When I Meet the Moon - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Because of the little incident that occurred right before sleep, whatever slight drowsiness Yun Li had managed to gather instantly vanished into thin air. Though she reluctantly replied with "Misclicked, my apologies," she received no further response.

Staring at the screen for a long time.

harboring a heart full of heavy thoughts, Yun Li didn't sleep particularly well either. Spending the entire night hovering somewhere between brief snatches of sleep and sudden awakenings, she dragged herself through till morning.

When she finally woke up, it was already the afternoon of the next day. Her reflex upon opening her eyes was to reach for her phone. The message hadn't sunk into oblivion as she had feared; she saw that the other person had replied. It had come in at seven o'clock this morning.

Fu Shize: [Mn]

It felt like a casual reply sent right as he woke up.

Not even a single punctuation mark.

And she had no way of knowing whether he had believed it or not.

Yun Li's mood failed to improve by even a fraction of a percent. Dragging herself out of bed, she wandered out into the living room. Deng Chuqi was lying on the couch playing a game, and catching sight of her in her peripheral vision, she glanced up at the time: "Did you go thieving last night? What time did you fall asleep?"

"I didn't really pay attention, maybe three or four." Seating herself beside her, Yun Li asked, "Has Xiahua already headed out?"

"Left at the crack of dawn." Knowing that Yun Li's sleep schedule had always been erratic, Deng Chuqi hadn't bothered to wake her. "Why are you just sitting there, go wash up and eat something."

Yun Li didn't budge, looking utterly lifeless.

Having just finished a round of her game, Deng Chuqi put her phone down and looked thoroughly perplexed: "What's wrong with you?"

Yun Li let out a long, heavy sigh.

Deng Chuqi: "Did you not get used to the bed?"

Yun Li shook her head.

Deng Chuqi: "Had a nightmare?"

She shook her head again.

Deng Chuqi: "Didn't sleep well?"

Halfway through shaking her head, Yun Li paused and switched to nodding instead.

"So what on earth is the matter?" Deng Chuqi pressed a hand against her forehead. "Are you feeling unwell anywhere?"

"No." Seeing the worried look on her friend's face, Yun Li simply couldn't keep it bottled up any longer: "Look, let me tell you about something."

"Hmm?"

"Right before I went to sleep last night, my finger slipped and I sent an emoji sticker to Xiahua's little uncle."

"Huh? What did you send?"

Yun Li handed her phone over.

Noticing her intense solemnity, Deng Chuqi didn't dare to take it lightly. Accepting the phone with both hands, she stared at the screen with an equally grave expression. When she caught sight of the contents within, her face froze entirely.

"..."

After a few seconds, she suddenly burst into laughter.

The frozen atmosphere shattered right then and there.

Yun Li frowned: "Stop laughing!"

Deng Chuqi tried her best to hold back her amusement, but after fighting it for a moment, she achieved the exact opposite effect and erupted into roaring laughter: "O—Okay, just give me a second."

"...Don't you think this is a huge deal?" Yun Li asked in deep depression. "Is he going to think I'm completely out of my mind?"

"Or think that I'm some kind of creep?"

"Or what if he thinks I'm utterly shameless!"

"It's not that serious," Deng Chuqi said. "Didn't you already explain it to him?"

"B—But," Yun Li stammered, "didn't I just end up offending an elder?"

Deng Chuqi was once again tickled by that title, breaking into lighthearted teasing: "Well, an elder is bound to show a bit more tolerance and understanding toward a junior, plus isn't it obvious the elder has already made it clear he understands?"

Yun Li blinked at her pathetically.

"Seriously, it's nothing, stop stressing yourself out over it." Deng Chuqi recalled something: "By the way, when did you even go and ask someone for their WeChat? You were surrounded by so many people yesterday, I didn't even get the chance to ask you."

"..."

"Why'd you go silent?"

With her guilty conscience dragged back into the spotlight, Yun Li's brain once again entered overdrive: "Well, you know."

Deng Chuqi dragged out her tone: "You know—what?"

"Well," staring straight into her eyes, Yun Li let her shoulders slump, deciding she didn't want to hide it anymore. "Fine, I'll tell you. But you can't tell Xiahua."

"What?"

"The WeChat I asked for," Yun Li confessed softly, "belonged to her little uncle."

"..."

Deng Chuqi was completely dumbfounded.

After listening to Yun Li briefly outline the sequence of events, Deng Chuqi's initial shock quickly gave way to a sense that it all made complete sense: "No wonder I always felt you were acting so weird that day; turns out the two of you had this whole entanglement going on."

"How can you call this an entanglement?" Yun Li wilted completely. "It's barely worth calling a couple of brief conversations."

"Why are you being so defeatist? Didn't you end up getting his WeChat in the end anyway?" Deng Chuqi patted her head. "Besides, he doesn't have a girlfriend—isn't that the definition of having the right time, the right place, and the right people?"

