenient and mostly stuck with other international students.
She adopted Fu Shize’s habits for interacting with others, following his methods to avoid mistakes. For instance, buying water – he used to prepare a bottle for her in the cup holder every time they went out.
Yun Li hadn’t noticed at first, only remembering these details after their breakup.
They met the siblings at the exit. Yin Yuhen carried two large suitcases, wearing casual slacks and a white T-shirt. Yin Yunyi wore a long white dress, with slightly curled hair and light makeup.
The last time Yun Li had seen Yin Yuhen was in July of the previous year.
At that time, Yun Ye had asked Yin Yunyi in advance to have Yin Yuhen drive her to Nan Wu Airport.
Yin Yuhen walked up to her and greeted her.
After getting in the car, Yun Li skillfully navigated to Xi Fu Tech.
She had driven this route before.
Her mind wandered for a moment.
Yin Yuhen, sitting in the passenger seat, asked her, “How long have you been back?”
Yun Li casually replied, “A little over two months.”
“Are you graduating next year? Don’t you need to go back to school soon?”
Yun Li: “I’ve finished my experiments. I’ll write my thesis here and go back for the defense next year.”
“Planning to work in Xi Fu after that?”
Yun Li paused, then nodded.
Her family was all in Xi Fu.
She didn’t seem to have any reason to go elsewhere.
Ironically, she had always rebelled against Yun Yongchang’s orders, even studying abroad thousands of miles away in England, but in the end, she voluntarily returned to Xi Fu.
They chatted intermittently for a while, then Yin Yuhen looked at Yun Li.
She wore a loose short-sleeved shirt, looking like a college student. Her speech was soft and natural, having shed her former awkwardness and shyness.
“How was life in England?”
Yun Li gripped the steering wheel slightly tighter, responding calmly, “It was good.”
Following the signs, Yun Li drove to the registration point at Xi Fu Tech’s gymnasium.
Cars lined both sides of the road, with students and parents carrying luggage everywhere.
“You go register. I’ll find a place to park,” Yun Li said.
Yin Yuhen hesitated, “I’ll go with you to the park. It’s not very safe with so many cars and narrow roads.”
“It’s fine,” Yun Li smiled, politely declining. “Yun Ye and Yunyi might not understand the process. You should accompany them.”
Yin Yuhen didn’t insist. After they all got out, Yun Li slowly drove around the perimeter of the gymnasium.
The roadside was lined with welcome banners and tents.
After circling once without finding a parking spot, Yun Li was about to change direction when a banner caught her eye, making her heart skip a beat.
On a light blue background with dark blue text, the top is displayed in large black letters —
Unique.
She looked past the banner.
There were several ordinary tents, mostly for mobile phone card services.
Yun Li looked away, the car already in a different gear. She stared at the center console for a moment, then couldn’t help but look outside again.
To the side was a blue tent with several people wearing black short-sleeved shirts, adorned with moon-shaped badges.
One tall, slim figure leaned against the table. The others crowded around him, talking incessantly while he looked down, operating a drone. Occasionally, he turned his head to respond.
As they spoke, he looked up with a smile, the drone’s light and shadow passing over his face.
Instinctively, Yun Li rolled up the car window.
Yun Li stared in that direction, transfixed. It was the young man from the video, his features now more chiseled and sharp, yet his demeanor still gentle.
A young fan asked for his autograph, which he casually signed. The people around him teased, and he responded with a faint smile.
Honk—
A car behind her honked impatiently.
Yun Li snapped back to reality and turned the car around, driving away with a jumble of emotions. She aimlessly circled the campus.
Finally finding an empty spot to park, she realized the car was still vibrating—she had forgotten to turn off the engine.
It was him.
After their breakup, Yun Li had forced herself to work from dawn to dusk, only to fall asleep instantly during breaks.
To avoid thinking of him.
A year and a half had passed, and the memories of his face, warmth, and touch had gradually blurred.
She thought they’d never meet again.
Yun Li stared at the water in the cup holder.
How nice.
He had returned to his former self.
A twinge of bitterness welled up inside her.
She had merely encountered him during his fall from grace.
…
Yun Li didn’t walk back to the gymnasium.
After some thought, she restarted the car and turned on the air conditioning. In the scorching summer heat, people streamed past before her eyes.
