Chapter 16
The result of giving all my money to Yi Chao to pay off his debt was that I could only afford to eat at the cheapest place-Willow Garden Restaurant-every day.
Every day, I had to carefully calculate how much I could spend just to make it to the end of the month.
In the campus convenience store, I picked up a bottle of yogurt, stared at it for a long time, and finally put it back.
Forget it, I’ll wait until next month.
I convinced myself.
Just then, a slender, well-defined hand reached over from behind me, the sweaty scent carrying the heat of the afternoon sun, enveloping me completely.
I turned my head.
The boy was wearing a loose blue-and-white basketball uniform, his arm muscles clearly defined. His face was flushed from intense exercise, and a bead of sweat hung from the tip of his slightly lowered hair, sparkling and clear.
He took down that bottle of yogurt and a can of soda.
With his head tilted slightly, he said carelessly, “If you want to drink it, just drink it.”
The closeness made me feel a little awkward.
I pressed my lips together.
Over there, Xie Yang was lifting his shirt to wipe his sweat, drenched as he walked toward the cashier.
A girl came toward him. Xie Yang smiled at her.
It was Song Qingqing.
She suddenly seemed a bit flustered, lowered her head, and brushed past Xie Yang.
“Is there anything else you want?”
I withdrew my gaze. Lu Yici had already picked up the drinks and was looking at me, head tilted.
Since he was asking me, I decided not to be polite.
Under Lu Yici’s gaze, I took one of every flavor of yogurt, and while I was at it, grabbed all the snacks I’d been wanting to eat this week but hadn’t bought.
He watched as I piled everything onto the cashier’s counter and clicked his tongue lightly. “Tsk, don’t you know how to be modest?”
But despite his words, he swiped his card without hesitation.
Dappled sunlight filtered through the trees along the campus path.
The boy walking beside me cracked open his cold drink with one hand, tilted his head back, and took a sip.
Soda trickled down his jawline, which he wiped away absentmindedly with the back of his hand.
Sipping my yogurt, I suddenly asked, “Lu Yici.”
“Hmm?” The boy lifted his eyelids to look at me.
“If one day I disappeared, would you remember me?”
The sudden, sentimental question made the atmosphere a little strange.
The boy stared at me suspiciously.
“Even if it’s just a simple question, like, ‘Where’s my dad?'”
Lu Yici: “…”
“I mean, Yan Qingyue,” the boy said lazily, the corners of his lips lifting slightly, “think carefully-wasn’t this whole bag of snacks bought for you by your dad? The least you could do is have a little conscience.”
The afternoon sunlight was dazzling. I squinted my eyes.