Chapter 11 He wanted to get closer to Wen Zhi
After class, Wen Zhi still did not appear.
Xiao Tang was completely wrapped in a bath towel by Zhu Zhenghao, looking like a chubby white silkworm, with only her little head sticking out: "Where did Zhizhi go?"
Song Juelan glanced in the direction of the lounge and said to the two of them, "I'm going to find him."
“Okay, you go ahead, I’ll watch over Xiaotang,” Zhu Zhenghao readily agreed.
He crouched down, his tone exceptionally gentle: "Xiao Tang, how about your brother takes you to the shallow water area over there to play on the slide?"
Xiao Tang blinked, a clear look of confusion on her face.
Zhu Zhenghao recalled how Xiaotang had addressed him last time, paused for a moment, and was forced to change his address: "Uncle will take you to play."
Xiao Tang then flashed a row of bright white teeth and cheerfully said, "Okay!"
After saying that, she took one of his fingers and swayed as she walked toward the pool next to her.
*
Outside of rest periods, the employee area is quiet, with hardly anyone in sight.
Song Juelan rarely comes here. Only once or twice did she arrive too early and stay in the lounge while the pool was still being cleaned.
Although Zhu Zhenghao specially prepared a private rest room for him, he still wasn't used to resting there.
Walking down the quiet corridor, Song Juelan's thoughts drifted away, imagining what Wen Zhi was doing at that moment.
Perhaps he is sitting very tactfully on that wooden chair, resting on the long table, or sitting by his bed, taking a nap against the headboard.
Song Juelan discovered that, deep down, she secretly hoped it was the latter.
When he reached the door of his lounge, Song Juelan looked at the slightly ajar door but did not push it open immediately.
A cool breeze drifted out from under the door. It was quiet inside, without a sound, as if no one was there.
His hand gripped the metal doorknob, and he slowly and silently pushed the door open a wider gap.
My gaze pierced through the crack in the door and immediately fell upon the single iron bunk bed.
The quilt he had folded so neatly before he left was now piled messily on the bed, with a soft, rounded bulge in the middle.
A snow-white leg peeked out from under the covers, rubbing against the dark sheets. The ankle was slender and dazzlingly white.
Song Juelan tightened his grip on the doorknob, turned around and gently closed the door. He stood there for a moment before slowly approaching the bed.
Their footsteps were light and slow, as if afraid of waking something precious.
Reaching the bedside, he finally saw Wen Zhi's appearance clearly.
The air conditioning in the room was on full blast. Wen Zhi was huddled under the covers, with only her small face showing, her dark hair spread out on the pillow.
Her beautiful cheeks were flushed with pink from sleeping soundly, her long eyelashes drooped quietly, her pale pink lips were slightly parted, and her breathing was long and even, making her look completely unguarded.
Song Juelan gently squatted down by the bedside, uncontrollably moving closer, his deep gaze moving inch by inch from those curled eyelashes to those incredibly soft lips.
Even at such close range, that face remained exquisite and perfect, without a single flaw.
A faint, sweet fragrance wafted to my nose, mingling with the original scent of his bed, as if the two of them were intertwined.
Song Juelan's Adam's apple bobbed slightly as an unknown impulse welled up deep within her heart.
He didn't know exactly what that impulse was, but he felt that the fact that Wen Zhi had picked up his scent made him feel good.
On the bed, Wen Zhi remained fast asleep, oblivious to everything, not even her eyelashes trembling.
Song Juelan lowered his eyes and stared at that sleeping face, suddenly recalling a thought that had been in his mind before.
His fingers, which were resting on the edge of the bed, unconsciously twitched. He couldn't resist reaching out his hand to the sleeping person on the bed.
The slender fingers drew closer and closer to that fair face, and finally, gently poked at the soft, delicate flesh of that cheek.
The soft, delicate touch sent a shiver through him as he stared blankly at the shallow indentation he had made on his face.
It was softer than he had imagined.
Wen Zhi's beautiful brows furrowed slightly, and she muttered unconsciously, "Xiao Tang, stop fooling around..."
Song Juelan abruptly withdrew his hand.
In the silent lounge, a disturbing noise suddenly broke out. He held his breath and listened for a while before realizing it was his own heart pounding like a drum.
He paused for a moment, then subconsciously moved away from the bed, as if afraid that the person on the bed would be woken up by his heartbeat.
The tingling sensation still lingered on her fingertips. Song Juelan unconsciously rubbed her fingertips, belatedly realizing that what she had just done had crossed a line.
