Chapter 1 Going Mad [v50, help me get back on my feet.]
"Next stop... Anlin South Station."
As soon as the high-speed rail announcement stopped, Yin Xiao stuffed her Kindle and thermos into her bag, put on her down jacket, and deftly grabbed the straps to get up.
It was the peak of the return journey after the New Year's Day holiday, and the aisle was crowded with students dragging suitcases. She didn't bring a suitcase for convenience, and only carried a loose denim canvas bag.
As dusk approached, the afterglow of the setting sun flowed outside the window, like dark orange paint smeared on the steel and concrete. Yin Xiao hurriedly squeezed to the window, seized the opportunity, and pressed the camera button.
The image freezes, and the latest WeChat message pops up at the top of the screen.
[Dai Lan: I finally finished reading the lecture notes on the history of cultural exchange that I bought from the print shop. I feel so refreshed!]
[Dai Lan: I'm not bragging, but I can really score 200 out of 100 on a test these days!]
[Dai Lan: Smug.jpg]
Yin Xiao held her phone with both hands, her thumbs flying across the keyboard, and started praising without even thinking.
[You're amazing, Lan! Could you please give me some points as a favor? I don't need much.]
After sending the message, Yin Xiao subconsciously looked up. The high-speed train had just pulled into the station, and the crowd surged forward, the surrounding air gradually thinning.
She was pushed back two steps, so she had to clench her fingers, grip the phone tightly against her chin, and type faster in an odd posture to send another message, trying to keep up with Dai Lan's crazy learning pace.
[I'm 50, help me get out of this mess.]
Yin Xiao lowered her eyes quickly, typed the message hastily, and clicked send. She arrived at her stop just as she finished sending the message. She glanced hastily at the blue-background, black-shadow-like profile picture, confirmed that the message had been sent successfully, turned off the screen, and followed the curly-haired girl in front of her.
As she stepped off the high-speed train, a cold wind hit her face. Yin Xiao exhaled and walked towards the underground passage when her phone suddenly vibrated. As expected, it was a call from her mother, Qian Yue.
"Mom, you're so punctual!" Yin Xiao exclaimed, looking down at the road.
"You just arrived?"
"Hmm." Yin Xiao didn't stop walking. She swiped her ID card to exit the station. She reached up and grabbed the strap of her backpack, which was slipping down. She glanced at the dark mass of people outside the station. "Are you trying to remind me not to go to the wrong person?"
"Hey..." Qian Yue's voice seemed a little weaker, and some faint background noise popped up, "You definitely didn't get the wrong person, what's his name? He's a tall boy, drives a silver-gray Buick, said he parked in front of KFC, and..."
Qian Yue's worried instructions were quickly drowned out by the noise. Yin Xiao helplessly rubbed her ears and casually replied, "Okay, I got it. You go ahead and do your work, President Qian."
After hanging up the phone, she realized she hadn't remembered the person's name, and apart from being tall and driving a Buick, she had no other clues.
She didn't have a chance to learn more, after all, last night Mr. Qian only spent two seconds informing her that someone would take her back to school today.
Ms. Qian Yue didn't give her a chance to refuse. She only explained that the man was her friend's nephew, a second-year graduate student in computer science at Anhui University, two years her senior.
In the end, they inexplicably emphasized that everyone in the dorm is single.
She was used to her mother's decisive yet somewhat hasty way of doing things, and she was too lazy to argue about these small issues, so she simply accepted the free "ride" and saved herself some taxi fare.
Squeezing through the glass door, Yin Xiao slowed her pace, raised her hand to tighten her scarf, and wrapped the tassel around her neck one more time. She buried her face in the fluffy scarf, leaving only her eyes showing, staring intently at the chaotic convoy in front of her, taking it all in.
The weather during the rainy season changes in an instant; everything is gloomy and you can't see anything clearly.
Fortunately, Ms. Qian Yue knew she had face blindness, so she didn't send her a photo of the person, but instead sent her the license plate number on WeChat. She looked down, unlocked her phone, and checked the chat history to confirm again.
Dai Lan's message popped up at this moment.
[Dai Lan: I suspect you're trying to flatter me to my detriment, but I have no proof.]
[Dai Lan: And you were really, really perfunctory. I sent three messages, and you only replied to one!]
[Dai Lan: Twenty-one minutes have passed, and you've only replied to one message!]
[Dai Lan: Xiao Xiao Xiao is so cold.]
[Dai Lan: Crying.gif]
Yin Xiao stood there, scrolling through the messages several times before finally confirming, in shock, that she had only replied to Dai Lan's message.
Didn't she also make a joke about the V50?
Could it be that the signal was bad and the message wasn't sent successfully? But she clearly saw that it was sent.
Yin Xiao looked up and stood at the door for a while in the wind. Her snot was almost blowing out, but her mind became increasingly confused.
