Chapter 87 I was right there in the audience, watching you from the crowd.

The backstage area of ​​the final presentation night for financial projects.

The air was thick with the tension characteristic of a top-tier academic arena.

This is not just a simple competition, but a grand event that brings together Wall Street giants, Nobel laureates as judges, and editors-in-chief of top academic journals. Its prestige is enough to get an impressive resume directly into the core department of any top investment bank.

Yan Shuang scanned the summary in her hand one last time, a summary that represented months of hard work by the team. Every number and every conclusion felt incredibly heavy.

Mark leaned closer. "Yan Shuang, do you think... Lin Chengyu will come today?"

Yan Shuang paused for a moment as she turned the pages.

She didn't look up, but simply shook her head very lightly.

She remembered that day in his apartment, the lights were dim, and he looked at her with an almost pleading look in his eyes.

But she couldn't give him the affirmative answer he wanted.

Afterwards, he still drove her back to school as a gentleman, but the air inside the car was eerily quiet.

He really hasn't shown up since then.

This way of leaving made Yan Shuang realize that they were probably... no longer even friends.

"All groups, get ready! First group, come on stage!" The staff member's voice came through the crack in the door, cutting off all thoughts.

Yan Shuang took a deep breath, put the summary into the folder, and stood up.

Mark and Emma also stood up straight. Their eyes met, and while there was tension in each other's eyes, there was even more trust and encouragement.

They reached out their hands and placed them together.

"come on!"

"For the project!"

"For hot pot!"

After a short, powerful cheer, Mark looked at Yan Shuang and deliberately rubbed his hands together. "Boss Yan, we're counting on you to lead us to victory. If we win the championship, we'll celebrate your Cambridge offer. You absolutely have to treat us to a meal at the most expensive rooftop bar in Los Angeles. It wouldn't be right if we didn't order two bottles of Divine Water Drops!"

Yan Shuang was amused by his exaggeration, which eased her tension considerably. She jokingly complained, "Are you going to use up all my family's wealth in one go..."

Before she could finish speaking, a figure stepped closer from behind her side, separating Mark from her and forming a protective stance.

The familiar scent made her instantly speechless.

She heard that deep, gentle voice above her head, tinged with a hint of disapproval and teasing, its target clearly Mark:

"The competition hasn't even started yet, how come you're already drunk? When did it become your turn to order the victory celebration drinks?"

It is Lin Chengyu.

He stood behind her, like a silent and reliable wall, shielding her from the overly enthusiastic cheers.

Just like countless times before, in the labs and library at USC, during group discussions where we argued until our faces turned red.

No matter how much she and Mark joked around, he always remained the same, with a smile on his face.

Without leaving a trace, without any principles, and firmly defending her.

Yan Shuang stared at him blankly.

His suit was impeccably pressed, his expression calm, and there was even a lingering smile on his lips from when he had teased Mark earlier, making him seem as natural as if he had stayed up all night with them the day before.

It was as if that argument had never happened, as if he had simply been passing by her, just like countless times before.

She could hardly imagine him coming.

After her almost cruel silence, which was a tacit rejection of his request.

In a daze, the backstage noise, the tension of going on stage, and the complex and unspeakable things that stood between them all suddenly blurred.

The curtain was slowly being drawn back, and bright light flooded in.

Lin Chengyu patted her shoulder lightly and naturally, then leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Keep it up, sister."

I was right there in the audience, watching you from the crowd, and applauding you.

Just like always.