Extra 2

"Oh? You had a crush on me in high school, Li Yingqiao."

The man's voice on the other end of the microphone carried a hint of laziness, yet also a profound sense of provocation and certainty.

Looking at the moonlight outside the window, Li Yingqiao wanted to retort, "Aren't you the same? You might have had a crush on me since elementary school." But she didn't say anything, only managing a suppressed laugh as she said, "Whatever."

He suddenly became serious: "What do you mean, 'whatever you want'?"

She laughed and said, "You can imagine whatever you want. You can even tell Gao Dian that I've had a crush on your placenta since we were born, and I won't argue with that."

"Are you crazy?" He burst out laughing.

Yu Jinyang leaned against the back door of the car, one hand in his pocket, quietly watching the bright, warm yellow moonlight floating overhead. From that moment on, the waxing and waning of the moon seemed to become less important.

She accepted it all without hesitation, and with an air of nonchalance that since we were so far apart, you couldn't reach her or kiss her anyway, she chuckled cheekily on the other end of the phone, "What's wrong, Yu Miaomiao? Isn't that right? Hey, don't you miss me? Are you so worried about me that you can't sleep?"

Yu Jinyang raised an eyebrow slightly, unsuspecting: "No one kicks off my blanket at night, I sleep like a log."

"Really?" she asked doubtfully.

"Yes, don't you know how difficult you were to please when you were little?"

Yu Jinyang's attitude was clear as day, as if he were speaking with a pure heart, but the ambiguous and hesitant tone coming from the phone was something only the people on both ends of the line truly understood.

Both of them laughed. There was a sharp sound of wind coming through the microphone, but Li Yingqiao could clearly hear the music coming from his car.

The electric current traveled to her ears, and now all that remained in the microphone was the music slowly flowing from the open Wrangler door behind Yu Jinyang, a sound that was secretive and lingering in the silent, black mountains—

"The tide ebbs and flows, the moon is cold, the wind is gentle, and frost is blowing; the night rain evokes wild fantasies..."

"I can't hide this love; it's as deep as the sea, inseparable, unchangeable, and impossible to separate from you for a lifetime. I'll let your love fill my heart once more..."

02 High School Chapter (Part 1)

This song occupied most of Yu Jinyang's time during his high school years. It was Vivian Chow's "My Favorite," and it was also Yu Renjie's favorite. Back then, Comrade Yu Renjie spent a fortune on a karaoke machine worth over 30,000 yuan, and he would start singing every weekend, his voice filled with howling and shrilly.

Every time he came home from school on the weekend, he would pass by Chuanming Street as usual. The aunties next to Li Yingqiao's grocery store, who were playing mahjong, would always stop him and shout amidst the clatter of mahjong tiles, "Jin Yang, tell your dad to stop singing! The aunties can't even win at mahjong anymore!"

Sometimes, when Li Yingqiao was free, she would sit in the back and watch them play cards while eating sunflower seeds. Her competitive spirit was even stronger than that of the players on the table. She looked like she could win whether she was the banker or the player, just like a seasoned veteran in the casino.

But she's always been like this; she learns everything quickly, grasps concepts instantly, and is always very sharp-witted. Before Yu Jinyang could say anything, she was intently watching the card game for the aunties.

The next second, she tossed aside the sunflower seed shells and hurriedly pointed to the two of bamboo that she had almost missed on the table: "Pong pong pong, oh dear, Sister Qin, you missed another pong, what's wrong with you? If you don't win this hand, don't blame Brother Siyi, it's because you weren't paying attention."

What's going on?

That's an old-fashioned tone.

Yu Jinyang, standing at the shop entrance, couldn't help but smile, his eyes cold and indifferent, not wanting to linger for even a second longer. Hearing her cheering for Sister Qin from afar, he knew she was among those aunties again. He knew he would be called, and could even guess where she was sitting, so when he stopped, he kept his eyes straight ahead, deliberately keeping her out of his sight.

