Chapter 64

In the coffee shop, the two said to the clerk in unison:

"She wants an Americano."

"A glass of espresso."

The clerk looked at Xiang Wan, who in turn was looking at Zhou Chengze: "One espresso, please."

"Okay." The shop assistant selected the items on the tablet and looked at him again. When Zhou Chengze heard that Xiang Wan wanted an espresso, he thought of their last conversation and felt that this was some kind of alternative acknowledgment from her.

He was a little stunned: "Then I'll have an espresso and an Americano."

"Okay, please wait a moment, it will be ready shortly."

After ordering coffee, the two fell silent for a while.

This is a 24-hour coffee shop. After they sat down, there were quite a few residents who had just been woken up and came downstairs. They ordered a cup of coffee and sat down.

Xiang Wan took a sip of her espresso, gently put the coffee cup down, and looked up at Zhou Chengze, who was looking at her. She pointed to the area around his lips, feeling a little strange.

She hadn't seen anything clearly because of the fright and the darkness outside. It wasn't until she entered the store that she noticed Zhou Chengze looked somewhat dejected.

He hadn't shaved, his hair had grown quite long, and his face looked sickly pale. In her previous life, Zhou Chengze was a very image-conscious person; even when he went out to walk his dog, he would dress impeccably. But his current appearance was quite unexpected for her.

When Zhou Chengze saw Xiang Wan pointing to her lips and touching the stubble around them, he understood what she was talking about.

He hadn't looked in a mirror for two months, and the thought of how disheveled he might look made him subconsciously uncomfortable: "I was in such a rush to leave, so..."

Xiang Wan didn't think the reason was true, but she didn't press him for details. She just nodded, not wanting to embarrass him.

After a while, when it was already bright outside, Zhou Chengze finally brought up the matter that had been bothering him for two months.

"Do you still remember the dream I mentioned to you two months ago?" Seeing that Zhou Chengze seemed to want to bring up the past life again, Xiang Wan felt a little helpless, thinking that he hadn't given up yet, until the next sentence he blurted out.

"I know about my affair."

Upon hearing this, Xiang Wan paused, her hand holding the coffee cup stiffening. The coffee cup and saucer collided with a harsh sound, and some coffee spilled out.

But her eyes remained fixed on Zhou Chengze: "What did you just say?"

Zhou Chengze tried to force a smile, but the smile was truly bitter.

“Two months ago, you…” He paused for a moment, “and after you slapped me, I dreamed again about cheating on you in the wedding dress shop.”

These words are not only difficult for the speaker to say, but also leave the listener with very mixed feelings.

The violin music in the coffee shop was soothing and lingering. Zhou Chengze looked at Xiang Wan and took a deep breath: "I'm sorry."

Upon hearing this, Xiang Wan remained silent for a long time. If she accepted his apology, it would be an indirect admission that what he said was true, and also an admission that she remembered that memory from her past life.

But after thinking for a moment, she acquiesced: "He is him, and you are you. You have never wronged me, and you don't need to apologize to me on his behalf for what he did."

Zhou Chengze didn't say anything more. The two drank their coffee in silence until they were almost empty. Then he asked her again, "Can we still be friends in the future?"

Xiang Wan looked directly into his eyes: "We are already friends."

Hearing this, Zhou Chengze breathed a sigh of relief, his tense body relaxing. As long as they were still friends and could meet occasionally in the future, he would be satisfied.

*

After Xiang Wan and Zhou Chengze left the coffee shop together, they parted ways at the intersection.

Although the apartment wasn't burned to ashes, it was filled with dust and was completely uninhabitable.

Therefore, Xiang Wan only took her mobile phone, tablet and ID card and left the apartment.

She had opened a hotel nearby. After taking a shower, she lay down on the bed and soon felt sleepy. She had only slept for a few hours to begin with, and with the addition of fever reducers, she fell asleep in no time.

When Xiang Wan woke up, it was almost 1 p.m. She glanced at her phone and found that there were 99+ missed calls in her call log, all from Chen Yan.

