Chapter 15

Hot water at over 40 degrees Celsius flowed from the tap. After washing the rag clean, Zhou Yuan hung it on the hook, squeezed some hand soap into his palm, carefully lathered it up to cover his hands, and then rinsed them clean with hot water.

After finishing everything, Zhou Yuan came to the living room and saw the TV with the volume turned down to the lowest setting. Li Ye was holding the remote control and constantly changing channels. There was no program he wanted to watch; he was just playing around with changing channels and looked very lazy.

Footsteps alerted Li Ye that someone was coming. She put down the remote control and pulled a tube of hand cream from the coffee table drawer. "Here, protect your hands in winter."

Taking the hand cream, the words "snake oil" on it were very eye-catching, and it was indeed a hand cream for winter. Zhou Yuan's face was expressionless. He sat down next to Li Ye, twisted open the hand cream, squeezed out a dollop, and spread it evenly on his hands.

Notice how people move away from where someone sits down. Li Ye couldn't help but observe Zhou Yuan's hands as he applied hand cream. After listening to Zhou Yuan's version of "The Butterfly Lovers," she went online to find a well-known violin version.

“I saw that the violinist in the video had a thick layer of calluses on his hands. You also have a layer of calluses on your hands. I didn’t even notice it last time. Don’t calluses on your hands conflict with hand protection?”

Zhou Yuan could certainly feel Li Ye staring at his hands, and he even slowed down his movements. He hadn't expected Li Ye to ask this question.

“The position of the cocoon is fixed, which also protects the hand, so there is no conflict.” Zhou Yuan also knew that this was not what Li Ye wanted to ask. “Protecting the hand is because the hand is very important in work. Li also needs to protect the hand used for writing and painting.”

“Overprotection and meticulous care were my mother’s requirements. She started out as a pianist, and back then she paid even more attention to hand care than she does now.”

Li Ye understood: "Your mother initially wanted to train you to be a musician, that is, to demand that you be the kind of musician she imagined, including the way you are with your hands."

"I remember you chose the violin yourself, and you didn't become a professional violinist. Won't your mother be upset?"

Li Ye knew from a young age that Zhou Yuan's mother next door was an extremely strict person. Whenever Li Ye went to play with Zhou Yuan, he absolutely could not disturb her when Zhou Yuan was practicing the piano. The adult's expression was terrifying, as if he would be hit if he made a wrong note.

"We've reached a temporary agreement. It's much easier now that we're not following her planned path as a musician, and I don't feel that these hands are anything special anymore. They're fine as they are now."

Li Ye nodded in agreement: "So, I can still give you hand cream in the future?"

"Anything is fine with me." Zhou Yuan then remembered the phone call from this morning, which hadn't yet revealed itself. "Did Li need something from me?"

Once reminded, Li Ye remembered why she wanted to meet Zhou Yuan. She immediately got up and went to the bedroom, muttering, "I should have asked you as soon as I arrived, but I got distracted and forgot until now. Luckily you reminded me."

"Coming, coming. I have something to ask you."

He swiftly grabbed the notebook and pen from the desk in the bedroom, then rushed back to the living room and sat down. Li Ye opened the notebook, flipped to the section on the first half of the year's plans, and asked Zhou Yuan questions as if conducting a face-to-face interview.

"What are your plans for the first half of this year?"

This was a development that Zhou Yuan had not expected. He knew that Li Ye would make several plans every year, saying that if the time interval was too long, the variables would easily increase, and if the plans changed too much or too frequently, it would affect the necessity of long-term planning.

Including another person in this plan was Zhou Yuan's future idea, but now it has been realized ahead of schedule, and he will answer with the most serious and rigorous attitude.

"After the Lantern Festival, I will return to school, start a job at a company, participate in my thesis defense, and then graduate."

Seeing Zhou Yuan's serious answer, Li Ye thought it best to ask directly. Didn't everyone already know what he was saying?

"You said you wanted a house before the New Year, when exactly?" Li Ye pressed down on the ballpoint pen and underlined this sentence for Zhou Yuan to see.

Zhou Yuan realized he had made a foolish mistake and answered seriously this time: "I will start looking for real estate agents on the 8th, decide on an agency on the 10th, send the requirements over, and start looking for apartments after returning to school."

"Didn't you tell me? Didn't you say we'd buy the houses together?" Li Ye's expression was about to change. "You've been calling me every time you wake up these past few days, but you haven't said a word. Do you think the real estate agent only needs to know your requirements?"

Zhou Yuan huddled up to look pitiful, but still apologized first: "I'm sorry."

"I told the agent I wanted two rooms next to each other, I haven't forgotten, I'll show you the chat history."

"The key is communication about the progress. We're working together on this, so we need to keep in touch regularly. Otherwise, why would I send you my requirements and you just forward them to the agency? How did you pass your group assignment and graduation thesis?"

Looking through the phone Zhou Yuan handed over, the chat history clearly showed the house purchase requirements that Li Ye later sent to Zhou Yuan, making it hard not to lose composure. Fortunately, Li Ye held back.

With a blank expression, Li Ye asked, "Second question: Before graduation, will you live in the school dormitory or move out and rent an apartment?"

"?" Zhou Yuan guessed something and obediently replied, "After the house is confirmed, we'll rent a place to live. The campus is far from the company."

As expected, Li Ye brought up her own idea. She hadn't mentioned it before because she wasn't sure about Zhou Yuan's plans. Originally, she planned to bring it up before he graduated, so it was ranked relatively low in the list.

"Villa areas are usually quite far from the city center, so it's best to have your own car, right?"