Li Yingqiao didn't even glance outside the door, focusing intently on the card table, because the two of them had just broken up a couple of days ago.

Sister Qin was the owner of the cheongsam shop next door. It had been a well-known brand in Fengtan for at least twenty years. However, by then, very few people wore cheongsams anymore, and no one liked custom-made ones. Business gradually declined, so when she had nothing to do in the afternoon, she would arrange mahjong games with people.

Li Yingqiao picked it up quickly; after watching her play twice, she knew the rules of mahjong and sometimes even pointed out her mistakes. Sister Qin, a seasoned player, would sometimes blush and turn pale at her words, occasionally getting angry and arguing with Li Yingqiao: "Why don't you play? You play! Don't you know what it means to be a true gentleman who observes the game without speaking?"

Li Yingqiao pouted and argued in a low voice, "If you had played the way I just said, you would have won now."

Sister Qin found her a nuisance, but never chased her away; most of the time, she would just give her a fierce glare. Moreover, every time she won money, she would give Li Yingqiao five or ten sticks as a prize. Li Yingqiao would take the money and chuckle, contentedly rubbing her head against Sister Qin's arm: "Sister Qin, Sister Qin, you're the best."

Back then, Li Yingqiao saved up all the money to buy Conan from Sister Qin. Of course, like someone else, Sister Qin was also easily flattered by her sweet words, and several times she promised her that she would make her a cheongsam this year, and she would look beautiful in it.

Li Yingqiao believed it to be true and waited eagerly year after year, but of course, she never got to see it.

Sister Qin is a very calculating person. If she loses at mahjong, she'll curse even the Emperor himself, but if she wins, she'll treat everyone like her precious darling. She dislikes Yu Renjie, but that doesn't stop her from liking Yu Jinyang quite a bit, and she's also aware that the childhood sweethearts in Xiaohua City have been bickering and fighting since they were little.

She had a keen eye; at first, she only made empty promises to Li Yingqiao, but later she also included Yu Jinyang, saying in a very convincing way: "Qiaoqiao, when you two get married, I will really make you a unique and beautiful cheongsam."

For young boys and girls experiencing the stirrings of first love at that time, such a careless joke was enough to make them not dare to look each other in the eye for a whole week when they met or went to class.

Sister Qin never considers people's feelings when she speaks, and she says without any regard for their well-being: "At the wedding, let your father sing Vivian Chow's favorite song, how about that? His Cantonese is a bit broken, let him learn to pronounce it properly. It's a shame he worked in Guangdong, his pronunciation isn't authentic at all."

Sister Qin was the one among the adults in Xiaohua City who was most likely to joke with them, because most of the others knew about the relationship between their two families and wouldn't be so unrestrained in their speech.

Sister Qin didn't care; she never worried about tomorrow. Besides, she liked Vivian Chow, liked the song "My Favorite," and especially liked that line—

"It's hard to separate us for a lifetime, hard to change, and hard to be apart."

Yu Jinyang, who was still in high school at the time, couldn't understand the meaning of the lyrics: What's so difficult about a lifetime? His parents seemed to have lived almost half their lives without realizing it, and they didn't think it was difficult for lovers to separate. It seemed that it was common for the uncles and aunts around him to divorce and remarry.

At that time, he felt that if he really had to spend his whole life with Li Yingqiao, he would be driven to death by her sooner or later.

After entering the final sprint of their senior year, Li Yingqiao's grades stabilized, and she consistently sat next to Fang Yue, one of the top students. Yu Jinyang also consistently ranked among the top three in the grade in the science class. However, unlike other top students, Li Yingqiao was quite undisciplined at school and would occasionally doze off in class. But she studied exceptionally hard at Liang Mei's house, and many of her high school classmates still remember her as: the academic genius who casually managed to get into the top ten in the province.

Only Yu Jinyang knows why.

