Just as Chen Mo was about to lean in and kiss Xiaoyu, his phone rang.
He groaned inwardly, fished it out of his pocket, glanced at the caller ID… and sighed.
"Mom," he answered, stepping out of the room.
"Amer, I just saw the news. It says the chairman of the Marching Ant Company is you? Is that true?" his mother's voice came through, filled with both excitement and a touch of reproach.
"Mom, that's really why you called?" Chen Mo laughed helplessly. "Didn't I tell you during the New Year that I started a company called Marching Ant? That person in the news is me."
"You never said it was this big!" his mother said, half scolding, half proud. "You kept this from your dad and me?"
"I told you," Chen Mo said with a smile. "You just didn't realize how serious I was."
"Well, your father and I are coming to Binhai in a few days. Are you doing okay over there? Eating well? Sleeping enough?"
"I'm fine," Chen Mo replied, resisting the urge to add, except I was about to make a move before you called. "Just take care of yourselves. When you come, I'll take you around."
"Alright, then."
After hanging up, Chen Mo returned to the room.
Xiaoyu was lying on the bed, her face flushed red, pretending to be asleep. The moment the door creaked open, she instinctively pulled the quilt up to her chin. Her heart was pounding.
When she felt no further movement, she slowly opened one eye—only to see Chen Mo grinning beside her.
"I know you're not asleep."
"I am too," Xiaoyu muttered, wishing she could bury herself in the sheets.
"You're even talking in your sleep now?" Chen Mo teased. "That was my mom. She and my dad are visiting in a few days. I want you to meet them."
"Really?" Xiaoyu blinked, suddenly nervous. "You really want me to meet your parents?"
"Of course," Chen Mo said. "Last time I visited, I didn't say anything about you. Next thing I knew, they tried to set me up with someone. If you'd been there, I wouldn't have had to fake a reason to run away."
Xiaoyu burst into laughter. "So… you ran away from a blind date?"
"Of course I did."
"You didn't even want to see her?"
Chen Mo gave her a look. "Wait, are you jealous?"
"No!" Xiaoyu quickly denied it. "Why would I be jealous?"
"Alright, alright," Chen Mo laughed. "But you'll come with me this time, right? Otherwise, they might try to set me up again."
"…Okay." Xiaoyu nodded after a moment's hesitation.
"Alright, let's sleep. I'll save this little fish for another night. Next time, I'm not letting her get away." Chen Mo kissed her on the forehead and pulled her into his arms.
Xiaoyu smiled quietly and nestled against him, heart full.
The graduation season arrived on the tail of a summer rain, washing away the last traces of spring heat and bringing a crisp coolness to the air.
In the lecture hall, Chen Mo calmly answered his professor's questions.
"The research method I used is multi-slit one-step rainbow holography," he said. "The advantage of this over the two-step method is reduced speckle noise, though it does come at the cost of a more limited field of view."
He continued smoothly, "To address the issues of color and line blurring, I employed a multi-slit approach. Double-slit and triple-slit exposures produce brighter images than single-slit holograms. As long as the slit width is calibrated properly, color blur from white-light reconstruction won't overlap with the reconstructed image…"
After a few more technical explanations and discussions, Chen Mo wrapped up his thesis defense and stepped out of the hall with a smile.
His graduation thesis, "Photographing and Experimental Research on Rainbow Holography," had been planned since the start of his senior year. His focus was on expanding the field of view for rainbow holographs by comparing enhancement methods and optimizing techniques.
He'd completed most of the work during the previous semester—even before his library accident—and now the defense felt like a formality.
Leaving the teaching building behind, Chen Mo made his way to the university square.
Today was Xiao Yu's graduation photo day.
The campus was alive with energy—laughter, hugs, people posing in gowns beneath blooming trees. It was a bittersweet joy that only graduation could bring.
Spotting her in the distance, Chen Mo picked up his pace.
Xiaoyu was waiting under a large tree, holding two bouquets of flowers. Her long black hair was tied up, exposing a graceful neckline and a pair of loose curls that framed her face. In her black graduation gown, she looked fresh and radiant.
"Long wait, beautiful girl," Chen Mo said, stopping beside her.
Her eyes lit up, and her smile deepened into a gentle crescent.
Before long, Li Ruoxuan, Zhou Wei, and Wang Xiaolan arrived, still brimming with post-graduation excitement.
"Chen Mo, since Xiaoyu graduated today, where's her gift?" Li Ruoxuan asked, grinning.
"Right here." Chen Mo pulled a small box from his bag and handed it to Xiaoyu. "It's a bracelet. And these are for you three—thanks for looking after her these past four years."
He handed out three more small boxes.
"Oooh, it's good to have a friend who's a local tyrant," Li Ruoxuan joked, taking the gift. "Now that we're handing over the most beautiful, gentle, and adorable kitten in our dorm, don't think you can get away with just a present. If you ever make her cry, the three of us will come at you with cleavers."
"How could I ever bully her?" Chen Mo laughed. "She's my little treasure."
"Ugh, you two are disgusting," Zhou Wei teased, dramatically gagging.
"Alright! Chen Mo and Xiaoyu—couple photo time!" Li Ruoxuan called, raising the camera.
"Princess carry!"
"Give her a kiss!"
"Wait, put on the bracelet first for the picture!"
Laughter echoed across the square as they snapped photo after photo. The group spent over two hours celebrating before finally heading off for dinner.
That evening, back at the villa, Xiaoyu had grown quiet.
Graduation was a season of joy, but also a season of goodbyes.
"What's wrong?" Chen Mo asked gently.
"Nothing… Just realizing that four years flew by so fast." Xiaoyu's voice was soft.
"Nothing lasts forever," Chen Mo said.
His phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID, smiled, and picked it up.
After a short conversation, he turned to Xiaoyu with a playful grin. "Let's go. Time to make you more embarrassed."
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"To meet my parents," Chen Mo said with a grin.
"They're already here?!" Xiaoyu tensed. "Should I prepare something? Oh no, I need to change! The house isn't clean enough—"
"Relax."
Chen Mo laughed and grabbed her hand. "You'll be fine. Come on."
And with that, he whisked her out of the house, hearts fluttering as the next chapter began.