【29】She wants to be a competent wingman
The Friday after the midterms finally gave Liang Zhiyao a break. For the past two years, right after exams, she'd usually drive with Ye Xin or a few classmates from the Computer Science Department to Chinatown, half an hour away, to find a relatively authentic Chinese restaurant for a hearty meal. Sometimes they'd go karaoke or participate in other activities, all to relieve stress. But this time was different. For one thing, she'd barely eaten out or had any entertainment activities this semester. More importantly, Ye Xin had told her a few days earlier that she'd signed up for a singing competition called "X City Good Voice," hosted by their city's Chinese Association. She'd successfully passed the preliminary auditions and would be competing in the rematch on Friday night. She had a few friends and family tickets in hand and half-jokingly offered Liang Zhiyao two, "You can give the other one to Tan Xu." Liang Zhiyao raised an eyebrow and retorted, "If you're so generous, why not give him another one and ask him to bring Cheng Yan along?" "How do you know I didn't invite him?" Ye Xin smiled slyly. "I'll buy his ticket myself." Now it was her turn to be stunned. "You're just going to act now?" "Actually, I still haven't figured out how much of my interest in Cheng Yan is genuine attraction and how much is something else," Ye Xin said. "But he doesn't seem like someone who takes relationships seriously anyway. It seems a bit silly for me to put myself on such a high pedestal. Instead of dwelling on it, I might as well find a chance to keep in touch. He's single now, anyway." She marveled, "...a fickle woman." Liang Zhiyao fully realized that her friend's execution in relationships was probably just as strong as hers had been when she was preparing for the interview. His earlier hesitation was likely due to the fact that Cheng Yan and Liu Siyan had already shown a clear affection for each other that day. As she handed the tickets to Tan Xu, she couldn't help but ask, "Do you know who initiated the breakup? They were so inseparable during the road trip, how could it end so quickly?" He shook his head. "I don't know the specific reason, but Liu Siyan said their personalities weren't particularly compatible. After the initial romance, they tacitly began to dislike each other. The breakup seemed tacit, without any particularly dramatic scenes." "...Is that so?" Liang Zhiyao thought the reason was somewhat arbitrary, but not entirely surprising. For her, intimacy was something that required careful consideration, both due to personality and current circumstances. But for many, it might simply be a way of spiceing up life. Given that, there was really no need to dwell on it. "Any follow-up to the internship?" he asked. "Not yet," he asked.
On Friday after the midterm exam, Liang Zhiyao could finally take a breath. In the past two years, right after the exam, he would usually choose to drive to Chinatown half an hour away with Ye Xin or a few classmates from the Computer Science Department, find a relatively authentic Chinese restaurant for a big meal, and sometimes go karaoke or participate in other activities, all to relieve stress.
But this time was different. On the one hand, she had almost no eating out and entertainment activities this semester. More importantly, Ye Xin had told her a few days ago that she had signed up for a singing competition called "X City Good Voice", which was organized by the Chinese Association in their city. She had successfully passed the preliminary auditions and would have a rematch on Friday night.
She had a few friends and family tickets in her hand, and half-jokingly gave Liang Zhiyao two: "You can give the other one to Tan Xu."
Liang Zhiyao raised his eyebrows and retorted: "If you are so generous, why not give him another one and let him bring Cheng Yan along."
"How do you know I didn't invite him?" Ye Xin smiled slyly, "I'll buy his ticket myself."
Now it was her turn to stare blankly: "Are you taking action now?"
"Actually, I'm still not sure how much of my interest in Cheng Yan is genuine attraction and how much is something else," Ye Xin said. "But he doesn't seem like someone who takes relationships very seriously. It seems a bit silly for me to put myself on such a high pedestal and have such high moral standards. Instead of dwelling on it, I might as well find a way to keep in touch. After all, he's single now."
She marveled: "...a fickle woman."
Liang Zhiyao was fully aware that her friend's execution in relationships was probably just as strong as her own when preparing for a job interview. His previous hesitation was likely due to the fact that Cheng Yan and Liu Siyan had already shown a clear affection for each other on the day they met.
When she handed the tickets to Tan Xu, she couldn't help but ask, "Do you know who broke up with them? They were so inseparable during the Road Trip, how come it ended so quickly?"
He shook his head. "I don't know the specific reason, but Liu Siyan said that their personalities weren't very compatible. After the initial honeymoon period, they tacitly began to dislike each other. The breakup seemed tacitly agreed to, and there wasn't a particularly tragic scene."