Human energy is limited; one can't keep pumped up all the time. Li Yingqiao never does anything in vain. Others may not see her efforts, but Liang Mei absolutely cannot miss a single second of them. Sometimes, when Li Yingqiao is really into studying, she will take out her vocabulary book to memorize words while waiting for the bus. She will then take a picture and send it to Yu Jinyang, who will then casually forward it to Liang Mei.

Yu Jinyang was speechless, but did as he was told. If Liang Mei didn't reply, he would keep asking, "...? Teacher Liang?"

Liang Mei would then randomly reply with: "Great!", "Awesome!", "Super awesome!"

Yu Jinyang replied with a fist bump to express his gratitude for the cooperation, and then took a screenshot and forwarded it to Li Yingqiao, who was waiting for positive feedback.

There was only one month when she relaxed and got closer to Lu Yingchuan from the next class, and she hardly took any more photos to send to him.

Yu Jinyang saw them coming down from the liberal arts building to the convenience store after the second period more than once, perhaps with Fang Yue following behind, but he didn't really notice at the time, as Fang Yue always habitually hid in a quiet corner.

So, during the third class that morning, he was unusually distracted. His math teacher, who was usually so engaging, seemed like a buzzing bee to him, a completely indistinct background noise. After getting through half the class, he casually flipped through the math test papers that had just been handed back a few days ago. In the name column, it clearly read "Yu Jinqiao." He almost scoffed at himself.

The math teacher was stunned and, without saying a word, told him to go up and solve the problem.

By then, there weren't many new material topics, and Yu Jinyang had basically memorized them all. He could even tell the answer to some questions at a glance. He obediently wrote down the answers, and as a top student, the math teacher didn't make things difficult for him and let him go home. However, just before school ended, the teacher called him to the office and sternly asked him if he was dissatisfied with the teacher's teaching methods.

Yu Jinyang, such an upright public servant, has been favored by his teachers since childhood. This is the first time he has been called into the office by a teacher under such pretext for a "lecture". Even his Chinese teacher couldn't help but speak up for him, "Is there some misunderstanding? Yu Jinyang is the most considerate child of his teachers."

The math teacher said firmly, "No misunderstanding, he had a really sour face in my class. Does he think I'm not teaching well? Fine, next class we'll analyze the test papers, and he'll give the lecture."

Yu Jinyang's mindset at that time was that he wanted to apologize to the math teacher and explain what had happened. However, Li Yingqiao, standing at the door, had no idea he was being reprimanded. She assumed it was just a routine conversation with the teacher about class matters. After knocking and receiving permission, she came in and asked, "Can we leave now?"

His heart suddenly raced. Afraid that if he continued questioning her, she would see the test paper with her name on it, he immediately agreed without hesitation: "Okay."

Math teacher: "..."

The other teachers also fell silent instantly. Only then did Li Yingqiao realize that something was wrong with the atmosphere in the office. She was used to being scolded, but it was only then that she belatedly realized that something seemed off. This was the first time that Yu Jinyang, who was always the teachers' lackey, had been scolded.

On their way home that day, Li Yingqiao didn't dare say a word and silently kept a safe distance of two arms' lengths from him.

She understood, she understood all too well, that at times like this, even the best friend's words wouldn't make a difference, and she would rather be alone.

Yu Jinyang glanced at her and said, "Stop pretending to be dead."

She exclaimed "Ah!" and looked at him with embarrassed eyes, saying, "I wasn't pretending, I really am a little dead."

"Weren't you having a pretty good day this morning?"

"I had a pretty good morning."

"...You're happy when you're with other people, but when you come home with me you're lifeless and won't say a word," he said with a sneer, staring straight ahead. "Li Yingqiao, are you at it again?"

"What old problem?" she asked, naturally puzzled.

Every time I make a new friend, I neglect them for a while, don't I?

He didn't say anything more.

Li Yingqiao felt that his temper had worsened, and couldn't help but scold him, "You're the one who's having another episode."

After saying that, he kicked his legs, swung his schoolbag, turned around, and walked into his family's shop.

Yu Jinyang stood at the shop entrance, watching Li Shuli cook for her in the kitchen. She smiled and asked if she was hungry, saying that her mother had bought fish today.

