WRR – Chapter 25

Heard told Xu Shi she was done with her work.

Actually, even if Heard hadn’t said anything, Xu Shi would have noticed. Heard was indeed replying more often and more quickly. But then Heard said her plane was about to take off, so she might suddenly disappear for a while.

Yan Wuwu: It’s okay

Yan Wuwu: What a coincidence, I’m on my way to the airport too

Just as she sent that message, Xu Shi’s phone rang. It was an unfamiliar number.

Xu Shi answered it, and the other person’s first sentence made her sit up straight.

It was Teacher Wu’s assistant and student. He quickly introduced himself and got straight to the point, saying he would add her on WeChat in a moment and send her a link. Xu Shi just needed to fill in her information according to the link, and he would help her register today.

Xu Shi’s words were a string of “okay, okay, thank you.” Her mind hadn’t prepared for this, but her body was already reacting on instinct, handling everything for her.

After the call ended, Xu Shi’s mind was still in a daze, but the assistant’s pace didn’t seem to allow her any time to slack off. Almost in the next second, a WeChat friend request from him arrived.

“Hello, Xu Shi. I’m He Yi.”

Xu Shi immediately accepted. He Yi sent a “hello” sticker and then the link.

He Yi: Today is the last day for registration, so it might be a bit rushed. Could you please find some time to fill it out?

He Yi: Preferably before five in the evening.

Xu Shi: I’ll fill it out right now.

He Yi: Okay.

Xu Shi’s car was almost at the airport. She had no time for any other extraneous feelings and quickly opened the link.

But before filling out the form, she first went to the official website to check, confirming that it was indeed from the official source before she began to fill it out seriously.

There wasn’t much to fill in, mostly basic information, but the section for past works gave Xu Shi some trouble.

As Xu Shi was hesitating, a message from He Yi arrived.

He Yi: You can leave the parts you don’t have blank, it’s okay.

He Yi: Just fill in the fields marked with an asterisk.

Xu Shi: Okay.

That made it much easier. Xu Shi filled it out in a few quick strokes and sent it off.

Presumably, there were no more issues, as He Yi’s side went quiet. Xu Shi stared at the chat window with He Yi and gradually calmed down.

Then, with a sudden “heh,” she laughed out loud, startling the person in the seat next to her into turning to look at her.

Xu Shi stuck out her tongue sheepishly and lowered her head.

Xu Shi felt like she was being taken care of—the kind of care where she didn’t have to say anything, but everyone understood.

She hadn’t had this feeling in a long time, and it felt incredibly comfortable now.

She thought for a moment, then first opened her WeChat conversation with Yu Lingshan and said: Teacher Yu, Teacher Wu’s student contacted me. I’ve registered.

Xu Shi: Thank you, Teacher Yu. I’ll treat you to a meal when I get back to A-City. I’m especially grateful to you.

Xu Shi: Two meals in total.

Xu Shi: But if you’d like, we can have as many as you want.

After typing those three lines, she turned around and went to find Heard.

Yan Wuwu: Ahhhhhhhhh so happy!

Yan Wuwu: I’ve really gained so much this time!

Yan Wuwu: Miss, your prediction was so accurate!

Yan Wuwu: Ahhhhhh let me scream a few more times!

Yan Wuwu: Hee hee heh heh heh

On the other side, a certain person already on a plane looked at these messages popping up on her phone from two different places and let out a soft laugh.

“Do you think she has a split personality?”

Tingting took the blanket from the flight attendant and gave it to Yu Lingshan, asking, “Who?”

Yu Lingshan: “Me.”

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Over on Xu Shi’s side, she quickly received a reply.

Yu Lingshan told her: You’re welcome, it’s a small thing.

And in Ding Dong Dong, Heard told her: So happy, huh?

Heard: What happened?

Xu Shi hesitated for a long time in Yu Lingshan’s chat window, thinking hard. She felt that Yu Lingshan’s message probably, maybe, didn’t require a reply.

Right?

Xu Shi didn’t know what else to say. Thanking her too much wouldn’t be good either. She decided to wait until she was back in A-City to contact her again.

So she clicked into the chat with Heard.

Yan Wuwu: It’s a long story.

Yan Wuwu: But to make a long story short, this job allowed me to meet a very important person. He helped me get a spot, so I can participate in a competition I’ve really wanted to enter.

Yan Wuwu: I’m seriously so happy.

Yan Wuwu: Your prediction was too accurate, way too accurate.

Yan Wuwu: You’re the reincarnation of Zhuge Liang.

Heard: That’s not necessary.

Yan Wuwu: Hahaha

Heard asked her: Met a very important person, who?

Xu Shi thought for a moment: I should say I met two very important people. One is that older sister I told you about, and the other is a very impressive teacher.

Heard: Ah~

Xu Shi continued to praise Yu Lingshan: This older sister is amazing. She’s won a lot of awards, she’s beautiful, has a great figure, and she’s very famous in her industry, with tons of fans.

