Chapter 32: A Belated Goodnight

The dorm room quickly fell silent. Chen Lu, still smelling the lingering scent of alcohol, continued to stare at the ceiling.

Although Chen Lu’s school was quite good, facing the pressures of graduate school or internships, no university student was without stress.

He wanted to live a carefree life like Li Sinian, and he also wanted to take a gamble like Jiang Chao while he was young.

Choosing one path inevitably meant missing out on the scenery of the other.

That’s how life is. You can’t even predict whether the path you choose will be easy to walk, or what you might see along the way.

It’s precisely because you can’t make up your mind that you overthink, become anxious and insecure…

Until you lose the courage to take a step.

“I’m here with you.”

The girl’s simple words suddenly echoed in his ears. Chen Lu slowly picked up his phone and sent a message to Liang Zhirou.

Chen Lu: What are you doing?

This seemingly straightforward message had become Chen Lu’s opening line whenever he chatted with Liang Zhirou.

Liang Zhirou always answered honestly about what she was doing, and she also enjoyed sharing her daily life with Chen Lu.

But this time, the girl was busy with something and didn’t reply instantly like usual.

……

Liu Yan drove Jiang Chao’s car, preparing to take him to his friend’s place.

She knew her boyfriend’s weaknesses, so she indulged him in this situation, readily offering to drive him.

Jiang Chao, feeling the bumps in the road, woke up groggily and asked, “Where are we going?”

Liu Yan, amused, said, “Where do you think we’re going? Didn’t you ask me to take you to your friend’s place?”

“Oh…” Jiang Chao turned his head, gazing at the scenery flying past the window.

Cars whizzed by, and the tall buildings of various companies in the distance were still brightly lit.

People in the 21st century seemed to never rest at nine o’clock at night.

This is what it’s like to live without freedom.

He looked at the night outside, his expression suddenly turning serious, “I want to take a gamble.”

“You’ve said that before.” Liu Yan’s voice was full of indulgence.

Jiang Chao paused, resting his head against the car window, and continued, “If I really do this, I might end up falling out with my family, and then if I sell this car… I’ll be left with nothing.”

“You wouldn’t dislike me?”

Liu Yan slowly turned the steering wheel, laughing and spitting at him, “I actually dislike you more now!”

“Logically, the Jiang Chao I like wouldn’t be so meek.”

Jiang Chao smiled at his reflection in the car window, the gloom on his face dissipating.

“Oh yeah, I also dislike your past self.” Liu Yan added, “If you dare to be as flirtatious as you were before we met, I’ll break your legs.”

“Damn! I’m doomed to be with you.”

He sat in the passenger seat, chatting with Liu Yan in a casual way, completely oblivious to the person sitting in the back.

Mo Yuqing watched the two flirting, feeling inexplicably envious. Jiang Chao needed Liu Yan, and she would immediately be by his side, but when she needed Chen Lu, she realized she had already pushed him away…

Liu Yan glanced at Mo Yuqing’s complex expression in the rearview mirror, and Mo Yuqing winked back.

She sighed deeply, “Speaking of which, has Chen Lu been getting close to a girl lately?”

“Yeah.”

“How did they meet?” she asked again.

Jiang Chao carefully recalled, “On the day your best friend rejected his confession, we all went out to drink with him.

That girl was handing out flyers at the south gate of our school.

Then, someone happened to bully her, and you know Chen Lu’s personality, he didn’t hesitate to step in and confront them.

“He laughed proudly, genuinely liking his friend Chen Lu, “Later, when we were leaving, that girl was also about to go home. Chen Lu noticed that she hadn’t put ointment on a burn, so he chased after her.

He put his jacket on her on the way home, and the girl happened to be from our school, so she came to return it. They started talking, and they got closer and closer.”

Liu Yan didn’t say anything, just nodded silently, secretly continuing to observe Mo Yuqing’s expression through the rearview mirror.

Mo Yuqing was biting her lower lip, the pride in her eyes now replaced with sadness.

“What do you think of that girl?”

“I don’t know her well.” Jiang Chao recalled Liang Zhirou’s timid appearance, and after a while, he continued, “That girl probably has a very introverted personality, so Chen Lu hasn’t even thought about introducing her to us.”

“For a girl like that to meet Chen Lu… it’s her good fortune.”

“Of course, I think Chen Lu meeting her during this time is also his good fortune.”

He didn’t elaborate on what he meant by “this time,” but the two girls in the car naturally understood.

“How’s it going?”

