Zhu Jinzhao was pestered and interrogated by Jiang Jingwen and Ning Shi for a long time. The two of them stood on either side of Zhu Jinzhao, making her explain all the details of her confession, the date, and her feelings during the kiss, before they were finally satisfied.
"I'm not having any late-night snacks tonight, I'm already full from eating dog food." Jiang Jingwen walked out of Zhu Jinzhao's room with her hands behind her back and a satisfied look on her face.
"Burp..." Ning Shi followed behind her, even letting out a burp.
"Hey..." Zhu Jinzhao lay on the bed with his eyes closed, weakly raising his hand, "Close the door for me, I'm too sleepy to get up."
Ning Shi: "OK!"
"Click—"
She gently closed the door and looked at Jiang Jingwen in front of her, then suddenly let out a long sigh of relief.
After letting out that sigh of relief, she felt a great weight lifted off her shoulders. The inexplicable burden that had been weighing on her shoulders for so long was finally gone.
"Are you alright?" Jiang Jingwen put her arm around her shoulder and asked suddenly.
"I'm fine," Ning Shi said with a smile, "even better than I imagined."
"How so?" Jiang Jingwen put her arm around her and walked forward, her tone casual and light.
Ning Shi frowned and thought seriously for a while: "I can't say exactly how good it is, but I just feel very relaxed in my mind and body."
"It's like something you've been worried about for a long time finally having a good outcome."
"Oh?" Jiang Jingwen raised an eyebrow. "Besides that, do you have any other feelings? Like a little sadness or a little disappointment?"
Ning Shi shook her head, her eyes clear and firm: "Absolutely not."
“…Absolutely not?!” Jiang Jingwen was surprised by her certainty.
Ning Shi: "No. But before this, I was worried that if Chaochao really got together with Shijing, would I feel very sad, disappointed or heartbroken? After all, giving up on someone is not an easy thing. Although I have completely let go of Shijing, my feelings for him are not something that can be dispelled in a day or two."
"I was anxious about this for a long time. Chaochao is my friend, and I didn't want these feelings to hurt our relationship. But to my surprise, when the day finally came, I didn't feel sad at all. On the contrary, I was especially happy for her!"
"Hmm?" Although she was happy that Ning Shi reacted this way, Jiang Jingwen was still a little confused. "How could this be? Logically speaking, if you still had even a little bit of feeling for Shi Jing, you wouldn't be able to be so nonchalant, would you?"
Ning Shi pursed her lips and thought for a moment, then suddenly sighed.
"Eh...maybe what I thought I liked was just what I thought."
“…Huh?” Jiang Jingwen didn’t understand at all.
Ning Shi: "I stayed in South Korea for seven years. During those seven years, I could count the number of times I contacted Shi Jing on two hands."
"Before boarding the plane to South Korea, I thought I would miss him a lot when I got to a foreign country, and that he would become the belief that kept me going. But the truth is, what has kept me going all this time is my persistence in pursuing my dreams and my stubbornness in not giving up. Of course I thought about Shi Jing, but that longing didn't last long."
"The training in South Korea is so bad that even calling it devilish is an understatement. I was either practicing dance in the dance studio or taking assessments every day. I was so busy that I was dizzy, and my mind was filled with nothing but training. I didn't have any spare thoughts to think about him."
"Seven years later, I met him again on a variety show. I thought I still liked him, I thought I had missed him for seven years, but that wasn't the case. My assumption was just a habit. When I finally realized that it was impossible for me and Shi Jing to be together, I suddenly realized that I had actually rarely thought of him in those seven years."
“I stopped liking him a long time ago. I thought those thoughts were just my delusions. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have reacted this way when I saw Chaochao and Shijing together.”
“Oh…” Jiang Jingwen nodded, her gaze towards Ning Shi instantly filled with more appreciation.
"In that case, say goodbye to the past and look forward!"
Ning Shi raised her hand and patted her lower back, her smile one of relief.
Okay! Let's look forward together!
Jiang Jingwen: "Hey, did you know that netizens have also paired you up with someone?"
"What couple?" Ning Shi had no idea.
Jiang Jingwen's eyes widened, gleaming with gossip: "You and Fang Lei! So many netizens are shipping you two, they even gave you a couple name, something like... Poetic Love and Lei's Intent!"
Ning Shi: "...What is this? It's so tacky..."
Jiang Jingwen: "Where is it rustic? I think it has a great feel to it!"
"What a load of rubbish..." Ning Shi rolled her eyes at her. "Besides, how did they even connect me and Lei Zi? We clearly have a pure revolutionary friendship, okay?"
"Heh..." Jiang Jingwen sneered, "Revolutionary friendship? Xiao Ning, you don't know that Fang Lei is your little fanboy, do you?"
"Huh? When did this happen?"
"This happened a long time ago. Someone revealed that Fang Lei said in an interview a long time ago that you were his goddess and that he really liked you."
"Oh My God……"
"Buzzing—"
"Buzzing—"
Zhu Jinzhao was half asleep when her phone, which was next to her pillow, suddenly started vibrating wildly.
She struggled to open her eyes, reached out from under the covers to grab her phone, and saw that the name on the screen was Shi Jing. Without any suspicion, she immediately answered the call.
"Zhao Chao." Shi Jing looked at Zhu Jinchao in the camera lens, her eyes crinkling with laughter. "Are you asleep?"
Zhu Jinzhao rubbed her eyelids and tried to open her eyes wide to look at him: "Jiang Jiang and Ning Shi have been questioning me the whole time. I talked too much and couldn't help but feel sleepy."
"Did you just get into bed?"
Shi Jing lay on his side on the bed, the warm light above him gently enveloping him, giving him a soft glow.
"Yes. I just went to see my mom and talked to her for a while before going upstairs to wash up. After I finished washing up, I saw that you hadn't replied to my message yet, so I video-called you."
"Your mother?" This was the first time Zhu Jinzhao had heard Shi Jing mention his mother, so he couldn't help but ask curiously, "Where is your mother? I haven't seen her these past few days."
Shi Jing's smile remained unchanged, but his tone became slightly somber: "My mother has passed away."
"...Huh?" Zhu Jinzhao instantly woke up, immediately crawled out of the covers and sat up in bed.
"I'm sorry, Shi Jing, I didn't know about this."
Shi Jing tapped her nose through the screen: "It's okay, Chaochao, you don't need to apologize to me."
Zhu Jinchao frowned slightly, her gaze towards Shi Jing filled with deep heartache.
She unintentionally steered the conversation to this point, stirring up Shi Jing's painful memories, but she didn't know how to cheer him up.
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