Eleven thousand eleven.

“A56, A56, are you there?”

The waiter’s voice rang loudly at the entrance.

“Yes!” Zhang Yunyi raised a hand and answered loudly. Beside her, Li Jiayue, quick to catch on, had already picked up two backpacks and followed her. Led by the waiter, the two of them weaved through the crowd waiting in line and entered the restaurant.

The mall was bustling, and her mind was preoccupied; she didn’t even notice Chen Kuo.

Wang Xuran was still confused, unconsciously being led away by Chen Kuo to roam nearly the entire floor. “Wait, I don’t get it. Didn’t you say anything today?”

Chen Kuo’s emotions were equally tangled.

But undeniably, he let out a sigh of relief—at least he no longer had to be troubled by it. “Don’t mention it.”

He suddenly recalled the teasing words he had said to Fei Shijie a few days ago, “Let’s just say I was a little unwell.”

Thinking carefully, she hadn’t really said anything. It seemed all his suspicions were baseless, mere guesswork and chasing shadows.

“...” Wang Xuran fell silent. “What kind of illness?”

“Let’s eat. My treat,” Chen Kuo abruptly changed the subject, not wanting to dwell on the matter.

After wandering around, they returned to where they started. Wang Xuran looked at the lively restaurant and, without hesitation, pointed casually. “How about this place? There are so many people waiting; the food must be decent.”

Chen Kuo refused without a second thought, “Not this one.”

He really didn’t want to run into Zhang Yunyi today. Besides, restaurants with over twenty-minute wait times were never on his list. It was just a meal—not worth wasting that much time.

Wang Xuran knew his habits well and didn’t push.

With many restaurants available, they picked one at random to resolve dinner.

“Take a look and see what you want to eat,” Zhang Yunyi ordered a dish she liked, then handed the pencil and menu to Li Jiayue sitting opposite her. “I’m paying today.”

Students spent most of their time on campus and weren’t from the same school, so opportunities to meet were rare. When they did, places to hang out were extremely limited—eating, watching movies, strolling in the park. At this stage, it didn’t matter who spent more on whom.

But since this was their last meal together, she still wanted to pay.

Li Jiayue came from a well-off family and had a good amount of pocket money, but he enjoyed buying gaming gear and sneakers—hobbies that required money.

“That won’t do,” Li Jiayue replied lazily, barely glancing at the menu, his eyes practically glued to her. “Don’t worry about me. Just order whatever you want. I don’t care. Anything’s fine.”

He wouldn’t even mind skipping the meal—as long as he was sitting with her.

Zhang Yunyi had no choice but to order a dish he liked. Just as the waiter was placing their order, she heard him ask, “Do you want to watch a movie or go karaoke afterward?”

Li Jiayue’s family owned a KTV, so even on holidays, a private room could be arranged with a phone call.

“We’ll decide after dinner,” she said.

Looking at the obviously youthful and inexperienced Li Jiayue, she hesitated for a few seconds but decided not to spoil their appetites. It would be easier to talk once they had eaten.

---

Li Jiayue stared at her intently, feeling he could never look enough. “Fine, wherever you want to go, we’ll go.”

Zhang Yunyi truly didn’t know what to talk about with him.

In fact, after such a long breakup, looking back, it seemed that apart from the endless doubts he had cast over their relationship, which brought frustration and annoyance, all other memories had faded. With him staring like that, she looked down and unlocked her phone, scrolling through her messages. Remembering an important matter, she looked up at him. “By the way, weren’t you the one who topped up my phone credit before?”

For the past three days, she had received messages from 10086 confirming successful recharges.

Two times fifty yuan, once a hundred.

“You didn’t reply to my messages, so I thought your phone might have been suspended for lack of credit,” Li Jiayue said casually.

Zhang Yunyi was not surprised. “Two hundred yuan. Should I give you cash or just recharge your phone back?”

“No big deal,” Li Jiayue didn’t mind. What bothered him was something else. “What’s mine is yours. You should reply to my messages more.”

Zhang Yunyi didn’t respond, glanced around, and reminded him, “The food’s coming quickly here. Go wash your hands first.”

They hadn’t seen each other for nearly half a month. Though Li Jiayue wanted to sit next to her, he dared not be presumptuous. Hearing her command to wash up, he relaxed and cheerfully got up, heading to the restroom.

He thought his hands were clean but decided it wouldn’t hurt to wash them a few more times.

He was preparing to muster the courage to hold her hand after the movie.

Upon entering, he found the restroom nearly empty except for a boy in light gray sweatpants adjusting his pants at the urinal. Li Jiayue glanced casually, then stopped at the sink. Before reaching for the faucet, his phone in his pocket rang. Thinking it was Zhang Yunyi urging him to hurry, he didn’t hesitate. Seeing the caller ID was a close childhood friend, he answered, holding the phone with his shoulder while washing his hands, lazily saying, “Don’t you know I’m on a date?”

