He Lin: Who transferred this?
Xiao Jing Jiang: ?
"..."
Lin Jing genuinely found He Lin's question a bit strange.
The money was transferred to him, and he didn't even know who sent it. How could she possibly know?
Just as Lin Jing was about to reply, "How would I know," He Lin sent her another screenshot.
This screenshot included the sender's contact card.
The profile picture was blank, and the name was the Pinyin letter "s," followed by some of the sender's information: (*kuang).
Seeing the character "kuang," Lin Jing paused, recalling that Sheng Kuang had asked for He Lin's phone number when he returned home.
He Lin: Is it your friend?
Lin Jing thought so too, and she had a basis for it.
However, she still forwarded the screenshot He Lin sent to Sheng Kuang, then went to Sheng Kuang's WeChat to seek confirmation first.
Xiao Jing Jiang: You?
miracle: Mm.
Half of the double payment Lin Jing made was on behalf of Sheng Kuang, but she didn't know if Sheng Kuang had also paid double like her.
Xiao Jing Jiang: Why did you transfer so much money to He Lin?
Xiao Jing Jiang: It's double.
After sending the second message, Lin Jing suddenly felt a bit calculating.
She really wanted to know if the extra money Sheng Kuang had paid was for her, but she was afraid that if it wasn't, she would feel awkward, so she tried to elicit the information indirectly.
Not only was she trying to fish for information, but she also deliberately added "double," which was incredibly sly.
miracle: Mm.
miracle: It's double.
miracle: One portion is for your little roommate named Lin Jing.
Sheng Kuang's reply was very fast, almost instantaneous.
Compared to her own circuitous tactics to get information out of him, he was much more straightforward.
Lin Jing stared at the words "little roommate" for a moment, then rubbed her face before slowly starting to type.
Xiao Jing Jiang: Oh.
Xiao Jing Jiang: Thanks.
Sheng Kuang didn't reply.
She exited the chat window and reopened He Lin's WeChat.
Xiao Jing Jiang: It was him.
He Lin returned the portion of the money she had transferred back to her.
He Lin: I'll treat you.
He Lin: And I might have to trouble you to tell your friend that I've returned half the money to him.
The per-person cost for their outing today was quite high, almost a thousand yuan, so Lin Jing felt too embarrassed.
Xiao Jing Jiang: I can't, that's too much money. If you return the money to him, then I'll transfer my share to you.
Just as Lin Jing was about to initiate the transfer, a message popped up on her screen.
He Lin: No need.
Lin Jing thought He Lin was absolutely refusing to take her money and was about to say that this was a separate matter, when He Lin's message came again.
He Lin: He blocked me.
He Lin: I can't transfer the money.
As if afraid she wouldn't believe him, He Lin sent her a screenshot—"The other party has added you to the blacklist. You cannot transfer money to this person."
Lin Jing: "..."
Three seconds later, Lin Jing lowered her head and typed.
Xiao Jing Jiang: Then I'll go find him.
After replying to He Lin's message, Lin Jing returned to the WeChat main page. Before her finger could even tap on their chat window, his message arrived.
miracle: You don't need to give me the money.
miracle: Consider it a thank you for bringing me along today.
Lin Jing: "..."
How did he know she was going to try and repay him?
If it were He Lin or Wang Qingqing, even if they truly didn't want the money, she would have found a way to return it.
But with Lan Tingting, it was different. She wasn't so polite with Lan Tingting. Because their relationship was close enough, as long as you give, I give, there's nothing to be petty about.
Lin Jing found it quite remarkable. She had been classmates with He Lin and the others for a year, so she should have been much more familiar with them than with Sheng Kuang. Yet, she realized that she had, without conscious effort, placed Sheng Kuang in a position similar to Lan Tingting.
At first, it was just admiration for him as an idol, but now, it seemed that besides being an idol, in life, in daily interactions, she also considered him a friend.
This was the first time she had opened up her world to someone so quickly.
She appeared to be very sociable at school, but in reality, the only person she could truly call a friend was Lan Tingting.
She presented herself as cheerful and quick-witted, capable of sharp comebacks, but deep down, she was a rather insecure, sensitive, and overthinking person.
