Dong Jiaoyan eagerly awaited her boyfriend’s reply.
But she never expected “Thanks, Goodbye” to respond in his usual personal style.
Thanks, Goodbye: [Don’t be so interested in other people’s romantic experiences, thanks!]
His tone was a bit strong.
Before Qiao Liuyue could say anything, a new message arrived.
Thanks, Goodbye: [I’ve got something going on. Not playing today.]
With that, he left the room.
Wait, what?
They’d only made fifty bucks from that round, and he was calling it quits?
Qiao Liuyue tapped the screen with her fingertip, then turned to look at Dong Jiaoyan.
“Jiaojiao, your online boyfriend sure has a proud personality. Doesn’t seem like the type to be lured away by some rich woman.”
“But he still played games with you, didn’t he?”
As Dong Jiaoyan said this, she was already wrestling with thoughts of his poverty.
Last time, Qiao Liuyue’s words had opened her eyes. Her boyfriend was still a college student with no income, and she felt awkward asking him for too much money each month.
She could only squeeze out a few hundred for bubble tea now and then.
And what did it matter if he was handsome? He wouldn’t even show his face on video calls.
As she thought about it, Dong Jiaoyan couldn’t help but let her mind wander to the neighbor she’d bumped into—the “Neighbor Brother.”
She patted Qiao Liuyue’s arm and said, fantasizing,
“Liuyue, Sui Feng invited me to see a movie on Saturday night. Said he has something important to tell me.”
Qiao Liuyue nodded. “Oh.”
Dong Jiaoyan: “But I think I’d feel awkward alone with him. And the cinema’s so dark—what if he gets handsy?”
Qiao Liuyue looked at her.
“What are you thinking, then?”
Dong Jiaoyan leaned in closer, eyes sparkling.
“Why don’t you bring your Neighbor Brother along? We’ll make it a four-person movie.” She patted her chest and added, “Don’t worry, I’ll cover the tickets.”
Wait, what?
Was this about the movie tickets?
The point was that Sui Feng and the Neighbor Brother were the same person.
It wouldn’t be a four-person movie.
It would be three.
Seeing Qiao Liuyue hesitate, Dong Jiaoyan pressed on.
“Honestly, I kind of want to see Sui Feng one more time too. You’re right—since I already have a boyfriend, it’s not really appropriate for me to keep meeting him.”
“So I want to clear things up face-to-face. Please, just come with me, okay?”
But her real motive was elsewhere.
It was all about that handsome, seemingly wealthy Neighbor Brother.
Come to think of it, she still didn’t even know his last name or full name.
Qiao Liuyue thought for a moment.
“I’ll have to ask him.”
“Great, no problem.” Dong Jiaoyan flashed a satisfied smile.
So while Dong Jiaoyan went to shower, Qiao Liuyue opened Zheng Qingyuan’s chat window.
She repeated what had just happened.
Zheng Qingyuan: […A four-person movie?]
Zheng Qingyuan: [I understand.]
Wait, dude, you’re so calm?
Qiao Liuyue: [The key thing is, how are you, the Neighbor Brother, going to show up at the same time as Sui Feng? You invited Jiaojiao to confess your real identity that day, right?]
Zheng Qingyuan: [It’s fine. I’ll have my assistant come too.]
Poor assistant Sui Feng.
A moment of silence for him.
You could already foresee a chaotic showdown.
But it would be perfect for some drama-watching.
Zheng Qingyuan: [Thanks, by the way.]
He then sent a two hundred yuan red envelope.
Qiao Liuyue accepted it without any guilt.
Suddenly, she felt like a double agent.
No, wait—a triple agent.
…
Saturday morning, when Qiao Liuyue left the dorm, Dong Jiaoyan was still snoring under her covers.
Hearing the rustling, she mumbled, “Liuyue, why are you up so early?”
Qiao Liuyue replied, “Volunteer work.”
Dong Jiaoyan: “Oh, right.” She rolled over in bed and grumbled, “I just don’t get you. On a perfectly good weekend, instead of sleeping in, you go to a nursing home. Tsk.”
Qiao Liuyue ignored her sarcasm.
She put on her shoes and left.
At the meeting point, a bus was already waiting.
Today’s group had about twenty students. Besides their Monitor, Chu Xubai, and a few other familiar faces, the rest were likely from other departments.
Chu Xubai stood by the bus door.
He wore a white shirt, with tousled hair falling over his forehead.
His metal-framed glasses caught a glint of light in the morning sun, giving him an intellectual air.
He was checking the roster on his phone.
When he saw Qiao Liuyue approach, he tilted his head slightly and spoke with a natural ease.
“Liuyue, good morning.”
“Morning, Monitor.”
Chu Xubai handed her a breakfast pack with a bag of soy milk and two steamed buns.
Before Qiao Liuyue could react, he explained,
“Everyone got one. I just finished handing them out, and this last one’s for you.”
“Thanks, Monitor.”
Chu Xubai gave her a look, one that said, “Here we go again,” with a hint of helplessness.
The corner of his mouth twitched as if holding back a laugh.
Qiao Liuyue thought for a moment and tentatively revised her words, “Not thanks… Monitor?”
She herself found the phrasing odd.
Chu Xubai finally couldn’t help it and curled his lips into a smile.
Just as he was about to say something, a head popped out from the bus window—
It was Wang Cheng, the Vice President of the Volunteer Association, the guy who usually sat next to Chu Xubai.
He shouted, “President, everyone’s here. We can head out now!”
When his gaze landed on Qiao Liuyue, still standing at the door, he slapped his forehead.
“Wait, we’re missing one—Qiao.”
He flipped through the seating chart in his hands, tapping his finger on it.
“The seats were pre-arranged… There’s one empty spot next to President.”
Chu Xubai chimed in naturally,
“Alright, let’s go, then.”
With that, he turned and boarded the bus, deliberately sitting by the window in the first row, leaving the aisle seat open.
Qiao Liuyue wore a clean white T-shirt today, with a simple cat sketch on the chest, still looking a bit childish.
Her heavy bangs were parted and pinned back with simple black clips.
Her forehead was bare.
The black-framed glasses still perched on her nose, covering two-thirds of her small face.
Still, her overall demeanor had shifted significantly from her earlier gloomy, reserved self.
As she sat down,
Chu Xubai politely moved closer to the window.
Qiao Liuyue gave him a smile.
The drive from school to the nursing home was about half an hour. Once the bus started, most people chose to catch up on sleep.
Qiao Liuyue felt a bit drowsy too. She yawned.
She quietly closed her eyes.
Before she knew it, she’d fallen asleep.
When she woke up, she found a clean black jacket draped over her, carrying a faint scent of laundry detergent.
Confused, she met Chu Xubai’s gaze.
His tone was calm.
He said matter-of-factly, “The AC on the bus was a bit chilly. I didn’t want you to catch a cold.”
