Lin Jing glanced at her email on her phone and, seeing that the message had arrived, smiled at He Lin. "Thanks."
He Lin said nothing, only casting a meaningful glance towards Sheng Kuang.
After two seconds, He Lin's phone vibrated. He looked down at the screen and stood up. "I have some matters to attend to with the student union. I'll head over now."
After He Lin left, the infirmary fell into silence.
Lin Jing was using her phone to download the email He Lin had sent her and was browsing through it.
Sheng Kuang glanced at her screen and asked casually, "Are you going to be an exchange student?"
Lin Jing scrolled through her screen and replied with a "Mm."
Sheng Kuang rested his hand on his leg and spun his phone, pausing for a moment. "Where?"
"England..." Lin Jing replied instinctively.
Sheng Kuang said nothing further.
After Lin Jing finished reading the email, she noticed that the atmosphere around her had become somewhat strange.
She froze for two seconds and turned to look at Sheng Kuang.
She quickly replayed their conversation in her mind and, looking at him, opened her mouth. She suddenly felt a pang of guilt.
She wasn't entirely sure what she felt guilty about, but she definitely felt it.
Sheng Kuang looked at her looking at him and calmly lowered his gaze.
Lin Jing instinctively followed his gaze and saw that he was looking at the exchange student application form on her phone screen. She reflexively turned off the screen and hid her phone behind her back.
After she did this, she realized that her reaction had made her guilt too obvious.
She swallowed awkwardly, unsure of what to say for a moment.
Lan Tingting, sitting nearby, increasingly felt the atmosphere in the infirmary was off.
She looked at Lin Jing, then at Sheng Kuang. Her intuition told her this wasn't a suitable place for her. So, she quietly stood up, took two steps back, and said, "Um, I'm going to the restroom." Without waiting for a response from either of them, she bolted.
Only Sheng Kuang and Lin Jing were left in the infirmary.
Neither of them spoke, but the atmosphere became even more strained.
After an unknown period of time, Sheng Kuang glanced at Lin Jing's arm, which was clutching her phone behind her back. "When was this decided?"
Lin Jing blinked, realizing he was asking about the exchange program. "I've had this idea since my freshman year."
Sheng Kuang glanced at the chair where He Lin had been sitting. "Is he going too?"
Lin Jing let out a confused "Ah?" and then realized he was referring to He Lin. "Mm."
Sheng Kuang responded with a "Mm," nodded after a moment, and then said "Mm" again.
For some reason, his reaction made Lin Jing a little flustered. She instinctively explained, "He wants to go too, but it's not like we're going together."
"Mm." Sheng Kuang replied, his expression visibly relaxing.
After a few seconds, Sheng Kuang looked at Lin Jing and casually asked, "Do you have to go?"
Lin Jing was taken aback by the question. The infirmary window was half-open, and a breeze blew in, causing the sheer curtain to flutter. A potted green radish sat on the windowsill, its leaves swaying with the movement of the curtain.
Lin Jing remained silent for a long time. "I suppose I have to."
Sheng Kuang's fingers tightened around his phone. Someone must have sent him a message at that moment, causing his palm to tingle slightly, and his heart to flutter.
He knew very well that this was about the girl's future. He had no right to interfere, nor could he selfishly prevent her from pursuing a better future.
To put it another way, she wasn't his yet.
Yet, his chest felt inexplicably restless. Perhaps it was because she lied when he called her, perhaps it was He Lin hugging her, or perhaps it was because there were so many things about her that he didn't know.
He chatted with her every day, they were quite familiar with each other, yet he couldn't enter her world.
He always felt there was an insurmountable distance between them that he couldn't cross.
This sense of frustration left him feeling helpless and powerless.
Sheng Kuang gripped his phone and remained silent for a long time, finally letting out another "Mm."
His phone vibrated again. Sheng Kuang came back to his senses, looked down at the screen, and expressionlessly typed a reply. Then he looked up. "I have a training match later, I need to go back."
It was a perfectly normal and reasonable statement, yet Lin Jing felt something was amiss.
She was even sure it wasn't her being overly sensitive.
She looked at Sheng Kuang and after a pause, said, "Okay."
Sheng Kuang said nothing, stood up, and left.
Lan Tingting was just outside the infirmary. Seeing Sheng Kuang come out, she greeted him. Sheng Kuang barely reacted and walked straight through the corridor and out of the building.
Lan Tingting looked at Sheng Kuang's retreating back with confusion, then ran to Lin Jing. "What's up with Kuang Zai?"
Lin Jing shook her head. After thinking for a moment, she tentatively took out her phone and transferred money to Sheng Kuang.
Xiao Jing Jiang: That, the money for the medicine just now, for you.