Sunday has finally arrived.
It was a cloudy day as Xiaoyun stood near the entrance of the amusement park, looking left and right at the crowds of people walking past.
Just as he was about to take out his phone to make a call, he finally saw the woman he had been waiting for.
"There are really many people here today," Leyan complained as she approached him.
"I think because it's a Sunday..."
The moment Xiaoyun saw her right in front of him, he was a little stunned by her white dress.
It was completely different from the usual long sleeves and pants that he had always seen her wear in class. Not to mention, there was even a little bit of makeup on her face.
"What are you standing there for? Let's go in."
The voice quickly snapped him back to the moment as he followed her into the amusement park.
---
Two hours later...
"That roller coaster was so fun!"
Leyan legs were still tumbling from the ride as she started skipping to a nearby bench.
"Careful, don't trip."
As the two of them sat down together, they were finally able to catch a break from the chaotic trip.
"It's been a long time since I went out... Thank you so much for this fun trip."
"No problem. I love you, so I am going to make you happy."
The casualness caught Leyan off guard again, her brain unable to take it in as she shyly looked to the side.
"Um, I, what? This is too fast. I-I'm not ready——"
Her heart started to beat faster and faster, but Xiaoyun didn't hear the last few words as he slowly got up from his seat.
"I'm going to go get some ice cream. What flavor do you want?" Xiaoyun asked, completely oblivious to the atmosphere.
After a short silence, Leyan finally got enough courage to speak up again as she held onto her knee.
"Vanilla is good."
"Okay. I'll be right back."
As soon as Xiaoyun started lining up for the ice cream shop, Leyan immediately took out her phone and opened a group chat.
---
A cute little kitty: He just confessed to me. Should I agree to it or not?
Little Chestnut: Do you hate him?
Lily Lover: I mean, if Leyan hates him, she would have switched seats and never accepted the date.
Little Chestnut: Then it's up to you, Yanyan.
A cute little kitty: Isn't this too fast? I feel like I'm taking too many steps at once.
Lily Lover: Haven't you guys been deskmates for almost a year now? And how many times have you said this since yesterday?
Lily Lover: Besides, if it doesn't work, you can break up at any time.
Lily Lover: It's just boyfriend and girlfriend, not marriage. When did Leyan become so traditional and backward, thinking she was trapped in a contract?
Little Chestnut: Hey, Leyan, don't listen to her nonsense. If you are not ready, just say you are not ready. If he can't even wait for this, does he really love you?
Lily Lover: Shut up.
Lily Lover: It's quite ironic that you are saying all this when you literally asked when they are planning their wedding.
Little Chestnut: I was drunk yesterday, okay? I didn't mean it.
Lily Lover: Leyan, you really want to listen to a drunkard's advice?
Leyan put down her phone as Xiaoyun came back with the two vanilla ice cream cones.
"Here's your ice cream."
As Xiaoyun handed her the ice cream, she almost dropped it the moment their hand touched.
"Thank you..."
Leyan's face blushed red again as she started to get more nervous. Despite the hot, cloudy day, her body started shaking a little.
Only after she started licking the ice cream did the nervousness slowly go away as they ate their ice cream in complete silence.
Just as the two of them finished their ice cream, the cloud suddenly moved away, causing the sun to shine brightly on their face.
"Let's go on another ride," Leyan suggested, wanting to get into some shade.
"Sure."
The two finally got up from the bench and went to the next ride. But all the other amusement facilities that they hadn't gone to were forming long queues, all of them with children and parents.
"Let's go to that Ferris Wheel, " Leyan suggested, noticing only a few people lined up for it.
After queuing for five minutes...
The two finally got inside a Ferris wheel as they sat down across from each other.
Slowly, it began to move up as an awkward silence appeared between the two, neither of them really having anything to say or do.
But eventually, Leyan couldn't bear it anymore.
"Songming... Do you like me?" Leyan asked as the Ferris wheel stopped halfway to the peak.
"Yeah, I like you. I feel happy being near you."
The answer didn't really satisfy Leyan, as she started to feel that Xiaoyun's concept of romance didn't exist at all.
It was almost as if his brain was just a wooden block, with nothing going in or out other than things he observed.
The two sat on the Ferris wheel in silence, looking at each other, until it reached its peak and stopped.
"Do you have anything to say?" Leyan asked softly.
"Say what?"
Xiaoyun looked back at Leyan's face in confusion, scratching his hair as he started to get bored with the Ferris wheel.
"Don't you like me?" Leyan asked again, this time a little louder.
