A Time-Limited Romance with Movie Queen Ex - Chapter 18

The draft paper with Luo Mijin’s contact information was safely tucked between the pages of Rong Qingyao’s notebook.

The paper was clean and crisp, with a string of eleven digits written in fountain pen that looked slightly fuzzy under the light. The last digit, “7,” had been written like a “Z” by Luo Mijin.

Anxious, Rong Qingyao dialed the number in a hurry.

However, a cold female voice responded from the other end: “The number you have dialed is currently switched off.”

Back in her dorm, Rong Qingyao felt waves of exhaustion wash over her. After repeated failed attempts to reach Luo Mijin, she had no choice but to head to her part-time job at the library.

A few days later, she even quietly visited Luo Mijin’s home using the address from her previous tutoring sessions.

From a distance, she stared at the opulent building for a long time but couldn’t bring herself to approach. Naturally, she didn’t catch a glimpse of Luo Mijin either.

Later, she tried to discreetly inquire about Luo Mijin’s whereabouts through connections in the student council, asking her classmates for information.

One of them, the class monitor of Luo Mijin’s class, was sharp-witted and offered a few extra details:

“I heard Mijin, the 7-dan player, is preparing for a Go tournament and is in closed training. She’s practically a celebrity her whereabouts are unpredictable. Is there something urgent you need from her, Senior Rong?”

The question left Rong Qingyao frozen in place. It dawned on her just how fragile her connection to Luo Mijin was like dew on a blade of grass, vanishing by morning without a trace.

“No, nothing urgent,” she murmured, her mind adrift. After a long pause, she managed an excuse: “I still have an umbrella she lent me that I haven’t returned.”

“Oh, that’s nothing to worry about. Young Miss Luo has the finest of everything, just an umbrella. She wouldn’t give it a second thought,” the monitor said cheerfully.

Wouldn’t give it a second thought…

Rong Qingyao felt an inexplicable discomfort and disappointment. That brief moment of intimate closeness between her and Luo Mijin now seemed like an ethereal dream.

Like a wisp of smoke curling upward, gone with the wind, leaving no proof behind.

**

As a junior, Rong Qingyao was preparing for a national finance competition. Between classes and her part-time job, she spent all her time practicing competition problems under her professor’s guidance.

During this period, she barely did anything but eat, sleep, and study. She pulled several all-nighters in a row, leaving her with splitting headaches and a pallid complexion.

Finally, she had no choice but to pack up and return to her dorm for some rest.

Yet, as she walked down the stairs, something tugged at her heart. The string of numbers from that draft paper kept replaying in her mind.

Her steps grew faster, almost uncontrollably, until she reached the bottom of the staircase and there, standing under the dappled sunlight, was Luo Mijin.

A black baseball cap, a black face mask, her silver hair now slightly shorter, shimmering under the thick glow of light.

Steadying her emotions and composing herself, Rong Qingyao walked calmly toward Luo Mijin.

Beneath the research building were lush green shrubs and orange blossoms, the trees verdant and fragrant.

The afternoon sun blazed overhead as Luo Mijin idly kicked a small pebble on the ground, sending tiny motes of dust swirling into the air.

Just as she was wondering how to find Rong Qingyao, she heard that clear, familiar voice.

“Junior Luo, long time no see.” Rong Qingyao controlled her tone, soft enough not to startle, yet firm enough to begin a conversation.

Luo Mijin’s wild, delicate features curved into an innocent smile, just like the day they first met.

“Long time no see,” she pursed her lips, her tone childlike. “I just returned from another city after participating in a Go tournament.”

“I know,” Rong Qingyao realized she answered too quickly and hastily added, “I heard it on TV.”

“Senior Qingyao, are you too tired?” Luo Mijin noticed the dark circles under the woman’s eyes, made more pronounced by her pale skin, giving her an especially fragile appearance.

Like a distant moon in the sky teetering on the edge, stirring endless imagination.

“I’m fine,” Rong Qingyao reached out and caught Luo Mijin’s fingers, as if catching a jade-colored butterfly, then abruptly let go.

“If you’re very tired, have a mint candy to refresh yourself,” Luo Mijin opened her treasure trove of a backpack again, rummaging through it. “There’s also liquor-filled chocolate, do you like it?”

The chocolate in Luo Mijin’s palm was wrapped in colorful foil. Rong Qingyao lowered her eyelashes, casting a shadow, and said softly:

“I haven’t really eaten it before, so I don’t know if I’d like it.”

“Haven’t really eaten it?” Luo Mijin widened her eyes in confusion.

“The chocolate I ate was expired,” Rong Qingyao explained calmly, forcing a gentle smile.

It was chocolate that man had bought for her mother. Her mother couldn’t bear to eat it and let it expire.

Until one day, seeing her starving, she fed it to her.

“Would you like to try some then?” Noticing the numb indifference in the woman’s eyes, Luo Mijin slowly placed the chocolate, still warm from her touch, into Rong Qingyao’s palm.

“Alright, I’ll give it a try,” Rong Qingyao turned her head slightly, her delicate profile showing a hint of aloof stubbornness. “Your phone is turned off?”

Luo Mijin paused, then nodded. Her grandfather hadn’t allowed her to go out, naturally cutting off all her connections with the outside world.

Followed by endless days of hospital treatments and nearly being sent to a special school.

“Senior, you looked for me?”

The answer was obvious.

“Then why didn’t Senior Qingyao give me your number?” Luo Mijin watched as Rong Qingyao unwrapped the foil and ate the mint candy.

The woman gently bit into the candy, her white teeth grazing her tender, moist red tongue, like an easily plucked cherry, full of sweet juice.

For a long time, Rong Qingyao didn’t answer. The humid air enveloped them, mingling the scents of mint and flowers into a peculiar flavor.

Luo Mijin used a smile to calm the surging tides within her and the indescribably vivid afterimage of that moment.

“Senior Qingyao, your classmates are calling you.”

Not far away stood several of Rong Qingyao’s roommates.

“Then I’ll go now, goodbye.”

“Goodbye.”

After a few steps, the woman turned back to Luo Mijin, her eyes a moist rose-red, her voice soft and light, like orange blossoms nearing their bloom, drifting onto Luo Mijin’s heart.

“I didn’t want to tell you, but every day after, I hoped you’d call.”

After saying this, Rong Qingyao quickly walked away, leaving Luo Mijin alone, feeling her body burning up, nearly drowning in the thin oxygen.

“Senior Qingyao, I’m going somewhere tonight.”

Luo Mijin slightly raised her eyes to stop Rong Qingyao, her light-colored pupils bright and clear, as if spring rain had just passed, reviving all things.

“Senior, will you come?”

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