After a while, light snow particles began to drift down, seemingly present yet absent.

Under the dim lights, the night was boundless, and the fresh fragrance of wintersweet faintly spread in the sharp cold air.

The bench they sat on was surrounded by several trees, with an SUV parked in front. The location was very concealed. Even if people occasionally passed by, they couldn’t see inside.

Xie Ci sat beside her, eyes slightly lowered, looking at the spoon pressed against his lips.

After a long while, he obediently opened his mouth.

The dumpling wasn’t hot, just warm, the same temperature as her body.

Xu You fed him food without speaking. Watching his cheeks puff up, after he chewed and swallowed one, she brought the next dumpling to his lips.

Later, the bottom of the container was visible, the food eaten completely clean. Xu You changed her sitting position, lowered her head to put away the spoon, picked up the lid beside her and covered the container.

“Are you full?” she asked.

“Full.”

“Oh…..”

Xie Ci’s eyes were pitch black, his thin coat sprinkled with a sparse layer of white frost—unmelted snow.

Then it was quiet again.

After being silent for a while, she turned her face to the side, glanced at him and said: “Are you angry with me?”

Xie Ci didn’t know if he was deliberately avoiding her gaze.

This kind of awkward feeling was actually very hard to explain clearly. Thinking it over, the two of them didn’t seem to have any expressible conflict or reason, yet they both tacitly knew there was something between them, fermenting in the bottom of their hearts, but they didn’t know where to start talking about it.

Just dragging it out like this, mutually tormenting each other.

On a night with rising wind and light snow, the cold wind was biting, freezing people’s bones until they ached.

“No.”

His right hand unconsciously turned the lighter. He responded perfunctorily, lowered his head to pull out a cigarette, and prepared to light it.

She didn’t know why, but seeing Xie Ci’s indifferent appearance, a powerless irritation instantly rose in Xu You’s heart in that moment. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t like losing her temper at others, and couldn’t say anything harsh either.

She didn’t understand why Xie Ci would suddenly be like this. She guessed that perhaps he had already grown tired of this relationship with her…

Xu You’s heart was very chaotic… She remembered what Song Yifan had said. Then she thought of a phrase.

Loving the new and abandoning the old?

Probably…..

After sitting quietly on the bench for a few seconds, she got up. After Xu You walked several steps away, she stopped, her back to him, and said: “Then you should go home early.” Then she walked forward without turning back.

Her steps were very light and also very slow. In the distance, the sky was dark and gloomy, snowflakes falling bit by bit past the lamplight.

The lighter was thrown onto the bench, rolled twice, and fell into the dirt on the ground with a muffled, soft sound.

Xie Ci embraced her from behind, his arms encircling her.

Xu You froze, struggled a bit, and he hugged even tighter.

She blinked her eyes. The scene before her was a bit blurred.

“Don’t go.”

As soon as Xie Ci opened his mouth to speak, his throat was hoarse like sandpaper.

Xu You breathed softly and gently, the tightly strung cord in her heart loosening a bit. Bodies belonging to youth, clean and thin, pressed tightly together.

Without realizing it, his and her fingers interlocked seamlessly, clinging and lingering dependently.

“I’m sorry.” Xie Ci apologized.

He didn’t know why, but just now watching her gradually retreating back, he actually felt a sense of panic for the first time. All the indescribable unwillingness, grievance, and anger in his heart completely disappeared, leaving only his heart feeling as if it were being tightly squeezed.

Anyway, only one thought remained in his mind: he couldn’t let her walk away like this.

Xu You’s heart hurt as if it had been yanked. She turned her head to look into his eyes, “You haven’t wronged me. I just want to know what’s wrong with you.”

Xie Ci was just about to open his mouth to respond.

The phone in his pocket rang. Xu You interrupted him, hurriedly freeing one hand to take out her phone: “Hello?”

“Chai, why aren’t you back yet?”

It was so late at night, and seeing that she had been down there for so long, Chen Xiuyun couldn’t help but worry.

“Mom.”

Xu You’s hand was still being held. She guiltily composed herself and quickly said in dialect: “My classmate is all alone. I’m accompanying ‘her’ to walk around. Just nearby, I’ll be back soon.”

Chen Xiuyun disapproved, “It’s so late. What are two girls wandering around for? It’s too unsafe. Bring your classmate home.”

“It’s not that.” Xu You herself was also stuck, paused, then made up a reason randomly: “‘She’s’ in a bad mood and has something to tell me. Mom, don’t worry. I brought my keys, and I have my phone too. I’ll go back soon.”

“Where are you now?” Chen Xiuyun asked again.

