Chapter 11 Shang Chen, you're still the best...
After leaving the amusement park, Shang Chen drove Wen Ling directly to a Western restaurant that had been booked in advance. This restaurant had a good reputation, and the prices were quite reasonable. Most importantly, Wen Ling often ate here with Wen He, and she especially loved their dessert—blueberry sweetheart.
He overheard all of this in the dormitory when Wen He was chatting with others about everyday things.
Inside the car, Wen Ling's phone kept ringing with messages. She kept her head down, and her fingers were typing on the keyboard at an especially fast pace. Shang Chen felt like he could see the afterimages of her fingers.
Looking to the side, I saw that her brows were furrowed and her expression was serious.
They seem to be talking about something very important.
Shang Chen thought about it and decided not to disturb her.
…
Wen Ling was indeed talking about something very important.
After leaving the amusement park, she found that someone claiming to be a staff member of a stuttering correction training institution had added her. Wen Ling had only browsed the relevant page last night and asked in the comments section how long the treatment would take, but the other party did not reply.
She didn't pursue the matter further, but unexpectedly, she was added on WeChat today.
Wen Ling did not leave any contact information.
This feeling of privacy being exposed made her uncomfortable, but since she already had this need, she still clicked "accept".
Customer Service Qianqian: [Hello, this is Qianqian, a customer service representative from Tiantong Stuttering Correction Center. May I ask your name?]
Wen Ling: [Wen Ling.]
Customer service representative Qianqian: [Okay, Ms. Wen, may I ask how old you are this year?]
Wen Ling: [Almost 19 years old.]
Customer Service Qianqian: [Oh, you must still be in university. Have you looked into any related correction institutions before? How severe is your stuttering problem...?]
Wen Ling felt that she was quite professional, asking many questions in great detail, and also said that they would adjust the class time and content according to the severity of each person's stuttering.
When Wen Ling couldn't answer how serious her condition was, Qianqian suggested that she could make a phone call and take a short test with one of their teachers when she had time.
At this point, Wen Ling was basically certain that to enroll in classes at this institution, she would have to take a test to find out how many class hours she needed.
Customer service representative Qianqian: [When is a convenient time to call? I'll confirm so I can discuss the time with our teacher. The teachers at the institution are quite busy, so the sooner you finish the test, the sooner you can be scheduled for a class. /Cute]
A strange sense of urgency arose within her, like the fear of missing out on a good class. Wen Ling's fingertips tingled slightly: [How long will the test take approximately?]
Customer service representative Qianqian: [It depends on each person's situation. Generally, it takes about 10-30 minutes. If Ms. Wen is in a hurry, we can get a clear result within 10 minutes.]
If it's 10 minutes, she can make the call while waiting for the food at the restaurant, finding a quiet spot. After saving the other person's number, Wen Ling finally looked up from her phone and took off her Bluetooth headset.
She was a little excited.
Qianqian just sent her a lot of case studies. Some people had a more severe stutter than her at the beginning, but after the institution's correction program, they could speak a complete sentence fluently by the end of the course, and sounded no different from normal people.
Wen Ling is looking forward to the day when she finishes her studies and becomes a 'normal person'.
She was also a little worried that the teacher might get impatient with her. Thinking of what happened that year, she sighed again, hoping that she would be luckier this time.
"Are you done with work?"
Shang Chen, who was in the driver's seat, suddenly spoke up.
The car's heater was on, and Wen Ling's face was flushed and hot. She snapped out of her reverie and nodded, "Mm."
Looking at the familiar downtown streets before her, she finally remembered to ask, "Where...where are we going to eat?"
Shang Chen curled his lips slightly and glanced at her sideways: "I thought you didn't care what you ate."
Wen Ling felt her face getting even hotter. She understood his accusation; he resented her for ignoring him the whole way and not speaking to him.
She explained in a low voice, "I'm busy with something very important."
After thinking for a moment, Wen Ling added, "Perhaps... it will be a little surprise."
Her eyes were filled with a twinkling smile as she spoke.
It seemed this matter truly made her happy. Shang Chen, caught up in her good mood, couldn't help but ask, "Will this be a surprise for me?"
"Probably...?"
After all, if she could speak normally, communication wouldn't be so difficult in the future.
This made Shang Chen even more eager to know what it was.
…
Wen Ling was a little anxious to resolve this matter. She wanted to start her training as soon as possible. After arriving at the restaurant and ordering her food, Wen Ling told a little lie, making an excuse to go to the restroom.
Shang Chen didn't think much of it.
Knowing that she had been here many times and wouldn't get lost, I let her go alone.
When Wen Ling hadn't returned after 10 minutes, Shang Chen became a little anxious. He went out of the private room and asked a passing waiter if the restrooms were crowded. The answer was no, there were plenty of empty ones.
He sat back down and waited for another seven or eight minutes. The dishes he ordered started to be served, but Wen Ling still hadn't returned. He couldn't sit still any longer, and as soon as he opened the door to the private room, he almost bumped into Wen Ling who had just returned.
She walked briskly, her face flushed with excitement.
Wen Ling was also taken aback when she saw him, and subconsciously moved aside: "Are you... going out too?"
"No." Shang Chen looked at her today and felt that something was off, but her reaction was strangely familiar. "The food started to be served, and when I saw that you hadn't replied, I was about to go out to look for you."
Wen Ling smiled and explained, "I've eaten here many times before, so I won't lose it."
Shang Chen hummed in agreement and silently pulled out a chair for her.
Wen Ling, who had sat down, continued chatting with Qianqian.
After the test, Qianqian wanted to talk to her about the test results and the class schedule.
