Zhou Xiaoxiao seemed to sense the restrained intensity emanating from Yan Wei and cautiously took two steps back, tentatively asking, “Maybe you should give her a call?”
“Forget it.” Yan Wei deflated. “If she’s busy, I shouldn’t disturb her.”
Zhou Xiaoxiao made an acknowledging sound, retreated to sit on the edge of the bed, picked up a book to read, and munched on potato chips as she did.
A few minutes later, Zhou Xiaoxiao successfully polished off a large bag of potato chips by herself, tossed the empty bag away, and went to the washroom to wash her hands. When she came out, she saw Yan Wei staring at her with a resentful look.
“What’s up?” Zhou Xiaoxiao leaned against the doorframe, as if facing a formidable enemy.
Yan Wei: “Lend me your phone.”
Tsk, knew it wouldn’t be that simple.
Zhou Xiaoxiao chuckled inwardly, took out her phone, and handed it over.
Yan Wei climbed down from the upper bunk, took the phone, and slipped into the washroom, deliberately sliding the glass door shut.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Zhou Xiaoxiao watched Yan Wei leaning against the windowsill with her head lowered, and a strange thought suddenly surfaced in her mind.
Yan Wei’s current state seemed like that of a girl who had fallen in love.
Ugh.
Zhou Xiaoxiao promptly stopped her wild imagination, snuffing out this bizarre notion in its cradle.
How could a top student possibly have an early romance! Especially with another girl!
With a thud, Zhou Xiaoxiao flopped onto the bed, pulling the blanket over her eyes.
Zhou Xiaoxiao’s parents were worried that smartphones would affect her studies, so they gave her an old-fashioned keypad phone with only calling and texting functions. It was a flip phone with a two-inch color screen, still somewhat trendy.
Yan Wei hadn’t used such an old-fashioned device much and found the operation a bit clumsy. Fortunately, the principles were similar, and after a few tries, she figured out the key layout. Typing simple messages wasn’t a problem, though her speed was a bit slow.
She had originally intended to send a text, but after repeatedly editing and deleting a single message, Yan Wei remained unsatisfied. Finally, with a burst of resolve, she dialed the number.
After a few rings, the call connected, and Jiang Youyi’s voice, slightly deepened by the distortion of the line, came through: “Hello?”
Hearing Jiang Youyi’s voice over the phone for the first time, Yan Wei’s mind went blank. A sudden thumping echoed in her chest, and every word she had prepared earlier vanished from her thoughts.
She had never experienced such nervousness before, losing even her basic ability to speak.
Yan Wei hadn’t expected the anxiety to strike so suddenly, nor had she realized that the facade she had built up in front of Jiang Youyi was so fragile.
The breathing on the other end of the line grew slightly distant—likely Jiang Youyi pulling the phone away to check the caller ID—before her voice came through again: “Zhou Xiaoxiao? Is something wrong?”
“It’s me,” Yan Wei finally spoke.
Silence lingered on the other end for a few seconds, stretching time like a heartbeat falling to the ground.
Yan Wei heard Jiang Youyi repeat, “Is something wrong?”
“Can’t I call you if there’s nothing wrong?” Yan Wei adjusted her breathing.
Without even realizing it herself, her tone carried a hint of coquettishness and grievance.
A soft click sounded from the other end, as if something had been placed on a table, followed by the sound of a door closing and locking. Only then did Yan Wei hear the reply: “You can call.”
The conversation lapsed into another brief silence.
Yan Wei didn’t know what to say, and Jiang Youyi had even less to offer, but neither wanted the silence to amplify the awkwardness. Unintentionally, they both spoke at the same time: “You—”
“You go first.”
Whether it was Yan Wei’s imagination or not, she felt Jiang Youyi’s tone carried a hint of gentleness.
The atmosphere was subtly tense. Yan Wei leaned against the corner of the wall, clutching her phone, her heart pounding wildly.
She took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, unconsciously lowering her voice. “I just wanted to ask if you got home safely?”
That sentence was a million miles away from what she had originally intended.
“Yeah, I’m home. Teacher Xu dropped me right at the entrance of my building,” Jiang Youyi patiently replied to Yan Wei. “What about you? Are you doing homework?”
“I’ve already finished one set of problems,” Yan Wei said.
Jiang Youyi chimed in supportively, “That’s really impressive!”
Yan Wei: “…”
Phone calls were charged by the minute. She wondered how many minutes a bag of potato chips could buy.
Yan Wei was about to say something else when a sudden knocking sound came through the receiver. Jiang Youyi spoke rapidly, “Something’s come up here. I’ll text you later.” With that, she hung up.
Yan Wei stared blankly at the phone, listening to the quickening beeps of the dial tone. It took her a moment to snap out of it, and then she covered her face in embarrassment.
Her heart was still racing—a feeling completely out of her control.
Even though the other person was just a seventeen-year-old girl, and she herself had come from seven years in the future, her soul seven years older than Jiang Youyi’s, why did she feel so weak and nervous during the call?
What was she so anxious about?
After returning the phone to Zhou Xiaoxiao, Yan Wei climbed back into bed and sank into deep thought. Half an hour later, she suddenly asked, “Xiaoxiao, has Jiang Youyi texted you?”
Zhou Xiaoxiao picked up her phone and glanced at it. “No.”
“Oh, thanks.” Yan Wei paused, her pen hovering over the page, then added, “If she does send you a message, please let me know.”
An hour passed, and Yan Wei asked three times in a row, each time receiving the same answer.
Zhou Xiaoxiao grew annoyed by her questions and simply handed over the phone. “Do you need to talk to Jiang Youyi? Why don’t you just call her?”
Just as Yan Wei was hesitating whether to follow Zhou Xiaoxiao’s suggestion, the phone screen lit up in front of her with a notification for a new message.
She took the phone and opened the latest unread text. The sender was indeed Jiang Youyi.
Can you come out right now?
Yan Wei’s heart skipped a beat. Jiang Youyi’s message clearly wasn’t meant for Zhou Xiaoxiao. She remembered the urgent knocking sound she had heard before the call ended, and an inexplicable wave of panic surged through her.
She clicked reply and clumsily typed a few words: Where are you right now?
Before she could hit send, a second message from Jiang Youyi came through: Sorry, I sent the last text to the wrong person.
How could Jiang Youyi make such a mistake?
Yan Wei didn’t bother replying with a text. Instead, she immediately dialed Jiang Youyi’s number.
The call was picked up before the first ring even finished. Yan Wei blurted out, “Where are you right now?!” Her voice, sharp with urgency, nearly cracked from the sudden intensity, startling Zhou Xiaoxiao.
There was a clear pause on the other end, as if Jiang Youyi hadn’t expected the call to be answered so quickly or hadn’t prepared what to say. After a few seconds, she replied, “At home.”
“Bullshit! Do you drive cars into your living room and honk the horn at home?! Tell me where you are right now!”
Furious, Yan Wei scrambled down from the top bunk, phone in her left hand, right hand gripping the ladder as she hurriedly descended. After Jiang Youyi gave her a street name, Yan Wei snapped, “Wait there! I’m coming to find you right now! If you dare run away before I get there, I’ll break your legs!”
The sight of the usually composed top student losing her temper and cursing left Zhou Xiaoxiao utterly stunned. Even Jiang Youyi on the other end of the line was taken aback and didn’t dare utter another word.
Yan Wei hung up the phone, stuffed it into Zhou Xiaoxiao’s arms, grabbed her jacket and some loose change, and dashed out, leaving Zhou Xiaoxiao alone in the dormitory, utterly bewildered and frozen in place.