“Near… school…” Hearing the follow-up question, Xu You secretly had a headache.

She didn’t dare say she was right in the residential complex, lest Chen Xiuyun directly tell her to come up, or come down to find her.

“School?”

Xu You was anxious, pacing back and forth in place, her hand being tugged by someone. She lifted her eyes to glance at Xie Ci. He was also looking at her.

“There are other classmates too, just contacted them….”

The other side hesitated for a long time before instructing: “Don’t stay out too late.”

Xu You agreed, then remembered, “What about Dad? Has Auntie left?”

Chen Xiuyun said: “He drank a bit just now and is sleeping now. Auntie just went home.”

“Okay, I understand. If you need anything, call me.”

“By the way, are there boys among your classmates?”

Xu You pretended to be calm: “No boys, all girls.”

Chen Xiuyun seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and hummed in acknowledgment.

After hanging up the phone, Xu You realized there was still Xie Ci beside her, and she suddenly felt embarrassed. Then she reacted—Xie Ci shouldn’t understand what she was saying—and felt relieved again.

The night grew cooler, but a thin layer of sweat appeared on her back.

“Do you want to walk with me?” Xu You put away her phone and looked up to ask.

—-

On the road, the snow had melted into water, somewhat slippery.

Xu You left the thermos container in the security room and left the residential complex with Xie Ci.

They just wandered aimlessly along the street.

At this time, there were very few pedestrians on the road, only the streetlights shining lonely and solitary.

She wanted to say something but never knew how to start properly.

She also didn’t know how a person’s emotions could be so fickle like this. Just now, he clearly had an indifferent appearance, but now he was holding her hand and wouldn’t let go.

Xu You was slightly unaccustomed to it. Before when they were together, he talked more. Now that he wasn’t speaking, the two of them seemed to have no topics either.

Passing by a 24-hour convenience store, his steps stopped.

Xu You looked up at him.

Xie Ci said: “I want to buy cigarettes.”

“How old are you? Why can’t you put down cigarettes?”

Xu You frowned, tugging his arm and hurrying forward a few steps, “Don’t buy them.”

He stared at her back and smiled soundlessly.

After walking a short stretch more, Xu You was completely unaware, having no idea what Xie Ci was thinking in his heart. She continued chattering, “My dad also liked to smoke when he was young. Later his health wasn’t good, and my mom kept nagging him, so he quit……”

“You don’t care about me anyway.” Xie Ci was expressionless, his voice light.

Xu You fell silent and looked back at him. After pausing for two seconds, she realized she was at a loss for words.

“I think you’re getting stranger and stranger now.” she said.

Xie Ci’s gaze dropped down to look at their hands held together, “What’s strange?”

“If you have something going on, can you tell me directly? I’m not ignoring you or not caring about you. I called you, but you didn’t answer. I thought you were busy, so I didn’t call again.”

After hearing her long string of words, Xie Ci’s brows furrowed, “When did you call me? You only took the initiative once today.”

At this moment, a tentative male voice called out from behind: “Xu You?”

The two simultaneously turned around to look.

After Shen Yang confirmed it was Xu You, he smiled and waved at her, “It really is you. What a coincidence. What are you doing here?”

Coming closer, he discovered there was also a boy standing beside Xu You. Shen Yang was stunned, his gaze circling around Xie Ci’s face.

Isn’t this……

Xu You wasn’t good with faces and had no impression of the person before her. Carefully searching through her mind, she barely remembered that he seemed to be a classmate from the new class. Out of politeness, she smiled at him and casually asked, “Why are you outside?”

“I just went to buy something.”

Shen Yang’s gaze turned to the side, asking hesitantly: “Is this your older brother?”

“Huh?” Xu You was stunned.

Xie Ci was tall and also standing on a step, looking down at Shen Yang from above. His gaze grew increasingly cold. He reached out his hand, resting it on Xu You’s shoulder, asking with a half-smile: “Who are you?”

Xu You looked toward Xie Ci, feeling his emotions were a bit off, though she didn’t think much of it.

Shen Yang, standing not far away, no matter how slow his reactions, now understood that the relationship between the two wasn’t ordinary. He smiled and said to Xu You: “Then I’ll go first. See you when we’re back at school.”

After watching Shen Yang walk away, Xu You cleared her throat and turned to explain to Xie Ci, “He’s my classmate… from the class reassignment just now…”

“——I know.” He turned his face away, interrupting her with indifference.

Xu You felt he had returned to the very beginning, that extremely unstable emotional state, awkward to the extreme.

He was quite normal just now, but now he didn’t know who he was sulking at.

