[Central Plaza Restaurant — September 15, 12:13 PM]
Lin Feng had stopped halfway to the door.
He had turned around already. He had not moved since.
Just a few paces away from him, Su Qingxue was wilting like a flower before him. Her bag was at his feet. The phone was beside the bag, screen down. The first button of her blouse was already undone — with Zhang Tingting's fingers blocking her from the next one.
She stood there, her eyes red around the rim, her lips showing a pale tint, as if the blood was drained away from them.
Meanwhile, Zhang Tingting looked at him, still with a smile, though her lips were barely holding it — its structure faltering, visible for everyone to see.
Lin Feng's eyes ran around the room.
The melon-eating squad, looking like they had nothing else to do, kept their eyes on them in their expensive seats. Some had their phones aimed at them, with around forty pairs of eyes watching them.
Then his eyes came back. To his right.
Xiao Yue was looking at him, her gaze unreadable. Her hand was still in his — just there, loose. Neither pushing him away nor pulling him out of there.
She did not say anything.
It was like she was waiting for him to act.
Fuck.
I really made a mess this time!
Who the fuck said that face slaps could be done so easily?
Now I have to deal with three women at the same time. And Qingxue… I can't simply cast her out. And no way I could just abandon Tingting too.
Dammit, even that villain Lin Feng had it easy!
Lin Feng's eyes went back to Su Qingxue.
But damn… the illustrations had done Qingxue an injustice.
Yet still, I didn't expect that her quirk could also be triggered by me. This shouldn't be showing up by at least a few months from now.
Fuck. I really wasn't careful at all.
Alright. Soft landing for everyone. Let's clean this up.
Lin Feng looked straight at Su Qingxue's eyes, then he let out a sigh before speaking.
"Su Qingxue," he called, his voice calmer yet still showing some exasperation, "So, you want to talk with me privately."
She nodded slowly.
"Okay. We can talk privately."
He paused — long enough for her to come back to herself enough to hear the rest of it.
"Then tomorrow. Two o'clock."
Then Lin Feng turned to Zhang Tingting and asked, "So Tingting, do you know a place that can offer something like that? Somewhere private?"
Zhang Tingting turned her chin slightly upward, catching his gaze. "How about Jinglan, the tea house near your place."
For a moment, Lin Feng was silent. Then he nodded at Zhang Tingting. "Very well, Jinglan then, but I have two conditions."
Su Qingxue looked at him, her eyes never leaving his face, as if she was taking mental notes of everything he was saying.
"Xiao Yue comes with me," he paused, moving his gaze back to Su Qingxue. "And Tingting must also be there too."
"The four of us. No one else. No phones recording. We say what needs saying. Then it's done. How about that."
Su Qingxue's mouth opened.
"…Yes," she had said it before she realized her mouth was open. "Yes. I'll be there."
She swallowed once. Then tried again.
"Two o'clock. Jinglan. I agree. She can come with you and Tingting will come with me."
After that, Lin Feng finally breathed a sigh of relief. With that thing resolved for now, he turned his gaze back at Zhang Tingting.
"Tingting, can you please bring her back to her dorm?"
Zhang Tingting's grip on Su Qingxue's arm tightened. For the first time in ten minutes, she looked like she knew what to do next.
"Okay, Lin Feng."
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Just as Lin Feng was about to turn towards the restaurant's exit, he felt that his hand held nothing anymore. Xiao Yue's hand slipped away from his.
When he looked at her, he saw Xiao Yue had already crouched down and picked the bag up by the strap. She then placed the phone back inside the shoulder bag.
It was the same bag Su Qingxue had thrown to his feet not long ago.
Then, Xiao Yue stepped past him. A few steps later, Xiao Yue and Su Qingxue stood face to face, the distance between them was only a foot apart.
Xiao Yue's hand was holding the shoulder bag, her arm slightly bent towards Su Qingxue. But, she didn't give it back yet.
"Lin Feng gave you this bag," her voice was flat, the way one utters a fact. Like she was just reading from a notebook.
"Don't throw them again."
Su Qingxue did not respond. Her mouth was slightly open. She looked at Xiao Yue the way an ant looks at an elephant.
