Chapter 13 013 Xia Mian "Be my girlfriend, Xia Mian..."
Upon seeing the word "wife," Xia Mian was so frightened that she immediately exited Douyin and cleared her account.
Is it really Pei Yan?
Or, there's a tiny, but real possibility, that Qinglan is pretending to be Pei Yan to tease her?
At this moment, Xia Mian didn't care whether she would disturb Qing Lan. Clinging to her last hope, she made a phone call.
Qinglan was clearly studying; she had her phone on silent. Xia Mian had to call several times before the call finally went through.
"What's wrong, Bao? Is something urgent?" Qinglan asked as she walked out of the study room and into the corridor, her tone natural and calm.
"Nothing else, I just wanted to ask you, um..." Xia Mian was silent for a long time before finally asking, "Did you really uninstall TikTok before school started?"
"Nonsense." Qinglan's tone held no hint of joking or teasing. "What's wrong?"
Nothing much, just that some living people died slightly.
"But your online name is indeed [Valuri], and you've been chatting with me on Douyin, we've been going back and forth..."
Xia Mian was about to cry.
"I was indeed planning to call myself [Valuri], something a bit more artistic. I found it on Xiaohongshu, but I haven't had time to change it yet." Qinglan was completely confused. "Wait, you mean we've been chatting on Douyin the whole time?...Did we?"
"Who are you talking to, Xia Mian?" Qinglan pressed.
"It seems to be..." Xia Mian was on the verge of tears, and vaguely uttered someone's name, "Pei Yan".
"Huh???" Qinglan's voice almost echoed through the corridor on the third floor of the library.
"Tell me quickly! What's going on? Are you two dating?" Qinglan's curiosity was bursting.
Xia Mian was not in the mood to answer Qing Lan's questions and hung up the phone in a sullen mood.
How can I describe how I feel right now?
Xia Mian did not believe Pei Yan's "I like you" message, nor did she have much time to carefully consider the meaning behind his words.
She was completely trapped in the embarrassment and social awkwardness of realizing what was happening too late, unable to extricate herself.
After reviewing the entire process from beginning to end, she was able to realize just how absurd it was that she had mistaken someone for someone else.
Based solely on a nickname and the other person's lack of denial, she concluded that the other person was Qinglan and chatted with them for so long without any restraint.
What exactly has she been saying in the last month or two...?
She sent Pei Yan a bunch of videos of handsome internet celebrities and even wanted to sing along with him.
In front of Pei Yan himself, she confessed her secret crush on him, and also expressed some fantasies about him.
The person who calls Pei Yan "wife" is her.
The one who said she wanted to bury her head in Pei Yan's chest muscles was her.
She was the one who said she wanted to bully Pei Yan and bit his lip until it bled...
Pei Yan witnessed all of this from beginning to end.
What will Pei Yan think of her?
Help! ! !
How could such a thing happen? How could fate play such a cruel trick on her?!
Xia Mian really wanted to delete that Douyin account filled with embarrassing history, or just uninstall the Douyin app altogether.
But the truth is, she didn't even dare to look at the TikTok icon again...
Just then, Pei Yan sent another WeChat friend request.
【Valuri】: This is the first time I've proactively added a girl as a friend. Could you give me a chance to accept your friend request?
Ugh! This guy!
Is this really Pei Yan, who is known for his aloofness?
Xia Mian didn't dare to recognize them. As if making a final confirmation, she clicked into the department's large group chat and browsed the nicknames of the group members.
When joining the group, everyone was required to include their real name. Xia Mian found Pei Yan among the group members without much effort.
Group nickname: Pei Yan
WeChat nickname: 【Valuri】
Her profile picture was exactly the same as the one of the people who had just added her as a friend.
That's right, this is Pei Yan himself.
It really was Pei Yan himself who kept requesting to be her WeChat friend!
What exactly is he trying to do?
Xia Mian was still in shock from the social incident, but she looked at Pei Yan's friend request over and over again.
His words were sincere and tender, making it impossible for her to harden her heart and ignore or refuse them.
final……
Xia Mian accepted Xia Mian's friend request.
Pei Yan immediately sent a message, almost instantly.
[Pei Yan]: (Zhenai.com) Hello Ms. Xia! I am a matchmaker from Zhenai.com. A gentleman would like to get to know you: Mr. Pei, born in xx year, unmarried, owns a house and a car.
Why?
Xia Mian paused for two seconds before remembering that she had sent this abstract text to Pei Yan.
