Chapter 34: Suspension Bridge Effect
“…” Wu Li was silent for five whole seconds. “Let’s speak Chinese.”
“…” Luo Jing was also silent.
Wu Li was still in a state of disbelief and asked instinctively, “Which brother?”
“Which other brother do I have?” Luo Jing replied calmly, the situation looking dire.
Wu Li: “Your sister’s ex-boyfriend?”
“!” Luo Jing closed his eyes in pain: “Please don’t say that.”
After a moment of silence, he muttered softly in his own defense: “…It’s been so long, and, and they broke up amicably. Ex-boyfriend or not, does it really matter…”
Wu Li was almost speechless.
What had happened in his absence to cause such a drastic change in Luo Jing?
Luo Jing recounted his emotional journey from beginning to end.
Wu Li was silent after listening.
“Have you heard of the suspension bridge effect?”
“I have,” Luo Jing said. “But…”
“I think it’s possible that it’s because he always appears so suddenly,” Wu Li analyzed logically. “So it’s always unexpected and startles you.”
“Is the racing heartbeat just your imagination? Maybe it’s not him that makes you feel this way, but the fact that he suddenly appears?”
“I don’t know.” Luo Jing lowered his eyelashes, tapping his knuckles on the railing. “Now that you mention it, I’m also… not so sure.”
But for some reason, admitting his uncertainty made his heart clench.
As if he was forced to acknowledge something he didn’t want to admit.
Just then, he received a new message, from Huai Dan.
Brother: [Back in the dorm?]
Luo Jing: “…”
If Huai Dan couldn’t see him, Luo Jing would really suspect he was doing this on purpose.
Was he that good at timing his messages?
Without replying, Luo Jing took a breath and put his phone to his ear again, saying with a straight face, “But now, every time I see a message from him, my heart races. Is that normal?”
“…” Wu Li gave up on his hopeless friend. “Figure it out yourself. Asking me is useless. I’m not you.”
“Besides, even if you do like him, isn’t your ‘second sister’ dating him right now? Just keep dating him.”
Luo Jing: “!”
That’s right. In a sense, he was dating Huai Dan right now.
Although their relationship was very childish and didn’t seem like a real relationship at all…
After entering high school, Luo Jing realized that several of his classmates were also in online relationships. They called each other “baby” all the time and often made calls, acting all lovey-dovey.
And the most frequent topics he and Huai Dan talked about were games and greetings.
And because Huai Dan was too busy, the frequency with which they played games together was ridiculously low.
They weren’t like other online couples at all.
“But I feel like he doesn’t like me at all, like he’s being forced to be with me,” Luo Jing sighed, expressing his feelings.
“Your second sister?” Wu Li, multitasking, carefully controlled the support character he had accidentally chosen, a character he had rarely played, vowing not to hold his teammates back.
“Yes,” Luo Jing said dejectedly.
“Feelings can be cultivated. Isn’t the most important thing right now to confirm whether you really like him or not?” Wu Li accidentally steered his character into the enemy’s jungle, lost half his health from a single attack, and retreated while healing, earning a question mark from his jungler teammate. “Anyway, he won’t date anyone else. It’s not too late to figure it out later.”
“I think you’re right.” Luo Jing looked at the starry sky, pondering Wu Li’s words, feeling enlightened.
Realizing something, he asked in surprise, “But you’re so accepting of this?”
“I don’t care if you like boys or girls, as long as you don’t like me.” Wu Li understood instantly, and because he was in the middle of a game, and not doing very well, he blurted out his thoughts without any filter.
Luo Jing: “…”
His words were crude, but the logic was sound.
“Don’t worry,” Luo Jing said calmly, narrowing his eyes.
After chatting for a few more sentences and hanging up, he opened WeChat.
Huai Dan’s message was from three minutes ago.
Luo Jing opened the chat window and typed carefully, word by word: [I’m back.]
Although this sudden episode had troubled Luo Jing for a while, with the end of the holidays and the arrival of the second semester of his second year, he became busy again.
He frequently flew to different places for exams, competitions, and various activities to build up his application materials.
Huai Dan, needless to say, was constantly busy.
When they were busy, there were times when they didn’t speak for several days.
It seemed like Luo Jing no longer had much time to dwell on his subtle feelings.
But in his rare moments of free time, those inappropriate thoughts would still surface.
Luo Jing really wanted to see Huai Dan.
Although the reason he gave himself was that he wanted to see if he truly liked him.
Huai Dan’s words that day were like a carrot dangling in front of a diligently working donkey. As long as he kept his eyes on it, he could carry anything and keep moving forward, helping Luo Jing endure one difficult day after another.
He often wondered if, at some corner, or in some classroom, or even in the next second, Huai Dan would suddenly appear before him.
Although, none of his imaginations ever came true.
