The two parted ways at the transfer station.
Wen Zhu returned to the mall for a short evening shift.
Ruan Xingmian exited the light rail station. She had originally planned to go back to her rented apartment to rest, but in the end, she couldn’t resist the anticipation in her heart. Instead, she took a bus to the Computer Research Institute—the desire to see someone was so clear and intense.
She took out her phone, glanced at it, closed it, then couldn’t help but look again, repeating the motion over and over, feeling empty and unsettled.
She was even considering turning back halfway when she received a call from Gu Xing. It seemed he had already finished his class.
“What do you want to eat?” he asked directly, concerned only with whether she had eaten.
Ruan Xingmian was tired from walking around.
On top of that, Gu Xing still hadn’t liked her post or replied to her message.
She felt a slight sense of disappointment.
Unable to resist, she wanted to act a little spoiled.
“I don’t want to eat. I want to sleep.”
There was a three-second silence on the other end.
His tone softened.
“Are you tired from walking around?”
“Mm, sleepy.”
“Then… have you gone back?” His usually calm and indifferent voice actually carried a hint of caution.
A faint smile appeared on Ruan Xingmian’s face as she pressed her forehead against the bus window and asked, “Gu Xing, if I went back, would you feel disappointed?”
Gu Xing didn’t answer. He was used to not showing his emotions, used to calmly handling sudden changes.
But today, not being able to see someone, he felt a clear sense of restlessness in his heart, an indescribable emotion.
He retraced his steps away from the school gate, masking his disappointment with indifference. “No, you should rest well.”
Huh?
That wasn’t the answer she was hoping for.
“Oh.” Why did her heart feel a little heavy?
Then she heard Gu Xing say urgently, “Don’t sleep yet. Let me order you some food. Eat first, then sleep, okay?”
His tone sounded quite disappointed.
Such a stubborn man.
“No need to order,” Ruan Xingmian quickly stopped him.
“University Research Institute Station has arrived…”
The person on the other end of the phone heard the clear announcement.
In an instant, he turned back.
He couldn’t wait to speak. “I’ll be right there. Wait for me at the platform.”
Ruan Xingmian sat at the edge of the platform, gently rubbing her sore knees.
She saw Gu Xing jogging over. His usually neat bangs were lifted by the wind, revealing his cool, fair forehead.
He didn’t seem to care about his appearance as he usually did, even letting his backpack strap slip from his shoulder to the crook of his arm without bothering to adjust it.
As he approached Ruan Xingmian, his steps instinctively slowed by half a beat, as if afraid of startling her by rushing too quickly. The last few steps turned into hurried, brisk walking.
When he stopped in front of her, his chest rose and fell slightly, his breathing heavier than usual.
Ruan Xingmian deliberately raised her eyebrows and said, “Here to see me off to the bus stop across the street? Then go back, sleep, and order takeout?”
Gu Xing pursed his lips.
His cool gaze seemed glued to Ruan Xingmian’s face.
His shoulders slumped slightly as he leaned forward, wanting to get closer but hesitating.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, his lips parting several times without making a sound.
“Here,” Ruan Xingmian handed her canvas bag to him and strode ahead. “Take me to the bus stop across the street. I’m going back.”
He followed his girlfriend’s steps in surprise.
On the crosswalk.
Several times, Gu Xing’s hand brushed against the back of Ruan Xingmian’s hand.
Only to quickly pull away.
His timidity was somewhat endearing.
Ruan Xingmian hadn’t planned to go back at first, but now she thought it might be a good idea to make the trip.
Sticking to Gu Xing every day wasn’t a solution. Her mind was in turmoil, her emotions like a rollercoaster, and she didn’t even feel like editing her videos anymore.
Her thoughts were completely occupied by the man beside her.
They finished crossing the crosswalk.
The person behind suddenly took a big step forward, half-embracing Ruan Xingmian in his arms.
Had Academic God Gu’s courage exploded?
“Let’s eat first, then go back, okay?”
He lowered his voice, filled with anticipation and longing.
Ruan Xingmian lowered her head and smiled. When she looked up at him, her eyes were brimming with unconcealable joy.
There was also a hint of fatigue in her gaze.
She hadn’t lied to him.
She really was tired.
Gu Xing weighed the options and made a decision.
“After dinner, I’ll take a taxi to send you back.”
In his mind, eating came first, and if they could stay together a little longer, even better.
Ruan Xingmian still wanted to tease him, “But I don’t even have the strength to walk.”
Hearing this, Gu Xing’s free hand naturally rested on Ruan Xingmian’s shoulder, pulling her closer to his side.
Ruan Xingmian’s head tilted over, brushing against his collarbone.
This could almost count as half an embrace.
Ruan Xingmian’s heart pounded like a drum.
She thought, maybe she should stop teasing him.
But this guy’s stubbornness was irresistibly tempting.
Outwardly aloof, yet full of subtle expressions and little gestures.
In the end, they bought two jianbing guozi.
And two cups of soy milk.
They walked back to the Garrison District Family Building.
Ruan Xingmian wasn’t hungry, so she specifically asked the vendor to cut them in half and pack them separately.
Gu Xing ate one and a half, while she ate half.