“I’ve already made plans with my friends. If the renovation of our new house is too slow and we can’t move in by the National Day holiday, we’ll rent a villa and stay together for ten days or half a month. But it seems like long-term rentals are more common, and neither of us has a car yet.”

He showed Zhou Yuan the detailed plan on the other side: March and April would be spent traveling all over the country, and May and beyond would be spent in Shanghai, where the plan was to look at renovations and choose home furnishings, as well as try renting a villa.

"By handing it over to an agency, we can buy a car in advance and use it later." Zhou Yuan made a quick decision this time, deciding that he would move out of the dormitory sooner or later.

Once he voiced his thoughts, Li Ye relaxed and immediately made the decision: "I'll pay for the villa rental. Just add the agent to my bill, and this deal is on me."

Relaxed Li Ye: "Third question, have the designer and the renovation company come up with any ideas?"

"Let me start with this. Didn't Zeng Yuan's family start out in the decoration company business? I asked her about it a while ago, and she sent me a few decoration companies in Shanghai, saying that her dad thought they were pretty good."

"Then I gave her the phone number of a designer, the one who polished up the design drawings for her wedding room. I'll show you the on-site photos of Zeng Yuan's wedding room and the two versions of the design drawings later."

Zhou Yuan had no objection to this, even though he didn't like the name. "Li Lai has decided. No objection."

Pretending to be calm, Li Ye asked, "One last question: besides the violin, what other instruments do you play, and how good are you at them?"

"Li wants to learn music? Does Auntie agree?" Under Li Ye's death stare, Zhou Yuan got back to the question, "Piano and cello will have the most practice time left. There are many problems with performance, but introductory teaching is possible. You need to review in advance."

"I want to buy a musical instrument for my new home, and I've chosen a cello so far." It's simpler to tell the truth, so after asking all the questions, Li Ye closed his notebook.

Zhou Yuan, however, looked thoughtfully at the notebook and suggested an idea: "Exchange notebooks so we can get to know each other better."

"From now on, our chats should be more specific and relevant to our lives." This is what Zhou Yuan truly wants.

"A diary exchange for this age group? That's a great idea. Let's try the electronic version first. I'll send you the template on the computer later. If you're going to use it long-term, we'll have to make a new one."

After answering so many questions, Zhou Yuan was also led to ask a question he wanted to answer.

"In Li's eyes, what is our relationship now?"

"Ambiguous period." Having been reminded of this by his friends many times in group chats, Li Ye reflexively uttered this term, then quickly corrected himself, "The full name is the ambiguous period after childhood sweethearts grow up."

Having betrayed his friends so directly, Li Ye continued to explain, "They said not to agree so quickly, to enjoy the atmosphere, and that he would know when it was time to nod."

"Do you know exactly what that atmosphere is like? An ambiguous atmosphere?"

The answer was both logical and unexpected. What followed was no longer important to Zhou Yuan, but he still smiled and gave an explanation: "Perhaps it's the atmosphere of enjoying being pursued by someone you like."

Taking advantage of the moment when Li Ye's brain was forced to shut down, Zhou Yuan coaxed him to go for a walk, saying that it was to empty his stomach so that he could have dinner later.

With their gloved hands clasped together, they strolled through the park closest to their neighborhood. After circling the lawn a few times, a gust of cold wind finally cooled Li Ye's brain and allowed it to successfully restart.

Because of the 21-centimeter height difference between the two, Li Ye chose to slap Zhou Yuan's chest hard with his other hand, and was then successfully captured. The two were brought to a bench with all four of their hands being held.

Zhou Yuan was the first to let go, took out a tissue from his pocket and wiped the bench, then the two of them sat down on the bench.

Watching a group of children who are not yet of school age playing on the lawn, and not far away, a group of elderly people chatting with their children, and a few walking their pet dogs.

"There are swings over there, want to play?"

The temperature hadn't risen yet, and I didn't really want to stay outside in the cold wind any longer. Less than half an hour after sitting down, Li Ye felt his feet getting cold, and Zhou Yuan suggested some activities.

Then a group of newly arrived children quickly took over the play facilities in that area, including the fitness equipment next door, and Li Ye couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Pfft!"

Zhou Yuan took out his phone to cover his embarrassment, turned on the screen to check the time, and saw that it was already four o'clock. He suggested again, "Let's go to a restaurant on the street, pack dinner to take home, and eat it at home. The timing is reasonable."

Li Ye blinked and said, "Taking a packed dinner means eating at our own homes. If no one is home, we can't have anyone stay over at night."

“Good habit,” Zhou Yuan agreed.

It took the two of them an hour to finally get back to the entrance of the residential area from the crowded street restaurant. Only now did Li Ye see the newly posted notice.

"There's a Lantern Festival tomorrow night in the park. Will it be very lively?"

Li Ye hadn't left the neighborhood recently and didn't know about these things, but Zhou Yuan did, and added: "There's also an event at the central square, along with the food street. The promotion says it's the biggest event in recent years."

"Zhou Yuan, why are you so interested?" In my memory, Zhou Yuan was restricted from going to crowded and chaotic places, but judging from his comments on several anime conventions, I knew that he didn't really like these kinds of events.

"I'd like to invite Li and Li Ye to spend a traditional Valentine's Day together, is that alright?" Zhou Yuan made an exaggerated invitation gesture.

Li Ye quickly extended his hand to indicate his agreement. He wouldn't have given any other answer anyway, but they were still outside the residential area, and people were already looking over. It was too embarrassing.

"Remember to book your dates in advance for the future."