Wen Zhi is the father of his student; he shouldn't have acted so recklessly.
Thinking about this, a subtle sense of loss inexplicably welled up in my heart, but I didn't know where it came from.
My mood, which was just floating on clouds, suddenly sank to the bottom of the water.
Song Juelan moved a little further away from the bed and sat down on a chair, trying to calm down.
Perhaps he felt disappointed simply because he realized that he and Wen Zhi were too far apart; to this day, they were still just coach and student parent.
He wanted to improve his relationship with Wen Zhi and become closer to her.
Ideally, we could become friends.
Like his friends with Zhu Zhenghao.
After figuring this out, Song Juelan's gaze once again turned openly to the person on the bed.
That sleeping face remained serene and obedient, completely unaware that the person in the same room had just gone through a fierce internal struggle.
This tranquility was soon shattered.
Several urgent message notifications rang out in succession, sounding particularly jarring in the quiet lounge.
Wen Zhi's long eyelashes trembled a few times, and she frowned, looking like she was about to be woken up.
Song Juelan's body acted before her brain could. She took two steps to the bedside, picked up the constantly vibrating phone next to her pillow, and quickly pressed the mute button.
The annoying sound disappeared instantly, leaving only the phone screen lit up.
His gaze unconsciously swept across the screen, and he saw that the message that had been popping up was from a group with a name that looked like a house number.
[303]
The last message was a link to a game event posted by someone in the group.
This game is very popular. Song Juelan had been dragged to play it by his friends before, but after entering his senior year of high school, he didn't have much free time to play games and hadn't touched it for a long time.
He put his phone back in its place, still pondering the message he had just seen.
Does Wen Zhi also like playing video games?
He could tell that Wen Zhi was about the same age as them, and it was normal for her to like games that young people enjoy, even though she had become a father at a young age.
Although Song Juelan has never taken the initiative to approach others, it has always been others who try to get close to him.
But he also knew that playing games together was one of the best ways to get closer to someone.
Song Juelan silently kept this in mind.
As the sunset climbed to the horizon, Wen Zhi slowly woke up.
He stretched in bed, rubbed his cheek against the pillow, and smelled a refreshing scent lingering around his nose.
It seems like it's been a long time since I've had such a comfortable afternoon nap.
Everything was shrouded in gray, and the afterglow of the setting sun outside the window only illuminated a small area of the room. In the darkness where the light did not reach, a tall, silent black shadow stood.
Wen Zhi was stunned for a moment, and her sleepiness was instantly scared away.
Where is this?
Suddenly, the dark figure moved in the darkness, taking long strides to the wall.
With a "click," the overhead light came on, and he squinted instinctively, finally able to see everything clearly.
This was a simple lounge, and the owner of the lounge was standing by the bed, looking down at him.
Wen Zhi then remembered that she had come to Song Juelan's lounge today intending to take a nap, but she ended up sleeping until sunset.
He quickly sat up in bed, hurriedly put on his shoes, and asked somewhat awkwardly, "Why didn't you wake me up?"
Song Juelan watched his movements from the side and said in a low voice, "You look very tired."
Otherwise, he wouldn't be sleeping so soundly, unable to hear any noise.
Wen Zhi was embarrassed to say that she always slept a lot during her afternoon naps. When she was in school, as long as she didn't have classes in the afternoon, she could sleep in her dormitory until night.
He changed the subject: "Where's Xiaotang?"
“My friend took him to play in the shallow water.”
"Thank you for your help. I'll take him back now."
Wen Zhi straightened her clothes and walked quickly towards the door. Just as she was about to push the door open, a hand with distinct knuckles suddenly appeared in front of her.
The hand reached out and gently pressed down on his head, tucking a tuft of black hair that was sticking up.
“…Thank you.” Wen Zhi paused for a moment, awkwardly smoothed her hair, and quickly walked out.
Xiao Tang was indeed having a great time playing in the shallow water.
There were slides and toys for children to play on, almost like a small water park, and a group of kids were squatting on the slides chattering away.
Hearing someone call her name, Xiao Tang, who was playing in the water, immediately looked up and gazed at the edge of the pool.
Upon seeing Wen Zhi finally appear, he didn't hesitate to say goodbye to his new friend, ran to the slide with his short legs, sat down on his little bottom, and slid down to Wen Zhi with a "whoosh".
"Zhizhi, you're so slow!" Xiaotang pouted and complained. "That uncle said you slept on Jue Lan's bed for a very, very long time."
Wen Zhi: "..."
Song Juelan, who was following behind, also looked away uncomfortably.
