It sounds simple, but it's actually very tiring. She usually has to work, so she can only hand out flyers on weekends.
That day, she had been standing on the bustling street for almost four hours. The sun's rays were growing stronger and stronger, as if they were about to evaporate the air.
Although Ruolin was wearing a sun hat, it couldn't block the sun's scorching rays, and fine beads of sweat had already seeped out on her forehead.
Everyone seemed to be in a hurry. Ruolin still had a thick stack of flyers in her hand. She looked up at the blazing sun, frowned, and sighed softly. Her hands, holding the flyers, slowly became sweaty, wetting the flyers and making them sticky.
"Beep beep..." A sudden, urgent car horn sounded.
Ruolin was often in the bustling neighborhood, where the constant honking of cars was a common occurrence, but she turned a deaf ear to it.
She didn't turn her head until a loud voice vibrated in her eardrums. She heard someone calling her name, which sounded both distant and close, as if it were right next to her.
Ruolin's gaze met a pair of bright, deep eyes, filled with surprise and confusion. His face was shrouded in a thin layer of golden light, making him appear even more clean and handsome, but his handsome brows furrowed instantly. He leaned out the window again, trying to get a better look.
Ruolin's hand holding the flyers trembled, and several flyers slowly slipped off. Her eyes felt as if they had encountered a giant, luminous object, making it impossible for her to open them.
She never realized how small the world was, and that the person she didn't want to see had to appear at this very moment.
She stood there stunned for a long time before she came to her senses, hurriedly stuffed the flyer into her handbag, and then turned and ran away as if fleeing.
She heard the voice behind her calling "Xinyu" repeatedly, and her fear intensified, terrified that the person would be beside her at any moment. She pretended not to hear anything and just kept running as fast as she could.
She stopped walking only when the sound was completely drowned out by the traffic.
She was panting heavily. It had been a long time since she had run like this since she started working. It was as if she was running forward with all her might, towards an unknown place.
Once she caught her breath, she looked around carefully. Unconsciously, she had ended up at the entrance of a shopping mall. To avoid seeing him again, she decided to sit in the mall for a while, where she could also enjoy the air conditioning.
After leaving the square, Ruolin took out flyers from her handbag. The flyers, which had been placed in the cramped space, were no longer flat and had some wrinkles. She looked down at the thick stack of flyers in her hand and sighed heavily.
Her initial fear subsided considerably, but she was still somewhat apprehensive, so she found a quieter neighborhood. Although there weren't many people around, she no longer needed to worry that the person would reappear.
A strange sense of annoyance welled up inside her, and she couldn't shake it off.
When no one was around, she would unconsciously rub the corner of the flyer with her hand, standing there blankly, watching the few cars pass by.
She pulled her hat brim down very low, and the brim was already soaked with sweat from her forehead. It clung tightly to her forehead, making it difficult to breathe and causing her some discomfort. But she stubbornly wore the hat, as if afraid that someone would recognize her.
As evening approached, Ruolin squinted slightly, looked up at the setting sun, took off the sun hat that had been on her head, and slowly wiped the sweat from her forehead.
She glanced at the flyers in her hand, frowned slightly, and murmured, "If it weren't for him, these flyers would have been handed out long ago."
After Ruolin returned to her residence, she was busy cooking when her phone rang.
She picked up her phone, stared at the name on the screen, and froze. Her heart began to race, her hand holding the phone trembled slightly, and her mind seemed to freeze, going completely blank for a moment.
She let the phone vibrate incessantly in her palm, making her hand feel numb, but she was completely unaware of it.
The phone vibrated incessantly, then stopped briefly, then vibrated again, in a never-ending cycle. Ruolin finally put the phone aside and let it vibrate. After a long time, the phone finally fell silent, but Ruolin's heart remained unsettled.
She guessed that he must have seen her during the day and now wanted to find out what was going on. But Ruolin was truly panicked; she didn't know what to do next. Was she being cowardly? No, she usually faced any setbacks bravely, but this time it was more than just a setback.
She didn't know if her phone would never be able to rest from then on.
Things became complicated in her mind, and she had no interest in cooking. In the midst of her random thoughts, she had already burned the vegetables. When she came to her senses, she realized it.
Ruolin didn't sleep well that night.
Chapter Thirteen
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Ever since his encounter with Ruolin on the street that day, Han Haoxuan had been filled with questions. He couldn't understand why Ruolin, who had already gone to Tibet, would be handing out flyers on the street, why she would run away as soon as she saw him, and why she wouldn't answer his calls.
A series of questions swirled in his mind, making him feel uneasy.
To find out what was going on, he decided to go to D University. Since she hadn't gone to Tibet, she must still be teaching at D University.
"Is Professor Chen Xinyu here?" Han Haoxuan asked politely as he entered the art department's faculty office.
"She's still in class," someone replied.
After learning about the classroom, Han Haoxuan went to find it.
The classroom was full of people, and Han Haoxuan found a seat in the back row.
