Chapter 113 Happy New Year! Being remembered by someone you like makes you want to let things go...
"Oh, who would call our Shuangshuang in the middle of the night?" Tian Xingyu snatched Zhu Liushuang's phone with lightning speed, her tone full of mockery, "Oh, it's someone's husband!"
The word "husband," along with her friend's soft laughter, reached her ears, and Zhu Liushuang felt her cheeks burn and her ears throb. Embarrassed and ashamed, she rushed to her friend, trying to snatch the phone back.
But Tian Xingyu was in a playful mood and held the phone up in the air, refusing to let her take it back.
Helpless, Zhu Liushuang propped her head up and gave her friend a wink: "Ayu, stop fooling around—"
Mischievous laughter filled the room. After laughing enough, Tian Xingyu adopted a wise tone and advised her, "Sometimes you have to let men cool off a bit, make them anxious..."
The phone rang persistently in his friend's palm, and Zhu Liu turned to the side, listening attentively.
Her reaction greatly encouraged Tian Xingyu, who pointed to the flashing phone screen and continued, "Don't answer the phone so quickly. Let's see if he'll call again, or a third time if no one answers the first time..."
"Maybe it's something urgent!" Zhu Liushuang muttered.
"How urgent could it be if they're calling so late?" Tian Xingyu said, pursing her lips. "It's almost midnight."
Even so, Zhu Liushuang couldn't help but retort: "If I don't answer, he'll definitely think I'm asleep... why would he call a second time?"
As she spoke, her eyes were glued to her phone; her nervousness did not escape Tian Xingyu's notice.
"Here you go... If you don't get a call from Senior He tonight, you definitely won't be able to sleep, and I'll be in big trouble..."
Zhu Liushuang was overjoyed to have her phone returned. Just as her fingers were about to press the answer button, the light in her hand suddenly went out. She felt a pang of sadness, but not wanting her friend to think she was siding with someone else, she lowered her eyes to secretly hide her sudden wave of gloom.
"Buzz—" The phone vibrated.
He Ming's WeChat messages came one after another.
Her dull eyes suddenly lit up with joy, and Zhu Liushuang hurriedly clicked on it.
[He Ming: Are you asleep? I was busy at the construction site all day and didn't get back to the dorm until after 10 pm. I just tidied up and washed up and it was already this late.]
After scanning the messages, she realized that he was explaining to her why he had contacted her so late.
"You're smiling so sweetly... What sweet words did Senior He send you?" Tian Xingyu gently poked her forearm and teased.
Zhu Liushuang blushed and openly showed her friend her phone screen.
Tian Xingyu clicked her tongue twice, seemingly satisfied with He Ming's performance: "Not bad, he proactively reported his itinerary; he's a conscientious man. Reply to him quickly..."
The person being urged puffed out their cheeks and said hesitantly, "Okay, I'll be right back."
She tapped the keyboard on her phone and quickly typed out a line: "Just chatted with Ayu for a while, still not asleep. /Poor thing."
Five seconds after the message was successfully sent, the words "The other party is typing" appeared at the top of the chat box.
Zhu Liushuang stared intently at the phone screen without blinking.
The person on the other end of the phone spent a long time organizing their thoughts, but only sent six words in the end.
Is it convenient for you to take a call?
"What did Senior He say again? Let me see..." Tian Xingyu was even more anxious than her, her eyes constantly glancing at the half-closed phone screen.
"He asked me if it was convenient for me to answer the phone right now." Zhu Liushuang's voice trembled at the end, and she knew that her face must be even redder.
"Convenient, of course it's convenient!" her friend answered excitedly for her.
"But...you..."
"What do you mean, 'I'? I'm so sleepy..." Tian Xingyu deliberately yawned, and said considerately, "You two can chat slowly, I'm asleep and can't hear you." As she spoke, she buried her head in the quilt, her mischievous eyes shining as she looked at the person whose face was blushing.
This doesn't look like someone who's about to sleep.
He clearly just wanted to see a good show...
Zhu Liushuang muttered to herself, but her typing was anything but honest.
It's convenient for me.
The phone call came faster than the message.
The familiar buzzing sound tickled her nerves. Zhu Liushuang threw off the covers and jumped out of bed.
She wasn't wearing slippers and tiptoed to the window.
Behind her, her friend teased her playfully: "Little Shuangshuang, why did you run so far? What secrets do you have that I, as the eldest daughter, can't hear?"
With her back to her friend's burning gaze, Zhu Liushuang was practically stamping her feet: "Ayu—please let me go!"
Her eyes darted nervously to the window, she took a deep breath, and swiped to answer the call.
"Hello? Liu Shuang."
The night was deep, and the voice on the other end of the phone was like flowing moonlight, clear and melodious.
"Hmm." She curled her fingertips, pressing the phone closer to her ear. "Aren't you going to sleep yet?"
With a creak as the door closed, He Ming said leisurely, "I just had a cup of coffee, and I have a document to look at in a bit."
