CH 1

Met with a Confession

It was the start of sophomore year at university. The elections for the new term of the Student Union had just ended, and a gathering was to be held later in the evening at the barbeque place next to the school. Everyone was particularly high in spirits after having not met over break and was drinking happily. A senior sister had too much to drink and leaned against her boyfriend talking gibberish.

Under the influence of the lively atmosphere, Wen Le also drank two glasses. Her alcohol tolerance was only average, about the amount of one bottle of beer, and she refused to drink a sip beyond that.

Wen Le waved her hand, indicating to the upperclassman who was about to pour more alcohol into her glass, that she had enough. Instead of urging her to drink more, the upperclassman shot a glance at the guy opposite her, smiling, “Ok, do you want to drink something else then? I’ll ask Zhang Lin to help you girls get some.”

Wen Le was not familiar with Zhang Lin and only knew of him as a classmate from the same year but from a different department.

Wen Le replied, “I’m good. Xue Zhang*, you can go and ask what the other girls want to drink.”

*Xue zhang – a term to refer to an upperclassman

The upperclassman heard her words yet did not go and ask the other girls. He briefly greeted the girls beside Wen Le before moving on to pour drinks at another table. 

Upon seeing the upperclassman leaving, the girl on Wen Le’s right nudged her, “What was that? Which ignorant young man’s heart has our beauty captured this time? Is there gonna be another special confession event taking place tonight?”

The short-haired girl on Wen Le’s left laughed and said, “Hey Qiu Yalin, are you blind? The group of guys across from us have been looking over here the whole night. Their undisguised fervent gazes, how’d you not noticed it at all!”

Qiu Yalin rolled her eyes and said, “Guan Yue, YOU are the blind one! Doesn’t our great beauty Wen experience this wherever she goes?”

Guan Yue shook her head, “NO, NO, NO. It’s different this time around. Look at that gaze,” saying this they first glanced at Wen Le, then at Zhang Lin, before smiling knowingly to themselves. Guan Yue added, “Just have a look yourself.”

Qiu Yalin sneered, “Ah, men and their endless conspiracies.”

Wen Le acted like she did not understand their teasings, picked up a piece of BBQ meat, and insipidly said, “Really? Eat this, it’s really good.”

Guan Yue laughed, “Don’t try to act like you don’t know! We’re asking you, what do you think?”

Wen Le rolled her eyes.

Guan Yue placed a hand over her chest and exclaimed exaggeratedly, “How can a beauty’s eye roll be so fatally charming!”

Wen Le smiled, “You’re so annoying!”

Qiu Yalin tapped the table with her index finger and urged, “Quickly, tell us.”

Wen Le helplessly said, “I really don’t know him, and I just got to know his name.”

Guan Yue laughed heartily, “Is this how you’re planning to reject him later

‘You’re a good person, but I don’t really know you.’ Hahaha.”

Qiu Yalin followed in laughter and suddenly looked in Zhang Lin’s direction while resting her chin on her hand. She clicked her tongue and whispered, “To be honest, the little man is rather tall and handsome, his traits are all quite good.”

Then, in a sour tone lamented next, “Do all beauties have such advantages? All those who have confessed were either handsome, rich, or must’ve been overly confident.”

Wen Le did not have the habit of discussing such private matters of relationships with people she was not close to, thus she changed the topic while smiling, “As someone who already has a boyfriend, please don’t tease us single dogs anymore. It’s already sad enough that we have to see your affection (eat your dog food*) daily.”

*self-pity of single people triggered by public displays of affection online or offline. A popular catchphrase in China where single people refer to themselves as dogs.

Qiu Yalin sputtered in laughter, her gaze subconsciously wandering towards her boyfriend’s direction while smiling with much affection and happiness.

Guan Yue, who was sitting next to Qiu Yalin, rolled her eyes when she saw her lovey-dovey look and said teasingly, “Ah let’s see, who has such a bad sense of judgment to have arranged the seating in such a way and split the pair of couples up?”

