Yun Li suddenly realized that she had been foolishly agonizing over this for so long, while Fu Shize had known Yun Ye's name all along.
Rolling down the window, she wanted to cool off with some breeze, but the warm air that greeted her reminded her it was summer.
They had parted in early spring, on a day when temperatures were still below freezing.
Their last meeting had been extremely unpleasant.
A single phone call, and they had broken up completely.
Yun Li's first instinct was to make excuses. She stared at the screen for a long time, typing and deleting various rejection messages:
[Sorry, my car broke down.]
[Sorry, I forgot the book. Yun Ye said he'll pick it up from home next time.]
As she repeatedly typed and erased these rejections, Yun Li remembered last year—how even after leaving Nanwu, she had secretly harbored a faint hope that one day,
Fu Shize would reappear.
Just like before, he would embrace her and whisper softly, "Lili, don't be sad."
Back then, she had truly longed to see him again.
But fantasies remained just that—fantasies.
Her phone vibrated.
F: [I'm at the entrance of the Control Engineering building.]
Yun Li deleted the rejection messages and pushed aside the chaotic thoughts in her mind.
They were adults now.
Those things—they were merely fleeting entanglements between two people in this vast world.
There was no need for her to care so much.
She took a deep breath, telling herself she no longer cared.
Yun Li drove toward the Control Engineering building. As she approached the final turn, she pulled over.
Glancing down at her outfit, she straightened it slightly and smoothed out the wrinkles.
Pulling down the sun visor mirror, she carefully adjusted her hair and applied a light coat of her everyday nude lipstick.
The car moved steadily closer to the building. In the distance, a dark figure stood by the roadside. As she drew nearer, the light gradually illuminated him.
Fu Shize leaned casually against a lamppost, wearing a short-sleeved white shirt and navy blue tailored shorts.
She slowed the car further.
Noticing the approaching vehicle, he turned his head.
After a year and a half apart, the person before her felt like a stranger.
Fu Shize offered a faint smile, hands in his pockets, as he slowly walked to the driver's side. From inside the car, she could see his relaxed posture.
Yun Li rolled down the window, momentarily blinded by the headlights of an oncoming car. She blinked, then met his gaze.
The corners of his eyes curved slightly downward with a hint of amusement and confidence, his gaze clear like that of a carefree young man. He leaned in and called softly, "Lili."
The gentleness in his voice was familiar, yet something about it felt fundamentally different.
Yun Li paused, then handed him the book from the passenger seat: "Thanks for this."
"Mm." Fu Shize took it casually and asked, "How have you been?"
Yun Li hesitated, unsure what exactly he was referring to. She pressed her lips together briefly. "I'm doing well. I'm interning now."
"Mm." His gaze shifted to a nearby coffee shop. "Want to grab a drink?"
Yun Li sensed he wanted to talk.
From the moment she deleted him and erased all traces of their connection, in her mind, he had become a complete stranger.
She didn't want any further contact.
Politely, she declined: "No, I have things to do."
Fu Shize's hand holding the book stilled momentarily. Showing no displeasure at the rejection, he nodded quietly.
He had already taken a step back when he spoke again: "The teaching building is quite far from here. Could you give me a ride?"He raised the book in his hand: "Caught the first break to give this to Yun Ye."
"......"
Yun Li looked into his clear eyes and couldn't bring herself to refuse.
They really were the ones inconveniencing him.
Hearing the car doors unlock, Fu Shize calmly got into the passenger seat, fastened his seatbelt, and politely said, "Thank you."
Yun Li started the car and drove aimlessly for a few hundred meters through the campus. The person beside her leaned back in his seat after getting in, gazing ahead with a relaxed expression.
He looked completely indifferent to however she drove.
"......"
Originally not wanting to speak, but Yun Li didn't know the way, so she had to ask, "Could you give me directions?"
"Turn right at the end."
"Left at the first intersection."
"Left at the end."
"Right at the second intersection."
......
Yun Li hadn't realized West Science and Technology University was this big before.
Following Fu Shize's directions, she drove for quite a distance.
Every so often, Fu Shize would calmly tell her where to go. His tone was lazy, with no trace of deception.
Ten minutes passed, and they still hadn't reached the teaching building.
Yun Li couldn't help but ask, "About how much longer?"
He glanced at her sideways: "We're here."
Outside was a long corridor lined with buildings.
Yun Li parked the car and waited for a while, but he didn't get out.
Unsure why he was still in the car, she reminded him, "We're here."
Fu Shize acted like a rebellious teenager, pretending not to understand her hint.
"It's been so long since we last met." He toyed with the book in his hand, lifting his eyes to look at her: "Don't you want to catch up?"
"......"
Seeing her silent, he smiled: "If not, then never mind."
Yun Li paused, hesitating for a moment before asking, "What should we talk about...?"
The question bounced back to Fu Shize. He tapped his fingers on the book, seemingly giving it serious thought.
Time ticked by.
The campus speakers played the class dismissal bell.
