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

There were several times more students on the road than in the morning.

During dismissal time, the place is packed with people.

Li Chen did not hold her hand.

There were too many people, and Yan Xi didn't like physical contact in overly crowded environments.

He remembered that too.

He simply walked to her left, blocking the side closest to the crowd.

Someone rode by on a bicycle, and the handlebars almost grazed Yan Xi's bag.

Li Chen reached out, not to pull her, but to block her between the handlebars and her.

The cyclist tilted the handlebars slightly, glared at him from behind, then quickly turned back when he saw his face and pedaled even faster.

Yan Xi didn't say anything.

But she moved the canvas bag to her right shoulder—the side closer to Li Chen.

The ancient books reading room on the third floor of the library.

Leng Qingge reserved a seat for Yan Xi; the two seats were side by side, by the window.

Several thick architectural documents were already stacked on the table, with the words on the spines in traditional Chinese characters arranged vertically.

Li Chen pulled out a chair for Yan Xi to sit down first, and then sat down next to her.

"I'll go find that document for you. What's it called again?"

"A Compilation of Garden Construction Methods in Jiangnan during the Ming Dynasty", Volume 3.

"floor?"

"Special Collections Section on the fourth floor, seventh row against the north wall."

Li Chen glanced at her.

"You even know the location, why do I need to go get it?"

Yan Xi opened the notebook in front of her and unscrewed the pen cap.

"I'm too lazy to go upstairs."

Li Chen stood up.

"anything else?"

"Hot water."

"Water temperature?"

Yan Xi paused for a moment.

"You're asking about the water temperature?"

"You burned your mouth last time you drank it."

Yan Xi looked up at him.

Li Chen's expression was perfectly normal. It was as if he were asking a perfectly reasonable question.

"Sixty degrees."

"it is good."

He turned and went upstairs.

The reading room was so quiet that the only sounds were the turning of pages and the low hum of the air conditioner.

Yan Xi wrote half a line in her notebook and then stopped.

She put down the pen and leaned back in her chair.

On the opposite wall hangs an old black-and-white photograph of Linjiang University, taken in the 1980s, showing the old library building.

She didn't look at the photos.

She was thinking about Li Chen's question from earlier.

Water temperature.

He asked her what temperature water she wanted.

Yan Xi has lived for twenty-one years and has never lacked people who are kind to her.

The servants in the Yan family would place peeled fruit on her desk.

The student council members would prepare coffee in her office.

Leng Qingge would give her a face mask when she worked overtime until late at night.

But no one ever asked her what temperature she wanted for her water.

Because the kindness those people showed her was based on her status.

The eldest daughter of the Yan family, the student council president, is someone who needs to be served well.

The kindness Li Chen showed her was based on her as a person.

It's not the name Yan Xi.

It's that specific person who has cold hands, doesn't eat scallions, has a low BMI, and burned their mouth while drinking water last time.

Footsteps came from the direction of the stairs.

Li Chen held a thick document in one hand and a paper cup in the other.

He walked up to her, put down the book, and handed her the paper cup.

"Test the temperature."

Yan Xi took it; the cup was warm but not hot to the touch.

She took a sip.

just.

"How did you do that?"

"Put hot water in the water dispenser first, then mix in cold water," Li Chen said casually as he sat down. "I tried it about twice."

Yan Xi held the paper cup and watched him open the algorithm textbook she had brought.

Something in her chest swelled up.

I can't explain it.

I wasn't excited, nor was I moved.

It is a very quiet thing, like cotton filling the gaps.

She placed the paper cup on the corner of the table and picked up the pen again.

The two of them sat in the library for two hours.

Yan Xi flipped through documents and took notes.

Li Chen reads algorithm books and occasionally writes a few lines of code in his notebook.

They did not speak during that time.

But every time Yan Xi finished turning a page, put down the document, and rubbed her eyes, the paper cup next to her would be refilled.

The water temperature is always 60 degrees Celsius.

5:40.

Yan Xi closed the document.

"Let's go, it's time to eat."

Li Chen tidied up the books and put the borrowed documents in the return area for her.

It was already dark when I left the library.

Evenings come early in January; it's completely dark by 5:30.

The streetlights shone with a warm orange glow, reflected off the snow.

The crowds have thinned out considerably.

Yan Xi took two steps and then suddenly stopped.

"Li Chen".

"Um?"

"Do you have a problem with me?"

Li Chen was stunned.

"What?"

"Since we came out of the library, you've been walking on my left, about an arm's length away from me."

Yan Xi turned around and faced him directly.

The light from the streetlamp shone on her face, making it half bright and half dark.

"There's no one left."

she says.

Li Chen looked down at his surroundings.

Indeed. On this path leading to the cafeteria, there were only the two of them in sight.

He looked up and met Yan Xi's gaze.

Her eyes were dark brown under the streetlights, with a small point of light in the center of her pupils.

He did not hesitate.

He stretched out his right hand, fingers spread, and clasped her hand.

Yan Xi's fingers were still cold.

He put both of their hands into his coat pockets.

"I really wouldn't dare if you hadn't told me."

"When did you become so cowardly?"

"You were photographed in the cafeteria during the day, and I was worried it would bother you."

Yan Xi's fingers moved slightly in his palm.

"When did I ever say I was annoyed?"

Li Chen looked at her.

Yan Xi's expression didn't change much.

But her hand clasped his fingers tightly.

The two people's hands were clasped together in their pockets.

"From now on, we won't need to look at how many people are around."

Yan Xi's voice was even softer than the light from the street lamp.

"Hold hands if you want."

Li Chen's heart pounded in his chest.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something.

"Don't speak."

Yan Xi turned her head and looked at the snow-covered bushes by the roadside.

"Let's go eat."

She took his hand and started walking.

Li Chen was pulled forward by her, and the streetlights cast their shadows behind them, overlapping each other.

He glanced down at his pocket.

Her hand was inside, gripping his tightly.

It's not cold anymore.

His phone vibrated in another pocket. He didn't take it out.

A 302 group message pop-up floated across the lock screen.

[Wang Qiang: Li Shen, wanna play some games together tonight? I need you to carry.]

[Chen Mo: Predicted his reply – "No, I have an appointment." 98.6% accuracy.]

[Zhao Zixuan: What about the remaining 1.4%?]

[Chen Mo: The probability that he saw the message.]

Li Chen's phone vibrated three more times in his pocket.

He didn't even look at it.

In his right pocket, Yan Xi gently drew a circle on the back of his hand with her thumb.

The cafeteria lights shone through the glass doors at the front, casting a warm yellow glow and carrying the steam from the food.

Yan Xi paused at the doorway.

She pulled her hand out of her pocket, but didn't completely let go.

She slid her fingertip across his knuckles before withdrawing it.

"Go in."

She pushed open the cafeteria door, and a wave of heat hit her.

Li Chen followed behind her.

He pulled his right hand out of his pocket.

The warmth of my palm is still there.

The tactile sensation of the circle she just drew is etched onto my skin; it won't fade.