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

Li Chen locked the screen.

The two walked along the main road of the campus.

The leaves on the sycamore tree have all fallen.

The branches and trunks are grayish-black.

There was a thin layer of snow on the road, but it had been trampled into mud by the footsteps of passersby.

Yan Xi walked to his left.

Li Chen naturally switched both boxes to his right hand, freeing up his left hand.

Yan Xi's hand emerged from her coat pocket.

He caught it.

Their fingers were clasped tightly together.

Her hands were a little warmer than they were in the car, but her fingertips were still cold.

"I'll take you back to your dorm first."

"Um."

They passed by the library.

Passing by the teaching building.

We passed by the ginkgo tree where they first walked side by side.

The leaves have all fallen, leaving only the branches.

Yan Xi walked a little slower than usual.

Li Chen did not urge him.

He slowed down too.

They reached the girls' dormitory building. Yan Xi let go of her hand.

Give me the box.

Li Chen placed her suitcase on the ground and took a step back.

"Give me the insulated bag. I'll take it back to wash."

Yan Xi handed over the insulated bag.

The two people were standing face to face.

Several girls were going in and out of the dormitory building. I glanced at them a couple of times as I passed by.

Yan Xi didn't pay attention.

She reached out and straightened the wrinkles in Li Chen's scarf.

"Go back and delete the traffic screenshots your mom sent. Your dad doesn't want you to keep evidence that he 'doesn't care.'"

Li Chen paused for a moment, then nodded.

"Where's the kraft paper bag?"

Yan Xi picked up her suitcase.

"Open it again when you get back."

"Can you tell me what it is?"

"cannot."

She carried her suitcase and walked into the dormitory building.

He took three steps. Then he stopped.

There was no turning back.

"Stand there and wait for my message. Leave only after you receive it."

Li Chen stood still.

Yan Xi entered the dormitory building.

He watched her figure disappear around the corner of the stairs.

My phone vibrated.

It's not group 302.

[Yan Xi: We've arrived.]

Less than forty seconds passed. She hadn't even reached the fourth floor yet. It was sent from the stairs.

[Li Chen: You haven't reached your room yet.]

[Yan Xi: I said I've arrived, and I have.]

[Yan Xi: You can go now. See you on the playground tomorrow morning.]

[Yan Xi: Wear something warmer. It's getting colder.]

Three messages. The intervals are two seconds and three seconds respectively.

She types very fast.

Li Chen put his phone back in his pocket. He then pulled his suitcase and insulated bag toward the boys' dormitory building.

The wind is blowing from the east. It's very cold.

His left hand still held her warmth.

Downstairs in dormitory building 302.

Wang Qiang stood at the doorway, wearing a towel and slippers.

"Brother Chen!!!"

"You came out dressed like this?"

"I was in a hurry," Wang Qiang said, reaching for the suitcase. "Did your sister-in-law take it back?"

"Um."

"Did your sister-in-law say anything?"

"I told you to wipe the bedside table again."

Wang Qiang's expression froze for a moment.

"...I've wiped it four times already."

The two people went upstairs.

The door to room 302 was open. Zhao Zixuan was sitting in a chair playing games. Chen Mo was writing at his desk.

Li Chen pushed open the door and went in.

The smell of the dorm room. Laundry detergent mixed with instant noodle seasoning packets. Wang Qiang's sneakers. Zhao Zixuan's potato chips.

Nothing has changed.

But something is different.

Li Chen put the suitcase away. He hung his coat on the hanger.

Chen Mo looked up at him.

"scarf."

"Um?"

"You've changed the way you tied your scarf; you changed it on the way here."

Li Chen glanced down at the scarf.

He never changed it.

Yan Xi helped him re-fasten it before he left. He never took it off.

"Yan Xi's way of tying it is to wrap it twice, with the end tucked inside the collar. The position is different." Chen Mo pushed up his glasses. "Also, there's a bulge in the left pocket of your coat. It's shaped like a throat lozenge wrapper. You had neck problems before, but you don't have a record of buying throat lozenges."

Wang Qiang slammed the box down on the ground.

"Stop analyzing, okay?! They just got back!"

"Data waits for no one." Chen Mo wrote another line in his notebook.

After finishing a round, Zhao Zixuan turned around.

"Brother Chen, seriously, how did meeting the parents go?"

