The car drove through the rainy night. Because of the rain, there were very few vehicles on the road.
Lin Wutong's gaze fell outside the car window, and what she heard in her ears was a tapping sound.
It was his fingertips tapping the steering wheel, now and then.
And the inside of the car was too quiet. Every sound tugged at her nerves, as if striking straight at her heart.
Suddenly, the young man spoke in a lazy voice, "Classmate Lin."
He dragged out the tail of his words, clearly looking like he had something to ask.
"Hm?"
Lin Wutong drew back her gaze from outside the car window and turned to look at the person asking.
Ji Ciye was driving and could not turn his head, so he looked straight ahead.
He left her with a sharp-lined, deep side profile.
It had to be said that heaven truly favored him.
As if having a good family background were not enough, even his looks seemed meticulously carved.
There was not a single flaw to be found anywhere. It would not be an exaggeration to call him a perfect work of art.
The light inside the car was rather dim, which also concealed her greedy and bold scrutiny.
Ji Ciye curved the corners of his lips and chuckled softly. "We've met quite a few times too, haven't we?"
Lin Wutong did not understand why he suddenly said this, and only answered truthfully that they had.
Indeed, quite a few times.
Ji Ciye: "Since it's been quite a few times, saying we're not very familiar is a bit hurtful, don't you think?"
He said not-so-serious words with a completely serious face.
Yet Lin Wutong's ears suddenly turned red.
That phrase, "not very familiar," she of course knew where it came from.
So she explained, "Your sister thought you and I were very familiar. I only said that we have a friend in common."
"Oh, is that so?" As he spoke, he casually glanced over.
Seeing the girl looking a little unnatural, he deliberately teased, "I see."
"I thought you wanted to keep your distance from me."
She should have kept her distance in the first place.
But now that he had said it out loud, it deliberately carried a bit more of a sense of protest that only made things more obvious.
"That's not it." The subway entrance was just ahead, and she hurriedly added, "Just let me off by the roadside."
Ji Ciye had of course seen the subway entrance.
But he had no intention of stopping.
"Hey, you—" Seeing the subway entrance flash past outside the car window, Lin Wutong sighed softly. "Why are you like this?"
Her tone was somewhat soft, and also carried a bit of helpless indulgence.
As if no matter how excessive a thing he did, she would never truly get angry.
Ji Ciye put away his earlier frivolity, and his words gained a bit more seriousness. "On rainy days there are a lot of people taking the subway. If you get on at this hour, you definitely won't get a seat."
What he said was the truth, and Lin Wutong could not refute it.
But—
"Your car is too high-profile. People will recognize it."
Ji Ciye was so exasperated he laughed.
She really did not want to get involved with him at all?
Other people wished for nothing more than to have some scandal with him, but she, on the contrary, always avoided him as if she could not get away fast enough.
"The post from last time was taken down, wasn't it?" He rarely showed a bit of patience to coax someone.
It was probably also the first time the young master had ever coaxed anyone.
As if afraid she was still hung up on the matter of the post from last time.
Like someone who had done something wrong, he first gave a good-tempered guarantee. "I'll park farther away in a bit."
"I promise I won't let anyone see, how about that?"
The last three words were spoken very softly, carrying a coaxing tone he himself was unaware of.
Since he had said it like that, Lin Wutong did not say anything more.
"All right, then remember that."
Ji Ciye laughed, laughing at how easy she was to coax after all.
Somewhere in his heart, on this rainy night, following her soft and obedient tone, caved in.
He kept his promise, parking the car on the roadside a short distance from the school gate.
Before getting out of the car, Lin Wutong thanked him.
The umbrella Auntie Zhang had given her was still at her feet, and she remembered to pick it up.
After pushing open the door and stepping out, she intended to watch him drive off before leaving herself.
But he lazily waved a hand, signaling her to go first.
The young man's features were hidden in the darkness of the night, barely discernible through the windshield.
Yet Lin Wutong still caught the smile curving at the corner of his lips, and the faint, unnameable depth of emotion in his eyes.
At this moment, it was completely unconcealed.
Raindrops pattered against the umbrella, drip-drop, drip-drop.
Another gust of wind blew past, brushing gently against her, and something seemed to graze across her chest.
Sending a tremor through her ribcage.
Ji Ciye.
When he looked at her like that, what was he really thinking?
In the dormitory.
Du Weiwei called out to her again, "Tongtong, what are you thinking about?"
She furrowed her brows slightly. "It feels like you've been distracted ever since you got back tonight."
Lin Wutong lifted her gaze from her phone and glanced at the umbrella hanging in the corner of the room. She smiled faintly, a little absentmindedly. "Nothing, maybe I'm just a bit sleepy."
"Alright then, get some sleep soon." Du Weiwei asked again, "You're still going to your part-time job tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, I have to go."
"Honestly, why do you work yourself so hard every day?" Du Weiwei said. "Now that you're in college, shouldn't you be taking it easy?"
"Every day it's either studying, reading, or going to your part-time job."
"There's not a single bit of youthful energy that a college student should have."
"How about this—if you're free this weekend, let's go out and have some fun together."
"Okay." Lin Wutong pressed her lips into a faint smile. "But I'm not sure if I'll be free this weekend yet. We'll see when the time comes."
She and Du Weiwei had become good friends after entering university.
Only the two of them lived in the dorm. Though their personalities differed, they got along unusually well.
She was always happy to accept the activities Du Weiwei brought up.
Including that time they went to watch the game—she hadn't known Ji Ciye would be there before going.
Nor had she known that Ji Ciye happened to be her boyfriend's teammate.
But it was just that much of a coincidence.
Du Weiwei: "Alright."
"I happen to know about a new lounge bar that just opened. They're apparently running some kind of event soon, so we can go check it out together then."
However, before the weekend trip to the lounge bar could happen.
Lin Wutong received a pleading phone call from Ji Mingfei on Friday.
"Sister Lin." Ji Mingfei whined on the other end of the line. "Can you come with me somewhere tomorrow?"
Lin Wutong was puzzled. "Where?"
"An amusement park." Ji Mingfei added, "You have to say yes, because if you don't go, my brother won't take me."
Lin Wutong didn't understand. "Why?"
Ji Mingfei: "My brother said that a person should repay kindness. My grades for this quiz went up by a big margin, and when I asked him for a reward, he said it was all your doing and had nothing to do with me."
"So only if you go will he take me." Ji Mingfei said this with a fair amount of grievance in her tone.
Lin Wutong: "…"
She'd only taught a few tutoring sessions.
No matter how you counted it, the credit shouldn't fall to her.
Clearly, Ji Mingfei had already been successfully brainwashed, and she was still urging on the other end.
Thinking of the girl's dissatisfied yet unspoken expression, Lin Wutong couldn't help but feel a little amused.
After a moment of silence, she still softened and agreed.
"Alright, tomorrow, right?"
"Mm, tomorrow." Ji Mingfei's tone unconsciously grew a bit more excited. "Then it's settled, Sister Lin. Tomorrow we'll pick you up at school."