Chapter 118 Study Abroad Life [Part 3] [VIP]

Chapter Summary: And so, the long journey finally came to an end.

It took Andrew a whole day to process such a huge amount of information.

He remarked, "I always felt that Mr. Gu was not a rash person. I was wondering why he would suddenly come to Boston, especially since the project hadn't encountered any major problems."

"So I came here to keep you company."

The words "accompany you" made her seem like a child suffering from severe separation anxiety who had never grown up.

Fu Xianyin smiled somewhat shyly and said:

"This isn't a recent closure; we missed out on it for too long before, and we wanted to make up for it."

Andrew accurately grasped the key words in her words.

"Overlapping?" he said. "Were you two a couple before?"

Fu Xianyin said, "It was six years ago when I was in high school."

We broke up later, and we didn't see each other again until this year.

The story has reached a new level in both length and depth.

Andrew was even more moved.

Fu Xianyin's spring break started early after Wednesday's office hours.

She wanted to take Gu Linzhao on a trip, but she ran into trouble when it came to choosing a destination.

She didn't know whether she should take Gu Linzhao to the places she had been before, or go to some new places together.

When it comes to travel, Fu Xianyin is generally not interested in visiting the same place multiple times.

But now that Gu Linzhao is here, things are a little different.

She wanted to take Gu Linzhao to some of the places she had visited alone before, and to places she desperately longed for Gu Linzhao to be with her.

She wanted to fill the void in her memories with the future.

She wanted to fulfill the wishes she had made in the past and the dreams she had had.

That evening, after taking a shower, Fu Xianyin crawled into bed, hugged the person on the bed, buried her face in his neck, and took a few deep breaths.

Gu Linzhao chuckled and grabbed her by the neck, pulling her away. "Are you petting a cat?" he said.

Fu Xianyin struggled to snuggle into his arms and said, "No cat is as cuddly as you."

She clung to Gu Linzhao, straddling him like an octopus, her hands already moving restlessly up and down.

Gu Linzhao chuckled helplessly and said, "You little rascal."

Fu Xianyin had no aversion to the words "little hooligan".

Back in high school, she was already able to proudly accept Gu Linzhao calling her a little hooligan.

This time is no exception.

She hummed contentedly a few times, clinging to Gu Linzhao and refusing to let go.

She said, "I'm going out to play tomorrow."

Gu Linzhao reached out and pulled her into his arms.

He asked, "Where to?"

Fu Xianyin said, "Let's go to New York."

Gu Linzhao had no objections and left the arrangements entirely to her.

The next day, the two got up very early.

Fu Xianyin dragged a huge suitcase to pack her clothes.

Gu Linzhao actually brought a suitcase with him when he came. Logically speaking, she didn't need to bring such a big one. One suitcase each could have been used to fit the two of them.

But Fu Xianyin is not.

She wanted to pack both of their clothes into one suitcase.

She packed out the clothes she wanted to bring and directed Gu Linzhao to pack them, speaking with absolute certainty:

What's the difference between couples traveling together without a single suitcase and sleeping in separate rooms at night?

It takes almost five hours to drive from Boston to New York, which is not a short time.

Gu Linzhao was a little worried that Fu Xianyin had been driving alone for so long, so he offered to switch with her, but Fu Xianyin refused outright.

Under the sunlight, Fu Xianyin, wearing sunglasses, leaned against the car door with one hand, watching the trunk slowly close.

She raised her chin, her voice crisp like a berry:

Do you have a driver's license?

She thought that this sentence would shut down Gu Linzhao's wishes, but unexpectedly, he actually produced an ID.

Fu Xianyin held the ID and looked at it over and over again.

She even refused to believe it, pushing her sunglasses up to her head and holding her ID up to the sunlight to look at it again and again.

She asked suspiciously, "Is it really a real ID?"

Gu Linzhao chuckled and said, "How could it be fake?"

Fu Xianyin said, "People under 21 can't go to many places here, and many people will get fake IDs. If they run into those places where the checks aren't strict, they can just get away with it... But that's not the point."

She looked up at Gu Linzhao and asked, "The important thing is, how did you get this?"

"Even if you're coming to the US for business, you don't need to drive yourself, do you?"

Gu Linzhao said, "I came to see you before and took the test while I was at it."

Fu Xianyin was stunned for two seconds.

When she looked up again, she saw Gu Linzhao's lips curving into a smile as he said, "Back then, I was thinking that if I could really wait until the future, I should at least be prepared in advance."