She had just woken up and was still a little groggy when she saw the hotel's pure white sheets and remembered the fire that had occurred in the apartment building that morning.

She could roughly guess why Chen Yan had called, but because of the medication, her brain was working more slowly than usual.

Just then, Chen Yan called again, and Xiang Wan answered without hesitation: "Hello—"

Her voice had a slight nasal tone, making it sound soft and sweet: "What's wrong?"

Upon hearing her voice, there was a pause of a few seconds on the other end of the phone: "Xiang Shuhan, where are you now?"

"In the hotel next to the apartment." For some reason, Xiang Wan explained again, which was unusual for her. "The apartment building caught fire this morning, and the furniture is covered in ash, so it's uninhabitable."

"Okay," the other person's voice sounded calm. "Wait for me where you are. I'm coming to find you now."

Before she could say anything, the call was disconnected. She picked up her phone, looked at the message indicating the call had ended, and raised an eyebrow.

If she remembered correctly, Chen Yan hadn't asked her which hotel she was in yet.

After hanging up the phone, Xiang Wan sent him the hotel's location and room number, but he didn't reply. Thinking she'd have to wait a long time, she tossed her phone aside and watched an episode of Animal World on her tablet.

On the other end of the phone, after hearing that Xiang Wan was alright, Chen Yan seemed to lose all his strength and knelt down on the ground.

Only after taking a deep breath did he stand up from the ground and take a taxi to the hotel she had sent him.

Fifteen minutes later, Xiang Wan heard a knock on the hotel room door. She peeked through the peephole and, after confirming it was Chen Yan, opened the door.

"You came so fast."

"It just so happens to be nearby."

Chen Yan's voice sounded a little hoarse: "I saw on the news that the fire was very serious."

"It's alright, probably because the building is quite high up, but the fire was discovered in time and was extinguished relatively quickly."

"Then you..." Chen Yan was interrupted by Xiang Wan before he could finish speaking, "I'm fine, Zhou Chengze saved me."

Chen Yan looked at her and said, "It's good that you're alright."

Xiang Wan's expression softened unconsciously: "Did you ask for leave to come out? Or did you skip class?"

I happen to have no classes this morning.

They were both finance majors, and their freshman year schedules were basically full of classes. How could there be a morning without classes? Xiang Wan knew he was lying, but she didn't call him out on it: "The morning break is about to end, hurry back to school."

Seeing that she was alright, Chen Yan was relieved and said, "Okay."

After he left the hotel, Xiang Wan also checked out and took a taxi to the company...

*

On the other hand, after leaving the hotel, Chen Yan did not return to the school, but went to the rented house that Zhou Chengze had rented off-campus.

After parting ways with Xiang Wan at the coffee shop, Zhou Chengze did not immediately return to his rented apartment. Instead, he went to a nearby supermarket and bought some groceries to take back home.

When he returned to his rented room with the groceries, he saw Chen Yan waiting outside the door. Chen Yan also saw him, and the two exchanged a glance but remained silent.

Zhou Chengze took out his key and opened the door, but did not close it. Chen Yan followed him in and gently closed the door.

The basement was cramped, and filled with empty wine bottles, there wasn't even room to step on the floor.

He placed the groceries he had just bought on the dining table, pulled out two stools, and Chen Yan sat down on one of the stools behind him.

The two sat across the table, but neither spoke first. It wasn't until Chen Yan broke the silence: "Thank you for saving Xiang Wan."

He wasn't there to assert his sovereignty; on the contrary, he was very glad that Zhou Chengze was willing to save Xiang Wan.

Zhou Chengze shook his head, not looking at Chen Yan, his gaze fixed on the dishes on the table. After a while, he looked up at Chen Yan and smiled slightly: "I just happened to be passing by and saw the thick smoke, so this is perfect timing."

In fact, Zhou Chengze lied.