She frowned and slowly scrolled through Dai Lan's chat history, going back to before the New Year's Day holiday and then back again, carefully going through it twice, but she still couldn't find the message from V50 that she remembered.
Her doubts vanished quickly, and her mind cleared. She belatedly twisted her stiff wrist, breathed a sigh of relief, and moved to the base of a wall that was sheltered from the wind.
[The signal might have been bad; the message didn't go through.]
[I absolutely, positively didn't just brush you off! I even brought you your favorite walnut cookies.]
Within seconds, Dai Lan replied with two emojis: a beautiful woman smiling and a puppy rolling around, asking when she would return to the dormitory, but her words clearly showed that she was more concerned about the walnut pastry.
After explaining for a few minutes, Yin Xiao exited Dai Lan's chat interface. She tapped the chat list, her finger hovering over the top of the screen, when her gaze suddenly caught a strange avatar.
YZY.
Who is this person? The profile picture is in the same style as Dai Lan's, a blue background with a black silhouette.
She blinked hard twice, and suddenly her memory returned.
Oh... this is the crush I helped her with on the subway yesterday, we just added each other on WeChat.
In her memory, apart from her self-introduction when she asked to add him on WeChat, the two of them didn't exchange a single word. She didn't even know his name, so naturally, she didn't change his nickname in her contacts.
But why is his profile picture the second one in her chat list?
Yin Xiao absentmindedly clicked on her profile picture and found that, apart from the system notification, three chat records were displayed in their entirety.
[Hello, this is Yin Xiao. Thank you for earlier.]
"The above is the content of the greeting."
"You have added YZY, you can start chatting now."
I added him on WeChat around 10 p.m. last night, but he didn't reply until about 20 minutes ago, when he finally replied with just two words.
[YZY: It's okay.]
Her message followed immediately.
[I'm 50, help me get out of this mess.]
Yin Xiao's pupils dilated, her fingers stiffly pressed on the line of words, her mind went blank for a moment, then she withdrew her hand as if burned by the screen, and reflexively tugged at the corners of her mouth.
...
Hahaha……
I sent it to the wrong person.
She was truly going crazy now. It turned out that it really was possible to accidentally like posts for no reason... She would never question those celebrities on Weibo who claimed to have accidentally liked posts.
The problem is, others can issue statements explaining that they accidentally sent the message, but what is she doing now? Is she supposed to message Crush saying she sent it to the wrong person? She only realized she sent it to the wrong person almost half an hour later, will he believe her?
Yin Xiao stood frozen in place, letting the wind blow her hair onto her face.
Okay... let's end the crush here.
Once the gust of wind had passed, she calmly raised her hand to brush aside her stray hairs and decisively turned off her phone and stuffed it back into her down jacket pocket.
Pretend you know nothing.
The more you say, the more mistakes you make; it's better to play dumb.
Having finished her self-brainwashing, Yin Xiao felt relaxed. She adjusted her backpack strap, zipped up her down jacket, and continued walking forward, focusing on finding the silver-gray Buick.
As the distance from the traffic continued to shorten, her vision gradually cleared, and ten meters away, the billboard advertising KFC's new ice cream cones flashed.
It should be nearby.
Yin Xiao had a clear goal in mind. She turned her head and stared intently at the neatly lined cars below the steps. She might not be good at finding people, but finding cars shouldn't be a problem.
“Q26…Q2…” She silently recited the license plate numbers, her gaze sweeping over them one by one.
She scanned about the fifth car, and the license plate number matched perfectly. Looking up, she saw a silver-gray Buick minivan. She straightened her back and slowly walked around to the car.
The car window was covered with privacy film, so it was impossible to see if anyone was inside. Yin Xiao raised her wrist, about to knock on the window, when suddenly a series of hurried footsteps sounded behind her.
"Hey! Hey, wait a minute..."
Yin Xiao turned around and saw a boy wearing a red beanie rush out of KFC, opening his arms and shouting at her.
"You...you are Yin Xiao?"
The boy stopped in front of her, the two plastic bags hanging on his arm swinging violently. He was struggling to hold two ice cream cones in one hand and barely managing to grab a bulging KFC delivery bag in the other. His expression showed some effort and pain.
"Yes, that's me." Yin Xiao nodded and took the takeout bag from his left hand. "Let me carry it for you."
"Thank you... My name is Qi Chen, I'm a second-year graduate student at Anhui University. We go to the same school, so I'll give you a ride home since it's on my way."
Qi Chen freed one hand, looking visibly more energetic, and cheerfully handed over a pink and white ice cream cone. "Want some? It's a new flavor."
"Thank you, but no need, I'm a little cold." Yin Xiao tugged at her scarf, automatically matching Qi Chen with the senior who picked her up.
