After lazily lying down for a while, Ning Youguang suddenly had a whimsical thought, "Do you want to sleep?"
"Do you?" Shi Wangyue asked with a aningful look.
"Not really." Ning Youguang, seeing his ambiguous gaze, imdiately beca wary, "I want to go to the yard to bask in the sun, want to join?"
"Sure."
"How about we have so afternoon tea together?"
"Sounds good."
"I’ll go prepare the stuff." Ning Youguang moved Shi Wangyue’s head off his leg and scampered off to gather materials for making tea.
Shi Wangyue smiled as he got up and moved the small indoor table to the backyard.
Ning Youguang rummaged in the fridge for Tieguanyin, longans, red dates, goji berries...
Turning around, he saw Shi Wangyue moving things and imdiately stopped him, "Leave the rest, I’ll handle it."
Shi Wangyue chuckled, "My tooth hurts, not my hands."
He then brought two chairs to the small courtyard.
...
In Ning’s small courtyard, during the dead of winter, naturally, there weren’t any flowers, yet there were so evergreen plants maintaining a lively vigor.
The winter sun felt warm and truly comfortable as it fell on him.
Ning Youguang peeled the shells off the longans and put them on the windowsill to dry.
"We’ll use them as dicine once dried."
Both had bowls of eight-treasure tea, using only a few longans, with only a few stones to dry.
But she still did it happily.
It was a habit she continued from her past life to now; she wouldn’t throw away the longan stones, orange peels, polo peels, pogranate peels she ate daily.
She’d pack them, take them ho to dry, preparing them for dicinal use.
In childhood, it was a school bag, growing up, it was her backpack.
"Do you rember my grandfather’s house?"
"I do."
"Back then, I often dried herbs with grandpa, ground them, and even planted them."
"I know."
"Suddenly, I really miss it."
"Do you miss your grandpa, his courtyard, or the scene of drying herbs with him?" The one speaking was gentler than the sun at that mont.
"All of it." Ning Youguang held her teacup, squinting as she gazed at the blue sky above.
White clouds floated by, and she seed to return to her childhood.
"Also the phoenix tree path outside grandpa’s house."
She rambled on about her childhood to him.
Shi Wangyue listened quietly, his gaze unwavering, falling on her radiant face illuminated by the sun, his deep eyes overflowing with emotion and rembrance.
He, too, missed the phoenix tree path outside grandpa’s house.
But what he missed the most was that particular phoenix tree on the path where he used to stop every dusk.
...
The day of her shopping appointnt with Li Qing arrived.
When Ning Youguang woke up in the morning, Shi Wangyue was already gone from the dormitory, with breakfast he bought left on the table.
After finishing breakfast, she dressed, applied sunscreen and prir, then headed out.
Upon arriving at the mall where they agreed to et, it was bustling with arriving custors.
"Is your boyfriend’s toothache better?" Li Qing asked with concern when they t.
"It’s better," Ning Youguang replied.
"That’s good," Li Qing smiled, "I mainly wanted to shop for my parents today since the new year is coming, need to show so filial piety."
"Sounds great," Ning Youguang said, "I don’t have anything in mind to buy, but I’ll see if anything catches my eye later."
"Okay." Li Qing linked arms with Ning Youguang, "Let’s get so coffee, my treat."
After getting coffee and leaving the cafe.
Li Qing suddenly pointed out to Ning Youguang, "Look, it’s Jiang Wei, with a guy."
Ning Youguang followed her line of sight and indeed saw her forr roommate.
The other person also saw them.
She first showed a slight change in expression, then turned to say sothing to the guy next to her, walking over alone.
"Ning Youguang, Li Qing."
"What a coincidence," Ning Youguang said, "Long ti no see."
"Yes." Jiang Wei’s tone was a bit complex, "Long ti no see, you still look pretty much the sa."
Ning Youguang smiled warmly and complinted, "You’ve gotten prettier," and more sophisticated.
She was wearing a designer outfit, and her bag wasn’t cheap either.
If they hadn’t lived together for three years in the sa dorm, she wouldn’t have imagined that this very poised, professional-looking woman was once her timid, plainly-dressed roommate.
"Your style today suits you well." Li Qing also complinted.
"Thank you." Jiang Wei’s smile deepened, "Are you here for shopping?"
"Yes." Li Qing said, "The new year’s coming; I plan to buy so things for my parents."
Jiang Wei paused for a mont and said, "That’s very thoughtful of you."
After chatting for a bit longer, Jiang Wei asked, "After graduation, I changed my phone, losing a lot of classmates’ contacts. Can I add you on WeChat?"
"Of course." She opened her WeChat, asking, "Should I scan you, or you scan ?"
"Let scan you." Jiang Wei took out her phone from a Gucci bag.
As she took out her phone, Li Qing noticed her nails, "Where did you get that nail art? It’s gorgeous!"
Jiang Wei paused, "You like it? I did it myself."
"Wow!" Li Qing exclaid, "You’re so talented, doing such intricate nail art yourself."
"It’s not hard." Jiang Wei laughed, "Just buy materials online and follow a tutorial. If you need a tutorial, I can recomnd one."
"No need," Li Qing admitted straightforwardly, "If you recomnd a nail salon, that’d be fine; doing it myself is out of the question."
Since soone was waiting, Jiang Wei left after adding them on WeChat.
...
After the trio separated.
Li Qing couldn’t help but comnt to Ning Youguang, "Jiang Wei has changed so much."
"Indeed." Ning Youguang said while looking at the store displays.
"I was thinking, it’s been ages since I heard from her. Turns out, she changed her number." Li Qing continued mumbling.
"Oh." Ning Youguang replied noncommittally.
After a while, she suddenly realized, "Wait, changing a number doesn’t an WeChat changes, does it?"
"Hmm."
"What do you an ’hmm’?" Li Qing eyed Ning Youguang, "Are you trying to fool ?"
[I’m not fooling you; I’m just teasing you.]
Ning Youguang shook her head innocently.
Li Qing didn’t want to delve deeper into whether Jiang Wei really lost her contacts.
After all, during university, Jiang Wei was pretty much on her own and never close-knit with them.
"Also wondering what job she’s doing now, dressed in designer from head to toe, she looks like she earns well."
That was more intriguing to her.
"I don’t know either, maybe she found a good opportunity after graduation; best wishes to her." Ning Youguang quickened her pace, pulling Li Qing along, "Let’s not dwell on it; shopping is more fun."
"You just don’t like gossip!" Li Qing had long seen her true nature. 1314
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