Chapter 64 I Like You [VIP]
Chapter Summary: What to do, I really like you so much
Upon hearing this, Fu Xianyin muttered, "I just spent more than ten hours on a plane, I'm disheveled and look awful."
Gu Linzhao chuckled and said, "So, when we were deskmates, you never slept, huh?"
Fu Xianyin said, "That's different."
At that time, she and Gu Linzhao saw each other every day, so she didn't care about her image.
Things are different now.
Since they could only meet once in a long while, she didn't want Gu Linzhao to see her looking unattractive during those meetings.
Sensing her rejection, Gu Linzhao didn't press the matter. He said, "Alright, then show me your sky."
Fu Xianyin placed her phone on the car window, showing Gu Linzhao the bustling streets and the orange-yellow sunset clouds on the horizon.
She said, "The sky was just as beautiful when you went to play basketball at the affiliated high school last time."
Gu Linzhao said, "Yes, we even took pictures last time."
Speaking of taking photos, Fu Xianyin suddenly remembered that at the sports meet, Gu Linzhao also dragged her to take a Polaroid photo, but he didn't even show her the final result.
So she started bringing up old grievances: "We took pictures together at the last sports meet, but you still haven't shown me what the photos look like."
Gu Linzhao chuckled, "How come you have such a good memory?"
Fu Xianyin said, "That's how top students remember things. Show me quickly, don't interrupt."
Fu Xianyin was actually prepared for Gu Linzhao to refuse again and for them to go through a lot of back-and-forth.
She was also prepared for Gu Linzhao to say that the photo wasn't on her and that she would have to go upstairs to her dorm to get it for her.
Unexpectedly, Gu Linzhao agreed immediately.
He said, "Okay, wait for me a moment."
After he finished speaking, the phone camera shook, and after a few seconds, the camera flipped, revealing a Polaroid photo on the back of the lens.
It was very dark, and the photo was also very dark, so Fu Xianyin couldn't see it very clearly.
She was a little annoyed and said, "Turn on the light, I can't see clearly."
Gu Linzhao said, "You're pushing your luck! Why are you making demands now?"
As he spoke, he actually took the photo back.
Fu Xianyin: ?
She was exasperated: "Can't you at least let me see it once? Are you trying to be that stingy, Gu Linzhao?"
Gu Linzhao's voice came through the earpiece: "It wasn't just a glance, you looked at it several times just now."
The camera shook again, seemingly pointing at the ground.
Fu Xianyin suddenly realized that he had put the photo in his phone case.
That's why she was able to immediately take out the photos when she said she wanted to see them.
As if by some strange twist of fate, Fu Xianyin also touched her own phone case.
There was also a Polaroid photo placed under the phone case.
Her mood suddenly improved, and she said, "Then I won't watch it."
It took more than forty minutes to get from the airport to the hotel. By the time she arrived at the hotel, it was already dark on her side, while there was still no sign of dawn on Gu Linzhao's side.
Both sides share the same darkness.
It's as if the two people are not thousands of miles apart.
The car stopped in front of the hotel, and the doorman eagerly helped Fu Xianyin with her luggage.
After checking in at the front desk, she glanced at the sky outside and said to the staff, "Could you please take my luggage to my room first?"
On the other end of the phone, Gu Linzhao heard her words and asked, "Aren't you going back to your room?"
Fu Xianyin said, "I want to eat."
Gu Linzhao asked, "Can't I order takeout?"
Fu Xianyin smiled.
She said, "I can order, but I don't want to. I want to eat out."
Only when we're outside can we be together in the darkness of night.
With the emperor far away and the heavens high, Gu Linzhao had no way of interfering, even if he wanted to.
He sighed and reluctantly conceded, "Then be careful. It's late at night and you're all alone. Don't hang up the phone yet; there's still a while before morning reading."
Fu Xianyin had already walked out of the hotel. Holding up her phone, she asked, "Is the cafeteria open now?"
Gu Linzhao said, "It's open."
Fu Xianyin made an unreasonable demand: "Then you should go eat now."
She wanted to use this pitiful similarity to bridge the gap between the two of them.
Physical and psychological distance.
Gu Linzhao said helplessly, "Okay, I'll go."
Remembering Gu Linzhao's instructions, Fu Xianyin didn't go too far. She found a quiet restaurant near the hotel and went inside.
As is customary, the waiter first introduced the drinks to her. Before Fu Xianyin could say anything, a voice suddenly came from the other end of the phone amidst the noise:
"What kind of alcohol can minors drink?"
Fu Xianyin: ...
She couldn't help but say, "Who said I was going to drink it? Am I that kind of person?"
Gu Linzhao didn't speak, but only chuckled softly.
She really is.
Fu Xianyin muttered under her breath, "It's so annoying to be so nosy." But she couldn't help but twitch a smile at the corner of her lips.
She replied to the waiter, "Give me a non-alcoholic drink, anything is fine."
