Autumn in the coastal city meant frequent rain, and after several days of continuous downpour, it finally cleared up today. The long-awaited sunlight broke through the clouds.
Because of the cat, Wen Li finally found some common ground with Xiao Jinyu. She started browsing cat-owner blogger accounts whenever she had free time, forwarding anything useful to him.
Xiao Jinyu's replies were as concise as ever—"Got it," "Mm," "Okay"—but compared to the silence before, this was already a historic breakthrough.
Wen Li reassured herself: take it slow. Even an iceberg can't melt in a day.
Over the weekend, Wen Li went home.
A few days earlier, Coach Zhang had sent her a message asking how her injury was recovering. The provincial team had a spot to recommend someone for national team training, and he asked if she was willing.
Of course she was willing.
But her parents would never agree, so this trip home was to test the waters.
In the living room, Ji Qingti sat on the sofa watching the sports channel. It was a gymnastics competition. The athlete was a fourteen-year-old girl, probably her first time in such a major event. When the camera cut to her face, her youthful cheeks were taut with tension.
Wen Li carried a fruit platter over and sat down. "Dad, watching the competition?"
"Mm," Ji Qingti said. "Something on your mind?"
"Nothing," Wen Li said, picking up a grape and popping it into her mouth. "Just keeping you company."
On TV, the uneven bars event was underway. The girl flipped and swung across the bars, and Ji Qingti frowned deeply. "This event doesn't look very safe. There's no protective gear at all. What if she falls?"
"There is protection," Wen Li explained. "See the foam pit under the bars? Besides, athletes go through professional training—"
Just as she finished speaking, a dull thud rang out. The female athlete plummeted straight from the high bar into the foam pit.
Wen Li nearly choked on a grape.
Come on, girl.
Your timing is way too perfect.
"Ouch," Ji Qingti's brow furrowed even deeper. "See? I told you it wasn't safe. I told you. Good thing you stopped training, or my heart couldn't take it."
He grabbed the remote and switched to an agriculture channel, where a greenhouse farming expert was lecturing on winter insulation techniques.
Wen Li held the grape, not putting it in her mouth.
Wen Tao came out of the kitchen carrying a plate of cut oranges. "What are you two doing, studying greenhouses?"
"We were watching gymnastics just now. That girl fell off the bars—terrifying."
"Exactly," Wen Tao agreed. "We sent Lili to the sports school back then just for exercise. We never expected her to win any medals."
Wen Li stayed silent.
The grape in her hand was nearly squeezed into a raisin.
After dinner, she returned to her room, threw herself onto the bed, and stared blankly at the ceiling.
The truth was, she didn't want to worry her parents either.
Last year, during a competition, the barbell slipped from her grip. Two hundred pounds came crashing down, and she instinctively raised her arm to block it, resulting in a fractured right arm and torn ligaments. Her parents waited outside the operating room for three hours. Later, a nurse told her that her father had crouched in the corner and cried. She had never seen her father cry before.
Lying on that hospital bed, she'd thought about it too.
Forget it. Stop training.
Just focus on school.
Weightlifting was never a glamorous path like track and field or tennis. Even if she won an Olympic gold, so what? No endorsements, no commercial value, no future.
But the moment she saw Coach Zhang's message, she knew she couldn't lie to herself. She still missed the feeling of a barbell in her hands. She loved that ultimate sense of conquest. So what if there was no future?
Her phone buzzed. Ji Cheng sent a message: 【Home?】
Wen Li replied with an "Mm."
A video call request popped up almost immediately. She rolled over and answered. On screen appeared her brother's punchable face, the background showing a boys' dormitory with two dried T-shirts hanging over the railing behind him.
Ji Cheng saw through her gloomy expression at a glance. "Fighting at home?"
"No. What do you want?"
"I rented a place near the hospital. Come help me move in a few days."
"? I'm a moving company?"
"A moving company doesn't have your strength. You can carry a 400-pound refrigerator like it's nothing." Ji Cheng leaned back in his chair, adding salt to the wound with a smug tone. "Besides, if you don't come help me move, what use are those athletic cells of yours? You're not thinking of going back to compete, are you?"
This guy's mouth was vicious!
Wen Li couldn't be bothered to argue. Her finger was already hovering over the end-call button.
Just then, a figure flashed across the screen.
