Chen Xizhu's confused call could still be faintly heard from the loudspeaker. The branches and leaves seemed to be unable to bear the weight and made a slight creaking sound when kissed. The sound of footsteps on the entire plank road could be heard from time to time, as if they were approaching and also as if they were going away. However, Fu Shitian could no longer care about anything.
Shi Yi's wetness and softness robbed her of all her attention.
Like dancing tango, Shi Yi pestered her, teased her, went in and out, from a wanton sweep at the beginning to a gentle embrace later, with a warm and tacit understanding that was intoxicating.
The wind blowing past his face was still slightly cool, but Fu Shitian's whole body was so hot that he was sweating.
She couldn't bear it anymore and was about to step back when the piercing ringtone of a cell phone suddenly rang out from close by.
Both of their bodies trembled, and before Fu Shitian could react, Shi Yi hugged her head, covering her face, and protected her against his neck.
Fu Shitian was stunned for a moment, leaning on Shi Yi's shoulder, and then he realized what Shi Yi's action meant. His body was still tense due to the fright, but his heart softened like water.
The ringing continued, which was particularly noisy in the quiet space. Fu Shitian reminded Shi Yi softly in her ear: "Shi Yi, this is my phone."
Shi Yi was stunned for a moment, loosened his hand that was around the back of Fu Shitian's head, and his ears suddenly felt hot.
Really. Why didn't she react
She pursed her lips, looked serious, took out her cell phone from her pocket and handed it to Fu Shitian as if nothing had happened, and glanced at the caller ID.
It’s Chen Xizhu again.
Fu Shitian took it, licked her lips, and stole a glance at Shi Yi, confirming that now was not a good time to answer the phone. She hung up the phone and quickly sent a text message to Chen Xizhu: "Xizhu, I have something to do. I will get back to you later."
Chen Xizhu replied immediately: "Okay, it's okay. I'm just worried that you suddenly stopped making any sound."
Fu Shitian smiled, put the phone back into her bag, and looked up to see Shi Yi had turned around, looking at the lake, her silhouette was cold. The wind gently ruffled Shi Yi's hair, and under the moonlight, she stood tall and graceful, like the goddess Aphrodite who had just walked out of the water, charming yet distant.
"Shi Yi?" Fu Shitian stepped forward and held Shi Yi's hand.
"Are you going home?" Shi Yi didn't look at her. There was still a hint of hoarseness in his voice from the kiss. It sounded very nice, but the emotion was very dull.
Fu Shitian's eyelashes trembled, and he stretched out his other hand to hold Shi Yi's hand, and asked carefully: "Shi Yi... are you unhappy?"
She has always been someone who is very sensitive to other people's emotions.
Shi Yi could hear the uneasiness and annoyance in her tone. She turned around and looked at Fu Shitian, trying to soften her tone, but her words were still uncontrollably and indifferent, "You and her have a lot to talk about."
She? Xizhu
Fu Shitian looked at Shi Yi in confusion. Shi Yi did not dodge or evade, but looked at her, her red lips pressed into a line. Fu Shitian blinked her eyes, and suddenly a thought came to her mind, and the corners of her lips curved up, "Shi Yi, are you... jealous?"
Shi Yi's eyelids drooped slightly, neither admitting nor denying, "Let's go, let's go back."
She raised her foot to leave, but Fu Shitian refused. He held her arm with one hand and put his other hand around her body, holding her waist and hanging on her shoulder, laughing.
Shi Yi was hugged by her and listening to her laughter, he couldn't help but soften his heart, feeling a little shy and a little sweet, and he couldn't get angry at all.
"You seem quite pleased with yourself?"
Fu Shitian buried his head in her shoulder and replied with a smile: "It's not pride, it's joy."
Shi Yi snorted and said nothing.
Fu Shitian hugged her tightly and apologized earnestly: "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have answered the phone and kept talking. It was just that Xizhu wanted to talk to me about something, so I said a few more words."
