Cheng Daichuan’s response about cold showers was brief and to the point— he just said he was used to it.
Ruan Xi was a little worried, counting off the disadvantages of cold showers on her fingers.
That worry lingered all the way through breakfast.
They lay side by side on the lounge chairs at the Sunbathing Area, and whenever the thought came up, Ruan Xi would say a few nagging words: “All day blowing air conditioning, drinking water with ice cubes, and now cold showers… at this rate, you really might catch a cold.”
She hid her selfishness behind a grand excuse, “How am I supposed to explain this to Shang Auntie later?”
The sunlight was bright, warming their whole bodies pleasantly.
On the small table beside them sat a glass of orange juice with ice cubes. After speaking, Ruan Xi bit the straw and took a sip.
The taste was quite good— refreshing and crisp— and she couldn’t help but let out a comfortable sigh.
Cheng Daichuan glanced over slowly, the meaning clear in his eyes— then why are you still drinking it?
Ruan Xi suddenly felt caught red-handed, clutching her phone and stammering, “I only drank a little cold drink. I didn’t take a cold shower, not like you…”
Cheng Daichuan looked at her with a half-smile, teasing, “Ruan Xi.”
Like a startled bird, she looked back warily: “…What?”
“Have you been possessed by Nuan Grandma?”
Was he accusing her of nagging?
Ruan Xi scrunched her nose and stuck her tongue out at Cheng Daichuan.
“Fine, fine, take your cold showers, freeze yourself to death, I don’t care!”
Cheng Daichuan’s tone softened. “How is Nuan Grandma doing, anyway?”
Ruan Xi held up her phone and dragged a video clip into the editing software. “Not bad. She went back to the hospital for a follow-up a few months ago. The doctor said she’s recovering better than expected.”
Cheng Daichuan nodded but didn’t say much.
Whenever they mentioned Nuan Grandma’s health, besides worry, they’d also recall the time they parted ways in high school.
Actually, Ruan Xi hadn’t stayed with Cheng Daichuan and Shi Chao all the way through graduation.
Her parents’ leaders had been truthful.
Once their new company was running smoothly, and after some effort from Ruan Xi’s parents, the hometown leaders decided to transfer them back to Headquarters.
Ruan Xi had lived as Cheng Daichuan’s neighbor for over two years, thriving happily in the new environment, always gathering cheerfully with her good friends.
She learned about her parents’ transfer after participating in the Marathon.
That day was no different from usual— Ruan Xi and Cheng Daichuan walked home from school together with Shi Chao.
Along the way, Ruan Xi and Shi Chao teased each other about their lack of stamina. Running a marathon and pulling a muscle? Eating so much meat…
Their walking was equally limping; the constant bickering was just weaklings mocking each other— they were among the last to cross the finish line.
Ruan Xi said, “Even if I don’t exercise, I’m three minutes faster than you!”
Shi Chao replied, “Three minutes isn’t that long…”
“How isn’t it? That’s three whole minutes! That’s a hundred eighty seconds—you’d finish eating a whole sausage by then, and only then would you arrive.”
Seeing he couldn’t win, Shi Chao brought up Cheng Daichuan: “Well, you’re still not as impressive as my Cheng Daichuan. He’s got really good stamina!”
Cheng Daichuan was indeed impressive. After finishing the marathon yesterday, he was still playing football in PE class today.
Walking into the stairwell, Ruan Xi hadn’t found the right comeback when she took a step up and suddenly winced in pain.
She turned to look, seeing Shi Chao’s face twisted in pain as well. Holding her sore abdomen, he teased, “What’s it to you that Cheng Daichuan has good stamina? You’re the one who can’t even play football— why are you so useless?”
Cheng Daichuan ignored them, shaking his head with a helpless smile as he went up to the second floor first.
Ruan Xi was surprised to hear Cheng Daichuan call “Uncle” and “Auntie.”
Supporting herself on the stair rail, she peeked over with a smile, “Why are you guys back so early today?”
Shi Chao was happy too: “Auntie, are you still making beef soup today?”
“Of course, come in. Shang Nan hasn’t come back yet. You three can have dinner downstairs today.”
Ruan Xi’s mother couldn’t hide the smile at the corner of her eyes. “Xi Xi, I have good news.”
Ruan Xi struggled up the stairs and finally reached Cheng Daichuan’s side, dropping her backpack. “What good news? Dad bought spicy duck neck again?”
Her mother said, “You know you only think about food. We can go back to our hometown.”
Ruan Xi’s smile froze.
She instinctively turned her head, seeing Shi Chao’s shocked face, and Cheng Daichuan’s brows furrowed silently.
They were already in their senior year of high school; transferring could seriously affect their College Entrance Exam.
Cheng Daichuan’s mother had even come to Ruan Xi’s home to discuss it, saying she could help take care of Ruan Xi.
So at first, Ruan Xi’s parents didn’t plan to bring her back with them.
But then Nuan Grandma suddenly got sick. After two hospital visits, the doctors spoke frankly about the worst-case scenarios, urging the family to prepare mentally.
Ruan Xi’s heart was heavy and couldn’t focus on studying. In the end, she talked with her parents and decided to transfer back to the hometown school to accompany Grandma.
On the day they parted, Ruan Xi cried bitterly.
She hugged Cheng Daichuan’s mother, then Shi Chao, and finally Cheng Daichuan.
Her tears soaked a large patch of Cheng Daichuan’s knitted sweater.
Cheng Daichuan gently patted her back, “After the exam, Shi Chao and I will come find you.”
During the final 180 Days Countdown in senior year, Ruan Xi prayed every day to Grandpa in heaven to bless Grandma with safety, while burying herself in studies, looking forward to seeing them again after the exam.