The waiter said it was okay, and Fu Xianyin asked him to introduce some of the signature dishes. Then she ordered a steak and a plate of fried eggplant.
After ordering, the waiter took the menu and left. Fu Xianyin rested her chin on her hand and looked out through the window.
The streets were bustling with people; it was already the dead of winter, and everyone was wrapped in thick coats.
With slightly noisy background music in her headphones, Fu Xianyin propped up her phone and watched as Gu Linzhao finished buying breakfast and walked out with the crowd on the screen.
Fu Xianyin asked, "Don't you eat in the cafeteria?"
Gu Linzhao said, "There are too many people in the cafeteria, and it's hard to hear what they're saying."
The night on the screen was still dark, but the horizon was faintly hazy.
Fu Xianyin looked away and said softly, "Then go eat in the classroom. It's too cold. You'll catch a cold if you eat outside."
The sound of wind whistling could be heard through her earphones, and Gu Linzhao's voice, accompanied by the wind, entered her ears: "Why are you being so considerate today? You've even learned to care about people."
Fu Xianyin laughed and scolded, "I've always had a good conscience, okay?"
She closed her eyes, listening to the sound of the wind in her headphones, and the faint sound of Gu Linzhao being blown away by the wind.
She seemed to smell the cold air, and touched the candle on the table. The warmth came from her fingertips, just like the temperature of Gu Linzhao.
He was always warm, even in the cold weather of Beichuan, his fingertips were warm.
Fu Xianyin watched as Gu Linzhao, holding his phone, got closer and closer to the teaching building.
He gripped the candle in his hand tighter and tighter.
With little time left before morning reading, Gu Linzhao, as the class monitor, couldn't be the first to use his phone in the classroom.
Fu Xianyin took a deep breath and said, "Go eat, I'm hanging up."
Gu Linzhao asked, "Have you eaten?"
Fu Xianyin hesitated for a moment, but still told the truth: "I didn't eat."
Gu Linzhao said, "Then I'll hang up after you've finished eating."
Nobody wanted to hang up first.
This was the first thought that popped into Fu Xianyin's mind.
She was secretly delighted and happy; her heart was pounding.
Gu Linzhao went to the activity room. He propped his phone up with a book, blocking the camera. Fu Xianyin said with dissatisfaction, "Turn the camera around."
Who wants to read that pile of books?
Gu Linzhao patiently turned the camera around, and Fu Xianyin sat in the chair as if she had no bones, watching Gu Linzhao eat.
He eats in a very elegant way; he doesn't wolf down his food, nor does he dawdle so slowly that it makes people anxious.
They ate at a leisurely pace, without saying a word, just quietly.
Fu Xianyin once felt like she was watching a mukbang (eating broadcast).
Time passed slowly, and as the morning reading time was approaching, the waiter finally brought her drink.
Fu Xianyin tidied her messy hair in the reflection by the window, then took out her lipstick and moistened her pale lips. After confirming that she looked presentable, she quickly spoke:
"Wait a moment."
Gu Linzhao looked up, somewhat puzzled.
The next second, he saw the camera shake, and the pitch-black night suddenly disappeared, replaced by Fu Xianyin's somewhat nervous face.
She held a glass of blue-green beverage, leaned closer to the camera, raised the glass slightly, and said, "Cheers."
Gu Linzhao chuckled to himself.
He picked up his soy milk, mimicked Fu Xianyin's gesture, and touched it towards the camera, saying, "Cheers."
For the next few days, Fu Xianyin didn't leave the house much.
They ate at the hotel and spent their time studying in their room from morning till night. When they had free time, they would think about what kind of birthday surprise they should give Gu Linzhao.
She has already shared her thoughts and plans in the small group chat with Chen Nianke and Cheng Zhaozhao.
Both of them were utterly shocked when they saw the message.
Cheng Zhaozhao held her phone, her eyes almost popping out of their sockets.
She said, "I didn't see wrong, did I? Yinyin said she'd be coming back in a couple of days to celebrate Gu Linzhao's birthday?"
Chen Nianke was also shocked.
She read the message on her phone several times, and finally said slowly, "It can be said that Gu Linzhao made it through."
Chen Nianke asked in the group chat: "[Should we tell Gu Linzhao to ask for leave from evening self-study so we can see each other a little longer?]"
Fu Xianyin: [Don't tell him, give him a surprise.]
She sent a pouting cat emoji.
Gu Linzhao accompanied her to Hong Kong Island on leave, but she couldn't possibly ask him to take leave again to celebrate his birthday.
Chen Nianke looked at the cat emoji and felt a mix of emotions.
Fu Xianyin has an exam on the 22nd. Her plane ticket back to China arrives in Beichuan around noon on the 20th, and she has to go there again to take the exam on the 21st.
In reality, all things considered, we can only meet once.
Chen Nianke suddenly realized that Fu Xianyin was actually a bit crazy at heart.
