The news that Lu Rangchen was returning to the capital spread at noon that same day.

Xu Linda contributed no small part to its circulation.

Determined to confirm the rumor, she went straight to the cafeteria to find Deng Zhe and Zhou Chuang — only to find that neither of them knew anything about it whatsoever. Both were completely taken aback.

Xu Linda was baffled.

She turned to look at Yunque. “Is it possible Lin Zhinian made it up?”

Before the words were fully out, Deng Zhe, who’d been typing on his phone across from them, cursed under his breath. “Lu Rangchen replied.”

“He says he really is going back.”

“Just settled, not long ago. Could be any day now.”

As he said it, he looked up toward Yunque.

The three of them had different expressions. Their gazes converged on her.

Especially Xu Linda — she furrowed her brow, words clearly at the tip of her tongue, yet holding herself back, seemingly wanting to offer some comfort but unable to bring herself to say it in front of the two boys.

Yunque simply lowered her eyes quietly and poked at the green pepper and egg in her meal tray.

After a few beats of silence, she said softly, “That’s fine.”

“……”

That lunch tasted exceptionally awful.

And yet, against all precedent, Yunque finished every last bite.

Perhaps because of the news of Lu Rangchen leaving, the atmosphere among the four of them on the walk back to the classroom was noticeably subdued.

As Lu Rangchen’s closest friends here, both Deng Zhe and Zhou Chuang were in poor spirits. Zhou Chuang went so far as to say Lu Rangchen was completely out of line — something this big, and not one of them had known.

Deng Zhe put in a word for him. “Maybe he just didn’t have time to tell us yet.”

“Didn’t have time to tell us — then how come Lin Zhinian knew?”

Xu Linda was deeply indignant, and she said it out loud on Yunque’s behalf.

As she said it, Yunque’s face showed almost nothing.

Deng Zhe let his gaze wander across both girls’ faces, then said easily, “Maybe she’s close to his family.”

Xu Linda’s eyes sharpened. “Rangchen told you that?”

“……”

Deng Zhe was at a loss. “Spare me, will you? I’m just guessing — I’m not him.”

He turned to Zhou Chuang. “What do you think?”

Zhou Chuang was a rather slow-on-the-uptake kind of person. “Think what?”

Deng Zhe rolled his eyes.

Xu Linda turned to look at Yunque and asked in a voice only the two of them could hear, “Why don’t you ask him yourself?”

Yunque walked along with her hands in her jacket pockets, as measured and unreadable as ever. You couldn’t tell what she was thinking from her expression.

After a moment of silence, she shook her head. “I don’t want to ask.”

Xu Linda: “……”

“Sometimes I genuinely wonder — do you actually like Lu Rangchen or not?”

She shook her head and sighed, leaving those words behind just before they entered the classroom.

Yunque’s footsteps paused briefly at the doorway.

Then, just as quickly, she resumed her usual composure.

On the surface, at least.

No one knew how bleak and grueling that afternoon was for Yunque.

Her eyes were on the blackboard, her ears taking in the teacher’s voice — yet her thoughts had already drifted far away.

Her chest was heavy too, tight and aching.

The whole of her felt as though every last drop of energy had been drained away, leaving behind only a hollow, numb shell.

She dragged herself through the haze until school was finally let out.

It was only then that Yunque remembered — tonight was New Year’s Eve, and tomorrow was New Year’s Day.

It wasn’t the Lunar New Year, but the school was festive all the same. Students were exchanging happy new year greetings and waving goodbye to each other. Only Yunque felt none of it — not a shred of happiness reached her.

Her cold hadn’t fully cleared.

She’d unknowingly run a fever again — 38 degrees — and gathered up her papers to head home.

She’d barely stepped out of the classroom when Feng Yanlai called.

Said that tonight, being New Year’s Eve, the foot traffic near the shopping street was enormous, and her shop was doing very well. She’d be home late. Told Yunque to buy herself whatever she wanted to eat.

Yunque wasn’t surprised. She said fine, and hung up.

She hadn’t taken more than a few steps when Zhao Qijia called out to her from behind — said he was taking the subway today, they could walk together.

Yunque paused, and didn’t refuse.

And so, in the falling snow of that evening, the two of them made their unhurried way from the school building to the gate, then onto the subway together.

At the same moment.

The driver was taking Lu Rangchen back to school to collect his things.

The transfer paperwork had gone quickly.

In theory, he and his parents could have returned to the capital early to spend New Year’s with the Cheng family.

But Lu Rangchen lingered with his characteristic unhurried reluctance, dragging his feet for several days.

Cheng Liru was not pleased.

But she couldn’t override Lu Rangchen, so she and Lu Dingzhong took the plane ahead of him. Before leaving, she told him to come back early the next day for a family dinner.

Lu Rangchen gave vague, noncommittal sounds of acknowledgment over the phone.

The moment the call ended, he phoned his driver and asked to be taken back to school.

The driver, a man named Chen — nearly forty, a solid older brother type who had always gotten along well with Lu Rangchen — looked at the hour and suggested he go collect Lu Rangchen’s things himself, or have a classmate pack them up and send them over later.

