A sky full of starlight scattered along the path, and at the end of the long road, there was a guiding light.
The two of them walked side-by-side on a tree-lined campus path. The dim yellow streetlights stretched their shadows long.
"That method doesn’t work."
"You’ve actually tried it?"
"If you drink too much water, you’ll just wake up to use the bathroom at night, which makes it even harder to sleep."
"Ermm... That makes sense..."
As they passed the campus supermarket, Chen Yuan said:
"Wait for me a second. I’m going to buy something to eat."
"Have you not eaten yet? I can treat you to a meal," Song Jianye said.
"No, it’s for my son."
"Huh? Your son..."
Evidently, Song Jianye was unaware of the patriarchal system in the men’s dorms and was a little shocked.
"My roommate. He’s had a bit of a headache lately and can’t get out of bed. I’m bringing him some food."
"I see. I’ll wait for you here."
Chen Yuan went into the campus supermarket and bought two pre-made chicken wraps and a bottle of Coke, then picked up a few other things while he was at it.
He came out carrying his purchases, and the two of them walked toward the dorms. They soon arrived at the base of Dorm 9.
"Should I walk you back?" Song Jianye said.
"You walk me back?"
"You walked me all the way here, so now you have to walk back by yourself. You won’t have anyone with you."
"It’s not far, just a few dozen meters. Don’t be so dramatic."
Song Jianye gave a little wave. "I’m heading back then."
"Wait, this is for you."
Chen Yuan took a bottle of Rio from his pocket.
"Don’t take your medicine for now. Try drinking some of this."
"Is this alcohol?"
"I guess so. It should help you get a good night’s sleep."
"Will it work better than the medicine?"
"Maybe."
"Okay, thank you."
Song Jianye went back to her dorm room, and Chen Yuan returned to Dorm 3.
"Boss, you screwed me over!"
"How’d I screw you over?"
"Those two were getting frisky in a cave! In my current state, I can’t watch this stuff."
"Oh, right," Chen Yuan said.
"I watched the animated version. The content is different from the novel. You should check that out, it’s more action-packed."
"You sure you’re not messing with me?"
"Like hell I am."
"I’ll go check it out."
Chen Yuan tossed the food onto Sun Pengnan’s bed, and the latter transferred him the money.
He took off his clothes, grabbed his washbasin, and went to the public washroom in the hallway to clean up.
When he got back, he had a message from Jiang Wanyi on his phone. It was a video of her baby crawling on the bed.
Jiang Wanyi: "I tried it tonight, and then I fed him 150ml of formula. I feel like my own supply is getting lower and lower."
Chen Yuan: "Just press a few more times, the way I showed you today."
The acupressure massage method was only a temporary fix, not a root cure. It also required repeated application over a long period. It would have been a miracle if doing it just once today had any effect.
Jiang Wanyi: "If this goes on for too long, will it just dry up completely?"
Chen Yuan: "Based on your current situation, it’s very likely it will be gone in another month or two."
Jiang Wanyi: "Then what should I do? Are there any other methods?"
Chen Yuan smacked his lips. ’Of course there are other methods, but you might not be able to use them!’
Chen Yuan: "Let me think of something."
Jiang Wanyi: "Okay."
The two chatted for a while, all about feeding the baby. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Jiang Wanyi was speaking in subtext, as if she were deeply conflicted about something.
Faced with this situation, it wasn’t just Jiang Wanyi who was worried; Chen Yuan was getting a little stressed out too.
The item Tongzi had rewarded him with was definitely effective, but figuring out how to use it on Jiang Wanyi was a bit tricky.
If he couldn’t think of a way, he might not be able to complete this task.
Still, the vibe of their conversation was nice. It had the feeling of a husband away on a business trip while the mother was home alone with the baby, which gave him a slight thrill.
Toward the end of their chat, they even started sending each other reaction gifs.
In a relationship between opposite sexes, this was also proof that things were getting closer.
BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ—
It was a message from Wang Chuyue.
Wang Chuyue: "Nian Nian told us you played the hero saving the damsel in distress again."
Wang Chuyue: "Once at noon, and again tonight. You were there for both. I’m totally shipping it."
Wang Chuyue: "You two should just get together already so people will stop confessing their love to her every day."
Chen Yuan: "It was just a coincidence."
Wang Chuyue: "If your roommate is feeling up to it, let’s all get breakfast together tomorrow."
Chen Yuan: "His headache is pretty bad. He can’t make it."
Wang Chuyue: "Then let’s just us go."
Wang Chuyue: "I’m sending you Nian Nian’s WeChat. The rest is up to you."
A moment later, Wang Chuyue sent over Song Jianye’s WeChat contact card.
Nickname: Years Upon Years
Her profile picture was a photo of the sky.
It was hard to judge. Let alone a name like "Years Upon Years," even if you were called "Flowers of Fortune," it would still be an 80% match for that profile picture.
But then he remembered her dazed expression, and it all made sense.
He tapped on the contact card and sent a friend request.
It was accepted almost immediately.
Before Chen Yuan could even send a message, one came through from Song Jianye.
Song Jianye: "I was in a hurry to leave earlier and forgot to give you the cut fruit."
Chen Yuan: "Cut fruit?"
Song Jianye: "The ones Uncle Zhang brought for me. You bought me oolong tea and a Rio, but I didn’t get you anything. I should have given you a box."
Chen Yuan: "It’s fine, don’t worry about it."
Song Jianye: "Yueyue said we’re getting breakfast together tomorrow. Are you going?"
Chen Yuan: "I can."
Song Jianye: "After breakfast tomorrow, I’ll buy you a drink."
A drink...
An idea for a place came to Chen Yuan’s mind. ’Maybe I can complete the task there.’
Chen Yuan: "Can I pick the place?"
Song Jianye: "Sure. Whatever you want to drink, I’ll buy it."
Chen Yuan: "OK."
A while later, the dorm lights went out.
BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ—
Another message came from Song Jianye.
Song Jianye: "I didn’t take my medicine. I drank that drink you bought me."
Chen Yuan: "Drink? You don’t feel anything at all?"
Song Jianye: "I don’t feel anything. I’m still not sleepy."
Chen Yuan smacked his lips. ’Just how much is weighing on this girl’s mind?’
’I should buy her a pack of Liqun tomorrow. That’ll calm her down.’
That night, Song Jianye wasn’t the only one with insomnia. Chen Yuan couldn’t sleep either.
The day’s events flashed through his mind over and over again, like a revolving lantern.
He found it a little hard to accept the fact that he would one day die for love.
Chen Yuan had a very clear understanding of himself.
Incredibly greedy for money, but not the least bit lecherous.
His moral compass wasn’t exactly true north, but it wasn’t wildly off either.
As for his views on love, they were nothing special, pretty much the same as most people’s: she didn’t have to be gorgeous, just reliable. If it worked, it worked. If not, move on.
He was a completely ordinary guy. The idea that his future self would die for love was just absurd.
’Based on the plot so far, Song Jianye must be the girl of the fraternal twins. But if there are fraternal twins, there should be a boy, too.’
’But there’s a problem—the timeline is a bit of a mess.’
Subconsciously, Chen Yuan glanced at Sun Pengnan, who was on the bunk across from him.
The guy was staring at his phone, reading a novel and giggling like an idiot.
’Even though I call him ’son’ all the time, it couldn’t really be him, right?’
’If it really is him, I wouldn’t mind dying right now.’