Shi Ling raised her chin slightly, her tone dissatisfied, "Didn't she say I was a moral guardian?"
Since it's already locked, opening the door for Han Yue won't necessarily make her grateful.
Shi Ling is not a true defender of morality.
Chi Cheng really wanted to coax her this time, so he ruffled her hair and half-embraced her.
"Why do I like you so much? You're not a moral guardian, you're an exorcist."
Shi Ling sometimes reveals aspects of herself that don't match her appearance, yet are straightforward and adorable, which makes her truly endearing.
Even though it was just the two of them in the corridor, and the surrounding noise was terrible, Chi Cheng still pressed his earlobe against hers in an ambiguous way.
"Are we going back?"
He gestured with his eyes towards the direction of the KTV private room.
Shi Ling understood what he meant and wanted to go back to the hotel to be intimate as soon as possible.
She hadn't planned to stay here all night, and she wouldn't have come if everyone hadn't insisted that she bring Chi Cheng to check in.
Although she didn't want everything to go her way, she still lowered her head and answered softly.
"Let's go straight back to the hotel."
The two went back to the private room to say hello, which naturally drew laughter from Shi Ling's classmates, who said they were in a hurry to go back and book a room.
Shi Ling remained silent, and Chi Cheng did not argue, letting them tease her.
Stepping out of the KTV, the breeze was cool and refreshing, much crisper than the murky, ambiguous air inside. The KTV was near the school, and their hotel wasn't far either, so they walked back hand in hand.
Shi Ling remained silent the entire way. She couldn't hide anything from her, and even though she didn't speak, everything was written on her face.
Chi Cheng knew she still wanted to talk about taking the IELTS exam.
Holding her hand, he smiled helplessly, remaining relatively calm. "Are you really in such a hurry for me to go back?"
Shi Ling still had the same expression; she seemed to be born with a cold and hard personality.
She was worried that this would upset Chi Cheng, but when the words actually came out, she didn't know how to be tactful and didn't show any reluctance to part with him. "You only have two months left, don't waste your time here."
Two months is too short for IELTS; you need to improve your score, take the exam, and wait for your results.
Many people take the test many times, but their total score remains the same; they are stuck on the sub-scores.
She knew how difficult it was after getting this score. She had already enrolled in a language course, but she felt that there was a high chance of failing, especially since her weak point was spoken English.
Chi Cheng knew all this perfectly well. He had been preparing to go abroad much earlier, and during his winter and summer vacations, he had attended several IELTS classes, taking the test far more times than Shi Ling.
Just because it was early, it seemed unhurried, but then it encountered an unexpected deadline and a score that had already been passed.
It's like a nameless fire burning inside me.
Even though Chi Cheng had a thousand and one thoughts on his mind, he didn't show them on his face.
Chi Cheng grinned, but with a hint of resentment, "If you don't come with me, I don't want to go back at all."
If Shi Ling had nothing else to do, she could certainly keep him company. Although they hadn't spent much time together, there had been almost no unpleasant moments. But she didn't have a definite time to tell him right now.
Compared to that, she was more worried about him these past two months. "Chi Cheng, stop fooling around. Go back and study hard. Getting a full 6.5 isn't that easy."
Chi Cheng smiled and replied casually and perfunctorily, "Don't worry, I'll just take a quick test when I get back and I'll definitely pass."
Upon hearing his words, Shi Ling slowly loosened her grip on his hand.
That's what he's saying now, so you can imagine what his attitude will be when he goes back to study.
Shi Ling hesitated for a moment, then finally advised him, "Can you not be so confident? Can you be a little more serious?"
The two were almost at the hotel on that depraved street, separated only by a wide road with a constant flow of traffic.
The traffic light across the street turned red. Chi Cheng pulled her along, and looking at the traffic light, he answered absentmindedly.
"Okay, I'll go back tomorrow and study for ten hours every day, okay?"
Shi Ling thought countless times about how to persuade him to go back as soon as possible and take the IELTS test first.
She thought Chi Cheng was still stubbornly insisting that she come with him, but she didn't expect him to say it so easily.
Shi Ling suspected she had misheard, so she stopped what she was doing and looked at him with a puzzled expression.
"real?"
The two stopped at the zebra crossing. The traffic next to them had already started moving again as the traffic light turned green, speeding away from them. The wind they created made Chi Cheng's bangs flutter in front of his forehead.
Chi Cheng pulled her back half a step, then let go.
Normally, if they let go of each other's hands, Chi Cheng would definitely grab her hand back, or put his arm around her waist instead.
Chi Cheng felt a chill run down his spine from her gaze, and then he remembered what she had just said about wasting time.
He glanced at her. "You're so unhappy that I'm here to keep you company? You're probably just looking forward to my departure, aren't you?"
Shi Ling is indeed reserved. She went back to school on her own, and when Chi Cheng came to find her, she didn't seem very happy. Now she seems to be sending him back alone.
Even if it was for his own good, to let him take the exam, it was all mixed up with Chi Cheng's chaotic mood, making him feel like a puppet on a string, suffocating him.
