Chapter 1 Returning Home

The car arrived home at night.

When they returned to the village, the road was deserted. Every household was celebrating the New Year in their homes, with all the lights on.

Wu Wenxin was also watching the building next door as they arrived.

Shi Yi's family had returned earlier.

Though not much earlier, only the day before.

Their lights were also on.

Now that they were back in their hometown, they were neighbors again, and they would have more time and opportunities to meet. But if she took the initiative to find him too often, or if he sought her out, would his parents find it strange?

They were indeed close as children, but they had lost contact for so long…

Thinking of this, Wu Wenxin felt a headache coming on.

A severe one.

"Wenxin, you're staying in the upstairs room. The bed is already made for you. Do you want to go straight to your room, or watch the Spring Festival Gala with us?" Her mother, who had come down from the stairs, asked.

"Spring Festival Gala? Is it today?" Wu Wenxin asked, puzzled.

"The local Spring Festival Gala. I heard there are some familiar comedians," her mother said.

"The local one? Pass."

Wu Wenxin waved her hand and headed for the stairs.

"So, you're saying the CCTV Spring Festival Gala…"

"Won't watch that either."

"..."

Her mother immediately made a pursed-lips face like a foreign child, speechless.

Carrying her bag, Wu Wenxin went upstairs to her room. After lying on the bed, she opened her phone and sent a message to Shi Yi.

Wu Wenxin: I'm home.

Soon, he replied.

Shi Yi: I know, I saw your car from the balcony earlier.

Wu Wenxin: Want to hang out tomorrow?

But after sending the message, she quickly realized that he was a super student with a score of 730, the future top scorer in Hai Dong Province. So, she quickly added a disclaimer.

Wu Wenxin: Of course, after you're done with your stuff.

Shi Yi: Nothing much to do during the New Year. I'm taking a good break these days.

Shi Yi: Let's hang out. [Let me see]

Seeing this funny and playful emoji, Wu Wenxin felt quite amazed.

She thought that only people like her with scores of 500+ would use such emojis, but she didn't expect a 730 genius to have such an approachable side…

Wait, why am I calling it approachable?

Ever since she found out about Shi Yi's score, she suddenly felt like there was something hard to describe between them…

In short, she felt like calling him "Master."

But clearly, while Wu Wenxin's heart had not changed, neither had Shi Yi's.

He was still himself.

Wu Wenxin: Should I go to your place, or you come to mine?

Wu Wenxin: I feel like suddenly visiting someone's house in the countryside is a bit awkward, in case they have guests or something…

It was still because of that period of separation that their relationship had been severed, making it a little strange for them to hang out again now.

It was like when two people broke up, and their mutual friends knew about it, so they didn't bring it up anymore, gradually erasing that person's existence from their social circles.

But if those two got back together without announcing it publicly, everyone around them would feel extremely uncomfortable…

To illustrate her point, Wu Wenxin wanted to say that if she went to Shi Yi's house, his parents would look at her and Shi Yi with suspicion: "These two are?!"

Very awkward, understand?

Shi Yi: How about I tell my parents about you?

Wu Wenxin: That's too sudden, wouldn't that be bad?

Was she supposed to announce to his parents that she was going to become best friends with the boy next door again?

No, no, no.

That would definitely make people suspect that their relationship wasn't so simple.

Although,

It was never that simple to begin with.

Wu Wenxin: I've got it, I have a good idea!

Shi Yi: I'm all ears.

Wu Wenxin: Isn't there a housewarming feast in the village tomorrow?

Shi Yi: I heard there is. Are you going?

Wu Wenxin: I didn't want to, but now I might.

Shi Yi: Then we can sit at the same table during the feast?

Wu Wenxin: I'll tell my dad to ask your dad to sit at the same table. Then, during the banquet, I'll have him make it awkward, chatting with your dad, saying that I'm back in the country and going to attend No. 4 High School, and that Shi Yi from your family is also attending No. 4 High School.

After typing this, Wu Wenxin found it too troublesome and turned over in bed, using voice chat on her phone, imitating her dad's tone, saying: "What a coincidence, you two will be classmates. Come on, Wenxin, say hello to Shi Yi, you guys used to be so close. Don't be shy, be more open…"

After the other party listened to the voice message, he replied.