Qiu Yalin coughed lightly in embarrassment, “We’re not to the point where we are unwilling to be separated…”

Guan Yue laughed aloud, “I think it’s about there though?”

The conversation finally shifted. Wen Le smoothly finished the remaining beer she had left. Without a word or movement, she withdrew from the conversation and while listening to the girls talking about topics of love, she suddenly felt listless.

Ever since the start of university, the prying into her love life had never stopped. It was as if in the eyes of the gossip mongers, a beauty who has always been single must have some sort of big secret worth gossiping about.

However the truth was, there was no such secret; she had no experience of being hurt, neither was she homosexual or had an unrequited love nor was she anti-marriage either. Her love life was akin to a notebook which was yellowed with age on the outside but was actually completely empty and white inside.

The reason why Wen Le chose to remain single was very simple. Just like how she chose to drink tea and not coffee, and chose to wear cotton pyjamas instead of silky nightwear, it was because she liked it and because it was comfortable.

It was also because she had not yet met a “coffee” or “silky nightwear” that could move her heart and change her mind.

Wen Le was also too lazy to explain it to others.

Essentially, Wen Le did not really care about the impression that the gossip mongers had about her.

As school had just started, everyone was in high spirits having fun till late before they decided to call it a night. It was already close to 9.30 pm when they parted ways (TN: how is 9.30 pm very late hahaha??). After settling the bill, the vice-chair arranged for the students staying in the same dorm to help send the drunk students back, and also arranged for those guys who were still sober to accompany the girls back to their dormitory.

Wen Le’s cheeks were slightly flushed as her alcohol tolerance was weak. Even though she barely drank, her cheeks were still stained with a light pink, which contrasted with her ivory skin nicely.

Wen Le went back with a few other girls, and they were murmuring about something. She listened in on the conversation, and then realized they were talking about Zhang Lin again because he happened to be one of the guys who was sending them back.

The topic that Wen Le diverted at the dining table was shifted back to its original limelight, and the girls were teasingly making eyes at Wen Le.

Wen Le knew that they did not have any ill intentions, but she also did not give them any reaction.

On a summer night, the breeze was gently blowing while the silhouette of the leaves swayed in fragments. The dim streetlamp shone upon a group of men and women, talking and laughing, exuding the beauty of youths.

Their dormitories were located in different areas; when they reached the fork of the road, the guys and girls gradually separated.

There was no one else that stayed at the same dormitory as Wen Le, thus she waved goodbye to the few girls she was familiar with, but was teased by them. Wen Le had a hunch, she looked down and glanced at the ground. Not far behind, there were three boys’ shadows — evidently, Zhang Lin had not left.

At that moment, the rest of the girls had already left and only Wen Le and Zhang Lin were left on the road.

Wen Le followed the path faintly lit by the streetlamp and headed towards the direction of her dormitory, while occasionally taking note of the shadow behind her. Zhang Lin followed behind, but Wen Le acted as if she was not aware of him as she was not looking forward to the confession that was about to happen.

Wen Le’s attitude towards love was a bit more conservative — she did not approve of such one-sided heartfelt confessions. An untimely confession would only increase the awkwardness when working with each other in the future.

However, the guy behind her hesitated only for a moment before shouting, “Wen Le!”

Wen Le really wanted to act as if she did not hear it, but the campus was really too quiet at night; this soft call abruptly penetrated through the silent night.

Wen Le heaved a sigh and turned around.

Wen Le was a beauty worthy of the name; with an exquisite appearance, classical grace, a perfect figure, and excessively superior extrinsic conditions. When she first entered the campus as a freshman, she won the title of department belle with just her natural face.

Since then, suitors had advanced dauntlessly, wave upon wave repeatedly.

Wen Le’s immense popularity did not drop a bit since she was a freshman up til now as a sophomore, yet no one had managed to win the goddess’ heart.

Presently, Wen Le was standing under the dim yellow streetlamp, and looking at a beauty under the light only added to her charm.