“…I see.”
Liang Zhiyao found the reason somewhat casual, but not entirely surprising. For her, intimacy was something she carefully considered, due to both personality and current circumstances. But for many, it was simply a way to spice things up. Given that, there was no need to take it too seriously.
"Is there any follow-up to the internship?" he asked again.
"Not yet," she said, a little disappointed. "HR mentioned that they'll have to wait until they've interviewed all the candidates on Friday before making an offer next week. Of course, that could just be an excuse. Anyway, we'll know the result next week."
She was actually quite excited right after the interview, feeling that she had performed exceptionally well after two sessions of special training, and inexplicably had a sense of certainty. But after calming down, she couldn't help but nitpick at many minor details, doubting whether her performance was truly so perfect.
"In my experience, first impressions are better for things like this," Tan Xu said with a smile. "If you feel the feedback is good at the time, then it's good. If you delve into it later, you'll tend to get anxious and lose, making it difficult to judge."
She hoped he was right, but it was hard to say. Especially for international students, companies had to consider more complex factors. Sometimes not getting an offer wasn't necessarily because you weren't good enough, but simply because you were a bit unlucky.
On Friday night, Liang Zhiyao brought his camera to support Ye Xin. They arrived early and chose a seat near the front, saving a seat for Cheng Yan.
She didn't know exactly how far her roommate's flirting efforts had progressed. She only knew that before the competition began, Ye Xin herself took out a SLR and asked her seriously, "Zhiyao, if it's convenient for you later, could you take a few photos for me as a souvenir?"
Liang Zhiyao felt a little strange, because under normal circumstances Ye Xin would not speak to her in such a distant tone.
She reacted fairly quickly, blurting out a doubtful "sure," but then quickly changed her tune and added hesitantly, "...but I've been having some allergies these past couple of days, and my eyes haven't been feeling well. They're tearing up all the time."
She almost forgot that she had to be a competent wingman.
"Ah... forget it then," Ye Xin turned to Cheng Yan with a look of regret, "Then can you take a photo for me?"
The request was quickly granted, and the two began a quiet conversation. After all, taking photos with an unfamiliar DSLR camera can be a bit of a hassle, requiring constant discussion of operating instructions and various parameters. For truly complex areas, a hands-on tutorial wouldn't be a problem. As time went on, their heads gradually drew closer.
She silently ate the melon, thinking to herself that everyone's talents and skills were indeed different. A month ago, Ye Xin had no idea how to initiate the attack, but now she was a master at it. According to those relationship bloggers, she was using the legendary dual tactics of "asking for help" and "physical contact." It was quite something.
Her phone vibrated twice. It was a message from Tan Xu. He was using his old trick again, sending her a WeChat message even though he was sitting next to her.
"Are you really allergic?"
"……Fake."
He couldn't help but chuckle when he saw the news, which made Liang Zhiyao raise his head guiltily and stare at the stage setting as if nothing had happened.
Soon he asked again: "Is it possible that you can't get the camera out of your bag?"
Liang Zhiyao replied with a "yes" and added: "This is my roommate's first time pursuing a boy. Please keep it a secret so that she can enjoy the whole process of pursuing a boy :)"
The word "hunting" made him want to laugh: "Okay, keep it a secret."
Over 30 people advanced to the semifinals, more than half of whom were students from their school, with some also being local office workers. Ye Xin, whose strengths lie in her bright voice and high notes, sang G.E.M.'s "Bubble." While the song wasn't easy to sing, Liang Zhiyao felt she delivered it flawlessly.
Her number was relatively early, and after she finished singing, she took a short break and then ran to their side to watch the performances of other contestants together. Of course, watching the performances was secondary. The main purpose was to exchange the photos that had just been taken with Cheng Yan and chat with them casually.
By nine o'clock in the evening, all the performances were over. The judges' votes were tallied on the spot, and Ye Xin successfully advanced to the finals.
"Would you like to have a midnight snack? It's my treat. Thank you all for coming." Ye Xin winked at Liang Zhiyao.
The drunkard's intention was not to drink, this time she learned her lesson and immediately understood the situation, saying seriously that she was indeed a little hungry. Tan Xu, perhaps dragged into the trap by her, also quickly responded by saying that there seemed to be a new bar & grill nearby with good snacks.
Besides the four of them, there were four other female friends of Ye Xin's from the same major. So the eight of them split up into two cars and went there. After all, Friday night was the perfect time to indulge in food and socialize.
