Chapter 14 Love Letters: You two are dating?

Sitting on the back of the motorcycle, Zhou Yu could feel the vibrations from the engine running beneath him. In front of him was Chen Jingchi's broad back, his simple white T-shirt glowing with a soft, warm hue under the setting sun.

A faint, familiar fragrance lingered around my nose, its source unclear whether it was perfume or laundry detergent.

This reminded Zhou Yu that the two were too close at the moment.

She always knew very well that she had to maintain proper boundaries when interacting with Chen Jingchi; this was a rule they had established on their very first day of meeting.

She began to regret not refusing Chen Jingchi's offer to take her back to her dormitory. Every bit of contact was extremely important at this moment, and Zhou tried her best to sit back to avoid any contact with him, not even with her clothes.

Even after being so careful, turning her head to look at the elongated shadows of the two people in front of her, all her efforts were in vain; the figures stuck together seemed so intimately close.

"Hurry up," Chen Jingchi reminded him.

Zhou Yu didn't know where to grab, so he felt around the area next to his seat before finally finding a raised spot on the seat and holding on tightly.

Perhaps because she wasn't wearing a helmet, Chen Jingchi slowed down. The motorcycle, which he had always thought was fast and cool, became as slow as a shared electric bike at school because it was carrying her.

The spectacular scene she had imagined didn't happen, which Zhou Yu found somewhat amusing, and she was glad that Chen Jingchi couldn't see her face.

The broadcasting building was a few minutes' walk from the student apartments. Chen Jingchi stopped in front of the apartments, and when he got out of the car, Zhou Yu's hair was still perfectly in place.

She turned around and waved to Chen Jingchi, who nodded and restarted the motorcycle—this time, it was a real start-up. The engine roared, sending up a gust of hot air mixed with the smell of engine oil, and a few seconds later, the bluish-black scooter disappeared from Zhou Yu's sight.

She was the only one left in the dormitory.

When she had some free time, Zhou Yu finally had a chance to think about Chen Jingchi's words, "You decide the lyrics." Did this mean that he was also satisfied with the lyrics of her second song?

Zhou Yu looked at the words on the notebook repeatedly, feeling both relieved and slightly worried, wondering how long his good luck could last.

On Monday morning, on the high-speed train home, Zhou Yu received the second payment for his writing from Chen Jingchi.

Upon arriving at the high-speed rail station, Zhou Yu immediately spotted Liu Xianya at the exit. The National Day holiday was actually the peak season for hospital traffic, and as a doctor, she had to work shifts. Seeing her tied-up hair, Zhou Yu knew that Liu Xianya had come from the hospital to pick her up.

Zhou Yu suggested having lunch outside, but before Liu Xianya could speak, she said, "I have a part-time job at school, which earns me some living expenses."

Although the royalties were substantial, Zhou Yu didn't know how many more times she could collaborate with Chen Jingchi, so she didn't consider it a long-term job. She also couldn't give all the 20,000 yuan she earned to Liu Xianya at once, as she couldn't explain the source of the money and was afraid Liu Xianya would overthink it.

Zhou wanted to transfer 1,000 yuan to Liu Xianya, but she refused to accept it: "I can spend the money I earn myself. I can eat, drink, have fun, and dress myself up. I have enough."

Zhou Yu has never been a vain person and has low material desires. On the other hand, Liu Xianya remembers her mother as a beautiful and sophisticated woman, but now she has to cut back on spending, shed her glamorous appearance, and return to the most ordinary office worker life.

During lunch, Liu Xianya suddenly revealed: "When I met your father last time, he said you behaved well and there might be a chance for you to come out early."

Zhou paused his meal, and after several seconds asked, "Why didn't you say so last time?"

"It's just a probability, not a certainty. I don't want you to get excited for nothing." Liu Xianya smiled and said, "It's better to keep your expectations to a minimum."

Zhou Yu lowered her head again, her heart filled with mixed emotions. This matter had always been a thorn in her side, and the long passage of time had not diminished the pain even slightly; it would still throb in her nightmares every now and then. Now, hearing this news, she had hoped to breathe a sigh of relief, but who knew it was still an uncertain unknown.

"Oh, right," Liu Xianya brought up something else, "Aunt Zhao just told me today that her daughter has started dating someone. That's fast!"

