On the way back to campus, Yu Lele asked Lian Haiping curiously, "Who gave you that name?"
He answered honestly, "My grandfather. He was from Zhejiang, which is why I have this name. It means 'The spring river tide connects with the sea, and the bright moon rises with the tide.'"
Seeing Yu Lele smile, he asked in return, "And you, who gave you your name?"
“My dad. He probably wants me to be happy every day, not just a little bit happy, but even happier than happy, so he named me 'Lele' (meaning 'joyful'),” she said with a grin. “But there are so many animals with that name. Once, when I was walking downstairs, I heard an old lady calling 'Lele, Lele,' and when I turned around, I saw a little dog next to me also turning around and barking. How embarrassing!”
Lian Haiping laughed heartily, and after he finished laughing, he said, "But your pen name is very nice, 'Yu Yue,' simple and synonymous."
"You know?" Yu Lele looked at him strangely.
He frowned. "Why can't I know? Is it some kind of secret?"
"No, it's just that most of the magazines that publish my articles are magazines that girls like to read, and you..." He didn't finish his sentence.
“I’ve been reading China Youth,” he said, glancing at her. “I’ve seen your feature on the relationship between clothing and love, and whether or not people should live together off-campus.”
Yu Lele blushed: "I just wrote it casually, don't take it seriously."
"Don't take this seriously?" Lian Haiping exclaimed in surprise, "I remember you wrote in your feature that you didn't encourage cohabitation outside of school!"
He pointed at her, eyes wide, one hand trembling: "You...you...you, you're so open-minded..."
Yu Lele was both annoyed and amused: "You're taking things out of context."
“Taken out of context?” His expression twisted. “My God… what kind of woman is this… so everything written in the book was taken out of context? How could I possibly know such a promiscuous woman as you… goodbye! I don’t know you anymore!”
He turned and ran away, laughing as he ran, his shoulders swaying. Yu Lele chased after him and punched him hard in the back: "Lian Haiping, are you tired of living?!"
They chased and played around on campus. The trees on both sides of the tree-lined path were very dense and had large canopies, which blocked the stars but overflowed with the rich fragrance of grass and trees, making it incredibly romantic and beautiful.
That night, Yu Lele lay in bed, thinking of Lian Haiping. His incisive insights and his clear-headed observation gave her a subtle sense of warmth and security. He was like a strategist standing beside her, revealing a side of herself that even she herself couldn't fully understand.
He had even read the short pieces he had written, carefully observing every love story he had recorded or compiled. Those love stories contained the image of love he longed for. She had once hoped that Xu Chen could see them too, and thus understand what his girlfriend wanted. But he didn't. In the end, the one who read them so earnestly and attentively was an outsider.
But isn't such an outsider also a confidant?
Thinking of this, Yu Lele suddenly remembered that next month was Xu Chen's birthday. He was 11 months older than her, so their birthdays were very close. She thought, since he wouldn't send her as a gift, why not send herself to the provincial capital as a gift?
In the deep of night, she turned over and finally couldn't help but laugh.
5-1
During the arts festival, Xu Chen was as busy as a spinning top. The entire schedule for the festival, involving all 13 student clubs across the school, spanned the two sweltering months of June and July. In the sweltering afternoon air, the club office didn't even have a fan; everyone—writing posters, typing, organizing registration forms—was drenched in sweat.
The phone rang abruptly in the sweltering air. Xu Chen glanced at it: Yu Lele.
He glanced instinctively at the busy people around him, then turned to answer the phone as he walked towards the door: "Hello?"
"Are you busy?" Yu Lele's voice carried a hint of inquiry.
"I've been quite busy these past few days, but things will be better after the official opening," he chuckled softly. "After all, I'm the general director and the CEO of the festival."
As Yu Lele listened, she hesitated: Should she tell him her plans?
I really want to surprise him: what if I suddenly appear in front of him on his birthday? Will he be terrified?
But after racking her brains, she realized that among her old classmates, besides him, she only knew one other person in the entire provincial capital—Kuang Yawei, who was also a boy.
