Chapter 55

After their meal, the two walked out of Professor Gao's house.

The sky outside was a little gloomy and the clouds were wrapped in a gray edge.

The air was cold, even their breaths were all white.

Fu Yangxi walked forward. When he saw the dilapidated weeds in the yard withered, he felt uncomfortable and casually said to Professor Gao, “You’ve got weeds everywhere. Don't you pluck them? Should I hire someone to clean them up?”

Professor Gao glared at him before he could finish speaking. “Why are you talking so much nonsense? Go home after dinner. Why aren’t you leaving? You still want to sleep in my house?”

Professor Gao drove the two out as he spoke.

Mingxi quickly pulled Fu Yangxi out of the yard.

When the two left the yard, Mingxi said helplessly to Fu Yangxi, “Professor Gao is very reluctant to receive help from others. Otherwise, the task of needing someone to accompany his grandson every week can be easily solved the moment he asks a student he once taught. He will not go around and post it on the net which he is unfamiliar with. If we want to help him a little bit, we can't say so carelessly or else the old man's self-esteem will not be able to stand it.”

"Is this immortal duck stubborn?" Fu Yangxi turned his head, glanced at him and with a 'tsk', he said, “I think he’s very happy that the two of us came to visit him. He even drank several glasses of alcohol, yet he went and put on a reluctant face. This old man…”

Mingxi complained mentally, you sure are proud enough to say something like this about others when you yourself are the same.

Fu Yangxi stopped in shock. “Since when am I the same as him?”

Shoot.

Mingxi belatedly realized that she had muttered her thoughts out loud.

Fu Yangxi gave her a warning look. “Why do I feel that you have slandered me hundreds of times a day behind my back?”

“What slander? This is called not being afraid of the strong and having the courage to tell the truth.” Mingxi had to explain herself. “You caught a cold that day and I went to give you medicine. You obviously expected me to visit you. But in the end when I went, you drove me away and you even pretended to look indifferent, saying things like, ‘Why are you here?’ ‘Whether I’m sick or not, does it have anything to do with you? Do you care?’”

Mingxi really thought that Fu Yangxi didn't want to see her that day. But now that she thought about it, she could definitely feel the jealousy in the air.

That day Fu Yangxi must have been jealous about something that happened a long time ago again.

“What were you saying if not empty words?”

Fu Yangxi was imitated vividly by Mingxi, causing his entire face to go as red as a tomato.

What kind of joke is this?!

Was this my tone of voice that day?!

Why was it so sad like a resentful woman in the cold palace?!

Fu Yangxi became annoyed and said, “That was your misperception! I was very impatient that day! I didn't want to meet people! I was driving you away! Little Mask, you are getting bolder and bolder these days!”

Mingxi asked, “If you didn’t want to see me, why did you wash your hair?”

Fu Yangxi became desperate. “It was a coincidence! Coincidence, get it? I just happened to wash my hair.”

"Oh—" Mingxi made an expression of acknowledgement.

Fu Yangxi: “...”

Seeing that she was still smiling, Fu Yangxi was embarrassed and indignant. He really wanted to find a hole in the ground and stuff himself inside. He lifted his foot and walked forward.

Mingxi, who was behind him, laughed so hard that her stomach hurt.

Fu Yangxi took a few steps, looked back at her with a foul face and saw that she was still where she was. He: “...”

Is it that funny?!

Fu Yangxi strode back again. He pulled her down jacket’s hood and walked out of the alley. “Stop laughing! It's dark! Go home!”

Just as the two of them walked out with both deep and shallow footprints, a snowflake suddenly fell. It fell on the corner of Mingxi’s lips. She kissed a piece of soft ice. Then, without warning, there was snow in the sky.

This was this year’s first snow.

One after another, the white snowflakes fell from the sky.

The two of them stopped involuntarily and looked up.

The dark and long alleys, the dimly orange street lamps and the flying snowflakes lightly falling on them like transparent elves. The shadows of the two people on the ground were stretched out by the street lamps.

Suddenly.

The whole world became quiet and empty.

"It's snowing." Mingxi stretched out her hand.

She and Fu Yangxi have known each other since autumn, and now it's winter.

Fu Yangxi plucked a piece of snowflake from her dark black hair and tied her scarf smoothly.

Mingxi looked up at Fu Yangxi.

Fu Yangxi paused, trying to suppress the redness at the tips of his ears.

