The plot is progressing really fast!!
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Chapter 24
The impact of the plane landing woke Shi Ling slowly.
As the plane taxied onto the runway, the cabin lights were still off. Looking out the window, the sky was pitch black, ending at the horizon. There were several rows of lights on the ground, and the flashing lights of airplanes could also be seen.
Shi Ling had just finished her IELTS exam and was rushing to catch a flight. She had slept the whole way and was still a little tired. She leaned lazily against the partition next to the window, propping her chin up with her hand, listening to the announcement that passengers should not leave their seats.
The cabin lights were already on. She glanced at her phone screen, which was now booting up, and it wasn't as glaring as before.
When I returned to the normal page, no messages came in.
Shi Ling knew that Chi Cheng was probably still a little annoyed that she had acted on her own initiative and had left without saying goodbye.
She took the initiative to send the message.
Shi Ling: I've arrived.
Shi Ling: Are you still angry?
After several minutes, Chi Cheng replied with a single word, "Okay".
Shi Ling wanted to comfort him, so she sent him another message urging him to study hard.
She wasn't just saying it for show; she knew she hadn't acted politely. Given Chi Cheng's proud nature, she simply didn't want to overly display his disappointment and dissatisfaction, making it seem like he cared about her too much. So, the two didn't have a heated argument.
But she was genuinely worried that he would miss the last bus.
It's already early May, and the earliest batch of language classes will soon close.
For Shi Ling, deciding to go abroad only after finishing her postgraduate entrance exam was already a huge gamble; she was used to preparing for everything in advance.
Although it's been springtime since May, City C, being a northern city, doesn't easily succumb to warmth. Especially at night, the moment Shi Ling stepped off the plane, she hunched her shoulders and tightened the collar of her coat.
Fortunately, the air conditioning in Hong Kong was cold, but her coat was thick enough.
It got much better after I got used to it.
As we left the airport and waited in line for the bus, the people around us were buzzing with conversation.
Shi Ling had a strange feeling that she couldn't quite put her finger on. After listening for a while, she realized that everyone around her was speaking Mandarin or dialects with a deep, resonant accent, and not a single Cantonese word was pleasing to the ear.
She couldn't understand it at first, but after staying in Guangzhou for more than two months, she found that her ears also have inertia. After hearing Cantonese a lot, she could guess it a little, and she got used to having Cantonese all around her.
Now that she's back, she feels a strange sense of being a guest, as if she's been in Guangzhou for a long time.
However, in reality, it only took about two months.
Perhaps it was because of Chi Cheng that she couldn't distinguish between being a stranger and being at home.
Shi Ling shook her head, had her ticket checked, and boarded the train.
I only checked my phone after I sat down.
As expected, Chi Cheng did not reply to her WeChat message about studying hard.
Shi Ling barely made it back to the dormitory before the gates closed.
Their floor was mostly inhabited by graduates, making it a bit deserted. Many people were doing internships and hadn't returned. At this hour, when it would normally be bustling with people carrying washbasins to the washrooms, there were hardly any people around.
Of the four girls in their dorm, one was absent.
Shi Ling opened the door, and He Yiyi, who was sitting by the door, turned around, took off her headphones, stood up, and hugged her.
“My Lingzai, you’re finally back.”
Shi Ling was taken aback.
Lu Xinyan laughed, "She's been obsessed with writing her thesis lately, and she's also watching TVB dramas. She's even given us all new nicknames. I'm Six, and you're Ling."
Their dorm room names are quite interesting, as they are all numbers. Yi Yi is called Yi Yi, Lu Xin Yan is barely called Liu Liu, and only Shi Ling, Ling Ling sounds the same as Ling Ling.
Before Shi Ling took over, she was completely insensitive to this.
Now, when I hear Yi Yi call her Lingzai, I can't help but think of Chi Cheng.
Was he ever called Chi-zai before? Or Cheng-zai?
Fang Ze always calls him Brother Chi. From what he said, it seems that Chi Cheng is pretty good at games and asked for help a few times while playing, so he became Brother Chi.
Shi Ling tidied up and took out all the souvenirs she had brought for them.
Seeing Yi Yi and Lu Xinyan turn around and sit on the stools facing away from her, they hesitated and didn't say anything.
Shi Ling smiled instead, "Go ahead and ask."
Apart from Wu Yunqi, who was determined to find a job, the three of them took the postgraduate entrance exam together. The other two passed, but Shi Ling failed despite studying for so long.
Shi Ling chose to go to Guangzhou to prepare for the IELTS exam, partly to avoid familiar surroundings and people.
No matter if others sympathize with her, care about her, or want to comfort her, her personality prevents her from seeing it.
