Chapter 21: Dreams Fade into Nothingness

After lunch, Liu Yan went back to the dorm to sleep. Mo Yuqing stared at her chat page with Chen Lu, her mind blank.

Since Chen Lu confessed, they hadn’t exchanged messages.

She scrolled through their chat history, seemingly searching for evidence that she was actually good to Chen Lu.

But there was none.

He always sent good morning and good night messages on time, constantly checking in on her, always the one initiating the conversation.

Her responses were always brief, sometimes just a few words, and sometimes she felt annoyed and simply ignored him.

Chen Lu often reminded her to wear warm clothes when it was cold, but she never sent him anything in return.

It was just a habit, she thought. After all these years, it had become a habit.

A habit so ingrained that she took it for granted, forgetting to be grateful.

Mo Yuqing rubbed her slightly red eyes, got up, cleared her throat, and spoke softly, “Can I join you guys for the performance this time?”

“Sure!”

The others readily agreed, although they didn’t know why their senior suddenly had a change of heart. But having her in the show would definitely draw more attention.

Both in terms of dance skills and looks.

Mo Yuqing quickly caught up with the progress, with no pressure at all.

This level of dance didn’t require too much practice for Mo Yuqing. She just needed to follow the steps twice to know how to do it.

But she kept getting distracted during practice.

She suddenly wanted to see Chen Lu. Apart from class, they hadn’t seen each other for a long time.

This was also the first time Mo Yuqing felt like she “missed” Chen Lu.

But there was no reason to meet.

This made Mo Yuqing feel suddenly disoriented.

It felt like a dream had suddenly woken up.

No matter what, Chen Lu was always available, even without a reason.

She never needed a reason to see Chen Lu.

But now it was different…

She actually had to think about it…

During break time, Mo Yuqing sat on the podium with her eyes downcast, her heart filled with a complex mix of emotions, feeling unreal.

The “beautiful dream” she had always had seemed to have truly ended.

Even though she didn’t think it was particularly good.

There must be a chance, right? Chen Lu wouldn’t want to leave me…

Mo Yuqing silently comforted herself, while thinking of a reason to ask Chen Lu to meet.

……

Night fell, the moon hung high in the sky.

Chen Lu returned to the dorm, his mood unusually cheerful.

As soon as he entered, he saw Jiang Chao’s bed curtains inexplicably drawn. He didn’t bother asking, instead shifting his gaze to Li Sinian, who was drinking porridge.

To avoid seeing the anti-aircraft gun behind the curtains.

“Drinking porridge at night? You’re trying to live healthy?” Chen Lu mocked.

Li Sinian didn’t care, “My girlfriend ordered me porridge tonight.”

“So?” Chen Lu didn’t understand.

“I don’t have a girlfriend, so I bought it myself! Jiang Chao, you xxx! xxxxx!”

Li Sinian muttered a few curses before finally catching his breath, turning to Chen Lu with a smile, “You want some? We’re both poor souls without girlfriends, drinking porridge for ourselves.”

Chen Lu scratched his cheek with his finger, not daring to mention that a girl made porridge for him every morning.

Saying it would be fatal.

He could only walk over and take a few sips.

The next second, he ran to the toilet to vomit.

“Damn, why is this preserved egg so disgusting.” Chen Lu felt nauseous.

“You’re sick, aren’t you? Preserved eggs are all like this.”

“Not really.”

Liang Zhirou’s didn’t taste like this.

Chen Lu rinsed his mouth and said, he was even more curious about how he finished the preserved egg and lean pork porridge Liang Zhirou made.

Although he was curious, a slight smile involuntarily appeared on his lips.

Seeing Chen Lu packing his things, Li Sinian found it strange and asked, “What are you packing for?”

“Isn’t it May Day tomorrow? Going home for a bit.” Chen Lu continued to stuff finished books and useless things into his bag.

It was more like unloading than packing for home. Chen Lu only needed to bring back the things he felt redundant in the dorm when he went home, he didn’t need to pack like others, with big bags and small bags.

After all, he could just take a taxi home, it wouldn’t take long. Carrying a backpack was a sign of respect for his classmates.

“Wow, how refreshing. I almost forgot you’re local.” Li Sinian laughed.

“I just can’t bear to leave you guys, my good sons.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Sinian inexplicably leaned close to him and lightly poked him, “Let me tell you something funny.”

