“I already said I’m not going. Knock before coming in next time.”
On the other side, after ending the call, Zhou Wu tossed his phone into his pocket.
“I’m going to rest. Go back to your own villa.”
“No. I’m staying here.”
Duan Wei clung to the doorway.
“I’m genuinely scared, Zhou Wu—”
Zhou Wu showed no intention of negotiating.
“I don’t have a habit of sleeping under the same roof as my ex-girlfriend.”
“So you do remember I’m your ex-girlfriend.”
Duan Wei pouted.
“You’re far too heartless towards your ex. You haven’t even been replying to my messages lately!”
“I’ve been busy.”
“Busy doing what? Walking along the beach with Wen Ci?”
Duan Wei suddenly asked, “I saw your Moments post.”
Zhou Wu had not intended to continue entertaining her.
At that, however, he became interested enough to answer.
“Yes.”
“…”
Duan Wei stared directly at him, wanting to understand what he was thinking.
It was useless.
They had known each other since primary school.
She had spent every day playing with Zhou Wu, and later they flirted, dated and broke up.
At every stage, she had never been able to understand what he meant.
“Zhou Wu, have you been angry with me all this time?”
Duan Wei voiced the suspicion she had carried for years.
“…Angry that I chose Xiang Wenwen instead of you?”
Zhou Wu looked at her in confusion.
“No. That was your choice.”
“Then why are you treating me this way? Forget when we were dating. Even before that, when we were still students, you were clearly very good to me…”
A loud crash came from the stairwell, interrupting them.
Qin Yun cried out and bent to pick up the beer he had dropped.
“Sorry. Continue. I didn’t hear a single word.”
“Wait.”
Zhou Wu stopped him and suddenly asked, “When you drove them to the airport, did Wen Ci say she felt unwell?”
“No. She slept the entire journey and seemed perfectly fine. Why?”
Zhou Wu shook his head.
He had only thought her complexion looked somewhat pale during the video call.
Qin Yun did not dare mention that he and Dou Yiqing had spent the entire drive gossiping.
He raised the beer in his hand.
“Want a drink?”
Zhou Wu shook his head and gestured towards the other person with his chin.
“Take her with you when you leave.”
Duan Wei had spent the entire evening refusing to go, but she now knew there was no hope.
Zhou Wu was like this.
Once he shook his head, there was no room for discussion.
Her heart ached slightly.
She asked dully, “Then what about our matching surfboards—”
“I threw them away ages ago,” Zhou Wu said.
…
Wen Ci’s fabricated notes barely passed inspection.
“The handwriting is too messy and careless. It will affect your review later. Be more careful next time.”
Mother Wen handed the notes back to her in the tone of a teacher who had just finished marking homework.
Wen Ci opened her mouth.
After being caught in the rain and staying up late, she had developed a slight cold.
She answered hoarsely, “All right.”
“Why does your voice still sound like that? Haven’t you recovered?”
Mother Wen touched her forehead.
“I’ve recovered. I only have a slight cough.”
“I’ll stew some pear soup for you later. It should help.”
Mother Wen continued, “I checked the weather in Qingyang and it looked perfectly good. How did you become ill? I accompanied your father to the lecture in Guang’an. It was windy and rainy there, yet neither of us had any problems.”
At that, Mother Wen remembered something.
“By the way, your father and I met Xiang Wenwen in Guang’an. If I remember correctly, he was your high-school classmate, wasn’t he? His grades were excellent too.”
“Yes,” Wen Ci replied.
“He’s doing very well now. He even remembered us and came over to greet us.”
Mother Wen continued, “He said he started a company and is moving into artificial-intelligence education. He and your father had a very pleasant conversation.”
Wen Ci was not interested but cooperatively replied, “Really?”
Mother Wen nodded.
“It’s only a shame that he’s married. Otherwise, you could have got to know him more deeply.”
Wen Ci paused.
A memory suddenly surged back.
She tried to suppress it but could not.
“Mum, when I was in high school, he and I were in the same laboratory group.”
“When you passed the classroom, you said I was speaking too closely with him and asked the teacher to move him to another group.”
“Why would it suddenly be acceptable for us to get to know each other now?”
“Was that him? I don’t remember.”
Mother Wen did not care.
“You were far too young then, so naturally you needed to keep your distance. Now you’re old enough, it would be perfectly reasonable to develop a relationship.”
“Forget it. He’s already married, so there’s no point discussing it.”
Wen Ci lowered her eyes and took a deep breath.
Unwilling to continue, she said, “I’m going upstairs.”
…
Before the summer holiday, the teachers in the office had counted down the days on their fingers.
Yang Yunfei often openly said she had become a teacher solely for the winter and summer holidays.
Whenever the topic arose, Wen Ci would smile, nod and agree.
“That’s right.”
In truth, working and being on holiday made little difference to Wen Ci.
Long stretches of free time only made the dullness of her life feel more obvious.
Dou Yiqing was busy with online classes.
The only person who regularly invited Wen Ci outside was no longer available.
Wen Ci was accustomed to it.
She remained at home and read for several days.
Then Mother Wen suddenly came upstairs and handed her photographs of two unfamiliar men.
After that, Wen Ci moved her reading location to the library.
Wen Ci loved staying at the library.
It was quiet, spacious and lonely.
Everyone lowered their heads to read or write furiously, as though each person existed within a private little world.
On Tuesday, she once again remained at the library until dark.
Her phone rang.
Mother Wen was urging her to return home for dinner.
Wen Ci withdrew from her study state and replied, **All right.**
After replying, she held her phone in both hands and began hesitating.
