Chapter 2 [Gu Lin is Back]
"It's almost 11 o'clock, why aren't you back yet?"
The three roommates looked out the window at the suddenly intensifying rain.
"Did Tongtong bring an umbrella?"
"Probably not."
"I'll go to the door to meet you, it's almost curfew," Cui Mingying said, and was about to get up when she suddenly heard the sound of a key turning at the door.
The three roommates turned around and saw Ji Tong returning, carrying familiar bags and packages. Her plum-colored t-shirt was stained with patches of white cat hair, and her hair and shoulders were half-wet, inexplicably reminding them of a well-known meme.
I'm back from begging for food.
Then, in the next second, Ji Tong pulled out three brown paper bags, each bigger than his face, from some unknown corner behind him.
"Give."
"What?"
“The guokui next to No. 1 Middle School, didn’t A Yuan say he wanted to eat some? I bought some when I passed by,” Ji Tong hurriedly put down the basket in his hand and stuffed three guokui into Cui Mingying’s hands. “Eat quickly, they’re getting cold. They shouldn’t have gotten wet.”
Well, it looks more like he's come back from begging.
Zhou Tian and Cui Mingying glanced at Li Yuan, who had said he wanted to eat guokui (a type of flatbread), their faces clearly saying, "Doesn't your conscience hurt?"
Li Yuan: "..."
Cui Mingying helped pack the luggage: "He just said it casually, why buy guokui when it's raining so hard and we should hurry back?"
Ji Tong: "Just a side effect."
"Alright, alright," Li Yuan had already rolled off the bed, grabbed a towel and covered Ji Tong's head, then pushed him towards the bathroom, "Go take a shower, how can I keep up with Lin if you catch a cold at this crucial time..."
Ji Tong, whose face was covered by a towel, didn't hear clearly: "Lin what?"
Li Yuan, unfazed by the "I'll kill you" looks from Cui Mingying and Zhou Tian, replied: "Teacher Lin Hongyin."
Ji Tong: "Who?"
Li Yuan: "The teacher who taught us Tai Chi as an elective course."
Ji Tong: "I didn't sign up for Tai Chi."
Li Yuan: "..."
"I remembered wrong. Oh well, whatever teacher it is, take a shower first. I'll get you your pajamas! Hurry up!"
With a "bang," the bathroom door was finally closed.
Li Yuan let out a long sigh of relief and turned around—
“You can’t even keep your mouth shut,” Cui Mingying slapped the guokui into Li Yuan’s arms. “You better not let Tongtong know that Brother Lin is coming back tonight, or you’ll see if you still have any guokui to eat.”
Li Yuan: "..."
Zhou Tian: "You'd better not let Lin Ge know that Tong Tong went out in the rain to buy you guokui (a type of flatbread), or you'll see if you'll even have the chance to eat it."
Li Yuan: "..."
-
The next day, when Ji Tong was woken up by the alarm clock, her head felt a little heavy.
Footsteps came from under the bed, and the bathroom light was on.
"Did I stay up late again?" Ji Tong asked.
Cui Mingying faintly heard a nasal sound and frowned.
"Have you caught a cold?"
Ji Tong sat up abruptly from the bed.
"It's not a big problem."
After washing up, Ji Tong made herself a packet of cold medicine.
The first rain of September started last night and hasn't stopped yet, knocking down flowers and leaves all over the ground.
Another summer has passed in Ankyo.
"Tongtong, can you scan this code for me?" Ji Tong was caught by the class monitor as soon as she entered the classroom.
In the three months since school started early, Ji Tong has become very familiar with everyone in her class.
"Okay, where to scan?" Ji Tong took out her phone.
"Use this code to verify and cast a vote."
While unlocking the phone, the class monitor inadvertently glanced at Ji Tong's phone's main screen and saw a very familiar green app.
"Tongtong, you play Travel Frog too?"
Ji Tong paused subtly while scanning the QR code, then smiled a few seconds later and casually said, "I played with it for a while, then downloaded it but didn't delete it."
“You rarely see anyone playing it now,” the squad leader said. “Back when raising frogs was all the rage, I was really into it. I even prepared lunchboxes and amulets for it every day, haha.”
"So what's your son's name?"