This time he was completely at ease and let them question him as they pleased.
Yi Yi spoke first, "No, I just wanted to ask how your IELTS exam went?"
"I'd say 7 points, but I'm 0.5 points short in each section. At worst, I can study a language course for four weeks. My results from my most recent exam haven't come out yet."
Yi Yi smiled and said, "If you don't come back soon, our weird mentor is probably going to kill you."
Lu Xinyan praised her, "Our Lingzai is really amazing, it must have been really hard to pass the test."
Shi Ling sighed, "There's nothing I can do. Didn't I go into seclusion for several months?"
Seeing that they weren't asking, Shi Ling took the initiative to explain, "Song Licheng and I have completely broken up. Don't look at me so strangely."
The two women knew how long she had been talking. When they saw her return, although she was a little tired, she looked well and relaxed, which told them that Shi Ling had completely let go.
I casually made a few jokes with her.
After Shi Ling went to bed, she saw dappled tree shadows swaying on the ceiling in the darkness.
She recalled Chi Cheng's helpless sigh on the phone earlier that day.
She thought about it and then wrote a WeChat message.
Chi Cheng, sometimes parting is just for a better reunion. I had no other intention; I have a thesis to write, and you have your IELTS exam. So we chose to be busy with our own things. My actions today were inappropriate because I was afraid of taking up your time with me. Just take it as a joke, be a little willful this time, and don't hold it against me. I'll look forward to it whether you come to me after your exam, or I come to you after my defense.
Good night.
After getting up in the morning, Shi Ling called him.
Chi Cheng still sounded like he hadn't woken up yet. After hearing her call, he didn't pretend to get up for a long time like he usually does.
Shi Ling thought for a moment, then said, "Good morning."
Chi Cheng was stunned for a moment, then started to laugh; this was something he had taught her.
There's another layer of meaning to it; this was the first thing they said to each other properly, during breakfast at the restaurant that day, which marked their acquaintance.
Shi Ling wasn't annoyed. "Is your pronunciation not standard?"
Chi Cheng stopped laughing. "It's pretty accurate, but it's just especially cute."
He had initially maintained a certain air of authority, but after hearing what she said, he couldn't help but want to laugh.
Shi Ling then asked him, "Didn't you receive my WeChat message?"
Chi Cheng accepted the offer, saying, "I was too tired yesterday, so I thought I'd reply to you this morning."
He sighed, "Baby, I didn't realize before that you had me completely under your thumb. You didn't tell me you were flying away, and then you told me not to be angry at all."
Shi Ling repeated her previous statement, "Then come find me as soon as you finish your exam."
Chi Cheng seemed to sit up a little, his voice sounded different, and he seemed somewhat absent-minded. "Alright."
The two hadn't really argued before, but there had been some ripples; now things were finally calm.
Shi Ling focused on writing in her dorm room for a whole day, while Yi Yi and Lu Xinyan had been writing for several days and couldn't take it anymore.
Lu Xinyan was dragged to watch the show by Yi Yi. When Shi Ling came back from fetching water, they asked her to watch it with them.
Shi Ling stood and watched for a short while.
They were watching a demon-slaying movie, which was both thrilling and funny.
Yi Yi was already laughing so hard she was doubled over. "I'm dying of laughter, it's so funny!"
Lu Xinyan looked at her with disdain, "Who was scared to death just now?"
As Yi Yi watched, she said, "Wow, Cantonese is really nice to listen to, and it's funny too. This 'I miss you' is really catchy."
Lu Xinyan also tried to imitate her, saying, "My tongue can't even bend properly anymore. I'm speaking so inaccurately, Lingling, can you imitate me?"
Shi Ling usually doesn't participate in their parrot-like activities.
She was just joking with her, but she didn't expect to hear Shi Ling's voice from behind.
"I miss you."
Yi Yi pressed pause. "Holy crap, that's so standard. Did Lingzai learn all of Cantonese in just two months in Guangzhou?"
That's impossible, yet Chi Cheng taught her all those shameless words.
Shi Ling just smiled and said, "I've heard it a lot, but I don't know how."
Yi Yi was still sighing, "I really want to go to Guangdong, damn it, seeing this makes me want to go even more."
Shi Ling looked at it for a while before taking the kettle out again; the water hadn't boiled when she went to get it earlier.
When she came back, she stopped watching the TV series starring Yi Yi and Lu Xinyan and looked at her with a strange expression.
Who is Chi Cheng?
"What's going on?"
Shi Ling then realized that Chi Cheng had called her twice while she was out.
She didn't mean to hide it from her roommate; she's just naturally reserved and didn't have a chance to talk about it yesterday.