After recovering from his shock, Lin Zong did not pay it much mind. He simply tapped a one in the group chat for Li Jianbing and went back to playing video games.
It was not until bedtime that Li Jianbing seemed to snap back to reality, wailing and lamenting over missing Zhou Yangyang’s phone call.
Unable to take it any longer, Lin Zong slapped Do Not Disturb on him.
The day before the gathering, Lin Zong carefully evaluated the universities he could get into with his percentile.
Per his initial plan, local universities were the first to be crossed off the list.
Huo You was looking over his own options at the same time. The cold, pale light from the display screen shone against his face, casting a sharp shadow beneath his brow bone.
A moment later, Huo You’s hand left the mouse.
Catching it out of the corner of his eye, Lin Zong asked, “Picked one?”
“T University.”
“Makes sense,” Lin Zong nodded with a look of understanding. “Around here, that is about the only university that matches your scores.”
After a few seconds of silence, he added, “Though you really should think about it some more. Your grades could get you into A University.”
Huo You did not reply. He spun his wheelchair back a little and sat quietly in the space just behind and to the side of Lin Zong.
Why was he so set on staying local?
The reason he had fed Lin Zong last time was distance, but that was not the truth.
He simply did not want to deal with any more unknown people and environments.
College was a new phase of life, guaranteed to be unfamiliar, but locally, the surroundings were at least familiar. There were places where he could tuck himself away.
Compared to City A, which he knew nothing about, he still preferred to stay right here.
Human hearts were too complicated. Even his maternal aunt, who had always been good to him, would occasionally voice suspicions behind his back about whether he was truly her sister’s biological child simply because of his eye color.
Fortunately, his aunt had never voiced those doubts to his face, only bringing them up casually in front of her husband.
Yet Huo You had bad luck, returning to grab a forgotten assignment only to overhear it.
Even three years later, Huo You still remembered his aunt’s flat yet wounding tone: “If only my sister were still here, we could at least get a paternity test.”
“Hey, I just realized my score can get me into T University too.” Lin Zong leaned closer to the monitor and spoke up abruptly.
Huo You’s train of thought was broken. He lifted his eyelids, looking over with a glimmer of expectation.
“Oh, the Electronic Technology University right next door.”
Turning his head sideways with a grin, Lin Zong said, “My bad, I misread the line. I was wondering how my score suddenly qualified me for T University.”
Huo You paused for a fraction of a second, then smiled from the bottom of his heart.
It was fleeting, but Lin Zong still could not help marveling aloud, “When you smile, you are actually quite handsome.”
Huo You slowly looked away, changing the subject: “You do not want to apply locally?”
“Just looking around does not break any laws,” Lin Zong turned back to continue his search. “Actually, I really want to go to City A. Jianbing is going too.”
Wait, actually, that might not be set in stone.
Recalling Li Jianbing’s expression of having missed out on a hundred million dollars the previous night, he had a strong feeling Li Jianbing would end up chasing after Zhou Yangyang instead.
No, he had to ask.
Lin Zong pulled up Li Jianbing’s chat window and tapped rapidly on the keyboard.
ZONG: [Where are you planning to apply?]
The reply came back instantly.
Jianbing is not a pancake: [City A, going for it.]
ZONG: [That is the spirit.]
Jianbing is not a pancake: [Of course, little cat raising head.jpg]
Jianbing is not a pancake: [Class beauty is going to City A too, penguin spinning in circles.jpg]
Lin Zong ground his teeth. He knew it!
“Decided,” Lin Zong set his phone down on the desk, gave the floor a shove with his foot to swivel around, and faced Huo You directly. “Jianbing and I are both going to City A. Why don’t you come along too?”
He could not understand why anyone would let distance deter them so much that Huo You would pass up such a top-tier school.
Granted, T University was not bad either, but why settle for second best when the absolute best was within reach?
Huo You’s thoughts seemed elsewhere, his gaze remaining completely fixed.
Lin Zong considered his own skin thick, but under that kind of stare, he still felt a bit awkward.
He nudged the edge of Huo You’s wheelchair with his leg and kept trying to persuade him, “It is not even that far away. Three hours by high-speed rail, super close.”
He had repeated himself quite a bit, yet Huo You stayed entirely unresponsive until Lin Zong’s throat felt dry.
Standing up, he decided to grab a bottle of water outside and come right back to continue his pitch.
He had barely taken a step when someone grabbed his wrist.
