Chapter 24: We went to Wuyuan on May Day

  The long holiday ended, and roommates returned one by one. While washing clothes in front of the faucet, Zheng Wei hummed a song and unexpectedly found that Ruan Ruan's eyes were scrutinizing her. She followed Ruan Ruan's line of sight to look at her own neck, where there was nothing. She had carefully checked it in front of the mirror before, and didn't know what kind of "kiss mark" it was, a masterpiece of the cannibal wolf tribe. So she said confidently, "Stop looking, there's nothing!"

  Ruan Ruan laughed, "This isn't what they call a guilty conscience, is it? I'm telling you, I was just a little suspicious at first, but now I'm 90% sure. Come on, tell me, I called your dorm room after 10 pm on the 2nd and no one answered. I was trying to comfort you, but who knew there'd be no one there? You'd better confess, what kind of bad thing were you up to?"

  "What bad thing can I do? Probably taking a bath." Zheng Wei still stubbornly said.

  "What were you doing checking your neck before you did anything bad?" Ruan Ruan teased her.

  Zheng Wei saw that she couldn't deceive him, and her face turned red as she smiled. She shook off the water on her hands and whispered a few words into Ruan Ruan's ear. Ruan Ruan's face also turned red, "Don't come over here, who's discussing this with you."

  Zheng Wei pointed at Ruan Ruan with ill intentions, but Ruan Ruan suddenly pressed down her finger with a serious expression and said in a low voice, "Tell me honestly, did you take that... measure?" She saw Zheng Wei's dazed look and guessed eight or nine out of ten in her heart. "You fool, what if something happens accidentally?" She didn't dare to say those two words out loud, but Zheng Wei understood anyway. It seemed that she only realized the severity of the problem now, and the more she thought about it, the more worried she became. "No way, Ruan Ruan, don't scare me!"

  "What are you scared of? It won't be that bad, will it? If something really happens, it'll be a big deal." Ruan Ruan's eyebrows were furrowed with worry.

  "What to do, what to do, Ruan Ruan? Can I take medicine or not? Didn't they say that taking medicine would make everything okay?" Zheng Wei's temperament was like a stormy weather, once she got anxious, she became like an ant on a hot pot.

  "You say you don't understand anything and you still don't believe it. Taking medicine also needs to have a time, I heard that it's only effective within one or two days..."

  Zheng Wei's face immediately turned pale and he looked like he was about to cry, "I'm done for, this time I'm definitely dead."

  Ruan Ruan bowed her head and thought for a moment, asking about the end of her period. "It's been just over a week, it seems a bit uncertain, but don't worry first, being afraid won't help at this point. You've always had good luck, so you should be fine."

  "Is something really going on?" Zheng Wei grasped Ruan Ruan's hand as if grasping the last straw.

  Ruan Ruan was also stunned, and after a while, she said, "If something really happens, there will naturally be a way to deal with it. In short, don't mention this matter again. Honestly, you don't understand, does he not understand either?"

  Zheng Wei's face turned red, "He asked me before, I was...I was..."

  Ruan Ruan nodded in agreement and smiled with pursed lips.

  For the next twenty days or so, Ruan Ruan had been following Zheng Wei with bated breath. It had been a day since her last period started, and Zheng Wei's expected signal had yet to arrive, causing her to panic. She couldn't eat well, nor could she sleep. To be honest, in college, intimate contact between couples wasn't news, but if they really made a "life", things would be irretrievable. She also privately complained to Chen Xiao several times, and he felt guilty and worried too. Seeing her anxiety, the two of them circled around a big circle, holding their pipa half-covered face, and bought the legendary pregnancy test paper in a small pharmacy far from school. As soon as they returned to the dormitory, she immediately locked herself in the bathroom. When she finally came out, she met Ruan Ruan's worried face.

  "How is it?" asked Ruan Ruan.

  Zheng Wei pouted, delighted to see Ruan Ruan's shocked and pale expression. She burst out laughing and made a "victory" gesture with her hand. Ruan Ruan let out a long sigh, "Wukong, you scared me again."

  This round of victory passed, but it scared Zheng Wei and Chen Xiao Zheng quite a bit. However, both were boarding students, and how many opportunities did they really have like that long vacation? The two had an unspoken understanding about that heart-pounding moment when their faces turned red, and only felt more intimate than before when holding hands.

  Ruan Ruan's long vacation trip seemed to have ended on a satisfactory note, at least judging from the return of her usual smile, Zheng Wei knew that she must have successfully defended her emotions.

  "What did you do? Teach me quickly." Zheng Wei said.

  Ruan Ruan replied, "I didn't do anything, I just went to see him and let him take me around the local area."

  "Did you ask him where he was that night?"

  Ruan Ruan shook her head, "He just couldn't remember my appearance for a moment, so when I saw him, he really saw me too. My goal was achieved - I understood him."

