The script’s development was surprisingly unexpected, leaving everyone in the room completely stunned.
Chen Jing, dazed, first let out a “Huh?” before quickly standing up. “She’s here? Where? Did you just meet? Did she say anything to you?”
Sheng Kuang lowered his gaze, his voice sounding somewhat cold. “She left.”
“Ah…?” Chen Jing was greatly disappointed. “Left? She just left like that? After not seeing each other for so long, she didn’t have anything to say to you?”
Sheng Kuang’s expression was unreadable, his voice as faint as mist that could dissipate with a gust of wind. “I’d like to know that too.”
Chen Jing was a bit bewildered. “Know what?”
…He wanted to know what her expression would have been if he had stopped her just then, what the first thing she would have said to him would be, and whether she would have given him an explanation for what happened back then.
Sheng Kuang moved his lips, the words dying before they could be spoken. He felt it would be meaningless to say these things to Chen Jing and the others. He got up, picked up a bottle of beer from the table, and changed the subject. “Here, let’s have a drink.”
The beer was cold, sliding down his throat and causing a slight ache in his stomach.
Sheng Kuang’s first instinct was to spit it out, but he managed to force it down.
Putting down the glass, he picked up his phone, unlocked the screen. The group chat he had created earlier was quiet, with no one chatting at the moment. The friend request section was also silent, with no new notifications.
He tapped on her avatar, looked at the “Add Friend” button below, hesitated for a moment, and then locked his phone screen.
…
When Lin Jing returned home, Lan Tingting was already waiting for her.
The apartment they had rented was basically unfurnished. All the furniture and appliances in the rooms had been chosen with Lan Tingting’s guidance, as she had helped Lin Jing fill them remotely, communicating with her piece by piece online.
Although Lin Jing and Lan Tingting hadn’t met in person during Lin Jing’s two years abroad, their contact had never been broken.
There was no awkwardness between them upon their reunion. Lan Tingting seemed more mature than in their university days and looked more capable, with an air of a corporate elite.
Hearing the door open, Lan Tingting rushed over and hugged her. “Jingjing, you’re finally back in the country. Let me see you.”
Lan Tingting circled Lin Jing, looking her up and down. “Jingjing, you’ve lost weight and look even better than before.”
Lin Jing replied, “You’ve gained weight.”
Lan Tingting playfully shoved Lin Jing away. “Let’s go, China doesn’t welcome you.”
“Just kidding,” Lin Jing said, wrapping her arm around Lan Tingting’s and pulling her to sit on the sofa.
They had been chatting online every day, so there wasn’t much to catch up on. Lan Tingting had brought some late-night snacks and beer. They sat on the floor by the small coffee table in the living room, eating grilled skewers.
Lan Tingting kept glancing at Lin Jing, which made Lin Jing uncomfortable. She put down her beer, took a tissue to wipe her fingers, and said, “Ask away.”
Lan Tingting had been waiting for these words. She got straight to the point. “You saw him.”
Lin Jing gave Lan Tingting a strange look. “Who?”
Lan Tingting rolled her eyes, acting as if Lin Jing was feigning ignorance. “Who else could it be, the renowned KPL’s number one pro player, Sheng Kuang.”
Lin Jing shook her head. “No.”
Lan Tingting looked at Lin Jing.
Lin Jing shook her head again. “Really, no.”
“Nonsense,” Lan Tingting grabbed her phone and placed it on the sofa cushion next to Lin Jing with a *pat*. “When I asked where you were earlier, you told me you were at Chun K. At the same time, Chen Jing posted on his Moments, also with Chun K as the location. There was a profile in the photo, very blurry, but I recognized Sheng Kuang at a glance.”
Lin Jing looked at the phone screen.
Just as Lan Tingting had said, the photo was taken casually, mainly focusing on the table full of colorful beer bottles, capturing a person sitting in the corner.
That person was wearing black, head down, looking at their phone.
Forget facial features, even the outline of their face was blurred. But Lin Jing recognized Sheng Kuang instantly through the photo.
She felt as if she had been paralyzed, her blood completely still. After an unknown amount of time, she heard her heart pounding, louder and louder, and then she felt her blood start to warm up, eventually nearing boiling point.
Then her fingers began to tremble. She couldn’t articulate her feelings, but they were complex, culminating in elation.
He was at Chun K.
He was actually at Chun K.
He had actually gone to Chun K.
Lin Jing felt her once wavering, uncertain, and hollow heart suddenly revive.
She heard a bubbling sound from within her heart. She couldn’t stop herself from grinning wider and wider, and then she madly hugged Lan Tingting. “Ahhh, I love you so much, Tingting, woohoo!”
Lan Tingting, unable to stand it, pushed her away. “Calm down.”
Lin Jing clung to Lan Tingting, her eyes welling up with tears despite her playful demeanor.
Lan Tingting had to go to work the next day, so she didn’t stay long.
Lin Jing’s biological clock hadn’t adjusted yet, so she wasn’t very sleepy. Her mind was filled with the thought of Sheng Kuang being at Chun K.
She wanted to call Sheng Kuang, but she didn’t have the confidence. She paced around her room, phone in hand, and finally plopped down on the bed, sitting cross-legged and looking at her phone. She took a deep breath, tapped into the group chat that had been created not long ago, opened Sheng Kuang’s avatar, closed her eyes, took another deep breath, and without hesitation, clicked “Add Friend.”