You Said You Liked Me, Didn’t You? - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

On the morning of May 20th, Li Canglang woke from a dream.

She had dreamed of Nan Yang again.

The morning light was still dim. She sat up, and as she became fully conscious, the lingering memories of the dream dissipated rapidly. She instinctively tried to recall them, wanting to grasp onto something.

But the false memories were like sand, quickly leaking away until nothing was left but a few ambiguous fragments.

Li Canglang looked down at her empty, curled hand and sat in a daze for a long while, a sense of indescribable loss and melancholy rising in her heart.

Today, she was going to attend Nan Yang’s wedding.

She got up and finished washing, changed her clothes, and looked at herself in the mirror. Her face still looked somewhat tired. A night of low-quality sleep hadn’t done much to help her.

She felt it was a bit improper, but then again, probably no one would be paying attention to her anyway.

She arrived in Pingcheng at 9:00 AM. Since Shangguan lived quite far away, she had already flown back the night before.

The two hadn’t seen each other for a while. As soon as they met, Shangguan opened her arms to give her a big hug. Li Canglang skillfully stepped aside, giving her a slightly disgusted look.

“What’s wrong with letting me hug you once?” Shangguan muttered discontentedly, withdrawing her hands and walking over to rest her arm forcefully on Li Canglang’s shoulder.

Li Canglang glanced at her and helplessly let it be. Staring at the dark circles under Shangguan’s eyes that her makeup couldn’t hide, she frowned and asked, “What were you doing last night to get those dark circles?”

“Didn’t I just transfer to this department? I’ve been busy, I have to leave a good impression of diligence on the big boss.” Shangguan explained, unable to stop herself from yawning again.

She was a bit shorter than Li Canglang, so she leaned her weight onto Li Canglang’s shoulder, looking like she hadn’t woken up yet.

Li Canglang endured it and didn’t push her away. Dragging her forward, she said speechlessly, “Then why did you come all this way for a wedding? It’s a rare holiday—wouldn’t it be better to sleep in at home?”

“It’s not better, because you’re here too.”

The signs indicated the floor for the wedding banquet. While speaking, Shangguan reached out and pressed the hotel elevator button, lazily adding, “I know you. You say one thing but mean another. If you really didn’t want to come, I wouldn’t have been able to force you.”

Li Canglang remained expressionless and forcefully corrected her: “You could have just not forced me.”

Exiting the elevator, Shangguan stood up straight, let out a pretentious sigh, and explained, “I wasn’t trying to be nosy. Actually, Nan Yang sent me a message before; she seemed really hopeful that you could come. I don’t know what’s going on with you two—you both care about each other so much, yet you won’t let the other know.”

Li Canglang’s footsteps faltered. This was something she hadn’t guessed. Did Nan Yang still consider her a very good friend?

She lowered her head and pondered for a moment, but didn’t dare think too much into it. She had already experienced the three major delusions of life many times before.

She stayed still and fell a few steps behind. Shangguan turned back and warily grabbed her wrist. “You aren’t having second thoughts now that you’re here, are you?”

As a mutual friend of both, she advised with great concern, “How old are you both? What conflict is so big it can’t be resolved? You won’t tell me when I ask. Use this opportunity to meet and talk it out—wouldn’t that be great?”

“Yes, yes, I get it.”

The banquet hall was not far away. Li Canglang stopped the conversation with a mix of laughter and tears and hurried to keep up.

What conflict could there be? Estrangement between people is often just a matter of time and space. When contact fades, feelings naturally fade too. It was only because her own intentions weren’t pure that things seemed strange.

It was still early, and the banquet hall was mostly filled with staff doing the final setup. The screen was already looping the couple’s wedding photos. Li Canglang caught a glimpse and quickly lowered her gaze, meticulously identifying the patterns on the carpet.

A waiter led them to the lounge upstairs. From a distance, they could hear the lively sounds of talking and laughter inside.

Li Canglang suddenly felt a bit hesitant.

She couldn’t bring herself to smile. In such a joyful atmosphere, she felt truly out of place.

She hadn’t attended this type of gathering in a long time. So many years had passed since high school graduation that she might not even be able to match names to faces. Similarly, others might not remember her. Meeting and not recognizing each other would be quite awkward.

Thinking of this, she nudged Shangguan and whispered, “You go ahead first, I’m going to the restroom.”

Shangguan looked at her suspiciously: “Fine, I’ll go with you.”

Not knowing what her friend was imagining, Li Canglang let out a helpless sigh.

Left with no choice, the two of them turned toward the bride’s room. Shangguan walked in front. The hotel carpet made no sound when stepped upon, but the sound of footsteps in Li Canglang’s heart echoed in her ears.

She hadn’t been this nervous in a long time. The last time they met seemed to be before Nan Yang went abroad, when she made a special trip to say goodbye.

