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

Yan Xi walked around the lamp once.

Her gaze lingered on every detail.

A cast iron base, brass adjustment knobs, and waterproof tape wrapped around old-fashioned wiring connectors.

"This lens is imported from Saint-Gobain Glass Factory."

"Standard equipment used for lighthouses along the Chinese coast in the 1950s."

How did you know?

"The lens has a serial number embossed on the side, starting with the letters SGV, which is the product code of the Saint-Gobain factory."

Li Chen walked to her side and glanced down at her.

indeed.

There was a string of blurry letters and numbers on the side. He couldn't make it out.

"Your eyesight is better than mine."

"In my field."

Yan Xi stood by the railing outside the platform.

The guardrail only reaches waist height and is made of iron pipes.

The paint was completely gone, leaving only the brownish-red rust.

It's very windy.

Her hair was blown completely to the left.

The phoenix hairpin caught most of the hair, but a few strands still flew off.

Li Chen stood next to her, in an upwind position.

His body blocked part of the wind.

Yan Xi's gaze stretched far across the sea.

"A white light flashes every twelve seconds."

"Yes, it's written in my guide."

"You checked the frequency, but you didn't check the significance of that frequency."

"What does it mean?"

"Twelve seconds is the standard flashing period for a second-class lighthouse internationally."

"This means that the lighthouse's beam range covers the medium-range shipping lanes."

"For the coastal areas of China at that time, this was the highest level of protocol."

She stopped.

"The flash frequency has remained unchanged for over sixty years."

"The lamps were changed from manual oiling to automatic electronic control, and countless light bulbs have been replaced."

"But twelve seconds is still twelve seconds."

Li Chen looked at her profile.

The sea breeze blew the stray hairs from her lips to the tip of her nose.

There was a very faint red tinge around her eyes, from the wind.

She looked at the old lens, her eyes filled with pure affection.

"Li Chen".

"Um."

"Thank you for bringing me here."

"This lighthouse is also in your travel guide."

"It's in my travel guide, but I won't come."

Why?

"It's pointless for someone to come alone."

Li Chen pulled his hand out of his pocket.

He took off his gloves, placed his bare hands on the railing, and rested the back of his hand against the back of her hand.

The rusty smell of the iron railings mingled with the salty smell of the sea breeze.

"I'll bring you to places like this from now on."

Yan Xi did not respond.

But her little finger hooked onto his little finger.

Two people stood atop the seventeen-meter-high lighthouse.

Before me stretched a gray-blue sea that reached the horizon, and behind me lay over sixty years of concrete and lenses.

The wind was blowing in from all directions.

Li Chen took out a thermos from his backpack and unscrewed it.

He took a sip to check the temperature first, then handed it to Yan Xi.

Yan Xi took it and took a sip.

"What are you pretending for?"

"Hot cocoa, made in the guesthouse kitchen this morning, with a piece of dark chocolate added."

"When did you find out I like to add dark chocolate to my cocoa?"

"Last time you were at the chocolate shop in MixC World, you picked up three pieces of 78% dark chocolate, but in the end you only bought one."

"Then you ordered cocoa at the coffee shop."

"I think you might want to mix the two together and drink them."

Yan Xi paused for a moment, holding the thermos.

What is the time span of your data sampling?

"This doesn't count as sampling. It's more of a hypothesis."

"The speculation is correct."

She took another sip and handed the cup back to him.

The temperature of the cup's rim was the same as the temperature of her lips.

"Li Chen".

"Um."

"When are you going to tell me why your punching speed is so fast?"

Li Chen tightened his grip on the thermos.

"You probably didn't see it clearly at the noodle shop."

"I don't need to see clearly."

"From the time you stood up to the time he fell to the ground, it was no more than 0.8 seconds. I didn't count."

"But in my experience, the error rate is no more than 15 percent."

She turned around, leaned against the railing, and looked at him directly.

"The average person's reaction time plus punching time is at least 1.2 seconds."

"Your 0.8 seconds means your reaction is almost at the level of a conditioned reflex."

"It wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision; it was something I trained for."

Li Chen screwed the lid back on the cup and put it back in his backpack.