Not all of them knew each other, so now that they were sitting together, they had to exchange their departments and introduce themselves. Liang Zhiyao finished saying his own name and noticed a girl named Jessica had a slightly awkward expression. He asked bluntly, "Hey, you're not the girl who posted on 'North American International Students' Rant,' are you?"
Liang Zhiyao felt awkward, unsure what to say. Explaining to a stranger seemed a bit unnecessary. The girl next to Jessica was more persuasive and tugged at her friend's arm, telling her to stop asking.
Ye Xin quickly said, "The rumor was later debunked. You should eat the whole thing. The post was deleted for spreading rumors, but I took screenshots and will post them in the group later for you to see."
It's always like this; people tend to notice more rumors than those that are debunked. There's no need to be harsh on strangers. Seeing Ye Xin offering a way out and offering a helping hand, Liang Zhiyao said jokingly, "Well, it's fake. I was a bit of a villain back then, but luckily, they were there to help me."
She pointed at Ye Xin and Tan Xu to express her gratitude, and the topic was over.
Only ten people would make it to the finals, and the local TV station would report on the event. Ye Xin was genuinely happy and determined to stretch this round as long as possible to practice pushing and pulling as the attacker for the first time. So, she ordered snacks like fries and chicken wings and, after a while, encouraged everyone to order some drinks.
Unfortunately, this bar seemed unusually strict. When the waiter heard they were ordering alcoholic drinks, he asked everyone to confirm their ID to see if they were over 21. Three of them, including Liang Zhiyao, had birthdays yet to come, so three of their eight drinks were rejected, leaving them with only five.
When checking Tan Xu's ID, the waiter raised his eyebrows in surprise, and in that exaggeratedly enthusiastic American tone, wished him a happy birthday in two days.
"Is your birthday coming up?" she asked.
"Yeah, the day after tomorrow." He put his driver's license back into his wallet.
Liang Zhiyao rarely gets a chance to drink, mainly due to a lack of money. She'd thought she could get a few drinks today thanks to Ye Xin, but she'd been unsuccessful. Realizing that Tan Xu's request for a drink hadn't been rejected, she felt it was unfair and said sourly, "Server, are you being lenient with me? You're not even due for two days. I thought Americans were so rigid, but I didn't expect them to be so flexible."
He laughed, "I'll be 22 in two days, not 21. When I first came to the United States, I repeated my freshman year of high school."
So that's how it was. She had wrongly blamed the rigid Americans.
Jessica became interested when she heard their conversation and said that she had also been in the United States since high school.
When she asked about the submission when she was talking to Liang Zhiyao just now, it was obvious that she was a talkative person. Now she was even more outgoing and started chatting with Tan Xu in a few words. Then they found out that not only did they live in the same city, but they even went to high school in neighboring communities, only a dozen miles apart.
"My parents also considered your school at the time, but unfortunately they couldn't find a suitable host family nearby," she said with regret, "otherwise, they might have met you a few years earlier."
He remained noncommittal: "Maybe."
The two senior international students who had started their studies in American high schools struck up a conversation, discovering many common experiences and topics. Liang Zhiyao was a little bored. She had just had a couple of sandwiches for dinner and was feeling quite hungry, so she decided to focus on her midnight snack.
There were eight chicken wings, just enough for one per person. Following unspoken etiquette, she was forced to stop after eating one, only to realize that no one else at the table seemed to be eating chicken wings. In the corner, Ye Xin and Cheng Yan were chatting animatedly, while the other girls listened intently to Tan Xu's recounting of American high school anecdotes, all seeming to be quite interested.
She suddenly realized that in such a social occasion with the opposite sex, no one would want to eat chicken wings, which is a troublesome and not very decent food. Compared with satisfying the appetite, it is probably more important to chat elegantly with a handsome guy.
Liang Zhiyao felt a little itchy. Tan Xu hadn't been wrong when he recommended the restaurant; the chicken wings there were truly delicious. She couldn't continue out of politeness, but she felt bad that the delicious food was being ignored, so she could only let it cool down, feeling it was a waste of food.
This kind of mentality of not wanting to see delicious food go to waste has been particularly evident in the past few months. After all, she has often had to consider the price recently and can't eat what she wants as she pleases. People only cherish things more after they lose them.
After a few more bites of fries, with nothing else to do, she joined the audience for "Mei Gao Memoirs." Tan Xu was very busy, answering one question before another. Liang Zhiyao watched him speak so freely and couldn't help but think maliciously that being surrounded by so many people of the opposite sex asking about his experiences, like being the center of attention, must be very satisfying.