A well-meaning offer.

Lu Rangchen turned it down flat on the phone.

No explanation given.

So the two set off at four-thirty, expecting to reach Nancheng No. 3 High School before five — and ran directly into traffic.

A standstill lasting nearly twenty minutes.

By the time the driver finally pulled up to the school, Yunque had already boarded the subway with Zhao Qijia.

It was winter in Nancheng, and night fell early.

The air was crisp and thin. Under the glow of the streetlamps, the city seemed wrapped in a faint, pale haze.

Lu Rangchen had just sent a few messages in the group chat.

He raised his gaze — and caught, with perfect precision, two familiar silhouettes at the subway entrance beyond the car window.

The girl was in a short ivory-white down jacket and deep blue fitted jeans that showed off her long, straight legs — graceful and lovely.

Perhaps because glasses fogged easily in the cold, she hadn’t worn them the last couple of times he’d seen her, and her eyes, freed from the frames, looked all the clearer and brighter for it.

Beside her, a tall young man tilted his head and looked down at her with a burning gaze, saying something. She listened, and a faint smile curved her lips.

An expression Lu Rangchen had never once seen on Yunque’s face before.

Relaxed. Gently sweet. Unburdened.

The car was briefly stalled there.

Lu Rangchen’s throat moved in a slow, quiet swallow. Something dense and dark seemed to unfurl in the depths of his gaze. He watched the two of them without moving, until they disappeared into the subway entrance.

Then his shoulders sank back a fraction, and he leaned his head against the headrest.

A few seconds of silence. He raised his hand to touch the slightly stiff muscles of his neck and gave a quiet, self-deprecating laugh.

After arriving home that evening, Yunque’s first order of business was to take her fever reducer and cold medicine.

Before long, drowsiness overtook her. She had no choice but to turn in early — and as a result, missed everything happening in the group chat.

The group chat had erupted with excitement over Lu Rangchen’s appearance.

Once everyone found out he was flying back to the capital the very next day, Deng Zhe had plenty to say about it — grumbling that he was completely out of line, leaving without so much as a heads-up.

Zhou Chuang chimed in like a rehearsed comedy duo, joining the chorus of complaint.

Lu Rangchen, having had enough of these two, typed bluntly: 【I’ve booked a private room at Qiangui. Stop whining or don’t bother coming.】

Deng Zhe: 【……】

Zhou Chuang: 【Oh.】

Deng Zhe: 【Just the three of us?】

Lu Rangchen: 【Dream on.】

Zhou Chuang: 【Then who else?】

Lu Rangchen: 【A few brothers from the team. Also Li Tie and Zhou Jin.】

Xu Linda surfaced at that exact moment.

Xu Linda: 【Are you serious, Rangchen — you didn’t even think of me!!!!!】

Lu Rangchen was truly at the end of his rope.

He tossed the half-empty bag of odds and ends into the back seat and typed her a reply.

Lu Rangchen: 【If I didn’t want you there, why would I say this in a group you’re in.】

Xu Linda: 【That has zero sincerity.】

Flashes of passing light swept through the darkened car.

Lu Rangchen curved his lips in an easy, youthful smile.

He dipped his head slightly, and typed: 【Stop posturing. Get yourself over here to see me.】

The first part was for Xu Linda.

As for what came after — he wasn’t entirely sure who he was saying it to.

He only found himself inexplicably typing out the three characters of “Zhu Yunque,” and then deleting them.

He turned his head to look out at the glittering night city beyond the window. His gaze went unfocused for a moment. Then he turned back, tagged everyone in the group chat, and sent the address for Qiangui.

That night, almost everyone showed up.

Except Yunque.

She was home, sleeping in a haze for a very long time. Many people called her.

Xu Linda called, Deng Zhe and the others called.

So did Zhu Ping’an and Ye Tian.

The one she least expected was Lu Rangchen.

She woke at three in the morning.

In the pitch-dark of the night, she stared at the incoming call display with a blank, dazed expression.

For a moment, she thought she was still dreaming.

Then she saw the flood of unread messages in the group chat — and Lu Rangchen’s private message to her.

Time-stamped eight-thirty.

Lu Rangchen: 【I’m leaving. Aren’t you going to come say goodbye?】

Seeing that, Yunque’s eyes burned hot without warning.

It was as though, in that instant, her whole body had recovered its original awareness and the ability to feel pain.

She raised her hand and pressed it over her eyes. She tried to even out her breathing, but the scalding tears slipped helplessly from the corners of her eyes.

She knew. The fierce, brilliant summer that had belonged to her — was over.

And it would never come for her again.

She didn’t know how much time passed.

The faint ringing in her ears gradually faded. Yunque opened her blurred eyes and finally picked up her phone again.

In the deep of that night, she sent Lu Rangchen three messages.

The first: 【I’m sorry. I took medicine and fell asleep early.】

The second: 【I’m really glad I got to know you this summer.】

The third: 【Wishing you a safe journey and all the success in the world.】

There was one more thing she kept back.

She buried it in her dreams, buried it in her heart.

Buried it in the youth that blazed like fire even through the pouring rain.