Yun Li lost all her courage: "Forget it, he already rejected me."

"What's a little WeChat rejection? Just think about it—if he handed his WeChat out to literally anyone who asked, wouldn't that just make him look like he accepts anyone who comes along? He's probably just the slow-to-warm-up type." Deng Chuqi reasoned, "Let me tell you, based on my experience, someone with a personality like Xiahua's little uncle might be ice-cold and hard to approach at first, but once you actually win him over, he'll undoubtedly be devoted to you heart and soul until death do you part."

Yun Li let out a sigh, wanting to retort, How could I ever dare chase him, but ultimately swallowed the words back down.

Deng Chuqi re-examined the chat history, which consisted of a mere four messages. Raising an eyebrow, she suddenly covered the middle two messages with her thumb and smiled sweetly: "Look how much more comforting it looks when you cover those up."

Following her lead, Yun Li looked over.

With those lines obscured, the implied meaning changed drastically in an instant.

Yun Li: [Be my wife]

Fu Shize: [Mn]

"..."

Staring directly at her face, Deng Chuqi teased: "Lili, you're blushing."

Snatching her phone back, Yun Li grew flustered and indignant: "Blushing my foot! I'm going to go wash up."

Based on Deng Chuqi's understanding of Yun Li, let alone asking someone for their WeChat, simply getting her to ask a stranger for directions was already a monumental task. Furthermore, despite knowing each other for so long, this was the first time she had ever heard Yun Li express an active attraction toward a specific man.

Eager to lend a helping hand to her friend's romantic prospects, Deng Chuqi periodically egged Yun Li on over the next few days to message Fu Shize.

Completely immune to the instigation, Yun Li let it go in one ear and out the other.

Stubborn as a rock.

Because she had to register at school the following day, Yun Li grabbed a bite to eat and headed back home.

Once back, she sat in a daze for a while before getting up to pack her luggage. During this period, Yang Fang had mailed her a substantial amount of clothing, and she slowly stuffed them into her suitcase, folding them neatly only to unfold them again to deliberate.

Before she knew it, the task had devolved into agonizingly selecting what outfit to wear tomorrow.

Having wasted an enormous amount of time on this, Yun Li snapped back to her senses and forced herself back on track.

An uncontrollable feeling began to take root inside her.

It bore a resemblance to the anxiety she used to feel right before attending group gatherings, yet this time, a different emotion was mixed in. Lying at the very bottom, subtle and elusive.

Much like the lingering anticipation of unboxing a blind box she had waited eagerly for.

Fusing a sense of nervous dread over knowing the outcome with an intense craving to find out anyway—a true sense of eager suspense.

Yun Li didn't sleep particularly well that night either, rising at the crack of dawn the next morning to prepare.

With her luggage already packed, she spent the vast majority of her time on her makeup. Once everything was in order, she grabbed a crepe cake from the fridge to fill her stomach and packed the remaining ones into a insulated bag.

At the same time, Yun Li received a message from Fu Zhengchu stating that they had already arrived at the entrance of her residential complex, but security wouldn't let vehicles without registration decals inside. He asked which building she was in so he could come in and help her carry her things out.

They had arrived somewhat earlier than the agreed-upon time.

Yun Li's entire luggage consisted of one suitcase and two large bags, the latter containing a duvet core, pillows, and a mattress pad—none of which were small in volume. She had originally intended to make two separate trips to move them out, but there simply wasn't time for that now.

Fearing she would delay them, Yun Li didn't refuse and replied: [Building 11.]

Fu Zhengchu: [Ok.]

Shutting off her doors, windows, and electrical appliances, Yun Li stepped out and laboriously ferried her luggage back and forth into the elevator.

Fu Zhengchu was already waiting downstairs. Taking her luggage from her, he greeted her warmly.

True to his first impression, the young man was a total chatterbox brimming with enthusiasm. He didn't stop talking for a single second during that short stretch of walking, babbling about everything under the sun—from how massive the residential complex was to how gorgeous the landscaping turned out to be.

Stepping out of the complex, Yun Li found herself back in this car after what felt like an age.

Driving the vehicle, Fu Zhengchu called out cheerfully: "Little uncle, we're here!"

Seated in the back right-hand seat, Yun Li felt she ought to offer a greeting as well.

Yet she hit a stumbling block when it came to how to address him.

Calling him by his first name felt entirely inappropriate, while simply saying "Hello" felt far too distant. Remembering Xia Congsheng's words from the other day, Yun Li simply gritted her teeth and followed suit: "Hello, little uncle..."

The moment the words left her mouth, Yun Li instantly felt like something was deeply wrong.

The other two occupants, however, found nothing amiss.

Fu Shize turned his head slightly and offered a polite nod: "Hello."

"..."

Lowering her gaze, Yun Li felt her face heat up inexplicably.

Pulling a bottle of water from her bag, she took a sip to feign composure.

