The third story ends

In the morning, Li Qingzhu was woken up by Leng Qingxiu's manual service. Li Qingzhu got up reluctantly, and the two changed into sportswear and ran around the community.

But Li Qingzhu only persisted for a week. After that, when Leng Qingxiu asked her to run again, she simply ignored him and continued to sleep.

Because it was July and the sun came out early, Li Qingzhu was afraid of the sun, so she didn't go for a morning run with Leng Qingxiu.

Of course, fear of getting sunburned was just her excuse for not wanting to run.

In mid-July, Xu Li had a vacation, and Li Qingzhu went over to stay with Xu Li for a few days.

"You've been here with me for three days, and your husband hasn't asked you to go back?" Xu Li teased.

Li Qingzhu was playing with the watch on her hand, which was the one Leng Qingxiu had given her.

"What? You don't want to sleep with me? You want that teacher Jiang to accompany you?"

When she came to Xu Li's place, Jiang Huizhou happened to come to see Xu Li. Both of them looked at each other strangely, but she didn't know what kind of "strange" it was.

Seeing that Li Qingzhu was making fun of her, Xu Li pushed her and glared at her, "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"You've been entangled with him for almost two months. It's very exhausting."

"Can you not give me a definite answer?"

With a personality like Xu Li's, she needs someone stronger on the other side to push her.

Li Qingzhu suddenly understood why Xu Li in the book was with Kong Zhuo, because their personalities complemented each other.

Jiang Huizhou was fully considerate of the problem and too concerned about Xu Li's feelings, letting Xu Li do what she wanted. Li Qingzhu felt that being too accommodating to her was not a good idea either, as some things needed to be pushed.

Xu Li glanced at Li Qingzhu and said, "Actually..."

She hesitated and said, "We are together."

Before Li Qingzhu could finish her surprise, Xu Li hesitantly said, "He confessed to me the day before yesterday." She paused and continued, "I agreed."

"We're going to Datang to teach together at the end of August," Xu Li said shyly, glancing at Li Qingzhu, who hadn't reacted yet. "I was thinking of telling you right away, but since you wanted to come, I wanted to talk to you in person."

"I was here yesterday! Why are you saying it now?" Li Qingzhu turned sideways and said excitedly.

"I went to a meeting yesterday and came back too late," Xu Li explained.

Li Qingzhu calmed down and said, "Why did you agree again?"

Xu Li thought for a moment and slowly said, "After the break from my freshman year, Kong Zhuo came to see me at school. I could clearly sense that he was interested in me, and I wanted to find a chance to make it clear."

At that time, she went to a coffee shop with Kong Zhuo and clearly rejected him there.

--

See Cloud Cafe.

"Is there really no chance at all?" Kong Zhuo pleaded.

"Yes." Xu Li nodded.

She suddenly realized that when Kong Zhuo expressed his feelings to her, Xu Li was thinking of Jiang Huizhou.

After Xu Li finished speaking, she left and saw Kong Zhuo sitting dejectedly in a chair with a sad face. He seemed to have suffered a great hardship and as if he had lost the most precious thing.

She suddenly remembered that she rejected Jiang Huizhou, and he always had an "it doesn't matter" look on his face. Xu Li felt a little reluctant to see his bitter smile.

She admitted that she liked him, but she didn't have the courage to accept him.

Why? She wasn't like this before.

The reason why she didn't agree to Jiang Huizhou was that she was afraid that after breaking up, they would inevitably be in the same office, which would be very awkward.

In the past, if she had been moved, she would have faced it bravely, admitted it, and accepted it. But now, she has become a coward, shrinking back in fear.

The next day at a school meeting, Jiang Huizhou confessed to her again, and Xu Li did not refuse.

--

"So just because Kong Zhuo confessed to you and you saw Kong Zhuo was sad, and you thought Jiang Huizhou would also be sad after being rejected, so you agreed?"

Xu Li was stunned when she heard this. It seemed to be like this, but it was not.

“It’s not always like that, is it?”

"That's right. You already like her, but you're just being stubborn." Li Qingzhu raised her eyebrows. "Kong Zhuo did a good thing for Jiang Huizhou, helping you remove the stone in your heart, but he hurt his own foot."

The connection between Kong Zhuo and Xu Li has been cut off, and the matter between Xu Li and Jiang Huizhou has been settled.

Xu Li was amused by Li Qingzhu's words. She was afraid of being scolded, so she quickly changed the subject.

"Hey, let's not talk about me anymore, let's talk about your married life," Xu Li said. "How are you and your boyfriend lately? When will this fake marriage of yours end?"

Xu Li moved closer to Li Qingzhu and saw that she looked uncomfortable, with a hint of pink on her cheeks.

"No way, or are you planning to make it real?"

"Hmm." Li Qingzhu curled up on the sofa. In response to Xu Li's question, she chose to play dead.

She doesn't like to talk about uncertainty.

"Hmm? What? Not even a direct answer." Xu Li said unhappily.

Every time Li Qingzhu answered with these two words, it meant that she herself didn't know how to deal with the matter.

Xu Li: "I'm not saying he doesn't like you?"

In Xu Li's heart, Li Qingzhu is worthy of all good men. Xu Li thinks that Li Qingzhu is excellent in every way and has a strong filter for her.

"I still want you to find someone who likes you mutually. I hope that while you love others, you can also enjoy being loved." Xu Li held Li Qingzhu's hand and said with concern.

"Do you know who gave you this watch?" Li Qingzhu raised his hand and stopped in front of Xu Li.

Xu Li suddenly realized, "Him?"

