“Then you just ran out of the dormitory empty-handed?”

A few minutes ago, the couple who had still been being all lovey-dovey, after entering the room, immediately switched into the mode of an uncle scolding his niece.

Lu Yixin scratched her nose.

Reality was so cruel. She was still savoring that forehead kiss.

“Didn’t you say you won the argument?” Fang Yongnian wondered if he should make her a cup of hot cocoa.

Last time she said drinking hot cocoa made her gain five pounds…

He opened the refrigerator, tore open a pack of banana milk, and handed it to her.

She actually came home before eight, didn’t bring her keys, and stupidly waited in the hallway until twelve.

No wonder she fell asleep there.

“Although I won the argument, the atmosphere in the dormitory is still very weird.” Lu Yixin bit the straw of the banana milk, stood on tiptoe, and rummaged through the cabinet to find a pack of bear biscuits.

Fang Yongnian watched helplessly as this person, who had supposedly just said she’d gain five pounds, sat cross-legged on the dining chair, alternating between a mouthful of biscuits and a sip of milk.

“Next time before going out after a quarrel, at least change your clothes,” Fang Yongnian still frowned. “Or just call me directly.”

Lu Yixin swallowed the banana milk and glanced at Fang Yongnian.

“Did you ever argue with people when you were in school?” she asked curiously.

In her impression, she’d only seen him argue with her father—and that didn’t really count as an argument. It was her father roaring unilaterally while Fang Yongnian was in charge of adding fuel to the fire.

Fang Yongnian: “No.”

Lu Yixin, biting the straw, wrinkled her nose.

Fang Yongnian: “…I skipped grades. I was already in college at sixteen.”

Who would fight with a sixteen-year-old kid?

What’s more…

“My college dorm was a standard double room, only two people.” He was from a 985 university, and a specially cultivated key program student, directly continuing from undergraduate to Ph.D.

Who would dare hit him…

Lu Yixin’s nose wrinkled so much her whole face almost scrunched up like an orange.

“You’re so annoying.” Top students are really detestable.

“Don’t eat so many sweets at night.” Fang Yongnian reached out and took away the rest of Lu Yixin’s biscuits, taking the “annoying” all the way to the end.

“It’s very late.” He checked the doors and windows at home. “You’ll sleep in my room tonight. I’ll go to the company later.”

“…You have two rooms in your house?” Lu Yixin was dumbfounded.

“The other room doesn’t have a bed.” Fang Yongnian was helpless.

That room only had a few moving boxes—empty ones.

When he first moved in, he never thought there would come a day he’d need to give his bed to Lu Yixin.

This matter was too ambiguous. He felt his throat tighten again.

Lu Yixin scratched her head.

He still had to go back to the company this late?

“How much do you owe Yu Hanfeng exactly?” she asked seriously. “When I start working in the future, I’ll help you pay it back.”

Fang Yongnian: “……”

“This isn’t something you need to worry about.” He wanted to knock her on the head. “Don’t ever bring this up again.”

If Lu Boyuan ever heard this, he wouldn’t just throw him off the eighteenth floor—he’d probably chop him into pieces first.

“Didn’t I tell you before that after I graduated from college my mom left me a fund? It’s not a lot, but it should be enough for marriage.” Lu Yixin had no intention of ending the topic, speaking earnestly, “In the future, my salary will go toward household expenses, and the money you earn can go to paying off the debt.”

Fang Yongnian: “…Come here.”

Lu Yixin obediently trotted over, only to get a flick on the head from Fang Yongnian.

“The bed sheets and covers were just changed by the auntie this morning.” Fang Yongnian had no desire to entertain her topic at all. “There are clean bath towels in the black cabinet inside the bathroom.”

He glanced at Lu Yixin’s pajamas and coat that had rolled around in the hallway.

“Wait a moment.” He went into the room and opened the wardrobe.

Lu Yixin, who had already grown onto his back like a shadow, rubbed her forehead and peeked in curiously. “You even have an auntie who comes to clean?”

She’d thought he lived frugally because he was in debt. After all, he’d worn the same shirt for years without buying new ones.

Fang Yongnian tore open a brand-new white T-shirt and stuffed it into her hands, then bent down to open the drawer below the wardrobe and took out a new pair of cotton sweatpants still in their packaging.

“Change into these after your shower,” he said calmly.

Lu Yixin tiptoed to peer into the wardrobe.

“Why are there so many clothes still unopened?” Besides the few shirts and jackets hanging up that she often saw him wear, there was an entire row of unopened clothes underneath—many of them T-shirts.

“My parents sent them,” Fang Yongnian said, closing the wardrobe.

Holding the pile of clothes, Lu Yixin asked a little cautiously this time, “How long has it been since you last went home?”

In her memory, it seemed that after the car accident, Fang Yongnian had never gone back.

“It’s been a while,” Fang Yongnian didn’t want to say more.

Every time his parents saw him, they would cry. He had once been their pride; his parents had sacrificed many career opportunities to nurture him. He had once been the center of the family.

Now, he wasn’t anymore.

So he was a bit afraid to go home.

And the clothes his parents sent him were all the kind he used to wear before the accident—the most comfortable cotton ones, good for long hours in the lab with a white coat over them.

Now, it had been a long time since he’d worn a T-shirt.

“Last month, on your father’s birthday, I called them,” Lu Yixin said, watching Fang Yongnian’s expression carefully. “They sounded like they were both doing well.”

Fang Yongnian couldn’t help reaching out to touch Lu Yixin’s face.

“Mm, I know.” He just didn’t go home, but he still made his weekly calls.

