Chapter 23

The first day of the monthly exams was accompanied by a relentless autumn drizzle.

Xu Xieyi was up before dawn. As she zipped up her school jacket, she glanced at the window and noticed a faint layer of condensation. The temperature had dropped again.

Her phone buzzed on the pillow with a WeChat notification. Because her feed was cluttered with older relatives, she usually communicated with classmates via QQ, so this message stood out.

While stuffing books into her bag with her right hand, she picked up her phone with her left—

[Do not weigh the monthly exam scores too heavily. The exam is merely a self-assessment of your grasp of the material. Keep a level head and perform as you normally would.]
— Lin Sheng

"It's Brother Lin..."

Xu Xieyi paused, her hands stilling. Seeing the message brought back memories of the bus ride last night, where Lin Sheng had told her to be a good girl at school and promised he would be back in a few days. She remembered that low, slightly husky voice.

Her face grew inexplicably warm. It must be because Brother Lin was so handsome; it was easy to feel shy when looking into his eyes or speaking with him.

-

The two days of the monthly exam flew by. The senior year teachers were eager to gauge the students' foundations, so the results were released quickly.

By the fourth day, the grade rankings were posted. A crowd of students swarmed the bulletin board next to the blackboard, and it took quite an effort for Xu Xieyi to squeeze through.

Her eyes scanned down from the top of the class ranking list, and then... unexpectedly, her name appeared in 14th place!

Other students noticed her rank, too, and cast surprised glances in her direction.

During the long break, the classroom was buzzing with discussions about grades. Xu Xieyi kept her phone hidden in her pocket and slipped into a quiet corner of the corridor. She called her parents first to report her scores, receiving praise as expected. After hanging up, she messaged Lin Sheng.

[Brother Lin, the monthly exam results are out. I improved by 16 places and ranked 14th in the class. Thank you for tutoring me.]

She looked at the message, swapped the order of "I improved by 16 places" and "ranked 14th in the class," checked the wording once more, and hit send.

A minute later, a reply came through.

[Effort yields results. Rather than thanking me, you should thank your own diligence.]
— Lin Sheng

Ten seconds later, as if it had been an afterthought, he added an emoji: :)

The bell rang for class, and students ran past her into the classroom.

Xu Xieyi tucked her phone away and headed back, thinking about how to return the bracelet to Lin Sheng without offending him when he returned home the night after next.

Although she wasn't very old or particularly shrewd, Xu Xieyi was clear-headed about this. Her parents were always busy, forcing her to be independent and have a mind of her own. She understood what could be done, what couldn't, and how to conduct herself at each stage of life.

That gift was too valuable; she couldn't keep it.

---

The night Lin Sheng returned home, yellow leaves were mixed with autumn rain. On the streets of Xindu, people huddled in the cold wind, clutching their umbrellas.

He stopped by the hospital first to collect his car and some belongings, then drove to his own apartment.

Because he wasn't accustomed to Korean cuisine, he had barely eaten over the past few days in South Korea. To maintain his energy, he had relied on imported Canadian protein supplements and vitamins. After several days of exhaustion, he was feeling drained, and his stomach was aching.

Lin Sheng leaned back on the sofa, pressed the bridge of his nose, and closed his eyes to rest.

His phone chimed incessantly with WeChat notifications from friends who had heard of his return and were reaching out to greet him or make plans. He gave them a lazy glance, then simply flipped the phone over and silenced it.

He tossed his coat onto the sofa and headed to the bathroom for a shower.

At the No. 2 High School, evening study hall had just ended, and the bus stop at the school gate was crowded with students.

Xu Xieyi squeezed onto the bus with the crowd. When it thinned out later in the route, she chose a window seat. After placing her bag on her lap, she used both hands to pry the stiff window open a crack, letting the refreshing night air rush in. It felt soothing to both body and mind.

She took out her phone and checked her chat history with Lin Sheng. He was returning home tonight.

The lucky star bracelet rested in her pale palm, illuminated by the occasional flicker of streetlights.

Xu Xieyi practiced what she would say.

"How can I return the bracelet without making Brother Lin angry..."

No matter how she thought about it, it was a difficult task.

As it turned out, her mental rehearsals were for naught.

Just as she returned to the Lin residence and was changing into her slippers, she heard Du Juan talking to Auntie Zhang: "Don't prepare breakfast for A-Sheng tomorrow; he won't be coming home tonight."

Auntie Zhang glanced at Du Juan. "He's been on a business trip for so long and he’s still not coming home?"

Du Juan pressed the sheet mask on her face with her fingers, looking indifferent.

Xu Xieyi thought for a moment and asked, "Godmother, Brother Lin isn't coming home tonight?"

"Your brother probably has things to take care of. He won't be back," Du Juan replied casually.

Xu Xieyi nodded, exchanged a few polite words with her and Auntie Zhang, and headed upstairs to wash up and do her homework.

Outside the window on that autumn night, the insects chirped sporadically.

As she finished her reading, her mind wandered, and she propped her head up in thought. Brother Lin seemed exceptionally busy these past few days; his voice in the voice message yesterday had sounded exhausted.

He had been busy in a foreign land for so many days, and yet he wasn't coming home. If it were her—someone who loved home so much—she would have flown back the moment she could.

But Brother Lin was just there, all by himself, drifting away from home...