From any perspective, he felt that Chen Yan was more worthy of Xiang Wan. Out of a sense of inferiority and guilt towards Xiang Wan, he did not want Chen Yan to misunderstand that there was something between him and Xiang Wan, so he lied.

Chen Yan knew he was lying; there were no such coincidences. But he said nothing, only leaving behind the words, "If you need my help at school, just ask me anytime," before departing.

As he opened the door to leave the rented room, he was seen by Zhou Xinyi, who had come to visit Zhou Chengze.

She brought a watermelon to see him, but because the watermelon was too heavy, she put it aside and rested for a while. Just then, she bumped into Chen Yan, who was coming out of his rented room.

She didn't go over immediately, but watched him walk away before knocking on the basement door with the watermelon in her hand.

She knocked only twice before the door opened. Zhou Chengze was taken aback when he saw it was Zhou Xinyi who had come to see him. He had assumed Chen Yan had forgotten something and that was why he was knocking.

"Xinyi, what brings you here?"

After their long talk, Zhou Chengze finally resolved his inner conflict. As long as he kept his boundaries, their relationship would remain unchanged.

However, when Zhou Xinyi saw the cut on his face, her expression suddenly changed: "Chen Yan hit you?"

Zhou Chengze was taken aback, then remembered that he seemed to have a wound on his face. But this was not the wound he got when he saved Xiang Wan. It was the wound he got when he lost his footing and fell on the steps downstairs at Xiang Wan’s apartment building because his legs were numb.

When he heard Zhou Xinyi mistakenly believe that Chen Yan was the one who hit him, he knew she had seen Chen Yan leave. He shook his head but did not explain the source of the wound.

Zhou Xinyi didn't believe it and frowned as she was about to confront Chen Yan, but Zhou Chengze stopped her and told her the truth: "I fell by myself."

Seeing that the other person seemed unconvinced, he emphasized again, "It's true."

Zhou Xinyi was still somewhat doubtful, and that's why she didn't go looking for Chen Yan again. However, Zhou Chengze was still a little worried and added, "Don't go looking for trouble with Chen Yan or Awan."

Ever since he dreamt of their ill-fated relationship in their past life, he has become somewhat wary of Zhou Xinyi, even his speech has become less patient. He himself can't tell, but Zhou Xinyi can sense all these subtle changes.

When she heard Xiang Wan's name, her back stiffened slightly. She wanted to turn around and explain that she wouldn't do that, but then she heard Zhou Chengze's next reprimand.

"Xinyi, there are many outstanding boys in college, and you've reached the age where you should be dating."

Zhou Xinyi paused, her hand holding the watermelon bag still. After a moment, she turned back, pretending to be nonchalant, and forced a smile as she looked at him, saying, "So, brother, what kind of guy do you think I should date?"

"Only the most outstanding boy is worthy of our Xinyi..."

'But I am the only one who cannot.' Zhou Chengze did not say the second half of the sentence.

"Brother, I'll talk to you when I meet the right person."

"Um."

Zhou Xinyi couldn't remember what they said after that. Ever since Zhou Chengze asked her to date, she had been in a daze.

As they walked out of the rented apartment, Zhou Chengze offered to see her off, but she refused, saying, "Brother, you don't need to see me off. I remember the way back."

"Be careful on the road."

"good."

Her voice remained sweet, but as she closed the basement door, she turned her back to him and burst into tears.

Zhou Xinyi didn't even know how she got back to the dormitory. Like a walking corpse, she sat down at her desk and took out an exercise book from a compartment in the wardrobe next to her.

The notebook was already a bit yellowed, until I turned to one of the pages—a portrait drawn by Zhou Chengze in his third year of junior high school.

A beautiful girl in a warm orange dress, with her hair in a bun, stood ramrod straight, exuding an air of elegance like a white swan.

Although the faces of the miniature figures are blank, those familiar with them can recognize who they are simply by their expressions.

Zhou Xinyi stared blankly at the portrait, seemingly lost in thought, not even hearing her roommate call her name from behind...