Huo You’s voice was slightly hoarse, coming out faster than usual: “Let me think about it.”
His hand was released, and Lin Zong heard him ask in a low voice, “Alright?”
Ah.
Alright.
Why did he suddenly feel like Huo You had completely misunderstood something?
“Take your time thinking,” Lin Zong gave a tentative pat to the other’s shoulder. “I was just stepping out to grab a bottle of water.”
Huo You’s body stiffened. He lowered his head and stopped speaking.
Good grief.
Stepping out of the gaming room and heading to the backyard, Lin Zong hauled Lai out of its luxury villa and buried his face in its fur for a fierce round of cuddling.
Was he about to change the trajectory of someone’s life?
Too legendary.
Talk therapy really worked. The ancestors never lied to us.
Lin Zong ruffled the dog’s head, still feeling thoroughly worked up.
Maybe he should major in psychology. He was just too naturally gifted.
Was there anyone else in the world better at reading people than Lin Zong?
No, such a person did not exist.
The high lasted all of a few minutes before his phone rang.
Pulling it out to check.
Why was there a transfer refund notification?
Huo You had not accepted it.
Why so formal and distant?
Setting the dog down, Lin Zong marched toward Huo You’s room with an imposing aura.
He came to an abrupt halt right at the doorway.
He figured he had just discovered the exact reason why Huo You refused to take the money.
Pondering for a moment, Lin Zong turned back to his own room and placed an online order for a blue love-letter envelope.
As an open-minded person, he could totally understand Huo You having certain little aesthetic quirks.
The only slight glitch was that the delivery timing the next day was off, coinciding right with Lin Zong heading out for the gathering.
“Mr. Lin,” the front door swung open as the delivery worker looked down to confirm, “Is this you?”
Huo You adapted seamlessly, his expression unchanged: “Yes.”
The package was a rectangular box. It must have suffered some rough handling during transit because one of the corners was crushed inward.
Huo You pulled it out by habit.
To his surprise, a tear ripped open in the cardboard, and a flash of pink peeked right through the gap.
The gathering was scheduled for five in the afternoon.
It was held at the hot pot restaurant run by Old Liu’s family, which had been closed to the public for the entire afternoon specifically for their get-together.
Nearly the entire class showed up, with only three or four people missing due to being out of town.
The hot pot restaurant was packed with people chatting away, creating enough noise to give Lin Zong a headache.
There were even a few moments when he felt a sudden wave of empathy for Huo You.
Talking a lot really was quite noisy.
After the meal, everyone started clamoring to play games.
Lin Zong accidentally lost twice, forcing him to drink two rounds of a tongue-numbing mystery cocktail concocted by someone at the table.
His dad liked to have a couple of drinks whenever, but Lin Zong had failed to inherit any alcohol-tolerance genes.
One cup flushed his face, two cups made him quiet, and three cups sent him straight into a spin.
By the time he left the hot pot restaurant, he was already feeling rather dizzy, but thankfully he still had enough sense left to hail a private ride home.
Li Jianbing was heading to his grandmother’s place early the next morning, so he had not tagged along.
Late June was still far too hot, and even the breeze felt like a wave of heat.
Lin Zong exchanged a hazy wave with the classmates who were still lingering outside and hurriedly rolled up the car windows.
By the time he got home, the worst of the dizziness had worn off. Changing his shoes in the entryway, Lin Zong spotted the delivery box.
Picking it up for a closer look, he confirmed it was indeed the envelope he had ordered.
Unpacking the package, Lin Zong stared blankly for a few seconds.
Then he pulled out his phone to check his order history.
Ridiculous. He had placed the wrong order. No wonder that shade of blue looked so remarkably like pink.
After turning it over in his mind, Lin Zong decided to just test it out first.
If Huo You did not care about the envelope color, he would not bother with the hassle of an exchange.
Thus, at ten-thirty-six that night.
Huo You had just finished a strenuous shower and emerged to the sound of steady knocking at his door.
Using his crutches to make his way over and pulling the door open, he was hit squarely in the face with a pink envelope before he even had time to lower his guard.
“For you.” Lin Zong’s trailing vowels stretched out much longer than usual, his speech slow and airy.
Huo You’s internal alarm bells went wild.
“This,” he dared not accept it, “Who is this from?”
Not quite following, Lin Zong raised a brow slightly: “Me, of course. Who else could it be?”
Huo You looked at his eyes in a panic-stricken haze: “Who?”
Pink. Envelope. Handed over by Lin Zong.