When I Meet the Moon

Chapter 74

Yun Li looked at him. "Why didn't you come looking for me directly?"

Right up until she left Nanwu, deep down in Yun Li's heart, she had held onto an unrealistic expectation.

As long as he could come looking for her, relying solely on this extra bit of affection, the two of them could have let bygones be bygones and continued walking forward together.

When she was in England, recalling the details of their time together, she would tell herself that Fu Shize truly liked her a lot. It was just that, after the breakup, he no longer needed her, nor was she someone he couldn't live without.

They had missed each other like this for a year and a half.

She would rather everything had happened just as she imagined; she would rather Fu Shize had quickly walked out of this relationship and returned to his normal life track.

At least that way, Fu Shize would have lived better than he actually had in reality.

"I told you about that before." Fu Shize straightened his posture slightly. "I wanted to return to my old self before coming to find you."

At that time, he hadn't achieved that yet, nor was he certain whether he could do it.

Fu Shize leaned forward, placing his hand over her hair and stroking her temple. "It's just that I didn't want to rule out another possibility—that you came back to find me."

After a moment of silence, Yun Li said softly, "I wish I had gone back to find you then."

Yun Li felt a sense of guilt regarding this matter; the mere thought of Fu Shize's state back then left her gasping for breath.

She also leaned forward a bit, clasping his fingers. "When you think about things from that period, doesn't it make you sad?"

Fu Shize answered directly, "I don't go think about those things." He wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in the back of her neck, breathing in the sweet scent of shower gel.

Yun Li felt his soft lips pressed against her neck as he murmured softly, "All my free time is spent thinking of you."

Yun Li discovered that her emotional state and Fu Shize's were often on entirely different channels. Whenever the topic of their breakup came up, she was always filled with sorrow and self-blame. As for Fu Shize—

He seemed utterly incapable of dwelling on that matter.

If he thought of it, it might just drift through his mind for a split second before he moved on to think about other things.

Therefore, even though she had discovered something that seemed very sad to her—sending one-way messages for a year and a half—it didn't seem to amount to much in Fu Shize's eyes.

He seemed completely unconcerned with his own gains and losses.

And precisely because of this, alongside her feelings of guilt, Yun Li also felt a deep ache in her heart.

She said earnestly, "Do you really understand now? When I first saw you in Nanwu and fell for you, I never thought about your past at all."

Yun Li wanted him to know that from beginning to end, the only thing she liked was the person standing right in front of her.

"I don't need you to become any particular kind of person."

"Mm." Fu Shize acted as if he had taken her words to heart, reopening his laptop. After a long pause, he finally continued— "But I want to give you a better life."

Upon returning home, Yun Li discovered several empty delivery boxes at the doorway, and she knocked straight away on Yun Ye's door. The door cracked open an inch, revealing an eye that looked ninety percent like her own.

Before Yun Ye even had time to identify the person, Yun Li shoved the door wide open.

Yun Li: "What are you sneaking around doing?"

This rough action meant Yun Ye didn't need to identify the visitor at all. His scalp tightened, and he stepped back to let Yun Li enter.

The room was filled with a sweet fragrance, and dried flowers were scattered across the floor in the middle of being arranged. Yun Ye's phone was playing a confession tutorial from Station E.

Yun Li: "..."

Yun Ye felt somewhat awkward, but he still hardened his scalp and asked her with an unfriendly tone, "Why'd you come in?"

Yun Li sat on his bed, lying down directly at a 90-degree angle to the mattress, and used her arm to block the overhead light.

Yun Ye kicked her lower leg. "If nothing's up, get out."

Yun Li: "I'll stay for a bit. I won't disturb you."

Yun Ye glanced at her, and seeing she had no intention of moving, he grudgingly said, "Fine."

Yun Ye sat back down on the floor, muted his phone, and continued playing the tutorial. The phone screen was small, and he had set it to double speed, requiring his full focus just to recognize the subtitle text.

A minute later, Yun Li turned over.

She sighed. "Yun Ye, I feel so guilty."

Yun Ye: "..."

Yun Ye: "Can you wait until I finish..." Before he could finish, seeing Yun Li staring at him gloomily, he clamped his mouth shut, turned his phone face down, and sat cross-legged in front of Yun Li.

"Spit it out."

From Fu Shize's perspective, Yun Li described the breakup and reconciliation to Yun Ye.

After finishing, she sat at the edge and waited for Yun Ye to speak.

Yun Ye: "Done talking?"

Yun Li: "Mm."

Yun Ye: "Then get out."

Yun Li: "?"

Yun Ye found it utterly incomprehensible. Back when Yin Yunyi argued with him and accused him of being overly rational, whenever she vented to him, his reaction was to propose Solutions 1 through N rather than empathize with her.

