After Lin Yiran sent this question, she didn’t wait for too long.

Qiu Xing replied to her quickly.

[You’re being clueless again?]

Indeed, Qiu Xing at a distance was the Qiu Xing who wasn’t easy to talk to. He didn’t even need to think for long before directly rejecting Lin Yiran.

Lin Yiran looked at her chat window with Qiu Xing, didn’t reply further, and silently put away her phone.

Lin Yiran only tentatively asked this once, and afterward never brought it up again.

They continued living their separate lives as usual. When they didn’t see each other, they seemed to have no intersection, with the only connection being the money Qiu Xing occasionally transferred to Lin Yiran’s card.

Lin Yiran couldn’t refuse it, so she stopped refusing.

Qiu Xing was like someone who was leaving, and wouldn’t accept any attempts to make him stay.

*

Lin Yiran had two months left in her junior year, and next semester she would be a senior.

About half of the students in her college were preparing to continue their studies, while the other half didn’t want to continue and were already preparing for senior year internships.

Lin Yiran’s postgraduate recommendation was settled. With her grades, she could choose a higher-ranked school among the several that accepted recommended students, but she ultimately decided to pursue her master’s degree at her current school.

A female professor in her college admired her and took the initiative to invite Lin Yiran to be her student. The professor had achieved great success in China’s literary circles and was a renowned female writer.

Lin Yiran already liked her very much and had specifically chosen her course.

This way, after Lin Yiran finished her undergraduate studies, she would continue studying at this school for three more years.

Lin Yiran had no classes on Wednesday afternoon. She went to the office to meet her teacher, and when she left the college, it was almost four o’clock. It was a cloudy day, the sunlight wasn’t strong, and the temperature was very comfortable. Lin Yiran walked through the campus wearing a long dress and a cardigan, carrying a shoulder bag, with her hair hanging down her back. Her tall figure attracted attention in the crowd, and she always kept her shoulders very straight when walking.

There were many acquaintances near the college, so she often had to greet people along the way.

“Yiran!”

Lin Yiran heard someone calling her, turned to look, and said, “Sister Keke.”

“Haven’t seen you for a long time. I’ve been busy lately and haven’t been on campus much. I was thinking of coming back to meet up with you.” The girl was wearing a denim jacket and cargo pants, with a baseball cap on her head. Her skin wasn’t very fair but a healthy tan. She was very pretty, and when she spoke, she exuded an outgoing, cheerful quality.

She walked over and directly linked arms with Lin Yiran, a very close gesture, and said with a smile, “Since we happened to meet, would you like to have dinner with me tonight?”

“Sure, we’ve been talking about having a meal together for a while, but we never got around to it.” Lin Yiran smiled and asked, “What would you like to eat, Sister Keke?”

“Let’s eat out. I’ll take you to a restaurant that my friend owns,” Zhou Keke said as she walked with Lin Yiran toward the dormitory. “I’ll go back to transfer a file and change my clothes. Let’s meet downstairs at five.”

“Okay,” Lin Yiran said.

Zhou Keke was Lin Yiran’s senior from the same college, currently in her second year of graduate studies, and planning to continue for a doctorate afterward. Since Lin Yiran’s enrollment, Zhou Keke had been very caring toward her. Zhou Keke was an enthusiastic and cheerful person who got along well with teachers and students in the college, had many friends, and often introduced friends to Lin Yiran.

Lin Yiran was grateful for her care and had a good relationship with her.

In the evening, the two sat in a corner of a restaurant, a small space sectioned off by partitions, relatively quiet.

The owner was a handsome young man wearing a gray shirt who personally escorted them to their seats.

After he left, Zhou Keke said to Lin Yiran, “Today, let him treat us.”

“No,” Lin Yiran said with a smile, “I agreed to treat you to dinner.”

“He’s invited me several times to bring friends for meals. Let’s give him face today,” Zhou Keke said dismissively, waving her arm. “You can treat me next time. There’s no rush for you to treat me to a meal.”

Lin Yiran smiled and shook her head.

Zhou Keke had a straightforward personality, didn’t beat around the bush, and was very comfortable to be with. During the meal, Zhou Keke said to her, “Last week, my teacher asked me about you.”

Lin Yiran asked in confusion, “What did he ask about me?”

“Oh, just about your graduate studies. You’re staying at our school for your master’s, and he said if you hadn’t decided on a supervisor yet, you could join our academic group,” Zhou Keke said while peeling shrimp. “I told him you’re with Professor Han, and he didn’t say anything more.”

Lin Yiran was hesitant to say more since Zhou Keke was his student, but Zhou Keke took the initiative to say, “I didn’t want you to join our group, so I didn’t mention it to you.”

“Earlier, Professor Han asked me about your personality, and I said you’re nice,” Zhou Keke said, her hands oily from peeling shrimp. “You should stick with Professor Han. It’s good with her, and if you want to pursue a doctorate later, it’ll be easier to graduate under her, unlike in our group, where it’s difficult. And being as pretty as you are makes it even more difficult.”

They exchanged knowing smiles without saying more, and Lin Yiran said, “Thank you, Sister Keke.”

