The mother and daughter still had some savings. His father deposited a lot of money in batches in Swiss banks, but on the night before the accident, he only told Nan Xiaojin's mother that there was four million in one account.

And this four million became the last resort for Nan Xiaojin and her mother to rely on when they left for a foreign country.

The expenses abroad are not small. Although Nan Xiaojin and her daughter still consciously save money, they only have more than two million yuan left. With more than two million yuan, it is still very difficult to settle down in city b.

Zhao Yi wanted to help her arrange a place to live. He had many properties in city B under his name, and they were all vacant.

But Nan Xiaojin didn't agree, and simply rented a small apartment in city B. Renting in Beijing was too stressful, and Zhao Yi didn't agree, but when Nan Xiaojin insisted, he didn't say anything. He just gave it to her.

Her mother arranged a job - he heard that her mother was very good at piano and found someone to arrange a job for her as a piano teacher.

For almost a week, he and Nan Xiaojin went to see the house and bought furniture to make the slightly shabby rental house more cozy.

Zhao Yi had met Nan Xiaojin's mother before. She was a gentle and quiet lady who was well-maintained and looked to be in her early thirties at most. Later, he and Nan Xiaojin went to the airport to pick her up and found that she had lost weight in just three years.

She had lost a lot of weight, and there were fine lines at the corners of her eyes. But after returning to China after many years, Mrs. Nan's mood at this time was only filled with joy and gratitude.

In the blink of an eye, more than half a month has passed.

It has been more than a month since Zhao Yi moved out of that apartment.

The lives of Nan Xiaojin and Mrs. Nan gradually got back on track. A few days later, New Year's Day was approaching.

On New Year's Day, Nan Xiaojin asked Zhao Yi to go out for dinner at a famous couple's restaurant.

The layout of the restaurant is very good, romantic and warm, and gives each guest enough space. The two of them are in a secluded corner, and the flashing lights and green plants around the corner isolate them from the outside world.

Zhao Yi asked about Nan Xiaojin's recent situation, and Nan Xiaojin told him that everything was going well. Indeed, everything was going well. The mother and daughter returned to their hometown and had a stable life again. Her mother had a smile on her face every day.

After talking about the trivial matters, Nan Xiaojin finally summoned up the courage towards the end.

"Zhao Yi." She suddenly called out.

Zhao Yi raised his head and looked at her: "What's wrong?"

There was tranquility in his eyes, and Nan Xiaojin's heart went cold almost instantly. But we were already here, and we couldn't give up halfway anyway.

For a moment, she forgot all the touching confessions she had thought about. Her mind went blank. She could only close her eyes and ask him directly: "Can we get back together?"

Zhao Yi was slightly startled and did not answer.

Time passed little by little, and the lights overhead flickered back and forth several times.

The last ray of hope she was clinging to was completely shattered, and Nan Xiaojin seemed to have finally calmed down.

"It turns out that when you told me that you had someone you liked, you were so serious about it." She forced herself to tease, but only a bitter taste remained.

Zhao Yi frowned and was about to deny it.

Nan Xiaojin touched her eyes and said before him: "Don't deny it so quickly, you obviously like her very much."

If you like someone, you can't hide it.

Zhao Yi ate with her, watched movies with her, played everywhere with her, looked at houses and bought furniture with her... They were so close and inseparable, but she could always feel the sadness between Zhao Yi's brows and the alienation in his eyes.

He no longer likes her, the tenderness and care these days are more of just guilt and compensation.

Nan Xiaojin is such a sensitive person. She should have noticed this a long time ago. But she is unwilling to face it because she always holds on to hope.

Now that her hope was shattered, she suppressed the desolation and sadness in her heart and finally began to think about the matter calmly. Some clues that she could ignore in the past were increasingly discovered at this moment.

Zhao Yi has fallen in love with someone else, but he has never seen him getting along with other girls in the past two months, and has never heard him mention her. He even refuses to admit that he likes her.

Various conclusions can only point to one answer: He fell in love with someone who cannot be liked.

If she had discovered this matter earlier, Nan Xiaojin might have persuaded her to give up. But in the past two months, she could feel Zhao Yi's persistence, which was not a light liking.