What did she say back then? After adding Pei Yan as a friend, this was the first thing she would post.
But she was working on abstract concepts back then, just kidding!
For some reason, this kind of copywriting really doesn't suit Pei Yan to post, making her feel quite dazed.
Now, as she looks at those few lines of text, passively recalling her dark past, she feels her scalp tingling...
"Pei Yan, I'm sorry for what I said before..."
Before Xia Mian could finish typing and send her message, a new message from someone arrived in quick succession.
[Pei Yan]: There is no unsubscribe button for this item.
Wow! He adapted really well and remembered everything she said!
Pei Yan wished he could suddenly lose his memory. Xia Mian was daydreaming.
[Summer Sleep]: I'm sorry, I offended you with my words earlier. Is there something you need from me?
Xia Mian tried her best to ignore Pei Yan's words, forced herself to finish typing, and sent it.
[Pei Yan]: I suddenly left the milk tea shop because my supervisor wanted to talk to me about my graduation thesis proposal.
Huh? Why is he suddenly explaining this?
[Pei Yan]: Actually, I wanted to ask you if you're free to meet up recently.
Pei Yan wants to see her?
Should she refuse or accept?
She felt too embarrassed to see Pei Yan again.
If she said no, she would feel obligated because she had been taking things from Pei Yan and had been eating and drinking with him all this time. She had no reason not to agree.
After thinking it over, I only replied with two words.
[Summer Sleep]: Okay.
I've agreed for now, since there's a lot of room for interpretation with the word "recently".
Unexpectedly, someone persisted and insisted on setting a time.
[Pei Yan]: Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow?
[Summer Sleep]: Then... the day after tomorrow?
[Pei Yan]: Morning or afternoon?
【Summer hibernation】: Afternoon.
...
The choice between the two options was a trap! She was silently and passively forced to choose Friday afternoon the day after tomorrow.
Fortunately, he returned the choice of location to the public.
[Pei Yan]: Where shall we meet the day after tomorrow afternoon?
Xia Mian couldn't figure out what he wanted to say when they met, and since she couldn't think of anywhere else, she chose the place she was most familiar with recently.
【Summer hibernation】: Laboratory.
[Pei Yan]: Laboratory?
【Summer Sleep】: Yes, that's right.
Pei Yan: Okay.
[Pei Yan]: See you then.
[Summer Sleep]: Wait, did you just change your profile picture?
Xia Mian remembered that just a few minutes ago, his profile picture was a cat with a cold and aloof demeanor, exuding a sense of distance and unapproachability.
But now, just as she quietly clicked on his profile picture to check out his Moments, his profile picture suddenly changed.
It became the couple profile picture she kept urging Valuri to change to on TikTok...
It's a happy little dog.
Left hook, right hook, calisthenics—what was she even saying...?
[Pei Yan]: I want to match my Douyin profile picture, is that a problem?
[Summer Hibernation]: No problem...
Pei Yan has the freedom to change his profile picture, even though it's a couple's profile picture.
[Summer Sleep]: But can we stop mentioning Douyin from now on?
[Summer Sleep]: Please QAQ, Pei Yan.
[Pei Yan]: I will try my best.
That's absolutely awful!
Xia Mian felt that with those two months of chat history in her hands, she would never be able to hold her head up in front of Pei Yan again.
As she exited the chat interface and looked at the identical profile pictures of Pei Yan and Qing Lan in her WeChat chat list, something felt increasingly off.
That's so weird...
She was using the same set of matching profile pictures with her best friend Qinglan and Pei Yan at the same time.
The appointed day arrived quickly.
Because it was Halloween and a Friday, the lab quickly emptied that afternoon, turning the huge lab into a single room with only Xia Mian left.
Xia Mian went to the restroom and when she came back, she saw Pei Yan's figure through the back door.
A loose-fitting, British-style retro earth-toned sweatshirt layered over a lake-blue shirt, with the cuffs rolled up and fingertips lightly tapping on a lab table, exudes a lazy and nonchalant vibe.
Perhaps hearing her movement, Pei Yan slowly turned around, and she was so frightened that she took a few steps back and pressed herself against the corridor wall, no longer daring to enter the room.
Suddenly, she didn't dare to see Pei Yan anymore; she really wanted to run away.
Unfortunately, the bag was still on the seat in the lab, right next to Pei Yan.
Not long after, my phone vibrated, bringing a new message.
[Pei Yan]: I've arrived, waiting for you.
Since it can't completely play dead during summer hibernation, it has to make up an excuse.