“Are you two very close?”

After a while, Xie Ci couldn’t help but ask in a low voice.

Xu You didn’t answer. Because she was still thinking about exactly what he was angry about, she spaced out for a bit and didn’t hear clearly what he asked.

This appearance falling into Xie Ci’s eyes was taken as tacit acknowledgment, and he became even more annoyed, “Because he has good grades?”

“What are you talking about?” Xu You came back to her senses, “Who am I close with?”

“That guy just now.”

Now she finally reacted and hurriedly waved her hands, “I’m not familiar with him at all.”

“You two go home together every day.” he said.

Xu You caught the key point, “Go home together?” She was speechless, her expression strange: “When did I ever go home with him?”

It was quiet again for a long time.

Seeing him not speak for a long while, she asked again, “Are you misunderstanding something?”

This time, Xie Ci finally opened his mouth, “I went to pick you up from school. You walked with him together every day.”

—-

After the class reassignment results came out, Xie Ci was indeed the last to know that Xu You had gone to the rocket class. This was actually something expected, but he didn’t know why his entire being felt inexplicably irritated. This anxiety reached its peak in an instant when he went to wait for Xu You after school and saw a male student beside her, talking and laughing. He put his hands in his pockets, leaning against the wall without making a sound, silently watching them walk away.

It was like this for several days in a row.

He didn’t want to ask. As if he’d taken the wrong medicine, he deliberately tortured himself. Every time, he waited in that position, watching Xu You and that male student leave the school gate, then walk away.

Later, once Song Yifan and the others invited him out to hang out. At the bar, Xie Ci drank until half-drunk, his body heavily leaning against the chair back.

The people beside him saw this. Li Jieyi asked: “Who is Brother Ci having a quarrel with?”

Song Yifan didn’t know either. After being confused for a while, he said tentatively: “Could it be that his relationship fell apart?”

Very possible.

Li Jieyi thought about it, turned to Xie Ci and said: “Buddy, you can’t have been dumped and fallen out of love. That’s too embarrassing.”

“But, speaking of which.” Li Jieyi had been hanging out with Xie Ci for so many years and had long since lost all restraint, “How excellent is that girl? Apart from being a bit handsome, you don’t seem to have any other advantages. Think carefully—oh right, you also have some money, but it still feels like you’re a bit unworthy……”

Before he finished speaking.

“Fuck you.” Xie Ci casually grabbed something and threw it over.

Li Jieyi reacted quickly, dodging by tilting his head.

After reacting for a few seconds, he patted his chest with lingering fear, “Damn, you’re lashing out in embarrassment.”

Very obviously, Xie Ci’s current state couldn’t handle having his sore spots touched. Yet Li Jieyi was still foolishly charging toward the muzzle of the gun.

Song Yifan silently moved his butt to the side.

This damned Li Jieyi, the idiot. Who knows if he’d lost his mind or eaten shit.

—-

Now Xu You was truly very confused. She knew Xie Ci had misunderstood, but after pondering for a long time, she didn’t know how to say it or where to start.

“He and I are just very ordinary classmates. I don’t even know what his name is. It’s just that sometimes after evening self-study, he asks me about problems and likes to debate with me. You probably just happened to see that.” Xu You said honestly, “But I don’t know why you would think I go home with him every day.”

She stood on a higher step, her eyes just able to meet his at eye level.

This was a slightly brighter position. Only now did she discover that Xie Ci’s cheeks were flushed red, his dark pupils seeming to have a watery gleam. He was already fair-skinned, so it looked even more obvious this way.

“Why is your face so red?” Xu You frowned.

“From anger.” he answered, his eyelashes drooping uncomfortably.

“…………”

“You clearly misunderstood yourself.” she said softly.

“I know.” Suddenly remembering the unfinished conversation from earlier, Xie Ci asked: “When did you call me? When did I not answer?”

Xu You said quietly: “The night I started vacation.”

He furrowed his brows, carefully observing her expression. It looked like he couldn’t remember.

“Your vacation…..” Xie Ci thought again, “The day of Class 9’s gathering?”

“Right.”

“Shit.” Now Xie Ci had an impression and instantly reacted, “I was forced to drink until I was drunk that day. Someone took my phone….”

“Mm…..”

Xu You was distracted, obviously not wanting to continue dwelling on this issue. She stepped up another step.

Xie Ci still wanted to explain when he was suddenly stunned.

“Crouch down a bit.” she said.

Then she slightly stood on her tiptoes, cupped his face with both hands, her chin pressed tightly against his forehead, murmuring to herself, “It seems a bit hot…..”