Hints at GL - Chapter 26

Chapter 26

More than a week had passed since that dinner at Arbutus.

Even the long-awaited Christmas holidays were approaching, yet Su Yuan showed no sign of asking her out.

In fact, within a few days of their confrontation, Zhong Ning had received a text from Su Yuan. It said: I’m sorry, I didn’t expect your reaction to be so strong. What I wanted to say remains the same; I hope you can consider it again.

Did “what she wanted to say” refer to the fact that she still liked Ruan Mu but was willing to try things out with her?

What a joke…

Aside from that one text, Su Yuan hadn’t contacted her again.

Accompanying the Christmas break was not just a wonderful vacation, but a succession of exams and essays. Since Zhong Ning couldn’t travel abroad, she poured all her focus into her exams. Even so, she couldn’t shake those troubling thoughts.

What exactly did Su Yuan want? She didn’t mention finding someone else, yet she kept stalling like this with her.

Ultimately, if this were just a simple crush that didn’t pan out, it would be one thing. The problem was that Zhong Ning actually had to contact Su Yuan for business; she couldn’t just sever ties over a spat.

Thinking of this, Zhong Ning felt an indescribable sense of irony.

The last day before the break.

The fifty-something-year-old professor suddenly raised his voice a second before the lecture ended. “Sit down, please. Wait a moment; a few students have arrived with an announcement.” He pushed up his glasses and looked to the side. “Oh, you aren’t the…”

The old professor muttered something under his breath, shrugged, and handed over the podium.

The students sat back down.

A tall, thin male student wearing glasses gestured for attention. “I’m sorry to take up a few minutes of your time. I know you’re all eager for the holidays, but… there are important results from the previous competition to announce. I hope you’ll listen.”

Zhong Ning was confused. She turned to Kevin, a student from Taiwan sitting next to her. “What competition is he talking about?”

Kevin frowned at her. “You’re so silly. Don’t you remember the first few weeks of the term? They suddenly asked everyone to form random groups of four or five to participate in a business simulation competition.” He pointed at her. “But you and a lot of other people silently dropped out later and didn’t even submit the task for the first round.”

Hearing him say this, Zhong Ning had a faint recollection.

“Please welcome our coordinator to announce the teams that have made it to the finals…” the tall, thin student’s voice came from the stage.

Kevin was still talking to Zhong Ning when he heard the rustling of whispers around them. “Hey, isn’t that Anna?”

The name made Zhong Ning’s heart skip a beat. She thought to herself, It couldn’t be that coincidental, could it?

Su Yuan was wearing a soft, form-fitting knit sweater, her long hair simply tied back. She slightly raised her eyes on the podium, and that gentle, exquisite face came into view.

Why is Su Yuan here?

Did it mean that if she hadn’t sneaked away from the orientation at the start of the term, she would have met Su Yuan long ago? What exactly had she missed?

Before Zhong Ning could figure it out, those gentle eyes swept across the room, and Su Yuan spoke. “It is an honor to be in charge of LSE’s annual business simulation competition. I’m sure you all gained an understanding of the schedule at the start of the term.”

“The competition is now roughly halfway through. Colleges from various regions have selected their top-performing teams, who will come to London next semester for the grand finals…”

Zhong Ning didn’t hear a single word. She only knew how much she wanted to leave this place, just like when she sneaked out of the orientation.

Because quite a few people nearby were already gossiping about Su Yuan.

“Hey, isn’t she that girl from Hong Kong majoring in Financial Mathematics?”

“Who? You mean Anna is from Hong Kong? No wonder her English is so native.”

“No, her English is native because she’s a BBC. Oh, I heard she worked as an analyst at UBS before doing her Master’s.”

“Wait, I think I’ve seen her in the restaurant on the first floor of the Business School. Right, you saw her too.”

“Oh, I remember! Wasn’t she having dinner with Cathy from our major? Gosh, you have no idea—when those two wealthy beauties sat next to us that day, the whole atmosphere changed.”

Zhong Ning had a strange premonition that if these girls kept chatting, they would eventually mention her. She felt like she couldn’t stay for even another second.

“Let’s go…”

She tugged on Kevin’s sleeve and lowered her voice, making up an excuse. “Jing Yang has been waiting for ages. If we don’t go out now, she’ll be angry again.”

Kevin checked his watch and frowned. “It seems like they’re just announcing the results. It won’t take long.”

Zhong Ning rolled her eyes inwardly and added in a low voice, “I’ll go find her first, then you come out and meet us.” “…Alright then,” Kevin agreed after a moment’s thought.

At this moment, Zhong Ning’s mind was occupied with too many thoughts, all revolving around the goal of leaving immediately. She didn’t even hear Su Yuan announcing the participating teams from LSE.

Before Kevin could pull her back, she had already stood up.

Just then, the soft voice paused.