Yin Yunyi had told him that all she needed was for him to quietly listen and suppress his instinctive urge to analyze problems.

Right now, Yun Ye had listened to Yun Li's story, and Yun Li was staring at him unhappily once again.

Caspian between two women of entirely different personalities, Yun Ye had no way out: "What do you want me to say?"

Yun Li wrestled with her thoughts. "I feel like your brother-in-law shouldn't have liked me for so long; I don't seem all that great. Ever since I found out he sent me messages for a year and a half, I've felt guilty this whole time."

Seeing her attitude sink so low it felt like it was hitting the dust, Yun Ye frowned unhappily. "Who told you that?" Without a moment's hesitation, he blurted out, "Just weigh it yourself: looks, personality, educational background—which one of yours falls short?"

Yun Ye added one more point: "Besides, you're still relatively reasonable in front of brother-in-law."

Seeing Yun Li remain silent, Yun Ye continued, "Sis, haven't you ever thought about it? There are just some people in this world who, once they fall in love with someone, never easily change."

Yun Ye didn't have many opportunities to interact with Fu Shize.

Yet perhaps because they were both males, he could understand Fu Shize quite well.

In his eyes, he was a very simple person, whether dealing with matters or people.

Yun Ye stated with certainty, "I think brother-in-law is that kind of person."

"Besides, brother-in-law is pretty lucky, too. The person he met was you, instead of someone who completely forgot about him right after a breakup." Yun Ye imitated her by lying down on the bed, clasping both hands behind his head. "Sis, you've already lost him once. Compared to guilt, shouldn't a bigger emotion for you right now be cherishing him?"

Yun Li didn't speak. Suddenly, she stood up and returned to her room. She sat on the bed and lit the paper ball lamp once more.

The feeling of guilt still lingered, but it had been joined by a new emotion to replace it—cherishing it.-

At eleven o'clock at night, Fu Shize had just finished helping Lin Jingran edit his paper and unlocked Little Turtle, when his phone buzzed for a moment.

He opened the message to find Yun Li had sent him a text: [Aze.]

Unlike Nanwu, the autumn wind in Xifu was moderate yet constantly blew in heavy gusts, billowing Fu Shize's jacket outward. He pressed it down.

Lin Jingran had already ridden up beside him, his voice carrying over the massive wind noise: "Senior brother, the wind is so strong. Are you still not leaving?"

Fu Shize answered briefly, "Go ahead first. I'm replying to a message."

"Senior brother, you're completely wrapped around her finger. Just make sure not to look at your phone while riding on the road." Lin Jingran bantered with him before leaving first.

Shifting his gaze back to the phone screen, the message remained there. Fu Shize sat on Little Turtle with his feet propped against the ground and replied with a question mark emoji.

Yun Li: [I'm going to reply to that year and a half of messages.]

Yun Li: [I'll reply to one message every day.]

Fu Shize thought for a moment: [I've been owed for a year and a half. Is there interest?]

Yun Li: [What kind of interest do you want?]

Fu Shize lowered his gaze: [Not much.]

He slowly typed out: [Two extra characters every day.]

After sending it, Yun Li didn't respond for a long time.

He slipped his phone into his pocket, skillfully backed the scooter out, and after riding down a slope and driving in a straight line, he arrived downstairs at the dormitory building. Fu Shize parked the vehicle and tucked the keys into his pocket.

His phone vibrated.

He pulled it out. The screen showed her face—petite and tender, her bright eyes gazing fondly into the lens with the corners of her lips slightly curved upward. When he swiped it open, it was still the chat interface of the two of them from when the screen last went dark.

Yun Lili: [Love you.]

...

For her job, Yun Li chose a game development position at a Yousheng Technology subsidiary. After replying to the HR email, Yun Li received a friend request early the next morning.

[Hello, I am Zhang Yanxin. HR mentioned yesterday that you've confirmed you'll be coming to work here, and the team leader is planning to treat the newly joined colleagues to a meal. If it's convenient for you, would you like to come together?]

The other person pulled Yun Li into a group chat, directly posting the time and location, which was set for noon today at a shopping mall near Western Science and Technology University.

Yun Li didn't particularly want to go, but having already been pulled into the group added an extra hurdle to refusing. She wrestled with it for a bit before giving a positive reply.

She meticulously applied a daily makeup look, delivered the porridge to Fu Shize, and then drove over to the mall.

Yun Li arrived at the private dining room early. Six or seven people were already seated at the table, and including her, there were only two women. Several people greeted Yun Li; she sat next to the other female colleague and quietly listened to them chat.

The agreed-upon time arrived.

Not long after, a man arrived fashionably late, sat down beside her, and greeted her courteously.