Thankfully,
The three of them, along with Ruan Xi’s and Cheng Daichuan’s families, organized a trip, bringing Shi Chao and Aisila to stay in an ancient water town.
That was their first holiday apart. Compared to last winter, it was so much happier…
Ruan Xi picked up her cold drink and took a big sip through the straw— the icy carbonation shot straight to her head.
No wonder Cheng Daichuan loved drinking iced cola. It really was delicious.
Wait… iced cola?
Ruan Xi froze like a rusty puppet, slowly turning her head.
On the table was her half-drunk glass of orange juice, but next to it was the half-glass of iced cola Cheng Daichuan had been drinking.
Her face flushed bright red. “…”
Cheng Daichuan teased her, “Ah, afraid I’ll catch a cold?”
Ruan Xi balled up a napkin and tossed it at him, but he caught it effortlessly and tossed it into the trash.
He asked, “Still editing the vlog?”
She said, “Just thinking about something from before.”
“Is that so.”
Ruan Xi had been editing the vlog, but the drink mix-up distracted her.
Since boarding the Cruise Ship a few days ago, Ruan Xi hadn’t felt seasick, but had been rushing Cheng Daichuan around following all sorts of plans.
The footage piled up too much, and editing was time-consuming. The Sunbathing Area was so comfortable that holding her phone, Ruan Xi often closed her eyes briefly.
The editing progress was intermittent, and even lunch was brought over by Cheng Daichuan—hamburgers.
After eating, she felt even sleepier.
By the time it was past two in the afternoon, she finally finished editing, posted on her Friend Circle, and planned to take a nap.
Before falling asleep, Ruan Xi reached out to Cheng Daichuan, randomly touching some part of him.
Not sure if it was his abdomen or somewhere else— it felt soft and hard at the same time.
She didn’t bother opening her eyes, drowsily saying, “Cheng Daichuan, I’m going to sleep for a bit. When I wake up, we’re going to the bar— no getting drunk, no going home.”
Ruan Xi felt her wrist caught by Cheng Daichuan and saw his gentle smile: “Trying to steal some skin?”
Her consciousness was fuzzy. Giving up all pretense, she thought: Since I’ve already crossed that line, what’s a little touching?
Might as well pretend I’m Shi Chao— after all, she’d always been the female version of Shi Chao.
When Ruan Xi woke up, Cheng Daichuan was shading his eyes with the back of his hand, still asleep.
She lazed around for a while, raised her phone, and scrolled aimlessly.
The condensed version of the vlog on her Friend Circle included the boarding scene, with the ship’s horn sounding, then cut to her selfie: “Hi, this is Xi Xi and Chuan Chuan’s first Cruise Ship trip.”
Many friends had commented below, one standing out in particular—
“Like a newlywed honeymoon.”
Ruan Xi snapped awake and did a sit-up, sitting up straight in the lounge chair.
The comment was from a friend back home, teasing her knowingly.
There were other replies from friends in the know, full of “hahahahaha” or “yo yo yo yo yo.”
Scrolling down further, she saw Shi Chao’s refreshingly honest comment: “Chao Chao and Ais are definitely not jealous at all!”
Thankfully, Shi Chao and the others didn’t know her hometown friends…
Even so, it still made her flustered.
The lounge chair felt like a hot frying pan; Ruan Xi felt like an ant on a scorching skillet, her thumb hovering over the screen for a long time, still unsure how to reply.
When she refreshed again, a new comment appeared from a bystander friend: “Quite a match, huh?”
Ruan Xi was at a loss, blushing and hanging her head, staring blankly at the phone screen.
Cheng Daichuan was still sleeping soundly.
He hadn’t been woken by Ruan Xi’s sudden movement but opened his eyes to see the scene.
He squinted and took out his phone. The first post on his Friend Circle was Ruan Xi’s.
Cheng Daichuan and Ruan Xi didn’t share many mutual friends; only Shi Chao’s comment and a few likes appeared.
Among the likers was Zhang Xu.
Cheng Daichuan couldn’t help but smirk.
What’s this game of you like mine, I like yours?
In high school, Cheng Daichuan had seen Ruan Xi stop Zhang Xu to ask for contact info.
But it hadn’t gone well.
That day, Cheng Daichuan and Shi Chao were playing football. Ruan Xi sat on the grass looking completely wilted like a frostbitten eggplant.
Aside from when she had just moved and got crushed in Hearthstone, Cheng Daichuan had never seen her so down.
Probably Zhang Xu had rejected her.
Ruan Xi never talked about Zhang Xu to them, and Cheng Daichuan never asked.
At the time, he didn’t think he cared about such things.
Until one day, Cheng Daichuan suddenly saw Zhang Xu like a comment on Ruan Xi’s Friend Circle.
They spent almost every day together, yet he didn’t know when they’d reconnected.
This kind of connection made Cheng Daichuan uneasy.
Especially when—
During the holiday, Ruan Xi wore a plain creamy white down jacket, standing in softly falling snow.
She smiled and shook her head at Cheng Daichuan and Shi Chao, saying, “I’m not going. I already made plans with other friends to go to the theater for a stage play.”
Cheng Daichuan felt a dull ache at his temple.
He pressed the screen, scrolled down, and refreshed his Friend Circle, just to see Zhang Xu had just commented on Ruan Xi’s post— “You look good in a skirt.”
Cheng Daichuan glanced up. Ruan Xi’s face was tomato-red. Her thumbs hovered hesitantly over the screen before she began tapping away.
Refreshing again,
Ruan Xi replied to Zhang Xu: “Thanks [😝].”