They had only just sat down and spoken a few words, yet it was already time to leave?
Yan Wei thought Jiang Youyi didn’t want to talk about her family and was trying to end the topic she had just brought up.
She felt a slight regret at not being able to persuade Jiang Youyi to return to school. After just testing the waters with a couple of questions, she had already encountered clear resistance.
Yan Wei didn’t dare push further. The friendship she and Jiang Youyi had only just begun to mend couldn’t withstand too much strain, so she reluctantly went along with Jiang Youyi’s wishes and said, “Alright, if that’s the case, we’ll head back first.”
There would be plenty of time in the future to take things slowly.
Zhou Xiaoxiao was the first to grab her bag and stand up. Zhang Yutong helplessly gulped down the last of her taro balls and followed Yan Wei and the others out of the dessert shop, taking the escalator downstairs.
Jiang Youyi accompanied Yan Wei as she hailed a taxi downstairs. Yan Wei avoided Zhou Xiaoxiao and Zhang Yutong and quietly asked Jiang Youyi again, “Are you really not willing to come back to school with us? Are you planning to spend the night at the internet cafe?”
“Why are you suddenly so concerned about this? What difference does it make where I am?” Jiang Youyi looked puzzled, tucking her hands into her pockets. “I’ll go home later.”
Yan Wei was taken aback by Jiang Youyi’s question. She had been so anxious, as if she already knew about Jiang Youyi’s troubled family situation. But in reality, Jiang Youyi had never spoken to her about her family. It was only later, from reading her diary, that Yan Wei learned Jiang Youyi’s father was a complete scumbag.
Continuing like this would likely make Jiang Youyi suspicious. Yan Wei thought to herself that although Jiang Youyi’s family wasn’t harmonious, the situation truly worsened during the summer vacation this year when the company Jiang’s father had invested in ran into trouble, causing him to lose a large sum of money and fully revealing his despicable nature.
It was only April now, so Jiang Youyi going home shouldn’t be a big problem.
Yan Wei didn’t press further. Zhou Xiaoxiao had already hailed a taxi and was waving for Yan Wei to come over. Jiang Youyi walked Yan Wei to the car and suddenly turned to Zhou Xiaoxiao in the back seat, saying, “Save my phone number. Send me a message when you get back.”
Zhou Xiaoxiao looked surprised, taking a moment before pulling out her phone and saving the string of numbers Jiang Youyi recited.
Yan Wei traced a few lines on her palm with her finger. Jiang Youyi turned to look at her just as she finished, curling her fingers into a loose fist as if holding something inside.
“Be careful on the road,” Jiang Youyi said, closing the car door for Yan Wei. As she spoke, she rested one hand on the window frame, her gaze lingering on Yan Wei.
The driver started the engine, and the car vibrated slightly. Jiang Youyi took a step back, tucking her hands into her pockets again. The evening breeze lifted her bangs, and the dim yellow glow of the streetlights cast a lonely shadow behind her.
The zipper of her school jacket only reached her chest. Yan Wei noticed a light orange T-shirt peeking out from beneath the collar of Jiang Youyi’s jacket.
As the car pulled onto the road, Jiang Youyi’s figure grew distant in Yan Wei’s view, merging with the entrance of the shopping mall.
A bald man in a black leather vest emerged from the mall, leading two “shamate” youths. Spotting Jiang Youyi standing by the roadside from afar, he shouted and charged toward her with his companions.
The car hadn’t gone far yet. Seeing this, Yan Wei was terrified out of her wits.
“Stop the car!” Yan Wei suddenly shouted, pounding on the window.
The driver was startled and instinctively slammed on the brakes. Before the car had even come to a complete stop, Yan Wei flung the door open and leaped out, leaving the driver’s curses and Zhou Xiaoxiao’s cries of alarm behind her.
Yan Wei dashed wildly down the street. Within just a few dozen meters, two cars brushed past her. The drivers cursed as they swerved, tires screeching sharply against the pavement.
Jiang Youyi hadn’t expected Yan Wei to jump out of the car.
She had heard the shouts and curses from Hu Hao and his gang and had long guessed they were up to no good.
Her mutual dislike with Hu Hao wasn’t a new thing—it had been brewing for a while, and a clash was inevitable. Today’s argument was just a spark landing in a pot of oil.
She was already prepared to face them head-on.
But then Yan Wei charged through the chaotic traffic, reaching her before Hu Hao could close in. Grabbing Jiang Youyi’s arm, she pulled her forward, weaving through the speeding cars, and practically shoved her into the back seat of a taxi.
The door slammed shut, cutting off the noise of the street and the clamor of the outside world, leaving only the sound of their racing hearts.
The driver, having spotted the delinquents chasing them in the rearview mirror, swallowed his initial scolding and instead shouted, “Hold on tight!”