He raised his hand, took the ID from Fu Xianyin's hand, and raised an eyebrow: "Looking back now, I was quite prescient."

The sunlight was a bit too bright.

Fu Xianyin quickly took off her sunglasses to block out the sunlight.

Darkness enveloped her eyes, and Fu Xianyin took the opportunity to blink.

Her dry eyes welled up with tears, and through her sunglasses, she saw the whole world darken.

Gu Linzhao's reason just now was half true and half false.

Perhaps he really thought about the future at the time, but Fu Xianyin felt that there was something he had deliberately hidden.

The part that was hidden was something she knew all too well.

Just like when she went to New York before, she would always subconsciously think of that record store on the street corner.

Just like when she first arrived in the United States, everything she saw was unfamiliar, yet every single thing reminded her of Gu Linzhao.

When she was doing her homework late at night, she would think back to when she was studying for the TOEFL in Beijing, Gu Linzhao would call her in the middle of the night.

As the sun sets and the clouds gradually turn vibrant colors, I'm reminded of that photo I once took in front of a fiery sunset.

Even when she had just gotten her driver's license and was driving her car for the first time, she would think that if Gu Linzhao were here, he would definitely be the first person to get in her car.

So, on that occasion, for some inexplicable reason, Fu Xianyin didn't follow the navigation to go home.

She took a detour to the supermarket, bought a plush puppy, and put it in the passenger seat.

I even went to the car accessories section and bought a soft seatbelt cover.

Actually, that dog doesn't look like Gu Linzhao at all.

In fact, Fu Xianyin knew at that time that she and Gu Linzhao could never have a future together.

That seatbelt cover will never end up being used by Gu Linzhao.

But she did it anyway.

It's the kind of feeling where you know it's impossible, but you still can't help but create fantasies for yourself.

She was lost in her fantasy, briefly indulging in this fabricated illusion.

Gu Linzhao should be the same.

Fu Xianyin started the car and reflexively connected her phone to the car's Bluetooth. Just as she was about to randomly select some music, she suddenly seemed to remember something, unplugged her phone, and reached out to Gu Linzhao:

Give me your phone.

Gu Linzhao raised his hand and gave it to him.

Fu Xianyin fiddled with the phone in his hand before he asked, "What are you trying to do?"

Fu Xianyin said, "Connect your phone to the Bluetooth in my car."

She wanted to incorporate Gu Linzhao's traces into every aspect of her life.

Of course, his life will be like that too.

The car started, Fu Xianyin stepped on the gas, and followed the navigation onto the highway.

Fu Xianyin had actually driven this road from Boston to New York many times.

She sometimes went to visit Zhao Weiru on her own, and sometimes she brought friends along.

The co-pilot has been with many different people.

But bringing Gu Linzhao along was a first for her.

The road in front of me is familiar, and the people around me are familiar too.

However, this was the first time the two had been combined.

The signs outside the window looked familiar, the exit numbers of the rest stop were familiar, and the shops depicted on them were also familiar.

Fu Xianyin looked at the road ahead and said, "You know, I've walked this road quite a few times."

Gu Linzhao asked, "Are you driving it yourself?"

Fu Xianyin said, "Of course, I can still drive it in about four hours."

Music was playing inside the car, the drumbeats resonating in Fu Xianyin's heart.

And I bet you got no idea youre going way too fast.

Youre trying ro stay awake so I bet you turn on the radio.

And the song goes:

Fu Xianyin softly hummed along.

I cant live without you, I cant live without you baby, baby.

Thw highway wont hold you tonight.

The afterglow of the setting sun awaits you to chase it, and the boundless road awaits you to conquer it.

The long road ahead won't allow me to hold you in my arms tonight.

The long road ahead won't care if you're all alone.

The passenger in the front seat was sitting languidly, with the rabbit ears on the seatbelt cover gently rubbing against him.

Fu Xianyin glanced at it and quickly straightened her gaze.

When he hummed a song again, his voice was filled with joy and delight:

But I do, I do.

I will wait for you, I will stay with you.

Go chase the blazing sunset, or conquer the magnificent waves.

I will be by your side.

Until forever.

Fu Xianyin drove almost all the way to New York.

During the drive, Gu Linzhao suggested that he and she take turns driving, but Fu Xianyin was in control of the steering wheel, and in the end, she made all the decisions.