"I know, you actually hoped that you could 'like' me...but you failed."

"Who is that person? Do I know him?" she couldn't help but ask.

Zhao Yi moved his gaze to the glass window next to him, looking at the crowd of people outside in twos and threes and Xin Xue.

Nan Xiaojin chased his eyes and asked him: "If you really like it, why don't you try hard once?"

Her voice was very soft, but it contained some kind of power.

She is petite and weak, but she always insists on pursuing the people and things she likes.

She who has no hesitation may not understand those who stand still and are afraid of losing.

…………

Late night on New Year's Day.

Although fireworks are prohibited, people's joy of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new must always be vented. Therefore, with the changing lights flashing everywhere in the steel city, anyone can feel the hustle and joy of the city.

But all this is just like a silent painting on the window in Zhao Yi's room. No matter how the light and shadow outside change, it can only illuminate the room without lights on.

Zhao Yi was lying on the bed without even changing his clothes.

Three years ago, it was the same. He was alone in the dormitory, holding the letter Nan Xiaojin left for him in his hand, looking at the sunrise outside the window, and gradually setting in the west. Time was very fast, but it also seemed to be very slow.

Then the young man, dressed in twilight, opened the door and drove away the silent darkness.

But today there is no such young man.

What Nan Xiaojin said to him kept lingering in his ears.

Do I... like him?

He stretched out his arms and covered his eyes.

Yes, he likes speeches.

In fact, it's not that hard to see. He appears in his dreams every night.

Perhaps earlier - very early on - Zhao Yi knew about this love, and even a stronger feeling. But he never thought that this emotion that he himself did not dare to admit could be so easily appreciated by others.

out.

He picked up the phone and rubbed his thumb on the name at the top of the address book for a long time.

Finally he clicked the dial button.

Du-du-du...

The busy signal rang for a full minute, but no one answered.

The complexity in his eyes receded at this moment, and his brows furrowed.

Chao Ci has never contacted him these days, and he has not contacted Chao Ci either.

But he didn't expect that when he called the other party, no one answered.

It was not yet twelve o'clock, and Chao Ci usually went to bed at half past twelve.

Zhao Yi sat up from the bed and made another phone call.

Still no one answered.

He called five or six times in a row but was never answered.

…………

Zhao Yi didn't even know if he had fallen asleep the night before.

He tossed and turned all night, and when he got up the next day, he asked the counselor for the contact information of the instructor who had given Chao Ci as the subject.

He ignored class, left the counselor's office, and called the instructor downstairs in the teaching building.

He asked the instructor if Chao Ci was following him to do a project in country x. The instructor said yes.

But he then asked if Chao Ci could give him a call back. He couldn't contact Chao Ci yesterday and wanted to see him if there was something urgent.

The instructor hesitated and said he would try his best.

After ending the call, Zhao Yi frowned fiercely.

He could feel that something was wrong. He also tried to call Chaoci several times this morning, but still no one answered. It was rare for Chaoci to be unable to contact him, and the instructor was also vague and seemed very confused.

awkward.

This matter was thought to be Chao Ci deliberately avoiding him, which made sense. However, he had always felt uneasy and panicked in his heart.

Chao Ci...are you really doing research in country x?

For some reason, he suddenly had such doubts. Once he had a direction, his doubts became stronger and clearer.

Yes, with Chao Ci's popularity in school and his background in the Chao family, it was not difficult for him to ask a tutor to tell the public that he went to that country's project together.

He went back and searched on the school's official website for a long time, and finally found the national project led by the tutor that the counselor mentioned. However, Chao Ci's name was not at all among the list of more than a dozen participants.

This does not allow for a final conclusion.

Zhao Yi looked at the names of the participants. They were all from their department, but most of them were seniors. He asked someone to find the contact information of one of them and called him.

He asked the man if there was anyone named Chao Ci in their group.

"Chao Ci? Are you talking about the junior student in grade XX?" asked the senior student on the other end. Chao Ci is still very famous in their department, "No. It would be great if our group really had such a handsome junior student."

No.

Now it is almost certain that Chao Ci did not go to country x to do any nonsense.
To be continued...