5. Asperger's Syndrome

That year, the Spring Festival came late. The next day happened to be Lunar New Year's Eve.

Fang Kaixuan didn't feel particularly sad about spending the Lunar New Year alone in an unfamiliar place. She had never cared much about holidays since childhood. A few years ago, when she was studying abroad, her French classmates would all go home early before Christmas, and her Chinese friends would make plans to either travel together to nearby areas or spend the holiday at the homes of close French classmates.

Only a few people remained in the entire apartment building, and Fang Kaixuan must have been one of them.

December 31st is an even bigger day, with everyone heading to the Champs-Élysées to join the festivities and celebrate the New Year with tens of thousands of others, even at the risk of having their phones and wallets stolen or being harassed.

That night, she was often the only one left in the dormitory, and she would take a shower and go to bed before midnight.

Fang Kaixuan wasn't intentionally trying to be different. She genuinely didn't think that the last second of December 31st was any different from the first second of January 1st.

She never wanted to celebrate the passage of time.

*

The two had originally planned to watch the sunset together, but as dusk approached, the temperature plummeted, and the melted snow on the streets refreezed into thin ice, making it easy to slip and fall. The sunsets here were also exceptionally short; the sun seemed to be afraid of the cold, quickly disappearing behind the snow-covered mountains in the distance.

"It's your New Year's Eve, would you like to celebrate?"

"Why 'your'?" Fang Kaixuan blurted out, then realized that he only had Chinese ancestry.

"Is there anything special you want to do on New Year's Eve?"

"Everything else is fine, we don't need to set off fireworks or watch the Spring Festival Gala. But I want to eat dumplings."

Even with advanced technology, which allows us to consume perfectly balanced nutrients through meal replacements for all three meals, dietary habits formed from childhood are ingrained and difficult to change.

Fang Kaixuan is a carbohydrate enthusiast.

"If you don't mind driving a little further, we can find a Chinese restaurant together."

"I believe you are not a serial killer, and you wouldn't kill me and then dump my body in the wilderness."

He asked earnestly, "Does this mean 'good'?"

She smiled and rolled her eyes at him, thinking he was deliberately changing the subject. How could someone as smart as him not understand that it meant "okay"?

But he was still staring intently into her eyes.

She looked at him and said softly, "It means 'Yes, I do'."

He laughed. Fang Kaixuan suddenly thought that maybe he had mild Asperger's syndrome, which was why he needed a very clear and unambiguous answer to everything.

Regardless, his smile was reassuring. Fang Kaixuan felt a pang of tenderness in his heart, while simultaneously despising himself for being so spineless.

So he left, and soon returned in a car. The car's tires had been modified for driving on snow.

Fang Kaixuan got into the passenger seat and started the car, but his movements were a little clumsy.

She was very wary. "Don't tell me you're a new driver. The roads are slippery and difficult to drive on snowy days, especially in the mountains. I need to save my life."

"No, I'm just a beginner driver. But please don't worry."

Sure enough, the car quickly and smoothly moved forward through the snow-covered landscape. The towering peaks on either side looked particularly eerie in the night, instilling a slight sense of megalophobia. The narrow, two-lane road seemed to stretch into the endless distance, with only occasional flashes of light outside the dark windows, like the glow of a lighthouse at sea.

It was the first time the two of them had been alone in such a small space, and they were inevitably a little awkward at first. But he was focused on driving, and his profile looked particularly serious, showing no intention of taking the opportunity to get closer.

Fang Kaixuan felt at ease.

Let's go, just keep driving like this, to the ends of the earth, or never look back. Away from work, away from my ex-husband, away from the divorce entanglements and property division, away from all the things I have to deal with.

She didn't ask him where he was going, and he didn't need navigation. Always cautious and timid, she had completely entrusted herself to a stranger. If he was truly a bad person, it would be utter ruin.

Lost in thought, she found herself in front of a small house nestled in a valley. He stopped the car. "A friend recommended a restaurant, but unfortunately the owner is away on vacation these days. However, because my friend asked, the owner agreed to let us use their kitchen."

"Do I have to do everything myself? I'm not really capable of that." She can cook a few simple home-style dishes, but she's not good at making noodles, which require too much skill.

"No need to worry about that. I'll give it a try, you just focus on eating."

“I don’t believe you can be so virtuous,” Fang Kaixuan blurted out. In fact, she was far from familiar with him, but she was so relaxed that she could talk nonsense. “If this were a story from Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, you would probably be a fox spirit in human form. Tonight I’ll eat and drink well here, and when I come back tomorrow, I’ll only see a desolate mountain and a few lonely graves.”

"Then guess if I am?" He still looked serious, but the way he said it sounded a bit like flirting.

