When I Meet the Moon - Chapter 63

Chapter 63

It was the same coffee shop they had visited in the past. The interior decor remained unchanged, and whether by coincidence or something else, Fu Shize walked right over to the exact table they used to sit at.

"You sit here, I'll go get the menu for you." Fu Shize pulled out a chair for her, retrieved a small black booklet from the counter, and handed it to Yun Li.

She flipped through it, but there weren't many choices available. "I'll have the cocoa milk."

Fu Shize asked, "Matcha crepe for dessert?"

Yun Li nodded.

He calmly closed the menu, walked over to the counter to place the order, and Yun Li stared at his retreating back, feeling a bit dazed by how at ease he seemed.

There is always a period of emotional digestion following a breakup.

During this phase, you repeatedly question whether the decision to break up was too rash, endlessly replay various details in hopes of a different outcome, and constantly reminisce about the sweetness of the relationship while torturing yourself in the process.

You crave to reclaim what you lost, yet you dread the anxiety of holding onto something unstable.

Throughout this digestion period, Yun Li had relived countless details, realizing that, oh, he actually used to care deeply for her. And as the days gradually passed without him coming to look for her, she also realized that, oh, she wasn't all that indispensable to him after all.

Slowly, only a single outcome remained.

And she had accepted that outcome.

After placing the order, Fu Shize walked back and pulled out a chair to sit down. He rested his arms on the armrests, leaning his upper back entirely against the back of the chair.

At first, neither of them looked at the other.

After a moment of silence, they simultaneously raised their gazes to look at each other.

Out of sight beneath the table, Yun Li nervously played with her fingers for a bit, forcing herself to look as relaxed and nonchalant as he did. "You've changed a lot..."

When they ran into each other last time, she had been too constrained. In truth, she had always wanted to ask—

"How have you been?"

Although she hadn't actively inquired about him over the past year and a half, she had indeed wondered countless times—hoping, at the very least, that he was doing a little better.

Even without her in his life, she hoped he could do well.

Fu Shize looked at Yun Li. She had grown her hair out, getting it permed and dyed, with a blue and white hair ribbon gently pinning back a section to reveal her smooth, straight shoulders. She spoke slowly, her tone gentle.

He smiled. "Not bad. Life is back on track."

Before the two of them could exchange more than a few words, a young man walked straight up to them and greeted Fu Shize.

The guy was easygoing and familiar, asking with a grin, "Senior, is this your girlfriend? She's so pretty." He raised his face to introduce himself to Yun Li. "I'm on the drone competition team with Senior."

Yun Li's heart tightened slightly as she nodded at the other person.

Fu Shize looked at Yun Li without answering.

The guy glanced at the empty seats at their table and said with a grin, "Mind if I sit here?"

Fu Shize chuckled and gave him a gentle nudge. "Scram."

After the guy walked away, Fu Shize turned back to her and said, "Sorry, they like to joke around a lot."

"It's fine." Yun Li forced herself to look completely indifferent. "People joke around with me like that all the time."

"..."

Fu Shize's hand holding the coffee cup paused.

That sounded as if she frequently went out with guys. Fearing she had created a misunderstanding, Yun Li quickly clarified, "I just mean when I'm out with Yun Ye."

Hearing this, the space between Fu Shize's brows relaxed as he asked her, "What are your plans for the future?"

"Find a job in Xifu. My current internship should turn into a full-time position." Yun Li cupped her mug with both hands, lifting her gaze to look at him. "And you?"

"Probably go abroad to do a postdoc."

"..." Yun Li's grip on her cup tightened slightly. "Are you going by yourself?"

Fu Shize raised an eyebrow slightly. "Who else would I go with?"

"I don't know..." She said, feeling a bit awkward. "It just feels like going abroad alone isn't easy."

"It's fine. Just me." He pondered for a moment, staring straight at her. "I haven't made a final decision yet; I might just stay in the country. But if I do go abroad, I won't be coming back."

Missing the subtext in his words, Yun Li was stunned for a moment. "Not coming back?"

"Yeah."

"Oh... that's great, then." She lowered her head and forced a smile, feeling as though a hole had been torn open in her chest. Trying to change the subject to distract herself, she said, "I went to the UK on an exchange program last year."

Fu Shize looked toward her. "Was it alright?"

Yun Li spoke softly, "It was pretty good..." She hesitated for a moment before continuing, "It's just that the first six months were a bit hard to adjust to."

"Tell me about it."

Quite a few people had asked Yun Li about her time in the UK, and most of the time she brushed it off in a sentence or two. Right at this moment, however, she actually wanted to tell him.