  After entering the fourth year, many classmates around her had already planned their work in advance. Ruan's boyfriend, Zhao Shi Yong, was given a two-month internship by his school, and with his efforts, his internship location was set to S City, not far from G City. As a result, the two people who had been suffering from long-distance relationships for many years suddenly got closer. During that time, every other weekend, Ruan would take the 4-hour intercity train to visit Shi Yong in S City, regardless of wind or rain. Sometimes, in order to spend more time together, she would leave on Friday afternoons and skip a few classes, so it was Zheng Wei's turn to cover for her. Once, the notorious "Sewage Engineering" professor suddenly used a pop quiz to check attendance, and to prevent Ruan from being caught, Zheng Wei had to burst out with her own strength, filling out two test papers by herself within the allotted time. Afterwards, although she was clutching her sore wrist and complaining, she felt it was worth it for helping Ruan. She often joked with Zhu Xiao Bei about Ruan, who had been a good student for three years, but not because she was really obedient, but because at that time she didn't have the conditions to be naughty. Now that the conditions were ripe, she was more crazy than anyone else. The pocket money she saved up by being frugal for a month was all donated to the country's transportation industry. Therefore, they all followed suit and called the TXXX train from G City to S City "Ruan's Train".

  There were one or two times when Zhao Shi Yong followed Ruan Ruan to their school. The first time, under Zhu Xiao Bei's strong instigation, they even treated all the girls in the dormitory to a dinner at a nearby restaurant. It was the first time that several of them saw the true face of "Little Yong Yong", who turned out to be a white and delicate boy with deep dimples and a tiger tooth on his left side, standing behind Ruan Ruan and smiling shyly when greeting them. During dinner, whenever he wasn't using his chopsticks, his hand would tightly hold onto Ruan Ruan's under the table, making Zheng Wei giggle "heh heh" next to her, and taking advantage of no one noticing, she whispered into Ruan Ruan's ear, "Ruan Ruan, you're really tasteless."

  Li Wei proposed that the opportunity was rare, and asked Zhao Shi to respect the "six big heavenly kings" with a cup of beer each. Zhu Xiaobei enthusiastically agreed, usually in the dormitory there were several boys, He Luyan's boyfriend had already graduated, and he was an honest person, it wasn't very interesting to tease him. Chen Xiao's temper was not good, who dared to joke with him? It was rare to meet someone like Zhao Shi who was "fresh and lovely", they wouldn't let go of the opportunity. Zhao Shi could drink a bit, but six cups of beer were enough to make her suffer. Under the teasing of the girls, she couldn't refuse, and reluctantly showed a difficult expression. In the end, it was Ruan Ruan's proposal that she and Shi would share three cups each, to eliminate the sisters' discontent, and they were willing to drink in front of them. The scene was boiling to the extreme, Zheng Wei and Zhu Xiaobei laughed and clinked their bowls, Ruan Ruan drank freely, while Zhao Shi blushed with some shyness.

  It's worth mentioning that not long after the start of senior year, Ruan Ruan would receive a bouquet of daisies every week from a florist, with no information about the sender from either the flowers or the delivery staff. At first, Ruan Ruan thought it was Zhao Shi Yong surprising her with a small romantic gesture, but later found out that Shi Yong had no knowledge of it.

  She wasn't unfamiliar with receiving flowers from other boys, mostly roses and lilies. After one or two times, the person sending the flowers would surface, after all, flowers are just a medium, conveying the sender's intentions. As long as there were intentions, there must be an ulterior motive. But this time, the flowers arrived on schedule every week, yet the mysterious flower sender never revealed themselves, not even leaving a single card.

  The field of stars is usually used as a decoration, so it's often paired with roses or lilies. Ruan Ruan and the others had never seen such a simple bouquet of field of stars before. It wasn't beautiful, but wrapped in light purple paper, it was quite elegant. Zheng Wei even went to look up the meaning of "field of stars" in books, but the answers were all over the place and didn't make sense. Ruan Ruan was initially surprised, but later she simply found a simple glass vase and put a new bouquet of fresh field of stars on her bedside table every week, creating a beautiful scene. As she said, no matter who sent the flowers, the flowers themselves deserved to be treated well.

  Zheng Wei occasionally mentioned this to Chen Xiao Zheng, with a tone of envy. They had been together for so long, yet Chen Xiao Zheng hadn't even given her a single blade of grass, let alone flowers. Of course, she wasn't really fond of those plants that would eventually wither away. In comparison, Ah Zheng's wooden dragon was more interesting to her. But which young girl didn't have romantic dreams, always hoping that the boy she admired would personally present her with beautiful flowers symbolizing love? Her thoughts were never hidden, and Chen Xiao Zheng couldn't help but notice these obvious hints. However, he just smiled and remained silent.

  Zheng Wei also sensed that Ah Zheng had been liking to sit alone quietly recently, speaking less and less, not knowing what he was thinking about. Although he restrained himself very well, the annoyance flashing across his eyebrows still couldn't be hidden from her. She had asked him before, but he always said nothing was wrong. This person was like this - if he didn't want to say something, even asking a thousand times wouldn't get an answer.

