Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Cheng Yuming and I were roommates with a cold, distant relationship.
My relationship with Jiang Tingyu was even more limited; we barely knew each other.
I knew she was Cheng Yuming’s girlfriend, and she knew I was Cheng Yuming’s roommate.
We were nodding acquaintances.
We were social media acquaintances.
I rarely posted on my feed; the occasional two posts I did share were only because my club required it.
She would conscientiously like my posts. She even commented on a post about an Arbor Day event: “I never knew mango trees could be planted around here. O.O”
I remember thinking how much she must like fruit that causes internal heat.
But she seemed to enjoy posting on her feed quite a bit.
A cat, a cloud, a failed attempt at fried rice, a book she really liked.
I rarely liked her posts, mainly because our mutual friend Cheng Yuming’s profile picture would always appear right below them.
It was irritating.
When she posted about her fried rice disaster, he would send a voice note, saying flirtatiously that as long as she knew how to cook, it was fine.
When she said a certain book was good, he would ask her to come over to the dorm for the night, telling her not to go back and to tell him about the book instead.
When she mentioned a beautiful place she wanted to visit, he would comment: “Is it okay if we only book one room?”
…
After I blocked Cheng Yuming, I found myself subconsciously wandering into her feed.
I knew Jiang Tingyu had recently started working as a tutor.
In her first post, she accidentally included her location. Someone must have pointed it out to her, because she deleted it five minutes later.
The next day, we ran into each other in that very neighborhood.
She was the one who called out to me: “Senior Lu.”
I turned around, pulling my suitcase. I saw her clutching several teaching manuals, looking a bit dazed yet pleasantly surprised, as if she had run into an old friend in a foreign land.
In truth, Jiang Tingyu’s complexion wasn’t great at that moment. She had a washed-out paleness, and the rims of her eyes were tinged with red.
She and Cheng Yuming must have had a falling out last night.
“What are you doing here?” she asked naturally, completely unaware of my gaze.
“I moved out of the dorm today,” I said. “I rented a place here.”
Her eyes crinkled into a smile again. “What a coincidence. The new student I’m tutoring lives in this neighborhood too.”
She said it was a coincidence.
But it wasn’t.
Every time I encountered her, it wasn’t fate or a fluke. It was intentional.
“Mm.” I nodded, then took a paper bag off the handle of my suitcase. “Try some.”
It was a whole box of mangosteens.
They were already peeled, the snow-white flesh crystal clear and exuding a sweet fragrance.
Before she could refuse, I said, “Thanks for the oranges.”
Jiang Tingyu seemed a bit distracted, as if she wanted to ask something but couldn’t bring herself to say it. After a long pause, she finally spoke: “Senior Lu, you’re going to Ah Yu’s birthday party too, right?”
Her eyes were clear, filled with anticipation and a certain dejected plea. When she looked at me, it was as if she were grasping at a lifeline.
Cheng Yuming was a typical rich second-generation heir.
She didn’t know a single one of his friends, and she had only met our other two roommates once.
I, the social media acquaintance, had somehow become the person she was most familiar with at this party.
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Senior Lu,” her tone was somewhat hesitant, “…have you ever heard the name Su Miao?”
The air seemed to freeze for a few seconds.
Jiang Tingyu snapped out of it and changed her tune: “It’s nothing, never mind. I know she’s a good friend of Ah Yu’s, I just haven’t met her yet, so I was a bit curious.”
It was a poor attempt at a cover-up.
I looked at her and paused. “Jiang Tingyu.”
Actually, an outsider like me shouldn’t have meddled, and she knew how inappropriate the question was.
Because no matter what I answered, it would ultimately be chalked up to either sowing discord or being complicit in a scheme.
Jiang Tingyu was never one to make things difficult for others. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t have asked me such a question.
But I didn’t find it difficult.
If she asked, I would tell her.
However, Jiang Tingyu didn’t wait for me to continue. She cut off the topic with more determination: “I have to go to my lesson now, so I’ll head off first. Thanks for the mangosteens, Senior Lu… I’m sorry.”
She left in a bit of a rush.
The last trace of her that brushed past me was her long hair, slipping through my fingers like the wind that cannot be caught.
“Jiang Tingyu,” I called out to her instinctively. “See you tomorrow.”
She turned back, her clear eyes reflecting my face.
I clearly caught my own loss of composure, the emotions surging within me with almost nowhere to hide.
She froze, but almost instinctively, her eyes curved into a smile at me. “See you tomorrow, Senior Lu.”
My heart began to beat faster and faster, as if it were about to burst from my chest.
In this moment, even the wind stood still for me.