WHI – Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Lin Ting dragged his feet, standing by the roadside, rereading the four characters on his phone multiple times. The tighter his fingertips grew, the more he read, until his palms began to sweat. Only then did he turn off the screen and pocket it.

He casually hailed a taxi and gave the driver the address.

The driver said nothing to Lin Ting the entire way, and Lin Ting was in no mood to talk. It wasn’t until he got out and saw the rental house in the picture that he realized he hadn’t actually viewed it in person before paying the rent and deposit in full.

Lin Ting took a deep breath, pulled out the key given by the agent, inserted it into the iron gate, and turned. The old iron gate creaked open. He walked into the rental.

It was a bit smaller than it looked in the pictures, but it had everything one needed, enough for one person to live in.

Lin Ting casually threw his luggage on the floor, then looked up the address of a nearby supermarket and bought some daily necessities.

He also bought a pack of cigarettes.

He tidied up the small room, made a packet of instant noodles, and sat in a chair, smoking the entire pack of cigarettes one after another.

The day was over.

Monday, Lin Ting arrived at school just in time.

Even though it was only two kilometers from school, he could get there quickly by bicycle.

Even though he had woken up at 5 AM.

He didn’t want to go, as he would have to call Su Li to confirm; he also didn’t want to go, not wanting to see the person he didn’t know how to face.

After struggling for a long time, Lin Ting finally reached the back door of the classroom as the bell rang. Before he could even steady himself, a figure behind the door grabbed his arm with brute force, almost dragging him, and threw him into a toilet stall. His back hit the partition with a loud bang.

Then, the metal bolt clicked shut. Wen Lan pinned Lin Ting against the partition, his body pressing very close. The eyes in front of him, which he had seen countless times, were now frighteningly dark.

Lin Ting looked at Wen Lan and his heart ached.

He must not have slept well the past two days; dark circles were under his eyes, his eyes were bloodshot, and stubble had appeared on his chin.

The grip Wen Lan had on Lin Ting’s wrist did not loosen; instead, it tightened. His fingers dug deep into Lin Ting’s skin.

“Where did you go?!” Wen Lan asked through gritted teeth.

His voice was much hoarser, and the smell of tobacco on him was hard to ignore, masking the sandalwood scent he both loved and hated.

“Let go, it hurts.” Lin Ting struggled with his arm, but Wen Lan only seemed to react by loosening his grip slightly. The sharp pain on his skin disappeared, but his wrist bone was still restrained, and the dull ache remained undiminished.

“Why did you leave so suddenly? Why aren’t you talking to me? What happened, can you tell me?” Wen Lan’s tone softened, almost to the point of pleading.

Lin Ting didn’t want to see the face so similar to Chen Song’s look so dejected.

He shifted his gaze slightly, feigning impatience, and nudged his cheek. “It’s nothing, I just got bored. Don’t take it seriously…”

“Are you kidding me?” Wen Lan scoffed, looking away, then turned back to him.

“I still want to find a girl.” Lin Ting flipped his eyelids, showing complete flippancy.

Wen Lan was completely enraged by his attitude. He reached out, grabbed Lin Ting’s chin, and forced his head back, kissing him fiercely.

This kiss was more forceful than any before, completely without method, hitting down like hailstones. His teeth bumped against Lin Ting’s lips, and his mouth filled with a sweet, metallic taste, like a trapped beast unable to find love, venting its dissatisfaction in a hidden corner.

Lin Ting simply accepted it silently, neither responding nor resisting, like an unfeeling puppet.

Wen Lan’s movements gradually slowed. He opened his eyes and found that Lin Ting had not closed his eyes the entire time, his eyes filled with an unfathomable indifference.

The hand holding his chin moved to Lin Ting’s cheek. Wen Lan stroked it gently, then kissed Lin Ting’s lips with extreme tenderness. He then imitated Lin Ting’s previous actions, tracing his tongue around Lin Ting’s lips, then slowly parting them and entering.

The second kiss was more restrained and gentle than any before.

Lin Ting couldn’t help but close his eyes, yet he still dared not respond in the slightest.

The kiss lasted for a long time, slow and languid, as if recounting the affection from the very beginning, sour, hidden, suppressed… Lin Ting’s cheeks began to feel damp, but it wasn’t his tears.

Lin Ting opened his eyes. The man in front of him still had his eyes closed. He saw tears on Wen Lan’s ink-black eyelashes, which trembled with his breathing, and the roots of his lashes were red.

After a long time, until the tears on Lin Ting’s face, the tears belonging to the man in front of him, had dried, Wen Lan finally looked up. The grip on his wrist gradually loosened, and he pulled at the corner of his mouth.

“I understand.”

Lin Ting heard the man whisper.

Then Wen Lan walked out of the stall.

He heard the sound of running water outside, presumably Wen Lan washing his face.

He could even imagine what Wen Lan’s eyes looked like now, but he no longer had the right to look again.

Lin Ting closed his eyes, tilted his head back against the partition, and his body involuntarily began to tremble. His cheeks became hot and wet.

This time, they were his tears.

Lin Ting clenched his fists, trying desperately to suppress the discomfort boiling in his veins. Only when it was completely quiet outside did he walk out.

On the white marble washbasin, a red string with a safety buckle was placed conspicuously.

