Chapter Thirty-Five

You Congxi and Officer Rabbit stared blankly at the glowing screen.

The blade of grass she was holding was about to fall out of her mouth, but she managed to pick it up again with a single effort.

Depend on.

You Congxi slapped the rabbit police officer who was spying on the screen away, kicked the trash can under her feet back to its original position, and closed the open drawer tightly. Everything seemed to have returned to normal. She slowly leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling, hysterical.

That makes sense.

The high-end moving truck downstairs, the corner of the sofa in the WeChat Moments, the stair railing in a fleeting glance... even the similar eyes—but Shen Yue's eye shape is still a bit smoother, You Congxi calmly, objectively and fairly believes.

Why didn't I see him when I knocked on the door?

Yu Congxi's peripheral vision drifted uncontrollably toward the cell phone in the corner of the desk.

Do you want it back?

She hesitated for a moment, then picked up her phone and ran her index finger along the pad of her thumb.

never mind.

She turned off the screen and put the phone back in its place.

The phone's upper right corner showed 21:32 Beijing time, a normal time for humans to fall asleep, so not replying to messages was understandable.

Thinking of this, she picked up her phone again and replied, "Going to sleep."

After staring at the ceiling and counting sheep for a few seconds, You Congxi sat up straight, picked up his pen, and began writing the remaining derivative problems.

When she is working on problems, especially subjects like math that require thinking, she has a habit of supporting her forehead with her left hand while thinking. Qu Qi jokingly says that this is how she communicates with Hua Luogeng, Gauss, and others who are far away in heaven through brainwaves.

She tapped the last dot, exhaled, and her peripheral vision gradually spread from the exam paper to the surroundings. Her phone remained silent, not vibrating at all in the ten minutes since it lastd.

She looked away, slowly tidied up her homework, and then stuffed it all into her schoolbag.

The desk vibrated as if it had been powered on.

You Congxi was stunned for a moment, and it took him a few seconds to pick up his phone and check the message.

[DaiY: Okay, goodnight.]

You Congxi tossed the phone back without any expression.

She randomly picked up a political science book and began to memorize it with blank eyes. After what seemed like an eternity, her mouth was dry as she went through the key points of a unit. She took a sip of water and casually glanced at the clock on the wall. The hour hand had already passed ten o'clock.

The phone on the corner of the table remained unresponsive, as expected.

You Congxi suppressed her urge to go back to "Late Night," packed her books, and unintentionally met the gaze of the little bear with beady eyes on her bedside table. She paused for a moment.

"......"

A moment later, she got up to go to the bathroom to wash her hands. The little bear that had been sitting upright on the head of the bed with a smile was now lying face down at the foot of the bed, as if it had been slapped and thrown there by someone.

The rabbit police officer, who had just woken up after being slapped to the ground, jumped onto the bed. Seeing this, she and the little yellow bear, who had been inexplicably beaten up, passionately cursed the criminal You, concluding that she was a super invincible perverted violent maniac.

The violent woman absentmindedly washed her hands. The cool water reminded her of a post she had read that said people who vent their emotions by using dolls usually have violent tendencies.

She turned off the tap, shook her hands, grabbed a towel from the side to dry her hands, hung the towel up again, and walked out of the bathroom with a cold laugh.

She's violent even when it comes to hitting dolls; it's good enough that she didn't hit anyone. The world should be grateful to her, at least she didn't take a knife and go around slashing people indiscriminately just because she was unhappy.

Lying in bed with her phone in hand, she felt her limbs relax. The emotions that had been raging inside her all night finally calmed down, and drowsiness rose, her upper eyelids drooping heavily.

But it would be a shame to fall asleep like that. She had finally managed to play on her phone for a while, so she naturally wouldn't give it up so easily.

Forcing his eyelids open, You Congxi unlocked his phone. After seeing the contents of the screen, he shuddered, and all sleepiness vanished.

The screen was still on the chat interface that she hadn't had time to exit before turning off the screen. Compared to what she remembered, there was clearly one more message from the other party.

