Chapter 1286: Long-Distance Relationship

"Get lost, get lost, your big brother here is a real man."

Zhou Chengchen chuckled twice, going "hehe", but what Zhou Qi said next wiped the smile right off his face.

"Laugh my ass. You still have the mood to tease me? Your term’s about to start too—what’s your plan? Let me remind you, you haven’t even graduated yet, and that kid Xi Siyan hasn’t either. He’s got one more year, and you? You still have two. Planning to give it up? Or do a long‑distance relationship?"

The smile on Zhou Chengchen’s face froze; she really hadn’t paid attention to this problem before.

These past few days she’d been soaking in happiness, she hadn’t even thought about something like this.

But it really was a big problem.

Even though degrees weren’t as important to her as to most people, just throwing it away like that would be not taking responsibility for herself.

But a long‑distance relationship?

Of course Zhou Chengchen trusted Xi Siyan a lot, but now that they’d reunited, made up with each other, how could they bear to be apart?

All of a sudden, Zhou Chengchen realized her resentment toward Chen Youran had hit the ceiling.

She hadn’t felt this way when she first learned that the misunderstanding back then had been caused by her, but now, out of nowhere, it flooded her whole heart.

Zhou Chengchen trudged back to her room, slumped on the bed, and called Xi Siyan.

But obviously, this was something she’d never thought about, while Xi Siyan hadn’t forgotten. The person on the other end of the line laughed: "Looks like we’ll just have to help the airlines make more money."

"Pff..."

She’d been in a pretty gloomy mood, but the moment she heard Xi Siyan say that, it vanished in an instant.

They still had a future; two years is nothing compared to the rest of their lives.

The next day Zhou Chengchen stayed at the Zhou Family’s place as usual, and only went back to Xi Siyan’s apartment after sending Zhou Qi off at the airport early on the third morning.

But Xi Siyan wasn’t there. These few days were the most free he’d been in nearly three years; the pressure he was under now wasn’t something a few idle days could shoulder.

Very soon, September arrived. Xi Siyan and Liu Xiaoyu both returned to campus. Even though there were practically no courses left in senior year, the graduation project and thesis were absolutely not things you could slack off on.

Once Xi Siyan’s term started, it was almost time for Zhou Chengchen to head back to the United Kingdom too.

Even though she’d already thought it through before—just two years, and with transportation and communication so advanced now, it wouldn’t be a huge problem—when it actually came time to part, Zhou Chengchen still felt uncomfortable.

Of course Xi Siyan wasn’t feeling any better. He’d finally waited for her to come back, and now he had to send her away again. This feeling was no different than having his flesh sliced off with a knife.

But he didn’t want her to regret it.

University is a slice of life, an experience. Maybe giving it up wouldn’t affect much, but in the future, when she looks back, she might regret it.

Xi Siyan pulled Zhou Chengchen into a tight hug, lowered his voice by her ear, and said, "I’ll come to you very soon."

Zhou Chengchen pouted a little. "Mm."

She boarded the flight back, and as she looked at the blue sky and white clouds outside the little window, her mood stayed low—right up until she landed.

There was a time difference between them, but Xi Siyan still made sure to video call Zhou Chengchen every night at ten.

And people who knew Xi Siyan well also noticed that ever since Zhou Chengchen left, there was suddenly an extra watch on his wrist.

One hand showed domestic time, the other United Kingdom time.

Thanks to how developed transportation is nowadays, on the afternoon of December 24th local time in the United Kingdom, Zhou Chengchen, already on holiday, was curled up in her apartment practicing piano when a sudden knock sounded at the door.