#60

The entire game froze at this final moment.

Le Ya stared at it for a long time, an idea forming in her mind, though she wasn’t entirely sure. She exited the game and clicked on the link again.

The link led to a webpage, with the main page featuring a button to download the game.

She navigated from the webpage to the homepage and browsed through it, discovering that it seemed to be a gaming forum. The homepage was filled with content related to games, including discussions about recently popular overseas games.

The post Xie Qingyu had sent her had no title—just a punctuation mark—and contained only the download link. Replies had been disabled by the original poster.

Perhaps they didn’t want to see any comments.

Given the high traffic on the forum, the game’s download count increased by dozens within minutes. Even without a name, people were still curious enough to try it.

When Le Ya exited and tried to click on the link again, she found that the post had already been deleted by the original poster, and the game had disappeared along with it.

It was as if it had never existed.

The game app, however, remained on her phone.

Xie Qingyu: “How is it?”

Not waiting for Le Ya’s reply, Xie Qingyu grew anxious. Honestly, she wanted to download the game herself, but she was afraid of seeing something she shouldn’t, so she resisted.

She poked Liang Qian: “What kind of game is it?”

Liang Qian: “I don’t know. Yan Ge gave it to me. I didn’t play it either. You should ask Le Ya.”

Xie Qingyu secretly clicked on the link again, only to find that the post no longer existed.

Xie Qingyu: “….”

Chen Yang must have done this on purpose, deleting it after Le Ya downloaded it.

If she hadn’t forwarded it just now or if Le Ya hadn’t clicked on it, Xie Qingyu wondered if Chen Yang would’ve burst a blood vessel.

Still, she couldn’t help but feel a little envious.

Though she didn’t know where Chen Yang had gotten the game, if he had made it himself, it would be incredibly romantic.

There were often confessions from programmers on Weibo, and she thought Chen Yang’s gesture was much more practical—even though she hadn’t seen what was inside.

Le Ya didn’t have time to reply to Xie Qingyu.

She re-entered the game. Each time she entered, it started anew, following the same route.

This time, she looked carefully. Each gift was different: the first was a box of candy, the second was a rabbit, the third was a screen full of fireworks…

Le Ya viewed them all from start to finish.

Until the final eighteenth large gift box.

Le Ya didn’t know how to feel. She could guess who had made this—it had to be Chen Yang, and no one else.

Though she didn’t know when he had created such a game or why she hadn’t seen it before, her heart was now overflowing with happiness.

She hadn’t chatted with Chen Yang on WeChat before.

Le Ya was afraid she wouldn’t be able to control herself, so she had only secretly sent him a message on New Year’s Eve, not expecting him to notice.

This time, he had passed it to her through Xie Qingyu.

Le Ya opened Chen Yang’s WeChat, typed a sentence, then deleted it. After repeating this five or six times, she finally pressed send.

“I really like it.”

Only four words, without adding “thank you,” fearing it might sound too formal.

Liang Nuan came over from the side: “Do you want a drink? Look at your face—are you feeling hot? It’s probably too noisy here.”

Le Ya patted her cheeks. “A bit.”

Liang Nuan said: “Then go rest in the back for a while?”

Le Ya nodded, holding her phone as she walked over. On the way, her phone vibrated, startling her so much she nearly dropped it.

She waited until Liang Nuan left before opening her phone.

Chen Yang: “I like it too.”

The city in June was a bit hot, but luckily the weather forecast said it would be cloudy during the two days of the college entrance exam, neither raining nor sunny.

For students, this was the most ideal weather—they didn’t have to worry about heatstroke or being too hot to write.

The day before the exam, Le Ya returned to the country.

Before setting off, Liang Nuan prepared a big meal and a cake for her, wishing her high scores.

In the afternoon, Le Ya arrived at the airport.

The airport announcements continued nonstop, but she was already seated in the car heading home. This time, she didn’t need to return to school.

Her admission ticket had already been retrieved from the school by Le Yijian. She would go directly to take the exam. First High School was also an exam venue, but she would take the test at Third High School.

Le Ya knew that Xie Qingyu and the others were taking the exam at Second High School, while Chen Yang, through Liang Qian, was at First High School.

She hadn’t told him that she had returned.

Le Ya planned to find him after the exam was over.

From Chinese to the last subject, English, she handled each exam paper with ease. Having spent so much time abroad, she had practiced questions daily, and her English had improved. At least, she wouldn’t lose points on the listening section.

After finishing the exam and leaving the testing room, Le Ya felt completely relaxed.

