Chapter Seventy-Seven: True Friendship, Sharing Joy and Hardship Together

Song Chengyi weighed the items in his hand, feeling a bit speechless—he didn’t even like snacks. But the thought of Luo Yixia’s little expression as she stuffed things into his hands just now made it all worthwhile. Carrying the things, he returned to the dormitory in high spirits.

As soon as he entered, Yu Bin leaned over. “So you rushed out just to buy this stuff before even washing your clothes after your shower? What is it, anyway?” Yu Bin craned his neck for a look. “Song Chengyi! You actually bought snacks? And so many?”

“Mm.” Song Chengyi responded, placing the snacks on his desk.

Yu Bin reached out to grab one, but his hand was promptly slapped away by Song Chengyi.

“So stingy? You don’t even eat these!” Yu Bin looked incredulous. Normally, he ate plenty of Chengyi’s things without seeing such a reaction.

“Go buy your own.” Song Chengyi tied up the bag of snacks with a haughty air.

“Fine, fine, I’ll buy my own.” Yu Bin didn’t take it to heart.

Meanwhile, Luo Yixia hopped back to her dorm, delighted. Even though she’d waited over half an hour, it was worth it—she’d earned a hug from her crush and he’d even walked her back.

Gan Yanyan was putting on a face mask when she saw Luo Yixia return. “How did it take you so long to buy something? I almost thought you went for a secret rendezvous.”

“Ahem… cough, cough… what nonsense…” Luo Yixia nearly choked on her own saliva. What nonsense… though, it wasn’t far from the truth.

“Where are the snacks I asked you to get? I’ll transfer the money to you on WeChat,” Gan Yanyan said, phone in hand, ready to pay.

“Oh, I bought a lot—” Luo Yixia began, but when she reached out, the things were gone.

She almost wanted to slap herself. Why had she given everything to Song Chengyi? She’d only meant to buy water for him; he didn’t even eat snacks, so why had she handed him everything?

“The snacks?” Gan Yanyan pressed.

Luo Yixia forced a smile. “I thought eating snacks at night isn’t good… haha…”

“You didn’t forget, did you?” Gan Yanyan walked over and spun Luo Yixia around twice—sure enough, nothing in her hands.

“It’s for your own good. Weren’t you trying to lose weight?” Luo Yixia laughed as she dashed toward her bed.

“Luo Yixia, you really are something.” Gan Yanyan, her face mask preventing her from moving much, had no real authority in her voice.

Lin Ya laughed from her bed. “Don’t count on her memory for anything.”

“So what did you actually go do? You said you were buying things, but where are they?” Gan Yanyan demanded, hands on her hips.

Luo Yixia shut her mouth, grabbed her pajamas, and changed the subject. “I’m going to change.”

“Wait, did you wear your jacket when you went out? I didn’t see you wearing this blue one.” Gan Yanyan fiddled with the jacket.

Luo Yixia looked down at the jacket too. How could she have forgotten again? She should have returned it to Song Chengyi. She’d failed to return what she should have, and handed over what she shouldn’t.

“You were so absorbed with your phone earlier—how could you notice whether I had my jacket or not?” Luo Yixia’s quick reply almost convinced Gan Yanyan.

“But why is this jacket so big? What size is it?” Gan Yanyan tried to check the collar.

But Luo Yixia dodged away. “It’s fashion—don’t you get it? Fashion!”

She darted into the bathroom to change. Having a private bathroom in a girls’ dorm was a real blessing—unlike the boys, who still had to line up for communal showers.

She thought of Song Chengyi waiting in line for his shower and couldn’t help but find it amusing.

Once she was dressed and came out, Lin Ya called, “Let’s play! I’ve set up the room, Xiaxia—we’re just waiting for you.”

“Coming!” Luo Yixia dove under her covers and grabbed her phone.

Song Chengyi, after staring at his phone for half an hour, finally lost patience. This didn’t make sense. Shouldn’t she have messaged him by now?

Why wasn’t there a message yet?

He waited a bit longer; the other guys were gaming, completely engrossed. After some thought, Song Chengyi typed a message: “I don’t like snacks.”

He reread it several times before finally sending it.

Luo Yixia was fully immersed in her game when a WeChat notification suddenly flashed across her screen, causing her to fail her quest. Frustrated, she almost wanted to smash her phone. “Ugh, who the heck is messaging me now? Wait for me, guys—I need to see which wretch this is.”

She stormed into WeChat, only to be stunned. It was Song Chengyi. She immediately took back all her complaints.

Lin Ya looked over from the opposite bed. “So who’s the wretch?”

“Ahem… My… my dad…” Luo Yixia couldn’t come up with a better excuse.

The others burst out laughing.

[Sorry, those snacks were for my roommate. The water was for you, but I forgot to separate them.]

As soon as his phone chimed, Song Chengyi opened the message and read it. His expression changed instantly. The things he’d just been treasuring actually belonged to someone else? They weren’t bought for him? But at least she’d said the water was his—that balanced things a little.

He picked up the bag of snacks, took out the water, and tossed the snacks to the guys gaming.

Yu Bin put down his phone. “Hey, weren’t you just guarding those like treasure? Now you’re giving them away?”

