Everyone's been reborn, so who would bother finding a wife on their own?

Chapter 328 He cares about me

Song Huan woke up before dawn.

I didn't wake up naturally; I woke up with a headache.

My stomach was still churning with last night's alcohol, and my mouth tasted bitter, like I had a mouthful of stale beer.

He propped himself up on the edge of the bed and rubbed his temples.

The sky outside the window was overcast and the branches of the sycamore tree swayed in the wind.

He picked up his phone, went outside to the balcony, found Xiao Yunqing's number, and dialed it.

"Beep—beep—beep—"

After a few sounds, a mechanical female voice rang out.

The number you dialed is currently busy.

I've been blocked.

He placed his phone on his lap and stared at the line of text on the screen.

The image from last night flashed through my mind again: Xiao Yunqing standing across the street, wearing that pink down jacket, her face pale.

When she turned around, the choked sob that escaped her throat felt like a needle pricking his ear.

What a coincidence!

Why did she have to appear in Xinjiekou at that exact moment?

He opened QQ.

Fortunately, I haven't been blocked on QQ yet.

Xiao Yunqing's profile picture was lit up; it was a cartoon rabbit with its ears standing up.

He quickly typed a few lines: "Little Cloud, I was wrong last night. I shouldn't have gone to the bar and drunk with those people. Please answer my call, okay?"

He sent it out and waited a long time, but there was no reply.

Xiao Yunqing's profile picture is always gray.

He typed a few more lines: "I really know I was wrong. Tell me to come find you, and I'll be right there."

It was sent out, but it still disappeared without a trace.

He held his phone, scrolled to Zhou Shan's number, and dialed it.

The phone rang for a long time before it was answered.

Zhou Shan's voice was groggy, hoarse from being woken up, "Feed?"

Then he paused for a moment, his voice immediately becoming clear and alert.

"Song Huan? Why are you calling me instead of going to see Yun Qing?"

Song Huan leaned against the headboard and rubbed her still throbbing temples.

"If I could find her, would I still be calling you? She blocked my number and doesn't reply to my QQ messages."

Zhou Shan remained silent for a moment on the other end.

Then her voice changed; it wasn't the dazed tone from before, but something else, one that carried a reproach.

"Song Huan, I'm not trying to be mean, but what were you doing last night? Do you know how upset Yun Qing was? She cried the whole way back to school."

"She was afraid you'd find her annoying, so she didn't dare call too often and could only ask me out. And you, you were hugging and kissing a nightclub girl in a bar. Why didn't you push her away when she kissed you? Did you think Yun Qing was easy to appease, that a simple apology would be enough?"

Song Huan closed her eyes, the veins on her forehead throbbing. "I was drunk yesterday, and I was kissed. I'm the victim here, okay?"

Zhou Shan snorted on the other end, completely disbelieving, "Go explain to Yun Qing, what's the use of telling me?"

Suppressing her anger, Song Huan said, "Alright, alright, tell me first, what happened to her? Zhou Shan, what happened to her?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

Then Zhou Shan spoke, her tone turning somber.

"There's a sophomore named Zheng something, his family runs a business, they're quite rich. He's been pursuing Yun Qing for a long time, but Yun Qing has always ignored him. Last week he came again, waiting for her at the entrance of the study room. Yun Qing rejected him outright, that scumbag..."

Zhou Shan's voice suddenly rose half an octave, "She immediately went after Yun Qing's roommate."

Song Huan held her phone without saying a word.

"Zhou Yutong, the girl who sleeps across from Yunqing. Xiao Yunqing said she chatted with you at the beginning of freshman year. I don't know what kind of spell that scumbag cast on her, but now she's helping him isolate Yunqing. Nobody in the dorm talks to Yunqing anymore, they treat her like she's invisible. Last night Yunqing couldn't stand staying in the dorm, so she ran out alone..."

Zhou Shan's voice was a little hoarse, "The first person she thought of was you. She called you, but you said you were busy."

Zhou Yutong?