Zhou Keke replied, “What’s there to thank between us?”

Having finished her shrimp, Zhou Keke went to wash her hands. When she returned, she said, “But I thought you would go to S University. They have just one recommendation spot with our school, and if you wanted to go, it would be yours.”

Lin Yiran said, “I considered it, but if I went, I couldn’t study under Professor Shan since he doesn’t accept students from other schools. I’m not very familiar with the other professors, and they might not be as suitable for me as Professor Han.”

Zhou Keke said, “You should have told me! I have several classmates at S University who could have helped you connect.” Then she casually added, “Qiu Xing was also at S University, though he was in sciences, studying physics.”

Lin Yiran paused and looked at Zhou Keke. “Qiu Xing?”

“Yes, Qiu Xing. You didn’t know?” Zhou Keke sighed. “Qiu Xing was the freshman representative who spoke at their welcome ceremony, from our year.”

Lin Yiran stared at her, speechless.

“He was quite impressive. My classmate even recorded a video for me,” Zhou Keke said regretfully. “But he only studied there for two months in his freshman year.”

Lin Yiran was silent for a moment before quietly asking, “Do you still have the video?”

“It’s long gone. I’ve changed phones several times since then,” Zhou Keke said.

On the second day after enrollment in freshman year, someone knocked on the dormitory door in the evening, asking which one was Lin Yiran. When Lin Yiran identified herself, Zhou Keke had said, “Quick, baby, add my WeChat! If you ever need anything, just ask me anytime. I know this school inside out! Oh, Qiu Xing asked me to look after you. His neighbor is my neighbor. Quick, add me!”

Lin Yiran hadn’t heard about this from Qiu Xing and was somewhat surprised at the time.

“Qiu Xing and I were desk mates for four years,” Zhou Keke said as she scanned Lin Yiran’s QR code. “In the second year of high school, when classes were split, he took science, otherwise, we would have continued being desk mates.”

After the incident with Qiu Xing’s family, he hadn’t kept in touch with his former classmates much. Zhou Keke was the one he actively contacted, telling her that a neighbor’s child was at their school and asking her to look after her when she had time.

Because of this connection, Zhou Keke indeed took special care of Lin Yiran.

Later, as their relationship truly grew close, they no longer mentioned Qiu Xing.

Lin Yiran knew that Qiu Xing had been a good student but hadn’t gone to university. This was the first time she learned that Qiu Xing had attended university; he had enrolled and then dropped out.

Thinking about it, it made sense. His family’s incident happened in November, by which time Qiu Xing would definitely have already been attending classes.

“Why are you so surprised? Aren’t you neighbors?” Zhou Keke asked her.

Lin Yiran lowered her gaze and replied, “I moved away later, and we didn’t keep in touch much.”

“I see,” Zhou Keke thought about Qiu Xing and felt a bit angry, saying, “He promised to treat me to a meal, but every time I go back, he says he’s not around. He’s avoiding me! He gave me an empty promise. I took care of you for nothing!”

“I’ll treat you, I’ll treat you,” Lin Yiran said with a smile. “He’s indeed often not around.”

“You treating me is your thing, but what he owes me he has to pay himself!” Zhou Keke said indignantly. “I’ll catch him eventually.”

The spirited Qiu Xing in Zhou Keke’s description made Lin Yiran feel downcast and very sad.

She recalled what Qiu Xing had told her that year on the truck: “You should let your life follow its original path, not fall off track.” At this moment, Lin Yiran more directly understood what Qiu Xing meant by “falling off track.”

Over these years, although Qiu Xing wasn’t very enthusiastic and often seemed indifferent during times when they didn’t see each other, he was always there, including the money he frequently transferred to her. He had said he wouldn’t let Lin Yiran “fall off track.” He was consistently supporting her, helping her stay on her original path, to live a better life.

That night, Lin Yiran took the initiative to message Qiu Xing.

This was their first contact since that night when Qiu Xing had rejected Lin Yiran’s wish to exchange for more time.

When Qiu Xing received the message, he had just finished showering, wearing only shorts and still drying his hair.

His phone made a sound, and he picked it up to look.

Little Boat: [Qiu Xing.]

Qiu Xing typed a few keystrokes and replied, “Here,” then continued drying his hair.

Lin Yiran’s message came after a moment: [Have you been busy lately?]

Qiu Xing: [Not too bad, what’s up?]

Lin Yiran said: [I want to come see you.]

Qiu Xing asked her: [Something wrong?]

Little Boat: [No.]

Qiu Xing put the towel back and asked: [Then why do you want to see me?]

Lin Yiran, leaning on the desk and resting on her arm, replied to Qiu Xing: [If you won’t come see me, can’t I come see you?]

Qiu Xing remained difficult: [Do you have something to discuss or not?]

Lin Yiran said: [If you insist on asking, then yes, I do.]

Qiu Xing: [Tell me.]

On her end of the phone, Lin Yiran bit her lip, slowly typed “Well… I miss you, does that count?” then deleted it and replaced it with “I want to see you,” only to delete that too.

Hesitating, deleting, and rewriting, the final message she sent was simple and direct—

Lin Yiran: [I miss you.]