Shi Yi retorted calmly: "You two usually have a lot to talk about." During the time when they were not together, she often saw the two of them inseparable.
Fu Shitian: "..." Is Shi Yi seriously jealous of Chen Xizhu? Fu Shitian laughed dumbly: "Then you and Lu He usually chat a lot and have fun."
Shi Yi was in the wrong for a moment. But she didn't want to really destroy their friendship and make Fu Shitian embarrassed when facing Chen Xizhu, so she didn't want to say that she saw Chen Xizhu hugging Fu Shitian during the previous quarrel, and later when she asked Chen Xizhu if she wanted to pursue Fu Shitian, Chen Xizhu didn't deny it.
She remained silent, so Fu Shitian continued to coax her, "Shi Yi, Xi Zhu is just a friend to me, a very good friend, just like the relationship between Lu He and you."
"Luhe doesn't like girls."
Fu Shitian looked up in surprise: "You know Xizhu likes girls?!"
Shi Yi: “…” Chen Xizhu really likes girls! Shi Yi suppressed his surprise and said “hmm” in a calm manner.
Fu Shitian unconsciously acted like a spoiled brat, her tone soft: "That's the same. Anyway, we are really just good friends. She has someone she likes, and the other person should like her too. Maybe they will be together soon."
Shi Yi was stunned for a moment, then his expression eased a little, "I didn't say you two are more than just good friends."
Fu Shitian stroked his hair and said, "Well, I want to explain it myself."
Shi Yi was pleased by her, and the corners of his lips curled up, "Do you know the person she likes?"
"Yes."
"Do I know him?"
Fu Shitian felt that this was Chen Xizhu and Yin Fanlu's privacy, so it was not good to say too much, so he said slyly: "Shi Yi, you are so gossipy."
Shi Yi didn't really need to know. It would be good enough to confirm that there was such a person. Her mood completely changed from gloomy to bright, and she hugged Fu Shitian's soft body back, feeling satisfied.
The sound of footsteps was heard again on the plank road. Shi Yi and Fu Shitian stood up straight and turned to look at the source of the sound.
This time, someone really came. A man and a woman, whose arms were close together, turned around the blind spot blocked by the big tree and appeared in the eyes of Fu Shitian and Shi Yi. Fu Shitian and Shi Yi saw them, and they naturally saw them too. The footsteps suddenly disappeared, and the air was quiet for two seconds. The man and woman on the road quickly separated, turned around, and disappeared from the eyes of Fu Shitian and Shi Yi like the wind.
Fu Shitian and Shi Yi: “…” It was obvious that they were about to “do something bad” but were caught.
Shi Yi took her hand and said, "Come on, let's go back and leave the position for someone who needs it more."
Fu Shitian couldn't help laughing: "Okay."
On the way, she teased Shi Yi and asked him when he started to be jealous of Chen Xizhu. Shi Yi was embarrassed and pretended to be calm, avoiding the question and refusing to answer.
Fu Shitian didn't ask the answer, but he was still touched by her reaction.
After returning to the dormitory and taking a shower, it was almost time to turn off the lights. Shi Yi felt sorry for Fu Shitian for being able to go to bed early, so he didn't spend time with her. He turned off the lights and said good night to her, letting her have a good sleep.
But maybe because she was worried about the deadline and the manuscript, Fu Shitian was exhausted and very sleepy, but she couldn't sleep well. At around 3 a.m., she woke up earlier than usual.
It was quiet all around. Shi Yi was sleeping peacefully on the bed next to me.
Fu Shitian leaned on her arm, staring quietly in the dim light of the night lamp, her eyes like water. Fate has given her such a beautiful thing, so why shouldn't she be grateful, cherish and work hard
Only when she is financially independent can she be more confident in confronting her grandmother; only when she has enough money can she not drag down Shi Yi and reduce her quality of life.
She sat up and tiptoed to close the two open curtains.
