Chapter 1123: Chapter 570: Liu Runxi, I Want to See You (4)

Like sunlight falling on your body in the depths of midwinter snow.

Shen You’an’s heart was pounding wildly, and she thought it was probably because she’d just run too fast.

Liu Runxi smiled and used a tissue to wipe the sweat from her forehead. "What were you running in such a rush for?"

"I was afraid of keeping you waiting."

"It’s fine to wait a little longer."

Shen You’an gave him a once‑over. "You clearly ran here too, so why aren’t you flushed or out of breath? Have you been secretly working out?"

Liu Runxi shook his head, smiling. "It’s cold outside, let’s go into the café first."

Actually, his heart was racing too; he was just very good at enduring it.

"Wait."

Shen You’an had only taken two steps when Liu Runxi called her back.

Liu Runxi took a disposable mask out of his coat pocket, tore open the packaging, and lowered his head to put it on Shen You’an.

"You’re a public figure now. If someone recognizes you, out on a late‑night date with a guy, I’m afraid you’ll be on the front page again tomorrow."

The boy’s cool fingertips brushed past Shen You’an’s ear, strangely stirring a tremor deep in her body.

Shen You’an froze for a moment, tilting her head up to look at the boy in front of her who was helping her put on the mask.

His brows and eyes were elegantly clear‑cut, like distant peaks lightly sketched in pale ink on a vast landscape scroll—neither sharp nor fierce, leaving only a relaxed, lingering grace.

His gaze was like mountain peaks reflected in a stream, limpid and tranquil, hiding a softness where the ink had gently bled.

There was no breathtaking brilliance in heavy ink and bright colors, yet he was like the pale‑ink backdrop of that ancient scroll—the more you savor it, the more open and refined it feels, a natural, unforced nobility of character.

She knew the shiver in her body wasn’t because of the cold, but then what was it?

She didn’t dare think further.

The boy’s fingers pinched the bridge of her nose, gently pressing the nose clip to fit.

"There."

Shen You’an turned and followed behind Liu Runxi into the café. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Liu Runxi went to the counter to order, while Shen You’an went upstairs and sat down in a very well‑hidden booth on the second floor.

Before long, Liu Runxi came over carrying an iced Americano, a cappuccino, and a tiramisu.

Only a ring of track lights was on upstairs, leaving most of the floor in a kind of hazy darkness. Only the pendant lamps above the occupied booths lit up a small square of space at about a hundred lux, creating a secluded, private little world.

When Liu Runxi came closer and sat opposite her, Shen You’an finally saw the bluish stubble on his chin and the heavy shadows under his eyes.

"You... you haven’t been sleeping well, have you?"

Liu Runxi only smiled and said nothing, taking a stack of scrap paper from his backpack and pushing it in front of her.

Shen You’an’s attention was instantly caught; she picked them up and began to read carefully, sheet by sheet.

She read with great concentration, her brows furrowing tightly at the key parts. "So that’s it—spherical symmetry. You have to expand the Laplace operator into spherical coordinates first and neglect the angular terms."

The knuckles of the fingers holding the scratch paper had gone pale‑blue with tension. She lifted her eyes in excitement. "Liu Runxi, you’re absolutely a genius. The final scalar curvature result is far greater than the critical value for wormhole stability. The first step for the spacetime medium is done."

Liu Runxi sat there in silence; when he heard her praise, his expression didn’t change much, remaining calm and indifferent, but the faint smile rippling in his dark eyes betrayed his inner feelings.

He gazed into her eyes. "An’an, I told you—I’ll walk this road with you all the way."

Such gentle words, yet as heavy as a thousand catties, weighing down on Shen You’an’s heart.

Shen You’an suddenly fell silent.

"So you went without sleep for two days straight just to help me solve this one problem? Liu Runxi, are you stupid or what?"

Liu Runxi was taken aback. "How did you know?"

"I just do. Don’t drink the coffee, the more you drink the more awake you’ll be. You’re coming with me now."

Shen You’an stuffed the scratch paper into her backpack, grabbed Liu Runxi’s hand, and pulled him out.

Liu Runxi looked at their hands clasped together, his mind going blank for an instant.

He wanted to pull away, but couldn’t.

"An’an, if we get photographed, it’ll be bad for you..."

From ahead came the girl’s crisp, carefree voice. "I don’t care."

She’d clawed her way to where she was today precisely for the sake of being free and unrestrained, bound by nothing.

The two of them ran through the bone‑piercing cold wind, but they didn’t feel cold at all. Their steps were in perfect sync, their smiles relaxed and open, and even the rhythm of their heartbeats seemed strangely unified.