Sometimes, when others were unhappy, it might have nothing to do with her, but she would easily internalize it, subconsciously wondering if she had said something wrong.
She was well aware of her own issues and knew that her behavior was influenced by Jiang Wan.
At home, there were many times when her unintentional mistakes had upset Jiang Wan, which resulted in Jiang Wan giving her the silent treatment for anywhere from two or three days to a month.
That kind of emotional abuse had left her feeling suffocated, anxious, and even driven to the brink of madness.
Therefore, she was terrified of anyone being unhappy or ignoring her. To minimize these emotions, she maintained a certain distance from people.
If she wasn't too close, she wouldn't care as much, and if she didn't care, those negative emotions wouldn't affect her.
After a while, Lin Jing blinked and came back to her senses.
Her phone had automatically turned off the screen. She unlocked it, and the chat interface with Sheng Kuang still greeted her.
She struggled for a few seconds, but ultimately couldn't bring herself to transfer the money.
Xiao Jing Jiang: Then, when there's a chance, I'll treat you.
Sheng Kuang might have been training or playing games downstairs, so he didn't reply.
Lin Jing exited the chat interface, intending to browse Weibo. But as she exited WeChat, she hesitated and scrolled to find Jiang Wan, then tapped on her profile.
Their last chat was half a month ago, the time she came to Beijing without telling her.
The last two messages were sent by her to Jiang Wan.
"Mom, when you come to Beijing next time, can you tell me in advance?"
"We haven't seen each other in a long time."
So many days had passed, and Jiang Wan hadn't replied at all.
She didn't know if she had seen it or not.
Perhaps she had seen it but didn't want to bother with her, or perhaps she hadn't seen it at all.
She often either ignored her or acted as if she didn't exist.
After all these years, Lin Jing felt she should be used to it, but she found that with Jiang Wan, she could never truly get accustomed to it.
Lin Jing pursed her lips and stared at the phone screen for a long time, but still couldn't resist tapping on the nine-grid input.
Xiao Jing Jiang: Mom, are you doing well recently?
Xiao Jing Jiang: It's already Lìqiū, the weather has gotten much cooler. Please take care of yourself.
Lin Jing knew very well that Jiang Wan wouldn't reply immediately, but she still stubbornly waited on WeChat for a while before going to Weibo.
When she put down her phone, it was almost midnight.
WeChat was silent, with no unread messages. But before locking her screen, Lin Jing couldn't help but check Jiang Wan's avatar.
She didn't know when she fell asleep. All she knew was that she was woken up by thunder.
She picked up her phone and checked the time. It was just past one o'clock. She had slept for at most half an hour.
Jiang Wan still hadn't responded.
Woken up, she lost her sleepiness and simply sat up, leaning against the headboard, playing on her phone.
In her Moments feed, a classmate had shared a new skin for a game that had just launched at midnight today. The special effects were exquisite. Although it was a skin for a hero she didn't play much, she couldn't resist the visual temptation and tapped into the game, topping up and buying the skin.
This skin came with many freebies, all in the system mail. When she went to check them, she saw the "Seductive Rose" that Sheng Kuang had sent her.
There were two emails: one sent to her last night around eleven o'clock, and another sent half an hour ago.
Lin Jing had already used up the "Seductive Roses" she had saved. She thought about the new skin she had just bought and an idea struck her.
The sparkling water she drank every day was bought by him, and the outing today was also paid for by him...
It was only natural for her to send him a skin.
What started as a fleeting thought quickly turned into an impulse.
In about a minute, she had already sent Sheng Kuang the newly released skin.
It was so late, Lin Jing didn't plan to play the game. After sending the skin, she casually tapped on various active tasks and was about to exit the game when she noticed a red dot in her mail.
She instinctively clicked on it and found it was in the gift records.
yLs·miracle sent you the first skin, Ocean Heart.
yLs·miracle sent you a small surprise: Cat Shadow Illusion Dance.
yLs·miracle sent you a small surprise: Cloud Swirl Peacock Plume.
yLs·miracle sent you a small surprise: Cloud Eagle General.
yLs·miracle sent you a small surprise: Prayer Snow Spirit Blessing.
ps: Two chapters have been merged into one update~