Just because I wrote "Zhu Xian," the school beauty sent me razor blades.

Lin Yuan didn't really like the smell of the plastic running track; the rubber smell mixed with the evening breeze was a bit pungent.

But it doesn't smell that bad today.

The two of them didn't say much, and just walked slowly around the track, lap after lap.

The sycamore leaves were swirled by the wind and brushed past her shoulders, rustling softly. Occasionally, a leaf would hit the tip of her hair, which Gu Zhiwan would shake off as she turned her head. When she turned back, the setting sun was shining on her profile, outlining her clean and soft features.

Lin Yuan withdrew his gaze and continued walking forward.

Upon reaching the top level of the stands, the two naturally stopped.

The orange-red sunset spread across the entire sky, layer upon layer, the warm color burning all the way to the horizon, dyeing the distant buildings with a layer of gold, so gentle it was almost unreal.

Gu Zhiwan stood by the railing, saying nothing, just watching quietly.

After a silence of about ten seconds, she suddenly turned her head and gently hooked her fingertips around his hand that was hanging at his side.

Lin Yuan paused for half a second.

Then they intertwined their fingers and held hands.

The two stood side by side, neither speaking nor needing to. The evening breeze blew, lifting a strand of her hair and letting it fall onto his shoulder. The setting sun cast long shadows of the two figures, overlapping each other.

Lin Yuan glanced down at his two clasped hands and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

Gu Zhiwan noticed him smiling, her cheeks flushed slightly, but she didn't turn her head, only tightened her fingers slightly.

As the sun began to set, the two of them each took out their phones.

They exchanged a glance, neither of them said anything, and tacitly raised their phones in the same direction, capturing the orange-red color along with their intertwined fingers, and pressed the shutter.

Lin Yuan opened Weibo, looked at the pictures, selected the best one, and started typing.

The sunset is perfect, and you are beside me.

send.

Gu Zhiwan looked down at her draft, and after two seconds, changed "beside her" to "the rest of her life".

send.

The timestamps of the two Weibo posts differed by less than three seconds.

The same sunset, the same hand in hand, the pictures are highly similar, and the captions differ by only two words—one says "by your side," and the other says "for the rest of your life." But those who understand will immediately know that these two seemingly simple words are the gentlest promises.

The comments section reacted like water splashed into a hot oil pan, exploding quickly and violently.

The first wave was fans of both sides, tagging each other and rushing into each other's comment sections to go crazy; the second wave was passersby, who came to watch after seeing the trending topic; the third wave was media accounts, who took screenshots, packaged them, and posted them out as quickly as possible.

#LinYuanGuZhiWanOfficialAnnouncement# #SunsetHoldingHands# These two hashtags dominated the top two spots on the trending searches within ten minutes, even causing Weibo's servers to lag for a moment.

The top comments:

"I knew something was off from the moment we looked at each other during the choir singing in military training, and today it finally came true."

"The old man wrote of all his regrets, but he himself grasped the most perfect tenderness; this is the best ending."

"The regret spanning twenty years in 'Secret' is a two-way race in reality. Lin Yuan, you really are... well, congratulations."

Before Lin Yuan could react, the dormitory door was slammed open.

Zhou Zixuan rushed over, nearly smashing his phone in his face. His eyes held a mixture of shock and gossip as he pointed at him and said:

"Wow, Yuan-ge! You've been keeping it a secret for so long! I felt something was off when we made eye contact during the singing competition at military training. That look in your eyes back then—"

"Sleepy eyes," Lin Yuan interrupted calmly.

"lie!"

Qian Zhuangzhuang climbed down from the top bunk with a bag of snacks in his arms, his eyes glued to his phone screen, constantly switching between two Weibo posts, sighing repeatedly:

"This picture of them holding hands is so sweet! The lighting and composition are perfect; where did they find such a great spot?!"

"The highest level of the stands."

"Got it." Qian Zhuangzhuang tore open a bag of potato chips and popped a handful into his mouth. "Brother Yuan, could you bring me some soup dumplings on our next date? I'll treat you to a bag of spicy strips in exchange."

Lin Yuan: "...No problem."