Shang Chen suddenly realized what her current state resembled.
When she's really into chatting with someone she's flirting with or her boyfriend, nothing else can stop her from replying to messages quickly. As for why she goes out to reply to messages, it's probably because the other person has called or video-called her. They're chatting, and they have to keep it a secret from outsiders.
Having figured it out, Shang Chen's heart was shattered to pieces.
He didn't seem to have heard Wen He mention who she'd been getting close to lately, or if the person opposite her was someone Wen Ling secretly liked, someone even Wen He didn't know.
Considering what she said in the car, "I'm busy with something very important, dating..." it is indeed very important for college students.
This news was not a surprise to him, but a shock. He would not bless them, and even if she wanted to hear it, he would never tell her.
Shang Chen silently opened his phone, glanced at the beaming Wen Ling on the other end, and felt an even greater pain in his heart. He looked away and found Wen He's contact name.
Shang Chen: [Hey bro, wanna go up to the rooftop together?]
Wen He: [Are you sick?]
Shang Chen was too lazy to reply, so he turned off his phone and put it on the table.
He cut the freshly served steak into pieces with a knife and fork, then placed it next to her, reminding her persistently, "Dinner's ready."
Wen Ling didn't even look up: "Sorry...right away."
Shang Chen closed his eyes, pursed his lips, and his face paled. The aftereffects of the amusement park were belatedly attacking him. His legs were weak, his heart was racing, and everything went black before his eyes, with black stars appearing in his vision. He braced himself on the table with his hands and stood up.
I want to ask that idiot man which beast he is.
Even your mealtime is being taken up. Before he could utter a single word, he met Wen Ling's gaze as she looked up, her eyes slightly dazed. Her eyes were a little watery, and on the phone lying flat on the table, Shang Chen could only vaguely glimpse a transfer record.
He frowned: "What's wrong?"
Could that bastard really dare to ask her for money?
Wen Ling's hand was still frozen above the phone. She didn't know what to say. She was still a little dazed and confused: "I...I think I've been tricked."
Shang Chen frowned even more. He was no longer dizzy. His mind was filled with thoughts of which beast dared to bully him like this. He was angry but also a little excited. In short, he was feeling a bit complicated.
"What is it?" Even though he might have guessed the reason, Shang Chen still asked her politely, "Would it be convenient for you to tell me?"
Wen Ling trusts him now and can't explain it clearly, so she just showed him her phone.
Shang Chen sat down again and looked through the entire chat history. His feelings became even more complicated. In the records, she wasn't chatting with other boys, nor did she have any ambiguous relationships. He was very happy.
However, after reading through the entire record, one can see how eager Wen Ling was to correct her stutter, and it was precisely because of this eagerness that she was easily tricked by the other party.
The scam on the other end wasn't very sophisticated. It was already full of flaws when she was patiently persuading Wen Ling to pay the deposit. Wen Ling had her doubts and asked, "Your organization should be legitimate, right?" The other party immediately produced a business license and other stamped documents, which made Wen Ling believe her without a doubt.
Sixty-six thousand, more than one hundred lessons.
The other party asked Wen Ling to pay a deposit of 20,000 yuan first, and then pay the balance after attending the first class in person.
Wen Ling sent 20,000 yuan, which the other party accepted instantly.
Then, her next sentence, "Can I go to the first class tomorrow?", was immediately followed by a red exclamation mark.
Shang Chen took a picture of the other person's WeChat ID and sent it to Liu Qin: 【Check this person's IP address.】
After confirming that Liu Qin had received the phone, Shang Chen returned it to Wen Ling. He walked over, pulled up a chair, sat down next to her, and moved the steak closer to her: "Let's eat first."
Wen Ling seemed to just come to her senses, looking at him pitifully: "I...I trusted her so, so much..."
As she spoke, her vision blurred, perhaps because she felt it was a bit embarrassing and not worth crying over. Wen Ling stubbornly wiped away her tears with her sleeve.
She lowered her head, took the plate, forked a piece of meat, and thanked him, though her voice was a little choked up.
Shang Chen: "..."
Damn, it would be better to let her chat with someone she likes.
He has absolutely no idea how to comfort people.
Wen Ling lowered her head and silently ate the steak mixed with her tears.
She wasn't angry about being scammed, only sad about being cheated. She communicated with the other person so sincerely, and gradually found a little confidence in the process. She felt that she could finally become a normal person in the near future. But in the blink of an eye, she was told that it was all a lie.
There are no so-called correctional institutions.
There are also no successful cases of stuttering correction.
It was all fake. The red exclamation mark seemed to be blatantly mocking her: You? You think you can be cured? Keep dreaming.
Wen Ling is really annoying; someone lied to her!
She was heartbroken and upset. As she thought about it, she also got angry. She decided to call her older brother and complain to that person, demanding that he return the 20,000 yuan. Even if it was lost, she couldn't let that kind of person keep her money.
Someone poked my arm, which was resting on the table.
Wen Ling wiped her tears with her sleeve again before turning around, and then she froze.
Shang Chen put on the rabbit hat that he had casually taken from the car—the one he had won for her—and pressed the mechanism at the bottom, which made the rabbit ears stand up.
He pressed the buttons rhythmically, one on the left and one on the right.
Shang Chen thought about the lines he was about to say and felt a little embarrassed, but he went for it: "Wen Ling, don't be sad, even little rabbits get sad."
"..."
Wen Ling chuckled.
Shang Chen's face turned bright red in an instant. He immediately ripped off his hat and, as if nothing had happened, elegantly cut his steak, trying his best to save face.
"Shang Chen, you're still the best."
A note from the author:
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