Chapter 27

In the second semester of her sophomore year, Ming called Li's home the evening she arrived at school. It was Li's aunt who answered the call, and she asked Ming what she needed from Li. Ming explained that she was worried about Li's mood because of her grandmother's situation, so she wanted to talk to her. When she found out that Li had returned to school, she went to the girls' dormitory and waited downstairs, where she also met Li's classmates. They asked her to go to Li's dorm room to find her, but she was not there. Ming then went back and waited for Li to pass by, holding a book and reading while waiting. When Li and TingTing returned from outside, they saw someone nearby. TingTing said, "Isn't that your brother? What is he doing here?"

Li walked up to Ming and said, "Are you waiting for someone here or are you reading here?"

Ming put away the book and said, "I'm waiting for you here, you just went out with Tingting," Ming greeted Tingting.

LiLi said, "Wait for me, what do you want to talk to me about?" Ming looked at Ting Ting and said, "Can we chat?"

Ting Ting nodded and said, "Okay, you two chat, I'll go back to the dormitory first," and then Ming and LiLi said goodbye to her.

After Tingting left, Lili said, "So, what's up? Why did you come to me?" Ming looked at Lili carefully and said, "You seem fine, but I've been a little worried about you at home."

Lili said, "Worry about me, worry about me for what, because of my grandmother's situation?"

Ming said, "Yeah, even though your relationship with your grandmother may not be as good as with your maternal grandmother, I'm afraid you'll be reminded of your maternal grandmother because of your grandmother's situation." Lili said, "It is true that I am reminded of my maternal grandmother because of my grandmother's situation, but I am fine now."

明说“我看出来了，今天状态不错，那如果你有心情不好都可以找我，我随时都有时间”。

理理说“好”，然后相互道别，各自准备回宿舍，理理又转了过来说“哥，今天谢谢你过来”。

He said clearly, "It's all right, don't be so polite to me. You should go back to the dormitory early." Then they waved to each other and He left, and Li slowly returned to the dormitory. All of this was seen by Tingting.

Ever since the last time Lili was beaten, Mingfu and Lili have been maintaining a somewhat ambiguous relationship, and neither of them has mentioned it. Shortly after school started, Mingfu used Lili's grandmother's business, competitions, passing by, and other excuses to come and find Ming and so on. This time he said he had come to see Ming again but didn't see him, and Lili asked, "Do you have another competition?"

It was quite awkward to go and watch Mingfu's match in the first half of the year. He only played for less than 5 minutes and then came off, because it was just a friendly match organized by several schools. So, it wasn't very intense, and there were only some classmates from the schools watching. Today, he just found an excuse to come, actually he just came to find Rili. Mingfu said, "We went to practice, the match will be held in my school next week. Will you come and watch my match?" Rili asked, "What time specifically?"

Mingfu said, "Next Friday afternoon at 3 o'clock." Li Li said, "Next Friday may not be possible, I have class in the afternoon and recently I have been responsible for attendance, so I may not be able to go."

明傅说“那就下次吧”，然后两个人在附近逛了逛，聊了很多明傅也说了很多安慰人的话，理理突然一直看着明傅，明傅也觉得很奇怪说“怎么我脸上有东西吗”。

Li Li said, "No, I just suddenly realized that you can also comfort people." Ming Fu said, "Is that so?"

Li Li said, "Yes, I remember the first time was the day my grandmother passed away, you were standing in the hospital stairwell the whole time."

Meifu said, "Did I look silly standing there like that the other day?"

Lili said, "At that time, I just wanted you to go further away so I could cry loudly, but you, looking back, even though you didn't say a word of comfort at the time, whenever I think of that time, I feel very warm."

Mingfu said, "Actually, I always wanted to say some comforting words to you at that time, but when it came to my mouth, I couldn't say it out. And then I stayed by your side, and you didn't drive me away, so I just wanted to accompany you."

When Lili heard Mingfu say this, she felt a little embarrassed and said, "I'll go back to school first, you should go back earlier too." Then Mingfu watched Lili enter the school before reluctantly going back.