In the corner, Chen Mo didn't join in the commotion. He simply sat at the table, enlarged the original image of the couple holding hands at sunset, looked at it for a while, and then looked up and said:

"The photos aren't great. Next time you go out, come find me. I'll handle the composition and lighting perfectly. No extra payment needed, just breakfast will do."

"Okay." Lin Yuan leaned back in his chair, waved his phone, and couldn't hide his smile. "Next time I go out, I'll call you first."

Chen Mo nodded, then looked down at the screen again, already taking screenshots for archiving.

Female dormitory 404.

Xie Wanyin, clutching her Pikachu plushie, screamed on the spot and circled around Gu Zhiwan, teasing, "I knew your ears were always red after your walks! Turns out you'd been secretly holding hands all along!"

Shen Qingci, wearing a face mask, peeked out from the bathroom and casually chimed in, "Finally, I don't have to see you staring blankly at your phone anymore. Next time you go on a date, bring back some photos for us to see."

Gu Zhiwan's cheeks were flushed with a faint pink. Surrounded by teasing, she didn't flinch, her eyes crinkling into a smile, her tone soft yet undeniably sweet:

"I originally wanted to keep it hidden a little longer, but I couldn't resist when I saw the sunset this evening, so I posted it at the same time as him."

She paused, her eyes sparkling, "Next time you go out, take lots of pictures and bring them back, and I'll also bring you some osmanthus cake from the street vendors."

Su Zhiyuan sat at her desk, the sunset photo of them holding hands still lit up on the screen, the orange light shining on their intertwined fingers, it felt so warm.

She gazed for a long while, the last trace of melancholy in her eyes seeming to dissipate slowly in the glow of the sunset. She exhaled softly, turned her head, and spoke in a calm yet sincere tone:

"May you get along well and have a long and happy relationship."

Gu Zhiwan glanced at her, a hint of understanding and gratitude in her eyes, and simply replied softly, "Thank you, Zhiyuan."

Su Zhiyuan hummed in agreement and turned back to look at the screen.

Xie Wanyin reached out and pinched Gu Zhiwan's cheek, filled with emotion:

"I knew your expression was off when you were on your phone those days, smiling one minute and putting it down the next, it seemed like you were waiting for a message."

"Alright, alright," Gu Zhiwan removed her hand, her ears turning even redder, "Let's get down to business, what are we having for dinner tonight?"

"What else do you want to eat?" Xie Wanyin waved her hand. "We're going out to celebrate tonight, it's your treat."

"...Why should I pay?"

"Because you are the happiest."

Gu Zhiwan paused for two seconds, then agreed, "Okay, my treat."

As the trending topic continued to climb, Lin Yuan's phone vibrated, and the caller ID showed "Mom."

He answered the call, and Jiang Wanqing's voice came from the other end, her tone filled with undisguised joy, as if she had been holding back for a long time before finally speaking:

"Is that Zhiwan? The girl looks so sweet and pretty. Next time you go home for vacation, be sure to bring her over for dinner. Tell me what she likes to eat so I can prepare in advance."

Lin Yuan leaned against the dormitory window, looking at the completely dark sky outside, and said, "Okay, Mom, we'll go back after the next trip."

"travel?"

"Yes, it's all planned out."

There was a two-second silence on the other end, then the phone was switched to another person. Lin Liguo's voice came through, steady and without any unnecessary words:

"Treat her sincerely, take good care of her, and come home more often when you have time."

Lin Yuan replied softly, "Okay, Dad."

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Zixuan was still scrolling through comments in the dorm, Qian Zhuangzhuang's snacks were almost gone, and Chen Mo was pulling up the original picture of the sunset hand in hand, opening the photo editing software, and silently starting to adjust the colors.

Lin Yuan ignored them, opened Gu Zhiwan's Weibo, and clicked on the official announcement.

"The sunset is just right, and I'll have you for the rest of my life."

He gave it a thumbs up, locked the screen, and put his phone in his pocket.

Leaning against the window, my mind was already racing with another thought—a trip. I'd promised her, but we hadn't decided on a destination yet.

Actually, he had a place in his heart that he had been longing for, but he hadn't found the right time to go there.

There is now.

We'll discuss the location when we meet; let her guess first.