Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
“A year earlier, a year earlier…”
Instead of feeling happy by the surprise, Yan Zheke was confused and depressed, as if she had been diagnosed with a fatal illness.
In early May, when Ji Lingxi asked her whether she still wanted to go abroad, she answered with such firmness and certainty. Now at the last minute, she was reluctant to leave Cheng. She had promised Cheng that they would go traveling during the summer break, go and see the Aurora in the north the next January, and spend her 20th and Cheng’s 21st birthday together. They also planned to go to Yuanyang Hill and ask for a romance padlock as a token of their affection. And she even began to fancy the sweet simple life after visiting Lou Cheng’s parents and wanted to make their affection known to friends and relatives…
Now she didn’t have enough time to realize her dreams and keep her promises…
“Bring me all the materials mentioned as soon as possible, and the Dean’s office will arrange everything for you. If everything goes as planned, you’ll set out in August. When you arrive there, you will take a short-term language course. Don’t worry, I’m sure that will be easy for you considering your grades… Okay, go back and make the necessary preparations, and if you can’t remember all the materials needed, then come and get a list …” The dean touched his remaining hair as if it was his treasure.
In early August? We are in late June… she’ll only have a month to say goodbye to Cheng and they might get only two or three chances to see each other per year… Yan Zheke choked on the sad news and felt her heart tighten. Refraining from all these negative emotions, she took the list and went out of the office with the other students.
“Yan Zheke?” She heard a sharp voice.
Yan Zheke looked up and saw Huang Xiwen, who had also joined in the co-cultivation project.
“What?” she replied in bewilderment.
“What were you thinking about? Why don’t we stay together when we get there? We all know each other. We’re all classmates. We can take care of each other.” Huang Xiwen grumbled, repeating her question.
The girl’s baby face softened her gorgeous facial features and made her approachable. The two boys besides her were also talking about this.
Yan Zheke didn’t like to express negative emotions with tears. Instead, she was used to keeping them to herself and prevented them from affecting others. When Huang Xiwen stopped speaking, she had already managed to control herself and put on a smile, “All right, I’d love to if my parents don’t have other arrangements.”
They left the academic building and decided to keep in touch by cellphone.
Walking towards the school building under the shade of trees, Yan Zheke felt that the sad news had made her mind gloomy. There was even a moment when she thought of giving up this opportunity.
She would be abroad for three to six years without Lou Cheng around, and her time there would be longer than the time she spent with Lou Cheng in the past year. Such a long time would undoubtedly be a test on their relationship, and accidents might happen at any time. What if they got suspicious of each other during that period? Was their relationship strong enough?
On the other hand, she could still get good grades without going abroad and help her mother with her business after graduation. She could even develop her own hobby…
She would rather stay with Cheng and see him gradually reach the peak of martial arts. Sharing his pain and suffering, feeling his joy, anger, and sadness, watching each other grow old little by little until the end. Wasn’t this also not one kind of happiness?
But she would regret it for the rest of her life if she really gave up. All her years of hard work would all go down the drain. There was a possibility that she would become Cheng’s dependency and lose herself without her own career and dreams…
Ideal or love? Yan Zheke felt she was like a hero facing a difficult choice between a beauty and his ambitions.
Maybe she should have listened to her parents and devoted herself to her studies instead of dating Lou Cheng at such a young age. Now she had to make a choice…
Yan Zheke suddenly recalled a melody:
If I hadn’t met you in the past, I wouldn’t feel sad now. But I’ll still fall in love with you if we meet again!
Yeah, she still loved her silly Cheng no matter what happened!
Biting her lips, Yan Zheke finally pulled herself together and decided to grasp this opportunity and go abroad for further education.
She believed in Cheng and herself, believed that their affection would endure the test of time and distance. She was sure that they would finally come back to each other’s side and spend the rest of their lives together!
Sigh… she wanted to pour out all the sadness in her heart when she heard the special tone of her cell phone ringing.
Taking out the cellphone from her bag, she checked the message. It was from Lou Cheng,
“Ke, have you finished? Shall I go to the academic building and pick you up?”
Yan Zheke was almost moved to tears by the simple words. Turning to look aside, she held back the tears and then replied with a wry smile:
“I’m done. Stay where you are and wait for me…”
Her fingers paused and then continued tapping, “I’m coming to pick you up~”
“Okay, same place!” Lou Cheng responded with a silly smile.
Suddenly, his phone rang. The call was from his mother.
“Hello, Cheng. Have you finished your exams? How were they?” Qi Fang, as usual, asked about his studies.
“They were OK.” Lou Cheng didn’t really know what to say.
His grades might’ve been between 60 and 70, just above the passing mark.
Considering her son’s achievements in the other field, Qi Fang turned to the topic she cared about the most instead of making detailed inquiries about Lou Cheng’s studies. “When will you come home? Have you booked the ticket?”
Her voice was low but filled with excitement. “Cheng, what about bringing the girl home to see us? I mean Yan Zheke, the girl you always mention to us. You were mates in high school, university, and the martial arts club; what a predestined relationship…”
After defeating Shanbei in the final match of the national competition, Yan Zheke and Lou Cheng could not help hugging each other on the arena and almost shared a passionate kiss, which attracted the envy of all the bachelors and also exposed their relationship to Lou Zhisheng and Qi Fang. Afterwards, Lou Cheng had to spend that night answering his mother’s questions and gossip.