Shi Yi: Do we need to act that much?

Wu Wenxin: Wouldn't it be weird if we suddenly started hanging out?

Shi Yi: That's true.

Shi Yi: Then what?

Then…

Wu Wenxin fell into a reverie, and continued to press the voice button: "Then you take the initiative to greet me, saying hello, and I quietly reply, hello. After the feast, the adults will chat, and we'll go to the side and make awkward small talk, get to know each other, then slowly become friends, and finally we can hang out together, visit each other's houses…"

She thought this plan was flawless.

Shi Yi: Hmm…

Shi Yi: Okay.

See, he also thought she was so clever!

Wu Wenxin: Then go visit the temple fair?

Shi Yi: Sure, I'd love to go too.

Wu Wenxin: Ok, then I'll go to bed early tonight, see you tomorrow.

Shi Yi: See you tomorrow.

With that, Wu Wenxin and Shi Yi ended their chat.

Then, she got out of bed, put on her slippers, and slowly and gently began practicing Chen-style Tai Chi.

Ever since she had a heart problem, she had been told to keep calm and not to get too excited.

So, Chen-style Tai Chi became her exclusive exercise for self-control when she was emotionally aroused.

'Visiting the temple fair' was the day she and Shi Yi first met as children.

It would definitely evoke many memories.

This was what childhood sweethearts were all about.

As they moved towards the future, they were also constantly reminiscing about the past.

But this kind of looking back wasn't annoying.

Or rather, she wasn't annoyed at all.

It was quite interesting.

As she thought this, she suddenly saw a pair of string-and-paper-cup telephones hanging on her bookshelf, also known as "country phones," which made her "look back" again…

…

It was that summer vacation when she had measles.

Because the other children still didn't want to play with Wu Wenxin, fearing contagion, Shi Yi would play on the second floor of Wu Wenxin's house when the weather was too hot to run around outside.

Boys usually didn't like to play with girls.

But Wu Wenxin found Shi Yi very nice and patient with her.

As long as her house had Sudoku, science books, Lego…

"You seem to really like Sudoku. Is it really that fun?" Wu Wenxin, holding a game console, leaned over to Shi Yi, who was happily writing Sudoku at his desk, and asked, puzzled.

"It's quite interesting, what's wrong?" Shi Yi asked, puzzled.

"Look, it's a game console."

Wu Wenxin showed him the black tech product.

"You play it then, I'll write Sudoku for a while," Shi Yi said with a smile. "You can call me if you can't pass a level."

"...Okay." Wu Wenxin originally wanted Shi Yi to like her house more and be willing to play with her, so she had her dad buy the game console online, but now it seemed that this kind of thing that most boys liked to play couldn't attract him.

Of course, it didn't attract her either.

Wu Wenxin threw the game console on the bed.

Then, she lay on the chair, looked at Shi Yi, and complained, "I feel like if you were locked up in jail, you wouldn't be bored as long as you had a Sudoku book."

"That's not really the case," Shi Yi shook his head and explained, "If I was locked up in jail, one Sudoku book definitely wouldn't be enough, I could finish it in a few days."

"...Is that the key point?"

"What, don't you like Sudoku?" Shi Yi said in surprise. "I saw you writing Sudoku on the bed the other day."

"It's so-so, I get tired after playing for a while. I also get tired when I can't solve it."

Wu Wenxin shook her head, then stared at Shi Yi with her big eyes and said a bit bored, "I say, is there anything we can play together?"

"We can write Sudoku together…"

"Please let Sudoku go!"

"Are you angry?"

Seeing Wu Wenxin's voice suddenly getting louder, Shi Yi asked worriedly.

"I'm not angry, it's just…"

Wu Wenxin put her head on the back of the chair, squashing her face. After a while, she said, "I want to play with you."

"Okay, how about we do some small crafts together?" Shi Yi suggested.

"Okay!" Hearing this, Wu Wenxin immediately perked up and stood up happily, holding a science book and saying, "This book teaches how to make a country phone. Let's try it."

"Sure."

Shi Yi nodded, then stared at her and asked curiously, "Have you finished reading this book?"

"...I've finished reading it," Wu Wenxin said earnestly.

