Another sleepless night began when Li Wu saw that screenshot from Cen Jin.
At the top of the chat window, Li Wu discovered that the woman had set his photo as her contact profile picture.
He even zoomed in to confirm it multiple times before finally turning off the screen and stuffing his phone back under his pillow.
Suppressing a slight curl at the corner of his mouth, Li Wu forced himself to calm down.
Only then did the voices of his roommates reach him from all directions—they seemed to be discussing Ran Feichi's relationship with his girlfriend.
He instinctively held his breath and listened closely.
Ran Feichi complained bitterly, "I deliver yogurt to her every single morning, and she still says I'm not good enough to her."
Cheng Rui, as sharp-tongued as ever, retorted, "Who drinks yogurt in such cold weather?"
Ran Feichi said, "Gu Yan likes it."
Cheng Rui sneered, "How could she refuse when you deliver it every day? I think you should bring hot milk in this weather—that would truly warm her heart." After speaking, he nodded in self-approval: "Listen to me, you can't go wrong."
Lin Honglang let out a cold laugh. "You talk such a big game, but I don't see you and Táo Wǎnwén flying off together like lovebirds."
Cheng Rui bristled. "Slow and steady wins the race, understand? I'm playing the long game."
Lin Honglang added, "I think Táo Wǎnwén pays more attention to Li Wu than to you."
Li Wu: "…" He remained silent, offering no response.
Cheng Rui wasn't discouraged. "So what? Li Wu only has his looks—that's a natural advantage. I can catch up through hard work."
Lin Honglang said, "Li Wu has it easy anyway. Long-distance relationships mean no worries—just typing and chatting every day."
Li Wu finally couldn't hold back. "I'm not in a relationship."
"Oh? So it's the ambiguous phase?" Lin Honglang's throaty voice was unbearably smug. "Just tell us how many times you smiled at your phone today."
Cheng Rui chuckled. "Only about three or four hundred times, I'd say."
Really? He hadn't noticed at all.
Ran Feichi joined in teasing Li Wu. "Don't ask. If you do, he'll just say he downloaded a hundred thousand joke apps."
Suddenly curious about Li Wu's "romantic history," Cheng Rui asked, "Which school is she from? Is she from your hometown? Childhood friends? Don't keep it to yourself—it's not like we'll ever run into her."
"I told you, there's no one." Growing increasingly flustered, Li Wu felt his ears burning fiercely, his tone turning sharper.
"Tch, getting defensive with us—that's a guilty conscience, isn't it?" Cheng Rui wouldn't let him off easily. Teasingly, he suddenly remembered something: "Li Wu, don't you not have WeChat or QQ? How are you dating?"
After a moment of silence, Li Wu replied, "I do now."
"Huh?" Cheng Rui reacted as if he'd heard breaking news. "Then hurry up and add me!"
Li Wu pulled out his phone. "What's your WeChat ID?"
Cheng Rui recited a string of letters and numbers. Within seconds, he received Li Wu's friend request.
Looking down at Li Wu's profile, Cheng Rui fell silent for a moment before wailing, "With that profile picture, you can still get a girlfriend? Is there no justice left in this world?" Lin Honglang asked curiously, "What profile picture?"
Cheng Rui: "The default WeChat avatar."
Ran Feichi burst out laughing.
Li Wu flushed. "I didn't know what to use."
Eagerly, Cheng Rui made recommendations: "I'll hook you up. I have a whole collection of player anime avatars guaranteed to make girls lose their minds and flock to you."
He then meticulously picked through his photo album and sent them all to Li Wu in one go. "Look, I sent you everything."
He specifically circled one of them. "When I used this as my profile picture, so many girls nearby added me. My luck with women was insane—deadly attractive."Li Wu clicked open the image—a black-and-white, backlit photo of a man smoking. The man had a sharply defined jawline, exuding an air of casual decadence.
Li Wu asked, "Won’t the teacher say something if I use this?"
"No way! Why would the teacher care? Even my parents haven’t said a word."
It sounded utterly unreliable. Li Wu ignored him and stuck with his own "old man portrait" style.
"Li Wu! Why haven’t you changed it yet?" Cheng Rui pressed relentlessly. "This profile picture has been blessed—it’ll drastically increase the number of girls who start conversations with you."
The latter part of his statement struck a chord, and Li Wu felt a flicker of hesitation in his heart.
He decided to give it a try.
