Chapter 69 Strategy: On the sixty-ninth day, let's first establish the relationship...

Upon hearing the news that Bai Jiangxin was about to go abroad, Xiang Di hurriedly called Ye Minjia.

"No way, he went abroad, so what? There's nothing to miss about him?" Ye Minjia gritted her teeth. "His dad, his family, you, me, Wang Gou and the others, are we all just NPCs in his life? He didn't even come back to see us for the New Year, does he have any conscience?!"

"Uncle Bai asked me to try to persuade him, but even Uncle Bai couldn't persuade him, so how could I persuade him on my own?"

That outdated idea of ​​wanting love above all else is an old-fashioned idol drama trope from eight hundred years ago. Uncle Bai, a big boss with several Rolls-Royces at home, actually believes in this kind of idol drama trope, thinking that as long as the female lead appears, the male lead will give up everything for her. That's a bit too naive.

“Squad leader, come with me,” Xiang Di pleaded. “He must have thought we were going to break up with him, that’s why he said those harsh things.”

"Go, we have to go! Damn it, I didn't even mind that he's sick, and he dared to unilaterally break off our friendship. Where is that kid now? We're going to find him right now."

"Uncle Bai told me to come to the international airport to see him in two days."

"...Why do we have to go to the airport? The airport is so far away, can't we just go to his house?"

"But Uncle Bai said he's not home right now, so we'll have to go to the airport to find him."

"Fine, fine," Ye Minjia couldn't help but complain, "...Going to the airport to chase someone, like they're filming a TV drama."

After hanging up the phone, Xiang Di was still a little worried.

Relying solely on her and the class monitor doesn't feel like a safe bet.

She had to let Bai Jiangxin know that it wasn't just her and the class monitor; many other people were also reluctant to part with him.

-

When Bai Jiangxin asked his father to call Xiang Di, he clearly remembered the look of disgust and reluctance on his father's face.

However.

Two days later at the international airport, he sat in the airport hall, looking at the several large suitcases on the luggage cart, then at the bodyguard pushing the suitcases, and looked at his father, speechless: "Was that necessary?"

Bai Guang: "If you're going to act, you have to go all the way. If you don't bring any luggage, how can people believe you?"

Bai Jiangxin twitched his lips very slightly.

Bai Guang raised his hand to look at his watch and said, "We should be there soon."

Just as he finished speaking, his phone rang. Bai Guang answered it, and a girl's anxious voice came from the other end: "Uncle, we've arrived. Has Bai Jiangxin not left yet?"

us?

Bai Guang replied, "Not yet, we're in the airport lobby, you..."

"Okay, thank you, Uncle. Bye-bye, Uncle."

I wanted to ask her if she came alone, but the call had already ended.

Bai Guang said to his son, "The child is almost here. I'll wait for you in the car."

Bai Jiangxin: "Aren't you staying here?"

Bai Guang: "No, thank you."

He hates it when young people show affection in public, even if that person is his own son.

Moreover, he didn't want to see two eighteen-year-olds kissing passionately in front of him.

No sooner had Bai Guang and his bodyguard left than a frantic figure rushed in through the airport gate.

Bai Jiangxin had been staring at the doorway, so he spotted her immediately, and his dark eyes lit up slightly.

At the same time, Xiang Di also saw him and hurriedly tried to pull at the clothes of the person next to her.

The two ran towards him at the same time, but because Ye Minjia had a height advantage, he reached him before Xiang Di.

Bai Jiangxin was stunned. He hadn't realized why Ye Minjia was there. Ye Minjia glared at him fiercely, cursed at him, and then threw a heavy punch at him.

Bai Jiangxin was knocked to the side by the blow, and he covered half of his face in disbelief. Just as he was about to question what was wrong with him, Ye Minjia hugged him without any warning.

"You son of a bitch! You son of a bitch Bai Jiangxin!" Ye Minjia cursed as she clung to him tightly, "I must have had the worst luck in eight lifetimes to know such a cold-blooded and heartless bastard like you!"

