Proofreader & Editor:Peter Pan
After Xie Shu wreaked havoc in the game for quite some time, he finally… got hungry.
He glanced outside the balcony and realized it was almost dark.
It must be said that the internet is really getting more advanced. He had only planned to play a couple of rounds of games, but once he looked down and then back up, several hours had vanished.
After gaming for so long, everyone was starving.
They all logged off together and began discussing the last of life's three toughest questions: what to eat for dinner.
While they were discussing, Xie Shu checked his WeChat.
He had set his phone to Do Not Disturb mode while gaming, naturally missing some important messages.
Seeing the red dot above Ruan Nianxi's name, he didn't hesitate to click on it.
She had replied to his message while he was in the middle of his game.
Xie Shu immediately responded, explaining that he was gaming and hadn't noticed her message.
As for the chat box of another person… even though it showed numerous red notifications, he still didn't click on it.
He just left it hanging.
Meanwhile.
Ruan Nianxi, who had been waiting in her dorm for a long time, finally received a reply from Xie Shu.
Her heart fluttering, she opened the message. Although Xie Shu had explained that he was gaming and that's why he missed her message, she was still nervous.
After hesitating for a long time, she simply replied with an "Mhm."
Mainly because she didn't know what else to say.
That afternoon, Xie Shu had seen her medicine…
The name of the medicine was short. She didn't know if Xie Shu had seen those medicine clearly at the time.
All she knew was that her thoughts were a mess, she couldn't calm down, afraid that he had seen it, knew what the medicine was for, and even more afraid that he would ask her about it…
So, she ran away in fear…
She was a coward.
She was truly scared.
She hid back in her dorm, too frightened to even look at her phone, fearing that opening it would reveal a message asking about the medicine.
She wasn't sure if Xie Shu had looked up her medicine online, and she dared not reply.
But temporary avoidance was just that, temporary.
After deceiving herself for several minutes, she finally picked up her phone.
Seeing that Xie Shu was simply concerned about her health, she felt somewhat relieved and replied to his message.
But after sending the message, he didn't reply for a long time, and she started to get anxious again.
During the hours she waited, she imagined many things.
She thought that Xie Shu might have looked up what her medicine was.
She even imagined scenarios where Xie Shu, after learning about her condition, started to disdain her and distance himself from her.
Even though Xie Shu had replied and explained what he was doing during those hours, her doubts and fantasies didn't vanish.
She began to feel uneasy, extremely uneasy.
What if Xie Shu really started to distance himself from her? What would she do then?
It would be better to maintain the relationship they had before.
Although she couldn't see Xie Shu often before, at least he didn't have the intention to avoid her.
***
After Xie Shu and his friends exited the game, they quickly got ready to go out for dinner.
A lack of enthusiasm for eating indicates a problem with one's thoughts.
During this time, he didn't chat with Ruan Nianxi or reply to her messages.
His lack of response made Ruan Nianxi even more anxious.
At this moment, no one knew how much turmoil lay beneath Ruan Nianxi's calm exterior.
She was engulfed by helplessness, unease, doubt, and fear, unable to break free.
Xie Shu knew nothing of this.
Xie Shu and his "sons" casually chose a restaurant and sat down. While waiting for their meal, everyone instinctively checked their phones.
Xie Shu also took out his phone.
He opened WeChat, clicked on Ruan Nianxi's chat, and sent her a message: "I'm at a restaurant now, what would you like to eat?"
After waiting a minute or two, there was no reply.
Xie Shu wasn't sure where Ruan Nianxi was or whether she had eaten dinner.
If he presumptuously bought her food and she had already eaten, what then?
After all, he had been gaming for so long that the usual dinner time had passed.
After some thought, he decided to make a phone call instead.
The call went through, and after a few rings, she picked up quickly.
"Hello?"
Ruan Nianxi's voice was a bit heavy, with a strong nasal sound.
But Xie Shu, being in a noisy restaurant with the sound of payment notifications occasionally ringing in his ears, didn't notice this detail.
He adjusted the content of his WeChat message: "Have you had dinner? I'm at a restaurant, I can buy you something if you haven't eaten."
"Xie… Xie Shu?"
Hearing her surprised tone, Xie Shu guessed that Ruan Nianxi must have answered the call without looking at the caller ID and didn't realize it was him.
He softly "Hmm"ed, then quietly waited for her reply.
A few seconds later, Ruan Nianxi asked uncertainly, "Are you going to buy something for me?"
"Yeah, haven't you eaten yet? What would you like?"
"I… How about I come out to find you?"
Then Xie Shu heard rustling sounds from the other end of the phone, followed by faint, crisp clinking noises.
He was familiar with these sounds; he had heard them just that afternoon under his dormitory building.
It was the sound of medicine bottles clinking.
He immediately frowned and said, "Don't."
The rustling and the clinking of the medicine bottles stopped.
Ruan Nianxi didn't speak.
Silence fell on the other end.
Xie Shu glanced at the three "sons" sitting at the same table with him. Although they had only glanced at him when he started the call and then paid no more attention, he still got up and moved a little further away.
After distancing himself a bit, he continued, "Aren't you feeling unwell? Better not to run around, just rest in your dorm. I'll have someone deliver it to you later."
"By the way, don't forget to drink the brown sugar I bought for you yesterday. If it's not enough after you finish, I can go buy more."
Contrary to what Ruan Nianxi had imagined, she thought Xie Shu didn't want to see her and that's why he stopped her, but it turned out he was concerned about her health.
Instantly, the gloom in her heart cleared away significantly.
The pain that had swept through her body moments ago dissolved in an instant.
What followed was a tingling sensation of excitement.
She was appeased.
"Are you listening?"
Xie Shu hadn't heard a reply from the other end and was a bit puzzled. Was the signal bad?
"I am!" Ruan Nianxi responded immediately.
"Alright, just wait in your dorm then. What do you want to eat? There are many restaurants here, you don't have to pick the one I'm at right now. Just tell me and I'll go buy it now."
"But I'm in the girls' dormitory."
"Don't worry about that, just wait there."
"Mhm."
"Okay, send me what you want to eat on WeChat, and don't forget your dorm number."
"Alright."
After the call ended, Xie Shu was about to return to his seat when someone suddenly called out to him.