Chen Lu turned his head, motioning for him to continue.

“Today, Mo Yuqing reported another problem, and I went to take a look. After messing around for a while, I finally found out that the sound system cables were plugged in the wrong way.”

“What’s so funny about that?” Chen Lu paused, feeling puzzled.

“I haven’t finished yet, you know what she said when she saw me?”

“She said, why are you here?”

Li·Sherlock·Sinian pushed up his glasses, looking like he had seen through everything.

“I suspect she deliberately plugged the interface wrong, originally wanting you to go. After all, she doesn’t know you’re not helping me with these things anymore.”

Chen Lu spat at him, put his bag aside and lay down on the bed, “You’re crazy, I’d rather believe the boss is studying than believe Mo Yuqing would turn back.”

Seeing Chen Lu close his eyes, Li Sinian walked to the side and slowly pulled open Jiang Chao’s bed curtains, looking at Jiang Chao, who was staring intently at his laptop, occasionally taking notes, and muttered to himself:

“But… the boss is really studying…”

……

At this time, Mo Yuqing had just returned to her empty home. After changing into a thin lace-trimmed nightgown, she curled up on the sofa, holding her long, slender legs, her mood a little low.

She didn’t want Chen Lu to date others, but she wasn’t ready to pursue him.

This was the first time she had experienced what it meant to be anxious and uncertain.

Only now did she finally realize that she liked Chen Lu.

Before, she was curious about how Chen Lu had so much time every day, how he could always be so concerned about her.

Now she understood. It wasn’t that he had nothing to do, it was that he cared too much about her.

He cared so much that he thought about whether she was unhappy every day, whether she was feeling unwell, he cared more about her menstrual cycle than she did.

After a long silence.

She tapped on her phone and wrote a sentence on her Moments:

【I hope all my cherishing doesn’t need to be learned through loss.】

This was Mo Yuqing’s hint to Chen Lu.

After thinking about it for a long time, she still couldn’t bring herself to send Chen Lu a message, even just a simple good night.

This Moments post was two months after her last one. Her last one was posted on her birthday.

Mo Yuqing clicked on that picture, feeling even more lost.

It was a beautiful bouquet of roses.

The red roses bloomed wildly, as if they would never wither.

Of course they wouldn’t wither.

They were all made of paper.

Chen Lu had prepared for the birthday party for almost half a month, and then gave her this bouquet he had folded himself.

Thirty-three roses, all folded out of paper.

Mo Yuqing still remembered the envious looks of the girls around.

Within a few minutes, countless comments appeared under the new Moments post, one after another.

“Senior, are you feeling down? I’ll go to the movies with you.”

“Are you hinting at me? I don’t want to lose you either. Even though you rejected me, I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Yuqing, if you’re sad, go for a walk. I’ll be downstairs at your dorm building soon.”

“Do you regret it? Just say the word, and I’ll be in Hangzhou tomorrow!”

These comments almost made Mo Yuqing choke on her breath, she quickly deleted the few people she forgot to delete.

She didn’t even remember these people, why did they still remember her?

The comments from girls came a little slower, but they didn’t make her blood pressure rise.

“Hugs for Qingbao~”

“A flower that can be plucked should be plucked, don’t wait until there are no flowers left to pluck.”

Liu Yan, who knew the situation, just sent a sighing emoji, representing her frustration.

Mo Yuqing sighed dejectedly, continuing to refresh the messages. This was the first time she had cared so much about the comments under her Moments, because she was waiting for one person.

No matter how positive and enthusiastic these comments were, they weren’t what she wanted.

She wanted to see Chen Lu’s reply.

Even just a like would do.

After a long, long time, she still didn’t get it.

Mo Yuqing nervously clicked on Chen Lu’s Moments.

Chen Lu’s Moments was still empty, not a single post.

The difference was that the background had changed from her back to a Pikachu.

The night grew deeper, the lights in the nearby buildings went out one by one, until they were all dark.

The proud girl waited until she fell asleep, but she didn’t get the reply she wanted.

The cold moonlight shone through the window, illuminating the bouquet of paper roses on the coffee table, making them look cold and beautiful.

Behind the roses, the sleeping girl lay on the sofa, her beauty beyond compare.

The moonlight illuminated her handsome profile, her white neck, her jade-like thighs;

And the dried tears on her cheeks.