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The matter with Li Xiao’an was soon brought to light.
That group of people was indeed targeting Li Xiao’an. They had originally planned to block her on Wednesday night on her way back to the dorm, but that day, because Lu Yixin had been nagging about how unsafe it felt since she had a boyfriend, the Film Review Club disbanded early. When the two of them returned to the dorm, the night market stalls hadn’t even closed yet.
That group of people had some drinks and supper nearby, and when they returned to the alley under the influence of alcohol, they saw the girl they had missed earlier—bending over, searching for something in the empty alley.
And so, what happened afterward occurred.
Their original intention had only been to teach Li Xiao’an a lesson, but when the gang of thugs saw that she was good-looking and had a sharp tongue, drunken impulse took over and they started to strip her clothes.
Lu Yixin had reported to the police in time, and the sight of her rushing in holding a stone was quite intimidating. Fortunately within misfortune, things didn’t escalate into an even greater tragedy.
The group was quickly arrested, and their reason for seeking revenge on Li Xiao’an left everyone dumbfounded.
“Just… because you borrowed a bottle of mineral water from her boyfriend during military training?” The swelling on Lu Yixin’s face had subsided, though there was still some bruising near her ear.
Compared to her, Li Xiao’an’s injuries were far worse—her mouth was still swollen, and the bruises around her eye looked frightening.
“She broke up with her boyfriend last week. The reason he gave was that he wanted to pursue me.” Li Xiao’an held a small mirror to check the corner of her mouth and swore.
Lu Yixin: “……”
“Her boyfriend had always wanted to break up with her, but since he knew that girl hung around some shady people, he didn’t have the guts.”
“Then somehow he heard that my dad was a mafia boss, so he thought if he pushed the blame onto me, it’d be fine, and so…”
Lu Yixin: “…………”
Wu Qi: “He’s sick in the head.”
Lu Yixin retreated back to the top bunk, thought for a moment, then poked her head out again: “During military training, why did you always ask guys who already had girlfriends for mineral water?”
Because of this incident, her impression of Li Xiao’an had dropped straight into the negatives.
“I didn’t ask, I paid for it.” Li Xiao’an rolled her eyes. “The girls wouldn’t sell it to me, and single guys talk too much. Only the ones who already have girlfriends are straightforward.”
Wu Qi gaped: “What did you need that much mineral water for?”
During military training, everyone was given five bottles a day, and there was a water dispenser in the dorm, so most people still had bottles left over every day.
“…To wash my face, make face masks, and for sun protection!” Li Xiao’an glared with her swollen eyes. “Didn’t you notice that after military training, I didn’t tan at all!”
The rough women, Lu Yixin and Wu Qi, looked at each other speechlessly. Lu Yixin quietly withdrew back into the top bunk.
She had been too naive. She thought beauties were born that way.
“But I still can’t forgive you for that fight.” Lu Yixin stared at the ceiling. Li Xiao’an had torn up Fang Yongnian’s photo, this feud was irreconcilable.
“This was my fault.” Li Xiao’an admitted very straightforwardly. “At that time, I just found you really unpleasant to look at.”
She paused. “And also, when you stuffed the photo into your clothes, I caught a glimpse and saw it wrong.”
“What did you think it was?” Lu Yixin was curious.
“There’s a foreign language teacher in our department, very handsome…” Li Xiao’an hesitated, “I thought you secretly kept a photo of him.”
“Teacher Ouyang is the dream guy of so many people, haven’t you seen him?” Wu Qi’s not-so-big eyes widened round.
“I… haven’t.” Lu Yixin said awkwardly. “Besides, how could he possibly be more handsome than my boyfriend? What’s wrong with your eyes? You even tore my photo!”
“That really was my fault… the lipstick shade that the instructor stepped on, I could never buy it again, so I got angry for a moment…” Li Xiao’an scratched her head and decided to change the subject. “But your boyfriend is really handsome.”
When he rushed into the police station wearing that black padded jacket, she hadn’t even noticed there was something wrong with his leg.
She had been sitting right beside Lu Yixin, so she saw that man’s injured leg bleeding, yet his face was smiling.
He listened carefully to Lu Yixin’s rambling chatter, and his gentle tone made even her, sitting nearby, feel a sting in her nose.
“I haven’t seen him.” Wu Qi sounded a bit regretful.
“I still have his photo.” Lu Yixin perked up, taking out her phone and jumping off the bed.
Sometimes the distance between youth is simply because they haven’t stood close enough.
The magic of a girls’ dormitory lies in that—no matter how many times they’ve blushed, shouted, pulled hair, or pinched cheeks, when they recall it years later, it always brings a smile.
Those people they quarreled and fought with become roommates.
Roommates—friends who shared one room, where all memories condensed, and in the end, still carried the word “friend.”
୨୧ ⏔⏔⏔⏔♡⏔⏔⏔⏔ ୨୧
Lu Yixin actually didn’t fully understand her parents’ attitude toward her and Fang Yongnian.
Her mother didn’t seem to agree, but she didn’t stop her either.
Her father had been irritable for several days, nitpicking at Fang Yongnian, and even asked her privately if she had lost her mind—but he hadn’t truly tried to stop her.
In fact, when her mother’s annual leave ended and she went back to Hecheng today, it was Fang Yongnian who drove her there. On his way back, he detoured to Lu Yixin’s school, and from a distance, saw her standing by the roadside, waving at him.
She was wearing a large red turtleneck sweater, a yellow wool hat on her head—very eye-catching, and very warm.
When the car door opened, a gust of cold wind came in, lively and bustling.
“How was it?” she asked before even sitting properly.
