When I Meet the Moon - Chapter 61

Chapter 61

The dawn was faint, and the searing heat blanketed the earth. July and August marked the hottest stretch of the dog days, coinciding with some of the highest temperatures in recent years. Yun Li ran back and forth upstairs and downstairs, sticky and soaked in sweat.

Today was the day Yun Ye left for university.

More than two months had passed since Yun Li returned from the UK.

Yun Li wiped the sweat from her forehead and tossed Yun Ye's luggage into the trunk. Dui Dui wagged its tail excitedly, darting back and forth around the siblings.

Yun Li counted the items on her checklist. "Is anything missing?"

"I'm going to school, not fleeing a disaster zone," Yun Ye muttered relentlessly. The things Yun Li had packed for him were enough to sustain him through a wilderness survival scenario.

Seeing her mutter "I don't think there's any milk powder" as she headed back inside, Yun Ye quickly grabbed her and pulled her back.

"Let's hurry, don't keep Waiwai and the others waiting." Yun Ye pushed Yun Li toward the driver's seat and headed for the passenger side himself.

He glanced ahead, took two steps, and stopped. He turned his head and asked her, "You're going out dressed like this?"

"Yeah." Yun Li parted her lips, lowering her gaze to scan her outfit casually. "What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing much." Yun Ye shrugged. "Yin Yunyi's older brother is going to be there too."

Only then did Yun Li realize she was only wearing a tight, cropped T-shirt and super short shorts. Over the past year, her personal style had undergone a drastic transformation.

A beat slower, she let out an "ah," then handed a carton of milk to Yun Ye. "Hold this."

Yun Ye didn't move.

Yun Li urged, "Hurry up."

Yun Ye frowned slightly, his expression looking somewhat impatient, but he took it anyway. Unable to stand this attitude, she stared at him for three seconds, then suddenly gave him a sharp rap on the head.

The blow came out of nowhere, and Yun Ye grew annoyed. "What are you doing?"

Yun Li didn't say a word and hit him again.

"..." Picking a fight for no reason—even a saint wouldn't be able to bear it. But catching sight of her expressionless face, Yun Ye held back and decided to back down. "What is your problem?"

A moment of silence passed.

Yun Li's expression relaxed as she withdrew her hand. "Nothing."

Yun Ye's lips pressed into a very straight line.

Yun Li lowered the corners of her eyes and said matter-of-factly, "Just knocking some sense back into you."

"..."

Back in her room, Yun Li flipped through her wardrobe. The clothes at home were either the sexy styles she had packed back from the UK or the rigidly conservative outfits she had worn during her internship. She managed to scrounge up a mediocre white T-shirt.

She still wasn't entirely satisfied.

After changing, Yun Li stepped out of her bedroom once more.

Yun Ye irritably handed the milk carton back to her. "Take it."

"Mm." Yun Li responded vaguely, staring at the short-sleeved jacket he was wearing and asking slowly, "Who bought this for you?"

Yun Ye didn't answer.

After staring at each other for three seconds, too lazy to argue with her, he lifted his chin toward her.

Yun Li reached out and brushed her hand over his sleeve, pondered for a brief second, and blurted out, "Take it off."

Yun Ye: "?"

Yun Li: "Let me try it."

"..."

The stretch of road from home to the Xifu Airport had plenty of new buildings constructed along the way; the last time she drove past here was a year and a half ago when she went to the airport to pick up Fu Shize.

In the blink of an eye, Yun Ye was already off to college. Today was the freshman enrollment day at Xifu University of Technology.

When Yun Li returned from the UK at the end of June, Yun Ye and Yin Yunyi had just received their scores.

The dreams of the young man and woman had come true; both of their scores cleared the Xifu Tech threshold by a wide margin, and they enrolled in the communications major.

Yun Ye had been grinning while playing on his phone the entire time. Yun Li glanced at him sideways. "Did you confess your feelings yet?"

"Ha, your little brother doesn't need to confess," Yun Ye bragged cockily.

"Why isn't Dad driving me today?" Yun Ye asked.

Yun Li let out a dry "ha-ha."

After submitting their college applications, Yun Ye used the excuse of learning how to drive to run off to Nanwu, staying there for a month or two to get his driver's license alongside Yin Yunyi.

Yun Yongchang ran a driving school of considerable size; Yun Ye had agreed to go there on the surface, but behind the scenes, he pulled the exact same stunt Yun Li had years ago by acting first and reporting it later.

Yun Yongchang was nearly driven half to death with anger, figuring his son would end up becoming a matrilocal son-in-law for someone else, and he had stewed in frustration for quite a while.

Yun Ye lived a carefree and wonderful life in Nanwu, leaving this messy aftermath to her. Every day she came home exhausted from her internship, only to be met with Yun Yongchang's sour face.

Summer in Xifu was gilded with sunlight, towering buildings scattered across the landscape, and the heat extended endlessly into the distance.

Yun Li parked the car, and the moment Yun Ye unbuckled his seatbelt, he wanted to bolt outside. Yun Li grabbed him and pulled him toward the convenience store. "Go buy some water."

