Su Yi finally had a phone of his own, and Yu Huiyin had begun to notice something.
Su Yi learned things incredibly quickly. He seemed able to remember anything after hearing it explained just once, so she simply taught him how to type on his phone and search for answers.
Anything he didn't understand, he could ask Baidu. There were more professional, more standardized answers there.
Sure enough, Su Yi lived up to her expectations. He mastered in ten minutes the pinyin others spent years learning, and he was already deftly using the smartphone that made so many elderly people shrink back.
As Su Yi searched for all sorts of strange questions, he complained, "If you'd told me earlier that a phone could look up so many things, I wouldn't have had to ask you so many questions."
Yu Huiyin nearly bristled. So this was her fault?
How was she supposed to know Su Yi would be a blank slate, completely cut off from the world?
And how was she supposed to know this blockhead learned so quickly?
In the end, however, she held it in. At least Su Yi would no longer pester her with boring, idiotic questions.
After Su Yi got back into the car, he didn't speak to Yu Huiyin again. His fingers tapped so fast that anyone who didn't know better might have thought he was a shut-in who spent all year hunched over his phone.
The museum was only ten kilometers from the university. They spent nearly twenty minutes stuck in traffic along the way, but Su Yi showed no sign of impatience. He silently tapped his phone as the various questions in his mind gradually found answers.
This era was so much better than the past. Almost any information could be looked up with just a phone.
"We're here." Yu Huiyin parked in a lot near the museum and called out to Su Yi.
Su Yi drew a shallow breath, put away his phone, and smiled at Yu Huiyin. "Thank you."
Yu Huiyin froze for a moment. Was this man's reaction time a little too slow? He was thanking her now?
She got out, but Su Yi remained seated in the car without moving...
Yu Huiyin suddenly realized what Su Yi's thanks had meant, and her face instantly darkened.
Was that thank-you meant to get her to open the door for him again?
"I'll put up with it!" Yu Huiyin clenched her small fists and walked around to the passenger door through gritted teeth, opening it for Su Yi.
Su Yi stepped out nonchalantly without so much as looking at Yu Huiyin. His gaze had already turned toward the museum a short distance away.
A museum was a place for collecting, preserving, displaying, and studying physical objects representing natural and human cultural heritage...
In other words, he could see things from many years ago here.
Su Yi narrowed his eyes slightly. He was actually quite nostalgic. Every time he woke up in the past, he would inevitably travel around, looking at things left behind, visiting the descendants of old acquaintances, and recalling some of the more interesting events of bygone days.
They had just reached the foot of the Qingzhou City Museum's steps when a girl in a JK uniform with twin ponytails came up to meet them. A tall, straight-backed young man followed behind her.
Yu Huiyin's expression was noticeably unpleasant when she saw the young man.
"Sister Yu, you really kept me waiting." The girl with twin ponytails immediately linked arms with Yu Huiyin, glanced at Su Yi, and asked, "Sister Yu, who's this? I've never seen him before."
Yu Huiyin didn't know how to introduce Su Yi either, so she could only say, "His name is Su Yi."
"Su Yi, this is my friend Bai Qingyan."
Su Yi nodded at Bai Qingyan and smiled. "The cold pond shone beneath the moon; the crescent curved beside the pond. If neither envied the other's pure beauty, they became candles lighting one another. That name of yours does remind me of someone."
"Hmm? What poem are you reciting?" Bai Qingyan looked at Su Yi in puzzlement. She didn't even know where her own name came from, only that her grandfather had chosen it and that it sounded quite nice.
Su Yi thought for a moment and said, "I think this poem was called 'Moon Pond.' It was written by someone named Han Yu. He was a very interesting person too."
"Han Yu?" Understanding dawned on Bai Qingyan. She had become a little interested in this man who could casually identify the origin of her name, though she still felt there was something odd about him.
At the very least, young people in today's society didn't recite poetry at the drop of a hat.
Yu Huiyin was momentarily stunned too. If Su Yi had known the origin of her name because he had prepared beforehand, how did that explain Bai Qingyan's name?
This poem by Han Yu wasn't particularly famous. Could Su Yi really be well versed in classical poetry and lyrics?
People with that sort of interest really were rare these days.
How could she have known that, when Han Yu composed this poem back then, Su Yi had been standing right beside him, and had even written it down for Han Yu with his own hand?
Now he was merely remembering an old acquaintance.
"Huiyin, I haven't seen you in ages."
While they were talking, the young man behind Bai Qingyan had already walked over to greet Yu Huiyin.
Yu Huiyin gave him a reserved, polite smile and said, "It certainly has been a long time."
"Aren't you going to introduce us? Don't tell me this is your boyfriend?" The young man glanced at Su Yi and smiled. "I admit I was impulsive when I confessed to you last time, but you didn't have to grab some random guy just to get under my skin."
Yu Huiyin's expression abruptly turned cold. Her earlier polite smile had merely been because she didn't want to tear away all pretense of civility. Her good upbringing allowed her to maintain an appropriate distance from anyone, but the young man's words made her feel offended.
"Qin Lin, we're ordinary friends at most, so there's no need for me to find someone just to get under your skin." Yu Huiyin raised her eyebrows. "Besides, I had no idea you would be here too. Please don't read too much into it."
There was actually something else she hadn't said: If I'd known you were here, I wouldn't have come.
Yu Huiyin simply felt that anyone clever should be able to hear what lay between the lines.
"I see. So is he your boyfriend or not?" Qin Lin persisted with his questions. Clearly, he wasn't a clever person.
Su Yi merely glanced at Qin Lin without speaking. He never got involved in competing for a woman's affection. After all, in the past, it had always been women competing for his.
"Whether he's my boyfriend doesn't seem to have anything to do with you." Yu Huiyin said coldly, "If you keep this up, I don't think we can even remain friends."
Qin Lin hurriedly said, "I'll stop asking, all right?"
With that, he extended a hand to Su Yi. "My name is Qin Lin."
Su Yi glanced at him, showing no intention of even reaching out.
Shaking hands with an unfamiliar man really wasn't a pleasant thing.
"You!" Feeling that he had been ignored, Qin Lin frowned and stared at Su Yi. He was very unhappy now!
Yu Huiyin sighed and said, "That's enough. Su Yi has only just come back from the countryside. Don't get angry with him, and don't bother us either. Can we each look around separately?"
"Fine!" Qin Lin nodded, forcing the word through his teeth as his gaze toward Su Yi grew increasingly hostile.
Why was Yu Huiyin so protective of some uncouth brat who had just come out of the countryside?