"If you've finished reading it, there would be a lot of interesting little science toys to make, much more fun than a country phone. So, you didn't just read one page, did you?"

After Shi Yi finished speaking, he opened the book and pointed to the 'Sound Transmission by Earpiece' on the first page, piercing through everything like Detective Conan.

"...Don't mind the details."

Wu Wenxin put her hands behind her back, squeezed out a smile, and said awkwardly.

"You have so many books at home, and they're all basically brand new. I'm so envious," Shi Yi raised his head, looked at the bookshelf, and showed a longing expression.

"Do you like reading so much? I have a lot more at home," Wu Wenxin asked triumphantly.

"I like it a lot. Literature attracts me a little less, but I can still read it."

"In that case, you can come every day. I have so many books that you can't finish reading them in one summer!"

The child version of Wu Wenxin said these words.

The high school version of Wu Wenxin still remembered them.

Then, she raised her head, looked at the pile of 99% new books on the bookshelf, and showed a somewhat embarrassed smile.

Actually, she didn't have that many books at home, but because Shi Yi liked to read them, she had her dad buy them for her.

And her dad was actually very happy, feeling that she had grown up, and insisted on buying her many different kinds of books.

Now it seemed like a waste of money.

Wu Wenxin had read less than one-fifth of them.

But it was okay, Shi Yi had read them all.

So, she had definitely contributed to Shi Yi's score of 730 to some extent.

And Wu Wenxin remembered that after the two of them made this telephone, they played with it for a long time.

And because they were neighbors, they even used it to talk at night.

But because this thing was a one-way listening device, they couldn't speak at the same time, so communicating was particularly difficult, not as effective as a smart watch.

Nonsense, of course its purpose wasn't communication.

So why did she love playing with it so much back then?

Thinking of this, Wu Wenxin felt a little embarrassed.

She was so young and already indulging in strange fetishes…

Picking up the pair of telephones, Wu Wenxin suddenly had an idea.

So, she directly called Shi Yi.

But after a while, he finally answered.

Then, a slightly sleepy voice came from the other end: "Wenxin, what's wrong?"

"Ah? Were you asleep?" Wu Wenxin was a little surprised.

"Weren't you asleep? You told me to rest early, and I thought it was getting late, so I went to sleep," Shi Yi explained.

"I'm going to sleep soon, but never mind that, put on your clothes and come to the balcony," Wu Wenxin said very eagerly.

As for herself, she also took the telephone, went to the window, opened it, and poked her head out, waiting for the other party.

After about a few minutes, a head poked out from the building next door, about seven or eight meters away, looking at her.

"Good evening, Wenxin," Shi Yi said.

"Good evening," Wu Wenxin said, then took out the telephone and threw it towards him.

But because the distance was too far, it fell halfway.

"Wrap a rubber band around the string," Shi Yi reminded her.

"You still remember what this is?" Wu Wenxin was very surprised.

"Country phone, we used to play with it a lot when we were kids. You even made me hang it by the bed at night. Sometimes, at one or two in the morning, you'd be afraid when you went to the bathroom and would yell at me to wake up and keep you company…"

"Okay, okay, no need to describe it," Wu Wenxin blushed, raised her hand, and interrupted him.

Her young miss temper was really something else.

But Shi Yi was really patient, able to put up with all that.

His memory was really good.

Or was it that he actually cherished the things that had happened in the past?

Thinking this, Wu Wenxin tied a rubber band to the other end of the telephone.

Then, she used all her strength to throw it out, trying to create an arc.

After trying three times, Shi Yi finally made an accurate catch and grabbed the telephone.

In this way, both of them held onto their own country phones.

Wu Wenxin shouted into the telephone, "Hello! Hai Dong champion!"

Then, she put the telephone to her ear.

But there was no sound.

So, she poked her head out and shouted in a low voice, "Shi Yi, can you hear me?"

Then, a head poked out: "I can hear you. You said Xia Hai champion."

"Then why don't you answer?" Wu Wenxin asked with a smile. "Are you shy?"

"I'm not shy," Shi Yi shook his head and explained, "I'm afraid you'll speak again, and then I won't be able to hear you."

"Then let's do it this way, one person says one sentence."

"Okay."

After the two reached an agreement, they both pulled their heads back and returned to their rooms.