Fang Kaixuan blushed and didn't reply. She wasn't oblivious; she genuinely liked him.

It wasn't just lust at first sight; it was genuine attraction, which is why she was extremely unwilling to let it turn into a casual flirting relationship.

In this day and age, finding love may be difficult, but finding passion is all too easy. Two people can lock eyes and the most intimate relationship can happen; whether it's a daily or weekly affair is no problem. Everyone has the freedom to choose, and there are no longer any moral constraints.

Unfortunately, everything in this world is fair; what is so easily gained is naturally easier to lose. Like a summer downpour, it falls heavily and evaporates instantly, leaving behind only a damp, melancholic feeling, without any memorable emotions. Once or twice, one can feign nonchalance and not care at all. But if this continues for too long, only an empty black hole remains in one's heart, and one becomes hollow inside.

Fang Kaixuan was unwilling to go through such a clichéd experience again.

The two stood in front of the door. He crouched down, took out the key from under the doormat, and opened the door. As they entered, they were plunged into darkness for a few seconds, so dark that even their breathing could be heard beside each other.

But he was indeed a true gentleman, making no attempt to stealthily move. A moment later, he found the light switch and turned on all the lights in the room. Under the bright yellow light, a brand-new kitchen was revealed, fully equipped with utensils, neat and clean, almost gleaming.

“They’ve taken their kids skiing, so they can lend us this kitchen,” he explained.

Fang Kaixuan opened the refrigerator and saw all sorts of ingredients neatly arranged. This boss is really generous. Gu Qiye rolled up his sleeves, and the kitchen knife moved with surprising agility in his hands. Fang Kaixuan only occasionally assisted him from the side.

Time seems to fly by silently when you're feeling good. Fang Kaixuan felt like it wasn't long before he was all ready.

"She's truly a fairy godmother," Fang Kaixuan couldn't help but exclaim.

He nodded, seemingly a little embarrassed. She guessed he probably didn't quite understand what the compliment meant.

He's really bad at Chinese.

Is this the only flaw in this perfect man?

Outside the window stretched an endless expanse of snow-covered fields, seemingly extending to the ends of the earth—a truly cold and desolate wonderland.

The interior is brightly lit with warm-toned lighting, the kind of yellow often seen in Picasso's later paintings. The kitchen, located in a corner of the house, juts out from the rest of the house with three large windows. In the darkness, the lights are on, offering unobstructed views and revealing every detail.

The house was like a sparkling glass box, gently placed in the snowy field by a large hand, like a dollhouse for a little girl.

Fang Kaixuan never played in a dollhouse when she was a child; she could only keep company with her study guides and workbooks.

Her parents were serious and cautious all their lives, and didn't know how to educate or discipline their child, so they could only overwhelm her with books and exercises. By the time she graduated from high school, the exercise books she had done, if stacked up, would almost be as tall as her.

She jokingly said that she has a considerable body of work to her name.

These were all minor things, and back then, they didn't seem too difficult to endure. But who would have thought that, a decade or two later, she would still frequently dream of that desk, with endless problems she couldn't finish, making her so anxious she wanted to cry. She would even dream of a major exam, waking up in a cold sweat with no clue about the last big math question.

It was both unfortunate and fortunate; it seemed as if no greater traumas followed in her life, except for the Chen Zhilun incident that happened later.

Being able to suffer solely for love is a great fortune.

"What are you thinking about?" He had already set out the bowls and chopsticks, and saw Fang Kaixuan staring blankly.

"I'm hungry." These simple words, once uttered, made her inexplicably feel a little shy. Because her tone sounded like she was pleading with someone she knew well.

Fang Kaixuan is not the type of person who likes to act coquettishly towards the opposite sex.

She saw a flicker in his eyes, a look he had never shown in front of her before. His eyes were so deep and beautiful, like a fish swimming in a very deep lake, its silvery tail fin gently swaying.

Fang Kaixuan was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion.

She suddenly told herself that this night might be the only time in her life she would be alone with a man as handsome and well-mannered as him.

In our teenage years, everyone thinks they are the protagonist of the movie of life, and that they should be assigned a perfectly matched lover when they grow up. Later, we realize how difficult it is to meet such a person.

Ensuring that the project doesn't fall apart after encountering such a problem is even more difficult.

It's true. Perhaps only this one night can she have him for a brief moment. When reality returns, she will still be the loser abandoned by the lover she has cherished for ten years, and she will never believe in love again.

Just for one night.

With this thought in mind, she took the initiative for the first time in her life: "Do you want to kiss me?"

///

Haha, kissing is really okay, and one-night stands aren't out either.

It feels as comfortable as lying on a sofa.

These days, relationships move so fast—we kiss and then it's time for post-dinner exercise, hahaha!

Haha, these chapters are so innocent and pure!