Any Closer and I'll Lose Control - Chapter 48

Meng Tang did have that thought, she didn’t believe that a mere flicker of affection necessitated pursuing someone.

Her silence left Wei Chuan’s chest tight with frustration.

After just one meal with Li Hanjin, even Xu Heqing had been abandoned.

Their decade-long bond was like a shadow Meng Tang couldn’t shake off.

Impulse took over, and Wei Chuan asked with a sour edge, “Is he really just your senior brother?”

Meng Tang’s heart skipped a beat. “What do you mean?”

Wei Chuan hesitated. “You and him…”

Meng Tang found it absurd, both Li Hanjin and Wei Chuan were questioning whether she had something going on with the other.

Her expression turned icy, and she turned to leave without another word.

Wei Chuan strode after her. “Meng Tang.”

This time, Meng Tang was genuinely angry. She ignored him all the way to her dormitory door.

Wei Chuan returned to his dorm in a daze.

“Brother Chuan,” Tian Yu greeted him eagerly. “Did you get things settled?”

Wei Chuan gave a perfunctory “Mhm,” not even questioning why Tian Yu was there.

He tossed his phone onto the desk and picked up the koi bookmark, turning it over and over in his hands.

“If you got it settled, why aren’t you happy?” Xu Heqing stepped in from the balcony, circling behind Wei Chuan.

Seeing him still cradling his potted plants, Wei Chuan felt speechless, like the emperor wasn’t anxious, but the eunuch was.

Yet Meng Tang’s retreat left a furtive, shameful flicker of joy in his heart, one he didn’t dare examine too closely.

Wei Chuan shot him a gloomy look. “You wouldn’t understand.”

Xu Heqing: “…If you don’t tell me, how am I supposed to understand?”

Wei Chuan stared at Xu Heqing, gradually straightening his posture. Hadn’t he argued with Meng Tang for Xu Heqing’s sake?

Xu Heqing took a step back. “Why are you looking at me like that? It’s creepy.”

Wei Chuan suddenly stood, slinging an arm around Xu Heqing’s neck. “Let’s talk on the balcony.”

Xu Heqing struggled. “The AC’s on inside, why go out in the heat?”

Using his height to his advantage, Wei Chuan forcibly dragged him to the balcony and swiftly shut the door behind them.

Omitting the part about Meng Tang’s crush on Xu Heqing, Wei Chuan recounted the situation.

Xu Heqing gave him a sidelong glance, smirking suggestively.

“Damn it,” Wei Chuan rubbed his arms, goosebumps rising. “What’s with that look?”

“Are you upset that Meng Tang argued with you?” Xu Heqing asked, sounding like a seasoned veteran.

“Of course not,” Wei Chuan retorted heatedly. “She… she’s not even anything to me. So, what if we argued? I just think that Li Hanjin guy is no good.”

“That’s pretty presumptuous of you. They’ve been senior brother and junior sister for over a decade, that kind of bond isn’t something you can just cut off.”

“Meng Tang has nothing to do with him,” Wei Chuan insisted, afraid Xu Heqing would misunderstand. “She only got mad because I said something similar to what you just did.”

Xu Heqing thought Wei Chuan was being dense. Wasn’t it obvious Meng Tang liked him? Of course she’d be angry if he insinuated she was involved with Li Hanjin.

He nudged Wei Chuan with his elbow. “Have you gotten stupid from playing too much basketball?”

Wei Chuan looked baffled. “What do you mean?”

“What I mean is, if you still want her as your girl, er, female friend,” Xu Heqing amended, given Wei Chuan’s stubbornness, “then you need to learn to apologize. Smooth things over first.”

“How?”

“When Xie Lingyin got drunk the other day and Meng Tang got caught in the crossfire, didn’t you handle it just fine?”

“Who? who was handling anything?” Wei Chuan’s neck stiffened. “But you’re right, I shouldn’t have said that. Fine, I’ll apologize.”

“Ah, there’s hope for you yet.”

Wei Chuan’s mood suddenly lifted, and he turned to grab his phone to send a message to Meng Tang, asking if she was asleep.

