A Cool-Headed, Warm-Hearted Young Man

Saturday morning

Ding Yebai was quite disciplined. He got up just after six.

The sky was already bright. He climbed out of bed, slipped on his slippers, and pulled open the curtains.

"Drizzle..."

Another dreary rainy day, as always.

Ding Yebai rubbed his neck and turned around. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the English vocabulary book on the desk and habitually pretended not to see it.

After taking a few steps forward, he suddenly realized something and stopped involuntarily.

"Memorize words. Memorize words." Ding Yebai turned back, sat down at his desk, and found the vocabulary sheet Yang Zhi had given him.

The whole page was packed with dense writing. Just looking at it gave Ding Yebai a headache.

He used to glance over it a little so he could pass the morning dictation, but this was his first time seriously memorizing them.

"Sigh... Fine, I'll memorize them. If I don't pass on Monday, it really won't look good."

Ding Yebai lazily leaned back in his chair, his expression blank as he mechanically memorized the words.

A little after eight

Ding Yebai went out to a nearby supermarket to buy some bread.

While waiting in line to pay, he was still muttering as he worked through his weekend physics paper.

"Mars and Jupiter travel around the sun along their respective elliptical orbits..."

"Ma'am, we really don't have enough change for you."

Ding Yebai paused. Hearing that, he glanced at the cashier, then slowly looked at the old woman in front of him.

Her dry, aged hands tightly clutched a hundred-yuan bill, and she looked somewhat at a loss.

Oh... It looked like the old woman didn't know how to scan codes with a smartphone, so she had brought cash. He often saw this sort of thing in the news and on TV dramas. He had never expected to run into it himself today.

"It's not that I won't take cash, ma'am. How about buying something else to bring it up to an even forty? Then I can make change... Hardly anyone uses cash these days."

The old woman troubledly looked at the milk in her hands and fell silent for a long while. Clearly, she did not want to spend any more money.

Sigh, old folks were generally frugal.

The scene reached an impasse, and even the surrounding chatter quieted somewhat.

The old woman and cashier awkwardly looked at each other. Ding Yebai watched from behind, watching and watching, feeling as though time was dragging on endlessly.

He lowered his head, stared at his watch, and sighed. Then he stepped forward and said coldly, "I'll pay for it."

As soon as he finished speaking, he opened his payment app and held out his phone.

Both the young cashier and the elderly woman froze.

"All right, Grandma. He'll pay for you."

Grandma said, "Oh, all right... Thank you, young man."

Ding Yebai said without changing expression, "It's nothing."

Grandma smiled, carried her two cartons of milk, and left.

Ding Yebai watched her go, then put the bread he had bought on the counter.

The young cashier gave him a meaningful look for three seconds.

He looked so cold, but he had done such a warmhearted thing.

And he was pretty handsome, too.

She silently thought to herself.

After Ding Yebai paid and came out, he ran into the old woman again.

"Young man." Grandma took the initiative to stop Ding Yebai.

Ding Yebai had just been about to open his umbrella, but quietly folded it back up. "Grandma... What is it?"

"Our home is just up ahead, around the corner. I absolutely must pay you back the 14.4. Could you come with me?"

"No need. It's only a little over ten yuan."

"No. Ten-odd yuan is still money. I have to pay you back."

"..."

"Oh, I absolutely have to pay you back. And I made some pastries at home. They're delicious—I'll give you some to try."

Ding Yebai looked at Grandma's expectant gaze and could not bear to refuse. "...All right."

It was on the way anyway. He might as well make the trip.

Grandma smiled innocently.

Her smile was kind and lovely. She truly was an adorable old woman.

Ding Yebai helplessly sighed and opened his umbrella. "Grandma, I'll hold the umbrella for you. You're carrying things, so it's inconvenient."

Grandma was a little pleasantly surprised. She had been about to open her own umbrella, but upon hearing Ding Yebai, she could only put it away. "Then thank you, young man."

Ding Yebai sheltered Grandma beneath the umbrella and deliberately tilted it toward her. By the time they reached her home, the shoulder on his other side had gotten somewhat wet from the rain.

Grandma's home was also a traditional courtyard house, with carved wooden railings and latticed windows. It was elegant and delicate.