A moment later, he saw that the displeasure on Li Yingqiao's face vanished instantly. She bent down and leaned over the edge of Li Shuli's pot, sniffing it again and again. Then, with a smile, she said to Li Shuli in a coquettish tone, "I'm starving, so hungry! I've been thinking about your crucian carp and tofu soup since I was at school."

He suddenly wanted to learn how to make crucian carp and tofu soup.

...

During that time, the two of them didn't speak to each other for a week. When they were tutoring at Liang Mei's house, they were both engrossed in writing their papers. Gao Dian and Miao Jia looked at each other and realized that the two of them had started again. As usual, they used rock-paper-scissors to decide who would take the initiative to make peace this time. Gao Dian lost and was very annoyed. Miao Jia chuckled because, unsurprisingly, he received two indifferent but unanimous "Get lost"s.

Even on this day, it was still the second period break, with a 20-minute break between classes.

Yu Jinyang saw her and Lu Yingchuan going to the convenience store together again.

He endured the entire self-study period, then, frustrated, shoved his test paper into his desk, breaking a habit he'd cultivated since childhood for the first time. Li Yingqiao didn't mind using her phone in class, but she wasn't too blatant. At first, she'd text him during class, complaining about how bad the cafeteria food was. Later, after learning he never looked at his phone in class, she stopped bothering him.

This was the first time Yu Jinyang had taken out his phone in class. Unable to contain his agitation, he messaged her on his phone: "Where did you go just now?"

Li Yingqiao replied very quickly.

"Went to buy food, what's up?"

"Who did you go with?"

"Fang Yue."

"Anything else? Pretend I didn't see this?"

=.="

Li Yingqiao thought she had kept it a secret, but Fang Yue was shy and afraid of being caught by the teacher. She was always too embarrassed to go to the convenience store alone with Lu Yingchuan, so she always asked Fang Yue to come along. Lu Yingchuan was also embarrassed at first. He was very talkative and good at finding topics to talk about. Sometimes they would walk to the entrance of the convenience store without realizing it, and Fang Yue would still be slowly following behind.

Li Yingqiao shoved her phone back into the table, leaned over and whispered to Fang Yue, "Yueyue, I might not be able to keep this a secret for you anymore. Yu Jinyang is already suspicious of me. He probably thinks I'm having affairs behind his back. Do you mind if I tell him about you and Lu Yingchuan?"

Fang Yue had just said it was okay, she didn't mind, when the message came over.

"Li Yingqiao, let's break off our friendship."

...

That weekend, Brother Siyi, as usual, started singing regardless of whether people were alive or dead. Tang Xiang, used to it, stuffed two wads of cotton into her ears and calmly closed the door to trim her toenails.

Sister Qin lost again. She lit a cigarette, paid for everyone's gambling at the table, and grumbled, "This damn holiday, singing and singing all day long, doesn't he worry about getting sores in his throat? He's really getting into it. Today he actually sang a little better than usual, and the last few lines were actually quite nice."

When Yu Renjie finished singing and, as usual, handed the microphone to the only audience member, he didn't expect his son to open his mouth. He thought his son would look at him coldly as usual.

The young voice, still sharp and edgy, conveyed a sense of naivety and unspoken ambiguity about emotions, yet it was surprisingly pleasant to listen to. Crucially, Yu Jinyang spoke standard Cantonese.

"There's no way to hide this blatant lust."

Even if it's a passionate love

Tide receding or rising

The moon is cold, the wind is strong, and the frost is heavy.

...

It's hard to separate, hard to change, and hard to stay together for a lifetime.

Let your love fill your heart again.

Let all my love be given to you and given to my dearest.

"Even after the end of time, this remains unchanged..."

Oops!

Yu Renjie's heart skipped a beat—

Looking at Yu Jinyang's half-dead state, he seemed all too familiar.

The suppressed resentment in his eyes was just as chilling as his desire to dig for wild vegetables back then.