Dating again after three years, Chi Shuo felt like she had forgotten all her skills. It even made her wonder if she had ever actually dated before. More importantly, she’d been an adult for so long, yet this relationship felt incredibly innocent.
She had practically fled when He Lindi said, “Kiss me.”
This troubled Chi Shuo. Thinking it over, she figured it was mostly because she still wasn’t used to her current relationship with He Lindi. Before, she had unilaterally seen He Lindi as a love rival, then later kept a stern face towards her. Their relationship had only improved about half a year ago, and during their time as friends, He Lindi had disappeared for two months.
Adding it all up, it seemed they hadn’t actually spent much time getting along. Although she was thrilled about being with He Lindi, she really couldn’t be all sweet and clingy with her right away. Besides, in her eyes, the old He Lindi was like a fairy. Dating a fairy… would take even more time to adjust.
Yet Chi Shuo desperately wanted to take things further with He Lindi. More than just holding hands and hugging—she wanted more.
This frustration created a strange feeling in Chi Shuo’s heart. Finally feeling she couldn’t handle it, she called Han Yu out after work on Wednesday.
After hearing her description, Han Yu started laughing first. “Chi Shuo, you’re making me feel glad my confession failed back then.”
“I’m glad you didn’t confess successfully either,” Chi Shuo snorted, twisting the knife.
Han Yu: “…”
Han Yu: “That’s not what I meant! It’s been so long, He Lindi is already with you, and only now you remember to settle the ‘love rival’ score with me?”
They had both liked He Lindi back then—that made them true love rivals.
“Yes.” Seeing Han Yu looking wronged, Chi Shuo smiled.
“If you ask me, you need to be more proactive.”
“When she confessed her secret crush history to you, didn’t you mention the things you did for her back then? See who had the longer crush.”
Chi Shuo shook her head. “Never mentioned it.” She said, “I was too busy being moved at the time, who had time to think about battling over crush duration?”
He Lindi was going to shoot an artist tonight in the neighboring city. She had left yesterday and wasn’t expected back until tomorrow night. Chi Shuo and Han Yu were currently eating seafood army stew at a Korean restaurant. The prawns in the pot had already turned red. Han Yu picked one out to cool and then said, “Hold on, let’s not get sidetracked. While He Lindi isn’t here, let me tell you, you really need to seize the opportunity.”
Chi Shuo looked doubtful. Han Yu looked exasperated, like ‘hating iron for not becoming steel.’ “I badmouthed her for so many years. Even though I don’t anymore, and I don’t know the current situation, she’s He Lindi! The number of pursuers behind her won’t be small. Don’t just rely on her liking you and lose your sense of urgency. That’s not okay.”
“And then?”
“And then, what’s wrong with kissing her?”
“…” Chi Shuo didn’t know how to answer. Hearing Han Yu say that, she felt she had really made a huge mistake by not kissing He Lindi the other day.
But even if she wanted to kiss her now, she couldn’t, because He Lindi wasn’t here. Her longing could only be expressed over the phone at most.
Chi Shuo sighed, then heard Han Yu ask her, “Shuo Shuo, my mom asked me the other day if you wanted to come to our place for Chinese New Year this year, or if you’re going back to spend it with your mom?”
The restaurant was packed and noisy. Chi Shuo rubbed the spot between her eyebrows. “My mom wants me to go back, but her tone was too bad last time she called, so I scolded her.”
“Do you think I’d believe you scolded your mom?”
“I told her not to speak so nastily.”
“You should have spoken more nastily.”
Chi Shuo stared at the vegetables cooking in the pot. “I’ll call her again in a little while and ask.”
“Okay.”
“If you don’t go back for New Year’s, come to my place, okay? My mom really likes you, you know that.”
“Okay.”
Whenever family issues came up, Chi Shuo’s mood inevitably grew heavy. She was struggling with whether to go back this year. Last time she went home, her relationship with her mother had thawed slightly, but now? It was frozen again.
On the way, before getting off the bus, Chi Shuo received a call from Zeng Guai.
Chi Shuo answered, “Hello?”
“Shuo Shuo!”
“Holy crap!”
“He Xiuqi still hasn’t given up!”
“…” Chi Shuo looked out the window, momentarily speechless.
She knew Zeng Guai had gone out for dinner with colleagues, but she hadn’t expected to hear more gossip, especially about He Lindi.
Zeng Guai lowered her voice slightly. “He just had a few drinks and started saying Teacher He lied about having a partner. He said back then, when he looked over, he only saw you and me, so where did the partner come from…”
Chi Shuo caught the key point. “Wait, He Lindi told him she had a partner?”
Chi Shuo recalled He Lindi’s expression that day, and a smile spread across her face. No wonder He Lindi had asked if she heard anything—turns out she had already ‘cashed in’ the relationship card ahead of time.
“Yeah,” Zeng Guai said. “Then he said he wouldn’t give up unless Teacher He really had a partner. Ugh, my temper flared up! If you two weren’t keeping a low profile right now, I would have slapped him down right there.”
