Xiao Chen made his way down the mountain and returned to his car. He took out his phone and checked, but Yu Na hadn't replied.
His heart sank instantly.
But then he thought, maybe she hadn't seen the message. After all, she had to take care of dozens of students and couldn't be looking at her phone all the time.
Or maybe she had fallen asleep.
Those were the only two comforting explanations he could come up with.
He started the car and drove out of the scenic area.
Since it was a weekday, there were very few cars on the road from the scenic area to the city, especially on the highway section.
His red sports car was the only one speeding away in the fiery evening sky.
With his phone lying aside, Xiao Chen occasionally glanced at it. But there was still no response after sending the message. It was as quiet as a black brick.
"..."
He let out a deep sigh and then parked at the service area ahead.
Xiao Chen picked up his phone, opened the chat interface with Yu Na, and stared at that message.
There was no "Typing..." line that would make one's heart race in the remarks section.
He scrolled through the chat history—
He hadn't replied to Yu Na's message of "Thank you" either.
So, was she angry because he didn't reply?
Xiao Chen's lips tightened as he typed in the input box: [Don't say thank you to me anymore. I don't want to hear it.]
Just before he was about to send it, he paused.
Was the tone too harsh? If he wanted to confess his feelings, saying such harsh words beforehand, wouldn't that be setting himself up for trouble?
Xiao Chen deleted that sentence and pondered, deleting and revising.
He had never lost a battle of words with someone before, but at this moment, at this critical moment, the chain was about to drop down the well.
Finally, he edited it to: [Something came up just now, didn't have time to check my phone.]
He sent it.
As for what happened...
Of course, it was... something that fulfilled her wish.
But Yu Na still didn't reply.
Before Xiao Chen continued driving, he couldn't help but send another message—
[Are you angry?]
He also sent a message to Qiao Rui: [What is she doing?]
The sky gradually darkened.
Xiao Chen accelerated, fortunately, there were few cars on the road, so he reached the city faster than he had imagined.
The traffic was very heavy in the city center, and Xiao Chen squeezed through like squeezing toothpaste.
During the traffic jam, he picked up his phone again.
Qiao Rui replied: [She's chatting with the driver.]
Qiao Rui: [Don't worry, he's an older man, not as handsome as you.]
But Yu Na still didn't reply to his message.
"..."
What's even worse was that they usually communicated only through WeChat. They either made phone calls or voice calls. They didn't even have each other's phone numbers saved.
Growing up, he had never experienced waiting for a message to this extent.
He couldn't help but think of when they were in college, Yu Na used to send him messages frequently.
At that time, he didn't want to give her any hope, so he usually didn't reply to her messages. And even if he did reply, he only focused on the important points.
As someone who didn't care about anything, he was now so anxious waiting for a reply.
Back then, when Yu Na was waiting for his response, she must have been even more upset.
Recalling that time, her enthusiasm and waiting only earned him indifference and rejection.
Xiao Chen leaned back in his seat, closed his eyes, and silently cursed himself, "You're such a jerk."
The car moved forward extremely slowly, and by chance, Xiao Chen caught sight of a bus up ahead.
He hadn't paid attention to Yu Na's bus number in the morning, but judging by the appearance, it was most likely hers.
Buses, one by one, like cans of sardines.
Xiao Chen fixed his gaze on that bus and slowly moved forward.
He followed closely behind, and sure enough, that bus was theirs. The bus entered the school.
He also parked outside the school.
Yu Na and a group of students walked to the school gate, bidding farewell.
After all the students had left one by one, she was ready to go home.
No more waiting.
She didn't want to wait anymore.
Her figure gradually diminished within his line of sight.
He opened the car door, got out, quickened his pace, and caught up to her from behind, grabbing her wrist.
Yu Na was startled by this sudden force, her body visibly stiffened.
But when she turned around and saw who it was, she suddenly relaxed.
The street was bustling with traffic on this winter night, and the lights were dazzling.
Whether it was an illusion or not, Xiao Chen's gaze was gloomy, his figure desolate, his brow furrowed, completely different from his carefree image of the past.
He held onto Yu Na's arm, and she stared at him, dazed.
Xiao Chen asked in a hoarse voice, "Why didn't you reply to my messages?"
"Ah?" Her heart trembled, and she quickly took out her phone, long-pressing the power button, sincerely explaining, "The weather was too cold, and my phone automatically shut down."
Xiao Chen lowered his head and only then noticed that the screen of her phone was cracked.
"What happened?"
Yu Na hid her phone behind her back. "The phone doesn't have a screen protector. It's nothing," she said, then asked, "Why did you come back? Weren't you supposed to come back tomorrow?"
"I wanted to see you."
Four words, each carrying an invisible weight.
Car horns blared incessantly on the street, and people on the sidewalk were chatting and laughing.
She filtered out all the background noise, and only these four words penetrated her ears and reached deep into her heart.
They stood in the center of the crowd, gazing affectionately at each other, their gazes completely occupied.
Yu Na struggled to find words for a moment. "You—"
Xiao Chen cast his eyes downward, like a lost child unable to find the way home. "I sent you a WeChat message, but you ignored me."
"That's not true." Yu Na had just casually explained earlier, but upon hearing Xiao Chen's heavy tone and desolate expression, she panicked.
She explained incoherently, "I don't know what happened either. My phone has been draining battery unusually fast lately. It went from fifty percent to ten percent, and then it shut down. I didn't bring a charger. I thought there wasn't anything important, so I didn't borrow a charger. I planned to charge it at home."
Xiao Chen nodded gently. "I understand."
Yu Na suddenly approached him, her voice soft, with a barely noticeable tremor. "Are you angry?"
"No," he said, "Will you go somewhere with me? Is that alright?"
"Okay."
She followed Xiao Chen back to the car.
Xiao Chen leaned over and helped her fasten the seatbelt.
Yu Na's heart raced, unsure of what was going on with him.
"By the way," she tried to break the inexplicable atmosphere, "Qiao Rui and Song Yan left together, saying they'll play for a while before going home."
Xiao Chen responded nonchalantly, seemingly unconcerned about his cousin's whereabouts.
She probed again, "Should I let him know that you're back?"
"No need," Xiao Chen turned his head to look at her, his words calmer than before. "I came back because of you."
Silence filled the car.
Yu Na nervously fidgeted with her seat belt.
She really wanted to cast aside all her worries and ask him, "Do you like me?"
But the words lingered on her tongue, swallowed back forcefully.
Instead, she asked, "Where are you taking me?"
Xiao Chen replied, "You'll find out soon enough."
