After she finished wiping her hands, Fu Shize naturally took the crumpled tissue and tossed it into a nearby trash can.
“Shall we go? Would you accompany me to get my medicine?”
“Oh, sure.” Yun Li followed him. After walking a short distance, she asked directly, “Are you feeling unwell?”
“Insomnia. I got some medication from the doctor.” Fu Shize handed her the prescription without hesitation. There were only two types of medicine listed.
Seeing Yun Li’s serious expression, he chuckled, “What do you think is wrong with me?”
“Nothing. It’s just… has your insomnia been this severe for so long?”
“It comes and goes.” Fu Shize had grown accustomed to living with insomnia. He reassured her, “I just have a lot of dreams.”
While he was in line to collect his medication, Yun Li quickly searched online for the two drugs. They were common sleeping pills.
Given their current relationship, she felt it wasn’t appropriate to inquire further. However, learning that there wasn’t anything too serious, she felt relieved.
Fu Shize returned with his medication and glanced at his watch. “What time did you arrange to meet Yun Ye?”
Almost forgetting the excuse she had made up, Yun Li blurted out a time, “Five-thirty.”
Fu Shize looked at his watch again. “It’s still early. Want to see my lab?”
As they had agreed to this last time, Yun Li nodded.
“Let’s take my vehicle,” Fu Shize said, turning to her. Yun Li was taken aback, “I drove here too. We can each drive over separately.”
Fu Shize explained, “You’re not familiar with the roads here. This area is crowded and difficult to navigate. I’ll drive you back later.”
The area near the university hospital was close to the cafeteria. The roadside was lined with haphazardly parked bicycles, and people were milling about.
It did seem challenging to drive through.
Fu Shize tilted his head, gesturing to a small scooter nearby. “The vehicle’s over there.”
“…”
Yun Li suddenly realized that by “vehicle,” he meant an electric scooter.
She felt somewhat deceived.
Staring at the small scooter, Yun Li fell silent. Its size indicated it was a high-powered electric scooter, more suitable for campus travel than a car. The scooter showed signs of age, with a few spots of rust on its metal frame.
Fu Shize didn’t give her a chance to reconsider. In a good mood, he handed her a brand-new helmet.
Yun Li watched as he methodically put on his helmet. It was white, with a dark, semi-transparent windshield that partially obscured his eyes.
Seeing Yun Li motionless, Fu Shize lowered his head, took the helmet from her hands, adjusted its length, and put it on her.
Their distance closed. Yun Li’s eyes darted to the side, landing on his arm. After putting the helmet on her, Fu Shize stood about ten centimeters away.
“Can you fasten it?”
“Oh…” Hearing this, Yun Li felt along her neck for the two straps. Unfamiliar with the buckle’s shape, she failed to fasten it after two attempts.
Seeing her struggle, Fu Shize naturally bent down, his face below her line of sight.
He focused intently on her neck, his hands holding the two straps under her chin.
Yun Li stared at his eyes behind the dark visor. At one point, he glanced up, their eyes meeting briefly.
As he fastened the buckle, his fingertips brushed against Yun Li’s skin. As if shocked, Fu Shize’s fingers recoiled slightly.
He immediately turned around to back the scooter out, then straddled it. He turned his head, gesturing to the back seat with his chin.
Nearby, many passing scooters carried passengers. Yun Li didn’t think too much about it and carefully sat down, avoiding body contact with him.
“Put your hands here.”
Seeming to understand her concern, Fu Shize tapped the scooter’s body, indicating where she should hold on. Just as Yun Li grasped it, a gust of wind hit her face as the scooter zipped onto the road.
Fu Shize’s back was right in front of her.
She suddenly remembered riding the motorcycle at EAW. Despite the time that had passed, her feelings were surprisingly similar.
In the rearview mirror, she could see both their faces. The helmet visors obscured their eyes, but she could see Fu Shize’s curved lips.
The wind lifted her hair, and the scenery on both sides rushed past.
He removed his helmet and hung it on the scooter, then dismounted with a single motion. Yun Li lost her balance, but Fu Shize caught her arm, releasing it only after she had steadied herself on the ground.
His laboratory was on the third floor, consisting of several rooms. Fu Shize took her on a tour of the various labs, explaining his daily work. His life revolved around the dormitory and the laboratory.
Yun Li, lacking systematic research training, found Fu Shize’s casual explanations confusing. However, he spoke more than usual, which was nice.
The last stop was his office. As they approached the door, Yun Li heard chaotic discussions from inside.
“Holy crap, I saw our senior bringing a girl to our lab!”