The drive to Nanwu University took all of a few minutes.

Reaching the school gates, Fu Shize found a spot to park, and all three of them stepped out of the car.

Fu Zhengchu unloaded the luggage from the trunk one piece at a time. He didn't have much luggage of his own—just a single suitcase. The rest belonged entirely to Yun Li.

Fu Shize took the bags from Fu Zhengchu's hands and hoisted them onto one of the suitcases: "Anything else?"

Fu Zhengchu fished out another bag: "That's it."

Feeling genuinely mortified at treating them like manual laborers, she offered a soft word of thanks before adding: "Let me take one of them."

"No worries," Fu Zhengchu said dismissively, "they're sitting on the suitcase anyway, not heavy at all."

In the end, Yun Li was reduced to a freeloader, holding nothing save for the insulated bag carrying her cakes.

Walking alongside these two, she was abruptly struck by a sense of déjà vu, as though she had been transported right back to the day of her undergraduate freshman registration. Back then, with Yun Changming and Yun Ye by her side, she hadn't had to carry a single heavy item either.

The current scenario felt like a direct replay of the past.

Yun Li turned her head to look sideways.

Mmh...

Still featuring one elder and one younger brother.

This wasn't Yun Li's first time stepping foot onto the Nanwu University campus. She had visited twice previously for her graduate entrance re-examinations, and coupled with her temporary stay at Qilixiang recently, she would occasionally pass right by it. Consequently, she couldn't call the university entirely unfamiliar.

The registration desk had been set up at the East Gate.

Passing through the gates, numerous tents lined both sides of the campus pathway, labeled with the names of various academic departments. Fu Zhengchu only just remembered to ask: "Senior sister, which department are you in?"

Yun Li: "Automation."

Scanning their surroundings, Fu Zhengchu pointed out: "Automation is over that way."

With the noon hour approaching, the queues were virtually nonexistent.

As Yun Li walked over to handle her paperwork and neared the completion of the process, the staff at the registration desk casually mentioned that all the student volunteers were currently out helping transport luggage and told her to wait right there.

Hearing this, Fu Zhengchu—acting like an old hand in his junior year—immediately piped up: "No need for that, I know the way. Senior sister, let me walk you over."

The campus grounds of Nanwu University covered a massive expanse, and walking from this gate to the dormitory area would take a good twenty minutes. Since all three of them were encumbered with luggage, they simply decided to wait in place for a bit and catch the campus shuttle bus over to the dorms.

Each shuttle could only seat a dozen or so people, bearing a striking resemblance to a sightseeing buggy. Fu Zhengchu seemed to be acquainted with the driver; once they boarded, he even claimed a seat near the driver's cab and struck up a chat.

Yun Li sat side-by-side with Fu Shize in the back row.

She wanted to strike up a conversation with him, yet couldn't manage to dredge up a single viable topic. Whenever words reached the tip of her tongue, she deemed them inappropriate, repeating the cycle several times before dejectedly abandoning the idea altogether.

After a moment, Yun Li noticed Fu Shize pull out his phone, open WeChat, and scroll downwards. His contact list was filled almost entirely with full-name entries. Near the top sat Xu Qingsong, counting as one of his nephews.

Daring not to sneak any more glances, Yun Li turned her head away, feigning an intense interest in the passing campus scenery.

Numerous students walked by in groups, the air filled with boisterous noise and bustling energy. Right amid this clamor, she heard Fu Shize speak up, his tone lazy and relaxed like a cat basking in the sun: "What's your name again?"

At the sound, Yun Li turned back to look, locking eyes with Fu Shize.

Uncertain if he was actually addressing her, she asked hesitatingly: "Pardon?"

Fu Shize repeated himself: "Your name."

Unsure why he was suddenly asking, Yun Li felt a flutter of nerves: "Oh, I'm Yun Li..." she accidentally bit her tongue on the final syllable, "...li."

After a brief pause, she added: "Li as in centimeter."

Fu Shize nodded, offering no further comment.

With no clue what kind of situation this was, Yun Li's brain remained thoroughly stalled in system-crash mode. The next second, she saw Fu Shize tap open her WeChat chat window, bringing that humiliating chat history right back up in front of her.

Yun Li felt her head spin, then watched as Fu Shize's fingertips moved, tapping open the profile nickname editing screen.

Realization dawned on her.

So he was about to set a remark name for her.

Their seats were positioned closely together, allowing her to see the individually distinct eyelashes above Fu Shize's slightly raised eyes, his flawless, pale skin completely devoid of blemishes.

Stripped of the gloomy shadow across his brow, Fu Shize looked every bit the transcendent, handsome young gentleman.

With an expression of utter nonchalance, he looked entirely unbothered by the message she had sent.

While feeling a wave of relief, Yun Li experienced a tiny twinge of disappointment. Following that, she withdrew her gaze, tried her absolute best to empty her mind, and stared out at the passing scenery outside the window.