go sightseeing

After hanging up the phone, Zhao Ping stopped tidying his clothes, his eyes vacant, his voice filled with the disappointment of his child leaving his side: "I kept clinging to a sliver of hope, thinking that only those with connections would stay in a place like a dance troupe, and that Xiaxia would never stay in Xinfeng no matter what, but how did she end up staying?"

Shen Ke was also in low spirits, but he still comforted Zhao Ping: "It can only mean that our daughter is too outstanding. The dance troupe selected one out of a thousand from Xinfeng Normal School, Xinfeng Art College and Dance Academy. She was the only one selected. Actually..." Shen Ke paused and sighed before finishing his sentence: "She must have suffered so much."

"I shouldn't have let her go to Xinfeng University; I should have let her go to Yi'an University instead." Zhao Ping regretted his decision back then.

Shen Ke shook his head: "You know how determined Xia Xia is. She spent several days arguing with us about applying for a dance major. In the end, she was willing to spend twice as much time pursuing a double degree so that dance would be her main major. With her personality, she won't listen to anyone's opinion unless it's her own. We've tried to persuade her to stay in Yi'an so many times, and she even came up with the idea of ​​finding her a boyfriend, but what good did it do?"

Zhao Ping frowned: "I wonder who he took after in terms of personality."

Shen Ke also expressed slight regret: "Given her personality, once the matter of staying in the group is settled, she won't drag things out with Yang Zheng."

A moment later, he added, "I really like that kid."

“Who can argue with that?” Zhao Ping said regretfully. “If only we had a son-in-law like that… what a pity…”

New Feng.

As night fell and streetlights began to illuminate the view outside the window, Shen Anxia remained curled up quietly on the sofa without turning on the lights.

Liu Shanshan, who shared the apartment with me, went back to her hometown the day before yesterday, making the empty house feel even more desolate.

Over the years, Shen Anxia has lived a full and fulfilling life, and rarely has she experienced such self-destructive emotions. But tonight, she is overwhelmed with negative feelings and truly just wants to sit quietly.

When Shen Anxia received the news that she would stay with the group, she thought of Yang Zheng, but she forcefully suppressed that feeling.

What should she and Yang Zheng do?

Yang Zheng was dating her with marriage in mind.

But what about her? It would be a lie to say she wasn't attracted to such an outstanding person. But if she were in Xinfeng and he were in Yi'an, separated by Pusu, how would they maintain their relationship, and how could they possibly get married?

She'd seen too many long-distance relationships. How many long-distance couples at her school had broken up, and how many had cheated on each other? Although she had a gut feeling that Yang Zheng wouldn't, why should she take up his time without making any promises to him?

This is not something a good girl should do.

Both of them have government jobs, and neither of them can move to another city for the other, not to mention that his parents have been urging him to get married for a long time.

If she and he were both in Yi'an, or if they met in Xinfeng... maybe...

No, there are no "what ifs".

There is no future for her and him.

Or, she should be the one to say goodbye.

The next day was Saturday, and this weekend happened to coincide with the Dragon Boat Festival on Monday, giving us a three-day holiday.

Yang Zheng and Shen Anxia had arranged to spend the Dragon Boat Festival in Xinfeng. Yang Zheng took the early high-speed train and arrived at the apartment building where Shen Anxia shared an apartment around 7 a.m.

The phone rang, and Shen Anxia was practicing backbends and toe grabs on her yoga mat in the living room.

She stood up, adjusted her posture, and answered the phone.

"Anxia, ​​have you had breakfast?" Yang Zheng's voice came from outside.

Shen Anxia was momentarily stunned. It had only been a few months? She actually found Yang Zheng's voice very pleasant to listen to, and more importantly, she suddenly realized that she really wanted to hear it.

"Anxia?" Not hearing a reply, Yang Zheng called her name again.

Shen Anxia snapped out of her daze: "Not yet, have you arrived?"

"Yeah, I'm downstairs. How about we go get some breakfast?"

Shen Anxia thought for a moment and said, "Why don't you come up? Let's order some takeout!"

Yang Zheng was stunned.