Lin Ting reached out and put it on his other wrist, then pulled down his long sleeves to cover it.

He leaned down and washed his face under the faucet, which was clearly still wet from Wen Lan having just used it.

It wasn’t until he felt a sharp pain in his palm that he realized his fingernails had left crescent-shaped marks on his palm from clenching his fist.

Fortunately, he had pulled back from the brink. From now on, Wen Lan would continue on his path to success, and he would continue to cross the long, dark bridge.

The desks and chairs that had been moved apart during the last mock exam had not yet been put back together, and Lin Ting sat down again, separated from Wen Lan by an empty space.

Wen Lan’s group of subordinates, whether busy with their studies abroad or not, had been unusually quiet these days. Even Yu Zhile, who lacked common sense, had run away like a rabbit when he saw their gloomy faces.

Since then, Wen Lan had not spoken a single word to him.

At least in the classroom, Wen Lan was either listening to the lecture or doing problems, not even glancing at Lin Ting.

It was as if they had never known each other.

Time passed, and these few days felt longer than the previous few months. The college entrance examination arrived as scheduled.

Lin Ting’s exam venue was at his own school, while Wen Lan’s was at the experimental middle school further away.

The tension of the college entrance examination temporarily suppressed the restlessness in his heart. After the last exam, Lin Ting put down his pen and looked out the window. In less than a year, he had actually developed a fondness for this school.

Even Yuzhou No. 3 Middle School, where he had stayed longer, had not evoked any reluctance when he left.

No one had ever cared where he was going.

“Brother Lin! How was your exam!” Yu Zhile’s exam venue was close to his, and he had been pestering Lin Ting with questions after every exam lately.

“It was okay, the questions were a bit simpler than I expected,” Lin Ting replied truthfully.

“Damn.” Yu Zhile’s face showed undisguised contempt for the academic genius. “If I had your grades, my parents would be overjoyed.”

Lin Ting smiled and walked downstairs with him.

“Brother Lin, has Brother Wen been talking to you recently?” Yu Zhile asked.

Lin Ting was stunned, as if he hadn’t heard anyone mention this person in a long time. “Him, what’s wrong?”

“Brother Wen seems to have argued with his dad, something about an arranged marriage… He’s unwilling, anyway, he’s been quite down lately. He doesn’t even reply when I message him.”

Arranged marriage.

Even though he had known this outcome long ago, Lin Ting had known they would reach this point on New Year’s Eve.

Even though he and Wen Lan were no longer in contact.

But the feeling of losing someone was different from watching the person who originally belonged to you become someone else’s.

Lin Ting suppressed the weakness in his legs and, as he walked towards the school gate, he clearly felt his heart being slowly scooped out by heaven with an ice cream spoon.

He watched Yu Zhile run towards his family’s car and wave goodbye. “See you!”

“See you,” Lin Ting waved back.

Goodbye, a life that only intersected once.

The day the college entrance examination results came out, Lin Ting did not join the crowd squeezing onto the website to check their scores.

He curled up on the small bed in his rental, listening to the patter of rain on the frosted glass. When the sun didn’t rise, his room always felt a bit cold and damp.

Lin Ting reached out from the bed and felt around on the bedside table. He found the cigarette pack – it was empty.

It had been raining for several days. Lin Ting had not wanted to go out in the first place, and now he hadn’t left the house for nearly a week. The frozen food in the refrigerator and the instant noodles in the cupboard were gone, and the last cigarette had been smoked last night.

When he went to the bathroom last night, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He looked so dejected that he doubted Wen Lan would like him if he saw him now.

Wen Lan, always Wen Lan.

Since the pressure of the college entrance examination had subsided, all he could think of was Wen Lan.

He clenched the empty cigarette pack and threw it into the trash can, then got up and took a shower.

A layer of white mist gradually formed on the full-length mirror in the bathroom, blurring the red string on Lin Ting’s wrists – he had taken it off, but he couldn’t help but put it back on, as if it were sustaining his life.

At least when he wore it, he could feel a trace of tenderness, and the emptiness in his heart was patched up again.

The hot water from the electric water heater was limited. Lin Ting showered until the water falling on him turned cold, then he turned off the water and changed his clothes before leaving the bathroom.

He sat on the bed, wiping his hair with a bath towel in one hand and opening the WeChat message from Teacher Yao with the other.

– Lin Ting, you did very well this time! Have you checked your scores?

Lin Ting replied, “Mm, thank you, Teacher Yao.” Only then did he slowly open the link.

Most people had already checked, and he entered smoothly.

661 points.

It was about what he had expected. Aeronautical University should be stable.

Thinking of this, he thought of Wen Lan again.

He wondered how Wen Lan had performed.

Lin Ting picked up the half-empty bottle of mineral water on the table and drank it down in one go, ordering himself not to think of him anymore.

Whether Wen Lan had scored well or poorly had nothing to do with him anymore. Moreover, he would no longer be going to Aeronautical University with him.

Speaking of which, why had he wanted to go to Aeronautical University?

It seemed like he wanted to watch the stars with Wen Lan.

Lin Ting stared for a long time before letting out a bitter laugh and pinching the bridge of his nose heavily.

Going back and forth, he didn’t know when it started, but his world had become entirely him.