Yun Ye complained that she was wasting time. "Didn't you drink water at home?"

"I'm buying it for my future sister-in-law."

Yun Li didn't know when exactly she had learned to handle these worldly social niceties. Having no one to rely on in the UK and struggling with her spoken English, she faced many inconveniences in daily life, mostly sticking together with local international students.

Her habits for interacting with others were basically copied straight from Fu Shize; following his playbook meant she wouldn't make mistakes.

Take buying water, for instance. Whenever they went out in the past, Fu Shize would always prepare a bottle of water for her and place it in the cup holder.

Yun Li hadn't paid attention at first, only recalling these details after they broke up.

They met the siblings at the arrival gate. Yin Yucheng was carrying two large suitcases, dressed in casual suit trousers and a white T-shirt. Yin Yunyi wore a long white dress, her hair permed into soft waves with light makeup.

The last time she saw Yin Yucheng was back in July of last year.

At that time, Yun Ye had asked Yin Yunyi in advance to have Yin Yucheng drive her to the Nanwu Airport.

Yin Yucheng walked over to her side and greeted her.

After getting into the car, Yun Li expertly set the navigation for Xifu Tech.

She had driven down this stretch of road before as well.

Her mind drifted for a moment.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Yin Yucheng asked her, "How long have you been back?"

Yun Li casually replied, "A little over two months."

"Are you graduating next year? Don't you need to go back to school recently?"

Yun Li: "My experiments are done. I'm writing my graduation thesis here and will go back for my defense next year."

"Planning to stay in Xifu to work in the future?"

Yun Li paused for a fraction of a second, then let out an "mm."

All her family members were in Xifu.

It seemed she had no reason to go anywhere else, either.

Come to think of it, it was funny. She was always rebelling against Yun Yongchang's orders, even crossing oceans to study abroad in the UK several thousand kilometers away, only to voluntarily return to Xifu in the end.

The two of them chatted idly back and forth for a while before Yin Yucheng looked over at Yun Li.

She wore a loose short-sleeved shirt, making her look like a college student. Her speech was soft and natural, having long since shed her initial awkwardness and shyness.

"How was life in the UK?"

Yun Li tightened her grip slightly on the steering wheel and replied calmly, "Pretty good."

Following the road signs, Yun Li drove to the registration point located inside the Xifu Tech gymnasium.

Both sides of the road were packed solid with parked cars, and students and parents with luggage were everywhere.

"You guys go register; I'll go find a place to park."

Yin Yucheng hesitated for a moment. "I'll go with you to park. With this much traffic and narrow roads right now, it's not very safe."

"It's fine." Yun Li smiled, declining politely and graciously. "Yun Ye and Yin Yunyi probably don't know the ropes yet, you should stay with them."

Yin Yucheng didn't press the matter. After they all got out of the car, Yun Li drove slowly along the perimeter of the gymnasium.

The roadside was lined with welcome roll-up banners and tents.

After circling once without finding a parking spot, Yun Li was just about to change direction when her peripheral vision caught a roll-up banner nearby, causing her heartbeat to suddenly skip a beat.

A light blue background printed with dark blue explanatory text featured enlarged black letters printed across the top—

Unique.

She followed the roll-up banner forward.

It was a cluster of ordinary tents, mainly handling mobile phone SIM card business.

Yun Li withdrew her gaze; her car had already shifted gears. She stared at the center console for a moment, then couldn't help herself from turning her head to look outside.

Off to the side stood a blue tent where several people in black short-sleeved shirts wore moon-shaped badges pinned to their chests.

One of them was tall and lean, leaning against a table. The others surrounded him, chattering endlessly. He lowered his gaze to operate the drone in his hands, occasionally turning his head slightly to respond with a few words.

As they spoke, he smiled and raised his head, the light and shadow of the drone in midair flashing across his face.

Yun Li instinctively rolled up the car window.

She stared dazedly in that direction. It was the young man from the videos; his matured facial features had become sharper and more defined, yet his temperament remained gentle and warm.

A young fan asked him for an autograph, and he signed it casually. When the people around him burst into teasing laughter, he also pulled a very faint smile.

Beep—

A car behind her honked its horn in urging.

Yun Li snapped back to her senses, turned her car around, and drove away. Her heart felt as though it were heavy with accumulated emotions, and she drove in circles around the campus in a daze.

Finally, she found an empty patch of ground and parked.

A moment later, she realized the car was still vibrating heavily and she had forgotten to kill the engine.

It was him.

After the breakup, Yun Li had forced herself to work from morning until night just so she could fall asleep the moment she found a spare gap.

She didn't need to think of him anymore.

A year and a half had passed, and the face, temperature, and touch of the person in her memories had gradually grown blurry.

She had thought they would never meet again.

Yun Li stared at the water bottle in the cup holder.

How nice.

He had gone back to the way he used to be.

A trace of bitterness welled up in her heart.

And she had merely happened to cross paths with him during the period when he fell from his pedestal.

...

Yun Li did not walk back to the gymnasium.

