Can following the rules be called rebirth?

Chapter 307, Section 305: My Slow to Realize

For Zhou Mingyuan, the month he disliked the most was December.

The reason is simple.

December is a month that is naturally unsuitable for multitasking.

This month is full of memorable days, including Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the upcoming New Year.

Even though he had exceptional time management skills, he cleverly separated the three girls, Zhong Yujun, Li Zhi, and Gu Caiwei, around Christmas.

But New Year's Eve, a week later, will be the real test of the plan.

No girl doesn't look forward to spending New Year's Eve with the boy she likes.

Especially Gu Caiwei.

With New Year's Eve fast approaching, the ever-changing princess got tired of her own look and suddenly decided to get a new manicure.

So, she immediately made an appointment with her best friend.

Li Zhi had just finished two classes and had some free time, so she went to a nail salon in Optics Valley with Gu Caiwei.

"."

Along the way, Gu Caiwei pressed the accelerator hard, and the eye-catching BMW sports car attracted constant attention on the road, roaring loudly.

"What's wrong, baby?"

Li Zhi sat quietly in the passenger seat, occasionally checking her phone to select furniture. Noticing her best friend's unusual footwork, she looked up and asked.

"Did you drive so fast today because you were in a bad mood?"

The short-haired girl, who had just moved into her new home, was full of enthusiasm for decorating her little nest.

"Our Jieyou Coffee Optics Valley store was supposed to finish renovations by New Year's Eve and then have a trial opening, right?"

Gu Caiwei stopped at the red light, pouted, and said irritably.

"At such a crucial time, that guy actually said he had to go on a business trip!"

"On business trip?"

The short-haired girl blinked.

"Yeah, I don't know what kind of business it is, but they insist on sending me on a business trip right now."

Gu Caiwei was more than a hundred times unhappy, but she forced herself to control her tone.

"Then let's go, just the two of us."

Li Zhi didn't take it seriously, slightly tucking her chin in as she continued swiping at her phone screen.

In fact, she had already seen through her best friend's little scheme.

In the end, all I wanted was to spend New Year's Eve with Zhou Mingyuan!
Boring.

Thinking about this, Li Zhi didn't know why, but she suddenly felt that Zhou Mingyuan's business trip was perfectly timed.

Anyway, she asked herself honestly, and she didn't really want things to turn out the way they did last time.

I celebrated Christmas with my best friend and Zhou Mingyuan.

If they're not here, then they're not here.

Maybe it's a good thing
Li Zhi tilted her head slightly, looked out the window, focused on the sky above, and quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Weiwei, then I'll go move by myself this afternoon?"

"Aren't you going to ask him for help?"

The two sisters each got their nails done in their own style, had a large meal, and then drove back to school.

Gu Caiwei has several classes she can't skip in the afternoon; apparently, the finance professor will be highlighting key points during class.

So Li Zhi had to deal with the remaining few pieces of luggage she left at home herself.

"Hmm, forget it."

Li Zhi hesitated for a few seconds, then shook her head.

In fact, since the two sisters' late-night talk in their bedroom, the short-haired girl hadn't contacted Zhou Mingyuan much.

She didn't know how to face the boy her best friend liked.

This reason accounts for 30%.

The other 70% was that she genuinely wanted to escape.

Don't want to see him.

Even she herself couldn't say for sure when Zhou Mingyuan would one day become "her best friend's boyfriend".

How could one treat Zhou Mingyuan, with such a status, as someone who comes when summoned and goes when dismissed?
Shouldn't I avoid suspicion?
"Then I'll go up."

"Okay~ Be careful when packing, don't try to do it yourself, ask the moving company to help you as much as possible!"

"understood."

After saying goodbye to the radiant Gu Caiwei, only Li Zhi remained as she entered Shanshui Huating.

The familiar Building A2, the familiar staircase.

The afternoon sunlight still carried a certain quality, cutting bright geometric patches of light across the floor through the large south-facing window of the bedroom.

Tiny dust particles floated in the air, dancing silently in the beam of light.

The room was as quiet as ever, with only the faint sound of traffic coming from the distant street.

"call"

Half an hour later, Li Zhi leaned back on the sofa and wiped the fine sweat from her temples with the back of her hand.

The last bit of luggage left with Gu Caiwei may not seem like much, but even moving things like ants requires considerable physical strength.

Most of the items had already been packed and were neatly piled in the corner of the living room, with labels attached.

In the center of the living room, there were two sealed cardboard boxes containing her books and miscellaneous items.

