Chapter 29 Absence Makes the Heart Blossom

Duan Qiwei, the sports committee member of Class 9, hung up the phone. Seven or eight people sat on the benches in the basketball court, staring at the ground.

"Was that Ji Tong's voice just now?" Duan Qiwei asked, stunned.

"There's no one else, right?" someone replied.

A group of people turned to look at Chen Yongjie, who was quite familiar with Gu Linji Tong.

Chen Yongjie: "It should be... I guess."

The stadium fell silent for a few seconds.

"I knew Lin and Ji Tong lived together, but I didn't know they also... slept together?"

Because Gu Lin was a year or two older than most of the boys in the class, after that basketball game, the boys started calling him "Brother Lin" along with Chen Yongjie and Yang Ping.

"Do you guys remember when Lin Ge first arrived at school, so many girls in the dorm were asking for his WeChat? But after they found out he was living with Ji Tong, they all suddenly went silent. Could it be that they're...?"

"Speak slowly, let me catch my breath."

"What are you slowing down for?"

"Actually, I had my suspicions before," Chen Yongjie said, covering his mouth and lowering his voice after confirming that no one else was around. "Later, I asked Li Yuan and the others, and they said no, it's just that they have a good relationship."

"That's how it is in high school, they're all used to it."

"Let me get used to it as soon as possible."

"And you also said—"

Chen Yongjie paused for a moment.

Duan Qiwei: "What else is there to say?"

Chen Yongjie: "And he said, 'This is nothing.'"

-

Ji Tong thought she had slept for a long time during her nap, but when she picked up her phone, only 30 minutes had passed.

With no one beside him, Gu Lin had already gotten up.

Ji Tong rubbed his neck and sat up in bed. As he gradually regained consciousness, the phone call became clearer.

Wait--

Ji Tong paused in rubbing his neck.

…Did they call out 'Brother Lin' on the phone just now?

What else is "Yongjie"?

Ji Tong didn't call Gu Lin, but instead picked up her phone from the bedside table and sent a message to Chen Yongjie.

[JT: Yongjie, was it you who called this morning?]

Chen Yongjie replied to the message very quickly.

[Chen Yongjie: It wasn't me, it was our class's sports representative.]

[JT: I was too sleepy this morning and grabbed the wrong phone.]

[JT: Gu Lin took over later, right?]

[Chen Yongjie: I accepted.]

[JT: Is something wrong in your class?]

[Chen Yongjie: No, no, no, it's just that some people in our class couldn't get tickets for the National Day holiday and stayed in Anjing. I heard that Brother Lin was also alone in his apartment, so I asked him to come out and play basketball this afternoon and have dinner together tonight.]

[Chen Yongjie: But it's okay, Brother Lin already declined, so everything's fine now.]

Duan Qiwei's first phone call was interrupted by Ji Tong's words, "I'll sleep a little longer." His mind went blank until he hung up, and he couldn't even remember what Gu Lin said. He only remembered that they had a brief chat before Gu Lin declined.

They guessed it was because of Ji Tong.

So, after another ten minutes or so, Chen Yongjie, acting as the representative, called back.

During this time, the people of Ji Yi had become accustomed to Gu Lin's presence, and similarly, the people of Ji Jiu had become familiar with Ji Tong.

“It’s alright, Brother Lin. If it’s because of Ji Tong, you don’t need to worry at all. It’s even better if Ji Tong is here. Everyone knows each other, it’ll be more lively. It’s a rare holiday, why don’t you all come out together?” Duan Qiwei said, taking the phone from Chen Yongjie.

...

[Chen Yongjie: But Brother Lin still declined. He said you'd been out for the past few days and were a bit tired, so he probably wanted you to get some rest.]

Ji Tong paused in mid-air with her finger and turned to look in the direction of the door.

Half a minute later.

[JT: What time do we play ball this afternoon?]

[Chen Yongjie: 2:30.]

JT: Count us in.

-

Ji Tong quickly finished washing up and opened the door to her room. Gu Lin was just coming out of the kitchen with a plate of black sesame rolls.