After pondering for a while, she restarted the car and turned on the air conditioning. In the scorching summer heat, the steady stream of people flowed back and forth before her eyes.

Staying in the car meant she wouldn't have to run into him.

There didn't seem to be any need to meet, either.

Yun Ye called to urge her, his phone vibrating for a long time before Yun Li came to her senses and answered. It was very noisy on Yun Ye's end. "Why aren't you here yet? We've finished registering!"

Yun Li brushed him off hastily. "Wait a minute, I'm driving over."

Taking a deep breath, she drove the car back.

Catching sight of Yin Yucheng's figure by the roadside, Yun Li pulled the car over.

He climbed into the passenger seat first; barely half an hour had passed, and sweat was already visible on his forehead from the intense heat.

Yin Yucheng accepted the tissue she offered and wiped away the sweat. "It's too hot outside. Yunyi and Yun Ye were missing a document, so we had to wait a little bit."

"Mm." Yun Li responded absentmindedly.

Yun Li rubbed her fingertips against the steering wheel. She sent a text message to Yun Ye to hurry him up, leaning back against her seat with a touch of agitation.

Noticing something unusual about her, Yin Yucheng asked, "Is something wrong?"

"It's nothing." She smiled.

A red and black shadow flashed across her field of vision like lightning.

Immediately following that, another drone drifted slowly in front of the windshield like a mosquito bloated with blood.

"..."

Yun Ye, who had just squeezed into the back seat, looked a bit bewildered at the sight of the drone. "Sis, did you crash into someone else's drone?"

"..."

Yun Li pressed the car horn lightly.

The drone seemed to receive the command and slowly flew toward the right side.

The more anxious Yun Li felt in her heart, the slower the drone flew, as if doing it on purpose.

Her gaze followed the shape of the drone, wishing only for it to fly into a safe zone so she could immediately drive away and escape this place.

The moment she raised her eyes, from a great distance, her gaze locked directly with Fu Shize's.

For just a split second, Yun Li averted her eyes, started the car, and sped away.

...

Yun Li didn't tell anyone about running into Fu Shize, nor did she go out of her way to ask about him.

After returning, she dazed out for a little while before diving back into work.

The busyness of life did not allow her to indulge her thoughts in things of the past.

Besides, for the two of them now, it was nothing more than a passing glance amidst a sea of strangers.

Ever since her internship, Yun Li's life had become absurdly simple: work from eight to five, come back to eat a meal, take a shower, organize some videos, and then go to sleep.

"I ended up adding two general education classes from the School of Control during the add/drop period, and I need to buy the textbooks myself. I had them shipped home, but I need them for class today. They're at the delivery station, can you bring them over for me?"

Yun Ye made this phone call during one of Yun Li's rare days off.

She sighed. "Yun Ye, can you grow up a little?"

"Can you stop exploiting your older sister?"

Despite saying that, Yun Li still went to the pickup station and grabbed the package. Her holiday had been interrupted, leaving her in a foul mood, and right on cue, Yun Ye kept sending text messages.

As soon as she sat in the car, she opened her phone with a frown.

Yun Ye: [I'm not familiar with this experimental building. Head to Classroom Building Block E, we're about to have class.]

Yun Ye: [My seat is on the inside, it's hard to get out.]

Yun Ye: [Aren't you here yet?]

Resisting her anger, Yun Li replied: [You only notified me five minutes ago.]

Starting the engine, Yun Li drove straight to Xifu Tech. Just as she arrived on campus, Yun Ye sent a few more messages.

Yun Ye: [Never mind, I'll ask the teaching assistant what to do.]

Yun Ye: [I added the teaching assistant in the group chat, I'll give you his WeChat, you can pass it to him.]

Yun Ye forwarded a digital name card to her.

——F

Yun Li's expression froze. Opening the name card to take a look, she wished right then and there that she could rewind time back to before she left.

Without a moment's hesitation yet filled with deep resistance, she replied to Yun Ye: [Failed to add, whatever, you can pick it up yourself next time.]

Yun Ye: [Don't be like that, I already forwarded your name card to the teaching assistant.]

"..."

Yun Ye: [Ok, the teaching assistant said he added you.]

Damn it.

Sure enough, a small red dot had appeared on WeChat, and the other person's greeting was simple: [I am the teaching assistant for the Control Engineering Fundamentals course.]

Yun Li sat frozen in place for a long time.

She glanced at her profile picture.

Ah, she had changed it.

Her nickname.

Well, that was changed too.

Her account ID.

Oh, it was the randomly generated initial WeChat ID.

He shouldn't be able to recognize that it was her.

Yun Li had originally thought that after tempering herself with a stint in the UK, she would be a bit more at ease in handling situations. Right now, however, she felt like she had regressed right back to her previous state of nervous anxiety.

Lowering her gaze, she accepted the friend request with extreme reluctance.

Yun Li didn't initiate a message; in fact, she hoped the other party wouldn't send one either.

Things stubbornly refused to go her way.

A few minutes later.

F: [Yun Ye asked me to help him grab his book.]