It felt as though telling him wouldn't be such a big deal after all.

Yun Li deliberated for a moment. "The first apartment I rented when I first got over there..."

She didn't continue, pausing for a moment as if she had just come to her senses, and explained with an embarrassed smile, "A lot of things happened, and I was just wondering which part to start with."

Fu Shize chuckled, his voice patient. "Take your time."

"Hang on." He stood up, walked over to the counter, and brought back three small cakes.

Yun Li protested, "We can't possibly finish all this..."

Fu Shize replied, "Eat slowly." He tilted his head. "You can take your time talking, too."

"Oh..." Yun Li took a bite of cake, looking into his deep pupils, feeling slightly dazed.

She quickly lowered her head and gave a standard, chronological account of her time abroad, skipping only the unhappy parts.

"It was actually pretty good." By the end, the corners of her lips curved upward. "I originally thought I wouldn't survive out there on my own, but I didn't expect my survival skills to be this strong."

Realizing she might sound like she was bragging, Yun Li offered a slightly shy smile. Fu Shize stared at her for a long time, the corners of his mouth curving up in tandem with hers.

"Do you want to come take a look at my lab?" Fu Shize asked her. "It's in this building."

Caught off guard by the invitation, Yun Li found no reason to refuse and nodded.

The moment the two of them reached the entrance of the lab, a male student came running up to Fu Shize in a panic. "Senior, we're done for, the junior just crashed the system!"

"..."

The student wore a terrified expression and rushed movements, as if a catastrophic disaster had struck.

Noticing the person standing next to Fu Shize, he looked closer and suddenly snapped to attention.

A woman.

A very pretty woman, at that.

Standing extremely close to Fu Shize.

Catching Fu Shize's cool, unreadable gaze, the student instantly changed his tune. "Oh, wait, it's not actually that big of an issue."

"..."

Fu Shize paused for a second, then turned to Yun Li and said, "I'll take you another time." He tilted his head slightly, asking her gently, "Sound good?"

A flicker of disappointment crossed Yun Li's heart, but she forced a smile on her face. "Yeah. It's totally fine."

The student standing in front was holding back laughter, his gaze darting back and forth between her and Fu Shize. Feeling rather awkward, Yun Li muttered a quick "I'm heading out first" and began walking downstairs. Before she had taken two steps, the student's voice rang out, echoing across the entire fifth floor.

"Senior! Is that your girlfriend? Senior! When did you get a girlfriend?"

"No."

"Is she someone you're chasing, Senior? Tell us about it, we can help you chase her!"

"You're too noisy."

Yun Li stopped in her tracks. The student was still chattering away, though Fu Shize's reply had grown too faint to hear.

Lingering in place for a minute or two, Yun Li resumed her walk downward, once again feeling that her previous train of thought had been utterly absurd.

The smooth, gray-paved campus road came into view ahead.

For a moment, she forgot where she had parked and stared blankly at the pavement for a long while.

When two people reunite, there were no accusations or grievances hurled at one another, no lingering resentment or objections about the relationship, and no residual romantic passion or heart-fluttering thrills.

They had sat down and talked quietly for two or three hours, just like old friends who hadn't seen each other in a long time yet remained deeply familiar.

Logically, this should have been the best possible state for a reunion.

So why did she feel so sad?

A sharp sting pierced the bridge of Yun Li's nose.

...

This little episode did not disrupt Yun Li's daily routine. After returning home, she spent the weekend taking Yun Ye and Yin Yunyi out to explore the surrounding area, then plunged right back into her routine as a corporate worker.

Yun Li's current internship had been secured through a remote interview in the UK. She had only applied for positions matching her major and eventually received four offers, choosing a standard nine-to-five office job to begin interning step by step.

Her conversion evaluation was coming up in a month, making her feel a little nervous on her own.

Initially, Yun Li had wanted to become a full-time content creator on Bilibili, but this met with strong opposition from Yun Yongchang, who hoped she would lead a conventional life like most people—working a regular job and maintaining a stable social circle.

She felt that Yun Yongchang made a valid point; her channel had gradually transitioned from lifestyle content to entertaining science popularization. Staying cooped up at home making videos for too long would eventually disconnect her from society.

She hadn't derived much a sense of accomplishment from her previous two internships. With graduation approaching, just like her peers, she wanted a nine-to-five job with friendly colleagues and a great company culture, leaving her with enough free time to pursue the things she actually wanted to do.

Her life of moving on a two-point line between home and work was already fulfilling enough; only at night, after finishing her Bilibili videos and lying in bed staring blankly into space, would she find herself thinking of Fu Shize.