Since it was Shi Yi, she should give priority to the lady, so she'll go first.

"What's your name?"

After Wu Wenxin shouted, she quickly turned the microphone into an earpiece and put it next to her ear.

"My name is Shi Yi, what are you doing?"

"I'm testing the microphone…"

Wu Wenxin realized that she was treating it like a normal telephone, so she quickly switched to the microphone: "What time do you get up tomorrow? Oh right, my dad wants to send some New Year's gifts to your family."

No, wasn't it supposed to be one sentence per person?

She had just added another sentence, wouldn't he start talking again before she finished?

Thinking this, she put her ear to the earpiece, and then realized there was no sound.

So, the other person was also speaking when she was speaking.

This was a single-threaded telephone.

So troublesome.

So, she poked her head out again, called the other party out, and said to Shi Yi, "Let's start again, one sentence per person, and I'll listen first!"

After speaking, Wu Wenxin directly pulled her head back.

Just as she put the earpiece to her ear, she suddenly thought of something.

The corners of her mouth curled into a smile.

Thinking that the other party couldn't hear her anyway, she whispered a sentence to the telephone, then quickly put the earpiece to her ear.

Since she said she would listen first, then he must be speaking with his mouth right now, or building up to it, so he naturally wouldn't hear her just now…

Did she say she would listen first, or did she say she would speak first?

Shi Yi didn't hear clearly just now, after all, they were a bit far apart.

But fearing that he would miss a sound, he directly put the earpiece to his ear.

Then, he heard a gentle and soft sentence, as if it would be completely annihilated if it was any softer:

"I like you."

"..." Shi Yi was stunned.

Then, his cheeks instantly turned red.

But fearing that the other party was waiting for his direct reply, he put the earpiece to his mouth and replied in the same soft voice: "Me too."

"..." Wu Wenxin was stunned when she heard these three words, unable to react for a moment, and her face also turned red.

No, what she said earlier was 'you speak first, I'll listen', how could he listen first?

Also, did he even hear her?

"Ah? What are you saying… Ugh, I'm so stupid."

Wu Wenxin realized that she wasn't speaking into the telephone when she said this, so she quickly took it away from her ear. At the same time, because he hadn't heard any sound for a while, Shi Yi also started speaking into the telephone…

Their childhood tacit understanding had completely disappeared.

The words that the two people said through the telephones, due to their clumsy lack of coordination and their completely chaotic hearts, were mostly lost and all returned to nothingness.

Neither of them was embarrassed to confirm which sentence the other party had heard, or which sentence they had spoken.

But one thing was certain, there were two people on Earth who wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

………

………

At 7:30 a.m., according to Xia Xinyu's stipulated latest wake-up time, Chen Yuan was awakened by the alarm clock.

Then, he swiped his phone and saw that there were many messages on WeChat.

0:24

Shi Yi: Happy New Year.

3:56

Shi Yi: It's an honor to know you. I wish you all the best in the new year.

6:30

Shi Yi: Are you awake?

7:00

Shi Yi: Bro, wake up.

"What the hell?"

Chen Yuan was very puzzled, but he didn't reply.

He could only see one thing now - Shi Yi was anxious.

But why was he anxious?

He'll reply to him later.

Also, today was Monday, so the time-stopping superpower should be refreshed?

Without thinking much, Chen Yuan got up, put on his clothes, put on his slippers, and then opened the door.

At this time, Xia Xinyu was brushing her teeth at the washbasin outside the public bathroom.

Yu Zi in her pajamas was so cute.

Chen Yuan directly hugged her from behind and put his head on her shoulder: "Good morning, babe."

Instantly, Chen Yuan could feel Yu Zi stiffen.

And he was a little panicked.

Wait, this didn't seem to be in his Xia Hai's home!

Maintaining this posture, the two mechanically turned their heads.

What a coincidence, there were quite a few people visiting today.

At this moment, there were no less than four heads leaning over from the sofa in the living room…

Chaozi, cast Time Reversal.

——

A Snow Biscuit wishes everyone a happy New Year and good luck in the Year of the Dragon.

That's all for today, I need to reunite with my family for the New Year.

As a reward for updating non-stop during the New Year, brothers and sisters, give me some votes!

(End of chapter)