Fang Dongqiang leaned over to take a look and saw that the document's formatting was a mess, the font sizes were inconsistent, and the paragraphs were not aligned. He smiled and said, "It's okay, I'll fix it for you."

Fang Dongqiang sat next to He Xiaolei, his fingers flying across the keyboard. He first helped He Xiaolei adjust the font and font size, then set the paragraph indentation and line spacing, and finally added page numbers and headers.

He Xiaolei sat to the side, looking at his serious profile, and felt a sense of reassurance.

"Okay, is this alright?"

Looking at the neat and tidy paper on the screen, He Xiaolei exclaimed with delight, "Thank you so much! Fang Dongqiang, you're amazing!"

"It was no trouble at all." Fang Dongqiang took his hand off the keyboard. "If you have any computer problems in the future, you can ask me anytime."

"Okay!" He Xiaolei nodded vigorously. "To thank you, I'll treat you to dinner."

"No need, I need to get back to school."

"Okay, the holidays are almost here, so I'll treat you to a meal next semester. When are you going back?"

"I haven't bought the tickets yet."

“Oh, let’s go back together then,” He Xiaolei said generously.

"Alright."

He Xiaolei walked him to the bus stop. "Goodbye! Take care on the road. Thank you for your help!"

"It's nothing, you're welcome." Fang Dongqiang went back to school.

With one of He Xiaolei's problems solved, she felt incredibly relieved and happily hummed a song as she returned to her dorm. This boy was quite nice; unlike other boys who would try to strike up a conversation with her, he wasn't talkative but was genuinely helpful. He Xiaolei had a good impression of Fang Dongqiang.

After that, whenever Fang Dongqiang was online, He Xiaolei would chat with him, and they even made plans to take the same bus back.

Fang Yu also had a lot of work to do at the end of the kindergarten term, and since Thor mentioned that some thugs had added her on WeChat, she went to internet cafes less often.

Until kindergarten was out for break, I told my mom after dinner that I wanted to go to an internet cafe to play some games.

"Come back soon, it's so cold."

"oh!"

Fang Yu went to another newly opened internet cafe that she had never been to before.

I turned on my computer and logged into oIcq. In addition to new friend verification messages, there was also a series of messages from Thor.

When a friend request came in, Fang Yu knew it was from the group of thugs Thor had mentioned, so she didn't accept it.

"Baby Fish, I'm at another internet cafe now. I'll be going to a few more next time. I'll send you the address and details of each one so you can see which one is more convenient for you."

…………

I read each message at a different time, including a New Year's greeting at midnight in 2000.

The words were carefully written, and there were suggestions on which place Fang Yu should go to, that the road conditions were safe, and that it wasn't too noisy inside. As Fang Yu read them, her frozen fingers seemed to warm up a bit.

Fang Yu's friends list avatars are all grayed out; neither Fang Dongqiang nor Lei Shen are online.

Fang Yu replied to Thor's message, "Message received, thank you!"

Fang Yu had been thinking about how long it had been since they had last contacted each other, and asked Fang Dongqiang when he would be on vacation. But looking at Fang Dongqiang's grayed-out profile picture, she felt a lump in her throat and a heavy feeling in her heart.

Fang Dongqiang would help him if he needed something, but otherwise he wouldn't reach out. He was always gentle yet distant. It wasn't that he was indifferent, but he just felt very far away, as if separated by a layer of fog.

Fang Yu browsed a few websites, played a few games, and then went home.

Snowflakes pelted her as she hunched her shoulders, thinking that her crush on Fang Dongqiang was like the anticipation in this cold winter—she knew it might be in vain, yet she couldn't help but hope. As for Thor, they had only chatted online for a while and met once, yet he was so attentive. She couldn't quite describe the feeling in her heart—was it gratitude or something else entirely?

The train station was packed with people.

Fang Dongqiang, carrying a backpack, returned with Ni Guanghui, along with He Xiaolei. Through the previous hometown gathering, they also met several students they had met before on the same bus.

They chatted together in the waiting hall.

Ni Guanghui kept trying to strike up a conversation with He Xiaolei, but He Xiaolei only responded half-heartedly. She was carrying several bags of Hangzhou specialties, such as osmanthus cake and West Lake lotus root starch, all of which she had bought for her parents.

"When you were freshmen and first came to study, did you bring things home during holidays?" He Xiaolei suddenly asked.

Ni Guanghui waved his hand, "No, we boys don't know how to do these things, it's too much trouble."

Fang Dongqiang leaned against the pillar and said softly, "We don't earn money yet, and we're using our family's money. Buying things for them is just taking money from their pockets."

Ni Guanghui nudged him with his elbow and chuckled at He Xiaolei, "You really don't know how to talk, but the thought is there!"

He Xiaolei didn't mind, shaking the bag in her hand, "I haven't started working yet, but my parents are very happy when I buy things for them."

As soon as everyone got off the bus at the county station, He Xiaolei's parents waved from outside the gate, calling out, "Xiaolei!"

"My parents came to pick me up, what about you?" He Xiaolei asked.

“We’ll go back ourselves,” Ni Guanghui replied.

"Okay, we'll keep in touch during the winter break."

“I live in the countryside, so it’s not convenient for me to access the internet,” Fang Dong said curtly.

He Xiaolei pouted and ran over quickly, calling out, "Dad, Mom!"

He Xiaolei's mother hugged her, "Oh my, we haven't seen each other for half a year! Your parents have missed you so much!" Her father pulled over the suitcase and took the bag of local specialties from her hand, "You even brought us so many things!"

Watching this scene, Ni Guanghui whispered to Fang Dongqiang, "The wool comes from the sheep, and the sheep is still happy."

Fang Dongqiang patted Ni Guanghui on the shoulder, "Then next time, let your sheep have some fun too."

After saying goodbye to Ni Guanghui, Fang Dongqiang headed to Fang Meili's shop.

As the Lunar New Year approached, the clothing store became busy, and Fang Yu and her mother helped out at the store.

"Sister Jihong." Fang Meili pulled Fang Dongqiang's arm as they walked in. "Fang Yu, are you helping out at the store even on your holiday?"

"Yes, Aunt Meili." Fang Yu glanced at Fang Dongqiang, her heart pounding like a rabbit's. "Dongqiang, you're on vacation too?"

"Yes, I just got back yesterday."

Yu Jihong put down her work and went to greet her, "Meili, what brings you here today?"

"Well, since we have some time now, let's ask Dongqiang to help me pick out an outfit for my older sister. Dongqiang can take it back to her." Fang Meili patted Fang Dongqiang's shoulder. "Which one would suit your mother?"

"I don't really like women's clothes," Fang Dongqiang said, glancing at the clothes in the store. "Second Aunt, why don't you choose? You and Fang Yu can take a look and see which one suits you best."

“Dongqiang is like that, honest and straightforward, unlike other boys who are glib and smooth-talking. Okay, you and Fang Yu chat.” Fang Meili went over and picked up a few pieces of clothing to chat with Yu Jihong.

"You haven't been online lately?" Fang Dongqiang asked Fang Yu.

"Hmm, it's the end of the semester and there's a lot going on at kindergarten, plus it's a bit cold to go out in this weather?"

"Yes, that's true."

"Do you students who study this kind of thing go online every day?"

"I will be online more often, but not every day."