On the way back, I kept thinking about whether I should confess. I feel like Li Li also likes me, and Ming also said he only sees Li Li as a little sister, so he shouldn't have any objections to me and Li Li being together. I almost said it just now, I must seize the opportunity next time. Because of studying, will Li Li reject me? Ah, I don't want to think about it, I'll talk about it next time.

Mingfu came every week during this period. Sometimes he only met with Lili, and sometimes they would be joined by another friend, Tingting. One day, while Mingfu and Lili were shopping, a person riding a bike nearly crashed into Lili. Mingfu quickly reached out and pulled Lili close to him. They were very close, and both felt a little embarrassed and blushed. After they separated, they continued walking, and both Mingfu and Lili said "just now" at the same time.

Two people looked at each other and laughed. Lili said, "You go first." The two of them continued walking like this. Mingfeng stuttered a bit from behind and said, "Be my girlfriend." Lili suddenly stopped and said, "Don't you have a girlfriend?"

明傅说“我没有，你听谁说的，明吗？我和之前那个女朋友都分手半年多了，我发现她和她前男友一直有联系，所以后面就没有在一起了，都是半年以前的事情了”。

Li Li remained silent for a while without turning around. Ming Fu felt very uneasy in his heart, afraid that Li Li would not agree and that it would be awkward to be friends in the future. Li Li turned around to face Ming Fu and said, "I'll consider it." Ming Fu's face showed that he was very happy, foolishly nodding his head.

Li Li said "I know you have been finding various excuses to meet me recently. Every time I came out to see you, I could tell that you like me, and I like you too. However, although our relationship is not that of childhood sweethearts, we have been classmates and friends for many years. If we become boyfriend and girlfriend, there are many problems to overcome and many things to think through. I am afraid that we are just acting on impulse, and in the future, we won't even have each other as friends. Do you understand what I mean?"

Mingfu said, "I know that even though I have talked about two girlfriends in the past, I was sincere every time. Each breakup was due to various reasons, and I was always the one being dumped. I don't know when I started liking you, even though we have been good friends for so many years, we have very little time together alone. Recently, I have been meeting with you often, and it has made me more sure that I like you. I hope you will consider dating me. Lately, I don't know what's wrong with me. I've been constantly thinking about seeing you, even during class and in my dreams at night. That's why I've been finding excuses to come see you, even asking Ming and Tingting out just to see you. Why are you laughing?"

When Rili saw Mingfu's confession, she felt very happy and couldn't help but smile. She said, "It's nothing. I feel like you said it very well and I understand what you want to say, but we still need to go back and consider it separately, after all."

Ming Fu nodded and said, "I just suddenly asked you to be my girlfriend, didn't I scare you?" Li Li shook her head and Ming Fu said,

"When will you give me an answer? It's not like we have to consider for a long time whether to contact each other or not.".

Li Li said "a week, if we are really together, I am afraid it is just our impulse at the moment. We should take some time to calm down, determine our own results, and write a letter to the other person to tell them our thoughts."

Mingfu said, "Okay, then." Lili said, "I'm going back to school first. It's getting late, and you should go back early, too."

Mingfu said, "Let me walk you to the school gate." Lili nodded, and then she didn't say much. Mingfu kept watching Lili go into the school from a distance, with a joyous expression on his face. He knew he had guessed right, Lili also liked him. When Lili had just gone in, she had been looking at him the whole time. She must be willing to be his girlfriend.

Li Li's impression of Mingfu was very good from the first time they met. At first, she only thought of him as a friend, but recently, every time something came up, Mingfu was the one to help solve it. As a result, Li Li gradually developed feelings for Mingfu in her heart. Mingfu has been asking her out a lot lately, and Li Li has been accepting the invitations, but as a girl, she doesn't know how to express her feelings. Today, she suddenly heard Mingfu say something like this, and without thinking, she agreed. However, upon calm reflection, she realized she should think twice before acting.