Chapter 138

The main thing is... a tent is still peeking out from under the covers, looking quite energetic. It seems he's almost fully recovered after three days. "Phew..." Xia Yan let out a soft breath, then turned over. There was no alarm clock noise, no frustrating forced-on, and it wasn't still dark outside. How long had it been since he'd slept like this, waking up naturally? Xia Yan yawned, curled up on the pillow, surprisingly reluctant to get out of bed, then picked up his phone from beside the bed and entered a simple mixed password with one hand: gxh521. So many messages. Whether it was WeChat or QQ, they all showed 99+ messages. Even Douyin, which wasn't his primary means of communication, showed many messages, including several voice calls from people he didn't recognize. He knew without looking that they were from women. Xia Yan put his phone on the bed with a slight headache and then scrolled down. Aside from a few important group chats and contacts that Xia Yan had pinned to the top, he couldn't scroll through all the other messages, only seeing the various red dots and messages... "Um, Grandpa's fine, and there's nothing in the school, class, or dormitory groups either. Hua Xin and Xia Fen..." Hua Xin: "Are you feeling better? I'm so sorry about what happened that day..." "Why aren't you talking to me??" "Xia Yan! We're still good friends, right? Don't break up with me!" The picture below showed Chun Qiu, who had gained weight, looking sleepy as he held a piece of paper with "Guo Mei Na Se" written on it in a rather messy hand. Xia Yan chuckled softly, a warm glint in his eyes as he typed away, the slight vibrations of the keyboard creating a soft hum. "Who broke up with you? I didn't ignore you at all, what did you do wrong... I think I slept for 40 hours these past two days." "Also, thank you for staying with me that night. Xia Fen told me, 'Lao Hua, you're clearly my savior!'" "I'll treat you to dinner in a couple of days, this time I definitely won't faint." After making a little joke, he scrolled up and saw that Hua Xin had posted a lot of emojis. Xia Yan understood the girl's feelings, and he was even more pleased with Hua Xin's change. How could those words make him unhappy? Hua Xin wasn't wrong. He lowered his eyelids slightly and then opened Xia Fen's message. 7:44 (Lao Ge, do you want some chicken frame rice?). "Okay... You've become something." "When did this girl learn to care about her older brother..." Xia Yan, with a gratified expression, was about to type "okay" in the message box when he realized something was wrong. This was yesterday afternoon at seven o'clock, and now it was already ten o'clock the next morning. 7:45 (Never mind if you don't want to eat, Ghana.) Xia Yan twitched his lips. She didn't even wait two minutes, right? It's obvious she doesn't want to bring it for him. He really should just take her back to her hometown soon (indifferently). Just then, his contact notification popped up; someone had messaged him again. As everyone saw him as a "gentleman" and a "sunny, gentle, and warm-hearted man," this was a daily ritual he'd performed since high school. In the past, he'd either been ridiculed or isolated in middle school due to his withdrawn personality, leaving him without a single peer to talk to. However, when he added his first friend, Xia Yan was incredibly happy. The joy was indescribable; it was recognition, and the beginning of a new life. From then on, a completely new Xia Yan appeared before everyone. As his social skills and demeanor improved, his friends multiplied until he couldn't keep up with all the messages. Even so, he never ignored them or wasted time. "Doesn't Like Cilantro (Nursing junior): ' Xia Yan, wanna go hiking? I need a travel buddy, two days and two nights at Wugong Mountain!' 'I booked a guesthouse with a great view~ (hint)'" Who is this? Xia Yan frowned slightly, unable to recall who this "cilantro" was for a moment. It wasn't until he saw the photo she sent, clearly with some ulterior motive, that his vague memory began to clear. It was a photo of her wearing light makeup and a windbreaker at home. Why did he think she was scheming? Because girls don't usually wear makeup at home? He seemed to have met her in another department during a Student Council activity; she had asked him to, and he hadn't thought much of it, so he added her as a friend. "Sorry, I have plans. Have fun, senior." "Okay..." After politely declining, he opened the most-read message at the top. "Still in Shanghai? Want to play badminton? I just bought a new racket." "Let me tell you, this racket and this grip tape... (tempting)..." A badminton racket appeared in the photo below. He Doesn't Like Cilantro the logo and brand; they cost over a thousand yuan each. He vaguely remembered this girl, "Doesn't Like Cilantro," because when he and Xiang Guan were playing badminton in the school gymnasium, she threw her racket while playing next to them, almost hitting Xiang Guan on the head. As for why she apologized to Xia Yan Xiang Guan... well, her intentions were obvious. "Sorry, I'm not in Shanghai right now, I'm out with my girlfriend," Xia Yan said bluntly. What surprised him was that even though they had already officially announced it on their WeChat Moments, neither Liu Ruoyun nor Lin Qingyu had messaged him during this time, while these girls he barely remembered seemed to be ignoring him. "Oh... haha, didn't I see your Moments?..." "Having fun?"... After skipping through several messages from people Doesn't Like Cilantro and those Likes Luosifen, Xia Yan absentmindedly put down his phone. Although there were still many messages he hadn't replied to, he was surprisingly annoyed. He didn't want to reply anymore. What was he doing? Hua Xin's words from that night echoed in his mind again. What was the point of him doing this? Xia Yan lay flat on his back, staring at the ceiling, feeling a sense of dread for the first time. Even with many friends and acquaintances, could they truly be considered "friends"? He tried so hard to "please" everyone, trying to be considerate of everyone's feelings. But when he was truly sad and wanted to confide in someone, only Hua Xin was there. Xia Yan gave a self-deprecating laugh and then closed his eyes. [You're living too hard.] [You wanted me to become cheerful, independent, and to be myself.] [But did you succeed?] These words felt like knives stabbing straight into his heart. All the fears and things he'd been hiding had been exposed by Hua Xin. He... he'd always been deceiving himself. Xia Yan opened his eyes, sat up, picked up the bottled water on the table, and took a sip, the liquid moistening his parched throat. Time to get up. Two days of vacation left; Boss Frog had been very understanding and granted him paid leave, though no work meant no commission. Thinking of his savings from this period and the money he'd accumulated, Xia Yan shook his head, dispelling some of his earlier gloom, and regained his confidence. One-tenth of his goal had been achieved; marriage couldn't be far behind, could it? One day, he would...