Heard: Ah~

Xu Shi looked at the “Ah~”s Heard sent and smiled. This tone was also very much like Yu Lingshan’s.

Heard: So you and the older sister got along pretty well these past few days?

Xu Shi’s hands paused. She didn’t dare say they got along well.

Yan Wuwu: How should I put it…

Heard copied her words: How should I put it…

Yan Wuwu: It was okay?

Yan Wuwu: Maybe we just don’t know each other well enough. We didn’t quite click in some areas. I seem to often make her unhappy.

Yan Wuwu: I didn’t do a good job. It was my first time at this kind of event, so I didn’t really know what I was doing.

Heard: What about next time?

Heard: If there were another chance like this, would you still want to be by her side?

Xu Shi thought about it very seriously. For a moment, it felt like two voices were fighting inside her. One said, You want to, Xu Shi, while the other said, Forget it, Xu Shi.

A few seconds later, Xu Shi made her choice.

Yan Wuwu: Probably not.

Heard: Taking off, bye.

Yan Wuwu: Oh, okay, bye.

After replying to Heard, Xu Shi opened Yu Lingshan’s WeChat again, confirming one more time that she really didn’t need to reply to Yu Lingshan’s message before putting her phone away.

Heard’s flight and Yu Lingshan’s flight were around the same time, but Xu Shi didn’t know the exact difference.

What a coincidence. Xu Shi was finding more and more similarities between the two. And she was surprised to discover that ever since she had processed Heard’s voice to sound like Yu Lingshan’s, all of Heard’s chats in her mind were spoken by Yu Lingshan.

For example, that “Taking off, bye” was said in Yu Lingshan’s impatient tone.

But Xu Shi felt that Heard wouldn’t be like that. Heard wouldn’t be impatient with her, unlike Yu Lingshan, who seemed to be angry with her all day long.

When she arrived at the airport, He Yi sent a message saying her application had been approved. He then gave Xu Shi a login account so she could check for the latest notifications herself.

Xu Shi thanked him profusely and asked him to thank Teacher Wu for her as well, and their conversation ended.

The matter was settled.

With nothing to do, Xu Shi opened Yu Lingshan’s WeChat again.

She thought for a moment and sent another message: Um, Teacher Yu, I was thinking, whenever Teacher Wu is free, I’d like to treat him to a meal.

She added: It would be best if you were there too.

After sending that, she opened Ding Dong Dong and went to Heard’s chat.

Yan Wuwu: Happy happy

Yan Wuwu: Miss, if it’s convenient, let me buy you a coffee.

Yan Wuwu: To thank you for your prediction.

Yan Wuwu: Heh~

Neither of them replied. Xu Shi figured they must have both boarded their planes, so she put her phone away.

Unexpectedly, over an hour later, messages from Yu Lingshan and Heard arrived at the same time.

Yu Lingshan said: I’ll check.

Heard said: I travel a lot for work, so I’m not in A-City often.

Xu Shi replied to Yu Lingshan first: Okay.

Then she naturally closed WeChat in the background and opened Ding Dong Dong.

Yan Wuwu: Alright then.

She thought for a moment and asked Heard: Miss, are you against meeting me in person?

Heard: Why would I be against it?

Yan Wuwu: Because I’ve heard some people don’t like meeting online friends.

Yan Wuwu: They keep their online and real lives separate.

Heard: You’re my only online friend.

Yan Wuwu was surprised: Really?!

Heard, mimicking Xu Shi, took a screenshot of their chat, which indeed showed only Yan Wuwu.

Going even further, Heard also screenshotted her friends list, which also showed only Yan Wuwu.

Xu Shi, however, was too embarrassed to screenshot her friends list. She had nearly 600 friends…

Yan Wuwu: Hee hee, I’m so honored.

It was almost time for Xu Shi to board her plane, and Heard didn’t send any more messages, so she put her phone away.

She slept very comfortably on the flight, and before long, the plane arrived in A-City. At just past six o’clock this time of year, the sky hadn’t completely darkened yet. When Xu Shi turned on her phone, the first message that popped up was from Heard.

It had been sent just a minute before she turned on her phone. She asked Xu Shi: You’ve landed, right?

Xu Shi smiled instantly: I’ve landed.

She also asked: How did you know I landed?

Yan Wuwu: I just landed.

Heard: I know your flight number.

Yan Wuwu: Are you in A-City?

Heard: No.

Heard: The weather forecast says it might rain later.

Heard: If you don’t have anything else to do, head home early. Did you bring an umbrella?

Yan Wuwu: No, I’m heading home right away.

Heard: Let me know when you get home.

Heard’s few sentences made Xu Shi smile again.

This Heard was so strange. A few days ago, she had acted so distant that Xu Shi thought their online friendship was over. Now she was being so caring, even checking her flight and the weather.