It was just past ten o’clock, and by all accounts, college students wouldn’t be sleeping at this hour.

But Meng Tang, well, that was another story.

Wei Chuan scratched his head, eager to resolve the matter tonight, yet afraid that Meng Tang might actually be asleep and he’d disturb her rest.

He clutched his phone all night, but by the next day, there was still no reply.

Meng Tang glanced at her phone, muted it, and tossed it into her bag, not even taking it out during lunch.

After leaving the restoration lab, she received a call from Chen Xunli.

He mentioned that Li Hanjin had learned about her wood carving restoration and wanted to observe. Chen Xunli had also discussed it with the department head.

Hanging up, Meng Tang sat down on the steps outside the restoration lab.

Back in the day, she and Li Hanjin had supported each other in life and honed their skills together.

Though he had started learning years after her, he had quickly matched her level and even earned the old master’s praise, had he begun earlier, he might have surpassed her by leaps and bounds.

Meng Tang knew that, as a woman, her wrist strength was naturally weaker, so she had trained relentlessly since childhood.

Though her personality was as steady as wood, the old master’s words had once gnawed at her.

Even now, she wondered, if Li Hanjin hadn’t left the Meng family, how high would his craftsmanship have soared by now?

Almost unconsciously, Meng Tang pulled out her phone and dialed Li Hanjin’s number.

She wanted to see for herself whether, after four years, he had truly surpassed her by leaps and bounds.

After eating in the cafeteria, Meng Tang stood directly at the entrance of the restoration room, waiting for Li Hanjin.

Once inside, Li Hanjin’s eyes lit up.

The medium-sized wood carving had been fully restored. Whether judged by proportion, expression, detail, or technique, it was a masterpiece.

He turned to her with a playful grin. “If this doesn’t win gold, call me. I’ll personally smash the organizers’ reputation.”

Meng Tang: “…After four years apart, you’ve developed a taste for violent aesthetics?”

Li Hanjin chuckled. “Just joking.”

Meng Tang stepped aside slightly to give him space. “Take a look.”

Li Hanjin studied it intently before speaking. “This wood carving is the perfect size for tabletop viewing. The blind monk sits cross-legged before the waterfall, seemingly in meditation, but actually listening to the music of the qin.”

“The hollowed-out main trunk of the pine branch, with its deliberate gaps for expansion, shows you’ve mastered the wood’s resilience.”

“The folds of the robe flutter with the wind, and the five delicate carvings capture the lightness and movement of the fabric in this scene.”

“…”

Li Hanjin analyzed Meng Tang’s work from start to finish, without a single misstep.

Meng Tang pressed her lips together and asked him to elaborate on the restoration details.

From scratch repairs and fracture techniques to optical compensation and texture replication, everything he said aligned perfectly with her own work.

Meng Tang looked at Li Hanjin, her expression deeply conflicted.

Once, she had seen him as an older brother, as family, but more than that, as a formidable rival.

The old master hadn’t been wrong. Li Hanjin truly was a prodigy.

Leaving the restoration room, Meng Tang declined Li Hanjin’s invitation and headed to the convenience store alone. But once there, she stood blankly in front of the shelves for a long time.

She was unwilling to admit it, but she had to concede.

Someone nearby asked if she was going to buy anything. Finally snapping out of her daze, Meng Tang randomly grabbed a bag of chips. But as she turned to check out, her gaze landed on the beer.

Almost as if possessed, she picked up a bottle.

The cashier gave her a doubtful look. “Did you grab the wrong thing?”

“Huh?” Meng Tang instinctively moved to put it back, but a large hand stopped her.

“No mistake.”

Meng Tang turned her head, and a handsome, smiling face suddenly filled her vision.

“Ah, buying these for your boyfriend? That’ll be 12 in total. You can scan the code.”

“He’s not-”

“I’ll take care of it.” Wei Chuan swiftly scanned the payment code.

With other students still waiting in line to pay, Wei Chuan stuffed his phone into his pocket, grabbed Meng Tang’s wrist, and pulled her outside in a dash.