Lu Lin was indeed more mature than her peers. She knew what she wanted and didn't, so honestly, she had no interest in Li Qiang's clumsy attempts at flirting and didn't even bother to respond to him.
When Li Qiang sent her a message, she simply ignored it. Instead, she opened Zhou Yuwen's chat window, glanced at it, and said nothing.
Li Qiang waited ten minutes, puzzled as to why Lu Lin wasn't responding. Just a few days ago, they were chatting just fine. Lately, for some unknown reason, Lu Lin hasn't been replying to his messages at all.
One time, when they ran into each other in person, Li Qiang couldn't help but ask, "Lu Lin, I've been messaging you online, but you're not replying. Why?"
It was in the cafeteria, and several dorm mates, including some girls from the other dorm, were there. Li Qiang's question put Lu Lin in an awkward spot.
Lu Lin just said, "Huh?" and then casually replied, "Oh, I don't check my phone much."
With that explanation, Li Qiang's face lit up with a smile again. "Oh, when do you usually use your phone?"
Despite Li Qiang's attempts, Lu Lin still hadn't replied. Initially, Li Qiang thought Lu Lin had just not seen her phone. But by the time training ended that afternoon, and still without a response from Lu Lin, he grew increasingly restless.
As bedtime approached, Li Qiang could no longer hold back. He typed out a message, then deleted it, rewrote it, and deleted it again, repeating the process several times until he finally composed something he was satisfied with.
He wanted to say he knew Lu Lin was short on money. He thought about writing, "Old Zhou already told me you asked him for a loan."
"Lu Lin, are you facing some difficulties? You can talk to me; we can figure it out together."
"Lu Lin, I don't have much money, but you must know how I feel about you. I have 800 yuan now, and I've applied for a scholarship that gives 3,000 yuan. I only need 500; the rest I can lend to you."
"Lu Lin, I like you. Could you give me a chance?"
Under the moonlight streaming through the window, Li Qiang agonized over every word. He edited the message for a long time. For example, at first, he wanted to say "give" instead of "lend," but then worried that if he gave her the money, she might not feel obligated to return it. And though he hadn't intended to confess his feelings, he thought, "If I'm offering her money, I might as well let her know how I feel."
Satisfied with his final version, Li Qiang reread the message several times. Although he felt bad about bringing up Zhou Yuwen, he saw no other way.
Taking a deep breath, he clicked send.
When Lu Lin saw the message, she was stunned. The more she read, the more her brow furrowed. Li Qiang's message was clumsy and overly transparent in its intentions.
At first, Lu Lin didn't think Zhou Yuwen would go around talking about her private matters. But from Li Qiang's words, it was clear he didn't know the full story—only that she had asked Zhou Yuwen for money.
Standing alone on the balcony, Lu Lin pondered Li Qiang's message. Zhou Yuwen didn't seem like the kind of person who would gossip. Had he mentioned it casually in the dorm?
Lu Lin decided to message Chang Hao.
"Are you there?"
"What's up, Sister Lin?" Chang Hao replied, flattered that Lu Lin had contacted him again. He wondered if she might like him, recalling how cool he looked while serving as class representative.
"Can you lend me some money?" Lu Lin asked.
Chang Hao was momentarily surprised before asking, "How much do you need?"
"Never mind, forget it."
"???" Chang Hao was baffled but didn't mention it to anyone else in the dorm. He only brought it up once while chatting with Zheng Yanyan.
"She asked you for money?" Zheng Yanyan asked curiously.
"Yeah, but when I asked how much, she said never mind. Really weird," Chang Hao muttered.
Zheng Yanyan found it odd too and remarked, "Linlin doesn't seem like someone who's short on money. I don't get it."
Chang Hao couldn't resist asking, "Hey, do you think she likes me and is just making up an excuse to talk to me?"
As he said this, he couldn't help but grin.
Zheng Yanyan rolled her eyes and said, "Stop dreaming."
"She likes Zhou Yuwen, not you."
"Damn, what's so great about Old Zhou anyway?" Chang Hao grumbled, clearly unconvinced.
The whole situation was strange from start to finish, but one thing was certain: Lu Lin didn't reach out to Zhou Yuwen again after this incident. Even when they crossed paths, they didn't acknowledge each other.
Li Qiang sent Lu Lin several more messages, but she maintained her cold silence.
Li Qiang poured out his feelings that night, but Lu Lin never responded.
By 2 a.m., Li Qiang was still tossing and turning, unable to sleep. In desperation, he sent another message:
"Lu Lin, please just pity me and reply. I like you."
"From the moment I first saw you, I've been in love with you. I've never seen a girl as beautiful as you. Chang Hao said you smoke and that you're not a good girl, but I think you must have some deep sorrow that drives you to smoke. When you asked Old Zhou for money, you can tell me if you're going through something. I don't have money, but I can work part-time and earn money. Please don't keep everything bottled up; I can share the burden with you."
But no matter how many messages Li Qiang sent, it was like dropping stones into the ocean—no reply came back.
By the next morning, Li Qiang, sleep-deprived with bloodshot eyes, reread what he had written and immediately regretted it.
He sent another message: "I was out of line last night. Just forget everything I said."
This was a private matter between Lu Lin and Li Qiang. No one else knew or cared. Meanwhile, military training continued, with the scorching September sun turning every student into sunburnt pigs.
Speaking of pigs, someone mentioned roasting suckling pigs—crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, melting in your mouth.
"And our Chaoshan beef balls, juice sprays everywhere when you bite into them."
"Heh, that's nothing! If we're talking about food, nowhere beats Beijing. Donglaishun is inside the Third Ring Road, and the Peking duck is at Wangfujing!"
The dorm chat quickly devolved into a discussion about food, with everyone drooling.
It had been twenty days. For twenty days, they'd had nothing but steamed buns and rice. Sure, the dishes were oily enough, but they were always the same few, and everyone was getting sick.
At times like these, they all longed for the carefree summer days at home, with KFC, McDonald's, drumsticks, and soda, playing video games in the air-conditioned comfort.
"Sigh, Brother Hao, when will this end?"
"Just hang in there. Only two more weeks."
Talking about food at night was a bad idea. Afterward, everyone lay in bed with empty stomachs, unable to fall asleep.