Ling Ye: 【What do you mean?】
The camera in the room had already been covered before she bathed. Wen Wanning leaned against the door and listened for a long time, confirming that there was truly no movement outside, before she dared to reply to him.
【...Are you really ignorant, or are you just pretending?】
If it were anyone else, Wen Wanning would have felt that the other person was playing dumb.
But nevertheless, this person was Ling Ye, that steady and introverted good young man Ling Ye, making it impossible for one to speculate in that direction.
After the message was sent, she felt she had been too harsh. Remembering his ascetic lifestyle, she couldn't help but offer him a way out: 【You don't usually watch TV, right? Have you seen the previous seasons of Spontaneous Travel?】
Ling Ye: 【No.】
【The racing team was contacted directly when the racing association received the variety show invitation. The team leader wanted a domestic sponsor, so he agreed on my behalf.】
This was the first time since their reunion that he had mentioned anything about his work.
He omitted the preamble and the conclusion, but it wasn't hard to fill in what he hadn't finished saying: even the most popular race car driver is just a worker on a salary. As long as the boss gives the order, even if they know nothing about the fire pit in front of the road, they have to bite the bullet and jump.
It was just... quite miserable.
Wen Wanning stared at the "Typing..." message flashing at the top of the chat box for a moment. The guilt that had only been a seed just now broke through the soil and instantly grew into a sturdy little seedling.
Seeing that she hadn't spoken for a while, the chat box lit up again: 【I will go explain the situation regarding the material captured earlier to the director tomorrow morning. I'm sorry.】
Wen Wanning was caught off guard: 【Explain what?】
The other person's tone while typing was calm, but she inexplicably sensed a hint of caution in Ling Ye's words, making it seem as if he had been bullied by her.
Is he like this in the team too, bullied until it became a habit, apologizing to people at every turn?
How has he spent these past few years...
Ling Ye: 【Say that I'm not very used to the camera lens.】
【I had no appetite during the day and was so hungry I couldn't sleep, so Teacher Wen kindly invited me to eat.】
His tone was calm as he returned to the original problem: 【It was just eating together, why are you afraid of being photographed?】
Sincerity is indeed the greatest ultimate move.
At this very second, Wen Wanning finally confirmed that there really were people in the world who were even more ignorant of reality show tropes than she was—a variety show newbie.
So, from the official announcement of the show until now, the reason for all of Ling Ye's ambiguous words and actions wasn't because he understood the tricks of CP farming too well, but because she was the only person he was familiar with here, and his fledgling complex hadn't been broken yet.
Wen Wanning suddenly felt relieved. She read his previous messages twice and changed the topic: 【Are you really so hungry that you can't sleep?】
Ling Ye: 【Yes.】
Wen Wanning took a deep breath: 【There are no cameras on the stairs behind the terrace on the second floor. Go there and wait for me.】
Her usual style of dress was on the mature side, and fearing she would be recognized on the street later, she specially dug a short skirt out of her box.
The terrace in the early hours of the morning was quiet. Wen Wanning walked along the stairs, looking back as she went. When she reached the corner, she saw Ling Ye already standing there.
He had changed his clothes into a water-colored shirt similar to the one worn during the promotional photo shoot, worn loosely over a white T-shirt, with well-fitting black uniform pants. His shoulder leaned against the street lamp by the back wall of the villa. He had a strong sense of youth, like a sports student with a very clean temperament.
Wen Wanning was stunned for a moment, somewhat surprised, "...Where did you get that school uniform?"
It wasn't that it didn't fit.
On the contrary, it was because it fit so well that it no longer looked like a disguise; it looked as if he were truly still in school.
"Teacher Qi bought it temporarily," Ling Ye walked outside for two steps very slowly and stopped under the lush flower bushes to wait for her. "I was originally supposed to wear this to sell flowers, but the director said it was controversial and rejected it."
If you can't reveal your true identity, then use a uniform to act as a hook; that is indeed very much Qi Jiujiu's style.
Wen Wanning found it funny and lowered her head, curling her lips.
Ling Ye was still the same as he was back then when it came to finding his way. As long as he had looked at a map once, the route would be engraved in his brain. No matter how many side roads or alleys there were, he didn't need mobile navigation at all.
She followed Ling Ye deep into the old district for a while and found a food stall that hadn't closed yet to sit down.
The boss was very kind. Wen Wanning gestured and guessed to place the order. Two cups of iced lemon tea, the size of bucket-sized colas, were brought over quickly, followed by steaming hot minced meat rice noodles—
Ling Ye didn't eat spicy food, so to make it easier for the boss to understand, she simply asked for no chili in either bowl.
It was an affordable food stall frequented by locals, and the environment could hardly be called good. There was a red canvas top set up under a tree, old plastic tables and chairs, and the fan overhead whirring away.
It was almost two in the morning, and the already sparse tourist crowd had faded away. Most of the people eating were night-shift drivers. Wen Wanning's skin under the light seemed to gather light, exuding an out-of-place, expensive fragrance, and she received more than a few side glances.
As long as she wasn't recognized, it was fine. She didn't care about these gazes and occasionally glanced at Ling Ye, who was eating quickly.
After holding her cup and drinking tea for a while, the disposable chopsticks she hadn't unwrapped were taken by the person beside her. Before long, they were pushed back; the surface of the chopsticks had been polished clean, without a single wooden splinter.
Wen Wanning looked up, quite surprised, and just as she was about to speak to thank him, she saw someone in the distance on the street wandering around with a camera. Her head dropped suddenly, and she poked Ling Ye's thigh from under the table.
"...I think I saw Wei Yinghuai."
When you are out and about, the one thing you cannot gamble on is the human heart.
She knew in her heart how suspicious it was to be out eating alone with someone in the middle of the night; the risk of explaining was too high.
Her first reaction was to pull Ling Ye and run, but looking around, she couldn't find a safe route.
"Why don't you sit here, and I'll crawl under the table."
Ling Ye was much calmer than Wen Wanning. He slowly lifted his thin eyelids and swept a very light glance at the hem of her skirt above her knees, letting this older sister think for herself how outrageous that sentence was.
"The table is very light. If you crawl in, it will most likely flip over, which would be even more obvious."
Wei Yinghuai took a few shots from the arcade outside the food stall, adjusted the focus, and was just raising the camera lens toward this side.
Wen Wanning was already resigned to her fate.
She brushed her hair twice without much hope and was just about to lower her head to hide behind the cup when she suddenly heard a quick, subtle sound of clothing being taken off.
The school uniform shirt Ling Ye was wearing covered them from above. The hem was long enough to cover her exposed shoulders, almost completely shielding her back.
The scent of lemon tea and mint—even though it was winter, it felt as humid and warm as a summer evening breeze.
The distance was too close.
His breath almost brushed against her forehead. Wen Wanning subconsciously held her breath, and at such a close distance, she could clearly see his beautiful Adam's apple, his sharp jawline, and his thin lips parting.
"Don't move," he said.
What a terrible feeling, Wen Wanning thought to herself.
It felt as if they weren't hiding from anyone, but were secretly kissing in a hidden corner.
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