“Which senior?”
The speaker clicked his tongue, “I only have one senior.”
This was followed by several incredulous exclamations.
“Is she pretty?”
“Is she from our college? Which lab?”
Listening to the rapid-fire questions, Yun Li asked him, “Are we still going in?”
Probably due to poor soundproofing, the voices inside suddenly ceased, followed by the sound of several people hastily sitting down.
Yun Li felt even more awkward.
“Don’t you want to go in anymore?” Fu Shize asked her.
The question made it seem like she was the one with something to hide. Perhaps she was overthinking, but she even caught a hint of amusement in Fu Shize’s eyes. Not wanting to leave such an impression, Yun Li said frankly, “Let’s go in and take a look.”
Fu Shize swiped open the door. It was evident that the workspace was tight, with four or five people in the room. Fortunately, there were partitions between workstations.
Fu Shize said, “I usually work in the office. You can come here if you need anything.”
Yun Li thought to herself that she probably wouldn’t have any reason to come.
His position was at the far end. The desk surface was orderly, and everything was meticulously arranged.
Yun Li’s gaze fell on the corner of the desk, and she froze. It was a paper lantern ball, the one she had taught Fu Shize to fold during their camping trip. This one was more complex, with intricate patterns and added lights.
Noticing her gaze, Fu Shize picked up the paper lantern and showed it to her. “Don’t you think I’ve improved quite a bit?”
The paper lantern was perfectly folded, with excellent attention to detail, indicating the maker’s skill. Lost in thought, Yun Li placed it back in its original position.
Seeing her apparent lack of interest, Fu Shize paused for a moment, then picked up the paper lantern again and placed it in front of her.
Fu Shize asked, “Do you want it?”
Yun Li: “Huh?”
Fu Shize: “Do you think it’s pretty?”
Yun Li answered honestly, “It’s quite beautiful.”
“Then take it if you like it,” he said nonchalantly, adding, “I make them often.”
Making it seem like an insignificant matter.
Yun Li felt he was oddly persistent. She reluctantly accepted, saying, “Oh… thank you.”
He gave a soft “Mm-hmm” in response.
The other people in the office remained silent, making Yun Li feel as if only the two of them were present.
Due to the presence of others, Yun Li felt uncomfortable staying in the office for long. As soon as they closed the door behind them, a burst of excited whispers erupted from the office.
“Isn’t that the girl from our senior’s phone lock screen?”
“I think it is.”
Yun Li’s steps faltered. Fu Shize was standing right beside her, but she dared not dwell on it. She forced herself to keep walking, pretending not to have heard their gossip.
Fu Shize drove Yun Li back to the university hospital on his scooter. During the ride, Yun Li pondered the jokes his juniors had made.
It must be that… he was too lazy to change his lock screen after the breakup.
They arrived in just a few minutes.
Yun Li got off the scooter and looked at him. After a long moment, she said, “Thank you.”
Fu Shize’s gaze was soft as he looked at her. Yun Li couldn’t bear his gaze and quickly got into her car.
He watched as she fastened her seatbelt and looked both ways to check traffic. Catching Fu Shize still watching her from the corner of her eye, she hesitated for a moment before lowering her head and backing out of the parking space.
When Fu Shize returned to the laboratory, his junior colleagues were already eagerly waiting. Usually, they would all leave at mealtime, but today they had stayed behind until he returned.
As soon as he entered, everyone stood up, staring at him intently.
“…”
“Senior, wasn’t that ball your treasure?” Lin Jinran, one of the lab juniors, came over to tease him. The last time he had reached out to touch the ball, Fu Shize had immediately pushed his hand away.
“You even said—’ I make them often,'” Lin Jinran mimicked his tone. “Senior, your approach to pursuing someone is too subtle. Be careful, she might take you seriously.”
“…” Fu Shize looked at him, chuckled, and asked, “So?”
“Senior, I think you should consider changing your approach to pursuing her,” Lin Jinran said, putting an arm around Fu Shize’s shoulder. “I don’t think anyone could resist your confession. Just confess directly and it’ll work out.”
Fu Shize shook his head. “If I confess now, she might delete me from WeChat.”
Lin Jinran disagreed, “Who would dare to delete you from WeChat?”
Fu Shize replied casually, “Mm. She’s deleted me twice before.”
“…Then why are you still pursuing her?” Lin Jinran was incredibly surprised. In their eyes, someone like Fu Shize, a prodigy, should have smooth sailing in matters of love.
“Mm.” Fu Shize responded. Seeing everyone staring at him, he frowned, “What?”