[Summer Sleep]: Oh, okay, I'm going to the library to look up some information.
[Summer hibernation]: It will probably take quite some time.
[Summer Sleep]: If you're busy, how about we reschedule for another day?
[Pei Yan]: It's okay, no rush, I'll wait for you.
Waiting for her? Really?
Xia Mian leaned against the wall not far from the back door of the laboratory, looking down at her phone while maintaining her focus and waiting for Pei Yan to get up and leave.
But Pei Yan remained seated calmly the whole time, without showing the slightest impatience or sending her any messages to urge her on.
Half an hour later, Xia Mian was a little reluctant to keep him waiting any longer.
So what if the group dies? It's just a few words, it won't really kill them.
Xia Mian took a deep breath on the spot, then pretended to have just rushed back and pushed open the laboratory door from the front.
The open window immediately created a draft, blowing through the hair on her forehead.
"You're back." Upon seeing her, Pei Yan sat up slightly, almost imperceptibly. "Much faster than I expected."
"Hmm..." Xia Mian wanted to add a few more words, but then she noticed him stand up and hand her the bouquet of flowers in his arms. She was taken aback. "This... is it for me?"
A cluster of light blue swallows, dreamlike and ethereal, swayed in the wind.
"certainly."
His eyes held a gentle smile, lacking the usual aloofness that made people keep their distance.
"Thanks."
Xia Mian accepted the flowers, and under his gaze, she noticed the card hanging on the bouquet.
The front reads: "The world is vast, may you be free."
The back reads: "A flower that belongs only to summer hibernation."
It was the first bunch of swallows that Xia Mian owned.
"The florist's handwriting is really beautiful," Xia Mian praised sincerely.
The handwriting is elegant and powerful, calm and dignified!
"Thank you." Pei Yan coughed. "But I wrote it."
Xia Mian said softly, "So this is what your handwriting looks like."
Of course she still remembered Pei Yan helping her copy the lab report. Now that they were finally face to face, she began to have new feelings about the events of the past two months.
The person who did all of this was actually Pei Yan.
She then remembered that the flower shops in the area did not sell swallowtails, so she guessed that Pei Yan had specially gone out of school to the city to buy them.
Feeling obligated to accept a reward without having done anything in return, I couldn't help but ask, "How much did this cost?"
Pei Yan looked at her calmly, raising an eyebrow slightly: "What, I gave you flowers, are you going to reimburse me for them?"
That doesn't seem quite right.
“Hmm, then…” Xia Mian remembered something else, “How much did it cost to buy the medicine before? I’ll transfer it to you.”
That seems even less appropriate...
"Alright, Xia Mian." Pei Yan sat down from the left, his eyes filled with helplessness. "You sit down first."
Xia Mian finally sat down, right next to Pei Yan.
But after sitting down, she became short of breath because of the close proximity, so she leaned on the table, rested her head on her arm, and occasionally stole a glance at Pei Yan beside her.
Pei Yan took in her subtle movements, his gaze fixed on her direction, and chuckled softly.
"I thought our first date would be somewhere else, but it turned out to be in the lab."
"A date?" Xia Mian repeated the word blankly.
Then it dawned on me: if two people meet up alone, that does count as a date.
So, she's on a date with her crush, Pei Yan!
Realizing this, Xia Mian buried her head and blushed.
Pei Yan's voice came from the left, his tone teasing and playful: "You've called me 'wife' for two months, but now you don't dare to look me in the eye?"
"Who wouldn't dare?" Xia Mian, provoked, finally raised her head and looked at him with some defiance.
"Your face is so red." Pei Yan examined it for a while, looking quite interested. "It looks completely red."
That kind of prolonged, unwavering gaze is truly unbearable.
"When did you find out that I am me?" Xia Mian changed the subject, and fearing that he wouldn't understand, she explained further, "It's my Douyin (TikTok) side account."
“The first day,” he replied calmly.
Day 1?!
Xia Mian was taken aback.
So why didn't he just say it outright back then?
He must have felt annoyed at first, given how much she bothered him.
"When exactly?" Xia Mian asked, puzzled. "Did you already know when I added you as a friend?"
Pei Yan shook his head.
"It couldn't have been in the cafeteria..." Xia Mian really didn't want to recall her repeated social mishaps.
But Pei Yan remained noncommittal, saying gently, "It's a secret."
"Then I'd like to ask, in these past two months, have I seemed really silly in front of you?"
Xia Mian felt that there was no need to ask this question at all.