Jiang Chao rolled his eyes at her, “You don’t need to ask for your best friend. The emperor isn’t in a hurry, but the eunuch is.”

“What if the emperor is in a hurry?”

Jiang Chao was taken aback, “The emperor is in a hurry?…… Then just find a crooked tree and hang yourself. Look at all the dynasties throughout history, when the emperor was in a hurry, it meant things were truly out of control.

When things aren’t urgent, the emperor only cares about enjoying himself, they’re not in a hurry.”

He added, “It’s too late.”

Silence fell over the car. After a while, Jiang Chao reached his destination and got out of the car.

Liu Yan didn’t rush to drive away, quietly listening to the sound of the back door opening and watching Mo Yuqing slowly sit in the passenger seat.

A moment of silence.

“Cry if you want to.” She gripped the steering wheel, looking at Jiang Chao, who was being helped away by his friend, and spoke.

“I’ll cry later.” Mo Yuqing said softly.

“What do you mean?” Liu Yan found it strange, turning to look at her.

Mo Yuqing didn’t answer, she took out her phone and opened her chat with Chen Lu.

They hadn’t spoken to each other in over ten days.

She took a deep breath and tapped the screen repeatedly.

She finally took the initiative to send a message.

“My mom told me she was coming back from abroad a few days ago, but when I went home, I found out she lied to me…

I was so sad at the time.”

She imitated her usual tone when she complained to Chen Lu.

For the two of them, Mo Yuqing’s message had a clear meaning: I was so sad at the time, but you weren’t there for me…

After all, she had often cried and complained to Chen Lu about her parents since she was a child, and Chen Lu had always been there for her.

As expected, Chen Lu didn’t reply instantly this time.

Your dream about him is really about to wake up.

The girl waited for ten minutes, but still no reply.

For the first time, she felt that ten minutes was so long.

This anxious waiting was so agonizing, making her restless.

She was a little dazed, not daring to think about how Chen Lu used to feel when he waited for her messages.

Another half hour passed, and Chen Lu still hadn’t replied.

Tears finally streamed down Mo Yuqing’s cheeks, she sniffed and continued to send messages to Chen Lu.

“If you don’t reply to me, I’ll tell your mom!”

“I’ll tell her you bullied me, and I’ll also tell her that her platinum necklace was actually lost by you!”

She still imitated their past conversation style, even deliberately mentioning their shared memories.

This was the first time she had been so careful and deliberate when talking to Chen Lu.

This time, Mo Yuqing finally got a reply, but no matter how she imitated their past conversations, Chen Lu was no longer the same.

These characters were incredibly cold, piercing her heart.

“Just live our own lives like we have been these past few days, let each other go.”

He immediately sent another message: “I’m really tired, I want to forget about you.”

Mo Yuqing stared blankly at her phone, almost forgetting to breathe for a moment.

Not only was Mo Yuqing stunned, but even Liu Yan was a little stunned when she saw it.

Chen Lu was so different from the infatuated boy he used to be, it was hard to imagine how deeply he had been hurt.

She still wasn’t willing to give up, she continued typing: “Why? We used to be so close…”

Ten minutes later.

The phone screen lit up again, Mo Yuqing wiped away her tears, her slender jade fingers trembling uncontrollably, as if she were more nervous than checking her grades.

“You said it yourself, it was in the past.”

An extremely long silence fell over the car, until the sound of the engine starting, the sobbing still didn’t stop.

Mo Yuqing recalled countless memories along the way.

Memories that she had forgotten were now flooding back into her mind.

She was tearful, like a child who had done something wrong, filled with regret and fear.

She was truly regretful.

And she was truly afraid.

……

An hour later.

Chen Lu was still staring at the chat interface, quietly looking at Mo Yuqing’s last message: ‘Goodnight’.

After a long period of contemplation, he just smiled wryly.

It’s funny, I’ve given up on you, and now you’re taking the initiative.

I used to love you so much…

But now,

Just let me go.

At that moment, his phone vibrated again. He rubbed his blurry eyes.

Liang Zhirou: Sorry, I forgot to tell you… I felt like you were getting tired of eating porridge, so I went and made you some buns. Tell me if you get tired of eating them, I’ll change them for you… but you can’t skip breakfast.

Chen Lu smiled with relief, tapping the screen.

“Okay.”

……

The next morning.

Jiang Chao, who had sobered up, returned to the dorm with a sore back, only to see that his remaining half-case of beer had all turned into empty bottles.

“Damn! I had so much beer!”

“Chen Lu drank it all…”