Xiao Yue, meanwhile, did not move yet. The bag stayed in her hand.
"About what you said earlier…" Xiao Yue paused for a moment to breathe, then continued. "I do agree with you on that."
"Lin Feng needs a backbone. It's not good for him to degrade himself and simp for a woman. A good man should know how to keep his dignity."
Lin Feng's eyelid twitched.
Xiao Yue did not pause for the room. She did not pause for Su Qingxue either. She continued at the pace of a notebook entry being read aloud.
"You weren't wrong about him. And now that you've said that, I'm starting to understand your motives."
Her eyes stayed on Su Qingxue.
"I would say your motives were commendable, but how you did it was sloppy."
Lin Feng's eyelid twitched again.
To be fair, that's the other Lin Feng, not me.
Though I do agree as well…
What a mess…
Lin Feng remained quiet behind Xiao Yue. Only letting out a sigh.
Zhang Tingting looked at Lin Feng as her best friend and the new girl agreed on one thing about him. He just stood there, sighing, agreeing to them without conflict.
As expected of him — a peace-loving, conflict-avoiding man.
I don't think Lin Feng needs to become someone else. Why should he change for the sake of anyone else?
Zhang Tingting looked at Lin Feng silently. Their words didn't sit well with her. Yet she didn't want to argue with them either.
She could still remember how Su Qingxue liked Lin Feng before. Even when she was still in the hospital back then, admitted there by Lin Feng just to make sure she was alright, in her bed, she couldn't stop talking about him, like how handsome he was, how nice and deep his voice was and how she couldn't stop thinking about him.
Yet, as the days went by, her words started to change. Lin Feng also revealed himself to be a more agreeable man, that he was a person who always preferred compliance over confrontation.
She was by his side for the longest time. She had seen so many good things about him. His best and his worst. When Su Qingxue was bad to him, he would just scratch the back of his head and let out a laugh then asked her later if she was okay.
Lin Feng is Lin Feng.He didn't need to be someone else. He was always him.
Zhang Tingting did not say it.
The matchmaker does not argue with the bride. The matchmaker does not argue with the bride's rival either. Her job is to bring the groom and bride together.
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Xiao Yue extended the bag.
Su Qingxue's hand came up. Slow. Using the same hand that had once pointed at Xiao Yue while calling her a creepy weirdo. She then took the strap.
For one moment, both women held the bag.
Then Xiao Yue let go.
The bag's weight settled into Su Qingxue's hand.
Xiao Yue's eyes stayed on her another half-second. Su Qingxue let out a nod.
Then she turned around.
She walked back to Lin Feng, her hand returning to his. Her fingers finally settling on the spaces between his fingers, intertwining them into his hand.
Lin Feng looked away from Zhang Tingting and back to Xiao Yue. For a moment, the four of them were quiet. Then he finally responded, letting his fingers intertwine with hers.
"Let's go." Lin Feng said as he turned around. Xiao Yue walked the half-circle around him, and the two of them headed for the door.
Su Qingxue and Zhang Tingting watched the two of them leave. Though this time, no voice of protest came out from either of them as Lin Feng and Xiao Yue walked towards the door without looking back.
The afternoon light finally caught Lin Feng and Xiao Yue as they reached the entrance — two silhouettes against the glass, the silver-haired man and the girl in the black hoodie, hand in hand and unhurried, like they had all the time in the world.
When they reached the door, he pushed through it. When he and Xiao Yue stepped out of it, the two then paused for about half a second.
Xiao Yue then pulled her hood back up with her free hand.
Meanwhile, Lin Feng's head turned back.
As he did, he saw Zhang Tingting once more as their eyes met. The smile on her lips was almost back. Then, she tipped her head by just an inch.
Lin Feng tipped his.
Then the door swung closed behind them.
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And just like that, it was over.
With both Lin Feng and Xiao Yue gone, the melon-eating squad began returning to what they were doing prior to the whole thing.
People picked their forks back up. A spoon clinked against the porcelain. The girl with the phone lowered it slowly, as if lowering it any faster would draw attention. The waiter at the counter placed the check folder on the wood of his desk.