Her fingertip wandered aimlessly through WeChat.
Eventually, honestly, she opened Duan Wei’s Moments.
Throughout the past week, Duan Wei had updated her Moments almost every day.
They were all solo photographs, featuring her numerous colourful and beautiful swimsuits.
That day, she had also posted a surfing photograph.
Her expression was confident and relaxed.
The surfing suit outlined her figure, and beneath her feet was a pink surfboard.
Wen Ci did not know whether it was the matching one Duan Wei had mentioned during the call.
Without a float to drag around, Zhou Wu could probably finally enjoy his holiday properly.
Wen Ci released a long breath, placed the phone into her bag and stood to leave the library.
She had just reached the entrance when someone lightly tapped her shoulder.
Wen Ci turned around.
Unexpectedly, it was Xiang Wenwen.
He wore glasses that day and a grey suit.
Several employees stood beside him.
When he saw her, he smiled.
“It really is you, Wen Ci. I thought the person looked familiar from behind.”
Wen Ci was surprised.
“Class Monitor, why are you here? Did you come to read too?”
“No. I’m not that diligent anymore.”
Xiang Wenwen joked, “I came to handle some business.”
Wen Ci nodded and hurriedly said, “Then I won’t disturb you.”
“Don’t go. I’ve already finished. Shall we have dinner together?”
Xiang Wenwen stopped her.
“There were too many people around the last time we met, so we barely had a chance to catch up.”
“My family saved dinner for me. Perhaps another time?”
Wen Ci glanced towards the people behind him.
“I won’t interrupt your company dinner today.”
“They’re employees from my company, and they’re leaving shortly.”
Xiang Wenwen said, “I won’t be in Jiangcheng tomorrow. If we postpone it again, who knows when the next opportunity will be?”
“We might as well do it today.”
He added, “Speaking of which, I met your parents in Guang’an recently. I even added Professor Wen on WeChat. Why don’t I explain it to him?”
“Don’t.”
Wen Ci thought about it.
“…All right. I’ll tell my family.”
…
The moment Zhou Wu returned to Jiangcheng, Qin Yun abducted him to Blue Note.
“No matter how often I invite Dou Yiqing, she refuses to come out. Then you were in Singapore.”
Qin Yun sprawled across a sofa on the second floor of Blue Note and dragged out his words.
“I was so f*cking bored I almost died.”
“What difference does my presence make?”
Zhou Wu asked, “Were you this bored during the years I studied in America?”
Qin Yun thought about it.
Apparently, he had not been.
Then where the f*ck was the problem?
Zhou Wu kicked his leg, forcing him to make room, then sat down lazily.
“When did you return?”
“A couple of days after you left.”
Qin Yun continued, “Wait, what happened? Duan Wei had only just arrived in Bincheng, and you flew to Singapore the next day.”
“Did you genuinely have something to do, or were you avoiding her?”
“You left me alone with Duan Wei. It was extremely awkward.”
“What was awkward about it? You’ve never dated her.”
Zhou Wu scoffed.
“Am I insane? Why would I flee to Singapore to avoid her? I genuinely had business there. I went to inspect a project.”
Qin Yun laughed.
“F*ck. It’s true that we never dated, but it’s still awkward when only the two of us are together.”
“We aren’t as close as we were when we were children. We attended universities in different places, and whenever I invited her anywhere later, she always brought Xiang Wenwen. It was irritating.”
Zhou Wu gave an ambiguous laugh but did not answer.
He lowered his head and opened his conversation with Wen Ci.
The most recent messages remained from that afternoon.
**Zhou Wu: At the library again?**
**Wen Ci: Yes.**
**Zhou Wu: Until what time?**
**Wen Ci: Dinnertime.**
**Zhou Wu: What are you eating?**
**Wen Ci: Food at home.**
Over the past few days, Zhou Wu had discovered that Wen Ci did not seem to enjoy chatting by phone.
They had been apart for over a week, and she had never contacted him first.
Whenever he asked something, she replied quickly.
Once she answered, however, their conversation ended.
She spoke plenty when standing in front of him and blushed after only a few sentences.
Why was she so distant inside a chat window?
Perhaps answering too many parents’ messages for work had exhausted her?
For no particular reason, Zhou Wu smiled.
He slowly began typing:
**Ms Wen, tomorrow—**
“Hey, speaking of Xiang Wenwen, did you see his Moments post today?”
Qin Yun adopted an affected voice.
“‘Today, I came to the library again to launch a book-donation campaign for rural children. Doing things like this always fills me with happiness.’”
“What is he pretending for? Doesn’t he only want to create a good image for that AI-education business?”
“If I posted every time I donated money, I’d have more Moments updates than Dou Yiqing.”
“I didn’t see it. I muted him,” Zhou Wu replied coldly.
“F*ck, I forgot that was an option. I’m muting him right now.”
Qin Yun lowered his head and began tapping.
Suddenly, he exclaimed in surprise.
“Wen Ci?”
Zhou Wu raised his head.
“Where?”
“In Xiang Wenwen’s Moments post.”
“?”
Qin Yun held the phone before his face.
“Look. Is this Wen Ci?”
Xiang Wenwen had posted the update two minutes earlier.
The caption read:
**After so many years, I’m sitting here once again with my comrade-in-arms from high school.**
The accompanying photograph showed simple sandwiches and rice balls arranged on the table.
The person who had told Zhou Wu that afternoon she would eat dinner at home was now sitting opposite Xiang Wenwen.
Her posture was perfectly straight as she looked towards the camera, wearing her familiar, faintly polite fake smile.
Leave a Reply