"I'm sorry, Chen Ying." Qin Hong said. There was still the last corner of the pizza in front of him, and only a few chicken bones remained in the box of fries next to it. The candle placed between them was still in half, and the light of the fire flickered in the middle of the candle oil, giving off a faint glow. Chen Ying held the originally warm glass filled with mango juice in both hands, and her eyes stayed on the flames.

"Can you say something?" He continued, trying to put her hand in his palm.

Chen Ying pulled out the chair and took a deep breath and walked in the direction of the bathroom. After a while she returned, put on her coat and pulled up the zipper.

"I'm going to pay." Qin Hong stopped a waiter.

"No, the young lady just settled the bill." The waiter said as he walked to the table next to him.

"Chen Ying!" Qin Hong shouted, picking up his coat with one hand and catching up the steps. At this time, Chen Ying was already standing at the end of the steps, pushing open the glass door with Happy New Year pasted on it, and walking alone along the path in the direction she came. She hung her head and curled up, the streetlights pulling long shadows behind her. He hurried over and stopped in front of her.

She stopped, her eyes still fixed on the ground.

"Forgive me, okay? I will never do this to you again. Qin Hong tightly grabbed Chen Ying's hand that he was trying to withdraw, "My brain is hot, I really shouldn't-" He raised his other hand as if he was going to hit himself. Chen Ying grabbed the hand that was hanging in the air.

"Don't do that." She whispered.

He grabbed her hands. But her eyes still looked to the side.

"Don't be angry, will you give me another chance?" He pleaded and pulled her towards him, but she stubbornly held on, unwilling to come closer.

"Don't leave me, can you? I love you—I can't do without you......" he said as he crouched down and almost knelt down in front of her, and she looked at him in amazement.

"Get up." Men have gold under their knees' – it's not worth it to do it casually. She said as she untied her scarf and helped him dust off his knees, "Besides, I'm not that angry." ”

He stood up and hugged her, squeezing the scarf in his arms along with the scarf in her hand. She relaxed, exhaled quietly, and clouds of mist dispersed from among them.

"I'm sorry." He repeated.

"It's okay, I shouldn't have done this to you." She said reproachfully.

"You're not wrong, it's me who is not good."

"Don't talk about it."

They hugged each other, so quietly that even the sound of the wind blowing through the dead branches could be heard.

"Qin Hong, I love you." She went on to say that she felt him hug tighter, "but I don't want to do that, I want to wait until we ...... later"

"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you." He responded immediately.

"Thank you for your understanding." She slowly broke free from his arms, "Let's go quickly, why don't you clean your dormitory, otherwise you won't be able to live tonight." ”

"Okay. Let's go. ”

Their fused shadows parted, and he put his arm around her shoulders as he continued walking. Along the way, she felt that he had been observing his expression with his peripheral vision, every change in her body posture, not even her occasional cough. He held her hand all the time, using his thick fingers to separate her slender fingertips. She calmly stared at the faintly twinkling stars in the night ahead, and did not communicate with him in a word. And so they walked all the way downstairs for the boys. Before the housekeeper came back, Qin Hong stomped a few steps and woke up the dim voice-activated light in the corridor. Walking up the stairs and turning a few more corners, he came to Qin Hong's bedroom again. Qin Hong took a mop placed at the door and went to the water room to wash, and Chen Ying knelt on the bed board and carefully wiped every crevice with a rag. Then they took out the bedding from the cabinet and put it on the handrail of the stairs in the hallway, and carefully patted the floating soil on it. Qin Hong swept the floor of the entire bedroom, while Chen Ying was responsible for wiping down the desk, chair and window sill. They first spread a layer of clean white paper on the bed board, put the mattress away, covered the sheets, took out the quilt and shook it soft and comfortable, and finally folded it and put it at the end of the bed with the pillow. By the time it was all in order, it was almost ten o'clock.

"Now I can sleep comfortably tonight." Qin Hong said and lay on the quilt, "It's so clean, it's good—tired." ”

"I'm going back." Chen Ying stood up and patted the ashes on her body, "Rest early." ”

"Don't go." He grabbed her arm.

"If you start yawning, you're tired. Go take a shower and sleep peacefully, and take care of your body. ”

"Then I'll send you back."

"It's safe in the school and I can walk on my own. It's okay. ”

"No, I'm going to watch you enter the dormitory, or I'm not at ease. I'm not tired at all. ”

After he finished speaking, he pulled her to the door, locked the door of the dormitory, and went downstairs side by side. Chen Ying apologized and explained the situation to the dormitory manager, and then the two went to the girls' dormitory. The cold wind blew, but Qin Hong insisted on fulfilling his promise and would not leave until Chen Ying walked into the building. She had no choice but to swipe the door card and walk into the corridor, and when she turned around, she saw Qin Hong standing under the bicycle shed with both hands and arms and looking over here.

"Go back early, be careful on the road." Chen Ying dodged and hid at the corner of the stairs that could not be seen at the entrance of the building, and sent these eight words to the text message.

"Okay, I'll go back. Go to bed early. He replied with a sleepy look.

"Rest assured. Good night. She sent the words over, turned and jumped up a few steps, pushing the door open and entering her bedroom.

Xiaobai was lying on the heater near the windowsill, and when he saw her come back, he made a gurgling sound. She walked over and touched its head and covered it with a towel to use as a quilt. She went out to wash up briefly, came back and locked the door, and lay down on the soft bed and fell asleep almost immediately.