Fang Yongnian slowly turned up the air conditioner temperature and slowly turned down the car radio volume.
“Delivered her safely.” His tone was equally slow.
Lu Yixin froze mid-action while taking off her hat, puffed up her cheeks, and glared at him.
Fang Yongnian laughed, reached out, and rubbed her hair, now shapeless after removing the hat.
“Your mom didn’t say anything,” he said, no longer teasing her. “Just… more polite than before.”
Lu Yixin wrinkled her nose.
“But your dad……” Fang Yongnian glanced at Lu Yixin,“this morning at the briefing he replaced my coffee with brown sugar water again.”
Lu Yixin：“……”
“At times like this, you and your dad are really alike.” Fang Yongnian recalled the overly sweet drink that morning and couldn’t help frowning.
“Actually he probably just doesn’t want you to drink too much coffee.” The very much like Lu Boyuan Lu Yixin understood her father’s thought process,“but replacing it with plain brown sugar water is too cheap for you, so he’d make it extra sweet on purpose.”
Truly a family.
Fang Yongnian smiled：“I get it, this all happened too suddenly, even if they’re going to accept it, they’ll need time.”
“Actually……” Lu Yixin leaned against the car seatback,a little sad,“I think my mom is pretty hurt.”
“Mm.” Fang Yongnian entered an address into the car’s navigation,“she cares a lot about my age.”
“Why?” Lu Yixin tilted her head,asking with annoyance,“a fourteen-year difference isn’t that extreme.”
“Because I’m smarter than you.” Fang Yongnian patted her head, patting it like a fat cat.
Lu Yixin：“?”
“Smarter than you, have more experience than you, think more comprehensively than you.” He praised himself with an unchanging face, “so not a good match.”
Lu Yixin bared her teeth：“Speak properly, or I’ll hit you.”
Fang Yongnian cast her a sidelong look.
The little coward Lu Yixin quickly shut her mouth, sat up properly, eyes on her nose, nose on her heart.
“Just like now.” Fang Yongnian patted her head again,“your mom would be worried.”
“She thinks you’ll hit me?” Lu Yixin widened her eyes.
Fang Yongnian：“……”
Lu Yixin kept staring.
She wasn’t joking, she was serious, her mom wouldn’t think Fang Yongnian had hit her before and would still hit her now……
But then again……
“You now……won’t hit me anymore, right……” she asked uncertainly.
Because she was still naughty, sometimes couldn’t hold her tongue, that night rushing into a group of men, thinking back afterward it was probably worth being hit for.
She was still adjusting from niece to girlfriend, when she said she might be confused that day, she really wasn’t just being coquettish.
“I hit you now, that counts as domestic violence.” Fang Yongnian was helpless.
More helplessly, after he said that, the girl acted like she’d taken a stimulant, covering her mouth, cheeks flushed, laughing until her eyes nearly disappeared.
“Hohohoho.” She used a witchy laugh to express her current mood,“so happy……”
Fang Yongnian：“……”
He decided not to ask her why she had suddenly felt happy again and firmly steered the topic back.
“Your mom’s probably worried you’ll suffer losses.” It wasn’t exactly a pleasant topic, but he could understand Liu Miqing’s concern for her daughter.
After all, it was Lu Yixin who had first pursued him. With how wholeheartedly she treated him, sometimes even he couldn’t help feeling distressed.
But the problem was, once Lu Yixin’s “happiness switch” had been turned on, she could no longer think in any normal way.
Her head was full of domestic violence.
If Fang Yongnian hit her now, it would count as domestic violence!
“What losses could I suffer?” Still surrounded by pink bubbles, Lu Yixin said with absolute sincerity, “I wait here every day for you to make me suffer losses, so come on already!”
Feeling there was no way to continue this conversation, Fang Yongnian stopped talking.
He turned up the volume on the navigation and didn’t even glance at her.
Forget it.
There was no need for her to understand.
From that afternoon under thunder and lightning when he had hugged her back, he had already made up his mind. To stay by her side and let her safely grow into a slightly older Lu Yixin.
Liu Miqing’s worries would never become reality.
What’s more…
“Where are we going?” The restless Lu Yixin had found a new curiosity.
“To find a place to talk.” The car had gradually driven into the outskirts of Huating. It was midwinter; the trees had shed all their leaves, looking especially desolate.
Lu Yixin grew even more curious. “Can’t we talk at home…”
Why did they have to find a special place to talk?
Still lingering in the aftertaste of “domestic violence,” she covered her face. “Are you going to propose?”
Fang Yongnian: “……”
“Your dad’s at home today.” His temples throbbed. “It’s inconvenient to talk there.”
“Oh……” Lu Yixin let out a disappointed “oh.”
Fang Yongnian’s hands loosened and tightened again on the steering wheel, and in the end, he couldn’t hold back. “You’re only 19, not even of legal marriage age.”
If he brought up marriage now, Lu Boyuan would really chop him into pieces.
“Who says I’m not.” Lu Yixin sighed, her tone soft and wistful.
That sigh made Fang Yongnian’s chest ache.
“I’m only more anxious than you.” He finally said fiercely after parking the car and turning off the engine.
Lu Yixin, who had been sighing over the scenery, didn’t react for a moment.
She followed behind him, glancing left and right halfway, when she suddenly stopped.
“What did you just say?” Her eyes lit up all at once.
“Nothing.” Fang Yongnian refused to give her the satisfaction. “Order something first. Let’s go in and talk.”
He had searched for this place for a long time.
Up in the mountains, there was a stove, good food, and privacy.
He wanted to talk properly with Lu Yixin here—about the future, his, and hers.
