WHI – Chapter 10

Chapter 10

“Tsk, are you regretting it now? Want to take responsibility? It’s too late, I told you, you should have let me fight him back then.”

“You didn’t bring anything today, just your bare fists, and you want me to get beaten up with you?” Lin Ting clicked his tongue and continued typing, “I also didn’t expect him to take pictures. If your parents need me to explain anything, I can.”

“Sigh! You’re just saying this? My dad is long past being disappointed in me. What’s one photo?” Wen Lan replied quickly.

“He’s already utterly disappointed in me, what’s a photo like this worth?” Wen Lan immediately sent another message, but before Lin Ting could read it, it was recalled.

There were no more messages after that.

Lin Ting rubbed his face vigorously with his palm, then exited WeChat, forcing himself to focus on his studies. Time flew by when he was engrossed, and before he knew it, he had fallen asleep, only to be woken by his alarm.

His internal clock had failed him this morning. This was Lin Ting’s first thought, followed by logging back into WeChat. Wen Lan hadn’t sent any more messages. Lin Ting thought for a moment and replied, “I fell asleep last night. What did you recall?”

It wasn’t until Lin Ting was eating breakfast downstairs that he received a reply: “Said I had to beat you up today, seeing as I don’t like you.”

He couldn’t help but laugh, almost spitting out his milk.

“I’m planning to introduce Lin Ting to my friends this weekend, and he’s agreed,” Gu Yi’s voice came from the other end of the dining table.

Lin Ting stopped laughing and was about to retort when his mother spoke first, “Meeting more people is a good thing. You had quite a few friends when you were little… I really miss those times.”

Miss.

The word felt like a hot, beating heart suddenly placed in his own chest. Lin Ting hadn’t felt such a peculiar sensation in a long time.

By the time he came to his senses, he had already nodded and agreed with a smile.

.

The weekend arrived quickly. Lin Ting barely registered it before it was Friday evening. During this time, he had been busy pretending to play on his phone in his room while actually studying, and at school, he feigned sleep while listening intently. He bickered with Wen Lan whenever he had the chance. To prevent “centipedes” from bothering them again, they had also temporarily suspended their dance machine teaching plans.

On Friday afternoon, Wen Lan asked him if he wanted to go out with them over the weekend. Lin Ting declined, saying he had plans. In truth, he hadn’t stopped thinking about how casually he had agreed at the dinner table, and he did have some regrets. But whenever he recalled the feeling of that fervent heart beating anew, he could always convince himself—just go play. At most, he’d be laughed at for not knowing how to play golf or ski, which didn’t seem like a big deal.

On Friday evening, Wen Lan didn’t forget to post in the group chat: “Our Brother Lin is busy and can’t come, tsk tsk tsk. Not a shred of brotherhood. Diss him quickly.”

Lin Ting had been extremely reluctant to join this group chat at first. He had left every time Wen Lan added him. The reason was simple: the group name was “Brother Wen and His 108 Little Brothers.”

In reality, there were only a little over 60 people in the group, all from the school, some from his class and some from others.

Lin Ting looked at the sea of “tsk tsk tsk” messages, @ mentions, and patting emojis in the group. He was very curious where this “Wen” guy got such high public trust, and how this group name hadn’t caused any public outcry.

His fingertip paused on the screen for a moment, and for the first time, he sent a message in the group:

“One more ‘tsk’ and I’m leaving the group, @ Wen Lan.”

Wen Lan: “Understood!”

The group immediately fell silent. After about four or five minutes, a few girls started discussing Miu Miu’s new winter collection.

.

On Saturday afternoon, Lin Ting and Gu Yi were in the car. As they waved goodbye to Su Li and Gu Jiang, who stood in the courtyard, Lin Ting felt an indescribable yearning. He wished he could shatter himself and reassemble, hand himself over to his mother, and have her mold him into her favorite shape, then start over, living each day like today.

“Dad, Mom, bye,” Gu Yi said.

“Mom, I’m leaving,” Lin Ting added.

Su Li wore a smile that hadn’t been seen in a long time. “Have fun!”

The sudden warmth touched him, like a sunflower growing from the depths of his heart, sprouting from a hidden place, struggling and fiercely covering everything within his sight and touch. It was only after a long while that it slowly subsided, leaving a small gap for him to catch his breath.

Gu Yi turned to look at Lin Ting. “There’s a new Wanye Club that opened downtown recently. Do you know about it?”

Lin Ting shook his head. He wasn’t particularly interested in such things. Whether it was designer brands, clubs, or digital products, these luxurious amusements held no appeal for him. Even though he was considered “rich” now compared to before, he had no interest in exploring them.

He’d rather spend his time on a few interesting problems or challenge a 15-star song at the arcade.

“You’ll know when we get there. It’s really fun. My friends are all there, I’ll introduce you later.” Gu Yi said, then adjusted his seat, reclined, and closed his eyes to rest.

“Okay,” Lin Ting said expressionlessly, looking out the window. “It’s so congested.”

The black Elfa moved one step at a time, stopping frequently. Every time they caught up to a group of cyclists, they were soon overtaken. After being stuck in traffic for nearly an hour, they finally reached their destination.

Wanye Club was a newly built skyscraper in the city center. The building had nearly a hundred floors, offering everything from parking to accommodation, hot springs to KTV, and various Thai and Japanese delicacies. Whether children wanted to play in the water park or elders wanted to play mahjong, any form of entertainment imaginable could be found here, and more.

During the day, the lights hadn’t yet turned on, but the vast glass exterior reflected the diffused golden light of the sun breaking through the clouds, enough to mesmerize anyone. At night, the dazzling array of colorful neon lights would shimmer against the clear, flawless mirrored surface, painting a picture of unimaginable extravagance.

