Any Closer and I'll Lose Control - Chapter 23

The red light stopped the G-Class, and Qin Yuan turned his head, asking with unshakable confidence, “What’s wrong? Don’t you like it?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?” Wei Chuan retorted heatedly. “I went with Xu Heqing. Meng Tang likes Xu Heqing. You know all my roommates, do you know Xu Heqing?”

“Oh, so… you went to play matchmaker?”

Wei Chuan snorted. “You could say that.”

Qin Yuan asked, “Did it work?”

Wei Chuan replied, “Xu Heqing left halfway through.”

“So that means you stayed behind? You didn’t even come back for my birthday?”

“Why bring up the birthday again? Didn’t I buy you a gift?”

Qin Yuan let out a mocking “Hah.”

Wei Chuan thought he was being ridiculous.

The seven-day holiday passed quickly. Meng Tang had booked a morning ticket and returned to the dormitory shortly after Xie Lingyin.

The two tidied up, washed their bedding and, of course, took care of Shi Lan and Yang Ke’s as well.

At noon, neither felt like going out, so they settled for instant noodles.

After eating, Xie Lingyin asked, “When did Wei Chuan go back?”

Meng Tang wiped her mouth. “He left on the afternoon of the 2nd.”

Xie Lingyin leaned in closer. “What did you guys do? Did you take any photos?”

Meng Tang said, “We didn’t have enough time. We visited a temple and saw a waterfall, but we didn’t take any photos.”

Wei Chuan had snapped a few shots of the waterfall with his phone, but he hadn’t posted them on social media either.

In the afternoon, Shi Lan and Yang Ke returned. The group made their beds and went downstairs for dinner together.

Shi Lan happened to notice the card in Meng Tang’s hand and asked, “Why do you have two cards?”

Meng Tang replied, “The other one is Wei Chuan’s. He left it at my place.”

“Left it at your place?” Yang Ke and Shi Lan exclaimed in unison, their shocked expressions identical.

“Oh no,” Xie Lingyin muttered under her breath, leaning closer to Meng Tang. “Did we forget to tell them something?”

Meng Tang gave an awkward laugh. “Seems like it.”

Shi Lan and Yang Ke immediately cornered Meng Tang in the dorm room.

“Confess, and we’ll go easy on you.”

Xie Lingyin stepped in, pulling Meng Tang aside, and explained the situation herself.

Shi Lan wailed, “I should’ve gone too! Good grief! You two really kept your mouths shut!”

Yang Ke looked up at the ceiling. “What exactly did I miss?”

Meng Tang tried to console them. “Lingyin was in a bad mood at the time. She didn’t want to talk about her family stuff, so I couldn’t say anything either. Next time, I’ll take you guys to Yanqing, okay?”

Xie Lingyin burst out laughing. “Meng Tang, you’re such a blockhead. Do you really think they’re upset about not going to your place? They’re upset about missing the chance to hang out with Wei Chuan and Xu Heqing!”

Meng Tang: “…”

Shi Lan huffed. “Nonsense! I’m just sad I didn’t get to visit Meng Tang’s home. Can’t I want to meet the great Master Meng?”

“Sure, sure. Next time, Meng Tang can take you home.”

As they chatted, they headed downstairs. Just before reaching the dorm entrance, Meng Tang’s phone buzzed.

Wei Chuan texted that he was waiting outside the dorm to pick up his campus card.

But he hadn’t mentioned that his entire dorm would be there.

When Meng Tang arrived, Liang Heng and Li Zhuo immediately started teasing, making her glance back repeatedly.

Wei Chuan was startled too and turned to scold them, “What’s wrong with you two? Why the sudden commotion?”

Liang Heng and Li Zhuo just grinned without answering.

Meng Tang handed the campus card to Wei Chuan, her gaze briefly flickering past Xu Heqing.

It wasn’t often that both dorms crossed paths, so they decided to head to the cafeteria together.

Eight people, three of them well-known, soon became the talk of every school group chat.

The only reason two dorm rooms would eat together was if someone was dating.

Word got around, and soon there was talk of an “alliance” between the two dorms.