He was cursing with his mouth and cursing in his heart, and he was cursing even more filthy. Bai Jiangxin couldn't stand it and wanted to push him away.

Xiang Di arrived at this moment and, hearing the class monitor cursing, quickly stepped forward to mediate the fight.

"Squad leader, squad leader, calm down."

With their combined efforts, the two of them finally managed to pull Ye Minjia away.

"Ye Minjia, what's wrong with you?"

Bai Jiangxin's left cheek still stung slightly, and he was slightly annoyed. However, when he saw Ye Minjia's slightly red eyes, he was stunned.

"You're the one who's gone mad, Bai Jiangxin!" Ye Minjia grabbed his collar and yelled at him with red eyes, "Your phone is off, and I can't reach you. If Xiang Di hadn't told me, I wouldn't have even known you were leaving. Have you ever considered me a friend?!"

Faced with Ye Minjia's furious questioning, Bai Jiangxin opened his lips and said, "Didn't you say you needed to digest it?"

"So what?" Ye Minjia continued to yell at him, "Why didn't you even ask me how I'm processing this, or if I can accept it?"

Ye Minjia admitted that he couldn't accept it or believe it at the time, and he was stunned for more than a minute in the coffee shop.

When Bai Jiangxin's mother claimed to be a medical doctor, he even wondered for a moment if this was some kind of new scam.

It was unbelievable; anyone would be stunned. But as the woman calmly and clearly analyzed the situation, she asked them if they had never noticed before that Bai Jiangxin could always guess what they were thinking.

Of course it exists. After being classmates for so long and spending every day together, how could it not exist? But no one would think of this as mind reading. But when his mother said that, all the details suddenly came together.

Bai Jiangxin hates physical contact. He hates crowded places and would rather starve than share chopsticks with someone.

Before me stood Bai Jiangxin's mother. No mother would make such a joke about her son that even a kindergarten child might not believe.

That day, Bai Jiangxin's mother kept trying to persuade them, saying how terrifying it was to be mind-read. Even if they were doing well now and had no conflicts, who could guarantee that their true feelings wouldn't change?

Ye Minjia still couldn't be sure until Bai Jiangxin admitted it himself. Only then did he finally realize the biggest secret in the heart of his good brother who had spent three years with him.

During the more than 1,000 days of his three years of high school, Ye Minjia didn't know how many of his innermost thoughts he had overheard, which initially gave him the creeps.

When he first learned about it, he couldn't face Bai Jiangxin. Fortunately, Bai Jiangxin didn't appear in front of him during those days, otherwise he wasn't sure if he would have shown a terrified expression in front of him.

At the class reunion, after drinking too much, some classmates went crazy and others cried. Several of the boys who were particularly close to each other, who usually said things like "I am your father and you are my son," burst into tears, saying, "Brothers, I can't bear to part with you."

Several close female friends hugged each other and made a promise that even if they went to different universities in the future, they would still get together every winter and summer vacation.

Ye Minjia was well-liked, and many classmates came to toast him to thank him for taking care of him over the past three years. However, he still felt that something was missing.

The person who clearly hated the smell of alcohol, but would always carry him home after dinner when he was drunk, was gone.

After the dinner party that day, Ye Minjia went home by herself, and felt a sense of emptiness after sobering up.

Right opposite his bed hangs a poster signed by a star athlete that Bai Jiangxin gave him when he was in his first year of high school.

He stared at the poster, remembering his treasured limited-edition sneakers that he had barely worn, and the new game console that even his father coveted—all gifts from Bai Jiangxin, each one cherished in his heart.

If you insist that these gifts are too materialistic, then what about the King of Glory game account that dropped in rank but was then boosted back up by Bai Jiangxin, and the more than 1,000 days of real time spent together?

After much deliberation, on the day Xiang Di called him out of the private room for a heart-to-heart talk, Ye Minjia finally admitted that he couldn't bear to part with him.

Love is selfish, and so is friendship. A person can have many, many friends, but only one best friend.