Shangguan was saying something to her. Li Canglang seemed to be listening, nodding randomly, but the words didn’t register at all.

The bridesmaids were also here, and the makeup artist in the room was busy. Shangguan greeted them familiarly. Li Canglang’s gaze fixed, easily finding a certain figure.

She was still wearing her everyday clothes—a stand-up collar shirt that was easy to change out of. Her long hair was already done up, making her fair neck appear exceptionally slender. Her face was not yet made up, and the lines of her profile were clean and soft. Bathed in the morning light, she looked so translucent she almost seemed to be glowing.

Having liked someone for ten long years, Li Canglang sometimes doubted her feelings for Nan Yang. She wondered if time had beautified her memories, turning them into the only beautiful sustenance in her life.

But at this moment, her heart was undeniably beating too fast.

Sensing her gaze, Nan Yang tilted her head and looked over.

Their eyes met. Li Canglang instinctively averted her gaze, then shifted it back in a clumsy attempt to hide her reaction, yet she didn’t dare look directly into her eyes again.

Everything happened in an instant. The two looked at each other, neither speaking. The atmosphere was a bit subtle.

Li Canglang urged herself internally to say something quickly, but her mind was a total blank, as if she had lost the ability to speak.

Luckily, Shangguan was right there.

“Yang-yang, long time no see.” Shangguan broke the silence with a smile and approached with open arms.

Li Canglang breathed a sigh of relief and followed behind, watching Nan Yang smile and give her a hug. A subtle bit of envy rose in her heart.

When they separated, Nan Yang tilted her head and looked at her for a few seconds. Her eyes curved into crescents, and she gave a light, shallow smile, saying softly, “Canglang, you came too.”

Li Canglang’s heart skipped a beat.

“Long time no see.” she followed with a low murmur, as if responding to her, yet also as if talking to herself.

She used to watch reunions after a long parting and always felt the protagonists were being too exaggerated. It turned out this feeling was exactly like this: making you ignore the time and place, other things and other people, until your heart and eyes were filled with only her. You were so happy you couldn’t think, as if in a dream.

She remained silent, listening to Shangguan exchange pleasantries. “Old classmate, when did you and Zhou Junzhi get together? You kept it so well-hidden, not a single word got out.”

Nan Yang’s gaze shifted slightly, and she answered nonchalantly, “February, I think.”

“Then you’re getting married this fast?” Shangguan was surprised and added, “Is it this year?”

“Yeah. After I came back to the country last year, both sets of parents had this in mind. We met once during the New Year, and it was settled.”

“Oh, that’s pretty good too.” It seemed too rational. Shangguan didn’t quite know what to say, so she joked: “When we were in school, I thought you two were a good match. Now the ‘ship’ has come true.”

The corners of Nan Yang’s lips curved slightly, but there was no hint of a smile. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at Li Canglang and said plainly, “After all, at this age, parents keep nagging. I’m too lazy to go get to know other people. Junzhi thinks the same way, so we might as well just make do together.”

Listening from the side, Li Canglang began to feel miserable. For a moment, she didn’t know whether to hope they were truly in love or just settling for each other.

“What about you,” Nan Yang didn’t want to continue that topic and asked casually, “it’ll be soon with Mr. Zhao, right?”

“There’s still a wait. He said he wants to wait until after his professional title is approved.” Shangguan let out a long sigh, her tone full of complaints, yet the corners of her mouth couldn’t stop upwardly curving.

The two people beside her both lowered their heads at the same time. Li Canglang thought that if she didn’t know Zhao Yubai’s character, Shangguan’s silly look would make it seem like she was being gaslit.

At this point, Shangguan’s eyes suddenly darted around. “Oh right, Canglang, you’re the one—how is there no news at all? You should actually start considering your major life events now too.”

Li Canglang raised her head in a daze, not knowing how the topic had suddenly shifted to her.

Nan Yang also tilted her head to look at her. Li Canglang felt a strange sense of guilt and glared at Shangguan, only saying haltingly, “I’m in no hurry.”

Shangguan wanted to say more, but receiving her threatening gaze, she suppressed a laugh, cleared her throat, and looked at the waiting makeup artist. She smiled and said, “You’re still busy here. Fine, we won’t disturb you then. We’ll go wait over there.”

Li Canglang felt reluctant. She stole one last deep look at Nan Yang, restraining herself as she turned to leave.

“Wait a moment!”

Before they had walked a few steps, Nan Yang suddenly chased after them from behind. The two turned around and heard her say softly, “Canglang, I still have something I want to say to you.” Her tone was somewhat airy.

Li Canglang raised her eyes in surprise and saw her lowering her eyelashes, her finger resting by her ear as she smoothed a strand of hair that hadn’t even fallen out of place.

She momentarily forgot to respond, but Shangguan wore a knowing look. She patted Li Canglang’s shoulder and revealed a smile that said her plan had succeeded. “No problem. You two take your time and chat.”

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