Chapter 36

“I already told you, I’m not going. Next time, remember to knock before you come in.”

On the other side, after hanging up the phone, Zhou Wu threw his phone into his pocket. “I need to rest, go back to your own room.”

“I won’t. I’m staying here,” Duan Wei leaned against the door. “I’m really scared, Zhou Wu—”

Zhou Wu made it clear there was no room for discussion. “I don’t have the habit of sharing a house with my ex-girlfriend.”

“You still remember I’m your ex-girlfriend.” Duan Wei pouted. “You’re really heartless toward your exes. Lately, you haven’t even replied to my messages!”

“I’m busy.”

“Busy with what? Busy with taking a walk on the beach with Wen Ci?” Duan Wei suddenly asked. “I saw your post on WeChat.”

Zhou Wu hadn’t planned to respond to her, but hearing that, he was interested enough to answer, “Yes.”

—-

Duan Wei stared at him, wanting to figure out what he was thinking. But it was no use. They had known each other since elementary school. She spent every day playing with Zhou Wu, then there was the ambiguous phase, the dating, and the breakup. At every stage, she had never been able to understand what Zhou Wu was really thinking.

“Zhou Wu, have you been angry with me all this time?” Duan Wei said, expressing a thought she had been harboring. “… Angry that I chose Xiang Wenwen instead of you.”

Zhou Wu looked at her in surprise. “No. That was your choice.”

“Then why are you acting like this? Not to mention when we were together, even before that, when we were still in school, you treated me so well…”

A loud noise from the stairwell interrupted their conversation.

Qin Yun let out an “ouch” as he bent down to pick up the beer that had fallen on the floor. “Sorry, you two continue. I didn’t hear a thing.”

“Wait,” Zhou Wu called out to him, suddenly asking, “When you took them to the airport, did Wen Ci say she was feeling uncomfortable?”

“No, she slept the whole way. She’s fine. Why?” Qin Yun asked.

Zhou Wu shook his head.

“I just felt her face looked a bit pale during the video call.”

Qin Yun didn’t want to talk about the gossip he had shared with Dou Yiqing, so he raised the bottle in his hand. “Want a drink?”

Zhou Wu shook his head and pointed at someone next to him with his chin. “When you go out, take her with you.”

Duan Wei had been pestering for the whole night but to no avail. She knew there was no hope. Zhou Wu was like that—once he shook his head, there was no room left.

She felt a bit down, but quietly asked, “What about the couple’s surfboard…”

“Already thrown away,” Zhou Wu replied.

Wen Ci’s notes barely passed the review.

“The writing is too messy and sloppy, it affected the later review. You need to pay attention next time,” her mother said as she handed her the notebook, sounding like a teacher grading homework.

Wen Ci opened her mouth, but she had caught a slight cold after staying up late in the rain last night. In a hoarse voice, she said, “Okay.”

“Your throat is still like this? It hasn’t recovered?” Her mother gently touched her forehead.

“I’m fine, just a bit of a cough.”

“I’ll make you some pear soup later, it should help… I noticed the weather in Qingyang was good, how could you get sick? Your dad and I went to a lecture in Guang’an, and it was windy and rainy, but we didn’t get sick.” Then, her mother remembered, “Oh, we ran into Xiang Wenwen in Guang’an, if I remember correctly, he’s your high school classmate, right? He was excellent in school.”

“Yes,” Wen Ci replied.

“He’s doing well now, still remembers us, greeted us, said he started a company and is moving into artificial intelligence education. He had a nice chat with your dad.”

Wen Ci wasn’t interested but politely replied, “Is that so?”

Her mother nodded. “It’s a pity though, he’s married now. Otherwise, we could get to know him better.”

Wen Ci paused for a moment.

A memory suddenly surged up, and she couldn’t hold back. “Mom, remember in high school, when we were in the same experimental group, you passed by the classroom and told me that I was getting too close to him and had the teacher move him to a different group. Why is it now okay to get to know him better?”

“Was it him? I don’t remember. You were so young back then, of course you had to keep some distance. Now that you’re older, it’s fine to develop a relationship,” her mother replied nonchalantly. “Anyway, he’s married now, so it’s not worth mentioning.”

Wen Ci lowered her eyes, took a deep breath, and didn’t want to say more. “I’m going upstairs.”

—-

Before summer vacation, the teachers in the office were counting down the days. Yang Yunfei often openly said she only became a teacher for the summer and winter breaks. Every time this topic came up, Wen Ci would smile and agree with her, saying, “Yeah.”

But for Wen Ci, it didn’t matter whether it was working or vacation. The long stretches of free time only made her more aware of how dull her life felt.

Dou Yiqing was busy with online classes, and the only person who used to ask Wen Ci to go out was no longer around.

Wen Ci had gotten used to it. She stayed at home reading for a few days until her mother came upstairs and suddenly handed her two photos of unfamiliar men. After that, Wen Ci moved her reading location to the library.

Wen Ci loved staying in the library—it was quiet, spacious, and solitary. Everyone was either reading or writing, as if they were in their own little world.

On Tuesday, she stayed in the library until it was dark. Her phone rang, and it was her mother urging her to come home for dinner.

Wen Ci snapped out of her studying state and replied, “Okay.”