Fu Yangxi suddenly turned away. He tried her best to say nonchalantly, “I want to take you somewhere.”

“Where?” Mingxi asked.

Although she hadn't gone and didn't know where, Mingxi's heartbeat had already begun to beat faster.

"Wear your gloves. You'll know once we get there." Fu Yangxi retracted his hand and put it back in his pocket.

He said coldly, “By the way, I’m not specifically taking you there. Isn't it still too early to go back to school? Unless you want to return to school so early and be bored alone, your boss will take care of you.”

Mingxi restrained a smile. “Sure.”

20 minutes later, the car stopped in a clearing near a forest on Shiyuan North Road, about 2.5 kilometers away from the school.

“...”

Mingxi looked at the place Fu Yangxi described as ‘when you go, you’ll know it’.

There was nothing there. The bald tree shook its head violently with the wind. There was something on it that she didn’t know, though it might be a wire. In short, it was pitch black and she couldn't see anything.

She could only feel that the snow was getting bigger and bigger. It started to fall on her shoulders.

Mingxi was freezing to death. Fu Yangxi stood on the side where the wind was blowing and shielded her from the wind.

She turned her head to look at Fu Yangxi who was next to her. “Is this the place that you wanted to bring me?”

Fu Yangxi frantically pressed the switch of the small light bulb with his hand in his pocket, but none of the lights were turned on.

He opened his eyes in shock and looked at the hundreds of light bulbs on the tree that were completely misfired, deeply doubting life.

It was said that cheap goods were not good, but he directly selected the most expensive one which was worth tens of thousands!

Yet it’s still faulty?!

Is God playing with me?!

"...Yes." Fu Yangxi pretended to be calm and tried his best to pretend to be nonchalant, saying, "We’re having a walk after a meal to avoid gaining weight. But if you are cold, I should just send you back quickly."

“...”

Mingxi followed Fu Yangxi to the grove in such a mess of a wind. Then, she was sent back to the dormitory by Fu Yangxi.

She never thought that when he said to drop by a place, it was really just ‘dropping by a place’!

After sending Mingxi back, Fu Yangxi asked Xiao Li to drive back to the place he had spent the whole night before decorating by himself.

Fu Yangxi's chest burst into flames. He really wanted to rush over to get the unscrupulous merchant and have a fight with him.

He took out the switch in his coat pocket and pressed it angrily. He planned that if it still didn’t work, he would fix it first and then bring Little Mask to see it the next day.

In the end.

With a "pop", the switch was just lightly touched, and hundreds of tiny light bulbs all lit up, dotted along the treetops, reflecting the light and white snowflakes. It was an absolutely breathtaking scene.

Fu Yangxi: “...”

What the hell?

For f*ck’s sake, now it works???

A couple passed this road, got out of the car, cuddled with each other and stopped.

The man saw Fu Yangxi holding the switch and smiled at Fu Yangxi. “Brother, thank you.”

Fu Yangxi: “￥;%;%;￥#;*;”

Fu Yangxi was so angry that his mind was full of garbled characters.

…

After Mingxi returned to the dormitory, she didn't know where Fu Yangxi had gone. In any case, about half an hour later, the lady who was sitting downstairs came upstairs, knocked on the door and handed her a cup of steaming ginger milk tea and a box.

She told her that the boy who had sent her back just turned back.

Mingxi opened it and took a look. Inside the box was a rechargeable hot water bottle.

“Where is he?”

The lady in charge of the dorms said, “He left.”

Mingxi closed the door and sat at the table, holding the hot milk tea in her hands.

She inserted the straw in and took a sip. A sweet sensation spread over her mouth and her stomach warmed.

Mingxi walked to the balcony and looked out the window. The heavy snow was billowing. The cold air condensed into white mist on the glass window, but it was warm inside.

She stretched out her finger and wiped the window. She could see the snow falling at night.

Mingxi suddenly stretched out her hand and touched the top of her head.

However, it felt completely different.

When Fu Yangxi messed up her hair, his strength would carry some rough intimacy belonging to a boy.

When Fu Yangxi took off the snowflakes from the tips of her hair, his fingertips were warm, and the fleeting moment of touch would make her scalp go numb.

Mingxi lowered her head and looked down at the milk tea in her hand.

