After everything had settled down, Jiang Yuan and Chi Xu spent some time being lovey - dovey in their apartment. But under the urging of her parents, Jiang Yuan had no choice but to go back home.
However, Jiang Yuan made a bold decision. She took Jiaojiao home with her. After carefully packing all the things Jiaojiao needed, she took a flight back to Haining City.
That afternoon, she arrived at Haining City Airport. Her parents drove to pick her up.
When Jiang's mother saw Jiaojiao nestled in the cage with its wet eyes, the words of scolding Jiang Yuan for bringing a pet home that were about to come out of her mouth turned into a coquettish voice.
"Ooh, is this Jiaojiao? How cute it is!"
Jiang's father was driving in the front, and Jiang's mother was sitting in the passenger seat. She reached out her hand to open Jiaojiao's cage and touch it.
Just as her hand touched the cage, "slap", it was knocked away.
Jiang Yuan said speechlessly, "I know Jiaojiao is very well - behaved, but Dad is driving now. What if something happens?"
Jiang's mother retracted her hand awkwardly and murmured, "It's just because it's so cute."
"After we get home, you can touch Jiaojiao as much as you like. It's really well - behaved." Jiang Yuan echoed her mother's words and lowered her head to send a message to Chi Xu that she had arrived home.
"Yuanyuan, are you dating someone?" Unexpectedly, Jiang's mother blurted out this question.
Jiang Yuan's heart tightened. Her palm holding the phone began to sweat slightly. She took a deep breath and looked up, looking surprised and confused. "Mom, where did you hear that?"
She didn't know why her first reaction was to feel guilty and try to cover it up.
Maybe the impact of the high - school ban on puppy love was too great, and she couldn't adjust for a while.
"I'm just asking casually," Jiang's mother continued. "It's really strange. You don't seem to miss home at all. That Aunt Wang's daughter downstairs comes back once a month. I remember you finished your exams early this winter vacation. Why didn't you come back earlier?"
"I was doing desensitization training for Jiaojiao. I was afraid it would have a stress reaction," Jiang Yuan said seriously.
Jiaojiao had grown up in college. It was not afraid of strangers at all, let alone having a stress reaction. It was really easy to take care of.
After getting home, while waiting for her father to unlock the door, Jiang Yuan casually asked, "What about our old house? Is it still there?"
"Yes, and we still have the keys. They are in the cabinet in my and your dad's room. You can look for them yourself."
After dinner, Jiang Yuan found the keys and took a taxi to the old house.
The neighborhood had become an old one. The street lamps on both sides of the road emitted a dim yellow light. The lamp shades were covered with a layer of dust accumulated over the years, making the light faint and hazy.
Jiang Yuan walked into the neighborhood slowly. Memories from the past gradually came back to her mind.
"Jiang Yuan, why are you so stupid? You can't even solve such a simple problem. You still have to rely on me to teach you."
"I'm not a philanthropist. If you quarrel with your family, don't expect me to take you in... Forget it. I heard it's going to rain heavily. It would be more troublesome if you caught a cold."
"If you can solve this problem, the sun will rise in the west. Oh no, that's impossible."
"..."
At that time, Chi Xu was so sarcastic, arrogant and annoying. Jiang Yuan was surprised to find that she had such a high tolerance for him back then.
If it were now, she wouldn't even talk to him after a few words.
However, Chi Xu had also changed little by little. She didn't know when exactly, but his sharp - tongued manner had gradually faded.
After their reunion, except for the first few times when he said some mean things and annoyed her, she rarely saw his sarcasm again.
It turned out that time had changed not only herself but also him.
Jiang Yuan smiled, but her eyes gradually turned red. She casually wiped them, and her hand was wet with tears.
She walked into the building where she used to live. The stairwell was filled with a musty and old - fashioned smell.
In the blink of an eye, twenty years had passed.
Jiang Yuan stood in front of the familiar yet strange door. She took a deep breath, inserted the key into the keyhole and turned it gently. "Click", the door opened, and a dusty smell rushed towards her.
The room was completely dark. She groped for the light switch and turned it on. The dim yellow light illuminated everything in the room.
Before moving out in senior high school, Jiang Yuan had packed all the things related to Chi Xu into a box and thrown it into the corner under the bed, including the key he had once given her.
It took her a great effort to take out the box. A cloud of long - sealed dust rushed towards her, and she sneezed two or three times in a row.
She wiped the box with a rag, revealing its original appearance.
Nearly four years had passed, and Jiang Yuan couldn't remember what was in the box for a moment, except for the key.
She opened the box. There was a key, two photos, a diary, and some small trinkets that Chi Xu had given her over the years.
Jiang Yuan first picked up the photos. Both were group photos taken with Chi Xu in the years of primary - school and junior - high - school graduation. Their faces were still young at that time.
The girl was smiling brightly, while the boy, perhaps not used to facing the camera, smiled stiffly. But it was not difficult to see that he was trying to raise the corners of his mouth.
Putting down the photos, Jiang Yuan picked up the diary. She tilted her head and couldn't remember why the diary was related to Chi Xu.
She lowered her head slightly and opened the first page. The date was more than a decade ago.
Jiang Yuan estimated that it was written in primary school. She vaguely remembered that at that time, the head teacher had assigned a diary - writing task. They had to write every day, but the teacher wouldn't collect them to check.
Chi Xu's name was on the first page, on the second and third pages too. When she turned to the last page, his name was still there.
The whole diary was full of complaints and dislike for Chi Xu.
Jiang Yuan couldn't help laughing. She really didn't remember that she had disliked Chi Xu so much at that time that she even spent time writing a diary about hating him.
It would be interesting to show it to Chi Xu and give him a shock.
Jiang Yuan rummaged through the small gifts Chi Xu had given her in the past. She only took the key, closed the box again and put it on the table.
Back in the stairwell, she opened the door of Chi Xu's house as skillfully as before.
The dust that rushed towards her choked her, and her eyes were almost closed.
It was understandable. Since Chi Xu had left, this place had been sealed, and no one had come back.
After a long while, Jiang Yuan stepped into the living room again. She looked around to find the note that Chi Xu had written to her in a hurry back then.
She still wanted to find it, not just for Chi Xu, but also for the knot in her heart that had troubled her for many years.
After searching everywhere, Jiang Yuan finally found the note under the sofa.
The note was wrinkled after being wet. The words on it were blurred, but it was still not difficult to distinguish.
It said: "Wait for me to come back."
These four simple words had trapped her for three whole years, more than a thousand days and nights.
Jiang Yuan could no longer hold back her tears. Big drops of tears fell on the wrinkled note. The already blurred words became even more difficult to read, but the four words "Wait for me to come back" seemed to be engraved deep in her soul and became clearer and clearer.