The Journey Begins

The summer vacation after the college entrance exam.

Lin Yu was just about bored out of his mind.

Three whole months.

Absolutely nothing to do.

Day in and day out, all he did was eat and sleep.

Even LOL, which used to get him hyped the moment his fingers hit the keyboard, had lost its charm after he binged it for half a month straight.

Lin Yu figured it wasn’t really that interesting anymore.

But thank goodness for that goofball Gu Yue, who was around during this endless summer break.

When he had nothing better to do, he’d hang out with her, go for walks, take a stroll.

He even went with her on a trip down south for a while.

That added a bit of rare fun to an otherwise boring vacation.

Over the entire summer, the only real thing Lin Yu accomplished was settling the score with Tang Manman.

Through Zhao Dahu’s connections,

Lin Yu bought a lottery ticket worth five hundred thousand yuan at a twenty percent markup.

Of course—

he didn’t pay a single cent of that sixty grand himself.

Initially, Lin Yu had planned to foot the bill.

It was one thing not to give a gift for someone’s help,

but he couldn’t exactly let the other person cover the expenses, right?

Zhao Dahu, however, absolutely refused to take the money. He even got all huffy and red-faced about it, looking like he’d flip out if Lin Yu brought it up again.

There was nothing Lin Yu could do.

He just put the money away again.

Afterward,

Lin Yu had someone deliver the lottery ticket to Tang’s mom in a clever way.

The specifics went something like this: “Here’s a hundred-yuan scratch-off, can I swap it for a barbecue meal?”

Pfft— No.

He actually sent someone to eat barbecue at Tang’s mom’s shop.

When it came time to pay, they deliberately said they didn’t have enough cash—short by three or five bucks—and used that lottery ticket to cover the difference.

Anyway, the ticket ended up in Tang’s mom’s hands.

But she didn’t cash it in until four days later.

During those first few days, she probably didn’t think much of it.

Then, out of boredom, she checked the numbers.

Whoa.

That’s when she realized she’d hit the jackpot.

Truth be told, in those days before Tang’s mom cashed the ticket, Lin Yu was so anxious he couldn’t sleep.

If she’d thrown it away or lost it,

that sixty grand would have been money down the drain!

No—even worse!

At least if you throw money into water, you get to hear a splash, right?

But thankfully, Tang’s mom wasn’t that careless.

She managed to redeem the ticket successfully.

The day after she cashed it,

Lin Yu received the medical fees he’d originally advanced for treating Tang Qinqin.

And with that, he figured he was completely done with Tang Manman...

...Or so he thought?

Lin Yu scratched his head, feeling a bit uncertain.

When Tang Manman came to return the money,

he kept feeling there was something off about her eyes.

Her eyes were red-rimmed.

Tears glistened in her dark, clear pupils, shimmering unevenly.

She looked like she was about to fall apart.

It was actually kind of heartbreaking.

But that was probably it.

Lin Yu stretched and grabbed the handle of his suitcase.

Today was the day he was leaving.

Chances were, he wouldn’t see her again.

After all, it was uncertain whether he’d ever come back to this city.

He looked around at everything familiar one last time and nodded in satisfaction.

Leaving on such a bright summer day wasn’t too bad.

It was a farewell that didn’t stir up too much sorrow.

In the taxi,

Lin Yu flatly refused Xia Yueshan’s sincere offer to treat him to a farewell meal.

He’d already made plans with Gu Yue.

After arriving in S City,

their first stop was the city’s most famous high-end seafood buffet.

Eight hundred yuan per person.

All-you-can-eat Boston lobster and live king crab.

Lin Yu planned to start starving himself from that very day.

He’d hold out until the buffet opened the next noon.

In their chat, he’d already boasted to Gu Yue

that he was going to eat an entire tank’s worth of lobster!

Gu Yue, never one to be outdone,

first offered high praise and approval for Lin Yu’s ambitious claim.

Then she declared

that she’d take on the king crab tank right next to the lobster tank!

They met up at the airport,

following Gu Yue’s directions in their chat messages.

Gu Yue was dressed lightly today.

A white tank top paired with black denim shorts.

A red-and-white checkered shirt was loosely tied into a knot around her slim waist, which had no trace of extra fat.

A pair of black sunglasses sat perched on her smooth forehead.

Overall, she looked like a trendy little fashionista.

Seeing Gu Yue’s outfit—which could easily be called stylish—

Lin Yu clicked his tongue subconsciously, feeling a bit annoyed.

Wasn’t her outfit a little too revealing?

He frowned as he looked her over.

But soon, he realized something was off.

Gu Yue’s outfit was certainly cool and airy,

but it wasn’t really revealing.

The cutoff tank top and the jean shorts, which covered about a third of her thighs, properly concealed all her private areas.

Sure, there was a lot of skin showing,

but only arms, legs, and a bit of her midriff.

Nothing truly improper.

Still...

Lin Yu clenched his teeth,

feeling like a small pebble was stuck in his chest.

There was just this inexplicable vague sense of irritation.

Pushing aside the inexplicable and strangely annoying feeling in his heart,

Lin Yu dragged his suitcase and plopped down beside Gu Yue without any ceremony.

"Hey."

Brother Long.

"This is for you."

The moment Lin Yu sat down, Gu Yue eagerly took a long box from the bag at her side and handed it to him.

Lin Yu took the box reflexively.

Opening it, he found a pair of oversized sunglasses inside.

They looked like the same model as the one perched on Gu Yue's forehead.

He took the sunglasses out of the box, opened the arms like Gu Yue had done, flipped his yellow hair aside, and propped them on his forehead.

Then he relaxed, leaning back in his seat.

His arms spread out across the backs of both chairs.

In a lazy tone, as if a mob boss ordering a lackey, he said:

"Give my shoulders a rub."

"Sure thing~"

Gu Yue acted just like a little follower.

She cheerfully came around behind him and started kneading his shoulders.

About six or seven meters in front of them stood a pillar supporting the huge airport ceiling.

The pillar's surface was made of a silver-white metal.

Thanks to the hard work of the airport cleaning crew, it was polished as clean as a mirror.

In that mirror,

Lin Yu and Gu Yue shared many similarities.

The cute little figurine hanging on their phone cases.

The fuzzy ornaments on their backpacks.

The stickers on their suitcases.

And those same black sunglasses propped up on both their foreheads.

These little things were gifts Gu Yue had given Lin Yu over the course of their daily interactions.

Now, with so much in common, the two of them together,

Instead of looking like friends, they looked more and more like something else entirely.