Any Closer and I'll Lose Control - Chapter 44

Xie Lingyin was placed on a chair by Shi Lan and Yang Ke. Seeing Meng Tang, Shi Lan pointed helplessly upward and said,

“We can’t get her up there. What should we do?”

Meng Tang replied, “Wake her up. Have her drink some hot ginger tea while it’s still warm to help her feel better.”

Yang Ke patted Xie Lingyin, who groggily opened her eyes and mumbled, “I’m back.”

“Yes, yes, you’re back,” Shi Lan said, helping her sit up. “Darling, time for your medicine.”

Yang Ke couldn’t help but laugh and gave Shi Lan a playful smack.

Meng Tang also chuckled as she scooped a spoonful of tea and fed it to Xie Lingyin.

After finishing, the three of them struggled to get Xie Lingyin into bed.

Meng Tang was exhausted by then. She washed up and collapsed into sleep, but in her drowsiness, she heard faint rustling near the bed.

She opened her eyes, fumbled for her phone in the dark, and saw it was already half past midnight.

Pulling back the bed curtain, she asked, “Lingyin, you’re awake?”

Xie Lingyin responded, “Yeah, my head hurts a little. I’m going down to get some water.”

“Don’t move, I’ll get it for you.”

“Where’s my phone?”

“It’s charging. Hold on a sec.”

Meng Tang climbed down, handed her the phone and a glass of warm water.

Xie Lingyin took a moment to collect herself before asking, “Did you bring me back?”

Meng Tang countered, “First, answer me, why did you go to a bar alone?”

“Had a fight with my family,” Xie Lingyin said, not wanting to burden Meng Tang with the messy details. “Felt suffocated, so I went drinking.”

“Don’t do that again. It’s too dangerous.”

“Got it,” Xie Lingyin replied. “Go back to sleep. I’m heading to the bathroom.”

Meng Tang murmured an acknowledgment and closed her eyes.

The next day, Meng Tang didn’t return until evening, having finished carving the wooden base for Wei Chuan’s figurine.

She thought the incident with Xie Lingyin’s drunkenness was behind them, but on Monday during a large lecture, Xu Heqing sent her a long apology message, nearly three hundred words.

Meng Tang read it carefully, replied with a simple “It’s fine,” then headed to the woodcarving studio to assemble the figurine and its base.

After a thorough inspection, she placed the piece into a box, nothing fancy, just one she’d bought online.

As if Wei Chuan had some telepathic connection to his figurine, he called just as she finished.

Meng Tang answered, “Your timing-”

But Wei Chuan cut her off, “Did Xu Heqing text you an apology this morning?”

“Yeah,” Meng Tang said, propping the phone against a shelf as she put on her coat. “Could you tell him to stop apologizing?”

Wei Chuan replied, “He called me, saying you didn’t respond.”

Meng Tang wrapped her scarf around her neck. “I did reply. I said it was fine.”

Wei Chuan added, “He mentioned wanting to take you out to eat, but you didn’t answer.”

Meng Tang checked her WeChat and saw Xu Heqing’s follow-up message. Sniffling slightly, she said,

“I didn’t see it, my phone was in my bag. Tell him I’m not upset and to drop it.”

“Alright,” Wei Chuan said, stepping out of the training center. “You sound like you’ve caught a cold.”

After standing in the cold wind outside the bar on Saturday night, Meng Tang had woken up the next morning with a runny nose.

Adjusting her scarf, she said, “It’s nothing. Your figurine’s ready. I’ll bring it to you.”

“I’ll come to you,” Wei Chuan said, quickening his pace. “Which cafeteria are you heading to?”

“The south one.”

She planned to take some medicine after dinner.

The South Canteen was next to the training hall. Wei Chuan said, “Then I’ll wait for you at the canteen entrance.”

“Okay.”

Z University’s North and South Canteens were located at either end of the main road, with the trees lining the path already withered and colorless.

Wei Chuan wasn’t even on his phone, just standing with his hands in his pockets, gazing into the distance with an air of casual boredom.

Passing girls couldn’t help but glance his way, his “look-back rate” was off the charts.

Meng Tang slowly came into Wei Chuan’s line of sight, her fair face half-hidden behind a blue-checkered scarf.

When she saw Wei Chuan, she handed over the wood carving. “Here, take it. It’s so cold.”

Wei Chuan glanced at her. “You’re not wearing enough.”

“I am.” Meng Tang brushed past him and entered the canteen.

Food cooled quickly, so Meng Tang bought a bowl of noodles to warm herself up.

Wei Chuan clutched the box tightly, afraid some careless passerby might bump into it.

He sat down across from Meng Tang, placing his bag and the box beside him before turning to buy a bowl of noodles himself, adding two eggs to it.

Once seated again, he pulled out his phone and said, “How much for the carving? I’ll transfer it to you.”

Meng Tang replied, “This is second-grade material, so 600 is fine.”

After all that work, and the month-long delay due to her injury, Wei Chuan paused. “Really just 600?”

Meng Tang nodded.

Wei Chuan transferred the 600, and Meng Tang accepted it immediately.

“After you see it, don’t go spreading the word. I’m really afraid more people will ask me for commissions, I genuinely don’t have the time.”

Wei Chuan chuckled. “I know. I definitely won’t brag about it.”

Meng Tang’s chopsticks paused mid-air. Softly, she muttered, “You’re quite self-aware.”

Wei Chuan retorted, “I just have a clear sense of self.”

Meng Tang couldn’t argue with him. She finished her meal and left.

Z University had many breathtaking views. Remembering Meng Tang’s warning, Wei Chuan found a secluded spot by the lake and carefully opened the wooden box.

Sunlight spilled in, its gentle glow bathing the wood carving inside, the honeyed hues shimmering softly.

Wei Chuan nearly forgot to breathe, it was stunning!

The knife strokes were fluid, the lines lively and dynamic.

Wei Chuan touched the basketball and was startled by the rough texture under his fingertips. He ran his finger along it again, and the basketball actually spun.

“Holy shit,” he blurted out reflexively. “It moves?”

Like a child with a new toy, he couldn’t resist fiddling with it.

Then he examined the figure of the young man, the folds of his clothes natural, his expression self-satisfied, capturing his demeanor perfectly.

Wei Chuan couldn’t help but laugh. “Am I really that full of myself?”

After admiring it for half an hour, Wei Chuan asked his coach for a two-hour leave and personally took the carving back home.

His entire family was busy, so only the housekeeper who had raised him since childhood came to greet him. “Why are you back?”

Wei Chuan pointed at the item on his nightstand. “Auntie, no one is allowed to touch this. You’ll clean my room yourself from now on, and send me a photo every day for inspection.”

“…Understood.”

A Maltese dog eagerly pushed the door open. Though Wei Chuan feigned annoyance, he still picked it up and gave it a good rub.

He took out his phone, snapped a selfie with the dog, and sent it to Meng Tang: [Look, the Maltese I told you about.]

With its purple hair clip, little dress, and pearl necklace around its neck, Meng Tang replied: [Very cute.]

Wei Chuan: [Way too spoiled.]

Meng Tang was about to reply when she suddenly zoomed in on the photo.

Only a corner was visible, but Meng Tang would never mistake it, on Wei Chuan’s nightstand was the wood carving she had given him that afternoon.

Wasn’t he supposed to be confessing? Why did he take it home?

Meng Tang typed on her phone: [Winter break is just over a month away. You said you’d confess once you got the wood carving, so why did you take it home with you?]

Wei Chuan turned around and thought, Shit, I’m busted!