Lin Jing paid the bill. By the time she returned, Lan Tingting and Chen Jing, the two wingmen, had already vanished.
Sheng Kuang stood by the roadside waiting for a car.
Lin Jing walked up to him and glanced at him. Seeing no reaction, she leaned closer to him. Still no reaction, so she feigned a cough, as if her throat was uncomfortable.
Sheng Kuang finally lifted his eyelids and looked over at her.
Lin Jing blinked and asked, "So, are you heading back to the club?"
Sheng Kuang didn't reply. He lightly averted his gaze.
Lin Jing leaned closer to him again and whispered, "Where I live isn't far from your club."
Sheng Kuang remained silent.
Lin Jing, seeing that he had no intention of offering her a ride, continued, "If you walk, it's about two streets away."
Sheng Kuang suddenly turned off his phone. When he looked at her again, his eyes had darkened considerably, and his tone carried a hint of anger. "What exactly do you want?"
He was genuinely quite upset. It was one thing for her to leave without a word two years ago, leaving her phone behind.
With two countries between them, he couldn't even find her.
Not to mention that she hadn't given him any news for two years, and even after returning, she hadn't contacted him immediately.
She added him on WeChat, but he didn't accept. She didn't try a second time.
Even when they met today, after such a long time, she hadn't offered any explanation for her departure two years ago.
Even a flimsy excuse, one that he could see through immediately, would have made him feel a little better.
But even that seemed like a distant hope.
Lin Jing hadn't expected Sheng Kuang to suddenly erupt. For a moment, she was at a loss.
In fact, this was the first time she had seen Sheng Kuang lose his temper like this.
During the time they were together, regardless of his mood, he had always been gentle with her.
Lin Jing looked at Sheng Kuang, unable to speak for a long time.
Sheng Kuang's anger flared, mixed with an inexpressible sense of grievance and pain.
People were coming and going on the street. He didn't want others to witness their embarrassment. He tried his best to suppress his voice and said softly, "Lin Jing, if you haven't figured out what you want to do, then stop trying to get my attention."
Sheng Kuang's car arrived. He walked straight towards the roadside.
Lin Jing instinctively took two steps, "I..."
Sheng Kuang didn't wait for her to finish before closing the door.
...
"Huh? Why are you back alone?" Lan Bowen, who had just returned from walking the dog, encountered Sheng Kuang at the entrance.
"Sleepy." Sheng Kuang reached out and ruffled the dog, which was happily wagging its tail at his legs.
"?" Lan Bowen looked confused. "You just woke up at five in the afternoon. Why are you sleepy?"
Sheng Kuang ignored Lan Bowen and went directly into the training room downstairs.
Although he was in a terrible mood, his in-game performance was still quite good. He started a ranked match, and it was over in less than nine minutes.
Returning to his room, he started another game. While waiting for matchmaking, he checked his WeChat.
There was a new notification in his friend requests.
It was Lin Jing adding him. The message was simple: sorry.
No punctuation, no extra words.
Just those three characters.
Yet, they pierced Sheng Kuang's heart like a sharp object, causing a painful throbbing in his chest.
Matchmaking was successful. He continued to play the ranked match.
In this game, his performance was terrible. He kept losing ground. It wasn't until fifteen minutes in that he managed to regain a sliver of his former self. In the team fight, he made a play and narrowly secured the win.
He didn't play any more games. He tossed his phone onto the table and leaned back in his gaming chair, staring blankly at Jiang Zui, who was live-streaming on the opposite screen.
After an unknown amount of time, he sighed and picked up his phone.
Thinking to himself how pathetic he was, he accepted Lin Jing's friend request.
Soon, Lin Jing sent him a new message.
Lin Jing: Sorry.
Looking at these three words, Sheng Kuang tightened his lips. After a long pause, he moved his fingers and transferred a sum of money to her.
Sheng Kuang: Dinner tonight.