“Yeah, it’s really cold today…” Qi Chen echoed her, holding up an ice cream cone, and stepped forward to open the back door. “Get in first.”
Yin Xiao turned to get into the car, but unexpectedly missed her step on the first try. She grabbed the bag and tried to climb up, but her wrist was firmly pulled by a heavy object. She pursed her lips, looked at the takeout bag in her hand, and then looked into the car.
The car's cabin was spacious, but the seats in front of me were filled with two storage boxes, leaving no room to put my takeout bag.
She looked back, but there was no one beside her. Qi Chen, oblivious to her awkward situation, turned and went around to the driver's seat to get in the car.
Yin Xiao stopped in her tracks and took a deep breath. She picked up the full plastic bag and waved her hands wildly in the air, trying to find a foothold while mentally calculating where to step on it.
Do you need help?
A clear, gentle voice suddenly fell from above.
Yin Xiao was startled to find someone in the back row. She immediately withdrew her hand, and the plastic bag made a tearing sound as it brushed against her down jacket.
She held onto the car door and looked up, her gaze pausing slightly, her heartbeat, which had just calmed down, unconsciously quickened again.
The boy in the back row stood up, holding onto the back of his chair, and leaned forward slightly to look at her. He was wearing a white hoodie and black trousers, a clean and refreshing outfit, and even with only half of his body visible, you could tell he had broad shoulders and long legs.
Her gaze slowly moved upwards, finally settling on his face. The boy had a high nose bridge, prominent brow bones, and his delicate features were perfectly proportioned, giving him a dignified and imposing appearance.
His eyes were particularly eye-catching; his unusual brown pupils were moist and cunning, like the tabby cat she used to play with downstairs in the dormitory, hiding a little bit of arrogance and unruliness.
The face in front of her was so striking that she admired it almost as if no one else was around.
Hmm... I was taken aback by how handsome he was.
"Shall we get on the bus?" Perhaps because she had been silent for too long, the boy suddenly asked, frowning and looking somewhat confused.
"Oh, get in, get in." Yin Xiao snapped out of her daze, grabbed the front seat again, shifted her weight forward, and kicked her legs upward.
But it was really inconvenient to hold the bag in her hand, so she hurriedly reached out to the boy, "Excuse me, classmate, can you help me with this?"
Immediately, her wrist was lightened, the plastic bag was taken away, and Yin Xiao couldn't wait to bend down and get into the car.
As soon as she stepped into the carriage, someone pulled her aside, and she slipped smoothly into the second row of seats in the blink of an eye.
She was stunned for a moment before she pulled her crushed backpack out of her back and turned to thank her, saying, "Thank you."
The boy had already sat back in the back seat, engrossed in typing on his laptop. He only looked up when he heard the sound, pointed to his right, and said, "You're welcome, the car door isn't closed."
"oh."
Yin Xiao stretched out her arm and closed the car door, not noticing the blue-haired boy who suddenly appeared in the passenger seat.
"Hey junior, let's add each other on WeChat."
Yin Xiao was momentarily blinded by the sudden blue color. She pressed her hand to her chest, warily distanced herself, and sat back down, staring silently at the blue-haired man.
The boy adjusted his black-rimmed glasses, pointed to Qi Chen next to him, and then took out a card from his pocket. "Junior, don't look at me like that... My name is Fang Yiwen. We're in the same dorm. I just finished a group meeting and came to pick you up on my way. Here's my campus card. If you don't believe me, take a look at this."
Yin Xiao glanced at the dark green Anhui University campus card in his palm. After seeing the photo and name clearly, she immediately took out her phone and tapped the QR code. She smiled, trying to cover up the little fright she had just experienced.
"Hey senior, scan my QR code."
"OK, go ahead and approve it." Fang Yiwen snatched the ice cream cone from Qi Chen's hand, turned her head and waved her phone at her, blocking Qi Chen from lunging at her with one hand.
Yin Xiao silently lowered her head, trying to ignore the "battle" in front of her caused by an ice cream cone, and changed the nickname of her new friend on her own.
After successfully saving, a thought suddenly popped into her mind: Would it be impolite to add only one person on WeChat out of a whole car of people?
The next second, she came to the conclusion: impolite, extremely impolite.
The noise in the front row continued, so Yin Xiao decisively turned around and handed her phone to the boy in the back row.
"Hello, want to add each other on WeChat?"
A note from the author:
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This is a sweet little story~
Hope you like it, and I look forward to your comments!
My next book is "After Accidentally Logging into My Ex's VIP Account to Browse Handsome Guys," a story about an ex harboring resentment | a hook-and-pull genre | a bittersweet tale of conflict, with more sweetness than sweetness. It'll most likely be released in December! Interested readers, please add it to your favorites! [Let me check it out]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