The jazz from the overhead speakers reached the next note in its progression. The espresso machine ran its two-second burst and stopped.
Everyone now returned to their cold meals, some grumbling about the taste.
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"Qingxue." Zhang Tingting spoke quietly, her hand finally letting go of Su Qingxue. "Are you okay?"
Su Qingxue looked at her and gave her a slight nod. Then she looked at the empty seat where Lin Feng had been sitting.
Zhang Tingting followed her gaze, then looked back at Su Qingxue. Then she let out a sigh."Okay, let's get you sat down for a minute, then we'll go."
Zhang Tingting walked Su Qingxue back to the table where Lin Feng and Xiao Yue dined earlier.
As Su Qingxue sat down, a waiter stood nearby, carrying the bill.
The waiter, already familiar with both Su Qingxue and Zhang Tingting — the only people Lin Feng ever brought here — approached the two of them.
Seeing him, Zhang Tingting already knew what had happened. Lin Feng had forgotten to pay for the meals again.
"How much, Mr. Waiter?" she asked, as if this wasn't the first time.
"About 450, Miss Zhang." The waiter replied politely.
Su Qingxue heard their exchange. Her head quickly turned towards them. As she did, she saw Zhang Tingting already reaching out for her purse.
"I'll pay." Su Qingxue said in an unusually commanding tone, causing Zhang Tingting to flinch slightly. Then, she grabbed her purse, took out five hundred-yuan bills, and gave them to the waiter.
"Keep the change," she said as she put her purse back in her bag.
Then she just slumped there silently, looking at the plates as the waiter removed the utensils from the table. She let the bag rest on the table.
Not long after, her hands slipped from the table and landed on her thighs.
She was feeling warm everywhere. The base of her throat, behind her sternum, and somewhere lower down, below her navel.
Her thighs pressed together.
"Qingxue." Tingting's hand brushed her shoulder. "Are you alright?"
Su Qingxue's head moved. Though it wasn't a nod. It was just a slight movement of her head that could mean anything.
"I'm…" She tried. "I'm fine."
Zhang Tingting touched her forehead.
"Your forehead feels hot."
"I'm fine," Su Qingxue replied.
"Okay Qingxue, you're not fine at all. Let's get you back to the dorm."
Su Qingxue did not argue. Zhang Tingting helped her up. Her legs took her weight — barely, but they did.
Zhang Tingting placed her arm around her shoulders, grabbed Su Qingxue's shoulder bag along with her own, and walked her toward the door.
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As they walked, Zhang Tingting's gaze drifted.
The people around them had long ignored them, going back to their already cold meals.
As she turned her gaze towards the exit, something caught her attention.
She looked one more time. Across the room. Past the counter.
Toward the service corridor at the back wall.
There she saw her.
A woman standing near the back entrance, half-hidden in the shadows by the service corridor.
The kind of face that everyone in the city had seen on a magazine cover at some point, even if they had never met her in person. A cream sweater under a jacket she had clearly thrown on too quickly. Her long hair pulled back as if she left in a hurry and didn't bother to fix her hair.
Zhang Tingting had seen her a few times when visiting Lin Feng's place.
Wait... isn't that Lin Feng's...
The woman wasn't looking at Su Qingxue or the people around them. She was staring at the door where Lin Feng and Xiao Yue had walked out.
And she did not look happy at all.
Her hands were clenched at her sides, knuckles white.
Then her gaze shifted. Not slowly. In one motion. As if she had felt the watching before she had turned to it.
Their eyes met across the room.
Zhang Tingting froze.
The woman held her gaze. Then her hand came up. One finger raised to her lips.
Then a small wink.
Then —
"Tingting? What is it?"
Su Qingxue's voice was at her shoulder.
Zhang Tingting turned. "Nothing. I thought I saw —"
She looked back.
A waiter was coming out of the corridor with an empty tray.
The woman was gone.
"It's nothing. Let's go, Qingxue."
Su Qingxue nodded.
Zhang Tingting walked her best friend out of the restaurant.
The afternoon light hit them as they reached the door — the campus belle and her matchmaker, walking out slower than they had walked in.
Finally, the door swung closed behind them.
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[End of Chapter]