A strikingly beautiful woman with an extraordinary presence stood before the lectern, dressed in a professional suit, exuding elegance and poise. She used multimedia equipment and delivered her lecture with vivid and engaging delivery.
Han Haoxuan gazed at the woman lecturing from afar, feeling a sense of familiarity, as if he had seen her somewhere before, but she was clearly not Chen Xinyu, the woman he had met on his blind date. His doubts deepened, and his handsome brows furrowed involuntarily.
Before Han Haoxuan knew it, the bell rang, and the students began to leave the classroom. Only then did he realize that get out of class was over. After all the students had left, Han Haoxuan walked towards the teacher's desk.
"Hello." Han Haoxuan smiled.
Xinyu stared at the person in front of her for a moment, a look of surprise on her face. Then she pointed at Han Haoxuan and said as if she had just realized something, "Oh, it's you! My savior!"
Xinyu began searching her memory for that encounter, and soon the memory surfaced.
It was during last year's National Day holiday. Xinyu had originally planned to go hiking with a colleague, but her colleague had something come up and couldn't make it, so she had to go hiking alone.
The climb went smoothly until she was almost at the top of the mountain when a robber stole her bag while she was resting.
Xinyu had never encountered such a situation before and was immediately stunned. She watched helplessly as the robbers drove away, and she didn't even think about getting her wallet back; all she felt was deep fear and terror.
She had heard of robberies on the streets and at train stations, but she had never heard of robberies on a mountaintop.
She thought, "This robber's skills are too advanced! He even climbed to the top of a mountain to rob someone. Was he trying to avoid being seen, or is he just a coward who's afraid of crowded places?" Thinking this, Xinyu couldn't help but laugh and cry. However, she was still quite relieved, comforting herself with an "Ah Q" mentality: "Luckily, I was only robbed of my money, not my virtue."
Relieved, she looked at the darkening sky and saw no one in sight on the mountain surrounded by evergreen broad-leaved trees. Suddenly, she felt a little scared, and all she could hear was her own rapid heartbeat and the rustling of the wind.
At this moment, she was isolated and helpless, sitting blankly on a cold stone, feeling as if she had survived a disaster.
She clasped her hands together and rubbed them vigorously, trying to warm her cold hands and dispel her fear, but her hands only grew colder, as if they had lost all feeling, and her fear did not lessen in the slightest.
But she didn't want to give up her determination to reach the summit. Without thinking too much, she looked at the summit, which wasn't far from her, took a deep breath, and with a determined look in her eyes, told herself to continue the unfinished journey.
For the rest of the journey, Xinyu didn't rest at all. At that moment, she didn't think about anything but climbing towards her goal. Before she knew it, she had reached the top of the mountain. Looking down at the village and river shrouded in the setting sun at the foot of the mountain, her heart immediately felt much more at ease, and the fear she had felt earlier was also greatly dispelled.
She didn't dare linger on the mountaintop for long and hurriedly descended. Only when she reached the foot of the mountain did she realize she was now penniless, and a sense of anxiety washed over her. Her bag was gone, not only her money, but even her only means of communication, her cell phone, was gone.
Left with no other choice, she had to ask passersby for help.
At first, she was too shy to ask passersby for help, afraid of being rejected. Finally, she steeled herself and decided to take the plunge! So, when a well-dressed, handsome young man walked past her, she called out to him.
God knows, she definitely didn't stop him because he was handsome. She just saw his designer clothes and thought he must be rich, so lending him some money shouldn't be a problem.
And the man Xinyu stopped was none other than Han Haoxuan, the one her mentor later arranged for her to go on a blind date with! So, sometimes, we can't help but marvel at how small the world really is! Especially for those destined to meet.
Han Haoxuan stopped in surprise, looking at Xinyu with a puzzled expression.
Xinyu was a typical "handsome guy addict," staring at the handsome man so closely that her eyes were practically glued to him. It wasn't until Han Haoxuan frowned that she realized she had been a bit out of line and had forgotten something important. She withdrew her adoring gaze, lowered her head, and pondered for a moment before speaking in an extremely low voice, "Could you lend me some money?"
Han Haoxuan suddenly curled the corners of his mouth, his expression unreadable. He looked at Xinyu with a scrutinizing gaze. A hint of suspicion flashed in his eyes, as if he regarded her as a swindler, and the smile on his lips seemed to mock her for using such a low-level method to cheat people out of money.
Xinyu felt extremely uncomfortable under his gaze, and the mockery at the corner of his mouth made her even more annoyed. She suddenly regretted contacting him. Summoning courage from who-knows-where, she said defiantly, "You don't believe me? Look at me now, in this pathetic state. Do you think I'm lying to you?"
Although Xinyu was prepared to be misunderstood, she still felt uneasy when she actually faced such gazes. She realized that she now particularly hated those swindlers in society. If there were no swindlers in the world, she wouldn't be seen as a swindler even in her current state of destitution.
"Can you tell me why you need the money?" Han Haoxuan looked into Xinyu's pleading eyes, which were pure and bright, without a trace of impurity. He began to withdraw the slightly mocking smile from the corner of his mouth and pretended to listen patiently.
