Chapter 145: Change of Signature

Exit the interface.

In the text message inbox, the top contact was Xu Jiaojiao, whom she secretly added while making a phone call on New Year's Eve.

Her profile picture was set to her favorite little yellow duck.

Along with the two good morning and good night messages she sent at a fixed time every day, it seemed to beep when she squeezed it, just like the electronic animals she kept in her phone.

Such a quiet night before we set off for Beijing.

She must have been overthinking it.

It's half past four and the birds in the trees haven't woken up yet. There's no point in thinking about it now. It's impossible to wake anyone up with just a phone call.

Su Xia couldn't sleep anymore. She tossed and turned with her pillow until dawn. She scrolled through her phone for a long time without knowing what she was looking at. She finally made it to almost eight o'clock and sent a message to Xu Jiqing.

[The news said that it's the peak season for people returning to work during the Spring Festival travel rush, and the train station is packed. I'm planning to go an hour early.]

【When will you arrive? 】

Fortunately.

Before she could even start to think about it, the other party replied immediately.

Xu Jiqing: [12:30.]

【I'll wait for you in front of the ticket gate. 】

Their train leaves at one o'clock.

Now that he has given such a specific time, it should be fine.

Su Xia's restless uneasiness in her heart only subsided a little. She hesitated for a long time, not knowing what to ask next.

Xu Jiqing: [Have you brought all the required paper materials?]

【Check your ID card and admission ticket again.】

Su Xia sat up hugging the pillow, "I'll check after dinner."

Xu Jiqing replied, "Let's watch it now."

Su Xia said "oh", rubbed her hair, and obediently turned over and got out of bed.

She seemed to be used to being controlled.

When Xu Jiqing spoke to her nicely, she was so panicked that she wanted to run around the room, but when his tone became colder, she was soothed instead.

It feels like being hugged tightly and tightly, not free but safe.

She walked barefoot to the desk, took the folder out of her bag, and took a picture of him.

Xu Jiqing added, "Bring two extra layers of thick clothing."

【It’s very cold in the north.】

Su Xia typed on her phone, "Mom brought me a lot of pants, all fleece-lined."

It has been snowing and windy in Beijing these days. As soon as the sun sets, the temperature drops to nearly minus ten degrees Celsius.

Su Xiaojuan couldn't leave her company without someone, and because no one could accompany her to Beijing, she over-prepared for half a month.

Every day, whether she had something to do or not, she would stare at the Beijing weather forecast on her mobile phone. When she remembered something, she would buy something. The express deliveries piled up like a mountain in the living room, as if she was not going to take an exam, but to exile.

Su Xia felt better. [Put the lining of your down jacket back in place, okay?]

[I have a large grey scarf with no patterns, you can wear it when the time comes.]

"If it gets colder, please stay closer to me. I've had a high body temperature since I was a child."

She remembered something and added with a blush on her cheeks, "My pockets are warm too."

Xu Jiqing replied, "Okay."

Although she couldn’t accompany him to the exam, Su Xiaojuan still had to go to the train station with him.

Just after eleven o'clock, Su Lijun had already taken the suitcase downstairs. Su Xia changed her shoes and prepared to go out. At the last moment, she hurried back to the bedroom and hurriedly took out a power bank and a pen.

Su Xiaojuan couldn't understand, "Didn't you already fill up your bag?"

"This is different," Su Xia said, "He Miao went to the Confucian Temple two days ago. This pen was blessed and it's very effective."

Su Xiaojuan got into the car first, curled her red lips, and said, "Confucius even controls the violin."

"Of course."

"It's all about rituals and music," Su Xia rubbed against her side, "and we also have cultural exams. Your daughter is no longer the same as before. She can now catch up with others with her scores in Chinese, math, and English. You have to keep steady."

Su Xiaojuan pinched her ear and continued with He Miao's topic, "If you hadn't said that the little girl and her mother were there, I really wouldn't dare let you go alone."

"But you're arriving in the afternoon and she's arriving in the evening. Why do you have to go to the train station and squeeze with the crowds?"

Su Xia chuckled and tried to smooth it over, "Everyone is like this, I don't want to be special."

not to mention.

Even for the high-speed rail, she is already making special arrangements.

Su Xiaojuan bought her a business class ticket, which is three or four times more expensive than an ordinary second class seat for the same distance, for fear that she would suffer on the journey.

She had thought it all out in advance.

The ticket that Xu Jiqing later found was in carriage 10.

No matter who sits next to him, she will exchange her business class seat with the other person. As long as the passenger is traveling alone, no one should refuse her.

Arriving at the train station, Su Xia hugged her mother goodbye and sat in the spacious waiting room for business passengers until 12:20, feeling a little restless.

She carried her cello case on her back, ran to the ticket gate where she had agreed to meet Xu Jiqing, and stood on tiptoe to look behind the crowd.

Xu Jiqing's hometown is in the Midwest, and he is much taller than boys of the same age in the south.

She is tall, has a small face, and is as fair as if she had only used a filter. Even if she were wearing a black down jacket like everyone else, she would not blend into the crowd. In theory, she should be easy to recognize.

But by the time the entrances that had been opened in advance for business class seats were closed, passengers in first and second class seats had to queue up in long lines for ticket checking.

Su Xia walked along the team from the beginning to the end, looking hard at the middle of the crowded line, but still did not see Xu Jiqing's shadow.

It's a cloudy day today.

Dim light streamed down from the dome of the train station, the crowds were noisy, and the air had the peculiar smell of winter clothes that had been worn for a long time.

Su Xia's heartbeat became chaotic again, and she took out her cell phone.

At 12:20, Xu Jiqing said in the message, "Still on the way."

But it's already a quarter to twelve.

He was never one to be late.

She took two forced deep breaths, [Where are we?]

Xu Jiqing: [There are still a few stops.]

[You check your ticket and get on the bus first, don't wait for me.]

Something is wrong.

Xu Jiqing would not make promises easily.

But anything he said would not be treated so lightly.

As long as they had an appointment, he would never make her wait.

Not to mention telling him not to wait for him.

She had been standing there without moving, the cello case on her back being heavy and getting in the way. The passengers behind her squeezed forward impatiently, raising their arms to nudge her, "If you're not taking this bus, please don't delay other people in the queue, okay?"

Su Xia apologized softly and walked out of the team.

I found an open space near the information desk and called Xu Jiqing.

It took half a minute for the other party to answer the call.

He seemed to be on the subway, and the background noise was not much quieter than hers. The voices of passengers and the crying children were muffled by the sound of electricity.

Su Xia looked up at the time on the big screen at the train station. "It's already 12:50, you..."

The high-speed rail stops ticket checking five minutes in advance.

She wanted to say.

Did you meet anyone or anything?

No matter how dangerous the situation is.

She would turn around and run to him to be with him.

But Xu Jiqing interrupted her, "I can't catch this train, so I changed to the next one."

"You go first and take your original seat. We'll meet when we get to Beijing."

"obedient."

He said.