Chapter 42: The Fountain
Due to the time difference, it was still afternoon where Luo Jing was, but it was already completely dark in China.
Because he had some urgent matters to deal with, Huai Dan had worked overtime tonight and had just returned home from the company. His car was still parked in the garage, the engine running.
The boy’s voice came from the car’s speakers, slightly distorted.
Huai Dan lowered his eyelashes, his fingers drumming on the steering wheel, his voice the same as usual: “What’s wrong?”
“Just… miss you a little,” Luo Jing said, sitting cross-legged with his head lowered, holding his phone to his ear with one hand and gently scratching the fabric of the sofa with the other, looking pitiful.
His tone and mood were clearly off, and Huai Dan immediately sensed something was amiss.
“Have you been drinking?” he asked.
Luo Jing thought for a moment: “Not really.”
“Where are you now?” the man asked calmly, as if casually.
Luo Jing felt like he could imagine his expression.
“At home, watching a movie,” Luo Jing answered honestly, then got off the sofa and walked barefoot to the TV.
He held the phone towards the screen so that the sound of the movie could be heard, proving that he was indeed watching a movie.
“I was planning to watch it with you this weekend… but you seem busy,” Luo Jing said, a faint hint of complaint in his voice.
Hearing the sound of Luo Jing walking in the background, Huai Dan frowned slightly: “Go put on some shoes.”
Luo Jing looked down at his feet, wondering if Huai Dan had secretly installed cameras in his house.
Thinking this, he said, “Brother, that’s an invasion of privacy.”
Then he moved to stand on the carpet and said seriously, “I’m on the carpet now.”
And the floor heating was on, so the floor was actually quite warm.
Huai Dan: “…?”
He seemed quite drunk.
But Luo Jing didn’t want to discuss whether he was wearing shoes at home. He wanted to talk about how Huai Dan seemed to be ignoring him recently.
Alcohol amplified emotions. Before Huai Dan could speak, he sounded even more aggrieved, as if he had finally found an outlet after holding it in for a long time, and because he wasn’t very sober, he rambled, “I’m all alone here, so pitiful.”
Huai Dan looked at the caller ID, paused, as if struggling with something, then finally asked softly, “Didn’t you just meet up with some people a few days ago?”
“?” Luo Jing thought for a moment and realized he was probably talking about Xu Xing, Xie You, and the others.
“That’s different,” Luo Jing said, his tone slightly stronger, but still sounding a bit weak.
“How is it different?” Huai Dan unbuckled his seatbelt and shifted into a more comfortable position.
It was raining outside, and the sound of rain hitting the ground outside the garage mixed with the boy’s voice from the phone.
“It just…” Luo Jing was silent for a long time, as if thinking about the difference, or struggling to describe it. When he spoke again, his voice was muffled, “It’s just different.”
Although it was practically the same as saying nothing, Huai Dan, following the principle of not arguing with a drunk person, still replied patiently, “Okay, it’s different.”
“…”
This sounded very perfunctory, but Luo Jing didn’t know what he wanted to hear, so he fell silent.
“Forget it, I don’t want to see you anymore,” he said after a moment of silence, sounding like he was sulking, either with himself or with the seemingly insensitive person on the other end of the phone.
Huai Dan chuckled: “Go get some sleep.”
“Oh,” Luo Jing replied sullenly.
After hanging up, he took his phone, went back to the bedroom, and obediently lay down, covering himself with the quilt.
When he woke up again, it was already evening.
Luo Jing was woken up by a knock on the door. He regained consciousness for a moment, instinctively picked up his phone, and checked the time.
7:30 p.m. He had slept for quite a while.
Then his gaze shifted to the message from Huai Dan.
H: [Drink some warm milk. Don’t drink casually next time.]
Luo Jing ran a hand through his hair, unlocked his phone, and was about to reply when he froze, realizing something.
Because the contact note indicated that he was currently on his alternate account.
The ten-minute voice call record in the chat history reminded him that everything he had said earlier was as his “second sister.”
Luo Jing hadn’t blacked out. He clearly remembered what he had said to Huai Dan before falling asleep.
Although it was his alternate account, to enrich the conversation, he had mentioned meeting his friends from China a few days ago, so coincidentally, everything he had said was actually quite reasonable.
From the perspective of a romantic partner.
But that wasn’t the point.
The point was… did he forget to turn on the voice changer?
He had been using the voice changer so habitually when switching accounts to chat that he had no memory of it at all. He stood there, frozen, for half a minute, unable to recall whether he had turned it on or not.
If he hadn’t…
Luo Jing closed his eyes in despair, not daring to even think about it.
The persistent knocking continued, slightly pulling him back to reality. Luo Jing put on his slippers and went to open the door, seeing the culprit standing outside.