Wen Le was dressed in a rather conservative style, with a skirt that had to pass the knee, short sleeves to the elbow, and buttons clipped all the way to the top. It seemed as if dressed in this way, it consolidated her appearance of a sweet-tempered lady, gentle like water.

However, such styling of clothes, if not done well, would make one appear dull and old-fashioned. Fortunately, she was rather vain and knew how to match her clothes, thus when paired with her classical grace, people often mistook her as a refined wealthy lady who stepped out of a last century’s movie set.

Zhang Lin looked at Wen Le, his heart and mind could not help but thump, and the words he did not dare to say finally rushed out of his mouth.

“Wen Le, I like…”

Wen Le, however, suddenly cut off Zhang Lin’s confession. She looked behind Zhang Lin’s direction, and waved her hand, “I’m right here!”

Wen Le had forgotten how long it had been since she had such a strong impulse. She thought the alcohol had probably numbed her brain, and her sanity had retreated in this quiet and tense night, allowing her impulse to gain the upper hand.

So when Wen Le saw the person appearing from not far away, she was incited under the influence of alcohol and acted on impulse for once.

Zhang Lin dazedly stared at Wen Le as she smiled and walked up to a man, intimately holding onto his arm. She seemed to have remembered something, turned around and said to Zhang Lin, “Thank you! Someone came to pick me up, you don’t have to send me off anymore. Bye!”

Zhang Lin was stunned by Wen Le’s move and did not see that the person whose arm was held on by Wen Le frowned imperceptibly. He subconsciously wanted to pull his hand away, but when he noticed that Wen Le was gripping his hand tightly out of nervousness, he hesitated for a moment, and then gave up.

But this subtle movement did not go unnoticed by Wen Le.

Wen Le felt that her brain was split into two halves, and one half had already turned to mush.

Muddleheaded, she completely neglected Zhang Lin’s presence. In fact, Wen Le did not even notice that there were other people around, and more so, did not notice that their pupils were quivering like an earthquake in shock.

Whereas the other half of her brain was swiftly turning, capturing and observing every movement and reaction of the person beside her. Hence, Wen Le noticed his resistance and nervousness at the beginning, but then this person suddenly relaxed his tensed muscles. Wen Le secretly breathed a sigh of relief and settled half of her worries, but in her heart, she secretly cursed herself that she must be crazy.

—

Walking all the way to a corner, and after turning around and not being able to see Zhang Lin’s figure, Wen Le gave a sigh of relief. She let go of Zhou Kao’s arm, and her reasoning slowly returned with the embarrassment finally flooding in.

Impulsiveness was really akin to the devil. Wen Le wailed in grief in her heart but did not reveal an inch of what she was really feeling on her face. She suppressed her embarrassment, slowly backed up two steps while slightly smiling, and spoke softly and graciously with a little drunkenness in her voice, “Long time no see, Zhou Kao.”

She had not taken a closer look earlier, but now she discovered that after three years of not meeting, Zhou Kao had changed a lot, and he seemed to be even more mature and handsome than the figure in her memory. She had to admit that thus far, Wen Le had not seen anyone who matched her standards in terms of looks more than Zhou Kao’s.

Wen Le looked up and examined  Zhou Kao, while Zhou Kao and his three dorm mates behind were also checking Wen Le out. The department belle of the School of Economics & Management had a famous reputation, however, she looked unexpectedly even more beautiful in real life than the rumours.

The three people behind made some restless movements as if they wanted to express something to Zhou Kao, but he ignored them. He smelt a faint whiff of alcohol, and could not help but glance at Wen Le for a moment, “You drank alcohol?”

Wen Le did not reply to him, only raised her wrist to look at the time, “Thank you so much for tonight, my head’s feeling a bit faint so I’ll go back first, see you.”

Upon this, Zhou Kao subtly frowned, “I’ll send you back.”

Wen Le replied, “No need, it’s very near.”

However, Zhou Kao turned around and signalled to his dorm mates to head back first, and then said to Wen Le, “Let’s go.”

Amidst his dorm mates’ hollering, he took the lead and started walking ahead.