Oh no! I've only been a freshman and I've already been targeted by a mean upperclassman.

Yan Xi loosened her grip on the phoenix hairpin at 6:12 a.m.

My phone alarm hasn't gone off yet.

Her biological clock is more accurate than any machine.

The phone screen next to the pillow was dark.

Last night, Li Chen's message "Goodnight, girlfriend" was still in her notification bar. She didn't open it, but she remembered every word.

Leng Qingge's breathing came from the opposite bed, long and even.

Yan Xi turned over and stuffed the phoenix hairpin under her pillow.

The coolness of the silver lingered on my fingertips for a few seconds.

She stared at the ceiling, recalling the last words Shen Ruolan had said on the phone last night.

"Auntie's braised pork ribs are tastier than Chenchen's."

Chenchen.

His mother calls him Chenchen.

Yan Xi pulled the blanket up a bit, covering half of her face.

For some reason, those two words felt more powerful to her than all of Shen Ruolan's other words combined...

Forget it.

forget about it.

She threw off the covers and sat up, her movements swift and decisive.

Standing in front of the sink, cold water splashed on my face, and the coolness dispelled the jumbled thoughts in my mind.

She moved the toothbrush back and forth in her mouth for thirty seconds, then lowered her head to spit out the foam and looked up.

The person in the mirror had black hair cascading over their shoulders, and the corners of their eyes still bore the lingering redness from last night.

She reached up and rubbed the corner of her eye.

My phone vibrated.

Yan Xi dried her hands and picked it up to read.

News about Li Chen.

[Li Chen: Are you up?]

6:18.

Her lips twitched slightly.

[Yan Xi: When did you start waking up earlier than me?]

[Li Chen: I didn't sleep much last night.]

[Yan Xi: Why?]

Three seconds, five seconds, ten seconds.

[Li Chen: I miss you.]

Yan Xi stared at those two words for two seconds, then locked the screen.

She turned back to the bedside and pulled a pale yellow sweatshirt from the closet.

She doesn't usually wear such bright colors on campus.

Leng Qingge on the opposite bed turned over, mumbled something, and didn't wake up.

Yan Xi put on the hoodie and straightened the neckline in front of the mirror.

My phone vibrated again.

[Li Chen: The playground?]

[Yan Xi: Five minutes.]

She picked up the hair tie from the bedside table, tied her hair into a low ponytail, and went out the door.

The corridor lights weren't fully on yet, and footsteps echoed crisply on the tiled floor.

Her phone lit up again when the elevator doors opened.

[Li Chen: What color are you wearing today?]

Yan Xi's thumb paused on the screen for a moment.

[Yan Xi: Guess.]

[Li Chen: White?]

Yan Xi: Wrong.

[Li Chen: Black?]

[Yan Xi: Make another mistake.]

[Li Chen: It's not a fan, is it?]

[Yan Xi: What do you think of me as having anything to do with pink?]

[Li Chen: I think you would look great in pink.]

Yan Xi put her phone in her pocket and walked out of the dormitory building.

The January mornings were bitterly cold, and our breath condensed into white mist.

There weren't many people on the playground.

Several joggers moved along the track at different paces.

She saw Li Chen from afar.

He stood under the horizontal bar next to the track entrance, wearing a dark gray sports jacket with the zipper pulled up to his chin.

He was carrying two cups in his hand.

Yan Xi walked over.

"What?"

"Hot soy milk." Li Chen handed over one of the cups. "The cafeteria just opened, and the auntie just ground it."

Yan Xi took the cup; it was scalding hot. She covered it with both hands and took a sip.

The thick soy milk carries the sweet aroma of freshly ground soybeans, warming you from your throat all the way to your stomach.

She didn't say anything, and took another sip.

"Is it good?"

"improvise."

Li Chen chuckled.

His gaze slid down her face and landed on her pale yellow sweatshirt.

"Yellow?"

Yan Xi looked down at herself.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Li Chen looked away. "It's the first time I've seen you wear this color."

"It doesn't look good?"

"nice."

Li Chen said those two words without hesitation, his tone flat, as if stating a known fact.

Yan Xi, holding a cup of soy milk, glanced at him sideways.

There were faint bluish marks under his eyes, not obvious, but noticeable up close.

"You really didn't sleep?"

"I slept for a while."

"A few hours?"

"Three?"

What does the question mark mean?

Li Chen rubbed the back of his neck.

"Maybe two and a half."

Yan Xi frowned slightly.

"Because of last night's phone call?"

"no."

"What is that?"

Li Chen took a sip of his soy milk, swallowed it, and watched a boy running past on the track.

"I'm thinking about something."

"What is it?"

"What if my mom pulls out photos of me when I was little when you come to my house for dinner in the future?"

Yan Xi was stunned.

"She will?"

"She definitely will." Li Chen's expression turned serious. "She has a special folder in her phone's photo album called 'Chenchen's Dark History,' which is arranged by year from when I was born until I graduated from high school."

Yan Xi's lips curved into a smile.

What were you like when you were a child?

"You wouldn't want to know."

"I think."

Li Chen turned to look at her.

Yan Xi held the cup, her expression calm, but her eyes shone.

He had seen that kind of light before; it was the kind of light Yan Xi only had when she was truly interested in something.

"There's one," Li Chen took a deep breath, as if preparing himself mentally. "I was three years old, in the yard."

"Then?"

"Chasing a chicken with his bare bottom."

Yan Xi pressed down the corner of her mouth slightly.

Why are you chasing chickens?

"Because that chicken pecked my bread."

Yan Xi raised the soy milk cup to her lips, covering half of her face.

But her shoulders were shaking.

"What are you laughing at?"

"I didn't laugh."

Your shoulders are shaking.

"It was blown by the wind."

Li Chen stared into her eyes.

Those eyes curved into crescent moons, the curve at the corners impossible to suppress.

He sighed.

"Whatever, you'll see it sooner or later anyway."

"I'm looking forward to it."

Yan Xi moved the cup away from her face, revealing the curve of her lips.

It's not big, but it really is.

Li Chen's heart skipped a beat.

He turned his face away and gulped down the rest of the soy milk.

"running?"

"run."

Yan Xi threw the empty cup into the trash can next to her and stepped onto the track.

Li Chen followed, and the two unconsciously synchronized their steps.

The morning light shone through the direction of the teaching building, casting a thin layer of gold on the snow on the running track.

I ran two laps.

Yan Xi's breathing was steady, and her ponytail swayed rhythmically behind her.

Li Chen slowed down by half a step, landing half a body length behind her to the right.

From this angle, you can see the outline of her profile.

His jawline was sharp and defined. His nose was straight and prominent. His eyelashes cast short shadows in the morning light.

And that little mole on my ear.

He first noticed the mole in the cafeteria. Yan Xi was drinking her porridge when her hair slipped down from behind her ear.

He remembered it from then on.