Song Huan did remember this woman; she was rather attractive.

He asked, "What's that man's name?"

Why are you asking this?

"What's your name?"

"Zheng Feng, a sophomore, I think he's in the Economics and Management department, do you know him?"

Song Huan did not answer.

Zheng Feng.

He repeated the name in his mind.

"Alright, you can go back to sleep." He hung up the phone.

Then I turned around and went back to my dorm, brushed my teeth, washed up, and changed my clothes.

……

When Song Huan came out of the supermarket, she was carrying two bags.

One bag contained peeled durians, and the other bag contained strawberries and blueberries.

The last time he went to Dongda University to see her, he was carrying these same things.

But how long has it been?

Ugh……

Downstairs in the girls' dormitory building at Dongda University.

The dormitory supervisor sat by the window on the first floor, holding an enamel mug in her hand. Her gaze swept over Song Huan's face from above the rim of the mug to the plastic bag in his hand, and then back to his face.

He stood at the bottom of the steps and sent several QQ messages to Xiao Yunqing.

"I'm downstairs in your dorm."

"Could you come down for a moment?"

"I'll leave the things here with Auntie, you can come down and get them later."

After sending it, scrolling up, every previous message is marked as "unread".

It's gray, like the weather.

He gripped his phone, took a few steps forward, bent down, and whispered into the window.

"Auntie, could you please call Xiao Yunqing from room 401 for me?"

The dormitory supervisor glanced at him.

He put down the enamel mug, slowly stood up, and turned to go upstairs.

That glance, how should I put it, was like looking at a prisoner who had already been sentenced to death.

Song Huan stood on the steps and waited.

The wind blew by, and the plastic bags rustled.

After a while, the aunt came downstairs.

She sat back down behind the window, picked up her enamel mug, took a sip, and said, "She said she doesn't want to see you."

Song Huan stood there.

I knew in my heart that this would be the outcome.

He knew Xiao Yunqing's temper all too well.

If you coax her a little, pinch her waist, and say "I was wrong," she'll burst out laughing.

But if she gets really hurt, she'll lock herself away and no one can get in.

He lifted the plastic bag in his hand slightly. "Auntie, could you please take these..."

"She said she doesn't want anything you brought."

The dormitory supervisor took another sip of tea.

[He's obviously another scumbag who preys on girls' feelings.]

[He's fair-skinned and clean-cut, bringing fruit to apologize. I've seen this trick a million times. Last month, someone else stood there all afternoon with roses, only to slink away in the end.]

She put the enamel cup down.

Song Huan stood there, holding the two bags of fruit in her hands.

Durian, strawberry, blueberry.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something.

I'm not a jerk, I'm a good person!

But he looked down at himself; he was still not fully sober from the alcohol he had drunk at the bar the day before, and his face showed signs of hangover fatigue.

Well, he doesn't look like a good person at all.

He switched the plastic bag with his other hand, turned around, and left.

It was already noon when I got back to Nanjing University.

He carried the two bags of fruit, walked through the sycamore-lined school path, and passed the cafeteria.

I have no appetite.

He kept thinking about how she ignored him, didn't reply to his QQ messages, blocked his phone number, and didn't even want his things.

He knew her temper; barging in at a time like this would only make things worse.

But dragging it out is even worse.

She was isolated in the dormitory and had no one to talk to.

I can't rest easy no matter how I think about it.

When he got close to the girls' dormitory building, he suddenly stopped.

Lin Yue stood at the entrance of the dormitory building, wearing her yellow rider uniform with the zipper all the way up.

He was carrying a takeout order; the plastic bag had that little cat printed on it.

A tall boy stood in front of her, wearing a dark gray hoodie, his face looking like he had just been pulled out of the water.

It wasn't wet, but rather a listless, lifeless gray.

"You're too late." The boy's voice sounded like he had a mouthful of sand. "I've already broken up with her."

Lin Yue exclaimed "Ah," her expression shifting from confusion to apology.