His parents had a deep impression of Lu Yixin. When the accident happened, she came to the hospital every day after school. She never said much, just hid in a corner and wiped her tears.

He himself didn’t really remember much of it; these were all things his parents told him.

They said that when he lost his temper, it was Lu Yixin who coaxed him to eat. He refused, and she cried. As she cried and cried, he would frown and swallow a few bites.

For the past few years, during every festival or holiday, Lu Yixin would call his parents and his brother. Liu Miqing taught her well, this girl had always been good at getting along with elders.

“I probably won’t have any mother-in-law problems in the future.” The girl who was so loved by elders squinted her eyes, going off-topic again.

Fang Yongnian: “……”

“All the doors and windows are locked.” He put away the brief moment of emotion and returned to his usual expressionless face. “The spare key is in the drawer of the left bedside table.”

He paused for a moment.

“Tomorrow I’ll have someone come over to change the lock to a password one. If something like this happens again, you can just come in directly.”

He thought that when their relationship became a little more stable and the unease between them lessened, then he would tell both sets of parents.

Before it was made official, letting her carry his house key around just didn’t seem proper.

“Stay home and wait for me tomorrow morning. Change into clean clothes before going to school.” He frowned as he thought—since the mall wouldn’t be open that early, there’d be no time to buy clothes. He’d have to ask Lu Boyuan for his house key instead.

The excuse was easy enough—just say he was going over to get some documents.

But this sort of thing would probably become yet another reason for Lu Boyuan to beat him up in the future…

Still, he couldn’t let Lu Yixin spend the night outside and then show up to school the next day wearing pajamas.

The two girls in her dorm weren’t exactly kind or simple. It was better to stay cautious.

Lu Yixin blinked.

After Fang Yongnian finished arranging everything, it was already two in the morning. With dark circles under his eyes, he changed into a jacket and prepared to leave.

Before going, he checked the doors and windows again, refilled the fat cat’s food and water, and even went to the bathroom to check the hot water.

“How about you sleep in the room, and I’ll take the sofa?” Lu Yixin suddenly couldn’t bear it.

He still had to come back early tomorrow. Going back and forth like this, he’d probably only get two or three hours of sleep.

She regretted it now.

If she’d known, she would’ve just stayed in the dorm.

Although then there wouldn’t have been that forehead kiss today, but forehead kisses would happen sooner or later anyway.

“Or, how about I sleep here by myself? I’ll be scared.” She started looking for excuses. “And I argued with someone today, I’m in a bad mood, I need some comfort tonight.”

Someone who could sleep soundly enough to snore in a hallway said she’d be scared.

She said it so sincerely that Fang Yongnian almost believed her.

“Lock the door. There’s still a cat at home.” He didn’t even turn his head. “I’m leaving.”

Lu Yixin followed right behind him, half her head poking out as she watched him press the elevator button.

Before the elevator arrived, she couldn’t help but reach out and grab Fang Yongnian’s sleeve.

“It’s too late.” She shook his sleeve. “If you keep going back and forth like this, you won’t get any sleep tonight.”

“That’ll make you go bald.”

“Your health isn’t good to begin with.”

Lu Yixin’s hand tightened around his sleeve. “If you keep doing this, I’ll feel bad.”

Her heart ached for him.

She swore she’d never argue with her dormmates again. Even if she did, she’d make sure to win the argument and drive them out, instead of stupidly running away herself.

“I promise I’ll behave, I absolutely won’t push you down!” she blurted out, flustered.

The elevator chimed softly, and the doors opened.

Fang Yongnian looked at the girl behind him and sighed.

“I’ll sleep on the sofa, you sleep in the bed.” He wasn’t being soft-hearted—he just saw her small hand clutching his sleeve, and it made him think of that night at Xiabaoshan.

If he’d known that in the end he wouldn’t be able to escape from Lu Yixin’s palm anyway, he really should have treated her better back then.

At least he shouldn’t have made her cry like that while eating shrimp and eel.

The elevator chimed again, and the doors closed.

The not-soft-hearted Fang Yongnian turned around and took Lu Yixin’s hand. “Go back.”

The girl who had just sworn she wouldn’t push him down bounced once on the spot, then half-hugged, half-clung to him.

“Hehehehehe.” She laughed in an utterly indecent way, like a raccoon that had eaten too much sugar.

After her shower and washing her hair, she came out again, her hair still dripping wet. Wearing Fang Yongnian’s clothes, she ran to the middle of the living room, waving her arms as she declared loudly, “I’m so happy!”

Fang Yongnian, half-reclined on the sofa reading, took off his glasses and reminded her in a flat voice, “You’re not wearing a bra.”

“It doesn’t matter!” Lu Yixin said boldly, waving her arms again.

“I’m not giving you a goodnight kiss,” Fang Yongnian said, his tone still completely even.

Unbelievable!

Lu Yixin: “……”

“Dry your hair before sleeping.” He closed his book, switched off the lamp, and turned over on the sofa.

“Goodnight!” The rejected Lu Yixin stomped away in her slippers, thwack-thwack, back into the room.

After a while, she came thwack-thwack back out again. “Even if you don’t kiss me, I still feel so happy.”

She just knew—being with Fang Yongnian, she would definitely be happy.

Foolish child.

Fang Yongnian’s lips curved up slightly on the sofa.

He listened to Lu Yixin moving about in his room, listened to her humming while drying her hair. Later, in the middle of the night, she called Zheng Ranran, got scolded terribly, and finally quieted down.

Before going to sleep, she even ran over barefoot to where he was, standing there quietly for a while.

When she closed the door, it was gentle.

Goodnight.

Fang Yongnian turned the words over softly in his heart.

Goodnight, my Lu Yixin.