Lying on her side, her usual dark green suitcase was almost full, with only underwear and cosmetics left.

Just before zipping up her suitcase, Li Zhi habitually did one last check.

Her gaze swept over the built-in storage bag, and her slender fingers suddenly stopped in place.

correct!

Where did Vivi's Christmas present go?

It was a custom-made Montblanc fountain pen, with a small lychee pattern specially engraved on the barrel.

She clearly remembered that she had taken the pen out and used it several times, and had even shared with her best friend how incredibly smooth the Montblanc pen was when writing.

How could it be gone?

Li Zhi's brows furrowed slightly.

She reopened the suitcase, took out each item one by one, and carefully inspected every corner.

A soft cashmere scarf, several hardcover introductory law books, and a velvet bag containing frequently used jewelry.
Only the box remained; the pen was nowhere to be found.

She even picked up the entire suitcase, turned it upside down, and shook it.

Apart from a few fallen hairs, it was empty.

"Could it be that when you took it out to use it, you just put it somewhere?"

The short-haired girl muttered to herself.

"It shouldn't be."

Her gaze began to sweep across the bedroom she knew so well, like a searchlight.

No.

None.

It was a gift from my best friend, after all; it would be really inappropriate to lose it.

Li Zhi paced back and forth several times, extremely anxious, and then casually sent a WeChat message to Gu Caiwei.

【Yes, yes, yes! I didn't lose it. I used it once. It should be near my desk. Can you look for it in my room?】

Fortunately, her best friend reacted quickly.

【OK.jpg】

Putting down her phone, the short-haired girl finally breathed a sigh of relief and went into her best friend's room next door.

Gu Caiwei has a slight obsession with tidying up; her room is always kept as clean as a showroom.

There was only one aromatherapy humidifier on the bedside table, silently exhaling moist white mist carrying the scent of bluebells.

Near the light wood desk, there is nothing but a minimalist white ceramic desk lamp and a textbook on microeconomics.

The bay window next to it is the same.

Several soft cushions were neatly arranged in the corner, and the windowsill was so smooth that it reflected light.

What fountain pen?
The short-haired girl crouched down and began to check the gap under the desk, even lying down to look under the bed.

Nothing at all.

Only the bedside table drawer remains.

Without much hesitation, Li Zhi reached out and gently pulled open the top drawer of the bedside table.

Inside were some everyday items: an unopened box of contact lens solution, several individually wrapped packs of tissues, and hair ties of various colors.

There was no sign of the fountain pen.

She closed the first drawer and placed her fingers on the handle of the second drawer.

With a soft click, the drawer was pulled open again.

There weren't many things inside, but they were still neatly arranged.

A stack of design sketches for a cafe called "Relief Cafe," a tin box that looked a bit old, and several spiral notebooks used for taking class notes.

There is still no fountain pen.

Li Zhi was somewhat discouraged and was about to close the drawer when her gaze inadvertently swept over the deepest part of the drawer, where something was half-hidden by a spiral notebook.

It's also a notebook, but it's not quite the same as a regular notebook.

The dark green velvet cover, with delicate gold foil edging, is quite beautiful at first glance.

At first glance, it's definitely Gu Caiwei's style.

Li Zhi was certainly familiar with this thing.

Even when she was still a child, she had seen Gu Caiwei countless times in the corner of a coffee shop or on the bedside table in her own little house, holding a notebook and writing and drawing with a focused expression, occasionally sticking on some cute stickers or dried flowers.

Whenever he curiously approached, Gu Caiwei would quickly close her notebook like a startled deer, a suspicious blush rising on her face, and then vaguely brush it off with something like, "Just jotting down some daily notes."

Keeping a journal
Li Zhi simply regarded it as a young girl's private diary, laughed it off, and never investigated it further.

Even more unexpectedly, Gu Caiwei carried this habit into college.

Vivi is still a child at heart.
Li Zhi couldn't help but chuckle, gazing at the notebook lying quietly deep in the drawer, its dark green cover seemingly possessing some kind of mysterious attraction.

What kinds of things do college students memorize?

Her curiosity was piqued, and almost without thinking, she reached out for the notebook.

The notebook is quite heavy; it feels substantial in your hand.

Although finding the pen was something my best friend approved of.

But the moment the short-haired girl picked up the notebook, she instinctively glanced back at the closed bedroom door, as if she were a thief, to confirm that she was still alone at home.