Ye Minjia was always proud. Whenever people talked about Bai Jiangxin, they all knew that he had a best friend, and that was Ye Minjia.

Bai Jiangxin is also his best friend. So what if he can read minds? Bai Jiangxin's kindness has nothing to do with mind reading.

But after she struggled through it all and figured things out, that bastard Bai Jiangxin wanted to leave, and even said he wouldn't come back for the New Year.

How could Ye Minjia not be angry?

The moment he saw Bai Jiangxin at the airport, he was both angry and reluctant to part with him. He felt that this bastard was really heartless and that he had wasted his sincerity of the past three years.

For the first time, he showed Bai Jiangxin no respect. In the bustling airport hall, he pointed at Bai Jiangxin's nose and cursed him, calling him heartless and saying that he had wasted the past three years.

He thought Bai Jiangxin would be very angry, and he was prepared to argue back, but Bai Jiangxin didn't say a word. He just quietly let him yell at him, and then whispered an apology to him.

Ye Minjia's tears fell instantly, and she hugged him tightly.

Bai Jiangxin's eyes stung slightly. Amidst Ye Minjia's heart-wrenching sobs, he looked at Xiang Di standing to the side.

Tears welled up in her eyes. She sniffed hard and looked at them with deep emotion.

She started crying too; everyone around him seemed to be a crybaby.

I originally intended to trick her, but I ended up tricking Ye Minjia instead.

From the day he became friends with Ye Minjia, Bai Jiangxin foresaw that the two of them would eventually part ways. He always felt that Ye Minjia had many friends and a good personality, so it wouldn't matter if he lost one of them.

The moment Ye Minjia learned the truth, he was already prepared to break off their friendship.

Ye Minjia called him heartless, and he truly wasn't.

He never dared to invest too much emotion in this friendship.

But he always remembered that one day after the start of his first year of high school, when the autumn wind was blowing and Ye Minjia said to him for the first time: "Hello, deskmate, please take care of me from now on."

I also remember Ye Minjia tolerating all his aloofness and indifference, and always trying to bring him into lively crowds.

Bai Jiangxin lowered his eyes and silently hugged Ye Minjia back.

-

After a heartfelt hug, Ye Minjia belatedly realized how awkward it was.

That's how people are; when they're emotional, they're capable of anything. Only after they calm down do they realize they were too impulsive.

"Well, you two chat," he said, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm going out for some fresh air."

Then he rushed to Di and gave her a look, indicating that the rest was up to her.

After Ye Minjia left, Xiang Di suddenly went from being a touching witness to their friendship to becoming the main character.

She said somewhat stiffly, "You and the class monitor have a really good relationship."

Bai Jiangxin asked directly, "What about you and me?"

Xiang Di nodded. It was all the class monitor's fault for raising the emotions too high just now. She was a little out of sorts now and didn't know what to use as an opening line.

“I’m sorry about that night,” Bai Jiangxin said first.

Xiang Di looked up in a daze.

"I know you were in a very awkward situation back then and couldn't face me, but I still forced you to accept me. I'm sorry."

"No," Xiang Di quickly said, "I was also at fault. I was in a bad mood that day, and I talked incoherently. I also didn't explain some things to you clearly, which made you sad."

"First, I need to clarify one thing: I really don't see you as... a monster."

Xiang Di found it hard to say this unpleasant title, because she never thought Bai Jiangxin was one.

How could Bai Jiangxin be?

Even when his mother was urging her to leave him, she never thought that way.

Her mother reminded her that if they were together, she would lose all privacy in front of him, which gave her a slight tremor and a sense of dread.

“I am his mother. Sometimes I find him scary. Every time he looks at me, I feel like I am being stared at by a monster. But I have no choice. Because I am his mother, I cannot abandon him. I have to take him abroad for treatment. Can you understand my painstaking efforts?”

"He's nice to you now because he likes you, but if you break up one day, he might take revenge on you. What will you do if he tells other people your secrets?"