She didn't change her mind, but said, "We agreed that Teacher Fu would take care of you. If you're driving, how can that be considered Teacher Fu taking care of you?"

The hotel had been booked in advance. Fu Xianyin handed the car keys to the doorman to park the car. She went to the front desk, showed her ID, and then signed her name on the agreement.

She did everything, while Gu Linzhao just leaned against the side and watched her.

She really does seem like someone who's being kept.

This feeling of being in control of everything was very novel to Fu Xianyin; she even insisted on opening the door to her room herself.

Before the luggage was even delivered to the room, Fu Xianyin abruptly pulled back the curtains and asked with a grin, "So, Mr. Gu, are you satisfied with this hotel?"

“Very satisfied.” Gu Linzhao nodded, then looked at Fu Xuanyin and asked, “You’ve been here before?”

I don't know where Gu Linzhao got that from.

It's probably because she almost never needs to look at the signs to know where the elevator is.

Or perhaps it's because Gu Banxian's skills are activated anytime, anywhere.

Fu Xianyin nodded and said, "Do you remember when I came to the United States to participate in a competition during my senior year of high school? I stayed at this hotel that time."

Fu Xianyin pushed Gu Linzhao to the bedside, and then lay down with her arms outstretched.

She sighed, "At that time, I thought, 'If only you could be with me.'"

“I called you from right here in this hotel,” Fu Xianyin said.

Long-forgotten memories were stirred up, and Fu Xianyin suddenly thought of something.

She jumped up and reached out to grab Gu Linzhao's collar.

Gu Linzhao's upper body tilted slightly because of her. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at Fu Xianyin and immediately understood that she was starting to get irritated again.

Gu Linzhao lightly poked her forehead with his fingertip and asked, "What mischief are you hiding? Tell me."

“Polaroid,” Fu Xianyin said, “We took a picture together at the opening ceremony of the high school sports meet, and you still haven’t shown it to me.”

Gu Linzhao opened his mouth, then after a long while, he let out a long sigh.

“Six years,” he said. “Fu Xianyin, you can’t believe you’ve remembered such a small thing for six years.”

Fu Xianyin moved forward on her knees, her hands still gripping his collar tightly.

She said, "So what if it's been six years? Let me tell you, even if it's been sixty years, I'll never forget it!"

Gu Linzhao asked doubtfully, "Really?"

Fu Xianyin nodded firmly: "It's true, of course it's true."

“I’ll show it to you in sixty years,” Gu Linzhao said. “Let me see if you can remember it.”

"Gu Linzhao!"

Fu Xianyin was furious and yelled angrily in his ear.

Gu Linzhao glanced at Fu Xianyin, who was in a bad mood, and then stopped in time to soothe her.

When it's described as "following the fur," it truly means it literally.

He placed his hand on Fu Xianyin's head, stroking it gently from top to bottom. Occasionally, he would rub her head or ears, acting as if he were soothing a kitten.

Fu Xianyin's anger also mysteriously dissipated.

She moved closer to Gu Linzhao and said with dissatisfaction, "So when are you going to show it to me?"

Gu Linzhao said, "Didn't I show it to you?"

He was referring to the video from that time, in the pitch black before sunrise, when he took out a Polaroid camera and showed it to Fu Xianyin.

Fu Xianyin muttered softly, "You remember it quite clearly too."

They even said that she could remember such a small thing for six years.

Isn't he the same?

Gu Linzhao had an extremely precise grasp of the principle that "everything has its limits".

He knows when to tease the kitten and when to soothe it if it gets annoyed.

He pinched Fu Xianyin's earlobe and said, "If you want to see, I'll show you now."

Fu Xianyin assumed he had taken photos and saved them on his phone, so she reached out and said, "Then give them to me, let me see them."

Gu Linzhao took out his phone.

Fu Xianyin reached out to take it.

However, before her fingertips even touched the phone case, Fu Xianyin saw Gu Linzhao remove the pure black phone case.

Then, I took out a Polaroid photo from it.

Fu Xianyin paused for a moment.

She never expected it, and she never even considered the slightest possibility.

Gu Linzhao actually kept this Polaroid photo behind his phone case.

Over time, the colors in the Polaroid photos have faded slightly.

Fu Xianyin took the Polaroid photo in a daze and stared at it for a long time.

Six years can bring about significant changes in a person's appearance.

Fu Xianyin looked at the two people in the photo.