As soon as Xie Qingyu finished her exam, she called Le Ya: “Le Ya, where are you?! I can finally call you!”

Le Ya said: “I’m at Third High School.”

“Are you going back to school? Some students here are returning,” Xie Qingyu asked. “By the way, how long will you stay this time?”

Le Ya squeezed out of the crowd at the school gate: “Maybe two days. Afterward, I’ll need surgery.”

Xie Qingyu exclaimed: “Then we must have some fun! Are you going back to school later?”

Le Ya said: “I might need to go home first.”

They chatted for a while, then Le Ya hung up. She went home to organize her things before heading to First High School.

The reason she was going to school today was to estimate her scores. Many answers had already been released, and the teachers wanted to know the top students’ results as soon as possible.

Le Ya returned to school at six in the evening.

Because of the college entrance exam, the junior high school was still on vacation.

The senior three building was filled with screaming classmates. Some boys even publicly confessed their feelings to the girls they liked, blocking their paths. The corridors were filled with cheers.

After being suppressed for so long, high school life had finally been liberated.

The boys on the fourth floor were especially mischievous. They brought their textbooks back to school and leaned against the railings, tearing pages and throwing them down, shouting loudly with each toss.

Below, the school leaders who had just returned from outside were hit by books falling on their heads. The discipline director roared: “Who did this? Whoever gets caught tonight won’t be allowed to leave!”

The boys on the fourth floor weren’t scared at all. They ran to another corridor and continued throwing, sending pieces of shredded paper flying everywhere.

Many students in Class One were relatively well-behaved. They stood in the corridor, watching the chaos across the way, commenting continuously.

When Le Ya entered the classroom, everyone was playing on their phones. A girl sobbed, burying her face on the desk: “Waaah, my confession failed! I shouldn’t have said anything—it’s so embarrassing…”

Xie Qingyu whispered: “She liked the class president. Scary, right?”

Le Ya was a bit shocked but could understand.

The Chinese representative and her boyfriend sat in the front row, heads bowed, doing something quietly. Before Le Ya could turn around, she heard the representative shriek: “Wow, let you go and you didn’t! Even elementary school kids are mocking our skills!”

Le Ya realized for the first time that she could be quite temperamental.

Cheers from outside poured in through the windows. Le Ya sat back at her seat. She hadn’t brought anything, so there was nothing inside.

Others’ senior year was spent entirely in the classroom, but hers was different. For half a year, she had been alone.

Le Ya couldn’t describe how she felt.

Not long after, their homeroom teacher, Ms. Jiang, suddenly sent a message in the WeChat group: “@All Members The teachers might arrive late tonight. Everyone can go eat dinner first and come back later.”

The classroom erupted in cheers again.

A delayed score estimation meant a postponed “torture session”—who wouldn’t be happy about that?

If the school hadn’t required attendance, most students probably wouldn’t have come. During score estimation, they could get away with fudging the numbers. After all, the teachers were currently only interested in the top students’ scores.

Le Ya, Xie Qingyu, and Su Hui went out for dinner.

Outside, Liang Qian was waiting. He was surprised: “Le Ya, you’re really back? When did you return?”

Le Ya said: “Yesterday afternoon.”

Liang Qian sighed: “I didn’t even know.”

He hesitated about mentioning Chen Yang and said instead: “Zhao Mingri went out on a date with a girl and completely forgot about me.”

Xie Qingyu teased: “Who would want to bring a third wheel along? Hurry up and call Chen Yang—tell him to come out.”

Le Ya saw Liang Qian about to make the call and quickly stopped him. “Don’t tell him I’m here. I want to surprise him.”

Alright, a surprise it was.

Liang Qian called but didn’t get through. Shortly after, he saw a message in the class group chat saying someone had spotted Chen Yang being called away by their homeroom teacher.

Liang Qian scratched his head. “Brother Yang got called away by the teacher.”

Though slightly disappointed, Le Ya still smiled faintly. “It’s fine. I won’t leave today. Let’s go eat dinner first, or we’ll be late.”

Summer wasn’t the best season for hot pot, and Liang Qian was also worried that Le Ya might not handle barbecue well, especially with all the smoke and oil. So, they settled on a Sichuan cuisine restaurant.

No one paid attention to the time while eating. By the time they finished, it was already 8:30 PM.

The four of them hurried back to the school.

Xie Qingyu and Liang Qian bickered the entire way, blaming each other for why they ended up finishing so late.