Upon hearing this, Xiang Di's expression changed.

It wasn't for Bai Jiangxin, but for his mother.

This shouldn't be something a mother would say.

She wanted to argue, but then her mother said that because of this illness, Bai Jiangxin could not grow up carefree like a normal child, so she hesitated.

She disliked what Bai Jiangxin's mother said, but she felt sorry for Bai Jiangxin.

She wasn't a doctor and couldn't cure his illness, but his mother could.

“Auntie, I understand your good intentions, but I think you may not have lived with Bai Jiangxin for many years, so you don’t know him.”

Xiang Di's tone was soft but firm: "Whether we stay together or separate in the future, I will not worry that he will tell others my secrets. He is definitely not that kind of person. Please stop making such malicious guesses about him. It sounds very uncomfortable."

"Whether this disease is curable or not, Bai Jiangxin is not a monster in my heart. Your denigration of him will not resonate with me at all."

At the risk of offending his mother, Xiang Di couldn't help but say these words.

After saying this, his mother's expression turned somewhat unpleasant, and Xiang Di felt that the conversation could not continue.

She left in such a hurry that she even forgot to take the dessert she had brought for him from the shop.

She was thinking of buying him another copy next time, but that very night, Bai Jiangxin came looking for her.

At that time, she hadn't sorted out her feelings, her speech was illogical, she was rambling on and on, and she was still crying. So she didn't explain anything clearly and ended up driving him away. In the days that followed, she repeatedly thought back on it and realized that it was an extremely bad conversation.

Thinking of this, Xiang Di couldn't help but sigh.

"I absolutely did not mean to dump you, really." Her voice was tinged with emotion. "You've always been able to hear my feelings. You should know that I liked you long before you liked me, so..."

Bai Jiangxin's voice was a little hoarse: "So what?"

"so……"

Hurry up and speak, you shut-up! Otherwise, he'll fly away in a minute!

Xiang Di suddenly remembered something: "Oh right! How much longer until you board? I want to show you something."

She took out her phone to show him.

"This is a farewell video that I asked everyone in the class to record for you. But don't worry, they don't know you're going for medical treatment. They all think you're going to school. Take a look."

The video is a bit long, and it starts with Wang Sichen's face, which is both playful and a little nervous.

"Wow, why are you going abroad to study? You top students are so carefree, taking the college entrance exam like it's nothing."

"Actually, I really admire you. I didn't understand why Ye Minjia could tolerate being friends with you before, but during the month we were deskmates, you patiently explained the questions to me again and again. Even when I really couldn't understand, you didn't scold me. You would break the questions down and continue explaining them to me. Several times when I didn't do well on the test, you would quietly put away your test paper and not let me see your score. You thought I didn't notice, but I had already seen it."

"Everyone has their own future. You should study hard there, bring glory to the country, crush those foreigners, and show them how awesome Chinese students are, haha. Anyway, I wish you all the best abroad."

Then there was the video Liang Qianqian recorded, and even Zhou Linxiao recorded a video for him.

"Maybe it's because you're so outstanding that I feel insecure, which is why we've never really gotten along. But that night we played zombies together, rode bicycles together, sang 'Cheers' together, and I even saw you smile. I think if we could spend more time together, we might become very good friends."

With a gentle smile in his jewel-like, sparkling olive-colored eyes, Zhou Linxiao said, "Anyway, Bai Jiangxin, it's really a pleasure to meet you."

After that, it was the other students' turn. Almost everyone recorded. Perhaps they were too shy to face the camera, so they didn't say anything sentimental. The recordings weren't long, but everyone said they were lucky to be in the same class as him in high school and wished him all the best.

Tell him to remember to come back to China when he has time, and that there will always be a place for him at the Class of '97 reunion.

Although he is aloof and doesn't like to interact with others, everyone secretly admires him and tries to catch up with him.

At the end of the video, there was even a blessing from the homeroom teacher, Chen Jinghua.

"Your teacher has always known that you are an excellent and kind child. Your teacher is especially honored to have met you and taught you over the past three years."