The two looked much younger than they do now, especially Gu Linzhao. His features weren't as sharp as they are now, but he had a more youthful spirit.

Fu Xianyin still remembers when this photo was taken.

After she finished walking through the opening ceremony and took a photo with Cheng Zhaozhao, Gu Linzhao pulled her to take a photo with him.

After him, many more people came to take photos with her.

Therefore, there must have been quite a few people around when this photo was taken.

Fu Xianyin looked at herself in the photo.

She looked at the camera, her lips pursed nervously, and her movements were restrained.

In contrast, Gu Linzhao looked relaxed and easygoing, his eyes and brows gentle and unhurried. He looked at the camera in a lazy and casual manner, as if he were just glancing at it casually.

His lips were slightly curved, and he appeared completely relaxed.

Looking at Gu Linzhao's face, Fu Xianyin suddenly asked, as if possessed:

"So by this point, you already like me?"

Gu Linzhao chuckled and sighed softly, "Why are you so blunt?"

He said she was straightforward, but then he continued answering her questions:

"Yes, I already liked you back then."

"Or rather, it should have been even earlier."

When you ran towards me during PE class.

My heart was already pounding.

That was the sound that signaled my heart was fluttering.

One sound after another, clear and distinct.

Fu Xianyin suddenly became curious.

She looked up at me and asked, "So when did you start liking me?"

Actually, it was even earlier.

Even earlier.

When I worry about your low spirits, when I am troubled by your thoughts.

When you're bothered by inexplicable worries, or jealous for no reason.

Every second you exist in my sight.

Gu Linzhao thought for a moment and said, "I don't know."

If I had to pinpoint a specific time, it would probably be when I met you.

Fu Xianyue said, "So you fell in love with me at first sight? What was I doing when we first met? I was smoking. So Mr. Gu likes bad girls after all."

Gu Linzhao just smiled.

Was it love at first sight?

Perhaps it is, perhaps it isn't.

He didn't know either.

All he knew was that he had fallen in love with Fu Xianyin a long time ago.

Long before he realized he liked her.

Fu Xianyin didn't really know what she wanted to do in New York.

She just wanted to bring Gu Linzhao to see her past life and fill in the gaps in her past fantasies.

She drove aimlessly, letting Gu Linzhao wander around, and whenever she came across a place she had been before, she would tell him about it.

“Look at this restaurant, my friend and I ate here. We didn’t make a reservation, we just walked in, but the food was terrible. It was so bad that we couldn’t even finish it. After paying the bill, we drove to McDonald’s and ate two hamburgers.”

"This place, this place tastes pretty good."

“I ate here a few months ago. My winter break started a little earlier, and I came to New York to visit my friend. She had just finished her exams, so she brought me here to eat.”

"The clothes in this store are of good quality."

"The clothes in this store are of average quality. The sweaters are scratchy, and the hoodies started to come undone after only a few wears."

She just kept talking, talking aimlessly.

Gu Linzhao didn't find it boring at all, and listened with great interest, occasionally interjecting with a question:

Which dish is the best at this restaurant?

Is it French cuisine? Or what kind of cuisine is it?

"Have I seen that hoodie before? Is it still kept in Boston?"

Until I passed by that record store.

Fu Xianyin applied the brakes slightly, slowing the car down. She said softly, "The record I gave you as a gift for your eighteenth birthday was made here."

She asked, "Did you listen to that record later?"

You probably haven't heard of it before.

Or rather, it's uncertain whether they're still around now.

Unexpectedly, Gu Linzhao nodded.

“I’ve heard of it,” he said. “Not only have I heard of it, but I’ve heard it many times.”

I listen to it every year on my birthday.

Fu Xianyin smiled.

There were quite a few vehicles going straight at this intersection, so Fu Xianyin turned on her turn signal and moved into the left-turn lane.

As the car turned, she glanced at the record store again.

The last time I was here was actually a few months ago.

On Gu Linzhao's birthday, she and Zhao Weiru stepped into this place together, looking at the spot where she had made his eighteenth birthday present, and heard Zhao Weiru say to her:

"This place would make a really nice birthday present."

She smiled but didn't say anything.

My heart, however, was dragged into the mud by the rampant weeds, and plummeted down.

She probably couldn't have imagined that everything would change so much in just a few months.

Everything is getting better.

After leaving New York, Fu Xianyin took Gu Linzhao to Florida and the national parks in the American West.

