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  People from Jiannan and the vicinity were travelling to Yanzhou to see Little Pert Waist. Zhicheng had announced on its official Weibo page that Little Pert Waist would be lit from 7 to 10 pm every night over this period of time.

  Someone contacted Zhicheng, saying that they wanted to propose in front of the tower. There were probably few women who could resist a romantic kneeling confession in front of the tower, accompanied by those words.

  The news was relayed up the chain of command to Xu Tingsheng, who agreed at once without hesitating in the least. Finding a new way to make money while also fulfilling others-who would say no to such a thing?

  Soon, Zhicheng’s employees reported that in just over an hour, more than ten people had already signed up for this. It looked like this was going to become a sacred love ground.

  Under these circumstances, there was no way for the local media to fully stay silent. Also, their reports along with what had previously been leaked about Zhicheng was no different from a young child peeing all over the face of an adult, or Yanzhou City’s government in this case.

  Those who had previously been camping outside Zhicheng’s sales building were now sitting in rows outside City Hall. Some had banners: ‘So it’s you lot who want to rob us of our houses!’.

  Who did ‘you lot’ refer to? While this was not certain, they were definitely sitting inside that government building. Since Zhicheng had already proven that they fully had the ability to deliver the flats as promised, they were naturally looking for trouble with whoever was blocking the way.

  Someone from City Hall called Zhicheng.

  Ye Qing said, “May I ask what Zhicheng has done? Zhicheng hasn’t instigated, perpetrated, or participated……we merely lit up some lights. It surely isn’t the responsibility of us little startups to maintain public order and stability, is it?”


  They had no reply.

  Xu Tingsheng was at the station, looking at his ticket from Jiannan to Libei. There was still more than half an hour. Wearing a T-shirt, jeans, canvas shoes and a backpack like any other youngster, he found a place to sit down at while waiting for the checking of tickets.

  Some youths beside him were looking at the pretty girls in the waiting area, discussing them and egging each other on.

  “Look, how’s that one?”


  “Not bad. How about you go ask for her number?”


  “Why don’t you?”


  “I’m leaving the chance to you out of the kindness of my heart. You gutless worm.”


  “Haha.”


  “Shut it! I’m serious here. She isn’t my type. Yup, that auntie type, big and round, black stockings, high heels, everywhere seemingly at the brink of bursting. Those that cause your blood to immediately rush to your head-now those are women.”


  “Since you sound so passionate about it, go on then!”


  “The heck! Can’t you see that her husband’s there?!”


  Talk they did, but none of them really dared to go up, flirt and ask for numbers. Listening to them, Xu Tingsheng felt as if he was seeing himself and Huang Yaming back in the day, similarly all bark but no bite.

  Not long after Huang Yaming had entered university, they had once sat on a public bus in Jianan, using dialect to discuss the girl in front of them for a long time as they hypothesised ways to conquer her. In the end, the girl had turned back and replied in the same Libel dialect, “So which of you wants to pick me up exactly? Also, you’re probably mistaken. I’m C.”


  It was such a good opportunity, but the two of them had actually still fled in a panic.

  Actually, close to ninety percent of men were once this gutless kind. In affairs between men and women in this world, the courageous suffer from indigestion while the gutless starve to death.

  Seeing Xu Tingsheng constantly smiling by the side, someone from that group said, “Stop smiling, bro. You go if you dare?”


  Xu Tingsheng laughed and said, “I’ll go if there’s really one who’s pretty enough.”


  A girl entered with a shoulder bag, wearing a hemp-coloured blouse, tight-fitting jeans and white shoes. Her gaze on the ticket entrance, she walked past the crowd.

  They all stayed silent till she sat down, Xu Tingsheng included.

  “This one is pretty enough……” The one who had just said he liked aunties said slowly, unable to retract his gaze.

  “But she isn’t so hot?! She’s not the type you like,” Someone rebutted.

  “At this level, there’s no need to consider all this,” That person said blankly.

  That made sense. The group now discussed her enthusiastically for a long time, but it was still the same as none of them really got up and walked over. Finally, the guy beside Xu Tingsheng remembered him.

  “Bro, you said that the girl must be pretty enough. This one is, right?” He asked.

  “Yes,” Xu Tingsheng said.

  “How about it then? Dare you go? Don’t just laugh. Give us bros a demonstration.”


  “I’m just afraid that if I go, you lot will no longer have a chance.”


  This drew everyone’s attention, the show-offy level exceeding their comfort levels. They all began egging Xu Tingsheng on, telling him not to worry about and stand on ceremony with them……

  Xu Tingsheng smiled wryly, “I’m going for real then?”


  “Go on……”


  “Off you go……”


  “Alright.”


  Xu Tingsheng got up and went to the station’s small shop, buying two bottles of water. Then, he blinked at the bunch of boys as he passed them and walked over to the girl, who was immersed in a book. As he passed her a bottle of water, she raised her head and looked at him.

  “Senior.”


  “How come you’re free to come back?” Xu Tingsheng sat down beside Wu Yuewei.

  “We have finals. The teacher gave us a few days to prepare, so I just happened to be free,” Wu Yuewei said.

