535: Chapter 535 Wishing you happiness every day

The waiter dimmed the lights in the private dining room by a notch, and most of the leftover food on the long table had already been cleared away.

Lin Que stood up and pulled out the chair for his mother.

Wang Xiulian slung her old cloth bag over her shoulder and turned back at the doorway to take one last look at the round table in the room, as if she wanted to remember the warmth of this evening a little longer.

The four of them walked out of the corridor, passed under the low eaves, and stood once again in the night air of the hutong.

Lin Que held his phone, the screen displaying the booking confirmation for their ride-hailing car.

The night breeze blew in from the entrance of the hutong, carrying the chill of late autumn, yet it could not disperse the lingering scent of home-cooked food that still clung to their clothes from the dining room.

"Dad, Mom, I'll pick you up tomorrow and take you around Beijing."

"No need." Lin Jianguo settled into his seat and looked at his son through the car window. "You have your own things to attend to. The last time I came to Beijing was for a company trip; I hadn't even married your mother yet. This time, consider it a make-up trip."

He reached out and gently squeezed his wife's hand. "This time, your mother and I will take our time exploring on our own."

Lin Jianguo patted his son on the shoulder; he didn't say anything, but the pat was firm.

Wang Xiulian smiled from the side. Then she turned her head and began looking for Ye Xi again. "Little Ye—"

Lin Que stepped aside, revealing Ye Xi, who was standing half a step behind him.

In the night, she wore a light-colored trench coat and stood at the edge of the warm yellow streetlamp's glow, her expression gentle yet tinged with the helplessness of being teased.

Wang Xiulian grabbed Ye Xi's hand and held it tightly. "Thank you so much for today. You don't know how happy his father and I were when we received your call. This child has never liked to talk much since he was little, bottling everything up inside. His father and I were back in Jiangcheng, anxious but unable to help."

"Auntie, Lin Que has his own ideas; you don't need to worry." Ye Xi said softly, gently squeezing the older woman's hand back.

"I know he's wonderful, but how can a mother ever truly stop worrying?" Wang Xiulian's voice choked up slightly, but she immediately suppressed it and put on a smile. "As for this meal today, Auntie is..."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over Ye Xi's face before turning to her son. "Little Ye is such a genuine girl."

Wang Xiulian held Ye Xi's hand, growing fonder the more she looked at her, and it seemed her chatterbox was about to run wild. "My dear, come visit Jiangcheng when you have time; Auntie will make you the most authentic chopped chili fish head..."

Ye Xi's ears turned a faint shade of pink under the light, but she still smiled patiently and nodded in agreement.

Lin Que watched as his mother's words began to leap from "friends who get along" to something much more advanced.

He stepped forward, gently pressed his hand on his mother's, and intervened at the right moment. "Mom, the car is here. Ye Xi has important things to do tomorrow, so let her go back and rest early."

Wang Xiulian finally realized, checked the time, and quickly let go. "Oh, right, right, look at me, keeping this young lady here for so long." "Little Ye, be careful on the road." "Oh, and Little Que, you go see her off; it's not safe for a young lady to be out alone at night."

Amidst repeated assurances of "I know, I know," Lin Que saw his parents off to the ride-hailing pickup point.

Ye Xi let out a soft breath; the blush on her face hadn't fully faded, but the corners of her mouth were curved. "Goodbye Auntie, Uncle, you should rest early too." "Remember, come to Jiangcheng when you have time!" Wang Xiulian urged through the car window.

The car door closed. With a soft engine sound, the black sedan pulled away smoothly. Its taillights flashed at the corner of the hutong before fading into the deep night of Beijing.

In the quiet blue-brick hutong, only Lin Que and Ye Xi remained. The streetlamp stretched their shadows long, overlapping on the old brick walls. The night breeze passed through the alley, carrying the faint sound of distant traffic.

Ye Xi raised her hand and gently fanned her slightly flushed cheeks. Lin Que turned his head to look at her, his voice filled with amusement: "My mom is just like that, she talks a lot. Please don't mind her."

"I don't mind." Ye Xi shook her head and smiled too, her voice very soft. "Auntie is very nice, very warm. The food was delicious too, especially the Sweet Garlic."

She paused and looked up at Lin Que. The streetlamp's light fell into her eyes from the side, making them sparkle. "You've probably smiled more tonight than you have in the past month combined."

Lin Que didn't respond, just took half a step forward. The two walked side by side along the blue-brick path toward the exit of the hutong. Their footsteps were clear in the silent alley—one after another, staggered yet synchronized.

"Thank you for today." Lin Que spoke, his voice steady but carrying a rare earnestness.

"No need to be so formal." Ye Xi walked half a step beside him, the hem of her trench coat swaying gently with her steps. "I just think you deserve to have an eighteenth birthday like this."

"Deserve?" Lin Que repeated the word. "Yes." Ye Xi nodded. "You deserve to be remembered, deserve to have someone prepare a surprise for you with care, deserve to have someone travel over a thousand kilometers just to say happy birthday to you."

Her tone was very natural, as if stating a fact that couldn't be more obvious. Lin Que stopped walking. Ye Xi stopped as well and turned her head to look at him.

