Half-baked

29
I miss the moment when my whole body was wrapped in a quilt, with only my head showing.
After listening to Duan Huai'an's words, she slowly lifted the quilt and buried her head in it. She didn't say a word or make any movement for a long time.

Silence that lasts too long can make people feel hopeless.

Duan Huaian's hands hanging at his sides went from tight to loose, and then from loose to tight. Finally, he weakly loosened his finger bones that couldn't even grasp the air.

"Aren't we in touch every day?" Her weak voice came from under the quilt.
"..."
"Besides, it doesn't matter if we meet one day earlier or one day later. We will meet anyway."
"..."

Duan Huaian sat down on the edge of the bed and tried to pull away the quilt that was wrapped around her, but she held it tightly, not wanting him to see her expression at the moment.
Duan Huai'an's eyes were obscure and unpredictable, and he said in a low voice, "We've been apart for so long, you really don't miss me at all?"

Through the quilt, the voice of nostalgia sounded dull: "If you hadn't come to my house early this morning and given me a scare." She pursed her lips, stripping away all the bad emotions of the day, and said in a gentle tone, "I will still say... I miss you."
"If I listened to you and met you later, you would take the initiative to ask, do you miss me?" Duan Huaian asked.
"..."

I miss you and stop talking.
The silence was long, so long that Duan Huai'an thought Huaian had fallen asleep.
He smiled, a very sober and cold smile: "No."

"I told you," Huai Nian poked his head out, "I am thinking about you."

"But your longing for me has many prerequisites, and you only told me after I had done it."

"..." Huai Nian slowly retreated back into the bed. She stared at the dark bed, her eyes sore and a layer of damp mist seemed to float over them. She stammered aggrievedly, "You always tell me after you're done. Isn't it your problem that's bigger?"

She actually didn't have a bad temper. She woke up early in the morning and was scared to death by his bad behavior, but she still came to the hotel obediently. Duan Huai'an always went too far, but she also had the opportunity to stop him and the right to stop what he did, but she didn't do it.

Silence is acquiescence.
Her likes are different from Duan Huaian's, and her life is completely different from Duan Huaian's.
In her eyes, feelings are like the moon in the mirror and the flowers in the water, particularly fragile and easily changeable.

She said: "I will learn to express myself, but you can't always lose your temper when you don't agree with something."

"If you listen to me, I won't get angry."

"Because you don't respect my opinion." Huai Nian rarely took a tough stance. "I said I didn't want to meet today, but I didn't say I didn't want to meet you. Why can't we meet tomorrow? You've been on the plane for so long, you must need to rest. Can't we meet after you've rested?"

After she finished speaking, the people outside didn't respond for a long time.
I missed timidly pulling open the quilt and looking into his smiling eyes.
She was puzzled: "What are you laughing at?"

Duan Huai'an said: "Xiao, you are so serious and reasonable. I miss you, teacher."

When he heard the word "teacher", Nostalgia's face became hot, "Don't call me teacher, it's weird."
"Don't you give me tutoring lessons every week?" Duan Huaian said calmly.
"..." Huai Nian's throat was dry, "I won't teach you anymore. I'm going to tell my roommates that this kid is hopeless and I won't teach him anymore."

Duan Huai'an chuckled twice, and hugged her and the blanket into his arms. His ending tone was very light, as if he was coaxing her: "You can tell me anything. Huai Nian, I won't change for anyone, but I want to be the person you expect me to be."

I miss Duan Huaian, who I can’t handle.
So gentle.
So thoughtful.
Both unfamiliar and familiar.

She felt like she had a fever when he looked at her. She changed the subject abruptly and accused him without any strength: "I'm hungry. I haven't had lunch yet. It's time for dinner now."

This day has been difficult since I opened my eyes.
There are surprises and shocks everywhere.

I miss the fact that I haven’t had lunch yet and now it’s time for dinner.
She was so tired, sleepy and hungry.
She looked at the culprit. Duan Huai'an also realized that he had gone too far and cleared his throat: "I'll go get someone to deliver the food."

While waiting for the food to be delivered, Huai Nian sent a message to her mother, saying that she was staying overnight at a friend's house and would not be going home.
Her mother said simply: "Aren't you supposed to report back to school on Thursday? I'm going to Duan's house tomorrow. Why don't you go back to school a day earlier?"
It happened that her roommate Jing Yue posted in the group that she was going back to school on Wednesday and felt a little lonely staying in the dormitory alone. She missed replying to her mother with a "OK", and then replied in the dormitory group: [I will go back to school tomorrow to accompany you. ]

I miss the night I slept with Duan Huaian.
The next afternoon, Duan Huaian sent her back to school and then drove home by himself.