When they arrived at the school gate, they realized the main entrance had already been locked.

The security guard’s room was empty—no one was there. Standing outside, unable to enter, Le Ya felt a bit lost.

Xie Qingyu shouted at the gate for a while but saw no one. Frustrated, she said, “Maybe they’re patrolling. We came back too late.”

Su Hui peeked through the gap in the gate. “How do we get in?”

Liang Qian suggested: “Climb over the wall?”

They were already graduates now, so climbing the wall wouldn’t result in any punishment. Even if they acted recklessly tonight, it wouldn’t matter.

The senior three building was brightly lit.

Xie Qingyu exclaimed excitedly: “Sure, sure! I’ve never tried this before.”

This was her first time.

Liang Qian felt a bit pressured leading three girls, but under their admiring gazes, he couldn’t help but puff up with confidence.

The consequence of his inflated ego was helping Le Ya onto the wall.

The wall wasn’t particularly low. Le Ya climbed onto Liang Qian’s shoulders with great effort and finally managed to get on top of the wall—but then she froze, too scared to jump down.

On the ground, Liang Qian grew anxious seeing her hesitation. He feared she might sprain her ankle if she jumped carelessly.

Rolling up his sleeves, he prepared to climb over and catch her.

But Su Hui stopped him, whispering: “Call Chen Yang over. Isn’t this supposed to be a surprise? Perfect timing for a heroic rescue.”

In her heart, Su Hui silently prayed that Le Ya wouldn’t blame her later.

Liang Qian thought this idea was brilliant. In a flash, he sent Chen Yang a message and then followed up with a text, just in case he missed it.

Up on the wall, Le Ya trembled as the wind blew against her, feeling like she might fall at any moment. Her voice quivered as she asked: “I… how do I get down?”

“I’ll go first!” Liang Qian pretended to climb the wall, then let out an exaggerated groan and moved away from the wall.

Feeling nervous, Le Ya called out: “What happened?”

Xie Qingyu quickly said: “He seems to have twisted his ankle.”

Liang Qian added two theatrical cries of pain.

There weren’t many people around the corner of the wall.

Le Ya, who had always been obedient, had never attempted climbing a wall before. This was her first time being so bold. Her throat felt dry, and she had no idea what to do.

With Liang Qian’s ankle supposedly twisted, he couldn’t cross over. Le Ya’s heart raced nervously. Was she going to sit on the wall all night?

She didn’t dare move.

When Chen Yang emerged from the teaching building, this was the scene he encountered.

A petite girl wearing a beautiful dress sat atop the wall. Her delicate features were bathed in the glow of the streetlights, tinged with anxiety and uncertainty.

Her slender legs dangled below, occasionally swaying.

The sight stirred something deep within his heart.

Le Ya shifted awkwardly. When she looked up, she saw Chen Yang. Her heart, which had been pounding, suddenly calmed, though she didn’t know why.

She bit her lip, afraid to speak.

Her hand resting on the wall kept fidgeting. The hem of her skirt fluttered in the wind, occasionally revealing her smooth, elegant calves.

Chen Yang suddenly felt like laughing.

After half a year of separation, he found that all the questions he had prepared vanished in front of her. She always had a way of defeating him.

Le Ya watched as he approached step by step.

Two meters.

One meter.

Le Ya wore sandals, and her foot arched tensely. Her rounded toes, painted with orange-pink nail polish, shimmered faintly under the streetlight.

She looked impossibly beautiful.

Chen Yang stood below her and said, “Jump down.”

Just three words, slightly hoarse, as if suppressing some emotion.

Le Ya instinctively wanted to shake her head.

Chen Yang repeated himself.

The young man stood beneath her. His silhouette was outlined by shadows, his nose sharp, his jawline taut and sensual. He extended his hand toward her.

Le Ya gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and jumped.

From the other side of the wall came gasps of surprise.

Coincidentally, many students had just finished estimating their scores and were leaving the teaching building in small groups. They accidentally caught sight of the scene by the wall and were left stunned, covering their mouths in shock.

After a brief rush of wind, Le Ya landed accurately into a pair of arms. The hands around her waist tightened abruptly, holding her securely.

She blurted out: “That scared me to death.”

Chen Yang had caught her.

He gripped her waist tightly, afraid she’d run off again.

Unidentifiable emotions churned in Chen Yang’s eyes. He leaned closer to her, and Le Ya, startled, closed her eyes. But instead of anything more, he only lightly kissed the corner of her lips.

“Even if you were to die, you could only die in my arms.”