The temperature of the milk tea passed from the palm of her hand to her fingertips and heart, making her feel the temperature that belonged to Fu Yangxi in winter.

Some impulses and desires gradually grew.

Her heart felt sour and itchy, as if something was scratching gently.

…

On this night, Fu Yangxi didn't sleep well. Mingxi didn't sleep well either.

She felt that she had become the potted plant in a trance. The pointed sprouts grew out quietly, and her heart was crisp and numb.

After closing her eyes, it was all Fu Yangxi.

Mingxi could only take a deep breath and desperately control her thoughts. She tried to make herself think more about the difficult questions she encountered during the day.

…

After a while.

Groggily.

Her mind finally pulled away from Fu Yangxi a little bit. She began to solve those questions.

However, the consequence of this was that Mingxi dreamed of the Mathematical Olympiad all night, and she was even looking for a draft paper in the dream.

The next day, she woke up with a blank look and sighed.

It had just snowed last night and the world was completely silent. Mingxi glanced at the window. The sky hadn't even lit up and there was still some light snow drifting in the grayness.

She turned on the phone and checked the time— it was only 6am.

This was her first time sleeping less than 5 hours. Mingxi’s head felt heavy.

However, she couldn't sleep at all after going to bed, so she planned to go to the classroom to study first.

Mingxi held the book, her mind hanging in the air. She held an umbrella and walked to the classroom.

There was no one in school on Sunday and it was very quiet. She asked the study committee member of the International Class for the key, opened the front door and went in.

After she put down the book on her seat, Mingxi found that there were a lot of love letters in her desk drawer.

As soon as she pulled the chair away, several letters dropped out.

Mingxi was shocked.

She had only seen such a pile of love letters with Shen Liyao.

What’s going on?

She didn't get a single copy every morning before this.

Did they all specially choose to give them after school on Friday?

However, she figured that she had just been in the finals recently and showed her face to the whole school, so her popularity had become higher and in turn, it was normal for people to start sending love letters. Thus, Mingxi didn't read them.

She just picked up the love letters on the ground.

One of them was signed by Li Haiyang from the Evergreen Class. He hasn't given up yet.

Mingxi found a bag and threw the love letters in.

She squatted down and looked inside the table. She couldn't help but frown. It seemed that she would have to lock it in the future. The people who sent her love letters squeezed her books into a ball. A piece of candy which was inside was squeezed out of the package and got stuck on a textbook.

Mingxi had a terrible headache, so she took this opportunity to clean up the table completely.

She moved Fu Yangxi's chair down, took out all her books and put them on his chair first.

However, at this moment, she suddenly found that something was slipped into one of her seldom used books that was trapped at the bottom. It was smaller than A4, about B5 size. It had a red hard paper cover and gold bronzing lettering.

Mingxi pulled it out.

When she realized what it was, her breath felt choked.

Real estate certificate???

Mingxi opened it quickly. The address was the two small broken courtyards in Tongcheng. Her eyes moved and her pupils suddenly shrank. Her own name was on the rightful holder's column?? And the next column was owned by her as well.

Behind it was a white picture of property rights and land title certificates.

Mingxi's heart was beating. She was in a trance.

The two yards belong to Aunt Li. Grandma rented the place when she was alive. But why is my name written on this title certificate now?

Mingxi looked down at the date and found that the registration date was October 13.

That was the day when Fu Yangxi caught a cold and didn't come to school.

Has there been a mistake?

Mingxi's blood raced.

She quickly took out her mobile phone, not caring that it was still early in the morning, and called Aunt Li.

People who lived in the countryside got up early so the call was quickly connected.

Aunt Li thought she had finished eating their local product and wanted to ask her to send some more. Thus, she said, "Mingxi, do let me know what you want to eat."

Mingxi couldn't be bothered about this. She asked her about the property rights of the two yards and why the property owner was her.

"Huh?" Aunt Li who was on the other end of the phone was at a loss. She only reacted after a long time. “I thought you knew about it. A few days after you left, your classmate came again. He said that the scenery was good and he wanted to buy it because of something about its later development value. The price he offered was very high. In fact, these two small broken yards would never sell for so much money. The tiles were about to collapse after years of no repair. The village did not impose a lot of complicated terms. The cumbersome procedures were handled by the person who came with him. I only signed a contract and collected the money. I don’t know the specific steps. Is there something wrong now?”

“Which classmate was this?”

