This meal, Wen Qi ate two bowls of rice—though they were only shallow bowls—and also drank a bowl of soup. If his former nutritionist had known about this appetite, he probably would have been so happy he couldn’t sleep all night.
But Li Suian was thoroughly unimpressed, and her little mouth started chattering again.
“A grown man like you, eating this little just won’t do. Your body got thin from starving yourself. Look at Da Hu—he eats a whole basin in one sitting, and there’s not a single dog in the whole village that’s sturdier than him. If you could eat as much as he does, how could your health still be bad…”
Wen Qi sipped his tea, listening to the young girl’s nagging, and couldn’t help but glance at Brother Dog. Seeing his massive stainless steel food basin, he inwardly complained—if a person could wolf down a whole basin of rice like that, their stomach would probably burst!
Wen Qi set down his chopsticks and bowl first, but Li Suian hadn’t finished eating yet. As she ate, she pulled out her phone and took a look. Opening WeChat, she found there was a notification on her Moments.
Tapping into it, she saw that Wen Qi had liked her post, and she immediately brightened up.
“Wow! Brother Wen Qi, you liked my post!”
When Wen Qi heard this, he nearly choked on his tea, and his expression instantly turned awkward.
He’d already felt uncomfortable about accidentally liking her post with a slip of his thumb, and now he was being publicly called out!
But seeing the smile on Li Suian’s face, he suddenly felt it wasn’t so awkward anymore. A faint trace of joy he could hardly detect rose in his heart.
……
Wen Qi went home after breakfast, and Li Suian went about her usual busy day. Although she really wished Wen Qi would stay at her place, she also knew that chasing a man was something that couldn’t be rushed.
She had to take it slow and steady—like boiling a frog in warm water, or rain seeping silently into the soil—and gradually win him over, making him depend on her without even realizing it. She absolutely couldn’t be too hasty; if she scared him off, that would be terrible.
That evening, after a long day of work, Li Suian took a shower and changed into her pajamas, washing away the dust and sweat from her body. She finally felt much more relaxed.
She returned to her room. It wasn’t very large, but it was kept spotlessly clean, decorated simply and cozily.
Against the wall stood an old-fashioned wooden bed and an old wooden wardrobe—these were bought by her parents when they got married, and they were even older than she was.
By the window was a desk, with a neat stack of books arranged on top, a small desk lamp, and a pen holder made from a bamboo tube.
She sat down at the desk and picked up a sophomore-year high school math textbook, starting to read. The content was dry and brain-burning, but she studied it very seriously, teaching herself the material bit by bit.
She had dropped out of school in her sophomore year of high school to go home and care for her grandmother. She never finished high school and only had a middle school diploma. But as the saying goes—you can lack a diploma, but you can’t lack knowledge. Even though she wasn’t studying in school, she had always persisted in self-study.
These high school textbooks were ones she’d gotten from her former classmates. What others treated as garbage—books that wouldn’t even sell for ten yuan a sack—were treasures to her.
She had read these books over and over again. The pages had been worn soft from flipping, and they were covered in her notes.
After reading for a while and working through a few problems, her gaze suddenly landed on a bag. She immediately grabbed it—this was the snacks Wen Qi had given her today.
Inside were chocolates, cookies, and things like that, all beautifully packaged. Just by looking at them, you could tell they weren’t cheap.
Seeing that they were all sweets, she started to form a guess—could it be that Wen Qi liked sweet things?
She opened a box of chocolates, peeled one open—a round chocolate ball covered in crushed nuts. Taking a bite, the chocolate was soft, silky, and rich in flavor, so delicious that she couldn’t help but squint her eyes in delight. She had never tasted chocolate this good before.
After finishing one, she couldn’t resist opening another, then picked up her phone and sent Wen Qi a WeChat message.
[Brother Wen Qi, guess what I’m doing?]
He replied quickly.
[Sleeping?]
[Nope, guess again!]
Attached was a picture of a chocolate with a bite taken out of it.
Wen Qi had just stepped out of the shower, his hair slightly damp as he dried it with a towel. Seeing the photo the young girl sent, he couldn’t help but curl his lips into a faint smile, typing with one hand.
[Tasty?]
Soon, the other side replied with a voice message.
Wen Qi tapped it, and the girl’s usual crisp, chattering voice came through.
“Super delicious! I’ve never had chocolate this good. Thank you, Brother Wen Qi! To thank you for giving me such amazing chocolate, I’m inviting you over for dinner tomorrow!”
Under the light, a faint smile flickered in Wen Qi’s eyes, but it quickly faded.
His fingers hovered over the screen, typing, deleting, retyping. After a long while, he only sent two words back.
[No need.]
He was a man with little time left, having chosen to flee to this unfamiliar mountain village for the sole purpose of leaving without attachments.
Since he knew he was going to depart, why leave behind ties that would only add another person in this world to grieve for him?
On the other end, Li Suian stared at the two cold words, her delicate brows furrowing as she took another fierce bite of the chocolate.
A lofty flower on a peak—so hard to chase!
But it didn’t matter that he was cold; she could be warm enough for the both of them. Even if he were a human-shaped block of ice, she’d melt him down!
Li Suian decided she’d still cook for Wen Qi tomorrow. She wouldn’t tell him now—she’d surprise him in the morning.
She sent him a goodnight message, then went to brush her teeth and wash up, crawled into bed, and fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.
She slept soundly, carefree and oblivious, but on the other end, Wen Qi couldn’t sleep.
His hair was thick, and having only dried it with a towel, it was still a bit damp. He sat at the head of the bed, staring at the cute goodnight cat sticker on the phone screen.
Was she angry? Probably. He’d do the same—use sleep as an excuse when he didn’t want to talk to people.
His fingers lingered on the screen for a long time before he sent two more words.
[Goodnight.]
He lay on his side in bed, the damp hair making his scalp feel cold and clammy. Reluctantly, he got up to find a hairdryer and dried his hair.
Back in the day, he could swim in winter and take cold showers, but now he couldn’t even tolerate a little dampness in his hair.
Once his hair was dry, Wen Qi lay back down, a flicker of mocking amusement passing through the corner of his eyes. A man like him—what was the point of living?
His hand reached for the bedside table, pulled open the drawer, took out the pill bottle inside, shook out one pill, and tossed it directly into his mouth to chew dry.
The pill was bitter, but he seemed used to it. He chewed it expressionlessly and swallowed. He’d eaten far bitterer medicine before; this was nothing.
He curled up under the covers, his hand finding his phone, unlocking it with his fingerprint. The screen still showed the chat with Li Suian. Seeing the photo of the chocolate, he exited WeChat and opened a shopping app instead.
He browsed and selected, adding over a dozen different brands of chocolate to his cart, then checked out and paid for all of them.