Unlike those overtly mad people, Fu Xianyin's madness is subtle and restrained. At first glance, you might even think that he has a gentle personality, is indifferent to everything, and seems to have no sadness or joy, with little emotional fluctuation.
Fu Xianyin's madness is etched into her bones, wrapped in her blood and flesh; it is a quiet, gentle madness.
It was the kind of world where, even as everyone else fled, she stood at the heart of a crumbling world. Beneath her feet lay shattered earth, and overwhelming despair pressed down upon her, yet she could still smile and face the apocalypse with an unwavering madness.
The time has been set, all that's left is to prepare the gifts.
Fu Xianyin couldn't think of any gift to give Gu Linzhao.
She took out her phone and searched for birthday gifts for boys. The first post that appeared in the search results was...
What are some birthday gifts to give your boyfriend?
Fu Xianyin's finger paused above the phone for a moment, then tapped it anyway.
It listed items such as rings, watches, and preserved flowers.
Fu Xianyin clicked on several posts, all of which were very similar in content. But she didn't want to send these to Gu Linzhao.
She wanted to give Gu Linzhao something meaningful, preferably something she made herself, something that would have lasting value and be very special, but not too ambiguous, so that Gu Linzhao would immediately see through her shy little thoughts.
After thinking about it for a long time, a rough idea finally came to mind.
She immediately started searching for nearby shops that could make it, and before it got dark, she quickly used her phone to contact them. Only when night fell did Fu Xianyin put away her phone with satisfaction, sit down at her desk, and continue reviewing her studies.
On the day of the exam, Fu Xianyin got up quite early.
She opened her phone and found a bunch of messages on WeChat. Cheng Zhaozhao and the others were cheering her on in the group chat. After leaving the group chat, Fu Xianyin saw that Gu Linzhao was telling her to go eat breakfast.
She obediently went and ate.
After picking up a plate of food, Fu Xianyin thought for a moment and even sent Gu Linzhao a picture of her breakfast.
After breakfast, she went to take the exam.
The difficulty of the competition questions was not exaggerated for Fu Xianyin. Science was her forte, so she worked on them slowly and meticulously, and even had time to check them twice after finishing.
After leaving the examination hall, Fu Xianyin immediately took a taxi to the record store.
This was the birthday gift she had come up with—a meaningful, special, and memorable gift.
It can also satisfy her own little selfish desires.
She plans to record an album for Gu Linzhao and sing him a happy birthday song.
In the future, on Gu Linzhao's nineteenth, twentieth, or even more distant birthdays, he might think that on his eighteenth birthday, someone gave him a record that sang "Happy Birthday".
Even more fortunately, this album might appear on his later birthday celebrations.
This was something Fu Xianyin dared not even think about, yet couldn't help but hope for.
Due to time constraints, the recording quality of the record was not very good; the sound quality was blurry and there was some noise.
But Fu Xianyin was already very satisfied.
She also bought an extra uncut record and, while waiting for the recording to be made, painted and decorated it with acrylic paint from the store.
Holding the black record in her hand, Fu Xianyin thought of something and took out the Polaroid camera from the back of her phone case.
In the photo, she and Gu Linzhao are standing very close, both wearing white T-shirts and jeans, which at first glance even look like matching outfits.
Fu Xianyin cursed herself in her heart for being so weak, but she couldn't help but take a second look at the couple's outfit.
As she sketched with a pencil, she looked at the black record and suddenly had a selfish thought.
So she quietly wrote a sentence on the record:
I like you.
As if that wasn't enough, she added two more sentences:
I like you so much.
What should I do? I really like you.
The handwriting was very light and slightly messy.
Fu Xianyin's hands trembled as she wrote, her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of her chest, and her fingertips were shaking so much that the words on the record were all blurry.
It's as if the heart is clutching this pen, frantically pouring out its true feelings on this record.
She looked at the record, her fingers gently tracing the line "What should I do, I really like you so much," and then, clutching a corner of the record, she couldn't help but let tears stream down her face.
In the empty record store, she huddled in a corner, tears streaming down her face until even her lips trembled uncontrollably.
Fu Xianyin bit her lip, trying to suppress the surging tears, but the tears wouldn't obey her and kept flowing.
What should we do, Gu Linzhao?
I really like you.
[Author's Note]
Having written this far, I can't help but want to say something.
Fu Xianyin is a very conflicted child, conflicted about everything. She won't say she likes someone, she won't say she dislikes someone, she can't get the love she wants, and she can't truly hate someone.
She was conflicted about herself and about everything else.
She wanted to move forward well, but fate and family circumstances prevented her from choosing her own path in life.
But in the end, she was just a seventeen-year-old girl, a naive girl who had never experienced love or felt warmth.
Thank you to all the readers who followed the updates and watched. This story is really, really sad, but I was really happy writing it. I saw Fu Xianyin change little by little, saw her surrounded by love, kindness and warmth, saw her gradually stop being alone, and saw her slowly begin to "live" in this world, rather than just maintaining a basic state of survival as a living being.
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