Sheng Kuang watched the girl, who was pretending to be calm but whose ear tips were subtly blushing, and chuckled, "Want to sleep a bit more?"
Lin Jing hadn't had enough sleep, but she certainly couldn't fall asleep anymore. She shook her head, "No, thank you."
Sheng Kuang tentatively asked, "Then how about freshening up and grabbing some breakfast?"
Lin Jing thought for two seconds, "...Okay."
Lin Jing quickly washed up and, while sitting on the sofa waiting for Sheng Kuang to finish, realized it was Monday and school had classes all day.
She definitely couldn't make it to her morning classes, but her afternoon ones were still salvageable.
Lin Jing pulled up her flight options.
Just as she booked her ticket, the bathroom door opened.
She looked up from her phone screen at Sheng Kuang, dressed in casual clothes, "My flight is at eleven."
It was just past eight o'clock, and the journey to the airport would take about half an hour.
Sheng Kuang had originally planned to take Lin Jing to try some local breakfast specialties, but now it seemed there wasn't enough time.
The hotel had many fans staying there, and to avoid unnecessary trouble, they decided to head to the airport first and find a place to eat there.
Upon arrival at the airport, Sheng Kuang first accompanied Lin Jing to get her boarding pass, then found a nearly empty fast-food restaurant outside security.
Lin Jing had assumed the place would be bland due to its emptiness, but in reality, she had underestimated it; the food was surprisingly delicious.
Because she was a student, she made a habit of eating breakfast. Sheng Kuang, on the other hand, who almost always slept until noon, lost his appetite after a few bites.
He simply put down his chopsticks and stared at the girl opposite him.
The way she ate was incredibly cute. When she was completely satisfied, her eyes would involuntarily crinkle.
She exuded a sense of pure happiness, warm and soft. Sheng Kuang couldn't help but watch her for a while longer.
When he ate at the club, he usually just ate to fill his stomach and left, rarely having the patience to wait for others to finish.
Even during occasional family dinners, he was like this.
But he discovered that sitting across from this particular girl while eating made him feel like a completely different person, exceptionally patient and truly enjoying the moment.
He wished she would eat slower, for a longer time.
He was, in essence, a total hypocrite.
A bit of sauce had accidentally smudged onto her cheek, starkly visible against her fair skin.
She was completely oblivious, her mouth full of food, cheeks puffed out like a little pufferfish.
Sheng Kuang found his adorable girlfriend unbearable. He couldn't resist reaching out, his hand crossing the table to her face.
Lin Jing paused her chewing and looked up at him, "What is it?"
Sheng Kuang unhurriedly and gently wiped the sauce from the corner of her lips with his fingertip, "Eat more."
Lin Jing, confused by his non-sequitur, asked, "Huh?"
Sheng Kuang slowly wiped his finger with a wet wipe, "That way I can spend more time with my girlfriend."
Lin Jing: "..."
They were just having breakfast, how did it turn into flirting?
After Lin Jing finished eating, she checked her phone. There was still over an hour before her flight, which was plenty of time to go through security. Not in a hurry, she took half a cup of tea and looked up at Sheng Kuang, "Boyfriend?"
Sheng Kuang raised his eyes, "Mm?"
Lin Jing looked at him for two seconds, "Good luck with your upcoming competitions."
Sheng Kuang leaned back lazily in his chair, "Mm."
"And, you need to be well," Lin Jing paused, then said what she had wanted to say since she woke up but hadn't dared to: "Even though that accident was related to you, it wasn't your fault. What I'm saying might sound selfish, but you actually didn't know October suffered from depression. You also didn't know that the call Yang Yu received was October's cry for help. As for Lan Bowen and Chen Jing, they treated you as a friend, which is why they were willing to do that. They didn't want you to carry guilt towards them; they wanted you to be well, just as you want them to be well."
"It wasn't you who ruined Lan Bowen's career. Without that accident, he would have reached his retirement age anyway."
"You don't owe October that life. Your self-blame stems from your deep kindness. You can be kind, but you did nothing wrong."
"Moreover, you've been making amends in your own way... Starting your own team was something you'd planned for a long time, wasn't it? So that Lan Bowen could return to the industry he loved in a different capacity... And October, he came from a poor mountain village. In a previous interview, he said he wanted to build roads in his hometown and then build schools, so that more children like him could see the big city. So, you've been donating to his hometown all these years, and sponsoring the children there, haven't you?"
Sheng Kuang looked up, meeting her gaze, but said nothing.
Lin Jing had incidentally thought about Sheng Kuang's continuous donations to a mountain village over the years that morning. Then, she casually searched for October online and found out that he did indeed come from that mountain village.
In the internet age, many things have no secrets. She followed the thread and found October's interview.
At that moment, she understood everything.
He did nothing wrong, yet he had been willingly making amends all along.
He was only eighteen at the time. How did he endure all the pressure and manage to do all these things?
Lin Jing pursed her lips, her fingers tightening around the teacup. She looked at the silent Sheng Kuang, "You've done very well. Truly, Sheng Kuang, you've done exceptionally well."