"Yeah, of course I do," Xiaoyun replied.
As the Ferris wheel began descending, Leyan's heart finally couldn't bear his oblivious attitude.
"What about the proposal?" Leyan asked as her voice returned to normal.
"Huh? What proposal?"
Once again, Xiaoyun looked even more confused this time, unable to understand any sort of hint despite the romantic atmosphere.
"Where's my 'Do you want to be my girlfriend?' proposal?"
Leyan finally yells it out, unable to believe that she was going on a date with someone who made her be the one who said it.
"Oh, um, sorry, this is my first time... Do you want to be my girlfriend?"
"Yes, I do! Geez, you are so naive!"
Leyan started laughing, noticing his face blushing for the first time and shyly looking down onto the floor like her earlier.
"Um, naive? What did I do?"
Xiaoyun scratched his head in confusion again as he couldn't understand why she was laughing.
"You dummy! You really can't understand hints at all, do you? No wonder why it took you so long to ask what my name was."
Leyan face-palmed herself as she walked out of the ferry's wheel, laughing so much that it made other people a little curious.
However, Xiaoyun froze as her beautiful, mature smile suddenly triggered a sense of familiarity.
"What are you waiting for? Come on, let's go to the next one!"
Leyan quickly ran back, grabbing his hand as she dragged him to the next amusement park ride.
---
Time quickly flew past as the two of them were now both in their junior years.
Unfortunately, the two no longer had classes together, but their relationship hasn't slowed down one bit.
Despite everything seemingly to be going fine, Xiaoyun had a problem that only he had noticed.
He was facing a constant time skip, which kept on appearing until he couldn't even recall what he had done yesterday.
"What date is it today?" Xiaoyun asked the Butler standing behind him.
"It's the tenth, sir," Butler replied.
"Wasn't it the eighth yesterday?"
"No? I don't think so, sir."
The Butler replied after looking at the calendar again. His face looked puzzled by Xiaoyun's answer.
"Really? Then what did I do yesterday?" Xiaoyun curiously asked.
"Sir, you went to math class early in the morning and then came back home after you finished your economy class."
After hearing the Butler's explanation, he suddenly started vaguely recalling what happened yesterday as it began flooding into his head.
"Why do I feel like I missed yesterday's class?"
Xiaoyun pulled out his notebook, which clearly stated yesterday's note despite not remembering he had written it himself.
But after sitting for a while, he finally remembered that he had written the notes himself right in the classroom.
"Sir, do you need me to call a doctor?"
The Butler looked at Xiaoyun with a worried face as Xiaoyun started pressing his finger onto his temple.
"No need. Grandpa will definitely be worried again... I'm going to school now."
---
Unfortunately, Xiaoyun's time was only beginning to slip away. Sometimes, he could skip an entire week when he woke up.
Yet everyone else seems to be doing business as usual, with him being there and acting completely normal. But afterward, his memories also indicated he didn't actually skip any time.
The vague memories required him to sit down and think back to recall everything that had happened.
Besides that, Xiaoyun was facing a new problem.
The old man suddenly fell ill just as he was about to finish his junior year, completely bedridden and unable to run his company.
Soon, it was starting to be covered all over social media as Xiaoyun realized how influential the old man really was.
His company wasn't just any company. It was one of the biggest public conglomerates of the recent decades.
After a short consultation with the old man, Xiaoyun decided to graduate early by donating a large sum of money to the school as a 'charity.'
Despite having no experience, Xiaoyun was now working day and night, trying to stop the company's stockholders from losing faith.
The old man had put full faith in him, teaching everything he could in the hospital as he acted as an executive to carry out his plans.
But just as Xiaoyun was working in the office in the middle of the night, his phone suddenly rang.
"Leyan, what's wrong?"
"Sorry to call you in the middle of the night."
As the other side fell into silence, it started to make Xiaoyun a little worried.
"Is everything all right?" Xiaoyun asked.
"I am fine. I just heard you graduated early," Leyan finally said, her voice seeming a little upset.
"Yeah. I did graduate early."
Hearing his answer, Leyan sounded even more upset as she asked her question.
"Why?"
"Grandpa fell ill, and he asked me to take care of the company until his actual grandson gets out of prison," Xiaoyun replied.
"What? How did Grandpa fall ill? Nobody told me about this. Which hospital is he staying in?"
Leyan's tone instantly shifted, and her voice was now full of worries as the anger disappeared.
"No need for that. Grandpa said he didn't want to see anyone. Grandma is there to take care of him."
"Okay."