Ding Yebai stood beneath the corridor, watching the rain and patiently waiting for Grandma.

Patter, patter...

"Young man."

"Hm?"

Ding Yebai watched as Grandma came out holding money and a box of pastries.

"I originally wanted my granddaughter to transfer the money to you by phone, but she's in the bathroom, and I didn't want to disturb her. This old fool doesn't know how to use a smartphone, and I was afraid you might have something to do and couldn't wait, so I brought out cash. I hope you don't mind, young man..."

Ding Yebai froze.

Grandma said, "If you don't want cash, I'll go call my granddaughter out."

Grandma had a bit of an accent.

The way she said "call" sounded, at first glance, exactly like "pay."

Ding Yebai narrowed his eyes in confusion, then slowly said, "No need. Cash is money too. Why would anyone dislike money?"

Just as he was about to take the money, footsteps came from the inner room.

"Grandma, I'm here."

Ding Yebai knew that clear, pleasant voice all too well.

He had considered that it might be her, but only for a moment.

It couldn't be such a coincidence, could it?

Jinghuai was not exactly a small place, right?

After a while

He could only watch helplessly as Yang Zhi walked over.

She wore thin-framed silver glasses, with long, smooth black hair draped loose over her shoulders and an oversized white T-shirt that reached her thighs. Her beauty was as fresh and pure as a water lily, making one's eyes light up.

She was simply a college student enjoying a leisurely holiday.

So the person he had helped was Sister Yang Zhi's grandma.

Yang Zhi said, "Eh? Ding Yebai?"

Ding Yebai straightened up and politely said, "Sister Yang Zhi."

Grandma said, "You know each other?"

Yang Zhi said, "Grandma, he's Ding Yuerong's younger brother. I'm the one tutoring him."

Grandma looked Ding Yebai over again, and the delight in her eyes multiplied several times. "So you're Ding Yuerong's younger brother! You're eighteen this year?"

Ding Yebai said, "Mm."

Grandma said, "Wonderful, wonderful. As expected, both you and your sister are good children. The Ding family really is something."

Ding Yebai did not pay much attention to Grandma's assessment of him. He merely glanced at Yang Zhi, then naturally looked away again.

She dressed quite formally during class.

But in private, she dressed casually. It was rare to see her wearing glasses.

Her temperament... was as artsy and fresh as ever.

Grandma smiled and gently held Yang Zhi's arm, pointing at Ding Yebai. "Transfer him 14.4. I didn't know how to scan a code at the supermarket, so this Ye Bai paid for me."

Yang Zhi's eyes widened slightly in surprise after hearing that. Then she took out her phone and gave Ding Yebai a gentle smile. "Thank you."

Ding Yebai said, "It's nothing."

After receiving the money, he was about to leave when Grandma stopped him again. "Take this box of red bean pastries. Thank you."

Ding Yebai accepted it with both hands and nodded slightly. A rare smile appeared on his face. "Thank you. I'll be going, then."

Grandma said, "All right."

Ding Yebai looked at Yang Zhi once more and said very politely, "Goodbye."

Yang Zhi smiled sweetly. "Mm, see you Monday."

"Oh, right, remember to memorize your vocabulary. I'm testing you on Monday."

"...I know."

After Ding Yebai left, Grandma sat back down in her rocking chair.

Two wooden rocking chairs had always been placed beneath this corridor. Yang Zhi and Grandma often sat here together, listening to the rain and watching the snow.

Yang Zhi said, "Grandma, why did you go buy milk so early in the morning?"

Grandma said, "Hehe, don't you and Qiqi love this brand of milk? When I was making breakfast today, I found that we had just run out. I originally planned to buy a whole case, but when I got there, it was sold out. There were only two single bottles left. Usually they have change, but today they happened to have none..."

She paused, recalling Ding Yebai, and her smile grew gentler. "Luckily, I met a good young man. He looks so cool, but he's actually very warmhearted."

Yang Zhi smiled, closed her eyes to listen to the rain, and gently rocked back and forth in the rocking chair, back and forth~

After a while, she softly said, "Yes."

Her voice was neither loud nor soft, blending seamlessly into the gentle sound of rain.