You Congxi suspected she was still sleepy, so she rubbed her eyes and looked at them again.

The message that was sent at some unknown time still lies quietly in its place.

[DaiY: I baked a cake, want to come out and eat?]

She glanced at the sending time again.

Five minutes ago.

Did he not leave? Or did he come back?

You couldn't have been waiting since you sent the first message, could you...?

You Congxi immediately rejected the idea.

How could that be? No one would be that stupid...right?

"Are you awake?"

Shen Yue looked at the tightly closed door in front of him, first opened it a crack, paused for a few seconds, and then slowly pulled it open wider and wider until the full appearance of the person inside was revealed.

He raised an eyebrow, made a cheeky joke, couldn't help but yawn, and pushed the tray he was carrying forward a little.

"Here, carrot cake and orange juice, hot. Don't eat too much since it's so late."

You Congxi leaned against the doorframe without moving. She looked at the small, exquisite cakes on the tray and the steaming hot orange juice in a ceramic cup with a cartoon cat design. After a while, she suddenly asked, "When did you arrive?"

Was it five minutes ago, or... thirty minutes ago?

Shen Yue thought for a moment: "A few minutes ago, when I sent you a message." He went home to get some hot orange juice.

You Congxi's tense shoulders suddenly relaxed. She said "Oh," took the tray, and said politely, "Thank you, the cake smells delicious."

Shen Yue felt a weight lift from his hand and breathed a sigh of relief.

I thought I would have to wait at the door until the day he turned to ashes a hundred years later.

It seems she has forgiven him.

You Congxi, completely unaware of his inner thoughts, looked at him while holding the tray and asked, "You... moved?"

Shen Yue said, "I wanted to sleep in a little longer every day. I never expected that we would become neighbors. It's such a coincidence."

“I see,” You Congxi nodded slowly, “So, who opened the door for me today was…”

“Oh, my cousin, come help me tidy up. I wasn’t home at the time, and he told me when I got back that you were my neighbor,” Shen Yue said.

"Does your cousin know me?"

"...I saw his photo on the official WeChat account. He's two grades ahead of us and also from No. 1 Middle School."

"Oh," You Congxi nodded, the tray in her hands feeling rather heavy. "Then I'll head back now, I'll give it to you tomorrow..."

Before he could finish speaking, the door across the hall suddenly opened, and Shen Yue's cousin poked half his body out, saying to Shen Yue, "Aren't you going home yet? You've been waiting for over half an hour; they might have already..."

He seemed to have just noticed You Congxi. He paused, his furrowed brows relaxed, and he nodded to You Congxi: "Excuse me, you two talk."

After saying that, he shrank back, and the half-open door closed tightly again.

Shen Yue gritted his teeth at the closed door, then turned to explain to You Congxi, "Don't listen to his nonsense. I really just arrived, otherwise why would this orange juice still be steaming?"

You Congxi pursed her lips and remained silent.

Shen Yue was both anxious and angry, and she almost wanted to rush home and drag that bastard Shen Zhou out to explain to her herself.

How long he waits outside is his own business. Just because he waited half an hour to swim in the stream doesn't mean he has to forgive her. Trying to force a girl to forgive him through a voluntary act that has no cost is shameless and moral blackmail.

"...Why did you wait for me?"

After hesitating for a while, Shen Yue told the truth.

He scratched his face a little embarrassed: "I'm afraid... you won't be able to find me when you come out."

Seeing that she remained silent, Shen Yue quickly added, "I wasn't trying to take credit. How long I'm willing to wait is my own business. What happened in the group chat today was all because of me. You were completely innocent victims. I was just thinking of baking a cake for you..."

"Thanks."

"What?" You Congxi's voice was too soft for Chen Yue to hear.

“I said,” You Congxi cleared her throat and looked into his amber eyes, “let’s go to school together tomorrow morning.”

Before Shen Yue could speak, she quickly added, "If you're even a minute late leaving the house, you're dead."