The friend said something that made Li Jiayue laugh shortly. “Get lost. No one’s birthday today, and I have no time for that. Yeah, you’re right—I care more about girls than friends.”

He washed his hands again, worried it wasn’t enough, and moved to get some soap but nearly bumped into someone.

“Sorry,” he said.

Chen Kuo replied calmly, “It’s okay.”

Both young men of similar build washing their hands almost blocked the entire mirror at the sink.

Li Jiayue’s hands were covered in thick foam. “Okay, I’ll ask her. If she wants to go, we’ll go. If not, then there’s nothing I can do.”

Chen Kuo wiped the water droplets off his hands with a tissue he pulled from below the mirror, crumpled it, and tossed it into the trash bin.

...

After sending Li Jiayue to wash his hands, Zhang Yunyi slipped two hundred yuan cash into his backpack. Last time, she and Li Jiayue had not parted on good terms. This time, without misunderstandings or arguments, she hoped for a different outcome.

When Li Jiayue returned, the dishes had arrived one after another. They were hungry. In such matters, he was quite considerate—passing her napkins, pouring water, even peeling shrimp for her despite wincing from the heat.

After the meal, Zhang Yunyi used the restroom as an excuse to go to the cashier and settle the bill first. Then she began choosing her words carefully. The problem was, no matter how tactful she was, she couldn’t change the core message. She knew an abrupt end would be painful and hard for most to accept, but better a short pain than a long one. She could have cooled toward him gradually—if not in one semester, then in a year, eventually wearing down his enthusiasm. Many people did that in modern society. However, she didn’t want to treat someone she once liked that way.

She looked back, gazed over a few tables at Li Jiayue’s silhouette, pondered for a moment, then returned to the table with the receipt from the front desk.

Li Jiayue caught a glimpse of the receipt’s edge and frowned but still joked, “If Yu Kai and the others find out I let you pay, they’ll tease me for years.”

Even he, usually slow to catch on, realized that something was off with her today.

---

Zhang Yunyi took a sip of water. “Li Jiayue, I think it’s best if we end things. You don’t need to call or message me anymore.”

“What did you say?” Li Jiayue stared at her lips moving, unable to believe it.

Then, panicked, he blurted out, “Did I do something wrong? Say something wrong? I’ll apologize first. Tell me, and I promise I won’t do it again—”

“No, you didn’t do anything wrong,” Zhang Yunyi said honestly. “It’s me.”

She knew she couldn’t be vague with him. So she gathered her courage and said plainly, “I don’t love you anymore. So I don’t want to continue.”

Li Jiayue’s eyelids twitched, then he shouted, “I don’t believe it!”

Just a few days ago, everything was fine; now suddenly she says she doesn’t love him—what does that mean? He was illiterate; he couldn’t understand!

His outburst drew curious glances from nearby diners, wondering what was happening at their table.

“Don’t be like that.”

Despite everything, Zhang Yunyi quietly exhaled. Compared to last time, he was far calmer now. “I’m going home.”

“Is it because you got mad about Ye Jingyun’s message to me?” Li Jiayue thought more and more that this was the case. He fumbled for his phone. “I’ll delete all the girls now, okay? I won’t add any classmates anymore. I won’t add any guys either, is that okay?”

“I told you! It has nothing to do with anyone else!”

Zhang Yunyi knew him well. Given his nature, if he accepted it today, he wouldn’t be Li Jiayue. So there was no point in dragging it out. Once she conveyed her meaning and he understood, it was over.

Before he could fully react, she grabbed her backpack and hurried out.

She was familiar with this floor and swiftly made her way to the elevator lobby. Like a spy in an espionage film, she didn’t go downstairs but headed to the fifth-floor cinema. When it came to avoiding an ex-boyfriend, she really knew how to do it.

A popular Hollywood action movie had multiple showings. She bought a ticket for the nearest time slot. Most good seats were gone; between the front row and back row, she chose the latter without hesitation. Looking at the ticket screen, the seats next to hers were all taken, but it didn’t matter because her seat was by the aisle.

She carried a bucket of popcorn into Screening Room 3.

The theater lights were off, the room dim. Afraid of missing a step, she carefully and slowly climbed the thick-carpeted steps and found her seat. Once seated, she heard low voices nearby.

“Hope it’s not a bad movie. If it is, I’ll definitely give it a bad review online after wasting my precious two hours.”

“It’s a free ticket. What are you complaining about?”

Zhang Yunyi recognized the voice and froze. She turned her head to see a boy reclining comfortably in his seat, holding a bottle of water with one hand and taking a sip.

“Class monitor, it’s really you! What a coincidence!” she exclaimed in surprise.

Chen Kuo stiffened, thinking he had hallucinated. When he turned his head and met her bright, smiling eyes, he was caught off guard and choked, coughing violently several times.