Ji Tong: "".
"...It's been too long since I opened it, I forgot." Ji Tong's tone was slightly harsh.
“That’s true,” the class monitor said, not surprised by Ji Tong’s answer. “I haven’t played it in a long time either. If I hadn’t seen the news about the game’s termination on the trending topics a while ago, I would have forgotten about it.”
Ji Tong felt as if he'd been blasted by a gust of wind; he suddenly looked up and asked, "Cease operations?"
Class monitor: "Yeah."
Ji Tong: "When?"
"It seems like it was just recently? June or some other month?" the squad leader continued, "What happened?"
"It's alright," Ji Tong lowered her head again, "I've already cast my vote."
The squad leader clasped his hands together and said, "Open your eyes."
Ji Tong absentmindedly returned to his seat.
…Termination of operations?
He sat quietly for a moment, and after half a year, he finally opened the green app.
It had been so long since I logged in that it took more than a minute to load the new data.
Seeing the notification of the new version update, Ji Tong breathed a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, it can still be opened.
Ji Tong pressed confirm.
The long progress bar crawled forward bit by bit.
50%.
99%.
The moment loading was complete, the words "Restarting Soon" appeared on the screen.
The next second, text messages that had been piling up for months fell like snowflakes—
Gu Lin has gone on a trip.
Gu Lin is back.
Items received
It seems like something's going on.
Gu Lin has gone on a trip.
There seems to be something sparkling in my email.
Gu Lin sent the photos.
...
Ji Tong scanned through the messages one by one, finally stopping at the latest one.
Gu Lin is back.
Ji Tong stared at those words, her gaze unfocused.
His knuckles were bruised from being so stiff.
The phone screen was on the frog son's courtyard. Ji Tong looked at the simple line drawing of the little house door. As long as he tapped it, "Gu Lin" would be inside.
Maybe they're sleeping, maybe they're writing a letter.
Ji Tong didn't click on it.
He exited the interface, opened Weibo, and typed "Travel Frog" into the trending topics. The first topic that followed was "Travel Frog announces the termination of its operation."
Ji Tong stiffly clicked on the entry.
Two minutes later, my heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down.
Fortunately, only the channel servers have stopped operating; the official servers are still running.
Ji Tong relaxed immediately and leaned back in his chair.
Then the more I thought about it, the angrier I got.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
I don't even know what I'm celebrating.
The words "Gu Lin is back" flashed through Ji Tong's mind, making his head ache even more.
He shoved his phone into the table: "If you're so capable, shut down the service and don't come back. Who cares?"
Ji Tong finished the long lecture in a huff.
There is only this one period on Tuesday morning.
"What are we going to do later?" Li Yuan asked. "Should we go to the library?"
Ji Tong shook her head: "I'm going back to catch up on some sleep."
On their way back to the dormitory, the group saw Tu Jing and her friends again.
"Senior, are you putting up posters? What event is it?" Li Yuan asked casually. "Do you need any help?"
Tu Jing wanted to refuse, but it was too late. She hurriedly raised her hand, "Hey, don't open it—"
With a "whoosh," Li Yuan opened the poster.
The words "Paying tribute to teachers, traveling thousands of miles, and never failing their kindness" come into view.
Li Yuan: "Teacher's Day poster, in September..."
etc.
Teacher's Day?!
Damn it.
Li Yuan immediately rolled up the poster and threw it onto the table beside him.
"I told you not to open it," Tu Jing said.
Li Yuan complained incessantly: "I forgot the date was almost here."
September 10th is Teachers' Day, and also... Gu Lin's birthday.
During their time at No. 1 High School, they always spent time together as a group.
Fortunately, Li Yuan acted quickly. Before Ji Tong could see, he exchanged a glance with Tu Jing and immediately led his people away.
Back in the dormitory, Ji Tong washed her face and hands before going to bed.
"Are you going to sleep?" Li Yuan asked.
Ji Tong yawned: "Doing some practice problems will help me fall asleep."
"Okay, okay, go ahead and swipe."
Li Yuan ushered the remaining two into the bathroom.
“The day after tomorrow is the 10th, and I think… why don’t we take this opportunity to mention it to Tongtong in advance?” Li Yuan scratched his head. “I don’t mean to tell him right away that Brother Lin is back, I just want to sound him out.”
