116. The Matter of Love-Please, Go Home and Practice Your Instrument(Mozart Bay)

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By the time Li An stumbled through the door, Eighty Thousand was so hungry he could no longer even muster a cry.

His phone began to buzz, and he hurriedly pulled it out to look.

Yezi had become Xiaomi.

The contact name she had personally changed was enough to say a thousand things. He remembered the promise between Xiaoyu and Xiaomi.

“So please give us both a little more time.”

The plea, as though carefully considered beforehand, moved him deeply.

Suppressing the powerful stirrings in his heart, he wondered how he should reply to the message.

It was one that demanded a positive response.

After grabbing a handful of cat food for Eighty Thousand, he carried his phone to the computer and sat down to think.

—

Next door, Chen Xuan collapsed onto the sofa the moment she entered. This had unquestionably been the most eventful day she had ever experienced.

The message she had sent Li An contained all her thoughts about the future of the two of them at that moment.

When she had asked Li An earlier, “Is there really nothing else you want to say?” she had been a little afraid that he might ask whether she was willing to be his girlfriend.

Before today, she had imagined how she would answer if he asked her that at the end of their date.

At the time, she had thought she would agree. As long as Li An confessed his feelings, she would accept him.

She had never avoided what was in her heart. She wanted to be Li An’s girlfriend.

Yet when the date actually ended, she no longer dared to say yes so readily. Of course, he had not asked—and perhaps she still would have agreed without hesitation.

Li An had brought her far too many surprises that evening. After leaving the Blue Whale, she could not help feeling that the two of them ought to be a little more cautious.

It was the same as performing music. The success or failure of a piece did not depend on how much passion you poured into the performance, but on whether every tiny note had been handled with care.

If you studied and mastered every detail, then even without investing much emotion in the performance, the result would surely be deeply moving.

Just as she had said at the end, she hoped Li An would be her last.

In the past, she would have thought such an idea childish. But now she held it with complete seriousness.

—

She shook her head.

“For now, this is enough. My brain is about to stop working.”

Chen Xuan rose and went to the bathroom. When she had been holding Li An earlier, she had once again felt a stabbing ache below, along with the urge to urinate.

It was embarrassing, yet she was greedy for the feeling of being held by him.

So this was how comforting an embrace could be. Yes, she was actually quite taken with Li An.

Looking at the damp patch on her little cutie, she reached up and scratched her hair. She could not bring herself to ask Sun Yuman about it.

She would look it up online later.

First, she took off her clothes.

—

After enjoying a warm shower, Chen Xuan returned to the living room and picked up her phone.

Old Man: I’ll wait for you.

The corners of Chen Xuan’s lips lifted. She liked that reply.

Click.

Screenshot.

Then she responded:

Yezi: I was clearly the one who confessed first.

A moment later.

Old Man: ???

Old Man: Didn’t I say I liked you while we were eating?

Yezi: That doesn’t count.

Old Man: ...

Old Man: Then can I make it up to you now?

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Yezi: Dream on. You said you wanted to wait, didn’t you? Then wait until next year’s Double Seventh Festival.

Without realizing it, the way the two of them messaged each other had quietly changed. Neither of them noticed it very much.

Old Man: Don’t be like that. There’s no room for negotiation?

Chen Xuan smiled.

Yezi: That depends on how you behave.

Old Man: Xiaomi.

Yezi: ...Why are you suddenly calling me that?

Old Man: Xiaomi.

Yezi: I heard you, I heard you! What is it?

Old Man: This name is so adorable.

Yezi: And then?

Old Man: No, no, don’t ask “and then?” again. Just looking at those three words scares me now.

Yezi: Hmph. Good. Let that teach you not to make up stories and deceive girls anymore.

Old Man: What if I told you I came to Earth through time and space, and everything that person did before has nothing to do with me? Would you believe me?

Yezi: I’m unhappy. I don’t want to hear stories right now.

Old Man: I’m sorry.

Yezi: Let me tell you, I’m actually very troublesome. The longer you spend time with me, the more troublesome I’ll become. Maybe one day you’ll get tired of me.

Old Man: Why does that sound as though we’re already together?

Yezi: We aren’t. We just broke up.

Old Man: Understood!

Chen Xuan pouted, both annoyed and amused. Today, she had only wanted to learn more about his past and hear him willingly confess a few things about himself.

In the end, she discovered that he had stripped her entire four years of university bare.

She really had no experience at this.

No, that would not do. Although they were not together yet, given his various prior offenses, she decided she had to take charge and supervise him in advance.

Yezi: You understand, do you?

Old Man: I understand.

Yezi: Then explain this first: who is Rabbit, and why did she send you a “Happy Double Seventh Festival” message in the final few minutes of the holiday?

—

After sending the message, Chen Xuan left her conversation with Li An and opened Sun Yuman’s profile.

Xiaoyu: You haven’t even used one, two, or three yet?

Yezi: He may not be quite what I thought he was.

Xiaoyu: And you let him touch your hand and hold you?

Yezi: I was the one who took the initiative and hugged him.

Xiaoyu: Sister Xiaomi, where has your restraint gone?

Yezi: Xiaoyu.

Xiaoyu: Wait. Please remain calm before speaking.

A moment later.

Yezi: I changed his contact name.

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A long while later.

Xiaoyu: I understand now.

Xiaoyu: I wish I could give you all of my luck.

Xiaoyu: Ah, this is so frustrating.

Xiaoyu: I hope you’re right about him this time too!

—

On the other side, Li An’s head was throbbing as he faced Chen Xuan’s interrogation.

Fortunately, the girl called Rabbit had sent another message beforehand, one Chen Xuan had not seen.

He sent her a screenshot of their conversation.

Above “Happy Double Seventh Festival,” the screenshot showed another message:

“Mr. Chen Eighty Thousand.”

He then explained what had happened that night.

Xiaomi: Eighty Thousand still hasn’t been vaccinated?

Eighty-Thousand-One: Mm. Come with me after a while.

Xiaomi: All right, Mr. Chen Eighty Thousand.

Sensing that Chen Xuan was no longer as excited as she had been before, Li An thought that they were both rather tired after the day they had spent.

Love, too, was something that had to be cultivated slowly, like a quiet stream flowing endlessly onward.

Eighty-Thousand-One: Shall we get some rest?

Xiaomi: Wait for me. I’m looking something up.

Eighty-Thousand-One: What?

Xiaomi: I’m not telling you.

Li An browsed his social feed for a while and suddenly noticed a post from Ma Tao.

Ma Tao had gone to South City Lane that evening too?

It did not matter. He casually liked the post.

Xiaomi: I’m done looking.

Eighty-Thousand-One: Then... good night?

Xiaomi: Good night. I don’t want to set an alarm tonight. Wake me up tomorrow morning.

Xiaomi: /zZZ

—

That night was destined to lull some people to sleep with sweetness, while leaving others wide awake.

The Double Seventh Festival belonged to every couple in love, and also to everyone who had once been disappointed in love.

At the Guanshan No. 1 compound, Sun Yuman tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.

Chen Xuan had been right. The boy she had secretly loved for two years had only wanted to fool around with her.

She had given him everything, only to receive betrayal again and again.

So she hoped Chen Xuan would be right about people this time as well.

But then again—

Who could ever claim to know what the future held when it came to love?

Perhaps the love story between Li An and Chen Xuan had only just begun.

No one knew what awaited them in the future.

One thing, however, was certain: time would not stop for love, just as the sun would rise as usual the next morning.

Several days passed in the blink of an eye.

Everyone in Yudong grew busier and busier.

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