After sending the reply, she held the phone in both hands and hesitated.

Her fingers aimlessly scrolled through WeChat, until she finally honestly clicked on Duan Wei’s Moments.

This week, Duan Wei had updated her Moments almost every day. It was all solo photos, featuring her in colorful and beautiful swimsuits.

Today, she posted a surfing photo, looking confident and enjoying herself, her body highlighted by the surf suit as she stood on a pink surfboard.

Wen Ci wasn’t sure if this was the couple surfboard mentioned on the phone.

Without needing to drag a floating bed anymore, Zhou Wu should finally be able to enjoy his vacation.

Wen Ci let out a long breath, put her phone back in her bag, and stood up to leave the library.

As she reached the door, someone lightly tapped her shoulder. Wen Ci turned around and was surprised to see Xiang Wenwen.

Today, Xiang Wenwen was wearing glasses and a gray suit, and he was accompanied by several employees. When he saw her, he smiled. “It’s really you, Wen Ci. I thought it was you when I saw your back.”

Wen Ci was surprised. “Class monitor, what are you doing here? Are you here to read too?”

“No, not that hardworking,” Xiang Wenwen joked. “I’m here on business.”

Wen Ci nodded and quickly said, “Then I won’t disturb you.”

“Don’t, I’m done with my business. Want to grab a meal together?” Xiang Wenwen called out to her. “Last time, there were too many people around, we didn’t get a chance to catch up.”

“My family left dinner for me, otherwise maybe next time?” Wen Ci glanced at the people behind him. “I won’t disturb your dinner today.”

“They’re my company’s employees, and they’ll be leaving soon. I’m leaving Jiangcheng tomorrow, and if we wait until next time, who knows when that will be? It’s better to seize the moment,” Xiang Wenwen said. “By the way, I ran into your parents in Guang’an recently, and I even added Professor Wen on WeChat. Should I tell him?”

“No,” Wen Ci thought for a moment, “…Alright then. I’ll let my family know.”

—-

As soon as Zhou Wu returned to Jiangcheng, Qin Yun dragged her to Blue Jazz.

“I can’t get Dou Yiqing to come out no matter how I invite her, and you’re in Singapore. I’m so bored I could die,” Qin Yun complained while lying on the sofa on the second floor of Blue Jazz, his tone dragging.

Zhou Wu replied, “What difference does it make whether I’m there or not? When I was studying in the U.S., were you this bored?”

Qin Yun thought for a moment and realized he wasn’t.

So what the hell was the problem?

Zhou Wu kicked his leg and told him to move over, lazily sitting down. “When did you come back?”

“Not long after you left. Wait, what’s going on? Duan Wei just arrived in Bincheng, and the next day you flew to Singapore. Are you avoiding her, or is something going on? It’s a bit awkward with just me and Duan Wei.”

“Avoid her? You and she never even dated,” Zhou Wu scoffed. “Am I crazy to avoid her by going to Singapore? I really had something to do—I went there to check on a project.”

Qin Yun laughed and cursed, “Well, you never dated, but just me and her hanging out is awkward. Besides, we’re not as close as we used to be. We don’t even go to the same university anymore, and now every time I invite her, I have to check with Wen Ci first—it’s so annoying.”

Zhou Wu made an ambiguous sound, not replying.

He looked down at his phone and opened Wen Ci’s chat window. The messages from the afternoon were still there.

【Zhou Wu: Still at the library?】

【Wen Ci: Yes.】

【Zhou Wu: Until when?】

【Wen Ci: Until dinner time.】

【Zhou Wu: What are you having?】

【Wen Ci: Dinner at home.】

Zhou Wu had noticed recently that Wen Ci didn’t seem to like chatting on her phone.

It had been over a week since they parted, and she hadn’t contacted him first. When he asked something, she replied quickly, but after answering, their conversation would end.

When they were together, she was talkative, blushing after just a few words, but when it came to chatting online, she seemed distant.

Maybe it was the long messages at home that were annoying?

Zhou Wu couldn’t help but smile to himself and slowly typed: Teacher Wen, tomorrow—

“Hey, speaking of Wen Ci, did you see his WeChat moments today?” Qin Yun pretended to be serious. “‘Today, I’m hosting a book donation event for rural children again. Every time I do these things, I feel so fulfilled.’… What’s he trying to do? Just trying to build an image for his AI education. If I posted about every donation I made, my WeChat moments would have more posts than Dou Yiqing.”

“I didn’t see it, I blocked him,” Zhou Wu replied coldly.

“Damn, I forgot about that trick. I’m going to block him now,” Qin Yun lowered his head to operate his phone, suddenly exclaiming, “—Wen Ci?”

Zhou Wu looked up, “What?”

“He’s in Wen Ci’s WeChat moments,” Qin Yun said.

“?”

Qin Yun handed his phone to Zhou Wu, “Take a look, is this Wen Ci?”

It was a post from Xiang Wenwen two minutes ago, with the caption: “After many years, I’m sitting here again with my high school comrades.”

The photo attached showed a simple table with sandwiches and rice balls. The person who had said earlier that she would have dinner at home was sitting across from him at the table, sitting up straight and looking at the camera, wearing her signature faint smile.