There was a moment Qi Fang felt unhappy since Lou Cheng had finally grown up to be a real man and began transferring his love from his mom to a girlfriend. But she soon calmed down and found that Yan Zheke was a girl from a decent background and that she met her standards perfectly. Besides, they lived in the same town, grew up with the same customs, and knew each other very well, which only added to Qi Fang’s satisfaction. So Qi Fang had been urging Lou Cheng to bring the girl home so that the old couple could meet her.
To be honest, if Lou Cheng hadn’t won the national championship and thus hadn’t been called the favored fighter of the age, Qi Fang would have been nervous that the girl might have been too good for her son and their relationship would face many challenges. She usually saw the same plot in TV shows…
“Mom, I mentioned it to Ke. When we come back to Xiushan, I’ll bring her home as soon as it’s convenient.” Lou Cheng didn’t release the specific date, for he wanted to go traveling with Ke before going back home.
“Okay, okay. Tell me in advance and I’ll go and buy some food and make preparations. Of course, I have a gift for her…” With all the endless chatter, Qi Fang suddenly recalled something and asked, “She was here, she was here. Last summer break, Han’s second wife said that she saw a pretty girl in our neighborhood and was wondering whose girlfriend she was… Cheng, tell me the truth, was that girl Yan Zheke? Was she coming to look for you?”
“Yes.” Lou Cheng wiped the nonexistent sweat on his forehead, admiring his mom for her good memory on gossip.
Of course, he also remembered that time as it was deeply engraved in his memory, because that was his first time seeing and feeling his beloved girl’s soft body.
“You were already dating at that time?” Qi Fang’s tone suddenly rose. “You brat, you’re really out of control! How long did you hide it from us? Nearly one year!”
“Sorry, Mom, it’s my fault. I intended to tell you about it after we went steady.” Lou Cheng had already perfected the art of apologizing to his mom with beautiful words.
Qi Fang was not really annoyed. Thinking about it, she said, “No wonder you have been dressing decently the whole year!”
Luckily, it was only after Lou Cheng entered university that he dared to bring a girlfriend home secretly. Qi Fang knew that there were many senior or even junior high students who were caught fooling around at home!
Chatting for a while, Lou Cheng hung up the phone and saw Ke walking quickly towards him. The girl was wearing a T-shirt, denim shorts, and white sport shoes today, which only made her look more youthful and gave energy to her movements.
“What were you doing in the Dean’s office?” Lou Cheng asked with concern.
Yan Zheke bit her lip and slightly frowned, but soon she put on a smile. “Something about that co-cultivation project. There are some changes and I’ll tell you later. Who were you speaking with just now?”
“My mom. She urged me to bring you home to visit them.” Lou Cheng raised his eyebrows, talking in a deliberately low voice. But he was actually murmuring to himself, “Some changes? What changes?”
He always took Coach Yan’s affairs seriously.
Yan Zheke, who had intended to act in a pettishly charming manner, only gave Lou Cheng a smile and said two words,
“All right.”
“Aren’t you nervous?” Lou Cheng asked in surprise.
Yan Zheke was amused and rolled her eyes at Lou Cheng. “Why should I feel nervous? You’ve been telling me that both your parents are kind and that they like me.”
“Sounds reasonable. It’s good that you’re relaxed.” Lou Cheng asked with great expectations, “When shall we go home? How about you and me go traveling before that?”
Yan Zheke looked up and suggested,
“Well, what about spending a few more days in Songcheng?”
They had too many memories here.
“All right. I’ll make a plan and list all the delicious food and famous tourist spots.” Actually, Lou Cheng actually didn’t care what they were going to do. It was with whom he did all these things with that mattered.
Yan Zheke tilted her head, showed two dimples, and waved her hand excitedly.
“Let’s go to the ocean aquarium this afternoon. We have been planning to go there but always missed the chance.”
She paused and smiled. “How much of marine biology do you still remember?”
“Nearly forgot all of it…” Lou Cheng sighed while covering his face with his hands.
Yan Zheke laughed. “Thank goodness, or else I’d look so stupid! I’ll go back, change my clothes and put on some makeup. It’s a date with Cheng; therefore, it’s very important.”
Being cheered up by the girl’s abnormal excitement and joy, Lou Cheng rushed to the dorm, packed all his belongings, and waved Zhao Qiang and Cai Zongming goodbye.
It was a cool day, perfect for their travel plans. After a while, Lou Cheng saw Yan Zheke coming out of the building with her suitcase. She had on a white cotton one-piece dress, a pink jacket, and a pair of cute canvas shoes with skin-colored silk stockings. The light make-up made her pretty face more attractive.
She had once dressed the same way when she invited Lou Cheng to the ocean aquarium in March, and Lou Cheng was stunned by her beauty at the time, which left him with a deep impression. Taking the girl’s suitcase, Lou Cheng smiled awkwardly. “Ke, are you going down memory lane?”
“You still remember?” Yan Zheke was surprised and pleased at the same time.
“Of course, you were drop-dead gorgeous! How can I forget?” Lou Cheng said softly.
Yan Zheke smiled proudly and then waved her palm,
“We’re going to make up for our aborted date last year, so everything should remain unchanged!”
“I’m looking forward to it!” Lou Cheng replied with a big smile. Coughing to hide the expectation in his tone, he added, “I’ve already booked a single room in a hotel…
“Considering our relationship, there was no need to book two rooms, right?
“Okay.” Yan Zheke nodded slightly while looking forward.