A few seconds later, a satisfied thigh slap came from the neighboring bunk: "That’s more like it!"
Cheng Rui’s profile picture superstition was quickly validated.
The next day at noon, after class ended, Li Wu returned to his dorm and, as hoped, received a questioning message from Cen Jin: What’s up with your profile picture?
It seemed she had timed it perfectly, coming to hold him accountable just minutes earlier.
The boy curled his lips: My roommate suggested I change it.
Cen Jin replied almost instantly: What roommate?
Li Wu typed: Cheng Rui.
Cen Jin: Did I ask for his name? I meant, why is your roommate teaching you all the wrong things?
Stifling a laugh until his face stiffened, Li Wu coughed and composed his expression: I didn’t know what profile picture to use.
Cen Jin: Even your own photo would be better than this.
Li Wu: I don’t want to use mine.
What he meant was: It’s fine if she used hers.
Cen Jin: So you’d rather use a smoking photo?
Li Wu surrendered: I’ll change it right away.
Though his words sounded resolute, his hands remained idle.
A while later, the woman returned to check: Why haven’t you changed it yet?
Li Wu replied: Still looking.
…
Cen Jin was left speechless. It seemed the innocent, studious little cedar she had in mind was already showing signs of being influenced by the crooked trees of the city.
The thought killed her appetite. She set down her fork and repeatedly refreshed Li Wu’s profile picture.
"You’re full already?" Across from her, Lù Qíqí gnawed on a chicken wing, her hands and mouth greasy.
Aoxing had its own cafeteria, with standards and dishes rivaling those of a five-star hotel.
Cen Jin propped her forehead up, feeling drained, and murmured, "Kids are so hard to manage."
"Whoa," Lù Qíqí jolted backward in shock. "You already have a kid?"
"No," Cen Jin put down her phone and rephrased, "My younger brother at home is going through his rebellious phase."
Lù Qíqí tore off a strip of chicken and put it in her mouth: "How old is he? I have a younger brother too."
"Seventeen."
"My brother’s fifteen. He’s really hard to manage too—always sneaking off to sketchy internet cafes. Beating him doesn’t help; my parents are worried sick." Lù Qíqí found common ground.
Her colleague’s words only deepened Cen Jin’s anxiety.
Li Wu was born in the mountains, pure-hearted and naive. The flashy world was full of traps for someone like him, especially at such a young age when it’s hard to distinguish right from wrong or good from evil. It would be easy for him to lose his way.
Fortunately, when she returned to her desk after lunch and reopened WeChat, the boy had already changed his smoking profile picture. In its place was a photo of a bookshelf, tinted in retro sepia tones, nearly filled with thick book spines.
He asked: Is this okay?
Cen Jin was immediately pleased and broke into a satisfied smile: That’s more like it.
She then urged: No more talking. I’m going to take a nap.
Li Wu: Okay.
The matter of the profile picture was thus laid to rest.
―
After school on Saturday, Li Wu didn’t wait for Cheng Rui, who was still bickering with his deskmate. He hurried back to the dorm alone.
After packing his things, he set an alarm on his digital watch to remind himself to buy something. Once everything was ready, he sat back down in his chair, slightly out of breath, and began reviewing that day’s history notes.
The boy’s handwriting was neat and elegant, filling the page comfortably with clearly categorized content.Soon, the dormitory emptied out, and Cen Jin sent a WeChat message: "I might be a bit late today."
Li Wu replied: "What time?"
Cen Jin wasn’t sure, so she gave a range: "Between 7 and 7:30."
Though the messages didn’t specify the reason, the two had already developed an unspoken understanding.
Li Wu quickly adjusted his alarm and went back to memorizing the tedious historical dates, figures, and events.
At 6:50, his digital watch beeped right on time.
Li Wu immediately stood up, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and hurried out.
Tree shadows swayed as the boy dashed along the broad road, his black hair tousled by the wind.
It was a rest day, and the school was nearly empty. The small shop stood quiet and somewhat lonely, with only a few students chatting and laughing softly inside.
Li Wu strode in quickly and paused by the counter, scanning the shelves.
He hadn’t been here often—just a handful of times, and only because Cheng Rui had coaxed or tricked him into it. As a result, he wasn’t familiar with the layout of the products and had to look left and right, moving slowly as he searched.
The shopkeeper noticed his confused expression and beckoned him over. "Hey, what are you looking for?"
Li Wu turned. "Do you have hot milk?"