Chi Shuo lowered her head slightly. “Hearing you say that, I feel so much pressure. Way too many people like my girlfriend.”
The bus wasn’t empty, but it wasn’t crowded either. Someone heard Chi Shuo say “my girlfriend” and cast a curious glance her way. Chi Shuo felt it but ignored it.
She remembered again what Q Ge had said before about the man who came looking for He Lindi on Christmas Day, who had liked her for years and was still persisting.
“Don’t worry, Shuo Shuo, us ‘Chi He’ CP fans won’t waver.”
“Haha, okay.”
The call ended. Chi Shuo let out a breath and got off the bus shortly after.
They had gotten together early Sunday morning, and by Tuesday, He Lindi was sent on a business trip. Chi Shuo’s longing grew wildly during this time, especially after Han Yu and Zeng Guai alerted her to the ‘crisis,’ making her feel that continuing like this really wasn’t okay.
But He Lindi should be busy right now. After messaging that she was home, Chi Shuo showered first, then stayed in bed, took out her iPad, and started drawing.
A few drawings Chi Shuo had done before were already posted on Weibo. She hadn’t used tags or posted in Super Topics or anything, but people had still found her Weibo, reposting and commenting. Her follower count gradually grew, now approaching a thousand.
It was just that many of these fans kept asking about her relationship with the ‘side account artist,’ because even if their drawings were different, the feeling they conveyed was the same.
This ‘side account artist’ could only be He Lindi.
Because so many people asked, Chi Shuo didn’t just ignore it, simply replying, “She’s my teacher.”
In fact, it was true. He Lindi taught her photography and drawing, helping her improve. If not a teacher, what was she?
Whether these people were satisfied with that answer, she didn’t know. Anyway, she wasn’t very satisfied, especially now that she was with He Lindi.
She was currently drawing another picture, the scene of He Lindi waiting for her downstairs at the company. But as she drew, she realized something wasn’t quite right.
This wasn’t right. Her purpose in learning to draw was to take commissions and earn extra money. How had it… all turned into a record of her love life?
Chi Shuo looked bewildered, put down her pen, pondered for a moment, and decided it didn’t matter.
If she could use her drawings to record these moments, it seemed exceptionally meaningful.
The corners of Chi Shuo’s lips lifted. Just as she was about to continue drawing, He Lindi called.
It was already ten o’clock at night; the sky had long since darkened.
Chi Shuo immediately answered, “Finished with work?”
“Uh-huh, yeah.” He Lindi’s voice sounded deeply tired. “Just finished editing the pictures and sent them over.”
“That’s tough.” Chi Shuo stared at the pen in her hand and asked again, “Around what time will you arrive tomorrow?”
“Might not come back tomorrow.”
Chi Shuo went “Ah?” “Really?”
“I’m already on my way.”
“Couldn’t wait until tomorrow.”
After speaking, He Lindi chuckled again. “When I was on business trips before, I used to wonder when I’d go back, when I might run into you in the elevator.” She said, “Because I knew you didn’t like me, I wouldn’t greet you, just…”
“Just what?”
“Just didn’t want to miss any activity where I could be with you, but I was too busy, couldn’t always make it.”
Chi Shuo’s nose tingled. “So that’s how it was.” Her thoughts stirred. “When will you arrive? I’ll come pick you up at the entrance.”
“I’ll be there in an hour and a half.”
“Okay.”
“So, are you sleepy? Or can we stay on the phone?”
“Let’s stay on the phone.”
“I like hearing your voice.”
“The ‘voice that lingers around the rafters,’ right?”
But later, as they were talking, He Lindi’s end went silent. She had fallen asleep in the car.
On her end, Chi Shuo put the phone aside, put on her earphones, and continued drawing.
Approaching midnight, He Lindi arrived outside Chi Shuo’s apartment complex. Chi Shuo had already been waiting there for ten minutes.
Getting together only to be separated right away felt a bit strange, but it also seemed like a good buffer period. It was just that the longing became a bit hard to bear later on.
Luckily, He Lindi’s business trip this time was very short, only lasting a little over a day in total.
Chi Shuo took the suitcase from He Lindi’s hand and walked inside with her. “It’s a bit cold today. Want some ginger tea? I’m afraid you’ll catch a cold again.”
“My constitution isn’t that bad, right?” He Lindi tightened her clothes. “It’s so late; this temperature is normal.”
Chi Shuo just smiled. “I think I’ve picked you up three or four times now? Twice around the same time.”
A few minutes later, opening the door and entering the apartment, Chi Shuo’s palms were already sweaty. He Lindi noticed. “What are you nervous about?”
“I…”
Chi Shuo didn’t finish. She let go of the suitcase handle, then wrapped her arms around He Lindi’s waist, resting her forehead on He Lindi’s shoulder. She said, “Hold on, let me prepare myself mentally first.”
As soon as she finished speaking, He Lindi slowly tilted her head and pressed her lips to Chi Shuo’s forehead.
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