The sun was blazing outside the window, and birdsong was just beginning to rise, but the room seemed to have suddenly cooled down, and the air became subtly strange.

She took a deep breath, and then gently lifted the cover.

On the title page was Gu Caiwei's delicate and familiar handwriting.

—My tree hole and stars.

"cut."

"Artsy young women are hopeless."

Li Zhi couldn't help but chuckle again, silently repeating to herself.

Cold, wooden figures like law students can't stand seeing these!

obviously.

A tree hollow is used to hold secrets.

So the stars
Perhaps it's somewhere far, far away.

The short-haired girl pursed her lips and began turning the pages one by one.

The initial content was normal, even somewhat trivial.

A review of the movie "Breakup Buddies," with a small movie ticket stub attached next to it.

Some beautiful sentences were excerpted from "The Little Prince," a book they all love.

The details of how the Relief Cafe was designed, from its location selection to its decoration, including the labels on the coffee bean bags and the interior design sketches.
daily.

This is just Vivi's daily life on the other end.

Compared to the overwhelming desire to share on online social media, there are actually not that many records in the journal, not to mention those carefully prepared nine-square grid pictures.

It seems that the internet age is still more convenient.

Li Zhi's tense nerves relaxed a little.

She continued down.

As her fingertips swept across a few pages of daily records, suddenly, a passage of text, like a hazy poem, unexpectedly caught her eye.

【——2014.10.22】

[Moonlight is intense]

Life goes on as usual.

The warmth of everyday life drowns out the arc of the clouds.

I'm reminded of when I was eighteen.

From Huaihai Road to the Bund

The world has experienced 99% of summers.

"The moonlight was intense."

Li Zhi pondered these four words repeatedly, falling into a long silence.

She certainly knows her best friend, with whom she spends every day, well enough.

They've been best friends since childhood; they understand each other perfectly and are bound by fate.

Even from a distance, Li Zhi could feel Gu Caiwei's joy leaping off the page from between the lines.

What's making you so happy?
What exactly happened that day?

The short-haired girl stood frozen in place, desperately searching through her memories for fragments of October 22nd.

The picture gradually became clear.

That afternoon, Zhou Mingyuan seemed to have gone out on an inspection with Gu Caiwei!

Yes, I couldn't participate because of other things.

What happened?

A thousand thoughts raced through Li Zhi's mind.

"Eighteen years old", "From Huaihai Road to the Bund", "Ninety-nine percent of summer".
Are these words, filled with youthful memories and urban imagery, all closely connected to Zhou Mingyuan?
What happened?

Li Zhi dared not think any further, feeling as if a huge rock was blocking her chest, making it so suffocating that she could hardly breathe.

A strong sense of emptiness gripped her, as if she had inadvertently stumbled into a room filled with fragile crystals, where a single careless movement could cause everything to fall apart at any moment.

Driven by an insatiable curiosity, she continued flipping through the pages with trembling fingertips.

The sound of the paper turning suddenly became incredibly jarring.

then.

Her actions.

Her breath.

Her blood was coursing through her body.

Everything froze completely and utterly the moment a certain page was turned.

【——2014.11.23】

【A small birthday wish:】

I want to lose weight, read more books, become more attractive, keep the "Relief Coffee" open, and record more interesting things.

I want you to like me.

Time seemed to freeze into solid ice at that moment.

The cold wind still howled outside the window, and the sky remained exceptionally clear.

But in that instant, Li Zhi's entire world fell into complete silence.

I want you to like me.

Five words pierced her eyes in quick succession, leaving a deep and unsettling mark on her heart.

The short-haired girl could almost make out the strokes of each character, the turns of each character, and the intricacies of each punctuation mark.

Every detail vividly reflects the emotions Gu Caiwei felt when she wrote them.

There was no signature, and no clear attribution.

But Li Zhi knew perfectly well who that "you" was.

It can only be Zhou Mingyuan.

It could only be Zhou Mingyuan, who, like Li Zhi, had thrown a stone into the seemingly calm lake of her heart, stirring up ripples, but because of the unbreakable friendship with Gu Caiwei, was tightly suppressed by her deep within the cage of morality and reason, and dared not release even a little bit.

So that’s it.
It turns out that as early as November, Gu Caiwei had already vaguely realized her own feelings for him.

So, am I the one who realized it too late?

Li Zhi stared blankly, leaning against the floor, ignoring the WeChat messages that were pinned to the top of her chat list, which flickered in and out of the room.

[Baby, have you found the pen?]

(End of this chapter)