After thinking about it, I finally said, "I'm going to visit you next week."
"What?" Xu Chen didn't react immediately: "Where to?"
"Where you are, in our great provincial capital," Yu Lele laughed, "I'm going to deliver a birthday present to you. Would you be welcome?"
"Huh?" This news was so shocking that Xu Chen was speechless, unable to process it.
"Why are you so unhappy?" Yu Lele asked with a hint of reproach.
Xu Chen realized what was happening and quickly denied it: "No, no, I was just too surprised. This gift is too big. I'm thinking about what kind of box I should use to fit it."
Yu Lele laughed: "So you're saying that as long as I arrive, it's okay not to buy a gift?"
Xu Chen hurriedly agreed: "It's good that you've arrived. You're more valuable than any gift."
Yu Lele burst out laughing: "Xu Chen, you've never been so good at talking before."
Xu Chen felt a little guilty: "Lele, I'm so glad you came, really. But, is your mother at ease?"
She paused, as if gathering a lot of courage: "Last week my mom called me and told me to control myself and not to hurt you."
"Control? Will you hurt me?" Yu Lele asked, confused. As soon as she asked, she realized what he meant and blushed.
Neither of them spoke; the only sound on the phone was their breathing.
After a while, Yu Lele broke the silence with a smile: "Xu Chen, your mom is so cute."
The tense atmosphere instantly dissipated, and Xu Chen laughed: "You have to get your mother's permission first, otherwise I'm afraid that if I see Uncle Yu in the future, he'll beat my legs with a stick and sue me for trafficking a minor."
The two chatted and joked around for a while before hanging up. Xu Chen put down his phone and realized that in the 37-degree heat, the sweat on his forehead had soaked through the screen. Turning around to go back to his office, he was surprised to find a line of people standing behind him, each with a sly smile on their face.
A boy smiled and mimicked him: "It's good that you're here. You're more valuable than any gift!"
The junior student below her was also smiling: "Of course I'm very happy that you're willing to come, but can your mother rest assured?"
Another boy quickly chimed in: "My mom told me to control myself and not to hurt you."
Suddenly, the group burst into laughter. Xu Chen blushed bright red amidst the laughter and grabbed the boy next to him, ready to throw a punch, but was held down by the group of boys. The twenty-year-old boys seemed to have plenty of energy, laughing and joking as they played around, saying, "Boss, you guys better live further away. There are too many people around, and the brothers might see something they shouldn't."
Xu Chen finally managed to escape the clutches of a group of boys. He looked up and saw Ye Fei standing to the side watching the commotion, so he complained, "Little brother, can you bear to watch our boss get ravaged by so many beasts?"
Ye Fei laughed: "Boss, one can forgive the sins of Heaven, but one cannot escape the sins of one's own making..."
After saying that, he slipped back into his office, leaving a heartbroken Xu Chen alone to deal with several boys who were laughing so hard they couldn't stand up straight. Xu Chen was overwhelmed and lamented his bad luck and poor choice of friends; he truly had brought it all upon himself.
The next day, when Xu Chen went to the office to pick up something, he happened to see Ye Fei typing away at the computer, so he went up to her and clapped his hands on her shoulder: "Little brother!"
Ye Fei didn't even turn her head, replying as she typed: "Hello, Boss!"
Xu Chen casually pulled up a chair and sat down next to Ye Fei, his expression ingratiating: "Little brother, please do me a favor."
"What?" Ye Fei turned her head, brushing a stray hair behind her ear with one hand. "How can I help? Do you have a toothache?"
Xu Chen said helplessly, "I know you're studying dentistry, but you don't have to be so sensitive, do you? My teeth are fine, I can eat whatever I want."
"Then what are you going to do?" Ye Fei stared at Xu Chen.
"Um, well," Xu Chen hesitated for a moment, "my girlfriend is coming next week, could you help me find a place to stay?"
Ye Fei subconsciously connected this to her identity as a local: "Where to stay? Oh, let me think, a cheap and affordable hotel..."
Xu Chen interrupted him halfway through his sentence: "That's not what I meant. I meant the girls' dormitory."