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to be so late. There was an order at the third canteen that was late, so I went to deliver that one first. It's all the fault of that spicy hot pot owner who's so slow at preparing food..."

She explained in a rambling manner, and finally bowed, saying, "I'm sorry."

The boy shook his head. "Never mind, there was never any possibility between us. Thank you for bringing this meal over."

He glanced at the takeout in Lin Yue's hand. "You can take it and deal with it yourself."

Lin Yue paused for a moment, looked down at the plastic bag in her hand, and asked, "Then...can I eat this? I haven't eaten lunch yet."

The boy's gaze shifted from the takeout bag to her face. "What time is it? You haven't eaten yet? Aren't you hungry?"

Lin Yue nodded, took out a small, wrinkled steamed bun wrapped in a transparent plastic bag from her pocket, about the size of her palm. "I usually eat this."

The boy looked at her with a puzzled expression. "I heard that most of you delivery drivers are from impoverished families, but surely you're not so poor that you can't afford to eat?"

Lin Yue put the small bread back in her pocket and patted the dust off her pocket.

She looked up, smiled at him, her eyes curving into crescents, and said, "I just want to save a little more money."

"Why save such a small amount of money?"

"We'll save it for the bride price."

Her voice was crisp and clear, as if she were saying something perfectly natural: "I asked my boyfriend to marry me, but he thought my dowry was too high and refused to marry me."

The boy fell silent.

He looked at Lin Yue's smiling face, sweat beading on her forehead, stray hairs clinging to her cheeks, and the takeout he was holding in his arms—the takeout that was supposed to be given to his ex-girlfriend.

This girl, who went hungry while delivering food, saved the money to use as her dowry.

The worst part is that her boyfriend still refuses to marry her!

He suddenly felt short of breath, as if something was blocking his chest.

He turned around and walked away.

He took a few steps and then waved his hand again.

"Then you can take it and eat it."

Lin Yue stood still, and jumped up and down with joy.

[Great, I've saved money on another meal! Spicy hot pot, and it's even beef!]

[I'm so lucky today! If I save up 880,000, he'll probably marry me, right?]

She turned around carrying her takeout and almost bumped into someone.

She looked up and saw Song Huan standing in front of her.

Lin Yue was startled and took half a step back.

What are you doing here?

She quickly regained her composure, tilted her head to look at him, her eyes sparkling, "You were eavesdropping on me!"

Song Huan looked at her.

Suddenly I didn't know what to say.

She hid the spicy hot pot behind her back for a moment, then took it out again and held it up in front of him.

"Would you like to eat with me? It's free, you might as well take advantage of it."

Song Huan didn't look at the takeout order.

He handed over the two plastic bags he was carrying. "I bought these on my way here, here you go."

Lin Yue paused for a moment, then took it.

Looking down, she saw durian, strawberries, and blueberries—all fruits she couldn't bear to buy.

She looked up. "You went out of your way to buy this for me?"

Song Huan put her hands back in her pockets. "It was on my way."

Lin Yue chuckled upon hearing this, then hugged the plastic bag to her chest.

The boxes of strawberries and blueberries were stacked together, with the transparent box of durian on top.

She leaned closer, smelled it through the plastic wrap, and squinted her eyes.

He turned around and left.

After taking a few steps, she stopped, turned her head, and said, "Remember to eat on time from now on, or... I'll have Miqin fire you."

He took a step and left.

The sycamore trees rustled in the wind, and a few yellow leaves fell.

Lin Yue stood there, holding the two bags of fruit.

A gust of wind blew, ruffling the stray hairs on her forehead.

She put the spicy hot pot into the fruit bag, hugged the whole bag to her chest, lowered her head, and rubbed her cheek against the cool plastic wrap.

[He went out of his way to buy it for me; he didn't want me to go hungry. He cares about me.]

She looked up and called out to the receding figure.

"Okay, class monitor! I'll definitely eat on time!"

Then, clutching the bag of fruit, he hopped and skipped around, the hem of his rider's uniform fluttering in the air.