The first two days of school are Thursday and Friday, so there are not many people in the school on these days, and it is particularly deserted and desolate.

Duan Huaian's car was parked ostentatiously downstairs of the Huai Nian dormitory building.
Huai Nian pushed the door and got out of the car. As soon as he looked up, he saw Jing Yue, who was parked on the side of the road with a bag of fruit. Jing Yue was looking at the huge thing that appeared downstairs of the dormitory with curiosity, wondering which rich second-generation guy came to the school to pick up girls.

When the car door opened, it turned out to be the car of Duan Huaian, whom she missed when she went to her house.

Huai Nian was also stunned when she saw Jing Yue: "Why are you outside?"
Jing Yue raised the fruit in her hand and said, "I just bought some fruit on the second floor of the cafeteria."
Huai Nian nodded, and then hurriedly said to Duan Huai'an in the car, "I'm leaving, be careful on the road," and then without looking back, he pulled Jing Yue into the dormitory.

Jing Yue looked back nostalgically, suppressing her scream: "Duan Huai'an is driving a G-Class, right? It costs two or three million!"

Huai Nian didn't know much about cars, so she just answered absentmindedly, "It seems so."

Jing Yue: "I envy rich people so much."
Huai Nian took out the dormitory key and said, "I remember your family is well off."
Jing Yue sneered: "I used to think my family was well off."

"..." Huai Nian seemed to hear a hint of irony. She opened the dormitory door, walked in, and asked, "Why are you back to school so early? Why don't you stay at home for a few more days?"

"Don't say that, you don't know how miserable I've been this year."
"what?"

Jing Yue put down the fruit in her hand, took a sip of water, and began to say: "You know the situation of my family. I have a brother who is one year older than me, and a sister who is in junior high school. My brother was doing an internship in his senior year. During the internship, he met a girl and they fell in love with each other."

Nostalgia: “Isn’t this good?”
Jing Yue: "I definitely support dating, but the current situation is that they have caused a death."

It took Hua Nian a while to react: "Pregnancy is pregnancy, don't make it like your brother is teaming up to kill someone."

Jing Yue looked worried, and continued, "Then we talked about marriage during the Chinese New Year. My sister-in-law said that she didn't want to live with her parents-in-law. Either my parents would buy a new house for the young couple, or give them the house we live in now as their wedding house. You also know how expensive houses are in South City. My parents said that they would give this house to them and we would move to the countryside."

Nostalgia: "But the house you live in, I remember, has four bedrooms. Wouldn't it be too big for the two of them to live in?"
"Anyway, my sister-in-law is very determined and will never live with my parents-in-law." Jing Yue said helplessly, "I used to think my family was well off, but when it came time to buy a car and a house, I realized that my family's conditions were just so-so."

"Maybe when your brother makes money in the future, he will buy a new house and move out."

"Forget it. If he had the ability, he wouldn't have the audacity to ask for my parents' house." Jing Yue gritted her teeth. "He only cares about the enjoyment of his wife and children, and doesn't care about the lives of my parents and two sisters. My parents are also quite funny. As long as their son is happy, they don't care about their two daughters at all. On the day of moving, my sister asked me, 'Sister, we have lived in this house for so long, will it no longer be our home in the future?' I had to explain and make excuses in various ways. I was speechless."

Hearing this, Huai Nian lowered her eyes. As an outsider, she couldn't say much and could only comfort Jing Yue with a few words weakly.
-
The winter and summer vacations in college are almost the same, but the vacations always go by especially fast.
In the blink of an eye, the winter vacation is over and everyone returns to school to continue their classes.

At the beginning of the new semester, everyone was still in the state of doing whatever they wanted during the holiday. Jing Yue and Zhu Yutong stayed in the dormitory playing games all day, and Xu Fu was still dating, going out early and coming back late. Huai Nian was the most peaceful person in the dormitory, either lying on the bed reading or sitting at the desk reading.

Xu Fu asked: "Have you broken up with Duan Huai'an?"
Nostalgia said: “No.”
Xu Fu: "Then why don't you go out on a date with him?"
Miss: "He is very busy."
Xu Fu: "You two are in the same school but your relationship is like a long-distance relationship."
I can't help but laugh at the memory.