“Nothing, it’s just that we think you’re too unfortunate, Senior,” Lin Jinran couldn’t help but say. “Senior, with so many people pursuing you, you don’t need to… She’s deleted you twice, that’s too capricious…”
“It’s fine if she’s a bit capricious,” Fu Shize said dismissively, pulling out a chair to sit down.
Lin Jinran, being a bit of a fan of Fu Shize, felt the need to defend him: “Senior, are you perhaps a bit… love-struck?”
Fu Shize had never imagined someone would describe him that way and remained silent.
Seeing that he had started working, the others dispersed like startled birds.
Fu Shize stared at the shared document on the screen, an English paper his junior was writing, with three or four people simultaneously online.
He typed a few characters.
Remembering the moment he touched her neck today, it had been a long time since he had been so close to her. The person he thought about day and night was right in front of him. Several times today, he had almost blurted out words about getting back together.
Fu Shize was lost in thought, not paying attention to what he was typing in the document.
“Senior, you’ve opened the wrong document,” the junior beside him couldn’t bear it anymore and reminded him.
Fu Shize snapped back to reality, only to find that he had typed ‘Li Li’ several times in the shared English document. The Chinese characters stood out conspicuously among the English text.
He could hear the others in the lab suppressing their laughter, probably agreeing with what Lin Jinran had said earlier.
He deleted the characters one by one.
If being love-struck meant being love-struck, so be it.
…
After returning home, Yun Li took the paper lantern ball to her room. She didn’t want to attach too much importance to a casually given gift, as it would seem like she hadn’t moved on.
Yun Li found a safe empty shelf to store it and didn’t touch it again.
She sat back down on the edge of her bed, kicking her legs, and recalled their interactions today.
He had been very close to her today.
Close enough for Yun Li to see the faint lines of his lips.
Yun Li didn’t want to be presumptuous, nor did she want to repeat past mistakes.
In her previous relationship, she had withered away in constant wavering and suspicion.
If Fu Shize didn’t give a clear signal, she didn’t want to guess anymore.
But what if he did give a clear signal?
Yun Li hadn’t considered this possibility, and her mind went blank for a moment.
She couldn’t imagine how she would react.
Lying down on her side, she picked up her phone.
Better not to think about these things.
…
After a week of work, Yun Li finally made it to Friday and took a half-day off. She had barely been lying at home for long when a message from Yun Ye came through—
[Yun Li, I’ve been bitten by a bug. I’m at the university hospital.]
Yun Li jumped out of bed, startled.
The whole incident was quite simple. The summer in Xifu was hot, with many insects around. Yun Ye was in a first-floor classroom when he was unexpectedly bitten by a bug, causing a large, swollen red patch.
It happened to be during the “Fundamentals of Control Engineering” class, and Fu Shize, as the teaching assistant, had directly taken him to the university hospital.
Yun Li hadn’t expected to meet Fu Shize again at the hospital. She hurriedly greeted him before rushing into the clinic.
A nurse was disinfecting Yun Ye’s wound.
“You’re not seriously hurt, why did you call…” Yun Li moved close to Yun Ye and whispered, “Why did you call him?”
Injured and now suspected of ulterior motives, Yun Ye stared at her in disbelief. After a long moment, he said, “He offered to bring me here himself.”
“Who knows, maybe he wanted to see you,” Yun Ye’s tone was not without sarcasm, probably dissatisfied with Yun Li’s apparent lack of concern.
“Alright,” Yun Li didn’t argue with the patient. She frowned and asked, “Where were you bitten?”
“My hand and back.” Yun Ye sat there, enduring the treatment for several minutes. The bitten area was very uncomfortable, and he frowned with his eyes closed.
Yun Li directly lifted his shirt to take a look. A large red patch covered his back, with only a small, mung bean-sized wound at its center. It looked quite unsettling.
Yun Ye was extremely annoyed: “What are you doing? There are so many people here.”
“It’s fine,” Yun Li ignored the patient’s discontent and patted his head, coaxing, “Once the nurse finishes applying the medicine, you won’t feel uncomfortable anymore.”
“…”
Being treated like a three-year-old child, Yun Ye turned his face away, holding back his frustration. Catching a glimpse of Yun Li’s worried expression from the corner of his eye, he waved her off, “You can wait outside now.”
“Thank you for your help,” Yun Li politely said to the nurse before heading outside, where Fu Shize was leaning against the wall.
“Thank you for bringing Yun Ye to the hospital today. I can handle the rest from here,” Yun Li hinted that he could leave now.
Fu Shize shook his head, “I don’t have anything else to do right now.”