Aunt Li said, “The most handsome one with the red hair.”

Fu Yangxi bought these two houses. But the property owner was registered as me—?

In other words, he bought the place where I used to live with my grandma and gave it to me?

But he never even mentioned it.

Almost two months have passed, but he didn't even mention a word.

If I hadn't cleaned up the things on the table myself, I might not have found out at all.

Mingxi's brain went blank.

She didn't know when she hung up the phone. Holding the real estate certificate in her hand, she was in a daze.

It was difficult for her to describe her feelings at this moment.

On the day she was taken home by Fu Yangxi in a private jet, everything seemed like a dream. After paying homage to her grandmother, feeling nostalgic for her family in the past, and then coming back to this place, she would have to wake up from her dream. In the future, that place may be demolished and it may become unrecognizable, but there was nothing she could do…

However, Fu Yangxi continued this dream without giving her any warning. He bought the yard and gave it to her. The small piece of land she grew up in was completely owned by herself at the age of 18. From now on, it was up to her to decide whether to change anything.

Fu Yangxi had a fever on the day of the change.

It should be the second day she was at his house.

When she went to his house, he was obviously cold, but he flew to Tongcheng the next day.

At this time, the snow outside the classroom window was getting heavier and heavier. The cold wind was swept by radiant waves and the whole world was enveloped in pure white.

The corner of Mingxi's eyes went red. Clutching the red notebook in her hand, she sat down on the chair.

Amidst the world’s silence, some impulses rushed madly in her heart like a tide.

Her mind was filled with Fu Yangxi’s face.

Vivid eyebrows of joy, anger and sorrow, with a wanton youthful air, savagely yet gently rushed into her heart.

Mingxi licked her dry lips.

Some longing emotions slowly surged in her heart.

I want to fall in love with Fu Yangxi.

I want to hold Fu Yangxi’s hand.

I want to touch Fu Yangxi's skin and embrace him on a dry winter day.

Everyone has their own matters to deal with, staying in their own independent world. It was so difficult for two souls to be close together.

Mingxi never thought that one day she would meet someone who made her want to stay by his side so strongly and want him to stay with her too. It would be best if she could tie him up and keep their fingers entangled, never to separate.

She wanted his past, present and future.

Mingxi's impulse surged to the top of her head. She stared at Fu Yangxi's seat next to her, her eyes falling on some traces left by Fu Yangxi.

Countless emotions spiraled in her heart.

Suddenly, she mustered up some courage and called Fu Yangxi with a rush of adrenaline.

The beep sounded. Mingxi's head buzzed.

It’s now—

She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was only 6:20am.

Oops, he must have not woken up yet since she called so early.

Mingxi panicked and was about to hang up subconsciously, but before she hung up, he had already picked up the phone.

"Yes?" Fu Yangxi's voice was a little hoarse. The low air pressure Mingxi was familiar with at the time of waking was still there.

"It's me." Mingxi could hear her heartbeat clearly.

It was quiet for a few seconds. Then, as if he woke up in an instant, he suddenly got up from the bed. “What's the matter? Is something wrong? Where are you? I'll come over right away.”

At this moment, Mingxi's eyes felt a little hot.

"It's okay," she said. “It's not a big deal."

"Are you really all right?" Fu Yangxi on the other end of the phone asked suspiciously. He could sense that there was something amiss with Zhao Mingxi's voice. He jumped out of the bed with his bed hair and hurriedly put on his clothes.

Fu Yangxi's movements were very urgent. The phone was getting a little hot as he pressed it tightly against his ears. “There must be something bothering you. How come you’re up so early—”

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Mingxi.

“Fu Yangxi, do you like me?”

Such a sentence.

Unpredictable.

Zhao Mingxi's voice came from the phone, mixed with the buzzing sound of a little electric current.

The whole world went quiet.

Fu Yangxi was silent for a moment.

His whole body’s movements came to a halt.

His body was immediately stiff and tight, his heart beating wildly, and his hands and feet were cold.

So there is indeed something bothering her. But it is not personal safety.

Instead, she found out about this.

Actually, it would only be strange if he was not discovered.

With a closer look, anyone could see that his eyes were full of Little Mask.

So what does this morning call mean—

Fu Yangxi didn't dare to think about it. His heart fell to his stomach and the slender fingers holding the phone trembled somewhat imperceptibly. He walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, completely at a loss. He didn’t know where to look. The heart in the chest was beating fast.