As the saying goes, love makes water taste sweet—young people in the throes of passion could feel full even sharing a pack of spicy strips.
The legendary aloof academic god ate as quickly as a typical manual laborer.
Fast speed, big appetite, wolfing it down.
But no matter what Gu Xing did, his face always looked handsome.
“So, you don’t need to go back to the classroom tonight?” she asked softly.
“Thesis reading class, missing a bit of time won’t matter.” Having finally managed to keep her here, he was willing to spare even his specialized class time.
Missing a bit of time won’t matter… The overwhelming aura of intelligence in those words—Ruan Xingmian believed it when Academic God Gu said it.
In the original story, whenever Gu Xing was deliberately encountered by the original owner, it always happened in the Research Institute library.
Almost every time, Gu Xing was reading research papers, gifted by nature and exceptionally hardworking.
“Then why did you ask me to leave earlier?”
Gu Xing averted his gaze, denying it, “I didn’t.”
“So I decided to leave on my own?”
He looked away, silently agreeing with that statement.
Ruan Xingmian felt like teasing him again, “Alright, since it doesn’t matter whether I stay or not, I’ll just leave then. I’ll come back another day to clean…”
Her free left hand was tightly grasped by a warm, large palm.
Gu Xing’s movements carried a hint of assertiveness as he wordlessly led Ruan Xingmian into the residential complex.
He expressed his thoughts through action.
Ruan Xingmian’s lips curved into a smile. She lowered her gaze and chuckled softly, the corners of her eyes arching like crescent moons.
Opening the door, then turning on the light.
Seeing the tidy and clean rental apartment, Ruan Xingmian perked up instantly.
She pulled out her sketchbook from her bag and showed Gu Xing the renovation design plans.
“I want to turn the living room into a large study. No coffee table or sofa. We can set up two desks here for work, and put a square electric heating table there. It’ll keep us warm in winter, and the two of us can use it as a dining table for meals. That’s enough.”
Hearing the words “the two of us,” Gu Xing’s eyes flickered toward Ruan Xingmian’s abdomen.
Then quickly looked away.
He tried to cover it up by tugging at the tip of his own ear.
Just in time for Ruan Xingmian, who had been watching his face, to catch it.
Ruan Xingmian had noticed this interesting quirk—when Gu Xing felt embarrassed, he would unconsciously tug at his ear.
She felt a bit flustered herself, her cheeks warming as she corrected herself, “It’ll be enough for a family of three to eat, too.”
She didn’t even dare to look at Gu Xing anymore, lowering her head to scribble randomly with a pencil. “What do you think?”
“Whatever you say.”
He averted his gaze, uttering only three words before consciously setting down his backpack and heading into the bathroom to fetch water for cleaning.
To work efficiently, he had deliberately changed into a black tracksuit.
He knelt on one knee to wipe beneath the counter, the black tracksuit tightening against his back with each movement, sleeves rolled up to his elbows revealing sturdy forearms.
When changing the water bucket, he lifted the full plastic bucket with one hand, the muscles in his arm forming a smooth, defined curve. The water rippled inside the bucket but not a single drop spilled out.
It was hard to imagine that these hands, capable of typing out Cyberpunk Code, could also handle household chores with such grace and efficiency.
Ruan Xingmian wanted to help, but he said there wasn’t much work and told her to sit and rest.
Ruan Xingmian set up the camera, pointed it at Gu Xing, and lay back with a clear conscience.
She had been out all day, and aside from two bouts of morning nausea, she hadn’t once remembered the child in her belly.
It wasn’t until just now, when Gu Xing glanced at her stomach.
That she realized she was pregnant, and in the early stages at that, so it was best to limit her physical activity.
Ruan Xingmian sat cross-legged, revising the design drafts, and flipped to one page where she saw notes she had made out of boredom.
Pregnancy Checkup Flowchart.
It was densely packed with words.
It looked so tedious that she didn’t want to go.
But not going would be irresponsible to both the child and herself.
Remembering the tragic fate of the original owner.
Ruan Xingmian still placed this matter at the top of her priorities.
Plus, checkups would make great footage.
Thinking of it that way, it didn’t seem so bothersome anymore.
“I won’t be coming over for the next three days. Let’s meet at the hospital on Saturday morning, okay?”
Why?
Gu Xing’s tense expression was filled with those three words.
“I want to go home to get some things.”
All her important documents were at home.
Besides, she wanted to apologize to her aunt.
To see if she could persuade her to go to the hospital for a full-body checkup.
Later, after the original owner died from a difficult childbirth, her aunt, overwhelmed with grief, was hospitalized, suffered a heart attack, and became half-vegetative.
Her uncle quit his job, sold their house, and took care of her aunt.
Her cousin, due to financial reasons, accepted Lu Tian’s ulterior-motivated marriage proposal.
Stepping right into the grave of marriage.
Ruan Xingmian understood deeply that humans are social creatures, forever unable to sever their social ties.
Family is the primary relationship.
Since she had become the 20-year-old Ruan Xingmian, she hoped to maintain this blood bond.
“Okay.”
Gu Xing responded, flipping the rag in his hands twice before burying himself back in his work.
Looking closely, he seemed to be putting in even more effort than before.