An Xia asked him to go upstairs? Although he knew the location of her rented apartment, he had never been up there. Firstly, it was a girl's private property and he couldn't easily visit. Secondly, there was another girl living with An Xia, and they would always meet up for a meal or to read a book. So, he had never been upstairs there.

"Is it... convenient?" Yang Zheng asked cautiously.

"Yes, that's convenient. I'm the only one here. It's room 301 on the third floor."

Yang Zheng's eyes curved into a smile, a hint of excitement in his heart. He took a few deep breaths, then lowered his eyes, letting his long eyelashes conceal the joy in them, and stepped into the apartment building.

I went up to the third floor and knocked on the door of room 301.

Before Yang Zheng could knock a third time, the door opened a crack from the inside, and Shen Anxia's head peeked out: "Please come in."

Yang Zheng stepped inside somewhat awkwardly, stood still in the entryway, and looked at Shen Anxia.

His eyes were filled with an irrepressible flow of light and shadow. Although there was no light in the entrance hall, he could clearly see the moonlight gently spreading over Shen Anxia, ​​which in his eyes became a sea of ​​moonlight that seemed to leap out.

She wore her hair in a bun today, revealing her smooth forehead. Her alabaster skin was slightly damp with sweat, and her cheeks were flushed with a light pink hue, perhaps from exercise. Her slender neck was as supple and resilient as a swan's.

She wore a light blue and light green color-blocked form-fitting dance dress, the skirt of which fell to her upper thighs. She wore white dance stockings and strappy dance shoes with long straps that extended all the way to below her knees, creating a breathtakingly beautiful silhouette.

Her scent, carrying the fragrance of strawberries and sweat, wafted straight into Yang Zheng's nostrils. Yang Zheng couldn't help but wonder, could there really be such a delicate and sweet fragrance in this world? What did the people around him usually smell like? It seemed that he had only ever smelled the sweat on his brothers and the pungent perfume on his female colleagues.

The scent of strawberries from Shen Anxia intensified as he bent down to open the shoe cabinet, filling all five senses.

She handed him a spare pair of slippers: "Wear these for now, they might be a little small. Shanshan and I didn't expect any men to come."

Yang Zheng was pulled back by Shen Anxia's voice. His face was flushed from the suffocation in his chest. He looked down at the pair of light pink slippers.

After Yang Zheng changed his shoes, Shen Anxia said apologetically, "They're still too small. These are the biggest slippers we have here."

"It's okay, it won't affect anything."

"Sit here!" Shen Anxia gestured for Yang Zheng to sit on the sofa.

Yang Zheng didn't dare to examine the layout of the house closely. He only noticed that he was sitting on a pure white soft sofa, with a pure white double round coffee table in front of him, and a gray yoga mat laid out in front of the floor-to-ceiling window not far away.

He placed the two enormous bags he had been carrying on the coffee table, then took off the backpack from his right shoulder and placed it beside the sofa. He took out fruit, nutritious biscuits, skim milk, and yogurt one by one from the bags, and looked up to ask Shen Anxia, ​​"Milk for breakfast?"

As Yang Zheng took things one by one, Shen Anxia quietly observed him.

Today he was wearing loose black sportswear, a short-sleeved shirt and long pants, with black socks on his feet. He paired it with pink slippers that were completely out of character for him. He had a calm and sophisticated demeanor and looked exceptionally clean. Just looking at his face, he had a cool look, but the way he looked at himself was very gentle. And when you saw the muscle lines on his upper arms, you would know how disciplined and strong this person was.

A layer of mist rose in Shen Anxia's eyes as she watched him take things out one by one, his movements gentle and his lips curved in a smile. She felt so warm and touched that she could hardly breathe.

He happily came to see her from across the city.

But what is she going to do to him?

"Anxia?" Yang Zheng called her again.

Shen Anxia turned her face away, forcing back the tears welling up in her eyes, and then smiled as she took the milk: "I ordered takeout, it should be here in ten minutes. I'll heat up this milk, and we can eat here!"

Yang Zheng took the milk back from her hand: "Where is the kitchen? I'll heat up the milk."

Shen Anxia stood up: "Inside."