She’s calling to reject me?

To repeat what she said to Ke Chengwen that day?

Fu Yangxi went pale.

…

"Yes." Fu Yangxi swallowed hard. He didn't know how she felt when he said this.

“I like you.”

He said with a hoarse voice.

At this point, he could no longer deny it.

He seemed to have been seen through by Zhao Mingxi and forced to a helpless corner.

On the other side, Zhao Mingxi took a shallow breath.

Fu Yangxi's blood rushed to his scalp all at once. He almost wanted to hang up the phone as he didn't dare to listen to Zhao Mingxi's next words.

But he was as stiff as a stone slab. He was motionless, like a prisoner waiting to be executed.

He stood there, dropping his gaze helplessly.

"But you—" Fu Yangxi wanted to say, but you don't have to be burdened because of it—

However, before he finished speaking, he heard Zhao Mingxi's voice.

"What a coincidence. I like you too."

“...”

Fu Yangxi’s eyes widened.

All the noise disappeared.

The whole world was silent.

Only these words and the sound of his heartbeat, accompanied by the sound of electric current, fell into his ears.

…

Fu Yangxi didn't react for 10 seconds. He breathed, holding the phone with a blank head, feeling like a rock.

…Wait, what did she just say?

Suspecting that he was dreaming, Fu Yangxi moved his phone abruptly and pinched his face. The pain soon came. He swallowed hard and his heart was about to jump out of his chest. He pressed the phone to his ear again.

The phone is hot, it can’t be more real.

This isn’t a dream?

“I like you.”

Zhao Mingxi simply repeated it again.

Little Mask said she likes me.

At this moment, everything seemed to be slowing down.

His breathing slowed down; the noises around him slowed down; the speed at which snowflakes fell slowed down; even the air slowed down.

…

Fu Yangxi's breathing started to quicken bit by bit and his heart began to beat wildly. His numb limbs seemed to have finally regained consciousness and his eyelashes trembled.

The whole world was snowing.

Fu Yangxi stared out of the window. As he observed the snowflakes falling down, he moved his numb fingers.

"Little Mask, are you sure? I thought—"

Mingxi's voice over there was very clear. “What did you think?”

Fu Yangxi still felt like he was in a dream.

He waited too long.

The corner of his eyes went red.

“When Ke Chengwen called that day, you didn’t remember my birthday. You also said in person that you can’t possibly like me.”

Fu Yangxi said this with great difficulty.

At the end of his sentence, his tone had dropped a notch.

With a click in Mingxi’s mind, she finally knew why he was acting so abnormal at that time. It turned out that when Ke Chengwen called her at the time, he was nearby.

—He thought she liked Shen Liyao.

—He heard her say that she didn't like him with his own ears.

Mingxi suddenly felt very guilty.

Mingxi panicked and hurriedly gave Fu Yangxi a heart booster, saying, “What I said that day didn't count. It was me who was half a beat too slow. I didn't notice it at the time. But now when I say I like you, that—"

"That means you still think of me as your boss?" Fu Yangxi still asked.

Mingxi was going crazy. She quickly explained, “That means I like you! That means I’m confessing! I don't think of you as a friend or a boss, I want to fall in love with you; I want to have dinner with you; I want to watch movies and go on dates with you; I want to hold your hand, hug you and kiss you. I like you the most in the whole world. And out of everyone in the world, I only want to be good to you. That’s what I mean.”

By the time Mingxi was close to the end of her confession, the tips of her ears were already red.

As soon as she finished, she could only hear that the other side had gone completely mute, leaving only rapid breathing.

"I'm going to find you," Fu Yangxi said.

Mingxi glanced at the heavy snow falling outside. She thought that it might be a little troublesome for him to come at this time, but she also wanted to see Fu Yangxi. She buried her flushed face in her arms. "Okay, I'm in class."

He did not hang up the phone.

She could hear the sound of Fu Yangxi rushing downstairs.

Mingxi heard a lot of noises. When she wanted to persuade him to slow down, she suddenly heard a huge ‘bang’ from there.

Mingxi: “...”

20 minutes later, Fu Yangxi, who was too excited and fell down the stairs, was sent to the hospital with an ambulance.

ray's note: SCREAMING CRYING CAN'T EVEN PUT MY EMOTIONS INTO WORDS