The Lady I Flirted With Is Here - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Questioning the Heart

“Don’t you realize how many girls from other departments used to linger by our classroom door just to catch a glimpse of you?” Jingjing teased. “You’re beautiful—you should have some inkling of that. But it’s not just beauty. Even though you’re often loud and occasionally impulsive or hot-tempered, that doesn’t stop your outward appearance from being that of a quiet, composed, and elegant girl. Plenty of girls have asked us about you, and guys are constantly lamenting the fact that you’re a lesbian!” Jingjing’s expression didn’t look like she was joking. This time, Lin Xian was truly stunned.

In her memory, she had always felt like someone people avoided—someone who was whispered about or judged behind her back. Was that attention actually liking, rather than loathing?

Lin Xian fell into deep thought. Throughout her four years of university, she had suppressed herself to avoid the perceived weight of those stares, swallowing her bitterness in silence. She had never shared her anxieties with anyone; to the outside world, she had always appeared optimistic and confident.

It made sense. Everyone assumed that anyone brave enough to come out publicly on a college campus must have a heart of iron.

But Lin Xian had actually become somewhat insecure after that. Perhaps coming out so openly had exposed her to the sunlight too suddenly; she had expected to find a sense of community and welcome from her peers, but the reality felt much harsher.

Regarding Lin Xian’s silence, Jingjing let out an uncharacteristic laugh. “Hey, you aren’t planning to stare at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle in melancholy, are you? Listen, Lin Xian, you’ve got the looks and you’re smart. If you like her, go after her! This shrinking-violet act doesn’t have a shred of the charm you had when you came out so boldly back then.”

Lin Xian, who had been about to tilt her head back to keep tears from falling, suddenly flared up. “Who’s shrinking? I was just venting to you! Hmph, I already have a perfect plan to pursue her. Just you wait—one of these days, I’ll bring her right in front of you as my girlfriend.” With that, Lin Xian huffed and carried her small stool back into the house.

Left behind, Jingjing blinked, then couldn’t help but smile. I’ll be looking forward to it, then.

The first thing Lin Xian did upon returning to her room was grab a tissue to wipe away the hidden tears. While blowing her nose, she opened WeChat. Her talk with Jingjing hadn’t been for nothing. Lin Xian had made a decision: she was going to shift from passive to active. she would weave her pursuit into invisible threads and, when the time was right, launch a surprise attack. It was all or nothing; the worst-case scenario was mutual destruction. Simply chatting as WeChat friends wasn’t going to cut it. Lin Xian knew her goal: she didn’t want data sitting in a contact list—she wanted the real person. She wanted a girlfriend.

She would capture the “city” within a week. This was her final stand: if the other woman truly wasn’t interested and only wanted to be friends, they would delete each other and say goodbye.

Jingjing saw Lin Xian return to the bedroom and quietly went back to her own room. Her boyfriend, half-awake, asked her, “You were in the bathroom a long time. That’s not good for you.”

Jingjing whispered in his ear, “It was Lin Xian. She likes someone but is hesitating, so I gave her a little push.” Jingjing looked quite proud of herself, feeling she had done a good deed.

Her boyfriend nodded and asked casually, “Oh? And what was the result?”

Jingjing replied, “I think she took it to heart. Don’t worry, as long as Xiao Xian is sincere and brave, she’ll get the girl. Unless she acts like one of those clueless boys who confesses head-over-heels before they even get to know the person.”

Her boyfriend, exhausted, nodded and closed his eyes again.

…

Lin Xian hadn’t noticed the time while plotting how to win over “Sister Daiyu.” Before she knew it, it was 1:00 AM. At 1:00 AM, there were no new messages in her chat with Fang Daiyu. Lin Xian was puzzled. Could that voice call from earlier really have been an emergency? Had her delay truly made Fang Daiyu angry?

No matter how slow she was with emotions, Lin Xian began to sense a certain “flavor” in the air. As she analyzed the situation—driven by the goal of a successful confession—she suddenly had an epiphany. Her eyes sparkled with realization: There’s hope.

Whether Sister Daiyu cared for her by a fraction or a lot, she was going to turn that care into a full hundred percent.

There was a tactic called “waiting for the rabbit” and another called “retreating to advance.” To test Fang Daiyu’s attitude, Lin Xian decided to take a gamble. Before the other woman offered an explanation for that call, Lin Xian would focus on analyzing her Moments to refine her strategy, then pivot from defense to offense to catch her off guard. Thus, having finalized her “beautiful” plan, Lin Xian fell into an unexpectedly peaceful sleep.

…

Meanwhile, having stayed up until 1:00 AM without receiving a message from Lin Xian, Fang Daiyu felt another flare of nameless irritation. In truth, she couldn’t quite say why.

When she had called Lin Xian after work, she had been full of anticipation. That was followed by a rage that had consumed her logic. Looking back now, Fang Daiyu had to admit: she seemed to be jealous.

If she went back to the day of the fan meeting, Fang Daiyu would have sworn that her feelings for Lin Xian were merely attraction and interest. She thought it would be fun; she was a bit lonely in Beijing on her own, and seeing a girl who suited her taste, she naturally developed some “other” intentions.

That intention was easy to understand, yet it was being dismantled by her own repeated bouts of anxiety. In the middle of the night, with only a few lights flickering outside, she began to seriously ponder a question: Do I actually like Lin Xian? Or is this just a hormonal impulse?