Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Pursuit

For the next two weeks, Wang Wei pursued Lin Yu relentlessly. Aside from sleeping, he filled almost all her time. Even having a meal with Yao Fangfang became a difficult task.

He began to wait for Lin Yu at her apartment building every morning at seven o'clock without fail, holding the extra breakfast he had bought. During the driving school's lunch break, he would take her to a long-established food stall at the entrance of the alley.

After driving practice, he would use the excuse of going the same way to invite Lin Yu to dinner, and afterwards he would thoughtfully walk her to her dormitory. He even happened to have discount coupons at the bookstore Lin Yu frequented.

This subtle and gentle care, like slowly boiling a frog, gradually lowered Lin Yu's guard. In this perfectly timed tenderness, Zheng Qi's indifference and Chen Guang's unpredictable moods faded away.

Although he doesn't feel his heart race when he's with the king like he does when he's with Zheng Qi, Lin Yu still feels a warm sense of being cherished whenever he meets Zheng Qi's attentive and focused gaze.

She didn't seem to realize that what she craved might not be the person in front of her, but rather the feeling of being liked.

This affection perfectly compensated for the inferiority complex that Zheng Qi and Chen Guang had unintentionally projected onto her. Or perhaps, she was also using this to prove her charm to Chen Guang.

A sense of urgency, like missing the last train, urged Lin Yu on, tightly binding her adolescence and hastily pushing her into the next stage of her life.

Lin Yu plunged headlong into this self-directed and self-acted romantic drama. The warnings from Qian Zan's divination had long been forgotten.

......

A week later, she swiftly confirmed her relationship with the king. This hasty start to the romance may have foreshadowed its swift demise.

Because the two were in different majors, they rarely had the opportunity to attend classes together, so apart from her roommates who lived with her day and night, almost no one noticed that she was in a relationship.

Chen Guang was completely unaware of the situation, only vaguely sensing that her recent whereabouts were suspicious. With exam week approaching, they hadn't seen each other for over half a month. This period, while not long, was enough for many things to change drastically.

Chen Guang felt that Lin Yu had been unusually difficult to reach lately. At first, he thought she was still sulking because of the argument on the court. He even listed in his mind what delicious food he should treat her to so that she would forgive him.

Only children make choices. Inviting her to both wouldn't be a bad idea, but he couldn't help being sarcastic whenever he saw her. It wasn't until he received the third text message saying "Something's up tonight" that he belatedly realized Lin Yu seemed to be hiding something from him.

Chen Guang dialed Zhang Yunzhou's number, hoping to use him to arrange a dinner with Yao Fangfang and Lin Yu so he could properly apologize to her then. But after a few seconds of silence on the other end of the line, Zhang Yunzhou stammered, "Lin Yu might not be available anytime soon."

"What do you mean? I know she's learning to drive, but her test is coming up soon, is it...?"

“She…has a boyfriend.” Zhang Yunzhou interrupted Chen Guang and said in one breath, “Yao Fangfang told me not to tell you…” His childhood friend seemed to have turned into Yao Fangfang’s lackey, switching sides without hesitation in the face of right and wrong.

After hanging up the phone, Chen Guang stood on the dormitory balcony, listening to the noise from the basketball court that came and went, but he couldn't hide the complicated feelings in his heart that he couldn't explain.

He suddenly realized that in Lin Yu's relationship, he had become the only one excluded. In an instant, he had become a dispensable supporting character in her life's script.

Those bonds he thought were unique were nothing more than replaceable batteries in Lin Yu's youth. And once she found a new charger, he didn't even qualify to be recycled. An unnamed anger surged from his tailbone to the top of his head, burning his scalp.

He gripped his phone tightly, wanting to rush downstairs to confront Lin Yu, to call and berate her for her ingratitude, or at the very least, to send her a WeChat message to stab her in the back. There was some way he could vent his surging anger and resentment.

But when he opened the dialog box and repeatedly typed and deleted a simple text, he suddenly realized his awkward situation.

He seemed to have no right to criticize Lin Yu. After all, he was just one of her many ordinary friends, and even venting his anger was not justified.

Chen Guang then blacklisted Lin Yu's WeChat account and angrily threw his phone on the bed, making her disappear from his contact list completely.

......

With less than two weeks left until the final exams for his major courses, and without Lin Yu's supervision, Chen Guang reverted to his previous carefree lifestyle. He slept until noon every day, ate only two meals a day, and whiled away his time playing games and basketball.

As for the final exams, he had already planned to use the two days before the exams to borrow Zheng Qi's review materials and make cheat sheets for all the major courses in one go, so he seemed calm and unhurried about the upcoming big exams.

He slept until noon as usual that day. The dormitory was already empty. After a quick wash, Chen Guang put on his coat and planned to go downstairs to find something to eat.

With Christmas approaching, even the boys' dormitory is filled with the festive atmosphere. In the center of the lobby on the first floor stands a waist-high plastic Christmas tree, its trunk adorned with colorful lights, which are reflected in the floor-to-ceiling mirrors on both sides covered with streamers, creating a vibrant and colorful scene from afar.