Aunt Zhao is Liu Xianya's colleague in the same department. Her daughter is the same age as Zhou Yu, and both of them have just started college.

Zhou Yu never commented much on other people's affairs, and replied rather insincerely, "It's fine."

After saying that, he added, "I'm not interested in that right now."

She had already anticipated Liu Xianya's next words. Liu Xianya looked at her helplessly and said, "I didn't mean that. I just meant that you're so young, you have to be careful to protect yourself when you're in a relationship."

At eighteen, the line between adulthood and childhood is drawn only by the ticking of the clock on her birthday; in her mother's heart, she is still a child.

Zhou Yu nodded: "I'll talk to you after I've talked to them."

She said that, but in reality, she had no such plans, at least not during her entire university years.

On the last day of the National Day holiday, Zhou Yu received a demo of "Invitation to the Night" from Chen Jingchi. It had not undergone any audio editing or post-production processing; the raw vocals and accompaniment were mixed together directly. He just wanted her to hear the effect first.

This was the first time Zhou Yu had heard the arranged version; compared to the performance in the rehearsal room, this was a complete piece.

She witnessed the birth of this work firsthand, from its hiding place in the memo to being seen by Chen Jingchi, gaining his approval, having the lyrics set to music, and then having it sung by his voice. Every step went so smoothly, as if it were a predetermined ending.

Praise was the most scarce part of Zhou Yu's vocabulary. She thought for a long time and finally only sent out the two words "sounds nice". It seemed perfunctory, but in fact it had exhausted all her energy.

When he received the message, Chen Jingchi was resting on a sofa outside the company's recording studio.

He had been singing here for six days straight, driving the recording engineer to the brink of strike. Finally, this afternoon, he delivered the most satisfying version. When he said "okay," the recording engineer breathed a sigh of relief, and a smile returned to his face.

Du Heng had been supervising the arranger's work for the past few days, and only managed to find time to come over today. Seeing Chen Jingchi with throat lozenges in his mouth, he said helplessly, "You're so young, don't ruin your voice. This is only the first song."

Xu Yue had come over in the morning to wait for him to have lunch together. Now, sitting on the other sofa, he heard this and laughed, "He has a criminal record and has been treated several times."

Du Heng's heart tightened: "Is it that serious?"

“He’s already had nebulized acupuncture.” Xu Yue shrugged. “Brother, I can’t persuade him. You try to talk to him.”

Chen Jingchi didn't seem to care much: "That was before. It's fine now. I know what I'm doing."

Du Heng was skeptical. Having spent so much time with Chen Jingchi, he knew Chen Jingchi's temperament all too well and thought it would be safer to keep a close eye on him from now on.

He took the lyric page filled with notes from Chen Jingchi and looked at it. After reading it through, he nodded and said, "It is indeed written more gently than yours."

Xu Yue added, "It was written by a girl."

Upon hearing this, Du Heng couldn't help but recall the lyricist who had previously written lyrics for Chen Jingchi at the company. This lyricist was a well-known figure in the industry, but after discussing the lyrics with Chen Jingchi, three of his songs were rejected. He then came to Du Heng, angrily cursing him as a "little bastard" and "blind and arrogant."

He suppressed a laugh and said, "Don't scare the girl away too."

Chen Jingchi thought that Zhou Yu's attitude towards him was perfectly normal, and didn't take it to heart: "I'm not some man-eating monster."

"Whether they eat people or not is hard to say," Du Heng said. "It's really infuriating."

"..."

*

Zhou Yu didn't return to the dormitory until 5 p.m. As soon as he opened the door, An Kejia and Fan Xin stopped talking immediately.

Seeing them looking at him strangely, Zhou Yu stopped in his tracks: "What's wrong?"

Fan Xin quickly stepped forward and closed the dormitory door, then asked her in a low voice, "Didn't you run into any girls from our class when you came over?"

"No, there's no one in the hallway." Zhou Yu put his backpack on the stool and was about to unzip it to take out his personal belongings when Fan Xin pressed down on the back of his hand.

She still kept her voice low as she said, "Honey, didn't you check your social media today? You and Chen Jingchi posted your love confession on the wall."

“They said…” An Kejia stammered, “that you two have started talking?”

A note from the author:

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Thank you for the nutrient solution, babies! [Pink heart]

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