"Since I came to Beijing, this has been the most relaxing evening." Lin Que looked at her, his gaze sincere. "The past month... everything has been tangled together. I thought I had sorted out every move and calculated every landing point."

"But tonight, from the moment I saw my parents sitting at that table, to my mother pulling you aside to say those things, to us walking on this road after dinner." His voice lowered a little. "For the first time, I felt that those things could truly be set aside for a moment."

Ye Xi listened quietly. "You thought of even more than I expected in advance." Lin Que continued. "You even remembered the Sweet Garlic my mom pickled."

Ye Xi blinked, a hint of playfulness appearing on her face. "Because I ate it, thought it was delicious, and remembered it. Besides, sometimes making elders remember you is just about these little things."

She stepped forward half a step, getting closer to him, her voice dropping lower: "It's not like I don't have pressure either. Senior year, piano, the upcoming tour, and the expectations my parents and grandfather have for me."

She turned her head, her gaze landing on the blurry lights at the distant hutong entrance. "I'm also a child who grew up under the spotlight; I know how harsh the eyes watching you can be."

"They don't just want to see you win; they want to see you win in the posture they dictate. Even if you deviate just a little, countless voices will jump out to criticize you."

Lin Que looked at her profile. The streetlamp light hit from the side, casting a faint shadow on the bridge of her nose. "So," Ye Xi turned back, her eyes curving, "seeing you, under so much pressure, still able to sit down for a good meal and chat properly with your parents, I'm quite happy. It shows that those rules and noises haven't been able to suppress you at all."

"You are also stronger than you imagine," Lin Que said.

Ye Xi laughed out loud, her voice crisp like a string of small wind chimes ringing. "Let's go," she said. "The car is waiting up ahead."

The two resumed their walk toward the hutong entrance. The night breeze grew stronger, blowing the stray hairs on Ye Xi's forehead. She raised her hand to tuck them away, but just as her fingertips touched her hair, her steps faltered slightly. Lin Que also stopped.

They had reached the large streetlamp at the entrance of the hutong. The warm yellow light framed both of their figures completely. The black business car was parked by the side of the road; the driver stood by the car, and seeing them come out, reached out to open the back door.

Ye Xi stood at the edge of the halo of light, not immediately walking toward the car. She turned around, facing Lin Que directly. The streetlamp light fell from above, illuminating her slightly upturned face. Her expression was very calm, carrying a quiet earnestness, like the certainty she had when standing up from the piano bench to take a bow.

She stepped forward. The distance between them suddenly became very close. Close enough for Lin Que to see the tiny shadows her eyelashes cast under her eyes, and to smell the faint, citrus-like fragrance on her.

Ye Xi raised her hand. Her fingertips landed lightly on the collar of Lin Que's jacket. It was a small piece of fabric that had flipped up, its corner slightly raised in the night breeze. Her fingertips touched the dark fabric, and she naturally smoothed it down, pressing it into place. A gesture so subtle it could almost be ignored.

Lin Que did not move. He lowered his eyes, watching that hand pause for two seconds above his shoulder before withdrawing. Ye Xi's hand dropped back to her side. She stepped back half a step, breaking that excessive closeness, and returned to the edge of the streetlamp's glow.

"Lin Que." She spoke, her voice very soft, yet it fell clearly into his ears.

Lin Que looked up at her. The corners of Ye Xi's mouth curved into an extremely faint arc—an arc that was light and steady, like a repeatedly practiced musical note finally landing on the perfect beat.

"Wishing you happiness every day." She didn't say anything else, just those six words. Like a small pebble dropped accurately into the lake of his heart, which had just calmed down, it sent a light ripple spreading outward.

Lin Que looked at her, his Adam's apple moving. "Thank you, same to you." He heard his own voice, deeper and hoarser than he had expected.

Ye Xi didn't say anything else. She turned and walked toward the car, her steps light, the hem of her light-colored trench coat rising and falling in the night breeze. She bent over, sat in the backseat, and the car door closed behind her.

Lin Que stood where he was, not moving. He saw the car window lower halfway, and Ye Xi's face appeared in the window. She waved at him, her face wearing that relaxed smile, as if they had just arranged to meet again tomorrow.

The car started and pulled smoothly into the night. The red light of the taillights shone for a moment in the deep night, and soon, along with the silhouette of the car, it was swallowed by the darkness in the distance.

Lin Que stood under the streetlamp for a long time. It wasn't until the wind in the hutong blew again, sweeping up a few fallen leaves from the ground, that he slowly turned around and walked toward the direction of Qingbei.

The road back to the dormitory wasn't long. He crossed two quiet streets, swiped his card to enter the school gate, and walked back to the dormitory building along the tree-lined path.

The night was deep, and the campus was very quiet, with only the occasional sound of insects from afar. Lin Que walked to the foot of the dormitory building and habitually looked up at the third floor. The entire row of windows was pitch black.

Not just the other windows, his gaze paused at room 303 for two seconds. According to Xu Changge's habits, at this time, that desk lamp should still be on. But tonight, there wasn't even a glimmer of light. Lin Que withdrew his gaze, pushed open the door to the stairwell, and did not slow his pace. The stairwell was very quiet, quiet in a way that felt slightly wrong. ...