When Xinyu saw his expression, a glimmer of light suddenly flashed in her despairing eyes, and she recounted her ordeal to him.
After listening, Han Haoxuan showed no sympathy in his eyes, but just smiled and said, "That bandit is really something, climbing all the way up the mountain to rob people."
"Sigh, do you have any compassion at all? I've gotten myself into this state, and you're still speaking up for the robbers." Xin Yu glanced at him helplessly.
"Just kidding, don't mind it." Han Haoxuan smiled slightly, then took out a few hundred-yuan bills from his wallet and handed them to Xinyu.
Xinyu stared at the money in his hand, her expression momentarily dazed, and her eyes welled up with tears. When you're penniless, a stranger can be so generous in lending you money; the feeling of gratitude is indescribable. Xinyu stood there, speechless, looking at him with eyes full of gratitude.
Han Haoxuan said jokingly, "Don't look at me like that, I can't stand it." He looked at Xin Yu's speechless expression, and before taking the money from her hand, he smiled and said, "You don't need to worry that my money is fake, it can be used in China."
Xinyu was amused by his words. She sniffed, took the money, and said, "Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for lending me the money."
He didn't say anything, and his face showed an indifferent expression.
"Oh..." Xinyu patted her head, as if she remembered something, and said, "May I ask how I should address you, and what your contact information is, so I can pay you back later?"
"No need," Han Haoxuan said simply.
“How can that be? I don’t like owing people anything, especially favors from strangers. If I don’t pay them back, I’m afraid I’ll feel uneasy about it for the rest of my life,” Xinyu said.
Han Haoxuan wasn't a stingy person, and besides, this amount of money was nothing to him. He simply considered it a good deed he had done that day. He said, "You can use this money to help others in the future."
Xinyu had never met such a kind person before. He lent money to someone without leaving his name or surname, a living Lei Feng of the new century! Han Haoxuan's image instantly became even more towering in her mind. She looked up at Han Haoxuan for a long time, her eyes filled with infatuation, as if gazing at a dazzling diamond.
Han Haoxuan ignored Xinyu's infatuation, chuckled, and prepared to leave. Only then did Xinyu snap out of her reverie and ask, "Can you tell me your name? We can be friends." Xinyu didn't want to miss out on such a handsome and kind man.
Han Haoxuan smiled, tossing out, "I don't think it's necessary. We'll meet again if fate allows," before turning and leaving. In the afterglow of the setting sun, he was enveloped in a thin halo, a truly beautiful sight, like a stunning silhouette captured by the sunset, framed and preserved. Xinyu was completely captivated by this breathtaking scene. She wished time could stand still, the image frozen in time, forever etched in her memory. But time could not stand still for her; that tall, upright figure gradually blurred, finally dissolving into the sunset's glow.
Even after returning home, she would often think of Han Haoxuan's handsome face and charming smile. Wasn't he exactly her ideal man? Whenever she thought of this, she would sigh heavily. Why was he so far away from her? So far away that she could only keep him as her Prince Charming, hidden in her heart.
However, she never dreamed that she would run into him again.
Does this just prove his earlier statement, "If we are destined to meet, we will meet again"?
Chapter Fourteen
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"Are you Chen Xinyu?" Han Haoxuan's words interrupted Xinyu's thoughts.
"...Yes, that's right." Xinyu was still lost in her thoughts, stammering. She was thrilled to see him again, a beautiful smile blooming on her face. But after calming herself down, Xinyu felt something was strange. She didn't know how Han Haoxuan knew her name, so she asked, "How do you know my name is Chen Xinyu?"
Han Haoxuan did not answer. Fortunately, Xinyu did not continue to press him on this issue.
"You..." Han Haoxuan was about to ask for clarification when Xinyu hurriedly interrupted him: "You didn't come to me this time to ask for a debt, did you?"
Han Haoxuan suddenly remembered the matter of borrowing money. He looked at Xinyu as if he had just realized something and said, "No."
No wonder he felt Xinyu looked familiar when he saw her from afar, but he just couldn't remember where he had seen her before. He had long since put that matter out of his mind.
"Could it be that you're here to listen to my lecture?" Xin Yu asked with a smile. Her tone was completely different from when she spoke to others. It was sweet and gentle, making people's hearts flutter.
"Let's talk outside." Han Haoxuan's face turned serious, but Xinyu didn't notice his expression; perhaps she was too excited.
Xinyu sat in Han Haoxuan's car, talking enthusiastically about her experience of the last mountain climb, and didn't forget to thank Han Haoxuan. But Han Haoxuan didn't answer, looking absent-minded.
Han Haoxuan took Xinyu to a nearby restaurant. It was peak dining time and the place was packed.
Fortunately, after they waited there for a while, some other guests finished their meals. After the waiter cleared the clutter from the table, they sat down facing each other.
"What would you like to drink?" Han Haoxuan asked, his heart filled with agitation, and the usual calm on his face vanished.