The entire hall suddenly went silent. A palpable sense of awkwardness hung in the air. No, wait, what’s happening? Zhong Ning’s entire body froze. She slowly turned her head.

She saw Su Yuan staring straight at her, her eyes slightly narrowed.

Wait.

It seemed she had missed something just now…

After a long pause.

The corners of Su Yuan’s mouth curled. In front of everyone, she chuckled softly. “Honey, don’t be so impatient. I wasn’t talking about you.”

The entire hall erupted in laughter.

It was incredibly embarrassing.

Aside from sitting down immediately with a flushed face, Zhong Ning couldn’t find any other solution. Fortunately, the other woman didn’t intend to let the joke drag on for too long; she quickly called several male students onto the stage. Only then did Zhong Ning finally understand what had just happened.

“Why didn’t you stop me?” she asked Kevin beside her in an annoyed whisper.

“My lady… could I have stopped you?” Kevin rolled his eyes, showing no sympathy.

Finally, the session came to an end.

Zhong Ning practically fled downstairs, dragging Kevin along. On the way, she received “concerned” jokes from various international students. She tried her best to remain calm, bidding them all farewell one by one.

Su Yuan seemed to be giving instructions to the participating team at the moment. She glanced at Zhong Ning as she left; that gentle gaze was felt even through her peripheral vision, but Zhong Ning didn’t even have the courage to make eye contact.

She knew she had serious business with Su Yuan, but a stubborn feeling in her heart made her not want to do it. Even ignoring the confession that day, a week had passed—by any logic, the other person should be the one to come find her.

Kevin and Zhong Ning reached the door. He checked the time and asked, “Should I call Jing Yang?”

Zhong Ning reacted sluggishly. “Ah, yeah,” she didn’t know what she was feeling disappointed about at this moment, but only this could distract her. “I’ll call.”

“Mhm?” Just as she was about to swipe her phone open, she suddenly received a text.

Any plans for New Year’s Eve? It was from Barry. Zhong Ning frowned at the screen… Since that group dinner, Barry had often asked her out, but because her relationship with Su Yuan had become so delicate since then, she rarely accepted his invitations.

But at a time like this…

“What’s wrong?” Kevin looked at her curiously.

“Zhong Ning.”

Just then, a voice came from behind them. She turned her head in response; Su Yuan had actually come out to find her.

“So you know Anna?” Kevin was very surprised. Then why was Zhong Ning asking him about Su Yuan before? Kevin looked at them thoughtfully; to his gay eyes, the relationship between them seemed a bit intriguing.

Zhong Ning watched Su Yuan approach and forced a polite smile. “What a coincidence.”

As soon as she said it, she regretted it. What coincidence? Had she lost her memory of being made fun of in front of so many people just now?

Su Yuan narrowed her eyes at her embarrassed appearance. “Do you mind if we step over there to talk for a moment?”

“…We’re in a hurry right now,” Zhong Ning didn’t really want to agree, but she understood the priority of the situation. Since Su Yuan had asked so politely, she didn’t want to look unnatural in front of Kevin. She added, “If it’s only a few minutes, it’s fine.”

“Thank you,” Su Yuan smiled at Kevin and took the opportunity to take hold of Zhong Ning’s wrist. “I’ll give her back to you in a moment.”

The two stood at a corner a bit further away from the lecture theatre. The surrounding students had almost all dispersed.

“Do you want to run away that much when you see me?”

A smile played on Su Yuan’s lips. She looked as if she had already forgotten what happened before.

“I don’t.”

Zhong Ning leaned against the wall, turning her gaze away awkwardly.

Who was the one who just called me ‘honey’ so blatantly in public? Do you not remember what you did?

Zhong Ning didn’t want Su Yuan to steer the conversation back to the events of that night, so she spoke up on her own. “Theo replied to my email. He said he doesn’t know that blonde waiter at all.”

Su Yuan looked at her directly, her thin lips pursed. “Is that so?”

After a pause, she didn’t tease Zhong Ning about her avoidance. Instead, she replied, “Mhm. I also had someone look into him, but there’s no further news yet.”

Having exchanged updates, the atmosphere between them turned awkward again.

Su Yuan looked at her and suddenly asked softly, “Are you free around New Year’s?”

Zhong Ning’s heart skipped a beat. It seemed this person was finally going to ask her out. Even though she still couldn’t let go of things, at this moment, she felt an indescribable nuance in her heart.

She looked up at Su Yuan, her mouth opening slightly.

But before she could speak, Su Yuan shattered her fantasy. “I’ll take you for your second hypnosis session.”

So after all that, it was only because of these matters.

Then again, besides these matters, what else would they have to meet up for?

For some reason, Zhong Ning grew a bit angry as well. She forced a nonchalant smile. “No thanks. I’m going on a date with Barry for New Year’s. Let’s wait until after the exams.”