Yang Zheng followed Shen Anxia inside, passing two bedrooms along the way. One door was closed, and the other was open. Yang Zheng glanced inside unconsciously, then realized that this was the girl's bedroom and it wasn't appropriate for him to look in. He quickly turned his head away and looked straight ahead.

Ahead lay Shen Anxia's snow-white, slender neck and smooth shoulder blades.

Yang Zheng felt a heat rising in his chest, and looked away again, lowering his head to look at the pink slippers he was wearing.

The kitchen was also very clean. Shen Anxia took a small pot from the cupboard and put it on the induction cooker. Yang Zheng opened the milk and poured it in.

"That's enough, that's enough, the two of us can't drink that much." Shen Anxia stopped her.

Yang Zheng nodded, folded a corner of the milk bag, and casually put it into the refrigerator next to him.

"What time did you leave home?" Shen Anxia asked.

"5:30," Yang Zheng said casually.

"After working all week, I still have to come to Xinfeng on the weekend. It's really tiring," Shen Anxia said apologetically, pointing out the fact.

Yang Zheng laughed: "What are you worried about? I'm in good health and full of energy."

As they were talking, the milk boiled. Yang Zheng turned off the stove, picked up the small pot, and walked into the living room. Shen Anxia moved the fruit aside and laid out a placemat. Just then, the doorbell rang.

Yang Zheng put down the small pot, walked over a few steps, opened the door, and brought in the takeout.

Shen Anxia took out a small plate and chopsticks from the kitchen and arranged the pan-fried buns, baby corn, and eggs.

The two of them huddled together on the sofa to eat breakfast.

“Yang Zheng…” Shen Anxia hesitated before speaking.

Yang Zheng looked at Shen Anxia, ​​puzzled: "What's wrong?"

Shen Anxia looked at the gentle smile on his face, but the words she wanted to say were stuck in her throat and she couldn't open her mouth.

"It's nothing. I was just thinking of taking you around Xinfeng later." Shen Anxia decided not to bring up the matter of staying with the group today.

Yang Zheng will be here for three days, so let's talk about this on the last day!

"good!"

Previously, Shen Anxia was so busy with exams and work that they hadn't been able to do anything. Apart from spending a day and a half together during the May Day holiday, their meetings were always rushed and they were always busy. They had never had a chance to visit Xinfeng together. Moreover, this time when Yang Zheng came to Xinfeng, he felt for the first time that Anxia and he were no longer so far apart.

This time, An Xia didn't seem to treat him as an awkward blind date anymore; they seemed to be closer. However, Yang Zheng couldn't quite put his finger on what kind of feeling existed between them.

In Yang Zheng's eyes, this was ultimately a good thing.

After breakfast, Shen Anxia changed into a tracksuit, tied her long hair into a ponytail, and set off with Yang Zheng.

Instead of taking Yang Zheng to the bustling shopping district, she went for a walk in Xinfeng's largest park, enjoyed the early summer breeze, gazed at the endless green lotus leaves in the pond under the sun, and took a sightseeing boat tour on the lake.

Looking at Shen Anxia's rosy cheeks from the sun and her bright smile as she leaned against the railing at the bow of the boat and looked back at him, Yang Zheng truly felt that Anxia was different today.

He felt as if his heart had softened under the moonlight.

It seems he has taken another step closer to his wish.

I took two photos of Shen Anxia from behind, looking at the scenery, without asking her permission, and then showed them to her.

"Huh?" Shen Anxia asked in surprise, "Were you secretly practicing your photography skills?"

The angle and lighting in the photo are just right, making me look especially beautiful smiling in the sunlight.

"My company organized a photography training course, which I needed, so I signed up." Yang Zheng specifically emphasized to Shen Anxia that his photography skills had improved considerably compared to before.

Shen Anxia tilted her head to look at him: "Why does your company offer photography training?"

"In the future, there will likely be jobs related to media-related public accounts or newsletters. Various organizations need this skill, and each organization will provide this training," Yang Zheng explained.

Shen Anxia understood that her workplace also often had photography jobs, but they had a dedicated photographer.

"It seems the training really worked," Shen Anxia said, asking Yang Zheng for photos. "Send me the photos!"

"I'll take two more pictures of you."

Shen Anxia smiled and said, "Okay."