Xu Shi was immediately reminded of a certain someone.

She was also always so unpredictable.

They were really so alike.

Too alike.

After leaving the airport and getting on a bus, the sky outside suddenly turned gloomy. Xu Shi took a picture of the sky and sent it to Heard, telling her it looked like it was really going to rain.

Heard didn’t seem too busy at the moment and started chatting with Xu Shi.

She asked which bus route Xu Shi was on and what she was going to eat when she got home.

Later, the bus passed by an ice cream shop, and Xu Shi took another picture to send to Heard.

Yan Wuwu: Do you know this shop?

Heard: I do.

Yan Wuwu: You do? Do you like ice cream?

Heard: I have a little one who likes it, so I know a few places.

Xu Shi stared at the words “little one” for a long time.

Yu Lingshan had once called her “little one” without thinking.

Yan Wuwu: I see.

Yan Wuwu: Then you can recommend this ice cream to your little one. It’s especially delicious.

Yan Wuwu: But it’s also especially expensive.

Yan Wuwu: It has seven flavors in total, and every single one is delicious.

Heard: Which one do you like?

Yan Wuwu: Chocolate and vanilla.

Yan Wuwu: The rest are really good too.

Yan Wuwu: If my salary hadn’t been docked too much, I’d come here for a scoop on payday.

In the end, Xu Shi couldn’t help but add complainingly: Why does everyone have a “little one”?

Heard asked: Who else has a little one?

Yan Wuwu: That older sister.

Yan Wuwu: She has a little one too.

Just as she sent that message, Xu Shi’s phone suddenly rang, giving her a huge fright.

It was Yu Lingshan.

Because Xu Shi had just mentioned Yu Lingshan to Heard, she now felt like she had been caught talking behind someone’s back.

Her heart was pounding wildly.

Xu Shi quickly answered, “Teacher Yu.”

Yu Lingshan suddenly laughed on the other end.

Xu Shi was very confused. “What’s wrong?”

Yu Lingshan called her name: “Xiao Zhi.”

Yu Lingshan’s voice was very gentle. Xu Shi pursed her lips, and her own voice softened as a result. “What is it?”

Yu Lingshan: “Do you know where I am right now?”

Xu Shi paused for a moment.

In the afternoon, when Yu Lingshan was chatting with Tingting, she had overheard a bit of their conversation.

“A bit” meant she had only overheard that Yu Lingshan was going to Q-City.

But later, she had secretly looked it up. There was only one flight from C-City to Q-City in the afternoon, around three o’clock, and its destination was South Skirt Mountain.

Obviously, she wasn’t supposed to know this.

Perhaps it was because of those few seconds of hesitation that Xu Shi heard Yu Lingshan laugh on the other end.

“You know?” Yu Lingshan asked.

Xu Shi felt she couldn’t hide it from Yu Lingshan, so she simply admitted, “Yes.”

Yu Lingshan seemed a little surprised. “Where am I?”

Xu Shi: “South Skirt Mountain.”

Yu Lingshan’s tone lifted, tinged with a smile. “You care about me quite a bit, huh, Xu Xiao Zhi.”

Xu Shi gave a dry laugh.

Fortunately, Yu Lingshan didn’t linger on the question and instead asked her, “Have you ever been to South Skirt Mountain?”

Xu Shi said, “No.”

Yu Lingshan asked, “Want to come?”

“It’s alright,” Xu Shi thought for a moment, then added, “I don’t have time to go.”

Yu Lingshan: “So that means you want to come.”

Xu Shi admitted it. “Yes,” she said. “South Skirt Mountain is very beautiful.”

Yu Lingshan said, “Then how about I book you a flight for tomorrow?”

Xu Shi: “Huh? But I have to work.”

Yu Lingshan sighed. “That’s right, you have to work. What should we do?”

Yu Lingshan’s words sounded exceptionally regretful, truly, deeply regretful, and she tossed the problem back to Xu Shi.

Xu Shi was suddenly at a loss for words. Yu Lingshan’s tone made her feel sorry for herself too.

And in that instant, it felt as if something had tugged at her heartstrings.

Yu Lingshan asked again, “Do you know why I want you to come?”

Xu Shi was a little afraid to answer.

But that didn’t mean Yu Lingshan wouldn’t say it.

“It’s really beautiful here. It’s so pretty even when it’s raining.”

Yu Lingshan’s voice was soft. Xu Shi could even imagine Yu Lingshan standing somewhere with a great view, either sitting or standing.

“When I got to the hotel and opened the window,” Yu Lingshan continued slowly, “my very first thought was, if only Xiao Zhi were by my side.”

The hand Xu Shi was holding her phone with suddenly felt a little weak. Listening to Yu Lingshan’s words was like someone had taken a feather and lightly, gently tickled her ear.

Xu Shi was starting to panic.

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