"Do we still have to work overtime this late?" Zhu Liushuang muttered under her breath, a hint of displeasure in her eyes. "Capitalists are such skinflint..."
No sooner had she finished speaking than a faint chuckle slipped into her ear, like a soft feather tickling along her ear canal.
"I volunteered to work overtime," He Ming said. "The sooner I finish the work, the sooner I can get back to work..."
The man's voice abruptly stopped halfway through his sentence.
Zhu Liushuang couldn't help but ask, "What's breakfast ready?"
"It's nothing..." He Ming changed the subject, "I'll be back on the afternoon of the 3rd."
Zhu Liushuang had been disappointed and frustrated for a long time because of his words that "the return date is uncertain". Now that she has received a definite return date from him, she can no longer hide the smile on her face.
"Number Three...should I save you dinner?" The pounding of her heart drowned out her trembling question.
"No need, just take care of yourself."
"Oh—" she replied blankly, "So, you called me so late just to tell me this?"
“Not entirely.” A rustling sound came from the radio, and He Ming paused before answering her, “There are others as well.”
The deep night outside the window made the high-hanging moon appear even brighter. Zhu Liushuang raised his head slightly and gazed at the crescent moon, as if it were him.
"What else?" A hint of anticipation escaped from his lips.
The man being questioned remained silent, his knuckles tapping rhythmically on the desk.
"Tap, tap, tap..."
Zhu Liushuang listened attentively, but did not understand why he did this.
Receiving no response, she bent her index finger and tapped the windowsill in rhythm with his.
"Tap, tap, tap..."
As she knocked on the window for what seemed like the umpteenth time, He Ming's voice suddenly came through the receiver.
"Liushuang, Happy New Year!"
Her eyes widened suddenly as she stared blankly at the shocked face reflected in the glass window, muttering, "Happy New Year...?"
"Yes, the old year has passed."
Just then, the world outside the window was ignited by colorful fireworks, and He Ming's voice, along with the blooming fireworks, fell into her heart.
It turns out that the rhythmic tapping was him counting down to the New Year!
It turns out that being remembered by someone you like can make all the past bitterness and gloom disappear.
Her vision blurred, and the rising fireworks outside the window shimmered like a dazzling, watery blur in her eyes. Zhu Liushuang's mouth was open, but the sound was stuck in her throat.
"Alright, go to sleep."
They stood on opposite ends of the radio waves, listening to each other's breathing. After a long while, He Ming spoke slowly.
"Um—goodnight, senior." She wiped her cheek awkwardly, her palms damp. "Happy New Year."
"good evening."
————
On the last day of the New Year's Day holiday, Zhu Liushuang went shopping with Tian Xingyu as arranged. After dinner, the two went up to the fourth-floor cinema to support the box office of a certain up-and-coming actor's film.
Several days ago, Tian Xingyu had already sent her the movie poster and trailer, but Zhu Liushuang hadn't clicked to watch them. As a result, she had no idea what the movie was about until five or six minutes into the film, when she belatedly realized that it was a coming-of-age movie about "anti-bullying."
Upon realizing what had happened, Zhu Liushuang immediately gritted her teeth.
She wanted to leave.
Leave immediately.
If Tian Xingyu hadn't been sitting next to her, completely absorbed in watching, she would have definitely turned around and left. Right now, however, she could only grip the armrest of her chair tightly, trying to calm herself down.
"Wow, that kid's acting is so realistic! The tears that come so easily, the trembling with terror... Waaah... It's textbook acting!" The sound effects in the giant screen theater were excellent. Tian Xingyu held a piece of popcorn, hesitating to put it in her mouth. "That's too much! These scumbags..."
Zhu Liushuang didn't reply, her eyes coolly fixed on the big screen.
A horrific scene was unfolding there: the protagonist, having offended the school bullies over a trivial matter, was shoved and locked in the bathroom. Foul-smelling sewage was poured over her head, and she screamed in agony, clutching her head. Hysterical cries, deliberately suppressed jeers, and scathing insults mingled together in a cacophony…
Her heart clenched suddenly, and Zhu Liushuang raised her right hand to cover her eyes.
The screams that filled her ears gradually subsided, but the cold, piercing gaze that lingered in her mind remained. Like ghosts, they were ever-present, drifting and roaming through her memories…
"Shuangshuang, what's wrong?" The room was dimly lit. Tian Xingyu suddenly turned her head. "Is your seat too close to the screen? Is it making your eyes uncomfortable?"
Hearing her friend's concern, Zhu Liushuang suddenly woke up, and cold fingers slid down her cheeks.
"Not too close, this distance is just right." She said expressionlessly, staring at the giant screen where the figures were swaying.
She must have concealed it so well that Tian Xingyu didn't notice anything amiss. She popped a piece of popcorn into her mouth, chewing as she whispered, "Remember the WeChat article I sent you last time? Apparently, this story is based on a true story..."
Zhu Liushuang turned halfway around, pretending to listen attentively even though she couldn't hear anything clearly.
Not wanting to spoil her friend's fun, she forced herself to stay until the movie ended, even though she felt extremely uncomfortable.
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