The school sports day was just around the corner, so naturally, the conversation turned to that.

Wei Chuan asked Meng Tang, “Did you sign up for anything at the sports day?”

Meng Tang shook her head. “I told the teacher I’m focusing on the fitness test on the 14th.”

Wei Chuan said, “The fitness test is in the gym, and the assistants are mostly juniors and seniors. They’ll pretty much let you pass.”

Meng Tang replied, “If it’s in the gym, I should be fine.”

She had been running the 800 meters intermittently since the semester started, gradually increasing to twice a week. She began running the night Wei Chuan left Yanqing and had kept it up for six days.

Today was just the start of the semester, so there probably wouldn’t be many people running on the track. She planned to go for a jog after dinner to help digest.

But as soon as they left the cafeteria, everyone headed straight for the track. Meng Tang couldn’t help but laugh, apparently, they all had the same idea.

Wei Chuan, however, had already left, he still had training.

Shi Lan asked, “When does the regional competition start?”

Xu Heqing replied, “It varies by region and school. For Z Province, the full schedule is usually announced one or two weeks before the event.”

Meng Tang knew about the CUBAL but hadn’t followed it closely. She quietly added, “How many days does it last?”

Xu Heqing said, “Depends on the number of teams. The regional competition in Z Province usually starts in early November. Z University is skipping the group stage this year, so it should wrap up around the 10th.”

“Brother Chuan and the others are training extra every night,” Li Zhuo chimed in. “Last year’s results were more of a disappointment. This year, with Brother Chuan leading the charge, the pressure’s on.”

Liang Heng raised an eyebrow. “Pressure? He seems more pumped the closer it gets to the competition.”

Xu Heqing teased, “A true competitor.”

As it was getting late, Meng Tang tapped Xie Lingyin. “I’m going for a run.”

Xie Lingyin was about to follow when Xu Heqing said he needed to talk to her.

Shi Lan and Yang Ke caught up with Meng Tang and joined her.

After the run, they realized Xie Lingyin never showed up.

On the way back to the dorm, Shi Lan called her, but Xie Lingyin told them to go ahead without her.

Meng Tang walked between the two of them, arms linked, heading back to the dorm.

“Have you noticed Lingyin always has something going on at night?” Yang Ke tilted her head in confusion.

“Has she?” Meng Tang didn’t think so. “When I get back, you’re all usually in the dorm.”

Shi Lan clicked her tongue. “You’re in a different department. She really does go out a lot at night.”

Meng Tang said, “Maybe she’s just busy.”

“Hey,” Yang Ke tugged at Meng Tang, “you don’t think she’s dating someone, do you?”

Meng Tang replied, “No way, right?”

Shi Lan also dismissed the idea. “If she were dating someone, she wouldn’t hide it from us.”

“True,” Yang Ke agreed, then added, puzzled, “You know, none of us in this dorm are unattractive. Why is it so hard to get a boyfriend? Lingyin’s even the campus belle, why is she in the same boat as us?”

Shi Lan nudged Meng Tang. “After this trip back home, did anything spark between you and Wei Chuan?”

“Stop talking nonsense,” Meng Tang bumped her back. “What could there be between me and Wei Chuan? He likes someone else, remember?”

“Damn, I totally forgot.” Shi Lan looked genuinely regretful.

Yang Ke let go of Meng Tang and smirked. “You two need to think bigger. What if Wei Chuan actually likes Meng Tang?”

“Yang Ke!” Meng Tang chased after her, flustered. “Please stop joking around. He really does like someone else.”

“Alright, alright, I was just joking.”

Meng Tang felt awkward inside, but she couldn’t blame Yang Ke, after all, Yang Ke didn’t know Wei Chuan likes Xie Lingyin.

Distractedly finishing her shower, Meng Tang attributed the root cause of people pairing her with Wei Chuan to their frequent interactions.

With the grassroots competition approaching, she had more or less mastered the three-step layup. There was no need to waste Wei Chuan’s time any longer.

After blow-drying her long hair, Meng Tang climbed onto the bed, sitting cross-legged. She spent a while carefully composing a message before finally sending it to Wei Chuan.