Chen Jinghua, unlike his usual serious demeanor, smiled slightly and spoke in a gentle and loving tone.

"Bai Jiangxin, the road ahead is long and arduous, but I hope you will take firm steps and persevere through wind and rain. I hope you will have a clear path in your heart. No matter where you are or what job you do in the future, your teacher will always be proud of you. I wish you a bright future and all the best."

Xiang Di thought that she might not be able to soften his heart on her own, but if she let him know that everyone in the class liked him, she would definitely be able to soften his heart.

She always wanted many people to love him and to show him the exciting world, but she overlooked one thing: Bai Jiangxin was a very, very good person.

So she doesn't need to do anything special. What she needs to do is let him know that this love, besides her and the class monitor, comes from many other people. They are not NPCs in his life, but a group of real people in this city who love him.

After watching the video, Xiang Di looked up at him and smiled, "Teacher Chen's writing is so good, you wouldn't guess he teaches chemistry, would you?"

Bai Jiangxin kept his eyes down, staring at the video screen that had already finished playing, his eyes flickering, and he hummed in agreement.

He asked her softly, "Why aren't you here?"

Xiang Di pursed her lips shyly: "Because I plan to tell you in person."

Even if he could read minds, she felt that some things were only meaningful if she said them aloud in person.

She can't stay so timid forever.

Xiang Di took a deep breath, looked at him, and said with genuine emotion.

"Um, thank you."

"For so long, you have silently tolerated my excessive thoughts about you."

"Actually, after learning that you can read minds, this is what I most wanted to say to you," she said.

It was a pity that she couldn't say it that night, but now that she had finally said it, Xiang Di breathed a sigh of relief, and the rest of the conversation felt much easier.

"If you don't mind how much I fantasized about you before, and you're still willing to be with me, could we... define our relationship before you go abroad?"

"I know long-distance relationships can be tough, but I'll keep going."

As he spoke, Xiang Di nodded firmly to himself first.

She was the only one who insisted that it was useless; dating was a matter between two people. So she asked him, "But could you... come back every year for Chinese New Year? Not just to see me, but also to see the class monitor, the teachers, and the other classmates."

As soon as she finished speaking, the air seemed to freeze.

Bai Jiangxin stood in front of her, his gaze slightly unfocused, his hands hanging at his sides slowly tightening.

Why isn't he reacting?

Xiang Di tried calling him: "Bai Jiangxin?"

Hearing her call him, Bai Jiangxin finally showed a slight reaction.

His eyelids trembled, and an unconcealable warmth swirled in his eyes. He had to close his eyes to suppress the stinging sensation.

He's gone too far with the performance, and now he's completely out of control.

Call this whole thing a setup or a moral blackmail, I'll admit it. Even if she finds out later, I'll let her scold or beat me as she pleases.

He just wanted to be with her, to get her to ask him to stay, to win her back.

But she never changed her mind or changed her mind. She didn't abandon him. Not only did she come today, but she came like a little angel, carrying a bag full of love in her arms.

The bag contained not only her love, but also the love of others. She told him, "Look, look, many people love you."

Bai Jiangxin finally understood what the old lady had said to him.

Human hearts are complex, but there will always be someone who truly loves you and makes you feel the kindness of this world.

Xiang Di is the greatest kindness this complex world has bestowed upon him.

The moment the warm tears welled up in her eyes, the high wall in her heart completely collapsed, and a flood of sunlight poured in. Bai Jiangxin suddenly pulled her into his arms.

"...What did you eat to grow up like this?"

Xiang Di let out a puzzled "Ah".

Being a crybaby is contagious. One or two people around him were crybabies, and Bai Jiangxin also became a crybaby. But this time, it wasn't because he was afraid of being abandoned by her, but because he was too happy, so happy that he couldn't hold back his tears.

“…How can you be so good?” He buried his head in the crook of her neck, his warmth falling on her clothes, his low, husky voice filled with sobs as he repeated, “…How can you be so good?”