YHTD 18

Chapter 18

Atypical Long-Distance Relationship Rules

14
Because we often flew between Xiamen and Beijing, my roommate once asked me in confusion, “Since you’ve saved so much money, why don’t you go somewhere else for a trip? Just going to Beijing and Xiamen all the time—what’s the point? Haven’t you already seen all the sights?”

I replied to her: “You talk too much!”

Of course, someone as clever and beautiful as me had thought about meeting somewhere in between to save on travel costs. But our goal wasn’t sightseeing. We just wanted to meet and spend time together, and more importantly, get a deeper understanding of each other’s lives. For example, I would point at his dorm building and say, “There’s a stadium drawn nearby on the map,” and he would invite our roommates to eat, sing, or accompany us to amusement parks for rides like the free-fall drop.

It felt amazing to blend so naturally with a partner’s friends—it made me feel like I was part of his life.

Sometimes when we argued and I ignored his calls, he would call my roommate to pass along messages, begging for forgiveness.

Other times, while chatting with him, his phone would suddenly be taken, and several guys would greet me through it, saying things like, “Bu-jie, I miss you so much,” just to tease him.

One winter, I went to Xiamen to visit him after my exams while he was still taking his. Since I had reported to my mother, I stayed in Xiamen for two full weeks until he was on holiday so we could go home together.

All the boys on his floor were classmates, and after exams, they would gather to eat, play cards, or video games. I didn’t like staying in hotels, so when they went to take exams, I would sit in his dorm playing by myself. Once they returned, we’d play Werewolf together. We played on open grounds by the canyon, in crowded dorm rooms, on tables at barbecue stalls, and so on. Every time I showed up at his dorm, a crowd gathered in less than ten minutes.

From then on, whenever I appeared, it felt like I had my own background soundtrack echoing down the hall: “Bu-jie is here! Time to play Werewolf! Time to play Werewolf!”

15
During one of his exam weeks, we stayed at a seaside guesthouse. The owner was a very thin man with a great temperament. Every day when he saw us coming and going, he’d ask, “Do you have enough toilet paper in the room? I’ll put some more for you.”

It made me think he might have been a toilet paper salesman in the past.

In the evenings while he studied, I sat on the bed watching TV. I remember it was something like The Story of Sui and Tang. Occasionally, he would glance at the TV while doing his exercises, and I would look at him with my eyes, silently telling him to focus. Later, he carried a circuit book into the bathroom, and out of curiosity, I peeked in. He was sitting on a small stool, the book resting on the toilet lid, studying with intense concentration. I was so touched by his dedication that I said, “I’ll turn off the TV; come out and study.”

He panicked and yelled, “Don’t turn it off! Don’t turn it off! That’s my spiritual support! I plan to watch it after I finish studying!”

The sea behind the guesthouse was very calm. Unlike the swimming beaches in Qingdao, it was more like a scene from a TV drama, perfect for romantic walks on the sand. We would go there at sunset, skipping flat stones across the water.

One day, taking a shortcut back to the guesthouse, we suddenly saw a gray fuzzy object half a meter away, slowly moving. My sharp eyes recognized it as a rat. I screamed, “Ah~~~!” The rat froze, turned to face me, squeaked repeatedly, and ran away.

He laughed and said, “It’s saying you scared it.”

Inside, I was thinking a million “Are you kidding me?!” thoughts. It’s me who got scared like a delicate flower!

16
We even studied in the cafeteria. After breakfast, we claimed a table. While he studied, I idly flipped through his books and noticed that their Complex Analysis textbook was the same as ours. So I grabbed a blank sheet of paper and began outlining key points, writing exam tips and examples from the book. At that time, we had just finished Complex Analysis exams, and I vaguely remembered the problems, so I noted them roughly.

When he started reviewing Complex Analysis, I showed him my outline and explained it in detail. After I finished, his expression changed completely.

It was like a patient with eight hundred personalities seeing the cure—they were wide-eyed and said, “Baby, you explained it much better than the teacher!”

I felt extremely proud, like I was invincible.

Later, when the results came out, I scored in the eighties, and he scored in the nineties… Haha, their teacher must have been lenient in grading!