Hearing the bell, Fu Shize said casually, "I haven't thought of anything either. Let's meet up another time. I'll go give this book to Yun Ye first."
With that, Fu Shize opened the car door and walked toward the teaching building after exchanging a glance with her.
Yun Li watched his retreating figure. Her stiff back relaxed, leaning against the seat as if given a new lease on life.
After a moment, she hunched over. Fu Shize hadn't shown the slightest discomfort, treating her like an old friend he hadn't seen in years.
He really had moved on.
After spacing out in the car for a long time, Yun Li remembered it was Friday and texted Yun Ye: [Gave the book to your TA. Are you coming home today?]
Yun Ye: [Yeah.]
Yun Ye: [I still have forty minutes left in class. Will you wait for me to go back together? Otherwise, I'll just take the bus tomorrow.]
Yun Li: [Fine.]
With nothing else to do on campus, Yun Li glanced in the direction Fu Shize had disappeared, turned on the navigation, and drove toward the College of Control Engineering.
Finding a parking spot, she walked toward the building from memory and suddenly stopped.
Just as she expected, the screens and posters at the entrance all bore traces of Fu Shize. Unlike last time, these were all recent updates.
Including Unique Team winning first prize in the drone design competition and several of his recent major research achievements and patents.
Looking at the person on the posters and recalling the man she'd just seen, she felt an overwhelming sense of unreality.
"Holy shit, Fu Shize from the lab next door just published in another top-tier journal again.""I heard he was the top scorer in the college entrance exams, won national scholarships every year from undergrad to Ph.D. Seems like he comes from a highly educated family—no comparison there."
"But then again, it's not something you can envy. His junior said he's a workaholic, arrives at the lab at 6:30 sharp every morning and leaves at midnight, even on weekends. If I had that kind of discipline, I'd have won national scholarships long ago."
"Rumor has it he's single. Some junior girls in our lab want to chase him."
"Oh, some senior guys in my lab want to chase him too..."
People were chatting at the stairwell, but Yun Li didn’t linger to listen further. She turned and left the building.
Everything she saw and heard acted like a catalyst, bringing back memories of their past days together—the person who had held her close, whispered sweet nothings to her.
A dull ache settled in Yun Li’s chest.
Finding a quiet corner outside the teaching building, she stopped and called Deng Chuqi, pouring out everything about her recent encounters with Fu Shize.
"It just feels so unreal, like he's a completely different person," Yun Li murmured. "Rather than saying the current him is unreal, it’s more like those months we spent together were the illusion."
She had merely stolen a fragment of his time by chance.
Deng Chuqi, overseas and having lunch, replied with a teasing lilt, "You make it sound like he’s been possessed. He’s doing pretty well now—have you thought about getting back together?"
"..." Yun Li answered bluntly, "No. I don’t like him anymore."
Deng Chuqi drew out a long, skeptical "Oh."
"..."
Sensing the doubt in her tone, Yun Li explained, "We’re not compatible anyway. And if I brought up getting back together now, he’d probably think I’m just trying to cozy up to him."
Yun Li was about to say more when she glanced up and saw Fu Shize descending the stairs.
After a brief exchange, she hung up.
Her car was hidden by the bushes, but from her angle, she could see both sides of the building’s turn—one leading to the campus lake, the other to the main road.
Fu Shize reached the first floor, his expression indifferent as he glanced to the side before walking to the end of the corridor. Leaning against a stone pillar with his arms crossed, he silently gazed at the lake ahead.
Yun Li’s eyes immediately caught on his pale elbow.
Her gaze shifted to his profile—sharp, ink-dark eyes, lips tinged with a faint flush, his slender frame draped in a white shirt.
From head to toe, he exuded an air of detachment.
Fu Shize stood there for over twenty minutes.
When the class dismissal bell rang, students poured out from another corridor, chattering and dispersing. No one noticed him, solitary in the corner.
He seemed deaf to the noise around him, eyelids lowered as he pulled a few small stones from his pocket and tossed them into the lake.
She could still recall the casual smile he’d given when getting out of the car earlier—utterly at odds with the scene before her now.
Yun Ye called to hurry her along, leaving Yun Li no time to dwell. She started the car and pulled onto the road.
Yun Ye stood out in the crowd. After his growth spurt in high school, he’d shot up to 182 cm, and like Yun Li, his slightly upturned eyes gave him an air of defiance when he wasn’t smiling. He tossed his backpack into the backseat and slid into the passenger side.
A few girls in the crowd were still eyeing their car.
"You’re quite popular," Yun Li remarked offhandedly.
"Yeah, got a bunch of love letters," Yun Ye said, looking at her with exaggerated emphasis. "Would you believe some are from your old fans?"
"...""He said he's watched me grow over these five years." Yun Ye shuddered at the thought and poked Yun Li, "Can you delete the videos with me in them?"
"Why delete them?" Yun Li didn't understand.
"I don't want to get domestic violence."
"..."