Ye Fei shuddered: "Boss, are you serious? You're so stingy? Why make them stay in the dorm? It's crowded and noisy, and it's not convenient either."
The last "ah" sounded quite meaningful, so Xu Chen blushed again: "I think the dormitory is safer."
Ye Fei teased him, "What's safer? Protecting yourself from thieves or from me?"
"Little brother, how could you be so unfair?" Xu Chen pounded his chest and stamped his feet. "It's so hard for me, your boss, to protect you like this!"
Seeing how embarrassed he was, Ye Fei finally gave up: "Alright, alright, let her sleep in my bed. Anyway, I go home every weekend, so that bed is only used for five days and rested for two."
Xu Chen looked grateful: "Thank you, little brother. Boss will remember you. You're really my good buddy!"
Ye Fei smiled, turned her head and continued typing. Only when she heard his footsteps gradually fade away and the door close with a "click" did her smile freeze.
I felt so useless. I always had to joke and laugh with him, but I could only let my true feelings show when he turned away or when I turned away myself. What was so good about him anyway? Besides being handsome, he was nothing more than the most ordinary standard: respectful to teachers, friendly to classmates, diligent in his studies, hardworking, morally upright, and well-behaved…
But isn't all of this enough?
However, I met him too late, so I can only be his "little brother" or "buddy".
He had no idea how much she hated that name.
The reason she uses this title is simply to disguise herself in such a respectable way.
Ye Fei so envied the girl named Yu Lele—even though she didn't know Yu Lele, didn't even know what kind of girl she was, and didn't know why Xu Chen cared for her so carefully. But this girl named Yu Lele was clearly so happy…
5-2
Although they were complete strangers, Ye Fei recognized Yu Lele at a glance in the vast crowd when she arrived in the provincial capital.
It was eight o'clock in the evening. The No. 18 bus approached from a distance, the carriage almost empty. Ye Fei saw Xu Chen get off first, then turn around, reach out, and look at the girl behind her. The girl smiled, took Xu Chen's hand in one hand, and lifted the hem of her skirt with the other, jumping off the bus. In that simple handshake, smile, and jump, all that intimacy, that joy, that happiness that needed no words to express was laid bare before Ye Fei's eyes.
I felt a mix of emotions; all my fantasies and expectations had been shattered.
"Little brother!" From afar, Xu Chen spotted Ye Fei at a glance. He waved to her, and she looked up to see the girl beside Xu Chen curiously peering in their direction. They stood under the bright streetlights, while she stood in the dim light at the school gate. She could see the smiles on their faces, but they couldn't see the sorrow in her heart.
But they still have to pretend to be "best buddies".
How inhumane!
She forced a smile and waved to Xu Chen: "Lu Yuanyang told me to wait for you here. They've gone ahead."
Xu Chen led Yu Lele by the hand and walked up to her, smiling as he introduced her: "This is my girlfriend, Yu Lele."
She nodded: "Hello."
"This is my younger sister, Ye Fei, a talented girl from the Department of Stomatology!" Xu Chen said to Yu Lele with a smile.
Yu Lele smiled happily: "Hello, it's nice to meet you."
Ye Fei smiled and shrugged: "Me too."
She glanced down at the luggage in Xu Chen's hand—a small bag—and hesitated for a moment: "Should we put it back in my dorm first?"
Xu Chen laughed: "No need, it's not heavy. They'll be getting impatient if we don't go soon."
As he spoke, he turned to look at Yu Lele: "A few of my friends are here to celebrate the successful opening of the arts festival, and of course, it's mainly to welcome you."
Yu Lele laughed: "So grand? Is there a red carpet?"
Xu Chen looked at her with a smile: "Why don't you sell me and see if that's enough to buy a carpet?"
Ye Fei watched them chatter and laugh from the side, then quietly walked behind them.
I can still vaguely recall Zhang Ailing's words: "Among millions of people, to meet the person you are meant to meet; in the vast wilderness of time, neither a step too early nor a step too late, but just at the right moment."
They just happened to arrive in the boundless wilderness of time.