*
Yan Heqing woke up late the next day; his head felt heavy and his throat was a little sore.
I took medicine in the middle of the night, but it still didn't suppress my cold.
Although he had no appetite, he still cooked some porridge, added nothing, and ate a bowl of it.
I weighed it on the scale; it was 119.
It slowly gained another two pounds.
After studying cell biology for a while, he took another cold medicine, changed his coat, and went out.
It was cold, so he was dressed very warmly today. The snow had stopped, but the whole world was covered in white snow.
The daylight wasn't very bright, there were no pedestrians, just two tire tracks on the road.
It was still early, so Yan Heqing walked a little slower, gently breathing in the fresh air after the snow.
It's cool and has a clean taste.
Yan Heqing liked the smell. He took out his earphones from his bag, put them in his ears, and kept listening to the song he had played for Lu Lin the day before yesterday. He didn't like listening to music, so he switched back to Russian vocabulary and silently memorized it in his mind.
He walked to the subway station at a leisurely pace.
The university was on holiday, and it was early, so the subway was surprisingly empty today, and the air was fresh, which eased some of Yan Heqing's discomfort.
Almost all the seats were empty. Today, Yan Heqing sat down. The words in his headphones were somewhat hypnotic, and he closed his eyes and dozed off for a while, which was rare for him. He didn't open his eyes until the subway was almost at the station.
Even in the cold winter, the children at the orphanage still want to play on the playground. The orphanage is the only place they can play, and they yearn for the outside world.
Only after Yan Heqing's guarantee did Auntie Zhang agree to let him take the children from the third floor to the playground to build a snowman.
Xu Qiaoyin gave them a box of drawing models, and that's how they got the snowman's nose and eyes.
Children's imaginations are boundless, and the snowmen they built were uniquely shaped. One little girl asked Yan Heqing, " Brother Yan, is the snowman I built correct?"
Yan Heqing picked up a few broken branches from the snow to make the snowman's hands. Hearing the little girl's words, he squatted down and carefully looked at the snowman she had built. Its eyes were green, its mouth was black, and No. 1 Primary School branch was stuck on its head.
Yan Heqing's eyes crinkled into a smile. He turned to the child and said, "Everyone's snowman is different, they're all right. Your snowman is very cute."
The little girl immediately jumped for joy and ran to call her friends to see the snowman she had built.
Yan Heqing got up, gave the branches to the children who needed them, and then found No. 1 Primary School of ground, squatted down, and made a small snowman by rolling up some clean snow.
Fifth floor.
Several girls silently gazed out the window; everything was white—it must be snowing.
It's been so long since I've seen snow.
In the clear, innocent eyes of the child, there was an obvious sense of loss.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.
"May I come in?"
They all recognized Yan Heqing's voice and turned around, excitedly exclaiming, "Great!"
Yan Heqing pushed open the door, his left hand raised, and in his palm was a chubby, miniature snowman.
The girls' eyes lit up as they looked at the snowman with surprise and delight. "It's a snowman!"
Yan Heqing held the snowman and went around to each of the little girls, letting them touch it.
"So cool! Haha."
"The snow is so white."
"I've made snowmen before! They were prettier than Brother Yan's."
Finally, this cute little snowman was placed on the windowsill of the girls' dormitory.
Yan Heqing still had no appetite at noon, so she ate a little rice and took a cold medicine. The afternoon was mainly for washing clothes. The Lu Group had donated a washing machine and dryer, which made things much more convenient. The dirty clothes went in and were all washed and dried in one afternoon. After folding the clothes, she sent them back to the children's dormitories. That was the end of Yan Heqing's work for the day.
He waited for Xu Qiaoyin to get off work, and Xu Qiaoyin was more talkative than yesterday.
"No one followed me when I went out this morning." She smiled. "I think I saw you take me home yesterday."
The two walked slowly towards the subway. Yan Heqing smiled faintly, "A few more times will be more effective."
Xu Qiaoyin nodded, her smile broadening considerably, and chatted with Yan Heqing the entire way.
Upon arriving at Xu Qiaoyin's apartment, Xu Qiaoyin opened the refrigerator. She had specially bought durian; the fruit shop owner said it was the king of fruits, and young people loved to eat it. She brought it out, saying, "I don't know if you like it, but I can't finish it all by myself."
"I like it." Yan Heqing took one, ate it carefully, and then left.
Xu Qiaoyin originally wanted Yan Heqing to take the rest, but she was afraid that it would be a burden for Yan Heqing, so she carefully wrapped them in plastic wrap and put them back in the refrigerator.
Yan Heqing returned to the residential area very late. Lu Muchi had waited all night and watched Yan Heqing go upstairs, his eyes slightly narrowed.
The university has already given out its summer break, so why does Yan Heqing come home so late every day?
Is she going on a date?
Lu Muchi increasingly agitated, so he made a phone call.
"Here's my address, I'll be right there."
A short while later, a car stopped in front, the door opened, and a middle-aged man of average height got out. He looked around and quickly ran towards Lu Muchi.
The car window rolled down, and the middle-aged man asked solicitously, " Young Master Lu, what can I do for you?"
Lu Muchi handed over his phone; on the screen was Yan Heqing's college entrance photo. "Starting tomorrow, follow him and report his movements to me in detail."
The middle-aged man looked at the screen. This neighborhood was clearly not where Lu Muchi would live. He asked with a forced smile, "Does he live in this neighborhood?"
Lu Muchi raised his chin and looked at the lit window on the third floor. "That one."
At the same time, Yan Heqing lowered a corner of the curtain.
He couldn't see the man who came to see Lu Muchi clearly, but he could guess that in the novel, there was a private detective who ran errands for Lu Muchi.
Back then, it was all about the Lin Fengzhi. Lu Muchi never hid it, and he was always present when the private investigator came to the villa to report.
Yan Heqing didn't care.
With a private investigator following him, he would have one less step of trouble and wouldn't have to figure out how to make Lu Muchi discover Xu Qiaoyin's existence.
A surge of thirst welled up in his throat again. Yan Heqing coughed softly several times, then walked to the sofa, sat down, drank some hot water, picked up his phone, and saw the number 9.