The two fell into silence until Xiaoyun decided to speak up.
"I'm likely to be very busy for at least a few more months. Sorry about that."
"It's okay, I will wait for you. Well, good night, honey."
"Good night, babe."
Xiaoyun ended the call as he put his phone back into his pocket, diving right back into work.
---
Months began to fly by as Xiaoyun continued working in the old man's business. His hard work was finally paying off as the company began growing again.
It was no longer back into a panic of decline as the major stockholders finally regained faith in him as the temporary executive.
But the old man's condition took a turn for the worse, shifting most of the workload onto Xiaoyun, who worked day and night to stabilize the company once again.
At the same time, he was starting to meet Leyan less and less until she started distancing herself from him.
She knew he needed more time to stabilize the company rather than spending time with her.
---
"Hello?"
"It's me, Leyan. I'm graduating next week!" Leyan excitedly announced over the phone.
"Oh, congratulations."
"Are you going to be there at the graduation celebration?" Leyan asked, her voice filled with curiosity.
"Um... I'm going out of town next week. I am so sorry, babe." Xiaoyun apologized.
"How about this week?"
"Let me check the schedule... Yeah, I am free this weekend," Xiaoyun replied.
"See you at the old place at four o'clock then."
"See ya."
As Xiaoyun answered the phone call, he was inside the hospital, standing outside the old man's room.
"Who is it?" The old man's voice came out as Xiaoyun knocked on the door.
"It's me, Songming."
When he opens the door, he sees the old man and his wife next to each other, all waiting for him.
"How's your health, grandpa?" Xiaoyun asked.
"Just as you can expect *Cough cough* Songming, I've seen your ambitious plan. It's pretty clever and groundbreaking."
The old man tried to control his coughs, but this only backfired as he started coughing even harder.
"Ahem, but your plan is too naive. It's not going to work——"
"I did all the calculations, and they should work. Even if all the other companies formed a boycott against us, it wouldn't last long.
We would outlast them and be able to buy them up after they went bankrupt." Xiaoyun argued.
"Yes, yes, but this is all under the pretense that they play fair."
The old man handed a stack of paper that had Xiaoyun's name on it, confusing him a little as he looked back at the old man.
"Fair? What do you mean by that?" Xiaoyun curiously asked.
"Like, what if they get upset by you and decide to risk it all? What if they play dirty and stage a car accident *Cough cough* do you think this plan will work then?"
Xiaoyun stood in silence as he didn't know how to respond to the old man's question.
"Just maintain the status quo and put your plan aside. There is no need to risk it this much for something like this.
It's not worth risking your life for this company... I can't even give you any ownership of this company since *Cough Cough* Songyi is my son's only legal successor."
Xiaoyun hesitated for a second, then spoke up again.
"I can't maintain the status quo... The stockholders have threatened me that if I don't take a drastic plan, they are all going to withdraw from the company.
I want to maintain your legacy, Grandpa. I want to repay you, and I don't mind the risk."
Despite Xiaoyun telling him the truth, the old man's face starts to turn red, full of anger.
"Stockholder? When the hell did they start making demands? How dare they have the audacity to try to make a demand! If it weren't for me, they wouldn't even be there.
Help me up, Songming. I am *Cough Cough* going teach them a lesson myself!"
The coughing was getting worse as the old man got angrier and angrier, causing Xiaoyun to push him back onto the bed quickly.
"Grandpa, you can't do this. The doctor says you have to stay in the hospital at all times. Grandma, please, talk some sense to him."
Xiaoyun looked over to the old man's wife, knowing he had no way of convincing him out.
"Honey, do you care about the company more or me?"
The threat made the old man fall into silence until he finally accepted his fate.
"I... care about you more. Fine, I will stay here. Not like this place is making me feel any better."
"Grandpa, I am going with this plan," Xiaoyun declared, holding tightly to his plan.
"Well, I can't tell you what to do now. You are the CEO now... You do you. I'm just a dead man walking."
As Xiaoyun turned around and walked toward the exit, the old man suddenly spoke up again.
"Wait, you sure you want to continue with the plan? What about Leyan?"
The question caught Xiaoyun a little off guard. He turned back around and looked confused by what the old man meant.
"What about her?"
"Those men can be ruthless and target anyone you know... Are you willing to lose her?
Or are you going to continue with that stupid plan of yours? You know the risk you're taking."
"I am not going to lose her... I'm going with the plan."
Xiaoyun left the room without looking back. He didn't know how to answer the old man's question, nor did he wanted to face the reality just yet.