He looked up and glanced at Ji Tong: "Come and eat."

Ji Tong walked over and leaned on the dining table to take a look.

Coconut oil fried eggs, shrimp salad, shumai, sesame rolls, blanched bok choy, two cold dishes, and morel mushroom ribs that I put in the refrigerator last night.

…She could easily take good care of herself, yet she still eats oatmeal.

Ji Tong pulled out a chair and sat down, picking up a black sesame roll for herself: "Why hasn't the electrician arrived yet?"

It's almost 11 o'clock.

"The light bulb was broken," Gu Lin said casually, placing the soy milk beside him. "There was a spare in the room, so I replaced it."

Ji Tong: "Is it all better now?"

Gu Lin: "Mm."

"That's perfect," Ji Tong said without suspicion. She thought the sesame rolls tasted good and picked one up for Gu Lin. "Eat more so you can score a couple more baskets in the afternoon game."

Gu Lin was slightly taken aback, put down his chopsticks, looked up at him, and then glanced down.

"Who said their legs were sore this morning?" Gu Lin suddenly spoke up.

Ji Tong asked, puzzled, "Who?"

Ji Tong couldn't even remember who made the phone call at 10 a.m., let alone at 9 a.m. when Gu Lin asked him if he wanted to have breakfast before going to sleep, he groggily said his legs were sore and he didn't want to get up.

Ji Tong didn't think of anything else.

Although Gu Lin was going to transfer to the first-year computer science program, and Ji Tong knew that he could transfer to the first-year computer science program, he was still in the ninth-year computer science program this semester.

Even if it's only for a few months, Ji Tong wants him to have a fulfilling life, to live a life full of "spirit and vigor," so that all the good people and things become memories of his time here.

Ji Tong didn't want to experience those lonely "thirty-two days" in Jiangcheng again.

"If someone stays cooped up at home for four or five days, they'll go crazy if they stay locked up any longer," Ji Tong said.

Gu Lin glanced at him casually: "Alone?"

“There are two of us today, that’s true, but wasn’t it always just one of us before?” Ji Tong ignored his excuses. “Including today, there are still three days of holiday left. It’s just the two of us doing puzzles, looking at PPTs, and doing test papers. Aren’t you bored?”

"I don't mind."

"..."

If the soft approach doesn't work, try the hard one.

Ji Tong resorted directly to "force," giving him a light kick.

"Are you going or not?"

Gu Lin remained silent.

Ji Tongshuang kicked him.

"Are you going or not?"

Gu Lin picked up his chopsticks.

Ji Tong kicked him again.

"Are you going or not?"

Gu Lin finally put down his chopsticks: "What time is it?"

“At 2:30,” Ji Tong said, his smile spreading across his face, “we’ll have dinner together after we finish playing ball.”

Gu Lin knew what this person was thinking and why he accepted the invitation.

only--

Seeing the look on someone's face that said, "I've found a lot of people to play with you," Gu Lin absentmindedly pressed his knuckles.

He doesn't find it boring.

They find others noisy.

...Incredibly stupid.

-

Ji Tong arrived right on time, at exactly 2:30. There were about ten boys on the court, all of whom were familiar faces whose names he could recall.

Ji Tong greeted everyone and then pushed Gu Lin, who hadn't moved for four or five days, onto the field first. He sat on a bench and replied to Ms. Song Jiahe in Barcelona.

After finishing his reply, Chen Yongjie had just changed.

Ji Tong had already exited the WeChat interface and casually placed his phone aside. Chen Yongjie looked down and saw an app.

"Ji Tong," Chen Yongjie pointed to the app with some surprise, "you bought their cameras?"

Ji Tong nodded: "Yes, I just bought it."

Chen Yongjie: "Is it easy to use? How is the image quality? I'm thinking of getting a new one, I'm currently looking at one. Their advertisement says it has 3 megapixels, but I haven't bought one yet."

“I just installed it too, and there haven’t been any problems so far,” Ji Tong said. “If you’re going to buy it, remember to modify the network program and add a few firewalls.”

“I know,” Chen Yongjie asked again, “What about the field of view?”