  Zheng Wei actually also felt a sense of frustration and helplessness, not knowing if she was too afraid to lose him. She always involuntarily wanted to guess what he was thinking in his heart, but many times, he was right in front of her, yet she still didn't know what he was thinking. Perhaps it was precisely because she loved him that love made her even more unclear.

  Chen Xiao Zheng was like her favorite doll from childhood, using all her might to get it from her cousin, crying and throwing a tantrum until she finally got it. Every night, she would sleep with the doll in her arms, but she never felt at ease, always afraid that when she woke up, it would be gone.

  Even if she is a mighty little dragon, he is still her sky. Even if she can ride the clouds and drive the fog, she cannot reach the end of his sky.

  That evening, Zheng Wei had made an appointment with Chen Xiao Zheng to study together. As they walked in front of the auditorium, she saw him from afar - along with Zeng Yu standing beside him. Ever since she started going out with Ah Zheng, Zeng Yu had gradually reined in her feelings for him and wisely kept a certain distance between them. It had been a long time since Zheng Wei last saw the two of them appear alone together in the same place. She took a few steps forward, involuntarily stopping in her tracks as she tried to make her smile sweeter. After all, they were just classmates running into each other - it was a normal interaction that wasn't a big deal. But on this particular day, Zheng Wei wore invisible glasses that allowed her to clearly see Zeng Yu's unusual excitement. With her back to Chen Xiao Zheng, the two of them stood about a meter apart, and usually calm Zeng Yu seemed to be intensely expressing something to the person in front of her. Her expression was indignant and resentful as she stretched out her hand towards Chen Xiao Zheng, gesturing briefly before pointing directly at the auditorium's opposite side - which faced the school's multimedia building currently under construction. Apart from a pile of building materials and several workers, there was nothing special about that direction. Unlike Zeng Yu's excitement, Chen Xiao Zheng was unusually calm - it was an expression Zheng Wei was familiar with. The more he interacted with strangers or people he wasn't close to, the calmer and more polite he became, showing extreme patience. In reality, however, this was just pure indifference.

  After a while, Zeng Yu also felt that her one-sided emotional ups and downs were meaningless. She tried to put her hand on Chen Xiao Zheng's shoulder, still saying something in her mouth. Chen Xiao Zheng replied with a few words, but his shoulders subtly avoided her hand. When he turned around, his line of sight coincidentally met Zheng Wei behind him, and he revealed a smile. He hastily said a few words to Zeng Yu and walked towards Zheng Wei.

  Ruan Ruan is not around, and Zheng Wei doesn't know the correct way to handle this situation either. Maybe she should just pretend not to see it and laugh it off. However, when Ah Zheng walks up to her, she still asks a question, "What are you doing with Zeng Yu?"

  Chen Xiao Zheng glanced at her and tapped his chin with his hand, "I'm guessing, Jade-Faced Little Flying Dragon is jealous?"

  "I won't bother, I'm too lazy to care about you guys!" She suddenly got angry, her voice also rose, and she turned away from him and walked forward.

  He seemed to chuckle behind her back, still following her, holding her hand. "Fool, she and I were in the same group for graduation experiments, now it's preparation stage, some views on problems are different from mine, just debated a few sentences. Don't make a sour face, originally not good-looking, getting angry makes you even uglier."

  This was the first time he was willing to explain to her, Zheng Wei's expression was still unsatisfied, but in her heart, there was a hint of sweetness. She pointed at his nose and said, "I don't care, from now on, all female animals under 50 years old must keep a safety distance of more than 3 meters from me!"

  He smiled and nodded, "Is there anything else you'd like to instruct?"

  "She also said bluntly, 'Besides, come with me to Wuyuan for Labor Day this year!'"

  "Wuyuan? What's the point of going to Wuyuan?" He was astonished.

  Zheng Wei said very seriously, "I must go, Wuyuan has a special meaning to me. Ah Zheng, will you accompany me?"

  He hesitated.

  "She started using her unbeatable wrapping skill again, 'Will you or not, will you or not, go or not, I've always dreamed of going to Wuyuan with the person I like. I want to take you to see the old locust tree that witnessed my mom's love, and I also want it to witness my love. This is my dream. Along the way, we can also go to my home, will you or not, go or not...I've already prepared the travel expenses.'"

  He lowered his head and thought for a while, then raised his head with a faint smile on his face. "Okay. But don't worry about the travel expenses, I still have some money left from doing those models for the company outside. The round-trip and intermediate costs are not a problem."

  He added another sentence in her cheerful laughter, "Let's go to Wuyuan on May 1st."

  She had rarely seen his expression so solemn, and in that solemnity, there was a hint of determination that made her almost mistake the decision he gave her as an irrevocable promise for a lifetime, rather than just a decision to go to Yuanyang.