The guy was dressed all in black, hair still wet, like he'd just stepped out of the shower. A faint flush spread from his ears down to the back of his neck. His damp hair hung limply, making him look far more docile than usual—almost like someone you could push around.
Xiao Jinyu.
Wen Li's finger froze.
He had just come out of the bathroom, towel in hand, tilting his head to dry his hair. The camera only caught his profile, but thanks to her excellent eyesight, she even spotted a drop of water sliding down his neck and into his collar.
Wen Li swallowed.
So… hot.
She steadied her breathing, about to look more closely, when Ji Cheng grabbed an apple and straightened up. His head shifted, completely blocking the view.
Wen Li earnestly suggested, "Could you squat down to eat that apple?"
"?" Ji Cheng, "Why would I squat down to eat?"
Wen Li stared at the face bobbing around on the screen, wishing she could reach through and shove him aside.
Because you're blocking the view, you know—blocking her from looking at the handsome guy!
"Because your shoelaces are untied," Wen Li bluffed.
"?" Ji Cheng looked down at his shoes, then raised his head, "I'm wearing slippers."
Wen Li gave up struggling. She widened her eyes, her gaze passing over Ji Cheng's head and fixing on the black short-sleeved shirt behind him.
So he actually looks this good in black—no wait, that's not the point. The point is he's in the same dorm as Ji Cheng, so if she goes to his dorm…
Her heart inexplicably skipped a beat, and her ears burned a moment later.
"Hey? Hey!" Ji Cheng's voice pulled her back, "If you're not talking, I'm hanging up."
"Don't!" Wen Li adjusted her expression, "I've thought it over seriously, and I've decided I'll still come help you move."
Ji Cheng raised an eyebrow: "Finally come to your senses?"
"Yes, yes, yes." She nodded, her tone sincere and sycophantic, "Being your errand girl is the greatest honor of my life."
Ji Cheng nodded with satisfaction, quite pleased with her flattery.
Ji Cheng was just about to tease her a bit more when the dorm door was pushed open and several people filed in. As one passed behind him, sharp-eyed, he spotted Wen Li on the phone screen and perked up: "Chatting with your girlfriend?"
Another leaned in: "Damn, you're eating this well?"
"When did you get a girlfriend? You never mentioned it before?"
"Ji Cheng, you animal—is this girl even of age?"
Wen Li saw the unfamiliar faces pop up on the screen, knew they were Ji Cheng's roommates, and obediently greeted them: "Hello, big brothers."
"Aiyo, so sweet…" The guy clutched his chest, leaning back dramatically, "My heart's melting! Little sister, come hang out with us sometime!"
Ji Cheng's face darkened, and he hung up the video: "Scram, all of you. Don't get any ideas about her."
His roommates laughed, slinging arms around each other's shoulders: "What's the rush? Think I'd steal your girl?"
Another joined in the teasing: "With our level, she wouldn't even look at us anyway. Don't guard against us—you need to guard against God Xiao."
Xiao Jinyu sat in his chair flipping through a journal.
Ji Cheng had it on speaker, and he had indeed heard that crisp voice, calling out "big brother" with a coquettish trailing tone—exactly the same way she'd said "it hurts" to him at the hospital that day.
Not a single word on the journal page had registered.
"You need to guard against God Xiao!"
"Right, the walking heartbreaker is right there."
"Keep it under wraps—whatever you do, don't let your girlfriend see him, or who knows who ends up running off with who."
Xiao Jinyu's finger paused at the corner of the page for a moment.
Why guard against him?
He hadn't done anything.
Ji Cheng casually glanced at him.
The boy's profile was sharp and clean, high defined brow bones, a taut jawline. He had to admit—it was indeed the kind of face girls liked.
Ji Cheng cursed inwardly. He really did need to keep an eye on that. Wen Li was a sucker for good looks; who knows if she'd lose her head.
He looked down and sent Wen Li a WeChat message: [Forget it, you don't need to come help me move]
She replied instantly: [No way! If I don't help you move, I'll feel terrible all over!]
Ji Cheng: "…"
_
Wen Li's dorm was a good half-campus away from the medical school. After her noon class, she didn't even eat—she ran straight back to her dorm to change clothes and go help Ji Cheng move.
By the time she reached Ji Cheng's dorm door, she nearly thought she'd stumbled into a package sorting center.