Ji Tong: "How big is the room?"

Chen Yongjie: "About a hundred square meters."

Chi Tong: "Just like on the peninsula, you need to find a good spot to take a full picture."

"Peninsula?" Chen Yongjie thought Ji Tong was installing it in his own home. "You're installing it in your apartment?"

“Yes,” Ji Tong nodded, and seeing his surprised expression, asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I heard from Li Yuan that you keep a lot of cats at home. I thought they were kept in your house,” Chen Yongjie smiled. “Did you bring the cats to your apartment to keep them?”

Ji Tong stretched her legs: "No."

Chen Yongjie: "?"

Chen Yongjie was even more surprised.

"Then why did you install such high-end surveillance cameras in your apartment?"

Firstly, the rent at Peninsula is more than double that of some small apartments in the surrounding area, and the corridors and elevators are monitored, ensuring complete safety.

Secondly, these days, young people install surveillance cameras in their homes either for their children or their pets. Just like Chen Yongjie, who wanted to replace the surveillance camera for his dog.

Duan Qiwei and his group walked over from the side and heard Chen Yongjie say, "Then why did you install such a good surveillance camera in the apartment?"

Several people pricked up their ears.

The next second, they heard Ji Tong's reply.

"Keep watch on them."

Several people: "?"

Chen Yongjie: "Who are you watching?"

Ji Tong chuckled: "Is there a third person in the apartment? Of course, it's Gu Lin."

The group: "…………"

Ji Tong instinctively felt something was off about their expressions: "What's wrong?"

"No, it's nothing."

"Yeah, yeah, that's how brothers are...".

Duan Qiwei stood there for more than ten seconds, but still couldn't hold it in.

"Ji Tong, um, you called this morning, didn't you answer? Do you and Brother Lin usually sleep together?"

“No,” Ji Tong answered readily, “We slept together last night because the light in the guest room was broken.”

Chen Yongjie was startled again.

Is Brother Lin staying in the guest room?

Duan Qiwei missed the point about the "guest room" and breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this: "Haha, I knew it! I was so scared. I thought you guys usually slept together."

Ji Tong blinked: "What's so scary about this? Isn't it normal to sleep together? We used to sleep together all the time in high school."

Everyone: "..."

"You two have never slept together?" Ji Tong asked, puzzled.

Everyone: "…………"

Chen Yongjie muttered a mantra under his breath: "You'll get used to it, you'll get used to it, you'll get used to it..."

After reading it aloud, Chen Yongjie lied, "Yes, I often slept with my roommate in high school too. You know, guys are like brothers, right, Qiwei, haha, ha..."

Duan Qiwei: "Yes, yes, haha, ha."

I can't exhale.

-

It only took half a day for a group of boys in Class 9 of the Computer Science Department to go from shock to self-doubt, to self-hypnosis, and then to collective numbness.

They watched as Gu Lin, who was usually aloof, came down from the court with Ji Tong after playing ball. He hadn't even changed his clothes or wiped his sweat. He knelt down and massaged Ji Tong's calves, who was only experiencing a slight cramp.

Watching Gu Lin pack his backpack.

Watching Gu Lin at the dining table, rinsing Ji Tong's chopsticks, bowls, and plates, and handing her tissues.

I finally understand the true meaning of Li Yuan's words, "This is just the beginning."

Gu Lin paid the bill for dinner.

After leaving the restaurant, the two said goodbye to Chen Yongjie and the others, and did not participate in the next part.

It was very quiet at the restaurant entrance.

Duan Qiwei stood on the steps, watching the two walk away arm in arm, and fell into a long and deep thought.

Is this how Ankyoreh's "brothers" all get along?

Was he not close enough to his brothers?

Duan Qiwei, like a novice whose values ​​have been reshaped, opened a WeChat account of a friend he had known since he was a child, amidst self-doubt.

[Duan Qiwei: Son, I have a question for you.]

[Son: Son, spit it out if you have something to say.]

[Duan Qiwei: If you come to Anjing in the future, let's live together.]