The conversation was interrupted by the sound of a door slamming.

Zhu Yutong leaned against the door, beaming with joy, "One good news and one bad news, which one do you want to hear?"
Jing Yue was sitting closest to the door and answered quickly, "Bad news."
Zhu Yutong: "This semester, the department head taught us the game-solving experiment class. It is said that his failure rate reached 40%."
Jing Yue said with a sad face: "After hearing this bad news, I no longer have the heart to hear good news."

"Don't worry, good news is coming." Zhu Yutong said, "The department head is going abroad, and our class will be taught by his doctoral student. Moreover, this doctoral student is said to be super handsome and super gentle."

Xu Fu: "I don't believe it. Where do handsome men who study medicine come from? All the handsome men who study medicine are handsome men wearing masks."
Zhu Yutong: "You have to believe my information. Besides, isn't there a handsome guy in our college? A freshman named He or something?"
Xu Fu: "Forget it. I took your words for the elective course last semester. My hands hurt from writing the 10,000-word final paper."
Zhu Yutong touched her nose and said, "Even horses can stumble, and so can people."

Xu Fu: "Anyway, I don't believe that a handsome guy studies medicine, and he's a PhD. PhD! I seriously suspect that he's bald." Everyone couldn't come to a conclusion in the argument. Fortunately, the first class the next afternoon was the situation analysis experiment class.

The experimental building is far away, and Xu Fu and Jing Yue both have electric cars. Zhu Yutong rides in Jing Yue's car and misses riding in Xu Fu's car.
On the way there, I missed the message I received from Duan Huaian.
Duan Huaian was busy with laboratory work recently, and the two hadn't seen each other for two weeks.
Duan Huai'an: [What time does your afternoon lab class end? ]

At the beginning of the school year, Duan Huaian asked Huainian to send him the class schedule.
All other classes are strictly scheduled according to the get out of class time, but it is common for laboratory classes to last two or three hours.

Huai Nian replied: [I don’t know either. Today is the first class, so it shouldn’t take long.]
Duan Huai'an: [Message me when it's almost over. ]
Nostalgia thought for a moment: [Are you coming to pick me up? ]
Duan Huai'an: [Yes.]

Huai Nian hesitated for a moment, and the thought that popped into her mind was to ask him not to come. Then, she recalled the scene of herself always rejecting him and making him angry.

In early March, the spring breeze is chilly.
The electric car drove along the way, and the cool breeze blew through the clear eyes of nostalgia.

She typed: [I’ll tell you when the time comes.]

Xu Fu, who was riding a bicycle, asked her: "I didn't even have a chance to ask, but did you two play with that toy that day?"
Nostalgia said expressionlessly: "Let's not talk about this matter. We are still good friends."
Hearing her words, Xu Fu knew that the toy had been put to good use, and she laughed so hard that her back trembled.

Arrive at the laboratory building soon.
A group of four found the classroom.

Because Xu Fu had a stomachache before going out, everyone arrived a little later. When they entered the laboratory, they saw that except for the first row of laboratory tables, the rest were all occupied.

"..."

The four of them looked at each other, then walked to the first row of lab tables and sat down reluctantly.

There are still three minutes until class starts.
Zhu Yutong and Xu Fu started to make a bet.
Zhu Yutong: "What a handsome guy."
Xu Fu: "If he is a handsome guy, I will buy you milk tea; if he is not a handsome guy, you buy milk tea for the three of us."
Zhu Yutong was very confident: "Let's bet."

Jing Yue: "It's great, I don't have to do anything, I can just drink milk tea."
I can't help but laugh at the memory.

As they were talking, a figure swayed at the front door of the classroom and everyone looked over.
In an instant, the quiet classroom was in an uproar.

Xu Fu: "Damn, what a handsome guy."
Zhu Yutong: "Don't forget the milk tea."
Xu Fu: "Milk tea is a small matter. It's a big deal to be able to look at a handsome guy for a semester."

The man was standing on the podium. He was very tall, almost as tall as the blackboard. He had delicate features and exuded a warm and approachable feeling. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, which was clean and refreshing, and had a hint of youthfulness. It was hard to believe that he was actually a doctoral student.

Huai Nianyin was sitting in the first row, very close to him.
The more she looked at him, the more she felt as if she had seen him somewhere before, and an indescribable sense of familiarity came over her.