  Finals, free……these two words that should not be associated together only sounded reasonable coming from a study queen like Wu Yuewei. While she was drinking, Xu Tingsheng turned and secretly waved to those guys who were all staring wide-eyed in disbelief.

  They had aggrieved, incredulous looks on their faces.

  “Just buying water is fine?”


  “The key is that he’s shameless enough! See how he just sat down.”


  “What’re you doing?”


  “I’m going to buy two bottles of water. The one we saw over there was pretty good too. Off I go!”


  “.……”


  “Why are you back so fast?”


  “She said she’s not thirsty.”


  “.……”


  Wu Yuewei kept the bottle of water after taking a sip from it. She was probably not thirsty too.

  “Why didn’t you drive this time, Senior?” Wu Yuewei asked.

  Xu Tingsheng pointed to his head and said, “I felt dizzy when I woke up this morning. I didn’t dare to drive.”


  “Oh,” Wu Yuewei said, “You’re pushing yourself too hard. You should take better care of your health.”


  Xu Tingsheng nodded and said after a time, “Got it. Also, thank you for specially taking this trip.”


  Wu Yuewei averted her gaze, saying a bit wrongedly, “It’s also not because of you. Qiuyi and I are good friends. From her mock results, getting into Jianhai University should be no problem for her. I thought I’d come back to accompany her. Maybe she can perform better than usual and come to Qingbei to accompany me. It isn’t because of you, anyway.”


  “I know.”


  Wu Yuewei’s phone rang in her bag, but she didn’t answer it. After the opening sequence, singing could be heard. Her ringtone was . Xu Tingsheng listened and found that there was quite a bit of background noise as the effects were not that good too. This should be the version from when he and Fu Cheng had performed at Xinyan Senior High’s school anniversary back then.

  The ringtone persisted. Wu Yuewei did not answer it as she remained silent.

  “Why don’t you answer your call?” Xu Tingsheng pretended not to have noticed the ringtone as he asked.

  Wu Yuwei looked at him and took her handphone out of her bag……it was the same one he had given her back then.

  The caller was Xu Qiuyi. The two chatted for a bit before Wu Yuewei hung up. She did not mention running into Xu Tingsheng, only saying that she had already arrived at Jiannan station.

  “I……” Holding the phone, Wu Yuewei said, “It’s just that it’s still working.”


  “I know,” Xu Tingsheng said.

  Wu Yuewei’s eyes suddenly turned a bit red, “Then, do you know this, Senior? When Apple and I brought Xiang Ning to Yanjing back then, she looked at my phone and happily said that you once gave her one that’s exactly the same as mine. She didn’t choose to accept it, though……”


  Xu Tingsheng lowered his head, “Sorry. At the time……”


  “So, it’s this one, right?”


  “I’m sorry.”


  “It’s okay. I just want you to know. Senior, even if unwanted by others, I’d still accept. But I won’t snatch.”


  Ticket checking began. The two got on the train. They were not sitting together. Wu Yuewei was somewhat diagonally behind Xu Tingsheng. They could look at each other, but they didn’t.

  There were many hills between Jiannan and Libei as it was very rocky terrain. Having felt rather uncomfortable in the first place, Xu Tingsheng felt worse now. He rested his head on the seat in front, exerting pressure with his hands on his forehead and temple.

  A cool hand touched his forehead.

  “There’s no fever. Maybe heatstroke,” Wu Yuewei said.

  Xu Tingsheng turned to look at her.

  “I changed seats with someone.”


  “Let me massage it for you. My Mum gets headaches too. I can do it,” She said.

  Wu Yuewei turned, her hands cupping the sides of Xu Tingsheng’s face with her thumbs in front of his forehead and gently massaging from his brows to his temples repeatedly.

  Her fingertips gently penetrated his hair.

  Xu Tingsheng might have slept for a while. When he awoke, he was leaning on Wu Yuewei’s shoulder, and she was looking at him.

  “You have white hair, Senior,” She said.

  “Huh?” Xu Tingsheng grew nervous all at once.

  “It’s fine,” Wu Yuewei smiled, “It’s just one. I was waiting for you to wake up before asking: Do you want to pluck it off?”


  “Of course!” Xu Tingsheng answered.

  “Okay,” Wu Yuewei parted his hair on the right side and plucked a strand off before saying, “Look, Senior.”


  Xu Tingsheng took it and found that it was actually a white hair for real.

  “Don’t overexert yourself normally,” Wu Yuewei said.

  Agreeing, Xu Tingsheng rather despondently made to throw that white hair out of the window.

  “Hey, no!’ Wu Yuewei grabbed his arm, saying, “You can’t just throw it away like this. Give it to me.”


  Retrieving that white hair from Xu Tingsheng’s open palm, Wu Yuewei carefully gazed at it and soon tied it into a knot, murmuring something softly as she did so.

  “Alright,” Wu Yuewei showed Xu Tingsheng the knot on that white hair and said, “After plucking a white hair, you’ve got to tie it into a knot like this before throwing it away. More will grow, otherwise.”


  Still, Xu Tingsheng clearly saw her clutching that tied white hair in her palm, not throwing it away.

  Perhaps there was also a knot in her heart which she could not bear to throw away as well.