Cui Mingying and Zhou Tian remained silent.
"He needs to know something beforehand! Even if he's angry, he can vent it sooner rather than later. It's better to yell at him now than to lose his temper when he sees him, right?"
Cui Mingying finally nodded after a long standoff.
"Just test the waters, don't say anything more."
Zhou Tian also reminded him: "Take a roundabout approach, don't be so direct."
When the three of them came out, Ji Tong was sitting on the bed flipping through his iPad, and he seemed a little surprised to see them like this.
"Why are you all crammed into the bathroom?" he asked.
Li Yuan: "Wash, wash your hands."
The three returned to their seats.
It's alright, we have the protection of the Bodhisattva.
Li Yuan silently repeated it twice in his mind before speaking.
"戈戈."
"Um?"
Li Yuan considered it carefully.
"Um, did you see the message in the class group chat?"
"What news?"
"Well... isn't Teacher's Day in a few days? The class monitor was thinking of sending flowers to the counselor."
Ji Tong's pen tip tilted, leaving an abrupt scratch on the iPad's draft paper.
He clicked "undo" and deleted a few numbers.
"Um."
The reaction was...quite calm?
Li Yuan: "The 10th, time flies by."
Take a roundabout approach, don't be too direct.
Birthday.
roundabout.
"Teacher's Day has passed, and the New Year is just around the corner. The first day of the Lunar New Year is also your birthday, and we..."
Damn, I can't keep making this up.
Cui Mingying couldn't stand it anymore and finally spoke up: "Tongtong, what we mean is... I mean, if, assuming, on the 10th, Brother Lin sent you a message, would you reply to him?"
"Smack."
A crisp sound came from the bed.
It was the sound of Ji Tong's stylus hitting the tablet.
Oh no, I'm going to smash my pen.
Cui Mingying sat up abruptly from the stool, and when she looked up, she saw a smiling face.
Ji Tong's eyebrows and eyes were curved.
"Who is Brother Lin?" he asked.
"…………"
-
Another day of classes ended. Ji Tong turned to look at the rain outside the window, which had finally stopped, and packed her things to go out.
This time he didn't carry any large bags, just a cat carrier with some canned food inside.
In the past, Ji Tong would usually visit Xiao Yi about twice a week, but not like this. However, for some reason, he just wanted to go out today.
The phrase "Gu Lin is back" kept echoing in my mind.
Ji Tong was extremely annoyed.
But another voice inside him told him to go and see, to verify, to prove that it was true.
So Ji Tong went out.
The verifiable result is: false.
Gu Linlin didn't come back.
Gu Linye...
Ji Tong sat on the bench where Gu Linlin often sheltered from the rain, ignoring the rainwater that had seeped into her clothes from the back of the bench.
He sniffed.
I didn't want to cry.
It's just a stuffy nose.
Ji Tong took out his phone, angrily opened the green frog-raising scam app, and tapped on the name bar at the top.
Why did they have to choose this name when there were no other options?
This name is not good.
The past is dark and cannot be retrieved, but the future is bright and promising. From now on, you will no longer be called Gu Lin, but Gu Xi!
Bah! Ji Xi!
Who wants to take his surname!
Ji Tong thought this, but the finger that was about to change the name hesitated to fall.
In the end, Gu Lin is still Gu Lin.
Gu Lin will go on trips, send him postcards, and... come back.
Ji Tong rubbed his forehead, packed his backpack, and hailed a taxi.
"Master, An Da."
"OK."
The weather forecast was playing on the bus, and Ji Tong turned her head to look out the window.
His vehicle set off from the neon-lit streets of Anjing.
A plane landed safely in Anjing under the cover of night.
"...The ground temperature in Ankyoreh is 19 degrees Celsius, 66 degrees Fahrenheit. Starting tomorrow, a new wave of strong cold air will arrive... Passengers, our plane has arrived at Ankyoreh Cheoncheong International Airport. Thank you for flying with us..."
From 13 degrees east longitude to 116 degrees east longitude, more than 7,300 kilometers, ten hours and fifteen minutes.
Gu Lin pushed his suitcase and walked out of the airport.
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