Boxes were scattered every which way on the floor, nearly blocking the entire doorway. She stood outside, momentarily unsure where to step.
Ji Cheng wasn't in the dorm either. Only a guy sat at the desk watching a movie. Seeing her, he grinned and waved: "Aren't you the girl who video-called Ji Cheng that day? Here to help him move stuff?"
Wen Li nodded, craning her neck to look inside: "Where's Ji Cheng?"
"Went downstairs to buy tape. Come in and sit for a bit."
Wen Li tiptoed, squeezing through the gaps between boxes, and as she moved, she discreetly took in her surroundings.
The guys' dorm was more normal than she'd imagined—no socks hanging from bedposts, no towers of takeout containers. It was neat and tidy, the only exception being Ji Cheng's boxes.
"Which bed is Ji Cheng's?" she asked.
"Right there," the guy pointed, "Mine's next to it, and Xiao Jinyu's below."
Hearing Xiao Jinyu's name, Wen Li's heart gave a little flutter, and her gaze unconsciously drifted to the opposite side.
That bed had no curtain. The sheets and quilt cover were all in shades of gray—just like its owner, carrying an air of cold aloofness that kept people at a distance.
Just as she was lost in thought, there was a commotion at the door, and Ji Cheng came back carrying a roll of tape.
"You're here?" He started directing the moment he walked in, "Come help me carry this down to the car."
Wen Li walked over, bent down to look at what was in the boxes—clothes, shoes, books, and one box of…
She stared for a full three seconds, making sure she wasn't seeing things.
It was a box of dumbbells.
"What are these for?" She looked up, her expression hard to describe.
Ji Cheng came over and closed the lid of the box. "I've been working out lately."
"You?" She looked at him suspiciously. "You work out?"
"Why can't I work out?"
Wen Li wouldn't believe him for a second. She knew him too well—this young master had been frail since childhood, getting sick every few days when he was young, which had fostered a habit of lying down whenever he could instead of sitting up.
Back in high school, he'd been mocked by the boys in his class for an entire semester because he ran the thousand-meter in five minutes during the physical fitness test, and even that hadn't been enough to get him to take a few steps onto the track.
And now he was telling her he worked out?
Something was off. Definitely something was off.
Ji Cheng felt a pang of guilt under her gaze and cleared his throat, changing the subject. "There really is quite a lot of stuff. Tell you what, I'll go down to the courier station and borrow a handcart."
"No need. This little bit, I can carry it all down in one trip." Wen Li walked over, bent down to stack the plastic boxes by the door, and lifted them to head out.
"Hey—" Ji Cheng was stunned by her display. "Be careful."
Wen Li ignored him, carrying the stack of boxes that towered above her head steadily down the stairs. When she reached the stairwell entrance, her vision suddenly dimmed.
Wen Li instinctively turned her head, and what came into view was a pure black short-sleeved shirt.
Her gaze traveled upward—Adam's apple, jaw, lips.
Xiao Jinyu!
Wen Li's hands trembled, and the top box wobbled precariously, about to fall. Xiao Jinyu reached out and steadied it for her.
He was very close. Wen Li could feel his arm brush past her shoulder, stirring a faint, cool breeze.
Her little heart started beating irregularly again.
Wen Li took a deep breath, then peeked half her face out from behind the boxes, her eyes curving into crescents. "Thanks."
It was that familiar pair of eyes again—bright and sparkling, brimming with light.
Xiao Jinyu paused, then lifted his gaze to look at the stack of boxes that nearly reached the ceiling. "Ji Cheng asked you to carry all these boxes for him?"
Wen Li: "…"
Oh no. He didn't think she was some kind of super-strong woman, did he?
"They look like a lot, but they're not heavy. These are all empty boxes." She quickly set them down on the ground and shuffled aside, as if desperate to distance herself from the pile. "They're really not heavy."
Xiao Jinyu said nothing, his gaze dropping to her legs.
She was wearing a short skirt, her thighs fair and rounded like plump white jade, with a small, obvious red mark on her knee—the wound from last time at the hospital. The scab had fallen off, but the redness remained.
He didn't look away for a long time.
Wen Li suddenly felt embarrassed, the tips of her ears quietly burning.
Seriously, why was he staring at her legs?
This was too awkward.
Without realizing it, she slowly pressed her legs together, even straightening her posture.