Li Chen took off the scarf, folded it neatly, and placed it next to his pillow.

"fine."

"How good is 'good'? What's your parents' attitude towards your sister-in-law?"

"My dad changed his shirt three times."

The three of them were silent for two seconds.

Wang Qiang was the first to react.

"Your dad changed his shirt three times just to see your sister-in-law???"

"The first one had too high a neckline. The second one was too light a color. The third one was picked out by my mom."

Zhao Zixuan whistled.

"And what about your grandfather?"

Li Chen paused for a moment.

My grandfather's assessment of her fish was 'okay'.

Chen Mo stopped writing.

He looked up. His expression was the most solemn Li Chen had seen him in the half-year he had lived in 302.

"Okay. Your grandfather's highest praise for you is 'not bad'."

"Um."

"Yan Xi has surpassed you."

"Um."

The dormitory was silent for three seconds.

Wang Qiang slapped Li Chen on the back.

"Brother Chen! Congratulations! Your wife is awesome!"

Li Chen was so struck that he stumbled forward a step.

"Be gentle."

"I can't take it anymore, I'm too excited!" Wang Qiang rubbed his hands together, pacing back and forth. "Your sister-in-law has received the old man's approval—what does that mean? It means your relationship is basically a done deal!"

Zhao Zixuan also stood up.

"Brother Chen, to be honest, when will your sister-in-law become your sister-in-law so we don't have to call her that anymore?"

Li Chen placed the insulated bag on the table.

"It's far away."

"What's so far? Your grandpa already said 'it's okay.'" Wang Qiang leaned closer. "What's in the insulated bag?"

"My mom made pork rib rice. We've finished it."

"...Couldn't you leave me a bite?"

Li Chen opened the suitcase. He rummaged through it and found Yan Xi's scarf, which Shen Ruolan had neatly folded.

Her scarf was left in his suitcase.

Shen Ruolan placed it there. She said to put it in the left-side interlayer.

He took it out, folded it neatly, and placed it at the very back of the cabinet.

Wang Qiang glanced at it from the side.

"Isn't that your sister-in-law's scarf?"

"Um."

"Did she forget it?"

"My mom put it there."

Wang Qiang opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Chen Mo wrote a line in the notebook. Li Chen didn't see what it said, but he could guess what it meant.

It'll probably be another analysis like "the mother creates a shared space for the two of them by transferring personal belongings."

My phone vibrated.

[Yan Xi: Have we arrived yet?]

[Li Chen: We've arrived.]

[Yan Xi: There's a scarf of mine in your suitcase. Your mom put it there. I'll leave it with you for now.]

[Li Chen: It's all safe now.]

The typing notification appeared for three seconds. Then it disappeared. Then it reappeared.

[Yan Xi: I've opened the brown paper bag.]

Li Chen's heart skipped a beat.

[Li Chen: What is it?]

The opposing team fought for a long time.

Finally, a photo was sent.

The photo shows a note.

Shen Ruolan's handwriting.

There was only one line of text written on it.

"When he was a child, he said that he would give his scarf to his favorite person when he grew up."

Li Chen stared at the screen.

He remembered.

One winter when he was five years old, he was building a snowman with his mother in the yard. He was shivering from the cold. His mother took off her scarf and wrapped it around his neck. He asked why the scarf was warm.

Mom said it was because Mom had worn it.

He said, "Then I will give the scarf to my favorite person in the future."

Shen Ruolan remembered it for eighteen years. She wrote it on a piece of paper, put it in a brown paper bag, and placed it in the trunk.

It was given to Yan Xi.

Another message popped up on the phone screen.

[Yan Xi: See you at the playground tomorrow. 7 o'clock. Don't be late.]

No note was mentioned. No scarf was mentioned. There were no unnecessary words.

But he knew.

She kept it.

Along with the red envelope. Along with the note that says "This is your home". Along with that family photo that I'll never post on social media.

She kept them all.

Li Chen put down his phone.

Wang Qiang came closer.

"What did your sister-in-law say?"

"See you at the playground at seven tomorrow."

"So early??"

Li Chen did not answer.

He opened the wardrobe and hung up the navy blue overcoat.

There was also a throat lozenge wrapper in the left pocket of the coat.

He didn't throw it away.

The phone vibrated one last time.

[Yan Xi: Don't lose your scarf.]

He typed two words.

[Li Chen: No.]