Yun Li responded in kind, and it wasn't until the conversation around the table livened up that she gathered from fragments of dialogue that the man beside her was the team leader.

The man was named Zhou Tiao. He didn't look very old, possessed square facial features, and carried a calm, steady demeanor.

After giving a brief self-introduction, he prompted both the new and veteran members to introduce themselves in a clockwise order.

Yun Li went first, stating her name and graduation time without saying anything more.

The self-introductions of the others were much richer, touching upon their interests, hobbies, and personalities, making the atmosphere of the entire group lively and relaxed.

It happened to be another male colleague's turn to speak. He hailed from the Industrial Design program at Western Science and Technology University.

As soon as he finished speaking, a veteran employee joked, "Then you're the team leader's alumni, both of you are legendary academic gods."

Yun Li looked toward Zhou Tiao, and he smiled.

Halfway through the meal, most of the new and old employees at the table had grown familiar with one another.

Yun Li didn't initiate conversation, but unlike in the past where she would choose to stare down at her phone during gatherings to avoid communicating with others, she sat quietly in a corner and answered everyone's questions one by one.

Through simple dialogue, she could sense that the people in her group were all quite decent.

The table's topic gradually shifted to why they chose game development. As the leader, Zhou Tiao took the lead in speaking: "Actually, when I was studying, I worked on hardware. It was only by a stroke of luck later on that I entered the gaming industry."

He leaned back slightly against his chair, perhaps because something in his pocket felt uncomfortable, and pulled out a keychain to place on the table.

Right in front of Yun Li, the keychain featured a miniature moon-shaped badge, and as she stared at it, she could almost be certain it was the badge of the Unique esports team.

Noticing her gaze, Zhou Tiao picked up the keychain. "Actually, it's related to this too. I joined an esports team during my undergraduate years."

As soon as the word "esports team" was uttered, it sparked a round of playful teasing at the table, with everyone showering praise on Zhou Tiao's past achievements.

Zhou Tiao waved his hand indifferently. "Those times were memorable, but the ending wasn't great."

Hearing this, Yun Li's body stiffened.

He shook the keychain. "In the beginning, we did drone racing, and later we participated in a drone design competition, winning first place nationwide both times. After that, we went abroad for the competitions."

Zhou Tiao fell into his memories, his eyes filled with nostalgia. "Back then, our whole team's wish was to sweep all the trophies. Everyone who won awards in the competitions got recommendation slots for graduate school."

Zhou Tiao's voice paused. "Later on, something happened to someone on the team, and the team captain even took a leave of absence because of it, causing the whole team to disband right then and there." He looked somewhat sentimental. "It was close to graduation time, and during the autumn recruitment, I had job offers from drone industry giants. After that incident happened, I felt pretty awful inside, so during the spring recruitment, I looked for a new job and changed industries."

After Zhou Tiao finished speaking, the air fell completely still.

"That captain who took a leave of absence... was it because of something that happened?" Yun Li asked abruptly.

Zhou Tiao shook his head. "That teammate who met with an accident and our captain were brothers who grew up sharing a pair of trousers; he probably couldn't handle the blow."

"Getting way off track here. Everyone came out to hang out and get together today, and since I started off on a bad note, I'll punish myself with a drink." Sensing the atmosphere was getting too heavy, Zhou Tiao smoothed things over himself, poured a cup of red wine, and drank it in one gulp.

Afterward, he stared at Yun Li, recalled her name, and laughed heartily. "Yun Li, why don't you share why you chose to enter this industry?"

Yun Li snapped back to her senses and briefly glossed over the VR games she used to play at EAW, explaining how she applied her major to this specific career direction.

Once the others finished speaking, she got up to use the restroom.

The pale, smooth glossy tiles faintly reflected her silhouette. Yun Li stopped in front of the sink, looking at her own face, which gradually overlapped with the image of Fu Shize's face in her mind.

She had previously pondered the possible reasons for his leave of absence: high pressure from doctoral studies, academic burnout, poor character from his advisor, and she had even wondered if someone who looked as handsome as him had ever been bullied.

Since he had ultimately returned, Yun Li hadn't continued pressing him.

Putting herself in his shoes, if she had taken a leave of absence, she wouldn't want others to know about it.

Yun Li had never imagined that the deceased childhood friend he mentioned was connected to his suspension.

Washing her hands, Yun Li distractedly dried them with a paper towel, then quickened her pace back to the private room. The gathering had already ended, and colleagues were leaving in groups.

Yun Li looked toward Zhou Tiao's seat, but his figure was already gone.

She walked slowly back to her car and opened the gathering group chat.

Since it wasn't convenient at the table, Yun Li tried to privately ask Zhou Tiao about what happened back then.