Many of her elementary and middle school classmates were already married with children, and since their parents all knew one another, Yun Yongchang and Yang芳 had been busy trying to set Yun Li up on blind dates ever since she returned from the UK.

Yun Yongchang: [Your third aunt introduced a guy to you. He's a local from Xifu, graduated with his master's degree two years ago, and works as a civil servant.]

Yun Yongchang: [You have to go meet him this time. You're already 24, and dating takes two or three years anyway.]

Yun Yongchang: [And that's assuming everything goes smoothly. Your older cousin has already been on twenty or thirty blind dates and still hasn't found anyone she clicks with.]

Looking at these messages gave Yun Li an immense headache. She had turned them down countless times, but Yun Yongchang and Yang Fang remained tirelessly persistent.

Yun Yongchang: [Don't be so proud and arrogant.]

Their logic was simple: Yun Li must be refusing simply because the introduced men weren't good enough.

Having no other outlet for family grievances, Yun Li vented to Yun Ye: [This is completely absurd. Don't you dare mention Yin Yunyi to Mom and Dad.]

Yun Li: [Otherwise, next time they'll say, "Look at your brother, he's only 18 and he's already found a great girlfriend."]

Yun Ye: [......]

Yun Ye: [What's the harm in going to meet him? What if you actually find someone suitable?]

Yun Li stared at this message: [Whose side are you on anyway?]

Yun Ye: [Your side, your side.]

Yun Ye sent her a screenshot of a small group chat named "Encountering the TA," which had over twenty members. Judging from the chat history, it was clearly a fan club.

The most recent message had just been sent: [The TA seems sick, he looks so pitiful wwww what do we do]

Attached was a photo showing Fu Shize's back near the hospital registration desk.

Yun Ye: [That guy seems unwell, huh? Do you want to go pay your respects, Yun Li?]

Yun Li: [gun]

Yun Li was utterly speechless: [Is this a fan club?]

Yun Ye: [yes]

Yun Li: [Aren't you a guy?]

Yun Ye: [Can't men have idols? Can't we be fans?]

Yun Ye: [Besides, I only joined because of you.]

Yun Li: [......]

A coworker tagged her in a group chat to handle some paperwork. Yun Li switched windows to take care of work matters, then her hand paused over the mouse.

After thinking for a moment, Yun Li requested a half-day leave from her supervisor.

Even as she got into her car and drove toward the Xifu Tech campus hospital, Yun Li still felt that her actions were rebellious and out of character.

What was she even trying to do?

After parking the car, Yun Li went straight to the registration area. A fair number of people were waiting in line, but there was no sign of Fu Shize.

The hospital wasn't large. Checking the department directory, she saw that the first and second floors housed internal medicine and surgery, the third floor had ophthalmology and dentistry, and the fourth floor was for psychiatry and psychology.

Knowing Fu Shize had a delicate stomach, she first took a quick loop around internal medicine, but didn't spot him anywhere.

The second floor, the third floor—none of them.

As Yun Li walked up toward the fourth floor, she reached the stair landing and caught sight of the bold blue characters for the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology a dozen steps away.

Her footsteps ground to a halt.

Recalling the unrestrained, casual smiles Fu Shize had worn during their recent encounters, she hoped with all her heart that he was doing entirely well.

She didn't want to run into Fu Shize here.

She shouldn't have come here in the first place.

Yun Li turned around, a sudden sense of discomfort twisting in her chest. She took two steps downward before his weary voice drifted down from above: "Lili."

"..."

Yun Li looked up. Fu Shize was standing outside the department doorway holding a medical chart, framed by a stern, cold backdrop as he lowered his gaze to look at her.

Yun Li stood frozen in place, not knowing how to react.

Fu Shize walked down, closing the distance until he stopped right in front of her. He asked, "Are you feeling unwell?"

"I came to find Yun Ye for lunch, and I needed to use the restroom," Yun Li quickly fabricated an excuse. Remembering she was standing on the stairs leading to the fourth floor, she added, "There were too many people downstairs."

Hesitating for a beat, Yun Li kept her lips pressed tightly together, not daring to ask why he was here.

Fu Shize glanced at her flustered expression. "I'll walk you up."

With that, he headed straight up the stairs, stopping in front of the restroom located directly opposite the stairwell.

Following behind him, Yun Li stepped into the restroom. It was completely empty, and she had zero actual need to use the facilities.

Not wanting Fu Shize to realize she had lied, Yun Li stepped into a stall, waited for half a minute, and pressed the flush button.

When she came out, Fu Shize was standing by a nearby window. He handed her a tissue. "Wipe your hands.”