"My grandfather taught me."

"Your grandfather has been teaching you more and more things."

"He's got plenty of free time."

Yan Xi looked at him.

There was no laughter, nor any further questioning.

She simply stretched out her hand, palm up.

Li Chen placed his hand on it.

She gently pressed her fingertips against the reddish scratch on his fist.

"Go back and apply iodine."

"You said the same thing yesterday."

"Because you were injured yesterday too."

Li Chen watched as her fingertips pressed against his knuckles.

The wind at the top of the lighthouse blew a strand of her hair onto his sleeve, where it became tangled.

"Yan Xi".

"Um."

"You just said it's pointless for one person to come."

"Um."

"You don't need to come alone anymore."

Yan Xi's fingers tightened on his fist for a moment, then loosened.

She turned around and faced the sea again.

"Where to go tomorrow?"

"Should you drive the ferry or should I?"

"You open it, I'll check the tides."

Li Chen's phone vibrated.

He didn't look, but Yan Xi glanced at the glowing screen in his pocket.

"Your roommate."

"I know."

"Not going to watch?"

"I'll interrupt if I watch."

"Interrupt what?"

Li Chen looked at her profile, which was disheveled by the wind.

The light from the sea reflected in her pupils.

"You interrupted me from looking at you."

Yan Xi turned around and walked towards the stairwell.

"I'm going downstairs. I'm hungry."

"You've only eaten two-thirds of the noodles at the noodle shop—"

"So I'm hungry. Where's the next place to eat according to your itinerary?"

"There's a seafood stall in the town center. It has a 4.7 rating on Dianping (a Chinese review platform)."

"Walk."

Her footsteps echoed on the cast-iron steps of the spiral staircase.

The collision of metal and sole travels from the top layer all the way to the bottom.

Li Chen followed behind.

His phone vibrated again.

This time he took it out and glanced at it.

Group 302.

[Wang Qiang: You hit someone and then disappeared? Were you arrested? Should I call the police?]

[Chen Mo: Based on the security level of Shitang Town and Li Chen's fighting ability, the probability of him being detained is 0.7%. More likely, he's doing something with Yan Xi that requires concentration.]

[Zhao Zixuan: Chen Mo, shut up. That "certain thing" made me think about things I shouldn't be thinking about.]

[Wang Qiang: Li Chen!!! What the hell are you doing???]

Li Chen typed a line of text.

[Li Chen: At the lighthouse. She told me about Fresnel lenses.]

Five seconds.

[Wang Qiang: ...Aren't your dates different from normal people's?]

[Chen Mo: This also demonstrates their extremely high compatibility. Normal couples kiss on a lighthouse, but they discuss optics.]

[Zhao Zixuan: Chen Mo. Really. Shut up.]

Li Chen locked the screen.

Yan Xi had already reached the lighthouse entrance.

She turned around.

The sunlight shone from behind her, creating a backlighting effect.

Only the outline and a little bit of light at the end of the hairpin can be seen.

What are you dawdling about?

"Replying to Wang Qiang's message."

Tell him we're fine. Don't worry about him.

Li Chen walked out of the lighthouse, through the gap in the fence, and stood in front of her.

He reached out and tucked the wind-blown strands of hair behind her ear.

My fingers brushed against the end of the phoenix hairpin.

It's cold.

Yan Xi did not dodge.

"I'm gone."

She reached out first, her fingers spread, and grasped his hand.

The two walked back along the gravel path they had come from.

The sea breeze chased them from both sides of the bushes.

The red mark on Li Chen's right fist was still there.

When Yan Xi held my hand, her fingertips were pressing right on that spot.

It doesn't hurt.

My phone vibrated again in my pocket.

It's not group 302.

It's news about Yan Xi.

He looked down and unlocked it with one hand.

Yan Xi was right next to him, her left hand holding his right.

But she was holding a phone in her right hand.

The message content consists of only one line:

"Next time you hit someone, don't hurt yourself."

Li Chen glanced at her.

She didn't turn around; she kept her eyes forward.

He had an expression that said he hadn't posted anything.

He put his phone back in his pocket and squeezed her hand.