By the first semester of his third year, everything was almost settled. He had received the offers he needed, achieved the required scores, and completed his application materials. Luo Jing finally had some free time.
Pent-up emotions always needed an outlet.
So, he did something a bit reckless.
“Mom,” Luo Jing said, taking off his shoes as he entered the house after school on Friday, seemingly calm but actually nervous, “I booked the wrong TOEFL test center. I accidentally booked it at the one near my sister’s place.”
“What?” To his surprise, both Luo Feng and Plastic Bag poked their heads out from the sofa.
Luo Jing was stunned: “Why are you here?”
“Can’t I come back to my own house?” Luo Feng retorted. “I’m back for a couple of days.”
Lin Xue also poked her head out from the kitchen, her voice gentle and slightly puzzled: “Didn’t you already get your scores? Why are you taking the test again?”
Luo Jing lowered his eyelashes and said guiltily, “I… I want to take it again. I feel like I can get a higher score.”
“Oh, take it if you want,” Lin Xue didn’t say much. “But since you booked the wrong test center, why don’t you just skip it this time? It’s okay, you can take it again next time. Your teacher said you have plenty of time now, right?”
“But each test costs a lot of money,” Luo Jing suddenly became frugal. “It’s okay, Mom, I’ll go myself. I’ve already bought the plane ticket. I’ll just treat it as a trip.”
Lin Xue wanted to say something but was interrupted by Luo Feng: “Let him go, Mom. He’s old enough to take a plane by himself. That’s how I did it. It’s good practice.”
Lin Xue thought about it and felt it made sense.
“What time is your flight? Send me the information. I’ll have your Brother Huai Dan pick you up. He shouldn’t be too busy these two days.” Luo Feng thought for a moment, then looked at Luo Jing and pointed at his phone.
Luo Jing’s eyes lit up.
He almost bowed down to his sister.
“I’ll tell my brother myself…” Luo Jing said, hurriedly shuffling to the kitchen fridge, taking out two small cakes, and placing them on the coffee table in front of Luo Feng like an offering. “Sister, I saved these for you.”
“You’re so nice today.” Luo Feng was stunned. She looked at the cakes, then at her unusually well-behaved brother, feeling a bit overwhelmed. “Did you poison them?”
“…”
Luo Jing was in a good mood and didn’t want to argue with his sister for now, so he continued to smile politely and said sincerely, “Don’t worry, they’re not poisoned. Eat them.”
After returning to his room, Luo Jing threw himself onto the bed, unable to contain his excitement.
After calming down a bit, he opened his phone and found Huai Dan.
AAA.Vocabulary Wholesaler Xiao Luo: [Brother, I booked the wrong test center. I accidentally booked it for the day after tomorrow morning at the one near you.]
Just as Luo Feng had said, Huai Dan seemed to be less busy and replied quickly: [Coming over?]
AAA.Vocabulary Wholesaler Xiao Luo: [Yes.]
Brother: [Send me your flight information. I’ll pick you up.]
AAA.Vocabulary Wholesaler Xiao Luo, excitedly: [Okay.]
Thinking of seeing Huai Dan the next day, Luo Jing packed his bag early, and because he had nothing else to do, he went to bed at 8 p.m.
Then, as expected, he couldn’t sleep.
After lying in the dark for a long time, Luo Jing finally sat up, turned on the light, and decided to chat with someone.
He thought for a moment and decided to bother Wu Li.
AAA.Vocabulary Wholesaler Xiao Luo: [How are you?]
Wu Li almost had PTSD from those three words.
Wu Li: [I’m not fine.]
He preemptively struck.
AAA.Vocabulary Wholesaler Xiao Luo: [But I’m very fine.]
AAA.Vocabulary Wholesaler Xiao Luo: [Plastic Bag rejoices.jpg]
Luo Jing, however, didn’t follow the script.
Wu Li: “…”
He inexplicably didn’t want to hear what Luo Jing was about to say.
AAA.Vocabulary Wholesaler Xiao Luo: [I’m going to see my brother tomorrow.]
But Luo Jing didn’t give him a chance to back out.
Wu Li: [Have you thought this through?]
Luo Jing honestly stated the facts: [No, actually I booked the wrong test center on purpose, just to see if I really like him.]
Although honest, he was only half honest.
He knew that, compared to confirming this rather obvious fact, the more important reason was that he missed Huai Dan.
Wu Li: […Go then. I wish you happiness.]
Luo Jing closed Wu Li’s chat window with satisfaction.
Still unable to sleep, Luo Jing thought for a moment and opened Weibo, intending to interact with his followers.
Clicking on the comments, the first one was:
[Luo Luo, check on our Xiao Xie, he seems heartbroken.]
[Is the missing person returning today?]
[Luo Luo hasn’t been online for a month. Who kidnapped him?]
[Waiting for a reunion with Xiao Xie TT]
Luo Jing: “?”