Luo Yixia sent another message: [You left your jacket with me. I’ll bring it to you next time.]

[Okay.] Song Chengyi typed a line, wanting to say more, but deleted it, sending just a single word in the end.

Meanwhile, as Luo Yixia’s in-game character respawned, she dove back into the fray, completely ignoring Song Chengyi.

He waited for quite a while, but still received no further messages from her. Glancing at the time—eleven o’clock—he wondered if she’d gone to bed.

Eventually, he lay down as well. The others quieted down and turned off the lights.

But Song Chengyi didn’t feel the least bit sleepy. He turned over, his mind full of fragments about Luo Yixia.

Since when had Luo Yixia started to trouble him so much?

Luo Yixia, playing late into the night, finally couldn’t stay awake. The girls all put away their phones and went to sleep.

When dawn broke, it was time for their field trip. No training that morning, but everyone had to gather by eight.

Having stayed up too late, Luo Yixia and the others could barely get out of bed. They felt groggy and had to pack their things at the same time. By the time they arrived at the meeting point, lugging suitcases, not one of them had eaten breakfast.

Outside the bus, Song Zeming stood with his hands behind his back, waiting for the students to gather.

One by one, everyone arrived punctually before eight.

Old Sheng stood at the front of the line and launched into a lengthy lecture—safety precautions, no wandering off, always obey the instructors—repeating himself over and over.

A boy couldn’t help but complain, “Sir, all the other classes are already on the bus. If we don’t go now, we’ll be late.”

“So eager, are you? Alright, get on, get on.” Old Sheng waved them on.

Everyone stowed their luggage and boarded in an orderly line. The two classes were sharing the bus, so by the time Luo Yixia got on, Song Chengyi’s class was already aboard.

Because she came down late, Luo Yixia ended up first in line to board, with Gan Yanyan right behind her.

As they stepped onto the bus, she immediately spotted Song Chengyi sitting by the window, gazing outside.

Gan Yanyan, quick-eyed, tugged Luo Yixia into the seat in front of Song Chengyi.

She turned back to greet them.

“Hi, senior!” Gan Yanyan said.

Yu Bin, ever the lively one, replied, “Hello, juniors!”

Luo Yixia sat rigidly in front of Song Chengyi, not daring to look back.

Gan Yanyan, on the other hand, got along well with Yu Bin, who was sitting beside Song Chengyi.

“Your counselor is so long-winded—I heard him repeat himself so many times on the bus,” Yu Bin complained.

“That’s just Old Sheng,” Gan Yanyan replied with a pout.

“What’s your name, junior?”

“I’m Gan Yanyan, and she’s Luo Yixia,” Gan Yanyan said, forcibly turning Luo Yixia’s head to face them.

Luo Yixia managed a weak smile, not daring to meet Song Chengyi’s eyes.

“I’m Yu Bin. As for him…” Yu Bin nudged Song Chengyi’s arm.

“Him, we all know—Song Chengyi, right, Xiaxia?” Yu Bin grinned.

“Ah? Uh, yes.” Luo Yixia nodded.

“I feel we’re destined to be friends. Mind if we add each other on WeChat?” Yu Bin offered his phone with a smile.

“Sure, sure! Xiaxia, add him!” Gan Yanyan said enthusiastically—as only a best friend could.

After adding Gan Yanyan, Yu Bin scanned Luo Yixia’s code as well. Then he poked Song Chengyi. “Come on, junior wants to add you on WeChat too.”

Luo Yixia thought for sure he’d decline.

To her surprise, he took out his phone and handed it to Gan Yanyan.

Gan Yanyan’s eyes nearly sparkled with excitement as she scanned, then passed the phone to Luo Yixia.

Luo Yixia, already WeChat friends with him, pretended to scan anyway.

Song Chengyi watched her pretending and found it amusing.

Afterward, she returned the phone without meeting his eyes, afraid she’d give herself away.

Gan Yanyan glanced at her own WeChat, then at Luo Yixia. “Did you add him? Let me see.”

Flustered, Luo Yixia opened her profile page, avoiding the chat screen.

Gan Yanyan took a look and didn’t think much of it.

Smiling, she turned to the two behind them. “Thank you, seniors!”

Yu Bin grinned. “By the way, our top student’s WeChat is a rare thing—please don’t share it around. As far as I know, no one else has it. But mine—you can send to everyone. I’d love to see my WeChat blow up with notifications.”

“Haha, sure.” Gan Yanyan got his meaning, but was amazed Song Chengyi had accepted the friend request. She never suspected Luo Yixia.

Yu Bin and Gan Yanyan continued chatting.

Luo Yixia kept her head down, staring at her dark phone screen.

Suddenly, a WeChat message popped up. Seeing it was from Song Chengyi, she quickly covered her phone. Out of the corner of her eye, she checked that Gan Yanyan wasn’t paying attention before opening it.

She’d saved Song Chengyi’s contact as a red heart—no one would suspect a thing. At most, people might assume he was someone important to her, but no one would guess it was Song Chengyi. But since Gan Yanyan had just added him, if she saw, there’d be no hiding it.

[Did you have breakfast?]

Luo Yixia read his message, feeling a bit guilty, but still typed a reply.