Lin Ting stepped onto the soft, cloud-like carpet and followed the guidance of a waiting staff member, taking the elevator to the 52nd floor with Gu Yi.

There were four elevators side-by-side in the club. The interior was spacious, with golden elevator doors on one side and a glass curtain wall on the other. From this angle, they could see the semicircular bay and the iconic giant Ferris wheel not far away. Gu Yi leaned against the side, glanced at the bay, and then looked at Lin Ting. “They’re all playing games. Let’s go meet them first… What’s with that look? We don’t just play golf every day, do we?”

Lin Ting raised an eyebrow. “Then I take back what I said about you rich young masters not knowing about dance machines.”

Gu Yi looked unusually normal today and actually let out a laugh. Lin Ting also smiled.

He could actually joke with Gu Yi. If this were a few days ago, Lin Ting would never have believed it.

With a ding, the 52nd floor arrived.

The elevator doors slowly opened, and the attendant led them to the lobby.

The 52nd floor of Wanye Club was the hot spring center. In the leisure area, a few men and women in bathrobes sat on connected sofas, chatting. Their slightly damp hair indicated they had just come out of the hot springs. In a corner stood several vending machines of different styles and sizes. A father and a young boy stood to the side, each holding a bottle of milk, tilting their heads back to drink. At a small table in the distance, three or four young people were gathered around playing cards. The aroma of coffee mixed with the faint scent of sulfur from the hot springs permeated the not-so-spacious but enclosed indoor space.

On a Saturday afternoon, everywhere was bustling, but perhaps because the crowd wasn’t too dense, the liveliness didn’t come with unbearable noise. Even when a few children chasing each other bumped into Lin Ting’s legs, he didn’t show any impatience.

“Brother, I’m sorry,” the little girl in front of him said softly, not daring to look up, staring at her small hands.

“It’s okay, go play, but run a little slower,” Lin Ting bent down, smiled at the little girl, and gently patted her head.

In that instant, he felt a sense of déjà vu. His mother had also told him to run slower when he was little. Lin Ting vaguely recalled the feeling of a soft, steady palm brushing over his head.

A few young people gathered around a table in the distance spotted Gu Yi and waved at them. “Gu Yi! Over here!”

Gu Yi waved back and turned to Lin Ting. “My friends. Let’s go, I’ll introduce you.” He then quickly walked a few steps with Lin Ting and squeezed into the group, sitting down.

“Lin Ting, my brother,” Gu Yi said as soon as he sat down, picking up the lemonade the waiter had placed on the table and taking a sip. He introduced Lin Ting to everyone generously.

Lin Ting smiled and nodded.

“Hello, I’m Zhou Jing, and this is my girlfriend, Tian Xuewei,” a boy who looked like his height was equal to his weight, with a face full of acne, said as he put his arm around the girl beside him, greeting Lin Ting first.

Tian Xuewei was exceptionally beautiful, her features as delicate as a doll in a 3D game, and her face seemed to be only a third of Zhou Jing’s size. The two were extremely intimate, as if no one else was present. Zhou Jing’s hand was around her waist, and he sneakily pinched her—though it was very obvious to outsiders.

Anyone looking at this scene would feel extreme discomfort.

However, Lin Ting didn’t show it.

“Hello, I’m Yan Yutong,” a girl with exquisite makeup and finely curled hair tied up high extended her hand to Lin Ting. He gently shook it. This girl had been staring at Lin Ting since they arrived, making him a little uncomfortable.

Gu Yi’s gaze flickered between the two, then landed on Lin Ting. “This is Ye Shanwen and Han Ziqiu.”

A girl and a boy sitting at opposite ends of the rectangular table didn’t appear as outgoing as the others. They were reserved, and their voices trembled slightly as they greeted Lin Ting.

“How should we do this?” Zhou Jing asked first, his eyes fixed on Gu Yi.

Yan Yutong’s gaze swept across the people at the table. “How about we go sing downstairs? It’s still early.”

“Early? Isn’t it late enough?” Gu Yi looked at Yan Yutong with a hint of a disdainful smile. “If you don’t want to play, you can leave first.”

“I don’t…” Yan Yutong was about to argue, but Gu Yi’s gaze pressed her back. “I said, whatever.”

“Since we’re out to have fun, let’s do whatever we want. Why worry about whether it’s early or not? It’ll spoil the mood, won’t it, Lin Ting?” Gu Yi suddenly asked. Lin Ting was momentarily caught off guard and only managed a few hums.

A tiny, needle-like sensation was stirring within him. He couldn’t quite identify it, but he felt that something was amiss, like finding a subtle flaw in a dream. Although he would realize it was a ridiculous, earth-shattering bug upon waking, his dream-brain would try its best to cover it up.

“Then it’s settled. Since we’re already on the 52nd floor, how about we soak in the hot springs first? Raise your hand if you agree!” Gu Yi said.

Zhou Jing was the first to raise his hand, and Tian Xuewei, leaning softly beside him, also raised her fair, slender hand.

Yan Yutong glanced at Lin Ting, then met Gu Yi’s gaze. The moment their eyes met, she lowered her head, fiddled with her phone, and waved her other hand in the air.

Ye Shanwen and Han Ziqiu remained in their usual timid manner, like elementary school students raising their hands to answer questions, their eyes darting around, but their hands were raised obediently.

This was not right.

Lin Ting picked up the lemonade in front of him to moisten his throat, crossed his arms, leaned back, tilted his chin up, and smiled. “Let’s go to the hot springs.”

It was indeed not right, but he didn’t care.