Chapter 13: Have You Decided When to Come to My House?

“It’s my fault for not considering how inconvenient it would be to sit on the back of a bicycle.”

“There won’t be a next time.”

Noticing the man’s discomfort in front of her, Shen Yi’an, who had been inwardly grumbling, couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s not as exaggerated as you make it sound.”

“It was a bit bumpy, but it was fine. I could handle it.”

She wasn’t some delicate, pampered person.

Usually, she was the one controlling the bicycle, so she didn’t feel much even when encountering rough roads.

Now, experiencing what it was like to sit on the back of a bicycle—well, how should I put it? She just hoped asphalt roads would become widespread across the country soon.

Seeing the smile on her face, Li Beichen’s tense expression eased slightly. “Next time, we won’t take a bicycle. We’ll use other means of transportation.”

“Anything works!” Thinking that the “other means of transportation” he mentioned referred to electric bikes, Shen Yi’an agreed cheerfully.

Little did she know that the man had something else in mind.

Under the watchful gaze of the gatekeeper, the two chatted for a few more minutes before parting ways at the entrance of Jingshi Normal University on an increasingly stuffy afternoon.

Things were different now compared to later times.

In later times, universities were more inclusive, and positions like gatekeepers had long since disappeared from campus entrances.

Although some universities still retained such roles, visitors could usually enter freely after registering their personal information.

But at this time, entering or leaving the school required a student ID.

For outsiders trying to get in, not even connections could help—even the principal’s son would be stopped by the gatekeeper.

Knowing this, Li Beichen left with a look of helplessness written all over his face.

Only after watching him disappear from sight did Shen Yi’an turn and head back to her dormitory.

It was already late August, and the new academic year would begin in less than half a month.

Because of this, most graduating seniors had already packed their belongings and left the school to embark on new journeys.

Not many people, like Shen Yi’an, were still lingering on campus.

As for why she was leaving so late, it was because, before going to the Disco dance hall to broaden her horizons, she had a part-time job off-campus.

As a tutor.

She chose this job with the intention of adapting to her future teaching career in advance.

Fortunately, her last tutoring session had ended before the class gathering, otherwise she wouldn’t have bought her train ticket home so early.

On her way back to the dormitory, she ran into a few familiar faces.

But since they weren’t in the same class, they only nodded in greeting without any further interaction.

Back in the dormitory.

Shen Yi’an first poured herself a glass of water to quench her thirst. Then, she deftly drew the curtains, locked the dormitory door from the inside, and slipped into the Space.

Her goal for entering the Space again was clear: to plant all the crops she had purchased from the Seed Market.

The Black Soil Land was spacious enough, and even after sowing all the seeds, less than one-tenth of the area had been used.

Following the instructions on the blue screen, she used her thoughts to water all the seeds before finishing up.

After all this work, Shen Yi’an felt utterly exhausted.

She had never done heavy labor since childhood, and this was her first time working in the fields.

However, the thought that once the seeds grew, they would accumulate energy for the Space’s upgrade made all the fatigue vanish in an instant.

With the important tasks completed, Shen Yi’an left the Space and began packing her luggage for home.

First, she rolled up all the bedding on the bed and stuffed it into her Space.

Next were the textbooks.

Before summer vacation began, graduating students had set up stalls to sell their old textbooks.

In an era when books and textbooks were exceptionally precious, any undamaged ones or those with extremely detailed notes would be snapped up by younger students as soon as they were displayed.

Shen Yi’an had also participated in this activity.

Because her textbooks were filled with dense annotations, she was the first in her dormitory to sell all her books.

Not only the textbooks, but even her used notes were bought by many underclassmen.

Now, when it was time to pack her textbooks, she ended up with only a stack of miscellaneous books left.

Then came the daily necessities.

Items like skincare cosmetics, the lunch box and chopsticks she brought from home, the thermos for hot water, and clothes, shoes, and socks.

By the time everything was packed, over an hour had passed.

Outside the window, the high-hanging sun had already sunk westward, leaving only a fiery red sunset on the horizon.

It was beautiful.

After admiring the scenery for a few moments, Shen Yi’an took out the last remaining packet of Prince biscuits for dinner.

The thought of soon reuniting with her long-missed family made even dry biscuits taste exceptionally delightful.

Since all her dormitory belongings were stored in her Space, she spent her final night before leaving school inside the Space.

The next morning at nine o’clock, Shen Yi’an emerged from the Space, full of energy.

The 1:10 time flow ratio was truly remarkable.

While only one night passed outside, she had lost count of how many nights she had slept inside the Space.

After confirming she hadn’t left anything behind, she locked the dormitory door and returned the key to the dorm supervisor.

Seeing her walk out of the school gate empty-handed, carrying only her crossbody bag, Li Beichen, who had been waiting at the school entrance for a while, looked surprised. “Aren’t you taking your dormitory luggage?”

He quickly added, “If you don’t want it, that’s fine. It’s nothing important anyway.”

“From now on, I’ll prepare everything you need.”

Hearing this, Shen Yi’an realized she had been careless.

She had only thought about traveling light but forgot that someone might notice such details.

After a brief thought, she came up with an idea. “I mailed my dormitory luggage home a couple of days ago.”

“I was afraid that carrying large bags would make it hard to keep track of my belongings, and I might even lose myself in the process.”

Understanding her reasoning, Li Beichen nodded in agreement. “That makes sense.”

“Since you have no luggage, let’s head to the train station now.”

Shen Yi’an nodded and turned to walk toward the tram stop.

Taking the tram was the most convenient way to get to the train station.

Before she could take a step, Li Beichen gently guided her by the shoulders to an army-green jeep. “We’re driving to the train station today.”

As he spoke, he opened the passenger door and helped the slightly dazed Shen Yi’an into the seat.

The car had been on the road for a while before Shen Yi’an finally snapped out of her confusion. “How did you manage to borrow a military vehicle to pick me up? Won’t this violate any regulations?”

Although she wasn’t in the military, she knew it wasn’t easy to borrow army vehicles.

Aside from rank and position restrictions, the approval process was likely complicated.

Yet here was a military vehicle being used to pick her up—the thought made her uneasy.

Sensing her anxiety, Li Beichen freed his right hand and ruffled her hair. “It’s not as complicated as you think.”

“This is my dad’s car. No one will gossip about it.”

After speaking, he couldn’t resist teasing, “What, is the jeep not comfortable enough?”

“Should we go back and switch to my grandfather’s Hongqi instead?”

Hearing this, Shen Yi’an shook her head vigorously like a sieve, “Not at all, don’t talk nonsense.”

I was just worried about you, not disliking the jeep.”

In these times, even the wealthiest people could at most afford a regular car.

Military vehicles like the army green jeep were beyond imagination, let alone the Hongqi.

She wasn’t out of her mind to even think of disdaining.

Watching her head shake like a rattle-drum, Li Beichen couldn’t help but laugh aloud, “It’s just the two of us in the car, you can dislike it as much as you want.””

After a pause, he continued, “Grandfather likes you very much.”

“If I hadn’t stopped him, he would have already come to see you at school.”

“Have you thought about when you’re coming to my house?”