It took Yun Li a moment to realize Yun Ye was talking about Yin Yunyi. She had lost count of how many times she'd asked this question: "Are you two together now?"
"Not yet. I want to give her a proper confession. Right now, we both have heavy course loads and don't want our studies to suffer. We agreed to postpone the confession since there's no time to prepare."
"..."
No wonder these two got into West Science and Technology University.
"You discuss everything with each other?" Yun Li suddenly asked.
"Yeah." Yun Ye drooped his eyelids and yawned, "Why?"
"Nothing."
As the car left West Science and Technology University, Yun Ye closed his eyes to sleep. The whole way, Yun Li couldn't settle her mind, thinking about the figure she'd seen earlier. Nearing home, Yun Ye woke up and took a waffle from the compartment.
Yun Li asked him, "Do you know who your teaching assistant is?"
Yun Ye looked blank: "Who?"
Yun Li: "My ex-boyfriend."
Yun Ye: "Which one?"
"..."
Yun Li was so angry she pressed her lips together and stayed silent.
Yun Ye thought carefully, then froze, mechanically eating his waffle before turning back: "Is it really that brother?"
"..."
"The group chat only listed him as 'TA.' I didn't see him today—he just put my books at the back of the classroom. If I'd known it was him, I definitely wouldn't have..." Yun Ye turned to defend himself but stopped mid-sentence, realizing it was pointless. He changed the subject: "Sis, it's been so long since you broke up. How would you feel seeing him again?"
"Nothing." Yun Li answered instinctively.
"Oh. That's good then." Thank goodness he hadn't angered Yun Li, Yun Ye sighed in relief.
The car fell into complete silence. Yun Ye was right—it had been so long.
Yun Li stopped thinking about Fu Shize.
After getting home, she browsed E-Station for a while and worked on some copywriting.
Until bedtime, she forced herself: Don't think about it, don't think about it.
The white bear effect—when you tell someone not to think of a white bear, they can't help but imagine it.
Waking up the next morning, Yun Li rushed to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. Seeing her flushed cheeks in the mirror, she found it absurd.
The sensation of their lips touching in the dream had felt unnervingly real.
She comforted herself.
It was just a dream.
It didn't mean anything.
Grabbing two slices of toast from the fridge, Yun Li noticed the messages Fu Shize had sent her a little past six.
F: ["Sorry."]
F: ["I think I left my keys in the car—blue round keychain. Could you check for me?"]
Yun Li tossed the toast onto a plate, grabbed a jacket, and went downstairs.
She searched the passenger seat for a while but found nothing.
Only after reclining the seat did she spot the two-centimeter round keychain underneath—it must have slipped out of a pocket.
Yun Li: ["It's in the car. Should I have Yun Ye bring it to you on Monday?"]
F: ["There's equipment running in the lab. If it's convenient, could I come get it?"]
Without overthinking, Yun Li replied: ["I'll bring it to you then. Where are you?"]
After freshening up and eating a quick breakfast, Yun Li took her car keys and left.Fu Shize was waiting at the same spot where they had met yesterday. His outfit had changed to a different style—a light blue shirt, white casual pants, and leather flat shoes.
The sunlight was intense. Fu Shize raised a hand to shield his forehead, but even so, the glaring light made his eyes squint slightly.
Yun Li handed him the keys.
"Thanks." Fu Shize pocketed them and asked casually, "Do you have work today?"
Yun Li shook her head. "It's the weekend."
"Then what are your plans?" He lifted his brows slightly, his tone relaxed.
Yun Li answered truthfully, "Haven't decided yet."
Hearing her reply, Fu Shize continued, "Since you came all this way to return the keys, let me treat you to a drink."
"No, I have things to do." Yun Li blurted out the refusal, completely forgetting the two questions he had just used to set up the invitation.
Fu Shize smiled, unfazed. "Didn’t you just say you hadn’t decided what to do?"
"..."
Caught in the lie, Yun Li felt a little awkward. In contrast, Fu Shize seemed amused, his expression teasing as he hummed lightly, as if urging her to respond.
Yun Li rolled up the car window expressionlessly and parked properly. After getting out, she acted as if nothing had happened. "Where to?"
As she stepped out, Fu Shize noticed her silver-gold mini skirt, paired with a denim vest and canvas shoes—sexy yet youthful.
He only glanced briefly before walking ahead.
Yun Li kept pace with him but deliberately maintained some distance. Outwardly composed, her mind was in turmoil as she followed the faint blue figure in her peripheral vision.
Suddenly, she felt a cool touch on her wrist as he pulled her closer to his side.
They stood so close that she could catch the faint scent of citrus and greenery on him.
A few Little Turtles—a common electric scooter model in West Fuling—whizzed past the spot where she had just been standing.
Fu Shize released her after a couple of seconds.
He lowered his gaze, and Yun Li happened to look up at him. Dazed, she murmured, "Thanks."
Fu Shize tilted his head slightly in acknowledgment before turning right to continue walking.
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