"Hello everyone. Since Director Wu is going abroad for further studies this year, I will be the one teaching the game analysis experiment class this semester." The man wrote his name on the blackboard. His handwriting was beautiful, elegant and powerful. "Xu Ruqing. My name is easy to remember - it's so clear. You can call me senior. After all, my real identity is your senior, not your teacher."

Huai Nian's eyelashes trembled and he was stunned.

After Xu Ruqing introduced himself, he withdrew his gaze from the classroom and finally fixed it on the face of the person closest to him.
Seeing him suddenly looking at her, Huai Nian gritted her teeth and forced a smile.

After a few seconds of silence, Xu Ruqing said, "Monitor, give me a copy of the class list. Let's take the roll call first and then start the class."

……

The lab class ended after two hours.
After class, everyone packed up and left the classroom.

Huai Nian sent a WeChat message to Duan Huai'an: [My get out of class is over.]

After the message was sent, she picked up the book in her hand and stood up to leave, but Xu Fu grabbed her and ran to the podium.
Xu Fu: "Senior, can you add me on WeChat?"
Xu Ruqing: "I have already joined your class group. If you have any questions, you can ask me in the class group."
Xu Fu returned disappointed: "Okay."

Xu Ruqing's gaze fell indifferently on Huai Nian.

Huai Nian was silent and hesitated for a moment. After all, the two of them had known each other for many years, and she was not sure whether the other party still remembered her.
When she hesitated, Xu Ruqing suddenly called her name: "Miss?"
"...Ah," Huai Nian moved her lips, "Senior."

"Senior? You didn't call me that before." Xu Ruqing smiled, "Since you forgot, let's get to know each other again. My name is Xu Ruqing."

Facing the gossiping eyes of the three people in the dormitory, Huai Nian pulled up a far-fetched smile: "Long time no see, Brother Ruqing."

Xu Wenqu took out his phone and asked, "Would you like to add WeChat?"
Missing the fingertips in her pocket, she put pressure on them, paused for a few seconds, and took out her phone: "Okay."

After adding WeChat, Xu Ruqing left the classroom.

After he left, the three people in the dormitory looked at Huai Nian with an attitude of torture.

Zhu Yutong: "What's going on? Do you two know each other?"
Jing Yue: "Brother? Is he your brother? Are they related by blood?"
Xu Fu: "Huai Nian, you always surprise me. Duan Huai'an is fine, but now there is such a gentle and handsome guy. Why are there only handsome guys around you?"

There are so many questions that I don’t know which one to answer.
Plus, she really didn't expect to meet Xu Ruqing after so many years, so her mind was a little confused.

However, even more chaos was waiting for her ahead.

Because amid the noisy chatter of his roommates, Huai Nian looked up and saw Duan Huaian standing at the front door of the classroom.

Duan Huai'an stood by the door. His aura was even stronger than his height, and his expressionless face seemed particularly cold and indifferent.

I miss being looked at by him like this. For some reason I have the illusion that I was discovered having an affair.

He missed the intuition that he was not so unlucky as to hear what his roommates said.
She picked up her books and said to her roommates, "I'm leaving first."
Then he quickly walked to Duan Huai'an.

Duan Huaian lowered his eyes and glanced at her sideways, then walked forward, remaining silent.

Walk to the stairwell.
Nostalgia fell a few steps behind, trying to lighten the mood: "Why did you go upstairs? I thought you would be waiting for me downstairs."
"Gentle and handsome." Duan Huaian blurted out these five words.

"..."
Unfortunately, she is so unlucky.

Duan Huaian's steps down the stairs suddenly stopped.
The nostalgia also stopped.
The two of them were three steps apart, and the height difference suddenly disappeared. Their eyes were on the same level.

The windows in the stairwell were open, letting sunlight fall on the two of them.
Duan Huai'an stood in front of Huai Nian, blocking the light source and causing darkness to fall.

Duan Huai'an raised his eyebrows slightly, and glanced at her with a scrutinizing look. After a while, he spoke, and asked her in a casual tone: "Do you still like the gentle type now?"
"Can't answer?" He leaned forward, standing against the light, his expression unclear. There was a strong sense of oppression in his dark eyes, and his tone was still very calm, as if he was asking casually, "Then let me ask you another question. Which type do you think I am?"

(End of this chapter)