Hearing the editor’s words, Lin Xi felt even more confident.
Involuntarily, images of Xue Yang’s usual expressions surfaced in her mind: smiling, serious, stern, whimsical... All sorts of them. She then took out a notebook, her hand beginning to doodle on its own.
Since childhood, Lin Xi’s family had required her to be well-rounded, so it was fair to say she was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Her drawings were remarkably lifelike, nearly indistinguishable from a photograph.
She had started drawing him from the very night they t. Shortly after running away from ho, she had taken shelter from the rain under a large tree. He appeared before her like a deity and said, "Young lady, I just want to remind you that it’s dangerous to stay under a large tree when it rains."
Lin Xi caressed the drawing in her notebook—the young man under the streetlight who had persuaded her to go ho with him in the rain. "Back then, if I hadn’t gone ho with you, I probably would have gone back to my family long ago," she murmured. "But now, I don’t regret it."
Another drawing showed a young man under a starry sky, holding a phone as if he were capturing sothing. From his focused gaze, it was clear he was photographing the most beautiful thing in the world.
At the ti, Xue Yang had told her he didn’t like taking pictures, so he hadn’t saved any for himself when they watched the super blue moon and the teor shower.
Yet he was so photogenic; what a waste for him not to take photos.
Lin Xi spent the whole day drawing Xue Yang, as if by doing so, he was still there with her.
***
When Xue Yang returned that evening, it was already 8 PM.
Even so, he took Lin Xi downstairs. They walked hand-in-hand through the snow. It was too late to go far, so they just strolled around their apartnt building. After the first snow, people’s enthusiasm for making snown had waned, and they rarely saw any on their walk.
"Next Tuesday is Christmas."
"So soon?"
"Yes, so soon."
The arrival of Christmas ant New Year’s Day was also approaching. And New Year’s Day was when they had promised to go ho. So every day now felt like their last one together.
The topic was too heavy, and the atmosphere beca sowhat solemn.
"Xue Yang, my novel is getting more and more readers! Look, these are the comnts I received just today. The editor said that once my readership and follower count reach the standard, they’ll schedule a promotion for . Then I’ll be able to earn so real money!"
Lin Xi showed Xue Yang her writer’s dashboard. Over a hundred people. It seed not all of them had co from his shout-out; so readers had found the novel on their own.
Not bad, a decent start. But Xue Yang knew that writing a novel wasn’t as simple as she imagined. People who beca famous from a single book were the exception; most gave up halfway. Seeing how full of confidence Lin Xi was, however, he didn’t want to discourage her.
"So, my beautiful author, what do you plan to do after you get your royalties?"
"I’ll buy you a watch. That way, whenever you look down, you’ll see the ti and rember to co ho early."
"What else do you want to buy?"
"Lots of beautiful clothes, bags, and makeup."
Back at ho, she never lacked these things. Every change of season, representatives from major brands would co to her house to create custom clothes, makeup, and bags just for her.
"Anything else?"
"Maybe a big villa with a large yard. We could plant all sorts of flowers and plants, build a little pavilion with a swing next to it, and put out a rocking chair. When we have free ti, we can chat and sunbathe in the yard."
If they had children, they would play on the grass while she and Xue Yang watched from the side. What a peaceful life that would be!
"Nice. You have grand ambitions."
"Of course. We’ll have bread, we’ll have everything."
"Yes, we’ll have bread, we’ll have everything."
Without realizing it, they had walked to the front of Yonghui Supermarket. Christmas and New Year’s were still two weeks away, but the supermarket was already gearing up for the holidays, displaying a joyous atmosphere all around.
Seeing the huge Christmas tree at the entrance, a thought struck Xue Yang. He suddenly stopped and said to Lin Xi, "Co on, I’ll take you to buy sothing."
"What is it? Is it expensive? If it is, let’s not get it."
Miss Lin had never had to worry about money when she wanted sothing, but now, she didn’t want Xue Yang to work so hard. She tried to avoid spending on anything that wasn’t a daily necessity.
She had seen how hard Xue Yang worked recently. Besides attending classes, he also had to find ti to complete the Lin Corporation project. On top of that, he would co ho at night to tutor her, help outline her novel, and finish his photo retouching tasks for a fashion brand. His ti for rest was being compressed bit by bit. In the past, he would have been satisfied with just an extra five or ten minutes of sleep.
"It’s not expensive."
Xue Yang took Lin Xi’s hand and began running back the way they ca. It was her first ti running through the streets like this, and she felt a bit self-conscious at first. But seeing the exuberant look on his face as he pulled her along, she unconsciously quickened her pace.
On the busy, pedestrian-filled street, two figures ran hand-in-hand, weaving quickly through the crowd.
At that mont, she probably would have followed him without hesitation, no matter what he planned to do.
Xue Yang led Lin Xi to the area near Yanbei Affiliated Primary School, where he found a rather old-looking sundry shop that seed to cater mainly to the local students. If she hadn’t followed him inside, Lin Xi would never have even noticed it was a shop.
The owner was a man who looked to be in his early sixties, wearing an old-fashioned pair of reading glasses that made him appear both kindly and shrewd. When he saw Xue Yang lead Lin Xi in, he pushed his glasses up on his nose and peered out at them. He probably didn’t expect two fashionable-looking young people to walk in at this hour.
"Shopkeeper, we’d like to buy two Christmas trees."
Hearing this, Lin Xi grabbed Xue Yang’s arm, stood on her tiptoes, and whispered in his ear, "Xue Yang, we don’t need to buy Christmas trees. They’re too expensive! And two of them? Where would we even put them?"
What she found strange, however, was that the shop didn’t look like it sold Christmas trees. It was old and small, filled with all kinds of little snacks and trinkets she’d never seen before.
Xue Yang replied with a smile, "Don’t worry. Our place has room for two, three, even ten if we wanted."
Lin Xi’s jaw dropped in astonishnt, her eyes sparkling. "Xue Yang, don’t tell you already bought a villa!"
She had just ntioned wanting a villa, and it was as if he had magicked one into existence.
"Did you buy a lottery ticket? Did you win ten million?"
Xue Yang tapped her on the forehead. "No lottery ticket, and no villa. Here, Christmas trees!" he said, taking two small packages from the shopkeeper’s hands.
"Fifty cents a pack," the old man said.
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