"Sure," the shopkeeper tapped the mini thermostatic cabinet by the cash register. "All the hot drinks are here."
Li Wu walked back and peered inside at the array of milk in different colors and flavors.
"What kind do you want? We have plain, banana, and strawberry."
So many choices… Li Wu hesitated for a moment, then thought of Cen Jin’s usual favorite drink. "Do you have coffee-flavored?"
"You might as well just drink coffee then," the shopkeeper suggested, pulling out two options: a can of Nescafé and a carton of coffee-flavored milk. "Which one do you want?"
Li Wu let out a breath and wiped his wrist across his forehead. "I’ll take the milk."
After paying, he stepped out of the shop, tucked the warm milk into his pocket, and checked the time again. Unconsciously, a smile touched his lips as he broke into a sprint toward the school gate.
At exactly 7 o’clock, Cen Jin’s car hadn’t arrived yet.
Time ticked by.
The warmth of the milk carton in his hand hadn’t noticeably faded, but Li Wu still worried. He took off his backpack, carefully tucked the milk into an inner pocket, zipped it securely, and slung the bag back over his shoulders.
At 7:22, a familiar white car pulled out of the traffic and came to a slow stop not far away.
The night was dim, but Li Wu’s eyes lit up like struck matches. He pressed his lips together, chapped from the cold wind, and walked toward the car.
As soon as he got in, the woman’s apologetic voice reached him: "Sorry I’m late. There was some traffic."
She looked tired but lifted her gaze to meet his.
The moment their eyes met, Li Wu quickly looked away. "It’s fine."
Cen Jin placed her hands back on the steering wheel and made a U-turn. "I came straight from the office, and I have to go back soon, so I’ll just drop you off at the entrance to your neighborhood. You can go home on your own."
Li Wu was slightly taken aback. First, he said, "Oh," then added, "If you’re busy, I can take the bus home by myself."
Cen Jin’s eyelashes, gilded by the streetlights, looked almost translucent. "If I were really that busy, I would’ve told you in advance."
The reason she went through the trouble of picking Li Wu up was because Lù Qíqí’s complaints about her younger brother still echoed in her mind.
She was worried that, in a moment of negligence, a perfectly good kid might be led astray, corrupted, or even end up wasting his time in some shady internet café.
That was the challenge Cen Jin faced. But Li Wu’s thoughts were entirely different. Right now, all he could think about was how to properly hand over the milk hidden deep in his backpack to the woman.
Each lost in their own thoughts, the two rode in silence all the way.As Cen Jin's residential area came into view just ahead, Li Wu could no longer bear the wait. He flipped his backpack over and tore the zipper open with a sharp hiss.
The faint sound caught Cen Jin's attention, her gaze sweeping past briefly.
Yet it was enough to make the boy's back grow warm. He located the carton of milk, felt the box—still slightly warm—before gripping it firmly and pulling it out.
At that moment, the woman brought the car to a stop.
"We're here," she turned to remind him.
Li Wu's chest heaved sharply once, then he thrust the milk toward her as if steeling himself. His face flushed crimson, but fortunately the dim interior and shadows concealed it.
Cen Jin paused briefly, not immediately taking it, only noticing it was a carton of milk with a milky brown packaging dotted with coffee bean patterns.
Li Wu struggled to string together an excuse: "Before... you always brought food when you picked me up."
Understanding dawned on Cen Jin instantly, her lips curling into a smile faster than her thoughts could catch up, warmth enveloping her suddenly: "Is this for me?"
"Yeah," the boy murmured almost inaudibly, afraid she might refuse, "Anyway, it was bought with your money."
"Take it." The last two words came out low and hurried, inexplicably forceful with a hint of reckless abandon.
Cen Jin accepted it. The milk was still warm. She lifted it slightly, beaming brightly: "Thank you, I'll drink it when I get to the office."
Success.
Li Wu pumped his fist internally.
"I'm getting off," the boy said hastily, zipping his bag shut and eager to exit the car to release his triumphant feelings.
"Alright, goodbye."
"Mhm." He closed the door and bid her farewell.
Only when the car had driven off, merging into the river of traffic, did Li Wu let out a relieved sigh and allow himself a wide, unrestrained grin. He walked into the residential area, glancing back repeatedly even though Cen Jin's car had long disappeared from sight. He strolled a few steps, then broke into a wild run. The path was paved with long bricks, flowers and trees swaying gently, as if a joyful melody played—it felt like walking on piano keys.
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