The answer is obvious.
With her identity and thoughts exposed, she was practically invisible to Pei Yan.
They chatter on and on all day long; they have absolutely no sense of decorum.
Pei Yan shook his head and said, "No."
He paused, then lowered his head, his voice becoming soft and gentle: "Very cute."
"Pei Yan," Xia Mian said with disbelief, "In your dictionary, 'silly' isn't equated with 'cute,' is it?"
Pei Yan: "..."
"Perhaps the wording is inadequate, so let's try another word." Pei Yan pondered for a moment, then looked sincerely into her eyes. "Very vivid."
Unprotected summer hibernation is the most vibrant and lively phenomenon.
She is like a free blue swallow, a pure little elf, a bouncy little kitten.
Even though his heart was closed off, he could still hear her laughter. So his heart broke open on its own, blazing open to her.
"Then... why did you only tell me two days ago that you are Pei Yan?" Xia Mian asked in a muffled voice.
Pei Yan didn't answer, only keeping him in suspense: "It's a secret."
It's a secret again!
He's really turning into an enigmatic man, always answering questions in a half-hearted and cryptic way.
"aestivation."
Pei Yan called her name, as if he had something else to say.
It was already evening, and outside the window, there were no clouds in the sky, only a sliver of the setting sun.
Xia Mian suddenly stood up, pointed to the cabinet not far away, and said in a low voice, "Pei Yan, a bird flew in."
The window was open all afternoon, and the bird flew in at some point and perched on the cabinet. Just now, when it flapped its wings and flew away again, it was spotted by the summer birds.
Pei Yan stood up as well, and the noise they made startled the bird, causing it to fly recklessly toward several windows and nearly crash into the glass.
"No, this could easily cause an accident." Xia Mian quickly walked over and closed both the front and back doors tightly.
Nowadays, single-room laboratories offer relatively controllable small spaces. However, if you were to fly into a corridor and wander around the entire building, stumbling and bumping, you would truly have no idea how to escape.
“We need to help it find a way out; birds should be attracted to light.” She glanced at Pei Yan.
Pei Yan immediately understood what she meant and turned off the laboratory lights with her.
Then the two of them went to the window, opened all the windows, and drew the curtains to cover the glass.
They deliberately pursued the bird that had mistakenly entered the laboratory from both the front and the back. The room became quite dim in the afternoon when the lights were turned off, with only the natural light from the window guiding the bird's direction.
Finally, guided by them, the bird flew to the windowsill, and then soared into the sky, flying towards freedom.
As darkness fell, an autumn evening breeze brought a touch of coolness.
They had just helped the birds fly away and hadn't even turned on the lights yet. They stood there by the window, the curtains billowing in the wind, occasionally brushing against his clothes and then hers.
In the dim light, Xia Mian heard his voice.
"Looks like my leg injury is really fully healed. I was hopping and skipping all the way while chasing the birds." His hoarse voice was tinged with laughter.
"Can't you describe it?" she immediately retorted, muttering, "It's as if I'm the bird."
"Yes and no." He answered seriously, with undisguised admiration. "Xia Mian, you are happier and freer than the birds."
Xia Mian was already shy, and being praised made her even more embarrassed. Fortunately, the lights weren't on, and in the light of the sky, the blush on her cheeks was completely invisible.
She could only reply to his opening statement seriously: "My leg injury has been over for more than half a month, of course it's fully healed long ago, and I've told you that many times."
That is, I've talked to "Qinglan" on Douyin many times.
Because the real Qinglan soon discovered that she was injured during a meeting, she stopped avoiding talking about her leg injury in front of the Douyin account 【Valuri】.
"This is another kind of 'seeing is believing'," Pei Yan said with a smile. "I'll only feel truly at ease if I see you in person and ask you directly."
In other words, because of her injury, he felt uneasy.
Has her situation actually started to affect his heart?
"I wonder if there's anything you'd like to say to me, Xia Mian?"
Every word Pei Yan uttered, every question he asked, seemed to fall on her heart.
She felt dizzy and her mind went blank, unable to speak.
Oh my god, what should she say to Pei Yan face to face?
"It's okay, if you're nervous..." Pei Yan softened his tone and patiently reassured him, "You can tell me later."
The way he's talking makes it sound like he's genuinely waiting for her to say something.
Not far away, Xia Mian heard footsteps passing by outside the door, so she ran over and turned the laboratory lights back on.
Not long after, a fellow disciple walked in. She was surprised to see Xia Mian, and even more surprised to see Pei Yan.