She took Gu Linzhao surfing in Miami, sunbathing on the beach, going to amusement parks in Orlando, and visiting national parks to see the towering mountains.

These places she once walked alone, now have another person by her side.

They kissed on the beach, watching the setting sun cast shimmering light on the sea before sunset, gradually spreading into the horizon.

They rode the roller coaster together, their hands clasped tightly, feeling the same airflow rushing over them as they descended from the peak.

Together they saw the eroded, undulating cliffs of Antelope Canyon and the magnificent, breathtaking waters of Horseshoe Bend.

After hiking up a mountain in the national park, Fu Xianyin pulled Gu Linzhao to sit down at the top of the mountain.

She said, "I climbed this mountain before."

“I came by myself and happened to run into a tour group. After the guide took the rest of the tourists to the top of the mountain, he came back down to check on me and asked if I was okay.”

It was very windy that day.

Her hair was disheveled and smeared all over her face. The guide stood in the wind and shouted, "Are you alright?"

Fu Xianyin's voice was almost blown away by the wind.

She replied, "I'm fine, I'm just a little tired, I'll rest here for a bit."

The guide said, "Then you need to hurry, it will get dark and cold soon, and it will be a bit unsafe for you to be alone."

The guide warmly extended his hand to Fu Xianyin and said, "Come on, I'll take you up."

Thinking of this, Fu Xianyin smiled somewhat embarrassedly:

"He thought something was wrong with me, but I'm just physically weak. Climbing a mountain can leave me exhausted."

"He used a stick to pull me up, and he even adjusted the settings on my phone and told me how to take good pictures of this area of ​​mountains."

The tourists in the tour group led by the guide were mostly in pairs taking photos or resting here. He saw that Fu Xianyin had come alone, so he went to chat with her.

He asked Fu Xianyin, "Are you a student?"

Fu Xianyin nodded and said with a smile, "Yes, I am."

She was still in college at the time, and it happened to be spring break, so she went out to have fun by herself.

The guide asked, "Isn't this place beautiful?"

Fu Xianyin said, "It's beautiful, I like it very much."

The guide said, "This is nature. When you're feeling down, come and see nature, see these living and inanimate things, the tangible rocks and plants, and the intangible erosion by the wind and waves. Feeling this magnificent world will help ease the knots in your heart."

He asked Fu Xianyin, "When most people see such a beautiful view, they would want to share it with others. Have you shared this beautiful view with your family and friends?"

Fu Xianyin shook her head and said, "No. The person I want to share with..."

She hesitated for a moment, glanced at the guide, and then opened her lips and said softly, "The person I want to share with is very, very far away from me."

Very, very far away.

It is a distance that even technology and the internet cannot reach.

It's a distance in my heart.

She couldn't remember what the guide said after that.

Fu Xianyin only remembers staring blankly at the foot of the mountain.

That was her second spring break in the United States.

She wanted to get away and clear her head, to let go of that person.

She thought she was doing well; she could go to school, eat, study, and sleep like a normal person. She wasn't affected or swayed by her emotions and was gradually starting to make some friends.

The moment Fu Xianyin saw the magnificent mountains and rivers, she knew that she might never be able to let go of that person in this lifetime.

He took root in her heart.

She didn't remember how she finally got down the mountain. Perhaps the kind guide had led her down with his tour group, or perhaps Fu Xianyin had had enough of sitting on the mountaintop by herself and then leisurely made her way down by herself.

All she remembers is that after she came down the mountain, she went to her car, closed the door, put her arms around the steering wheel, and cried her heart out.

Then, she wiped away her tears, started the car, and drove off without looking back.

The wind on the mountaintop ruffled Fu Xianyin's hair.

Gu Linzhao looked at the woman beside him.

She sat on the edge of the mountain with her legs dangling in the air, her fair face smeared with dirt.

Like the marks left on her body by the wind, frost, rain and snow along the way.

He called out, "Fu Xianyin."

Fu Xianyin turned her head, and her eyes unexpectedly met his gaze.

He said, "I love you."

This was a somewhat abrupt confession.

Fu Xianyin wanted to tease him about why he suddenly said he loved her, but when the words were about to come out, she found that her eyes were already sore and gradually becoming blurry.

Perhaps it was Fu Xianyin from many years ago, on the same land, who heard those words he had been longing for.

And so, the long journey finally came to an end.

[Author's Note]

Next, I'll write about the wedding!