"So, are the plots in American TV series where handsome men and beautiful women form pairs and fall in love with each other real?" Someone else raised a new question.
"That's definitely an exaggeration," he said. "Actually, everyone's pretty busy. And Americans develop too early. Middle school is the peak of their looks, and by high school, many people have already grown ugly. There aren't that many handsome men and beautiful women to be found."
This made everyone laugh. Liang Zhiyao was also amused, but he stubbornly kept a straight face. He thought rather harshly, "Now I finally see how strong the finance guy's social skills are in daily life. If it were a shy engineering student, he would probably be extremely embarrassed just to chat with four women and one man, let alone make a joke."
At this time, their drinks were finally served. Tan Xu's glass looked bright red, not like a Long Island Iced Tea. He took the glass and placed it in front of Liang Zhiyao without hesitation. "You can drink mine. It's Sangria, not too strong."
This move was quite subtle, and his natural tone made it seem even more ambiguous. Several eyes at the table turned to her, and she felt a little embarrassed, subconsciously pushing him away: "No, just drink it."
He raised his eyebrows: "I still have to drive later, did you forget?"
She wanted to say, "I can drive back," but quickly realized that would be even stranger. It would easily conjure up the image of a couple at a party, deciding who would drink and who would drive back. So Liang Zhiyao said nothing more and took the wine.
The fruity flavor is very strong, probably because the alcohol content is not high.
The atmosphere suddenly changed. No one at the table wanted to chat with Tan Xu anymore. Everyone tacitly started to look down at their phones, occasionally chatting about school matters.
Liang Zhiyao's phone's battery was down to single digits, so she resisted taking it out to play. Apple phones are like that; the battery gets worse over time. According to past experience, she should have upgraded when the new model came out in September, but she definitely didn't have the extra money now, so she had to make do with this one.
Because she had nothing to do, she sipped her glass of Sangria and noticed something was wrong with Tan Xu. He also took out his phone to read a message, but he didn't know what he saw, but he seemed unhappy. His expressionless face was also tinged with an inexplicable irritation.
Liang Zhiyao has always been sensitive to other people's emotional changes. He intuitively felt that he was not very happy, or to be more serious, he was shrouded in low pressure.
The next second, Tan Xu's phone began to vibrate. It sounded like a voice call from WeChat. He symbolically said "sorry" to everyone present and left to answer the phone.
Not long after, the four girls also stood up and said that they would go home first and come back to support them in the finals, asking Ye Xin to continue to cheer.
In just a few minutes, the room was empty, and Liang Zhiyao suddenly became the only light bulb on the table. She was still thinking about her wingman mission, and it was a good opportunity to leave now, giving Ye Xin and Cheng Yan a chance to be alone. So she lied that she needed to go to the bathroom and followed suit.
She planned to spend at least ten minutes before going back. Going to the restroom was fine, but she hadn't expected a line, so she decided to go to the door to get some fresh air. The sangria had a strong fruity flavor, but it had a strong aftertaste. She couldn't hold her liquor well, so she was a little tipsy.
As a result, I happened to overhear a conversation between a man and a woman on the sidewalk.
Tan Xu was standing not far from the doorway, presumably having finished his call. Jessica, however, didn't seem to have left with the other three girls, staying behind alone. She stood in front of him and asked, "We're planning a Werewolf game tomorrow night, and we're short on people. Are you interested?"
She asked with aplomb, but they both understood each other. After all, all board games have a social nature.
Judging from Tan Xu's conversation and jokes during the meal, he definitely wasn't a person with low emotional intelligence. I didn't expect him to refuse so bluntly: "Sorry, I'm not interested."
Most people would just say "I can't go because of something" and leave it at that, instead of answering so directly.
Jessica felt like this attempt had basically failed, but thinking about having to report the results to the other people after returning, she didn't want to give up so easily. She took out her phone and asked him, "How about adding WeChat?"
He paused for a few seconds and then said, "I just finished a call and my phone is out of battery."
This was a complete lack of respect. No matter how handsome he was, he would still be boring. Everyone has a little pride and self-respect. She immediately left without even saying goodbye, feeling too lazy to talk any more.
Without the middleman, Liang Zhiyao was caught off guard and met Tan Xu's gaze. He was a little surprised, but his expression was no longer expressionless and stiff. He stood there with a half-smile on his face, and the two of them stared at each other from a few meters away.
She hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but she felt a little guilty. She greeted him with a dry laugh and teased, "Hmm... the market is pretty good."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
