He casually wiped it twice with his hands.
Unexpectedly, a girl next to him handed him a tissue, and after hesitating for a moment, he took it.
"Thanks."
The people he had been playing ball with earlier came over and patted him on the shoulder. They had heard him call out to Da Lin during the game. "Hey bro, you played pretty well."
Chi Cheng is tall and loves to exercise, so he's naturally quite good.
He casually replied, "It's alright, you're not bad either."
When Da Lin saw the girl handing Chi Cheng a tissue, he winked and said, "Hey, did I bother you?"
Chi Cheng smiled and said, "No, they meant well. If my girlfriend heard that, she would be angry."
Dalin looked around. "Where's your girlfriend?"
Chi Cheng shrugged. "Studying."
After saying that, he sent Shi Ling a few WeChat messages, asking her to come and watch him play basketball.
He also wanted to show off a bit in front of Shi Ling.
He put his phone down and went back on stage.
He played for a while longer, but still didn't see Shi Ling, who didn't even reply to his WeChat messages.
Chi Cheng frowned as he called her.
The number you dialed is busy, please try again later.
When Chi Cheng returned to the classroom, his seat was empty.
He walked around the floor before finally finding Shi Ling in the stairwell on the other side.
Shi Ling stood by the window, her hand resting on the windowsill, her fingers still entwined with the ivy that had crept in from outside, intently talking on the phone.
Chi Cheng tiptoed over from behind and put his arm around her waist.
Shi Ling was clearly startled, her body trembled slightly, and when she saw it was him, she made a shushing gesture.
Chi Cheng's hand was still gently squeezing her waist.
Shi Ling smelled the sweat on him, her nose twitched, and she frowned as she pushed him away.
Chi Cheng knew he was soaked in sweat, so he let go of her and sat on the steps behind her to smoke.
He finished his cigarette, and Shi Ling was still playing.
The more he listened to the phone call, the more suspicious it seemed. At first, the conversation was normal, with things like he had just taken the IELTS exam and his score was decent.
After a long silence, she finally spoke coldly: there's no need to meet again.
Shi Ling said a few more words, "I'm fine without you."
After she finished speaking, she subconsciously turned around and glanced at Chi Cheng.
Chi Cheng pressed his tongue against his mouth.
He already knew who she was talking to on the phone.
She had barely finished speaking when Chi Cheng snatched her phone away.
Chi Cheng touched his phone; it was burning hot, and his anger intensified.
He gave a cold laugh over the other end, his tone thick with tension, "Don't bother her anymore."
Shi Ling saw that he hung up the phone directly and his expression was not good. "Can you stop being so childish?"
Chi Cheng's lips curled up slightly as he pulled up the notification page on her phone. "Do you know how many WeChat messages I sent you, how long I waited for you? You were just here talking to your ex on the phone."
Shi Ling glanced at it; it was indeed from an hour ago.
Her thesis required modeling, and he helped her with the initial proposal. So when he called to explain his approach to that part, Shi Ling listened attentively.
Moreover, regardless of the circumstances, their three-year relationship—she had loved and hated him—had nothing to do with each other anymore. Chi Cheng's meddling had turned it into something she was deliberately showing off.
Shi Ling frowned. "I didn't see it. I didn't say anything when I made the call. Did you ask for my permission before you grabbed my phone?"
Chi Cheng opened her hand and put the phone inside.
“You really didn’t say anything,” he said, squinting at her with a scrutinizing look in his eyes, “are you waiting to go back to me?”
There is an elevator in the teaching building; very few people use the stairs.
No one had come for so long, but now a girl came down. Seeing the tense atmosphere between them, she couldn't help but take a second look.
Even when walking up to the next floor, they would peek back to look.
Shi Ling could see it clearly from this angle.
Although she was annoyed, she didn't want to become a laughingstock.
Shi Ling swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue and said softly, "Let's go downstairs and talk."
She turned around and went down the stairs.
Chi Cheng had been waiting for her for a long time. When he came up to the stairwell, he was already sweating profusely.
Seeing that she really left, I became even angrier.
Shi Ling waited downstairs for him for a long time, but he didn't come. She knew he was probably angry.