[Son: Are you out of your mind? Who the hell wants to live with you???]

[Duan Qiwei: I meant hypothetically, okay, okay, let's assume you come to Anjing to seek refuge with me.]

[Duan Qiwei: If I let you sleep in the master bedroom, can I install a surveillance camera in the living room to keep an eye on you?]

【son:? ? ? 】

[Son: Screenshot from 110 (police emergency number).jpg]

[Son: You'll get arrested soon!]

Duan Qiwei silently put away his phone and let out a long sigh of relief.

fine.

They don't do that over there.

-

Ji Tong didn't attend the third part because during dinner, Chen Ping'an sent him a WeChat message saying that he saw Gu Linlin at Ping'an Park.

So after saying goodbye to Chen Yongjie and the others, he took Gu Lin and took a taxi to Ping'an Park.

This time, Gu Linlin was quite sensible and stayed obediently on the bench until Ji Tong came over.

The two spent time with Gu Linlin at Ping'an Park until 10 o'clock.

When trending topics started featuring outrageous phrases like "Only X days left of holiday," Ji Tong finally posted her first WeChat Moments update of the holiday.

[JT: The Maw of the Abyss.]

The accompanying picture is of a cow-patterned cat eating dry rice.

Within minutes of posting, the number of comments surged by more than a dozen.

[Duan Pei, Senior: Where did the cat come from?]

[Lin Miao: Finally posted on WeChat Moments, it wasn't easy.]

[Mingying: You went to Ping'an Park?]

Ji Tong replied to each message one by one, and just as he finished replying, a new message popped up.

[A-Yuan: Whose hand is that holding the cat treat on the right side of the photo?]

Ji Tong just snapped a photo casually and didn't notice that a hand was also in the picture.

[Ah Yuan: You went with Lin Ge? Great! Weren't you supposed to be back on the night of the 6th? Why are you back today?]

[JT replied to A Yuan: I didn't go back today, I went back last night.]

After Ji Tong finished posting, he deliberately added another message.

[JT replied to A Yuan: Keep your voice down [shh]]

The moment after the "shh" was finished, another new reply appeared.

Ji Tong thought it was Li Yuan and clicked to open it.

After a moment of pupil contraction, she immediately smiled and shoved her phone in front of Gu Lin's face.

“I posted a picture of Gu Linlin on his WeChat Moments, and your hand was in the picture.”

"Guess what Senior Tu Jing commented?"

Ji Tong continued talking to himself.

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder, hahaha."

Gu Lin: "..."

"Oh no, my senior didn't do well in Chinese."

Ji Tong finished playing and refreshed the page.

[A Yuan: Absence makes the heart grow fonder [sprinkling flowers]]

[Mingying: Absence makes the heart grow fonder [sprinkling flowers]]

[Ah Tian: Absence makes the heart grow fonder [sprinkling flowers]]

[Senior Xue Yiqing: Absence makes the heart grow fonder [sprinkling flowers]]

[Senior Zheng Huan: Absence makes the heart grow fonder [sprinkling flowers]]

Ji Tong laughed so hard her shoulders were shaking. In front of Gu Lin, she typed ten words on the train engine, Tu Jing's phone.

[JT replied to Tu Jing: This is called "a friendship based on morality, a deep brotherhood."]

Ji Tong was waiting for Tu Jing's reply.

But before Tu Jing could reply, she heard Gu Lin's voice first.

"Do you know what a friendship based on morality is?" Gu Lin suddenly spoke, his voice sounding a little cold in the night wind.

Ji Tong still remembers that her Chinese teacher explained it when she was in her senior year of high school.

He looked up from his phone.

"I know."

"Friendships built on moral principles and the concept of justice."

The dim light in the corner of the park fell on Gu Lin, who turned to the side, his gaze fixed on the man.

Moral principles…

The ideal of justice…

Are you being talked about, Gu Lin?

"No," Gu Lin said calmly.

He is not, and he has none of these qualities.

"It's not that Tu Jing is bad at Chinese."

Gu Lin casually tossed out a sentence and walked forward.

"It's because you didn't study Chinese well."