It would have been better if she hadn't said anything; Shi Ling was even more disappointed that this had taken up his time. If he had stayed in Guangzhou, he might have been able to keep up with his studies. She frowned, "I didn't originally intend for you to come with me; you insisted on coming."
Chi Cheng narrowed his eyes. "Shi Ling, do you have a conscience?"
She looked up at the red light beside her. The pedestrian light remained unchanged for a long time, while vehicles continued to flow in and out of the road.
Until someone came over and poked the pillar.
The sound of the red light waiting echoed in my ears, one second at a time, thump thump thump.
It turns out they were the first to arrive, and no one had pressed the stop button on the traffic light. This intersection has heavy traffic, and if no one is crossing, the pedestrian traffic light remains unchanged.
Most of the people who arrive later are just hitchhiking, thinking that since there are people waiting ahead of them, they don't need to press the button themselves.
Shi Ling did not want to argue with him. She lowered her voice, remaining calm and composed, and trying to avoid trouble.
"I'm afraid you won't pass the exam."
If he studies hard and passes the exam, that's fine. But Shi Ling mentioned another possibility: he might not pass before then and won't be able to get into KCL. We don't know if he has any other backup schools he's paid a deposit to reserve an offer for. If he doesn't even have that, it means he won't be able to go abroad this year.
The countdown to the red light pounded away, each beat striking their hearts.
I don't know if it's 90 seconds or 60 seconds, but every minute and every second of the wait is torture.
As the red light went on longer, more and more people waited, and the surrounding area was filled with noisy chatter. You could hear the sweet nothings of a couple, and the complaints of another couple about spending money like water.
But he couldn't hear any reply from Chi Cheng.
Unable to get an answer from him, Shi Ling asked the next question, "Do you have any other offers?"
Chi Cheng answered readily, "No, I applied early and my GPA was okay. I applied to KCL, LSE and Edinburgh. After getting into KCL, I didn't apply to any others, let alone before the deposit deadline."
In the UK, degrees are typically reserved by paying a deposit before May; otherwise, they will not be accepted.
This was a bustling intersection with heavy traffic and pedestrian flow. Although the two were being pushed closer together by the ever-increasing number of people, every word he uttered seemed to be as distant as if separated by countless others.
Shi Ling stared at him intently. "Chi Cheng, have you thought about what you'll do if you fail the exam?"
Chi Cheng shrugged and said casually, "A gap year."
Taking a gap year means keeping the offer and continuing to study next year.
This means that Shi Ling went abroad before Chi Cheng did, and only after Shi Ling returned to China did he finally leave.
Two years have passed in the blink of an eye; what talk of being together day and night?
They had only been together for two months, far from having considered each other for the future.
However, anyone in love, even someone as aloof and unattached as Shi Ling, would find it hard to believe that he would say such a thing, as if speaking meant separation.
She secretly clenched her fists, her face ashen. "Chi Cheng, are you serious?"
Chi Cheng still squinted, his eyes appearing long and unfocused.
Shi Ling looked at him, but couldn't see anything clearly.
All I could see was the red light on the side of his face, flickering and then being replaced by the green light.
The green light rang more urgently, the continuous thumping like a drumbeat urging people on.
Someone shouted from behind, "Let's go, let's go!"
Chi Cheng looked down and smiled at her, "Cross the road first."
The crowd began to push and shove forward. A tricycle squeezed in from the side, and Shi Ling, whose hand had already been separated from his, was now completely pushed apart by the crowd.
She didn't look at him, but instead followed the crowd to the other side.
In the past, Chi Cheng would always hold her in his arms and protect her when they crossed the street, but now he was walking alone, and he had a feeling of being swept along by the crowd and unable to control his own destiny.
After crossing the road and looking back, he was nowhere to be seen.
Looking across the street, you can spot Chi Cheng immediately. He always stands out in the crowd, even when he's bending over, picking up fallen fruit from a roadside stall.
It was most likely knocked over by a pedestrian.
Chi Cheng is tall and has long legs. When he bends over, his shirt is stretched taut by his arms, and his bangs fall down with his movements, covering the side of his forehead.
He stood up, casually dusted off his hands, and waved to Shi Ling.
He seemed to be smiling.
The traffic light between them turned red again.
Sometimes, the distance between two people is just a lamp, and that glaring red light is enough to make one's heart feel like it's being stabbed.
Sometimes, it seems that the fates of two people, when they reach a certain point, will suddenly encounter a red light.
You've gone through the green light, but I'm still waiting for the red light.
With so many cars and people in the middle, who knows when you'll lose sight of someone because of a traffic light? Maybe it'll be the next car that drives by, or the next group of people that walks by, and then you'll be nowhere to be seen.
When Chi Cheng walked over calmly as usual, giving her a teasing and ambiguous smile, Shi Ling suddenly felt that he was a stranger.
One moment he could chase her all the way from Guangzhou to City C and refuse to go back, the next he could say he'd take a gap year.
Chi Cheng reached out and ruffled her hair. "Were you scared?"
He laughed heartily, as if he hadn't just said those words. "It's okay if you don't pass the exam. I can still get a UK visa and come to be with you when school starts. Maybe if you stay in the UK for a while, you'll pass the exam quickly."
Shi Ling dodged his hand.