Whenever Linlin was with Yan Yuan, time seemed to pass far too quickly. A few words, a few laughs, and the whole evening would be over.
But when he returned to the dormitory, the place was empty and utterly silent. It was even harder to bear than standing downstairs with her.
Yan Yuan’s gaze was cool and clear as water, while the storm within lay pressed beneath the surface, frozen below sea level.
Linlin propped herself up on one arm and looked at him. “Are you happy now?”
“Happy,” Yan Yuan said. “How could I not be?”
“That’s good.”
“Hmm?” Yan Yuan raised an eyebrow.
“Nothing.” Linlin smiled and shook her head. “I’m very happy. I want you to be happy too.”
Yan Yuan fell silent for a moment. He met those beautiful eyes that stirred his heart so deeply. Even now, they still possessed the power to draw him in completely.
The next moment, Linlin reached out and covered his eyes. “Don’t look at me like that. If you keep looking at me that way, I’m going to cry.”
Her voice caught, and her eyelashes brushed unmistakably against his palm.
The corners of Yan Yuan’s lips lifted, and his voice dropped lower. “What are you crying for?”
He pulled her tightly into his arms, and Linlin felt a faint ache from the force of his embrace.
She liked that feeling very much. It made her feel as though he loved her deeply.
Yan Yuan was equally obsessed with the sensation, as though he still possessed something in this world.
After a while, Linlin rested her chin in the hollow of his shoulder and said softly, “When I turn twenty, let’s get married.”
Yan Yuan’s body went rigid.
He lowered his head to look at her. It took him a long time to speak, and his voice had already turned slightly hoarse. “…What did you just say?”
“I said…” Linlin lifted her face. “When I turn twenty, let’s get married. That way, you’ll have a home.”
For a long time before he started dating Linlin, Yan Yuan had felt, ever since his grandfather’s death, like a rootless piece of duckweed.
He drifted wherever the wind carried him. When his supervisor asked him to stay on as a teacher, he stayed. Other than preparing lessons and teaching classes, he honestly had no idea what to do with the rest of his time.
Yan Yuan was silent for a long while. “Linlin, you’re being impulsive.”
Linlin punched him lightly in the chest, somewhat upset. “You don’t want to marry me?”
“I do. Of course I do.” Yan Yuan placed a solemn kiss on her forehead. “But you have to give me a chance to prove myself. Once I’ve done well enough, then we’ll get married, all right?”
Yan Yuan had plans of his own. Right now, he had too little to offer.
Just as when they were children, Linlin would have a prosperous life and a brilliant future even without him.
What right did he have to think he was worthy of her?
It was nearly midnight when Linlin cried herself to sleep in Yan Yuan’s arms.
He carried her back to her room and sat by the bed, watching her sleeping face for a long time.
He leaned down, brushed his lips gently against her cheek, and left a tender kiss.
As he stepped outside, he ran into Jiang Chengzhou.
Jiang Chengzhou was leaning against the wall with his arms folded. He glanced at his watch. “I gave you ten minutes. You made it exactly.”
Yan Yuan let out a laugh.
The two of them went downstairs one after the other.
Jiang Chengzhou turned on the dining-room light, brought out a plate of chilled beef in sauce and a plate of leftover dumplings from the kitchen cabinet, then took two cups and filled them with hot water.
When Yan Yuan accepted the plates, he noticed they were cold, without even a trace of warmth. He frowned. “You didn’t heat them up?”
Jiang Chengzhou handed him one of the cups of hot water. “It’s just the two of us eating. They can warm up in our stomachs.”
Yan Yuan decided that made sense.
The beef was still fairly good, but the filling in the steamed dumplings had gone cold, and the wrappers were a little tough. Even so, the two men sat there quietly and finished both dishes between them.
When they were done, Jiang Chengzhou hesitated, clearly wanting to say something.
Yan Yuan was somewhat pitiable, but wasn’t his little sister being far too trusting of him?
Seeing Jiang Chengzhou agonize over it, Yan Yuan gave him a helpless smile. “What do you want to say? Is there anything we can’t talk about?”
Jiang Chengzhou gave his shoulder a heavy slap. “You’ve got some nerve saying that to me. Don’t you keep things from me too?”
Yan Yuan was in an excellent mood and didn’t take offense. “I’m lucky by nature. You really don’t need to worry about me.”
Jiang Chengzhou relaxed and leaned back in his chair. But after thinking it over, he frowned again and regarded Yan Yuan suspiciously. “This isn’t some kind of elaborate ploy to make people feel sorry for you, is it?”
Holding his cup, Yan Yuan silently shot him a look of disdain. “You’re giving me far too little credit.”
Jiang Chengzhou clicked his tongue. “Either way, I’m warning you. If you ever hurt Linlin, you and I are finished as brothers.”
Yan Yuan smiled calmly. “You’re worrying too much.”
He rose and went to retrieve his coat from the living room.
Jiang Chengzhou called after him. “Why don’t you stay here tonight?”
He hurriedly added, “You can sleep in my room. Just don’t go wandering off anywhere else.”
Yan Yuan chuckled. “Next time. Tomorrow’s the first day of the semester, and I may not be able to come by in the morning. Keep an eye on Linlin for me.”
He waved and opened the door.
“Hey,” Jiang Chengzhou scoffed. “As if you needed to tell me!”
The next morning, Linlin woke up to find herself lying in her own room. She shook her head, trying to remember, and suddenly recalled what had happened the night before.
She hurried downstairs, but Jiang Chengzhou was already out doing his morning exercise and had stopped to buy breakfast.
“Done washing up? Come eat breakfast,” he called.
Linlin pressed her lips together. “Brother, are you the only one here?”
Jiang Chengzhou pretended not to understand. “Hmm? Who else would there be?”
“Nothing.” Linlin shook her head and immediately ran back upstairs to wash up.
As Jiang Chengzhou arranged the breakfast on the table, he sneered to himself.
Married as soon as she turned twenty?
He’d have their uncle lock up her household registration booklet!
On the first day of the new semester, they only had to register. Jiang Chengzhou was delayed by something at school, so Linlin went home alone.
As soon as she reached the front of the house, Linlin saw a familiar figure standing on the steps.
Hearing her footsteps, Yan Yuan turned around, a smile already spreading across his lips.
Linlin hurried over and threw herself at him. Yan Yuan opened his arms and caught her securely, the hem of his coat lifting in the wind before settling again.
He looked down at her little face, reddened by the cold. With his free hand, he naturally tucked the loose strands of hair blown across her forehead behind her ear.
“You said you were busy today. Why are you back?” Linlin asked, though she already knew the answer, her eyes shining brightly.
Yan Yuan smiled and took both her hands, folding them into his palms. Then he pressed her hands against the hollow of his neck to warm them.
“I finished everything,” he said. “I came to give you a back-to-school present.”
“What present?”
Yan Yuan kept her in suspense. Without answering, he took her hand and led her inside, straight through the living room and toward the bathroom.
The farther they went, the more something seemed off to Linlin. When they reached the bathroom door, she stopped, gripping the doorframe with both hands. Two suspicious spots of color bloomed across her cheeks.
“Where are you taking me? I’m not taking a shower right now…”
Yan Yuan pressed a hand to his forehead, unable to keep the smile from curling across his lips. The amusement in his voice was impossible to hide.
“I’m not asking you to take a shower. Go inside and look. Your present is in there.”
Half skeptical, Linlin pushed open the door and peeked inside.
There was a brand-new, rather imposing appliance in the bathroom.
“A washing machine?” Linlin cried out. “How did you manage to buy one?”