Wen Zhi wrapped Xiao Tang in a bath towel while explaining to him that she had overslept, and then prepared to leave with him.
"Thank you for today." Before leaving, Wen Zhi looked at Song Juelan again, her tone somewhat apologetic.
Having occupied Song Juelan's bed for so long, I wonder if I've wasted his time.
"It's nothing." Song Juelan looked at that beautiful face, but then remembered what he had done to Wen Zhi in the lounge, and one hand unconsciously went behind his back.
*
After dinner, Wen Zhi finally saw a series of messages in the dormitory group chat.
The game they often play has an event that requires other people to click on a link to help them in order to earn event points.
His roommates had all shared the event link in the group chat, and they were all helping each other out; he was the only one who hadn't clicked on it yet.
While turning on her computer, Wen Zhi clicked on the links and helped each of her roommates.
As soon as he opened the game, his roommate pulled him into the team. He glanced around and noticed that besides his two roommates, there was an unfamiliar avatar in the team.
A noisy voice came through the team voice chat: "...If you're not satisfied, I'll give you another chance—oh, Wen Zhi's here?"
Recognizing whose voice it was, Wen Zhi frowned slightly and gave a soft "hmm".
At the same time, slender fingers rapidly tapped on the phone screen, sending a message in the dormitory group chat.
Wen Zhi: [What happened?]
Ding Mingjun and He Jin immediately sent him a series of voice messages, explaining why Sun Rongtao was there.
They were playing games happily this afternoon when Sun Rongtao suddenly jumped out and challenged them to a one-on-one match. He said if they lost, they would have to include him in their team that night.
At first, they didn't want to pay attention, but that bastard Sun Rongtao kept sending messages and provoking them, successfully enraging the two of them.
The result was, naturally, a crushing defeat for both of them.
And so now, Sun Rongtao has appeared in their team.
After hearing the whole story, Wen Zhi looked up at the flashy avatar in the group, her delicate eyebrows furrowing even more.
He wasn't actually familiar with Sun Rongtao. The reason he disliked Sun Rongtao was because Sun Rongtao confessed his feelings to him last year, which he rejected.
He had rejected many people, and Sun Rongtao was not particularly special. However, Sun Rongtao lived in the dormitory next to theirs, and after being rejected, he often tried to harass him.
His roommates were unaware of these matters, and he did not intend to mention them to avoid escalating the conflict.
The team was one person short before they could start the game, and while they waited, Sun Rongtao's annoying nagging kept coming through their headphones.
Wen Zhi took off her earphones and hung them around her neck, opened a lollipop and put it in her mouth, picked up her phone, and idly scrolled through WeChat.
Looking at her phone, she realized that Song Juelan had sent her two messages a few minutes earlier.
The first message was a familiar game event link; he had clicked it a few times for his roommate just now and recognized it immediately.
The second message contained only three simple words.
Song Juelan: [Sent to the wrong person]
Wen Zhi casually clicked on the link and helped Song Juelan.
Perhaps he was too bored while waiting, his gaze lingered on the chat interface for a moment, and he slowly typed out a line of text.
Wen Zhi: [Do you play this game too?]
He thought that someone with Song Juelan's personality would definitely not be interested in games.
The other party replied very quickly.
Song Juelan: [Hmm]
On the computer, their team hadn't even assembled five people yet, and Sun Rongtao's microphone icon was still lit up; even with his headphones off, his incessant chatter could still be heard.
Wen Zhi's gaze lingered on that empty space for a moment, then she lowered her head, staring at the brief reply, and then, as if possessed, sent another message.
Wen Zhi: [Want a game?]
Although both of his roommates were in the team, he wasn't too worried about being exposed, because when there were outsiders in the team, they wouldn't chat about their personal lives.
The next second, Song Juelan sent over a string of friend codes.
The speed of the reply surprised Wen Zhi.
He entered the friend code into the game, clicked to request a friend, and was quickly accepted.
After adding her as a friend, Wen Zhi found the simple profile picture in her friend list and clicked the invite button.
Through the earpiece, Sun Rongtao was still smugly giving instructions: "Wen Zhi, just follow me closely, and I guarantee I'll lead you to victory—"
Before the words had even finished, a line of text suddenly popped up in the team's message box.
Player S has joined the team.
A note from the author:
----------------------
Thanks to Liu Liu for the two landmines.
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution!
Worldpeace 10 bottles; Don't Cry, Wen Weiyan, When Will the Author Update?, Xiao Yu 1 bottle
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