Let's walk together for the rest of our lives. If the host says to leave, she will leave.

"I'm not a baby."

Jiang Mingcheng muttered, blushed, and hung up the phone. This time he finally fell asleep peacefully.

At ten o'clock the next morning, Gu Ling rang the doorbell of Jiang Mingcheng's house.

Gu Ling was led into the living room by a servant. The servant poured her a cup of tea and said, "The young master hasn't woken up yet. You may have to wait for a while."

"It's okay, go ahead and do your work, I'll just wait here."

Gu Ling was supposed to review at home today, but the phone call last night really made her feel uneasy, and she always wanted to see Jiang Mingcheng. Considering that he went to bed late last night, Gu Ling did not come early today.

She didn't wait too long before she heard a familiar voice: "Gu Ling, why are you here?"

The boy was wearing black silk pajamas, his hair was messy, and his eyes were slightly red, but other than that there was nothing unusual about him.

Gu Ling was a little bit stumped. What did he say? Did he say that she came to see him specially?

Her eyes fell on Jiang Mingcheng's hair and said, "Didn't you say you wanted to get a haircut yesterday? I'll go with you."

Jiang Mingcheng scratched his head. He was cutting hair, but Gu Ling was more active than him: "Oh, wait a moment, I'll be down soon."

He turned around and went back to the room. When he came down again, he had already tidied up his appearance, changed out of his pajamas, and took Gu Ling to have breakfast.

In the barber shop.

Jiang Mingcheng sat on the chair, and Tony, holding a pair of scissors in his hand, asked, "What kind of hairstyle do you want?"

"Just cut it a little shorter."

Jiang Mingcheng's hair had grown a lot longer, and the roots were black. Teacher Tony asked again, "Do you want to dye your hair again?"

He touched Jiang Mingcheng's hair and said, "Too much dyeing is bad for your hair. Your hair quality is fine now, but if you keep dyeing it, it may become dry and frizzy. But if you want to dye it, I have a very good conditioner in my store. I guarantee..."

Jiang Mingcheng did not hear a word of what Tony said next. He just listened to Tony quietly and saw Gu Ling sitting on the sofa and memorizing words through the mirror in front of him.

Jiang Mingcheng looked at Gu Ling's fingers turning the pages of the book from time to time, a little absent-minded.

If your hair quality is not good, will it feel bad to the touch?

Finally, Tony asked with expectation: "How is it? Are you excited?"

My heart is beating a little fast.

Heartbeat? What is heartbeat?

Jiang Mingcheng answered loudly: "I'm not moved!"

When Gu Ling heard this, he looked up at him. The two looked at each other through the mirror. Jiang Mingcheng hurriedly avoided his sight, and Gu Ling lowered his head to read the vocabulary book.

flipped: verb, translated as flip quickly, touch.

In certain contexts, it also means a heart-pounding feeling.

Tony was disappointed that his conditioner didn't sell. The customer was not interested at all: "Will you still dye your hair?"

Jiang Mingcheng's hands, which were hidden under the haircut, grasped the hem of his clothes tightly and said, "Don't dye it, just cut it short."

OK.

Jiang Mingcheng's hair was cut shorter, revealing his stern features. The roots of his hair were black, but the ends were green, which looked a little strange.

No one knew what he was thinking now, his brows revealed annoyance, as if he could hit someone in the next second.

Gu Ling rubbed his head casually: "What's wrong? Are you unhappy about not dyeing your hair?"

His expression softened a little, and a heat rose up: "No."

"By the way, why don't you dye your hair?"

Jiang Mingcheng felt the heat on his face spreading behind his ears. His eyes wandered, "Dyeing my hair takes too long. I might as well use this time to finish a few more papers."

Gu Ling nodded and patted his shoulder: "Not bad, you are a teachable kid, then go back and study."

Are you going back now?

Jiang Mingcheng was feeling a little lost, when he suddenly heard Gu Ling calling his name, followed by a soft hug.

He hadn't reacted yet, and when everyone had walked away, the words in his ear seemed to have just entered his ears.

——Acheng, come on.

He touched his ears, which were burning and red. "Why did she hug me so casually? She should have asked me first."

Although, he wouldn't refuse.

……

Study, eat, sleep, the routine days repeat day after day, and the year ends in the blink of an eye.

In the last monthly exam, Jiang Mingcheng still made great progress and his scores remained consistently within the top 500.

After the last class, winter vacation begins.

During the winter vacation, Gu Ling and Jiang Mingcheng met less frequently, only once every three to five days, and occasionally went out with Lu Lin and others to relax.

In a hotpot restaurant.

The Chinese New Year is approaching, and the surrounding shops have already had a festive atmosphere. The hot pot restaurant has also been decorated with many red lanterns, small colored lights and other decorations, making it look festive.