The dormitory supervisor recognized Chen Guang and peeked out from the duty room to greet him warmly, smiling as she handed him a beautifully wrapped "peace apple." Chen Guang accepted it politely, inwardly grumbling about these fancy foreign gadgets.

The moment the windproof curtain was lifted, a cold wind mixed with snowflakes rushed in. He squinted, and through the white mist of his breath, he spotted that familiar figure he hadn't seen in so long.

Lin Yu was standing on tiptoe, hugging the boy in front of him, his hands covering the other's collar. His movements were so practiced that Chen Guang blinked hard.

This was Lin Yu's first holiday with the king. She originally wanted to follow the example of the girls in the next dormitory and knit him a scarf by hand. However, her handiwork skills were terrible, and time was tight, so she could only compromise and buy a reasonably priced export scarf to get by.

Lin Yu hadn't expected to run into Chen Guang at this critical juncture. At that moment, she was frantically fiddling with the scarf with the deer and snowflake pattern, wrapping it around Wang Wei's neck twice before tying it into a crooked knot at her chest.

Snowflakes landed on Lin Yu's reddened fingertips. Wang Wei lowered his head in agreement, turning the act of tying a scarf into an ambiguous embrace. Her hair was blown by the wind, falling across her forehead and obscuring Chen Guang's suddenly contracting pupils.

Wang Wei placed his hand on Lin Yu's lower back, and even through the thick down jacket, Chen Guang felt a strong sense of suffocation. But he said nothing, stared at them for a moment with a stern face, his gaze like a sharp blade slicing through the two of them, then snorted coldly and strode away without looking back.

Lin Yu watched Chen Guang's figure disappear around the corner, her fingers unconsciously tightening around the scarf of the throne. She had expected to hear Chen Guang scoff and criticize her, "You have terrible taste!" But instead, after actually bumping into her and the throne, she was only met with his indifferent departing figure.

"You know him?" Wang Wei asked curiously, following Lin Yu's gaze.

"Classmate... classmate." Lin Yu blinked guiltily, snowflakes landing on his eyelashes and melting into cool water droplets.

The king was still rambling on and on, but the sound automatically muffled in her ears.

Lin Yu stared at the trail of footprints on the ground that was gradually being covered by snow. A strange, dull pain rose in his chest. He instantly felt that his previous actions had been somewhat unnecessary, and a sense of inexplicable loss welled up within him.

The throne seemed to keenly sense Lin Yu's unusual reaction, and a strange competitive spirit surged within him, along with an urgent desire to assert his dominance. "Yu Yu, I'm so happy to receive this gift from you. You must give me a chance to show off this time."

The king suddenly leaned closer, a smile that was excessively eager on his face, pulling Lin Yu's thoughts back to the present. "How about we go see a midnight movie together tonight?" This unexpected, misused nickname was like a drop of ice water sliding down his collar, making Lin Yu's back stiffen.

Whenever Wang Wei's fingers inadvertently brushed against her hair, the warmth of his palm, the closeness of his breath, or even the burning gaze behind his glasses would reflexively put Lin Yu into a state of readiness, her body issuing warnings before her reason.

She attributed this to relationship adjustment syndrome, like a rejection reaction after transplant surgery. "It won't work, the late-night movies are too late, and the dorm rooms are all closed."

“We can stay outside.” Wang Wei gently stroked Lin Yu’s hair, his knuckles brushing against the skin behind her ear, leaving a sticky warmth. “We can just find a hotel nearby.”

Lin Yu awkwardly turned his head away to avoid the throne's touch, his gaze towards him carrying a strange wariness. Qian Zan's divination results inexplicably overlapped with the person before him. "This isn't good, is it? The student council checks dorm rooms."

"It's alright, I know people in the student council." Wang Wei pressed his advantage.

"Don't be afraid. I won't do anything to you. I just want to find a quiet place to have a good chat with you and take a good look at you."

"You're looking at me right now, why are you chatting at night?" Lin Yu's fingers dug into the wool of the scarf. The throne's warm hint felt like dripping wax, burning her skin with goosebumps.

Even those who have never been in a relationship can easily understand his subtext. However, he and the king had known each other for far too short a time, dating for less than a week, and their kisses consisted of only two light pecks on the cheek.

Now he has to skip so many intermediate steps and drag the progress bar directly to the end, which is unacceptable to Lin Yu no matter what, and the hairs on his body are protesting strongly.

Without warning, Chen Guang's words to her on the motorcycle echoed in her ears: "Take a zigzag downhill." At this moment, the throne felt like it was on a runaway cable car, impatiently rushing down the mountain.

This untimely association made Lin Yu's throat tighten. She had actually thought of Chen Guang at this moment, the one who had just ignored her as if she were invisible.

Lin Yu's refusal was almost an unconscious remark. Watching the king's dejected figure leave, she realized that her back was already covered in a fine layer of sweat.

This state of heightened alarm is far removed from the sweet romantic experience described in the novel, and strange emotions are constantly churning and fermenting in my heart.

After parting ways with the king, Lin Yu decided to meet Yao Fangfang at the milk tea shop near the school gate, where he would give her a good rant about the whole thing.