She believed she hadn't done anything wrong. As it was getting dark, she walked out of the nearest small gate of the campus and entered a clay pot rice restaurant where most of the tables were set up outdoors. She sent him a WeChat message telling him the name of the restaurant.
After Shi Ling finished ordering, Chi Cheng sat down at the table next to her.
Shi Ling naturally didn't take the initiative to talk to him.
A while later, the proprietress brought over her claypot rice.
He glanced at Chi Cheng a few times, then whispered to Shi Ling, "Pretty girl, do you know this person? He keeps staring at you, be careful."
Shi Ling glanced at him and said indifferently, "I don't know him."
As she picked up the chopsticks from the plastic bucket, the stool next to her was suddenly dragged away, making a screeching sound on the concrete floor. Chi Cheng sat down and turned her around by her shoulders.
"Let's get to know each other again, Chi Cheng, your boyfriend."
After he finished speaking, he leaned over and kissed her, kissing her urgently and fiercely, leaving Shi Ling almost breathless.
The proprietress saw this and, worried that something had happened, rushed out to ask, "Hey, what's up?"
Chi Cheng reluctantly let go of her and explained, "My girlfriend and I had a fight."
The proprietress glanced at the two of them suspiciously, and seeing that Shi Ling didn't object, she could only warn, "Don't cause any trouble."
It was the first time Shi Ling had heard him openly discuss their relationship, and she found it somewhat amusing, knowing that he was jealous.
She reached out and took his hand, teasing him, "When did I get a boyfriend? How come I didn't know?"
Chi Cheng was clearly still upset about what had just happened. He glanced at her and said, "Of course you don't know, I'm waiting to rekindle my old flame with my ex."
Shi Ling called out to him with dissatisfaction, "Chi Cheng."
“I’ve really moved on,” she said, a hint of jealousy in her voice. “I haven’t even mentioned She Jiaxin yet.”
Chi Cheng's face darkened; he didn't want to bring up the incident where the two of them bumped into each other in the corridor.
When people are deeply in love, even their arguments sound like playful banter; they make up in no time.
After dinner, Shi Ling originally wanted to continue writing her thesis, but Chi Cheng couldn't stand it. He grabbed her waist and pushed her in the opposite direction of the teaching building.
It was completely dark outside the school gate, and the small shops near the gate were bustling with activity, filled with the lively atmosphere of everyday life.
Couples were walking along the school path.
The two then took a walk along the school path. Shi Ling was originally a man of few words.
When Chi Cheng is with her friends, she's always talking non-stop. Strangely enough, being with her, even if the two of you don't speak, just walking quietly together, brings a unique sense of comfort.
Walking under the shade of the trees by the lake, I vaguely saw a pair of shadows leaning against the tree trunk, their rustling sounds in the darkness only fueling my imagination.
As they drew closer, Shi Ling, who had initially felt somewhat uncomfortable, began to feel uneasy.
Chi Cheng saw her expression, smiled, walked over and whistled, causing the couple to separate as if they had been electrocuted.
A slight smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Shi Ling glared at him. "Boring."
Chi Cheng led her two steps forward and stopped under a streetlamp.
He reached out and pulled her into his arms.
The lake reflects the shadows of a row of streetlights along the way. One wonders how many couples, like them, are embracing and loving each other in places where the streetlights don't reach.
Shi Ling's face was right near his collar. Chi Cheng had played basketball today and didn't have any clothes to change into, so he had been holding it in until now. Although the smell of sweat on his body wasn't unpleasant, it was still a distinctly masculine scent.
Shi Lingcai wasn't afraid of ruining the atmosphere; she just looked disgusted.
"Don't hug me after playing basketball, I smell terrible."
Chi Cheng chuckled softly, resting his chin on the top of her head and taking a deep sniff of her hair.
"It's okay, you still smell wonderful, you smell wonderful everywhere."
Shi Ling understood the implication in his words and pinched his waist with the hand that was wrapped around his back.
"rogue."
Author's Note: Sigh, this chapter is purely saccharine and cheesy about romance.
Update 2 later.
Xiuwenxiu is devastated.
Finally, I truly love you all so much, every single one of you. I feel so happy to have the best readership in the world; you are all my fairies.
Chapter 21
(Flashback)
Chi Cheng only studied sporadically for a few days, and didn't even come out when Lin Shan invited him.