"Um."

"This is a couple's gift. He has one too."

Ever since she'd learned Leng Qingxiu had bought a couple's watch, Li Qingzhu knew she wasn't the passive partner. It was just that their relationship wasn't like others. They hadn't gone through the stages of courtship, proposal, and engagement, heading straight for the final step—marriage, which, of course, would lead to divorce. Naturally, their relationship wasn't that close. However, over the past few months, Li Qingzhu had noticed a shift in Leng Qingxiu's attitude towards her; they were both actively trying to get closer.

Xu Li exclaimed: "So you guys made it real?"

Li Qingzhu broke her wishful thinking: "It's hard to say."

Xu Li: "Why?"

Li Qingzhu explained seriously, "Both men and women are very fickle."

Xu Li: “…”

——

Li Qingzhu stayed at Xu Li's house for a week. She felt that Jiang Huizhou rolled his eyes at her countless times in his heart. She didn't want to offend anyone, so she went home on the seventh day.

"Why don't you stay a few more days?"

After Leng Qingxiu received the person, the depressed mood he had been feeling for the past few days disappeared.

Looking at Li Qingzhu's cheerful face, he thought that she had been having a good time these days.

After Li Qingzhu got in the car and sat down, Leng Qingxiu started the engine.

She stared at him straight in the eyes and replied bluntly, "Because I missed you."

Just now, when she saw Leng Qingxiu standing outside the car waiting for her, she wanted to say this to him.

However, there is also a deliberate element to this statement.

The word "maneuvering" could be used to describe her interactions with Leng Qingxiu over the past month. Most of this maneuvering involved verbal exchanges, some of which were meant to deliberately tease the other person.

Leng Qingxiu paused while driving when he heard her sudden act of coquettishness, then silently curled his lips. And just as they were waiting at the traffic light for a minute, he suddenly turned to Li Qingzhu and said, "I miss you, too."

Leng Qingxiu had adapted to living with just one person these days. But during the week Li Qingzhu was away, the loneliness he'd grown accustomed to was becoming unbearable, a thought he wouldn't have entertained before.

Maybe he had been alone for too long and began to think that it would be nice to have one more person at home.

Li Qingzhu didn't expect Leng Qingxiu to reply, with a look of surprise on her face. Her heart was churning like a rising tide. She was overjoyed when she understood what he meant a little late.

Leng Qingxiu had never said these words to her before, and she remembered that he had this meaning but expressed it in a rather obscure way.

Time stopped at this moment. He saw a smile pass across her face, her red lips were slightly pursed, and her eyes seemed to hide a lamp. The beam of light was extremely bright, shining straight into his heart.

At this moment, his heart became bright, as if many things and many words were not so important anymore.

Leng Qingxiu laughed broadly, then said seriously, "Li Qingzhu, there's no need to test me with these words all the time."

Li Qingzhu froze. If she remembered correctly, this was the first time he'd called her that. She wanted to open her mouth, to say something. But her mind was still processing his intentions, and after a long pause, she couldn't utter a single word.

The green light came on, Leng Qingxiu drove across the intersection, turned a corner, drove the car to a parking space and parked it.

Leng Qingxiu held the steering wheel with both hands. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He turned his head to look at Li Qingzhu with a calm expression. He said word by word, "Li Qingzhu, there's no need to test me."

Then he sighed resignedly and met Li Qingzhu's dim peach blossom eyes, "Let's terminate the contract."

"The contract is void."

"Whether you want to leave or stay, it's up to you."

"But I want you to stay, okay?"

Leng Qingxiu was still 80% rational and cautious when it came to relationships. Unlike others who easily lost their minds when they fell in love, the more seriously he took things, the more rational he would remain. He would need to repeatedly confirm whether he liked someone, and also consider whether the other person liked him.

Eighteen years old taught him that when pursuing someone, he should also consider the other person's degree of affection for him. It can be said that his attitude towards love is twofold: rationality and going with the flow.

He looked at the watch on Li Qingzhu's left wrist and said calmly, "Do you know what this watch means?"

"It represents a wedding ring."

Li Qingzhu looked up suddenly, "What does this mean?"

At this moment, her heart trembled a little, and she asked him unexpectedly: "Do you mean that I can leave? Can I continue to stay in your house?"

Speaking of home, Leng Qingxiu thought of the time he spent with Li Qingzhu. "If you stay, it will be our home," he corrected.

Li Qingzhu went over his words in her head, realizing something, and she felt a bit amused and helpless. "Does this count as a confession?"

Leng Qingxiu nodded and said seriously: "Will you accept it?"

Maybe he is really old, and now he dare not say the word "like" which he used to say all the time when he was young.

Li Qingzhu understood Leng Qingxiu's meaning.

She slowly approached him, slowly closed her eyes and kissed him on the cheek, then quickly left. After she kissed him, she opened her wet eyes and smiled extremely brightly.

"I accept."

Leng Qingxiu suddenly bent down, leaned close to look into her eyes, and under her gaze, he reached out and held the back of her head, kissed her forehead, then moved down and kissed her cheek.

Their heads were very close together, their foreheads resting against each other. Leng Qingxiu touched her lips gently, his eyes filled with tenderness. He saw Li Qingzhu close her eyes, one elbow resting on the seat, the other unbuckling the seatbelt. In the narrow space, they began a passionate and long-lasting kiss.

In this somewhat boring world, it doesn’t matter to me which way the stream flows, the waves of the sea have nothing to do with me, and the various orders that should be obeyed in life have nothing to do with me.

What concerns me is every step you take towards me.