He was here to retrieve his glass and invite Luo Jing to dinner.
Seeing him, Luo Jing felt a surge of annoyance: “What did you use to mix that drink?”
It was too potent!
The boy replied innocently, “Vodka.”
Luo Jing: “…”
Not noticing his expression, the boy continued to boast excitedly, “How is it? Can’t taste the alcohol at all, right? It’s amazing, I feel like I can open a bar now…”
As he was talking, he noticed Luo Jing’s expression and asked in surprise, “Why is your face still so red? Is it that strong? Are you allergic to alcohol?”
Luo Jing took a deep breath.
After all these years, he finally understood what it meant to suffer in silence.
He closed his eyes and forced a smile: “Yeah, it’s amazing.”
It’s mixed very well, don’t mix it again next time.
He wasn’t sure if he had turned on the voice changer that day, but Huai Dan’s reaction was normal, almost the same as usual.
But Luo Jing wasn’t sure if he didn’t know, or if he knew but was playing along.
He anxiously told Wu Li about this, but Wu Li was unconcerned, saying that he definitely didn’t know, otherwise how could he not react at all?
Luo Jing felt he had a point, but he still felt guilty.
And recalling his rather clumsy and flawed “acting career” over the past few years, he felt a sense of dissonance.
…How had this lie lasted for so long?
Was Huai Dan, so smart, really fooled by him for so many years?
Using the excuse that Huai Dan might not care much about their relationship, Luo Jing forced himself not to overthink these things, as if he had used up all his talent for lying in his life on this.
Then he continued chatting guiltily.
Christmas was approaching. As the New Year in foreign countries, the streets and shops were already decorated, and Christmas elements could be seen everywhere, creating a festive atmosphere, with various activities taking place.
One day, the resourceful bartender from across the hall excitedly told him that a musical fountain had just been installed in a nearby square, supposedly very expensive and spectacular, with a special performance on Christmas Day.
Luo Jing loved lively scenes, and after staying at home for so long, he felt like he was going stir-crazy. Hearing this news, the two hit it off and immediately agreed to go see it together.
The temperature had dropped below zero, and it snowed almost every day. Luo Jing bundled up and walked with the crowd.
The bartender’s girlfriend, who had originally said she had bought a plane ticket to go back to China, somehow canceled it and joined their trip to see the musical fountain.
Luo Jing tactfully didn’t intrude on their couple time.
Even though they both enthusiastically invited him to walk with them, the pressure of being next to a couple was too much. Luo Jing felt like he would be brighter than the fountain.
The musical fountain was indeed very large, visible from afar, with a large crowd gathered in front of it.
They had actually arrived quite early, but there were still many people there before them.
Thinking this, he took a picture with his phone and sent it to Huai Dan: [Brother, there are so many people here today.]
Huai Dan didn’t reply immediately.
Calculating the time, it should be past midnight in China. Luo Jing had long been accustomed to this occasional message board-style chat, so he put away his phone, planning to save battery for filming videos later.
When they got closer, he realized the fountain was even bigger than he had imagined. Even with so many people, there was still plenty of space around it.
Luo Jing found a spot with a good view and stood there.
A foreign girl in front of him suddenly tossed a coin into the pool. Luo Jing was a bit confused… Could this also be used as a wishing well?
But then he felt a sudden urge to try it himself.
He had long been accustomed to carrying cash since online payment wasn’t always available abroad. He took out a coin from his wallet and started thinking about what to wish for.
Actually… he only had one wish right now.
Although he hadn’t been very sober that day, his desire to see Huai Dan was genuine.
Looking at the coin in his hand, he suddenly made up his mind.
He wouldn’t make a wish.
He would make a decision.
If it was heads, he would buy a plane ticket back to China tomorrow.
If it was tails, then… forget it.
He took a deep breath and tossed the coin.
Then, because his hand trembled, he didn’t catch it, and it fell to the ground.
The coin rolled a short distance, and Luo Jing froze, then quickly went to pick it up.
It stopped beside a pair of leather shoes.
The result was tails.
Luo Jing blinked, and his heart, which had been racing because of his sudden idea, sank slightly.
It was just a small thing, but he suddenly felt a bit sad.
Although he knew that the coin couldn’t actually decide anything, and that if he had this thought, he would definitely do it.
But still…
Seeing him not picking up the coin, the owner of the leather shoes squatted down, picked it up with slender fingers, and handed it to Luo Jing.
Luo Jing’s eyes were slightly red. He sniffed, holding back the inexplicable tears, and took the coin, saying politely, “Than…”
The man’s hand gently held his.
The next moment, a familiar voice sounded beside his ear: “Why are your hands so cold?”