Staying in the car meant she wouldn’t have to see him.
There seemed to be no need to meet anyway.
Yun Ye called to hurry her. The phone vibrated for a long time before Yun Li came to her senses and answered. It was noisy on Yun Ye’s end: “Why aren’t you here yet? We’ve finished registration!”
Yun Li brushed him off, “Wait, I’m driving over.”
Taking a deep breath, she drove back.
Spotting Yin Yuhen by the roadside, Yun Li stopped the car.
He got into the passenger seat. Only half an hour had passed, but sweat was visible on his forehead from the intense heat.
Yin Yuhen took the tissue she offered and wiped his sweat. “It’s too hot outside. Yunyi and Yun Ye are missing a document, so let’s wait a bit.”
“Mm,” Yun Li responded absent-mindedly.
She rubbed her fingertips on the steering wheel, texted Yun Ye to hurry, and leaned back restlessly.
Noticing her unease, Yin Yuhen asked, “Is something wrong?”
“Nothing,” she smiled.
A red and black blur shot past her eyes like lightning.
Then, another drone floated slowly in front of the windshield like a blood-filled mosquito.
“…”
Yun Ye, who had just climbed into the back seat, was also confused by the drone: “Sis, did you hit someone’s drone?”
“…”
Yun Li gently tapped the horn.
The drone seemed to receive the signal and slowly flew to the right.
The more anxious Yun Li became, the slower the drone seemed to fly as if teasing her.
Her gaze followed the drone’s path, eager to drive away as soon as it reached a safe area.
As she looked up, she met Fu Shize’s gaze from afar.
In that instant, Yun Li averted her eyes and drove off quickly.
…
Yun Li didn’t tell anyone about encountering Fu Shize, nor did she try to find out more.
Back home, she zoned out for a while before throwing herself into work.
Life’s busyness didn’t allow her to dwell on past events.
Moreover, for both of them now, it was just a fleeting glance among countless strangers.
Since her internship, Yun Li’s life had become incredibly simple: work from 8 to 5, come home for dinner, shower, video chat a bit, and then sleep.
“I got into two general education courses from the Control Engineering department, right? We needed to buy the textbooks ourselves, so I had them sent home. I need them for class today, they’re at the courier station. Can you bring them over?” Yun Ye called on one of Yun Li’s rare days off.
She sighed, “Yun Ye, can’t you be more mature?”
“Can you stop exploiting your sister?”
Despite her words, Yun Li still went to pick up the package. Annoyed at her interrupted break, she frowned as she opened her phone to Yun Ye’s frequent messages.
Yun Ye: [I’m not familiar with this lab building. Come to Teaching Building E, we’re about to start class.]
Yun Ye: [My seat is in the middle, it’s hard to get out.]
Yun Ye: [Are you here yet?]
Yun Li replied irritably: [You only told me 5 minutes ago.]
She started the car and drove to Xi Fu Tech. As soon as she entered the campus, Yun Ye sent more messages.
Yun Ye: [Never mind, I’ll ask the TA what to do.]
Yun Ye: [I added the TA to our group chat. I’ll give you his WeChat, can you pass it to him?]
Yun Ye sent her a contact card.
—F
Yun Li’s expression froze. After glancing at the card, she wished she could turn back time to before she left.
Without hesitation but with great reluctance, she texted Yun Ye back: [Add failed. Forget it, you can get it yourself next time.]
Yun Ye: [Don’t be like that, I sent your card to the TA.]
“…”
Yun Ye: [Ok, the TA says he added you.]
Damn it.
Sure enough, there was a new notification on WeChat. The greeting was simple: [I’m the TA for “Fundamentals of Control Engineering”.]
Yun Li hesitated for a long time.
She looked at her profile picture.
Yes, she had changed it.
Her nickname.
Yes, changed that too.
Her account.
Oh, it was a randomly generated WeChat ID.
He shouldn’t recognize her.
Yun Li had thought her time in England had made her more composed, but now she felt as awkward as before.
She looked down and reluctantly accepted the friend request.
Yun Li didn’t message him first, hoping he wouldn’t message her either.
But things rarely go as planned.
A few minutes later.
F: [Yun Ye asked me to help him get a book.]