The desk lamp was turned on, and the small table was moved from the end of the bed to the middle of the bed. Fu Shitian yawned and started working.
At around four in the morning, Shi Yi woke up unconsciously, and her vision was pitch black. She turned over habitually and looked at Fu Shitian. As usual, there was a faint light shining through the wall.
Same as usual
Shi Yi suddenly woke up.
Didn't he say he had submitted the manuscript? Why did he get up again? Then, she quickly realized that Fu Shitian was lying to her, or in other words, coaxing her.
She couldn't tell whether she felt distressed or powerless, her chest felt tight and uncomfortable, and her mind was in a mess. She was not the kind of person who liked to drag things out or make things difficult for herself, but when she met Fu Shitian, she had to be cautious and hesitant about all the choices.
Should she tell him? Can she tell him? If she doesn't tell him, she can't stand watching Si Tian hurting her body like this. If she tells him, it might hurt Si Tian's self-esteem. What should she say
She could see that Fu Shitian's family was not rich, but Fu Shitian had not applied for poverty subsidies or student loans, so she didn't know what Fu Shitian's situation was. Was he working so hard part-time for tuition, living expenses, or something else
She asked Fu Shitian not to work so hard. Was she caring about her or was she just adding pressure to her? Could she tell her that she was willing to share the burden with her
Shi Yi couldn't think of the best solution.
At dawn, there was a rustling sound coming from above the bed frame. Shi Yi closed his eyes and felt a slight breeze.
She opened her eyes, and the soft light of the night light covered the space between the beds—the curtains were drawn again.
As if he had never woken up, Fu Shitian fell asleep, holding the rabbit, and slept obediently.
There was a faint dark circle under his eyes.
Shi Yi's throat suddenly choked, and her heart felt like it was being rubbed by a file. She sat up, watched quietly for a long time, reached out to take the phone that Fu Shitian had placed on the pillow, and pressed it to turn it off.
At half past six, the phone screen lit up again, and Shi Yi turned off the alarm before it vibrated. Fu Shitian was sleeping soundly, and Shi Yi's eyes were very gentle. He put the phone back on her pillow, helped her draw the bed curtains to block any light from coming in, and then got out of bed quietly.
Jian Luhe and Yin Fanlu got up one after another. Shi Yi greeted them in a low voice: "Si Tian may have overslept. She and I will not go to the morning class. If the teacher calls our names, we will say that we have asked for leave. We will give her the note in the next class."
Jian Luhe joked: "Shi Yi, you are too doting on me."
Yin Fanlu understood very well: "It's time for Si Tian to catch up on some sleep. Xi Zhu asked me a few days ago if Si Tian often stayed up late recently. She was worried that the workload Si Tian applied for was too large, and many of them were urgent jobs that others were unwilling to take."
Shi Yi's eyes darkened and he sighed deeply in his heart.
Jian Luhe and Yin Fanlu went to the cafeteria. Shi Yi washed up and sat at the desk, ready to order two takeouts. She had chosen the dishes, and before placing the order, she looked at the settlement amount and thought of Fu Shitian's all-night work. She suddenly felt bad and couldn't order anymore.
She gave up the idea of ordering takeout and made oatmeal with milk powder.
While waiting for the screen to cool down, she clicked on Chen Xizhu's profile picture after a long time.
She asked Chen Xizhu: "Xizhu, Si Tian has been staying up late recently. I don't want to ask her directly, for fear of putting pressure on her. Was her workload this heavy before?"
Chen Xizhu quickly replied: "No. She used to take part-time jobs, but not as exaggerated as now."
"Then do you know why?"
Chen Xizhu seemed to be hesitating about something. The dialog box was silent for a long time before "typing" was displayed. It was typing for a long time and then disappeared again.
A minute passed, and Shi Yi almost thought that Chen Xizhu would not reply to her, but Chen Xizhu's bubble finally popped out:
"You are so smart, you should be able to figure it out if you think about it."