Several people ordered a spicy hotpot. The young man was sweating while eating, and his lips were bright red as if they were smeared with red lip balm.

Chen Fei finished the drink in the cup in one breath: "Great! In winter, hot pot is the best. It would be even better if there is some wine."

Jiang Mingcheng's eyes lit up and he raised his hand to call the waiter, but Gu Ling held his hand down with one hand and fed him a mouthful of food to fill his mouth.

Gu Ling and Lu Lin said almost in unison: "Minors cannot drink."

Jiang Mingcheng chewed and swallowed the food and said, "You can drink beer. You won't get drunk."

Fade Chen nodded rapidly, "Yes, yes, yes."

Gu Ling looked at Chen Fei expressionlessly and said, "Heh."

Fade Chen turned to look at Lu Lin for support. Lu Lin smiled at him and lowered his head to eat.

Well, these two academic masters are in the same group, but he can’t afford to offend either of them.

But Brother Jiang also wanted to drink, so why did you just give him the cold shoulder?

Chen Fei felt wronged, but he didn't say anything.

He turned his grief and anger into appetite, opened his mouth wide and took another big bite of meat.

Suddenly, he felt someone kicked his calf. He didn't pay much attention to it, thinking it was an accident, until he was kicked twice more and then he reacted.

Gu Ling and Jiang Mingcheng were sitting opposite him. Gu Ling would definitely not kick him, so there would be only one person left.

Jiang Mingcheng winked at him: Speak, I want to drink.

Chen Fei: Brother, I can’t help you.

"Acheng, is your face cramping?" a cold voice sounded.

Although he was eating spicy hotpot, Gu Ling only had a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, and his lips were like a touch of red makeup, dispelling some of his coldness.

She glanced at Jiang Mingcheng lightly, and that look seemed to contain great pressure, which made Jiang Mingcheng, who had the desire but not the courage to do something evil, suddenly deflated.

Lu Lin poured Jiang Mingcheng a glass of juice: "Drink juice to replenish vitamins."

Jiang Mingcheng responded with a sigh.

After eating hot pot, the group of four walked out of the hot pot restaurant. The cold wind was howling and everyone shivered.

The lights were just coming on and it was pitch black all around. There were no stars or moon in the sky, only the street lamps and shop lights were bright.

Chen Fei sighed: "After the Chinese New Year, we will have to prepare for the college entrance examination. There will not be many leisurely days like this."

Lu Lin: "It's hard work before it's sweet. You'll have more than two months of vacation after the college entrance exam, which is enough time for you to have fun."

"How can they be the same?" Chen Fei hooked Jiang Mingcheng's shoulder, "Brother Jiang, we won't go our separate ways after graduation, right?"

He said it casually, but there was a hint of worry in his eyes.

Jiang Mingcheng said: "I won't delete people's contact information, you can call me."

"Haha, that's fine."

Jiang Mingcheng and Chen Fei were talking to each other with their arms around each other's shoulders, while Gu Ling and Lu Lin followed behind them.

"I heard that your target is Yanbei?"

"Yeah." Gu Ling asked, "What about you?"

Lu Lin smiled and said, "What a coincidence, me too. Maybe we were classmates in college."

Gu Ling joked, "Then you better not take the same major as me, so that I don't have to compete with you for scholarships when I go to college."

"It's too unlucky to be in the same major as you. I can't compete with you at all. I won't go."

"You still have to have dreams, what if they come true?"

……

The four young people walked in the cold wind and chatted with each other, stepping into the new year with full of longing and enthusiasm for the future.

New Year's Eve.

Gu Ling sat with Gu's father and mother. The table was filled with all kinds of home-cooked dishes, which was extremely sumptuous.

The meal took a long time. Gu Ling helped wash the dishes and clean up, and then the family sat in the living room to watch the Spring Festival Gala.

Gu's father and mother were laughing at the skit, but Gu Ling's eyes were on the TV, but his eyes were not focused.

What was Jiang Mingcheng doing at this time?

Are his parents home yet?

If not, is he home alone now?

Questions kept popping up in Gu Ling's mind. The more he thought about it, the clearer the scene of Jiang Mingcheng standing alone with tears in his eyes guarding a table of food became.

Gu Ling stood up from the sofa: "I'm a little sleepy, I'll go back to my room first."

Father Gu looked at his daughter's back as she left and said, "Her irritable expression doesn't mean she's sleepy."

"You don't understand." Mother Gu said meaningfully, "Just watch your Spring Festival Gala. Lingling knows what's going on."

Gu Ling, who knew what was going on, made a video call to Jiang Mingcheng as soon as he entered the room.