Chapter 20 Wen Ling, do you need it?

"He deleted you?"

Yan Qingli shrugged: "To be precise, it should be that his girlfriend deleted me."

Shang Chen's temple twitched: "Girlfriend?"

This story begins a few days ago on the Lantern Festival.

With the start of the new school term approaching, Yan Qingli wanted to invite Wen He to have a meal together. She started chatting with him about holiday greetings, but he politely replied with "Happy Lantern Festival" and then immediately declined her invitation.

Sorry, he's unavailable.

Yan Qingli stared blankly at the message, seemingly guessing the identity of the person on the other end.

I am his girlfriend.

The other party kept showing "typing in progress".

Yan Qingli almost dropped her phone. Her mind went blank, and a sharp pain shot through her heart. She thought, "So this is what true heartbreak feels like."

You like him, don't you?

I looked through your previous chat history. To him, you're probably not someone very important. Hmm, I feel a bit uncomfortable about it, so please delete each other.

Her words were polite, yet every word felt like a needle pricking.

Yan Qingli had no right to say anything, but she still wanted to know if his girlfriend was the girl in the ID photo. Then, she sent an "OK" emoji, only to find that she was no longer the other person's friend. She was stunned for a moment, then suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly: "Fine."

…

New semester, new look.

Wen Ling struggled for a long time about whether or not to join the club. She had always wanted to play badminton, but she was afraid of communicating with people and never dared to take the first step. However, now that her stuttering had improved under Shang Chen's training, her desire to exercise was starting to stir.

So, encouraged by Wen He, she took a chance and filled out the badminton club's application form for the new club recruitment event at the start of the semester.

The badminton club organizes practice sessions for everyone every day.

Wen Ling was the most obedient. A message was sent in the group asking them to sign in and check in every day. Even though there was no reward, Wen Ling never missed a day.

The high attendance rate caught the attention of Vice Minister Liu Chang.

That's not quite right. Liu Chang knew about Wen Ling's existence a long time ago, and he also knew that she was a frequent visitor to the school's confession wall.

However, because she seemed too aloof and didn't talk to people much, Liu Chang assumed she didn't like being disturbed and never thought of talking to her.

Wen Ling has been consistently checking in on this day for a month now.

The badminton hall was nearly empty. Wen Ling was practicing juggling the shuttlecock alone in a corner. Liu Chang observed her for a long time from a rest chair, then finally stood up, walked over, smiled, and called out, "Wen Ling?"

Wen Ling subconsciously turned around, and the ball fell to the ground with a 'thud'.

She picked it up, hid her hands behind her back, and asked seriously, "Senior, is something the matter?"

"It's nothing." Liu Chang adjusted his black-rimmed glasses. "I just noticed you're always practicing alone in the corner every day. Didn't you find anyone to practice with?"

Most of the students who join the club are from the same dormitory or class and they join as a group. Wen Ling is an exception. She is not completely open-minded and does not take the initiative to make friends with others. She can only practice alone on weekdays.

Only when there are occasional competitions can she truly indulge her passion for playing ball.

Wen Ling smiled a little shyly: "I can manage on my own."

Liu Chang was stunned by that smile. After a moment of blankness, he realized his ears were burning. He touched his earlobe and smiled shyly, "I can play with you."

He asked very politely, "Do you need it?"

Wen Ling hesitated for a moment.

Playing with strangers overshadowed her own desire to juggle the ball, and she nodded, "Thank you."

Liu Chang breathed a sigh of relief: "It's alright. As the deputy minister, it's my job to solve problems for newcomers."

…

After playing together several times, the two gradually became acquainted.

Wen Ling went from initially waiting for Liu Chang to come and ask him questions to later proactively asking him if he had time to come together.

Aside from class time, Wen Ling would rather spend all her other time in the badminton hall.

Occasionally, physical education class is held during the last period in the morning.

After free time, Wen Ling would go to the badminton hall to play badminton with Liu Chang. After class, Liu Chang would invite her to dinner. Wen Ling didn't know how to refuse, and she would reluctantly agree several times.

On this day, the two were on their way to the cafeteria as usual.

Liu Chang knew how to find topics to chat about so that the atmosphere wouldn't be too awkward. The two chatted happily until they suddenly heard a surprised "Sister Wen Ling".

Wen Ling looked up and saw Yan Qingli... and Shang Chen next to her. In the nearly one month since the start of the semester, they had only met a handful of times.

In that instant, when she met Shang Chen's not-so-enthusiastic gaze, Wen Ling suddenly remembered that she had forgotten to reply to Shang Chen's message again!

I quickly took out my phone to check, and sure enough, I had forgotten to reply.

The last message he sent was around 9 a.m., inviting her to lunch. Wen Ling was in class at the time and thought she would reply later, but she just forgot about it.

During this period, because of the many things to do at the start of school and the joy of being able to play ball every day, she spent less time on her phone, and her memory often wandered away from home.

She looked down at her phone, sent an "I'm sorry" emoji, and then added, "I forgot to reply..." before looking up at Shang Chen's reaction.

His phone rang once.

Shang Chen didn't react at all, acting as if he hadn't seen her. He walked straight ahead without looking at her. Yan Qingli was wondering why he didn't greet Wen Ling when she saw him walk away. She said "Hey," and then looked at Wen Ling: "Sister Wen Ling, we're leaving now. Let's have dinner together next time!"

She quickly caught up with him and whispered, "What's wrong with you?"

Shang Chen remained silent, leaving Yan Qingli to guess: "You don't like Wen Ling anymore? Is it just a passing fancy?"

Shang Chen glanced at her: "What do you think?"

Yan Qingli hummed in agreement, remembering the boy next to Wen Ling. She had just seen them chatting very enthusiastically. She glanced at Shang Chen with a questioning look, but spoke cautiously, "Could it be that the reason Wen Ling hasn't been talking to you these past few days is because of this boy?"

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Author's Note: I've been busy these past few days, but I'll add a longer chapter once I'm done [Let me see!].