-

In the silent room, the air was still.

The screen of the phone on the nightstand suddenly lit up. Since it was on silent, there was no sound.

Lin Sheng opened his eyes halfway, gave it a lazy glance, exhaled a long breath, and reached out to pick it up.

[Brother Lin, are you asleep?]
— Xu Xieyi

Oh, it was that girl.

Lin Sheng set the phone back down, too exhausted to respond. His head felt heavy, and he suspected he might have caught a cold or a fever.

Being sick just made his mood worse. He didn't care about being humble or gentle; he didn't want to deal with anyone in the world. He just wanted to be left alone and endure the discomfort.

Xu Xieyi picked up her phone from beside the pillow, the small glow from the screen illuminating her delicate, fair face.

Lin Sheng still hadn't replied.

She rubbed her cheek against the light blue lace pillowcase and muttered to herself.

"Did Brother Lin not see it..."

-

"Xuxu, what were you spacing out about just now?" Yang Bingbing whispered to Xu Xieyi during physics class.

Because of her massive improvement in the monthly exams, the teacher had called on Xu Xieyi to explain the seventh multiple-choice question, but she had been daydreaming and hadn't heard.

Xu Xieyi glanced at the physics teacher and lowered her voice carefully, "I wasn't paying attention just now."

Yang Bingbing eyed her up and down, clearly seeing through her ruse.

Afraid to chat more during class, Yang Bingbing didn't press, and Xu Xieyi barely escaped disaster.

The electric bell was near the back door of Class 5.

As soon as the physics teacher dismissed the class, the boys in the back row ran out as the bell rang.

Only then did Xu Xieyi dare to take her phone out of her drawer and sneakily open WeChat under the desk. A voice message from Lin Sheng showed it was only 1 second long.

She hid her phone and went to a quiet corner of the corridor to listen, holding it to her ear. But strangely, there was no sound.

There were still a few minutes left in the break. After thinking about it, she decided to call Lin Sheng directly.

The system's ringtone rang until it was almost cut off before he answered.

"Hello."

A strange, hoarse, and low voice.

It took Xu Xieyi two seconds to recognize it as Lin Sheng. "Is that Brother Lin?"

"Yeah..."

It was the middle of the afternoon. A thin haze of sunlight hung in the sky. Lin Sheng was lying in bed, his lips and throat parched, the thin light filtering through the blinds. It was blinding. He used the back of his hand to cover his burning eyelids to block it.

A soft voice came through the receiver, sounding anxious: "Brother Lin, are you sick?"

Lin Sheng didn't want to talk; his reply was brief and perfunctory. "A little."

"Is it serious?"

"Not serious."

There was a second of silence, and Xu Xieyi felt the lucky star bracelet in her pocket. "When are you coming home, Brother Lin?"

"In a day or two." Lin Sheng’s breathing was hot. He paused to catch his breath and said, "Keep going. I'll pick you up for school another day. I probably can't make it today."

"I'm fine, you don't need to worry about me. Actually, taking the bus is very convenient. It’s no big deal to squeeze in."

A low, exhausted "hmm" came from the other side.

"Is there anything else?"

"No, nothing else."

Lin Sheng didn't want to talk more, and Xu Xieyi sensed it. "Brother Lin, drink plenty of hot water and get some rest."

Once she said her piece, Xu Xieyi hung up the phone, not wanting to disturb his rest.

Brother Lin was all alone.

And he was sick...

-

After evening study hall, the school gate was bustling with people and vehicles as usual.

Across the road, the mountain-bound bus followed closely behind the 306 bus headed to Milan Hospital, crawling slowly to the platform.

Xu Xieyi followed the crowd toward the mountain bus.

"Are you getting on or not, student? If you aren't, move aside!"

The boy behind her urged. Xu Xieyi gripped her bag straps, bit her lip, and turned away from the bus door. "I'm sorry, excuse me, I got on the wrong bus."

This immediately drew a few eye rolls.

At this time of night, the 306 was quite empty.

Xu Xieyi found a seat on the left side in the middle and took out her phone, finding Lin Sheng's number. But... she needed to calm down. The decision she had just made in that split second had been truly impulsive.

She actually felt a bit of regret now.

For one thing, she had never been to Lin Sheng's apartment. For another, her relationship with him was neither distant nor particularly close. Lin Sheng was warm on the outside but cold on the inside, and not easy to get close to. What if he found her annoying?

As she wrestled with these thoughts, she remembered how indifferent Du Juan had seemed last night about where Lin Sheng was or how he was doing.

The Lin family was emotionally distant, and Brother Lin was sick, all alone in his apartment...

After lying in bed for a night and a day, Lin Sheng finally got up in the evening.

He threw together a protein shake and juice, drinking it down in one go. No matter how miserable he felt, he still went to wash up and shave his beard before he could force himself back to sleep. Just as he collapsed back into the blankets, his phone rang.

Lin Sheng didn't even check the caller ID, his patience thin: "Hello..."

"Brother Lin."

"Yeah..."

Lin Sheng opened his closed eyes slightly, pressing his cold hand against his burning forehead, waiting for the other person to speak.

The bus rocked back and forth. Xu Xieyi grabbed the back of the seat in front of her with one hand, pressed her phone with the other, and hesitated for a moment. "Brother Lin, where do you live? I... I want to come and see you."