The taxi quickly merged into the flow of traffic. In the rearview mirror, Hu Hao, furious, kicked over a roadside trash can, only to be chased down the street by a sanitation worker who witnessed the scene.
“You’re going to bruise my arm.”
Jiang Youyi sat squeezed between Zhou Xiaoxiao and Yan Wei. Five minutes had passed since Yan Wei shoved her into the car, and Yan Wei still hadn’t let go of her arm, gripping it tightly.
Yan Wei rested her forehead against Jiang Youyi’s shoulder. Her frantic breathing had already calmed, but she refused to lift her head.
At Jiang Youyi’s words, Yan Wei finally released her grip and quickly turned her face away.
A warm teardrop fell onto the back of Jiang Youyi’s hand as Yan Wei turned, startling her enough to curl her fingers.
Jiang Youyi had thought Yan Wei was angry, but she hadn’t expected her to be crying.
Even though there were five people in the car, it felt as if they were isolated in their own world. Seeing the wetness on Yan Wei’s eyelashes as she turned away, Jiang Youyi suddenly found herself at a loss for words.
Zhou Xiaoxiao hesitantly broke the silence, whispering, “Are you two… okay?”
Jiang Youyi shook her head. She was fine, but she wasn’t sure about Yan Wei. She guessed Yan Wei might have been frightened, though whether the cause was Hu Hao or herself, she couldn’t tell.
Yan Wei remained silent until they got out of the taxi. Zhou Xiaoxiao paid the fare, and the four of them returned to campus, walking along the quiet paths toward the dormitory.
It was already so late that Jiang Youyi had no choice but to stay on campus for the night.
Zhang Yutong’s dorm room was right by the staircase, while Jiang Youyi’s was at the far end of the hallway.
Jiang Youyi walked Yan Wei to her room. Yan Wei stood with her back against the wall, not going inside. Zhou Xiaoxiao tactfully pushed open the dorm door and said, “I’ll go wash up first.”
The hallway fell quiet, leaving Yan Wei and Jiang Youyi standing awkwardly face-to-face.
At this hour, most students had already finished washing up and were tucked into bed, scrolling through their phones. Only the occasional student returning from visiting friends passed by behind them.
“You can go back. I’m fine.” Yan Wei rubbed her eyes. She hadn’t cried for long—maybe five minutes at most. Having passed the peak of her emotions and calmed down from the distress, she now felt an indescribable awkwardness and embarrassment.
Jiang Youyi fiddled with the strap of her backpack, hesitating for a few seconds before turning away and saying softly, “Thank you for today.” Her voice was so quiet that Yan Wei almost didn’t catch it, had they not been standing so close.
“Aren’t you going to wash up? Zhou Xiaoxiao’s already out.” The roommate on the lower bunk looked up from her phone. Yan Wei had been standing by the water dispenser with a glass in hand for several minutes.
“Yeah, I’m going.” Yan Wei set down the cup and brushed past Zhou Xiaoxiao, who had just finished brushing her teeth.
Closing the bathroom door, Yan Wei leaned back against it and covered her face with her hands.
In her past life, Jiang Youyi’s diary entry from April had included this line: Got into a fight at the internet cafe because someone started trouble. They tore my T-shirt. Damn it, the more I think about it, the angrier I get. Screw them and their whole family.
That orange T-shirt was one Yan Wei and Jiang Youyi had bought together on a weekend outing last semester, just as autumn began. Yan Wei had a matching one in a different color.
In Yan Wei’s memory, after they fell out, Jiang Youyi never wore that T-shirt again.
It wasn’t until she read the diary later that Yan Wei learned the T-shirt had been ruined. Even though the torn part had been patched up, Jiang Youyi didn’t dare wear it where Yan Wei might see.
She remembered it was also a weekend not long after Qingming Festival. On the day they returned to school after the break, Jiang Youyi came back limping. When others asked, she just said she’d taken a fall.
The timing matched today. Tears Yan Wei had barely managed to hold back seemed to well up in her eyes again.
On the other side of the hallway, separated by two dorm rooms, Jiang Youyi took a blue diary out of her backpack.
A small desk lamp plugged in for charging cast a soft glow on the bedside table. She opened the diary, pausing at the page for March 27th. Her eyes swept over the single, lonely sentence on that page before quickly flipping further, until she reached a blank sheet.
Jiang Youyi held the diary steady with her left hand while her right hand fished a ballpoint pen from the gap beside her bed. She bit off the cap, looked up briefly, and quickly wrote down the date.
The pen tip hesitated, as if she were thinking, then scrawled forward a few seconds later.
“One of life’s three great illusions: thinking the person you like also likes you.”
“But the person you like is straight.”