"Junior sister, you haven't left yet?"
"Yes... there are a few incorrect data points, so I'm redoing the experiment." Xia Mian made up an excuse, which only made things worse. "I just ran into a friend and we chatted for a bit."
"Oh." The other person glanced at them but didn't say anything more.
My senior sister came to retrieve something she had left behind; she was in a hurry.
In this atmosphere, Xia Mian lost all desire to stay any longer and fled as if escaping with the flowers in her arms.
But just as she stepped out the door, Pei Yan called out to her, "Xia Mian, remember to think it over carefully."
"What?" Xia Mian asked, confused.
"Just give me an answer."
In the quiet corridor, Pei Yan looked at her, his eyes sparkling with anticipation, like a warm fire that warmed his cheeks and blushed his ears.
Those two hours of summer hibernation passed in a blur.
By the time she truly came to her senses, it was already after she had returned to her dormitory.
On WeChat, Qinglan was complaining about her "coldness" when she suddenly stopped replying to messages.
For the first time, Xia Mian didn't bother to scroll through the chat history and just sent a few words abruptly.
[Summer Sleep]: I went on a date with Pei Yan.
【晴岚】：？？？
[Qinglan]: Ahhh, I knew you were hiding something from me!
[Qinglan]: What exactly happened?! Tell me the truth!
[Summer Sleep]: Actually, I didn't do anything.
[Summer Sleep]: It happened to be in my lab, and it was just the two of us.
[Qinglan]: And then you two kissed?!
[Summer Sleep]: Shut up! Stop thinking nonsense!
[Summer Sleep]: We just sat and chatted, I didn't dare to say much. But he gave me a bouquet of swallows.
[Summer hibernation]: Later we saw a bird fly into the lab, and we kept chasing it away. Fortunately, we got it out, and the bird is safe and free.
[Qinglan]: I'm speechless...
【Qinglan】: Even the date is so unique.
【晴岚】: And then? And then?
[Summer Sleep]: That's all. It's getting late, so I'm going back to my dorm.
[Qinglan]: You blockhead, what am I expecting...?
【aestivation】:……
Qinglan was disappointed and frustrated, but it was a pity that Xia Mian hadn't taken any further action, otherwise it would have been successful long ago.
Xia Mian, however, had a different way of thinking and never dared to think too much about it. She even managed to suppress the urge to send a message to Pei Yan.
A few days later, Pei Yan took the initiative to message her on WeChat first.
When she received the message, she was in the lab doing experiments with her senior classmates, occasionally taking out her phone to relax.
【Pei Yan】: Summer Sleep.
[Pei Yan]: Why haven't you answered my initial question?
[Summer Sleep]: Huh? Which sentence?
【Pei Yan】: The first sentence.
If we're talking about the first sentence in a WeChat message, it should be the one where Pei Yan said he liked her.
This probably doesn't need an answer, because...
[Summer Sleep]: I know you're joking.
However, Pei Yan sent a voice message, which sounded like the frustration of waiting for a long time without getting what he wanted, and the relief of finally finding the reason.
[Pei Yan]: So that's how it is. Is that why you're ignoring me?
The next second, his tone became serious and earnest.
[Pei Yan]: But what if I say no?
[Summer Sleep]: What?
【Pei Yan】: Turn around.
Xia Mian, who was standing near the main entrance, turned around and saw Pei Yan leaning against the back door of the laboratory.
He waved to himself and pointed to his phone. She immediately understood, looked down and saw that Pei Yan had called her on WeChat, and answered the call.
"The person who was actively flirting with you at the beginning is now starting to dodge and weave in. Can't you really tell anything?" He was clearly implying something.
Xia Mian felt a pang of guilt and was about to retort when she heard him sigh softly, "Alright, it's my fault for not explaining clearly."
“But Xia Mian, I never joke about things like this.”
As he spoke, Pei Yan simply gazed at her quietly. Although they were positioned almost diagonally opposite each other, it did not prevent their thoughts from reaching each other directly and accurately.
"As an adult, I am certain of my own feelings."
"So, whatever your answer is, I want to tell you very clearly again—"
"I like you."
As their eyes met, his lip movements and the voice from his phone simultaneously reached her, their feelings as grand as fireworks.
"Be my girlfriend, Xia Mian."
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Author's Note: Here I am, officially confessing my feelings [doge emoji]. I love being encouraged and praised while writing. Please leave a comment if you like it, waaaaah!
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