CS Chapter 8

When he returned to the dorms, Lin Wenjing showered, then packed his luggage.

Now that he already sobered up, the nonsense he spouted while drunk seemed a bit ridiculous.

Even though he was better in many ways, there was one aspect that undeniably made him inferior to Ye Heng.

It was that He Xingran loved Ye Heng before.

Or maybe he still loved him.

He also couldn’t compare to Ye Heng, who could abandon his pride and dignity to pester and cling to him.

Nor was he willing to become someone else’s substitute.

Forget it.

He won’t quit smoking.

He also won’t chase He Xingran anymore.

It was f*cking exhausting.

☆☆☆

Since that night, Lin Wenjing hadn’t talked to He Xingran anymore.

He didn’t know if He Xingran came to find him, because he thoroughly changed his number, blocked He Xingran on Weibo, and even deleted his forum post.

Leaving no room to maneuver.

☆☆☆

New Year’s Eve day was a rare sunny day. After the family reunion dinner in the evening, the rest of the time was free for them to do what they wanted.

Setting off fireworks and firecrackers was prohibited in the city areas, and the festive ambience was fading, making it boring.

Lin Wenjing was too lazy to go out, and he couldn’t play with the kids from his relatives’ family. After watching the Spring Gala for a while, he got bored, so he prepared to take a shower and go to bed early.

His phone that was placed in his room rang a few times. He put on a pair of plush slippers and returned to his room–it was an unknown number.

But it wasn’t particularly unfamiliar.

That string of numbers he had long since memorized—it was He Xingran’s number.

He stood stunned for a moment. He could hardly suppress the surging sour emotions in his chest. He reached out to accept the call, but the ringing stopped.

He stared at the phone with a lost look and blinked slowly.

Two little guys, one black and one white, started fighting in his heart, doing so endlessly.

One guy said, “You should call back. He Xingran perhaps, perhaps feels a bit differently about you.”

While the other said, “Don’t delude yourself. The person He Xingran likes isn’t someone like you, cold and arrogant. Who would like someone like that?”

The white guy was unconfident, but still said, “What if?”

The black guy retorted, “To hell with your ‘what if.’ A probability of one in ten thousand is approximately equal to zero.”

Before the two little guys could decide the winner of the argument, his phone rang again.

It wasn’t a phone call this time, but a text.

Six words.

“I’m waiting downstairs at your house.”

Lin Wenjing reacted in an instance—without even having time to put on his coat, he hurriedly said, “I have something to do and need to step out for a bit.” And without taking his keys, he rushed out the door with phone in hand.

His home was on the ninth floor; there was an elevator, but he couldn’t wait. He directly took the stairs down, sweating all over. When he went out the door, the wind blew into his collar, making him feel cold and hot, and so did his heart.

It was both cold and hot.

Because of He Xingran, all because of He Xingran.

On a family reunion day, He Xingran was actually downstairs in his home.

He was crazy.

He was crazy, and so was He Xingran.

He ran over, bringing all his love and hatred with him. He ran out of breath from all the running, throwing himself into He Xingran’s arms like a firecracker, completely forgetting the determination he had when he blocked the other party.

He Xingran held him steady, using his big coat to wrap around him, then asking, “Why aren’t you wearing a coat?”

Lin Wenjing asked in a muffled voice, “Why are you here?”

He Xingran gently smiled. “I came to get something back from you.”

Lin Wenjing was stunned, unable to react. “Eh?”

When did he take something from He Xingran…

“This thing is valuable.”

He Xingran was a head taller than him. When he lowered his head to speak, all the hot air fell on his ear.

“If you don’t want it, return it to me.”

Lin Wenjing’s ears turned red, his face was also red. He felt both hot and embarrassed.

“What…what is it?”

He Xingran tapped his chest, slightly to the left side, and his own heart was pounding like a startled deer.

“Someone said they wanted to pursue me, wanted to go on a date with me, but ran away after saying those words. He even ran away with my heart.”

The deer pounded harder, as if beating a gong or drum, joyfully bouncing around incessantly.

“Wh-who?”

He Xingran smiled again. “Don’t admit it?”

Lin Wenjing was buried in his shoulder, hiding most of his face in it, and his own shoulders trembled lightly.

He was laughing very softly, but it also seemed like he was crying.

He had always been a calm and disciplined person, rarely showing his joy. All the ups and downs, joys, anger, and sorrows—they were because of He Xingran.

“I admit,” he whispered, then repeated it again, “I admit it.”

“But I won’t return it.” Lin Wenjing said, “I’ll give you mine instead.”