Chapter 76: If They Were The Same Age (Part 2) [Extra]
“What kind of work is so busy that you have to deal with it on weekends?”
At their usual restaurant, Ye Lin sat opposite Huai Dan, watching his friend frowning at his phone, took a sip of tea, and sighed, “I specifically came across half the city to celebrate your birthday with you, and you’re really going to ignore me like this?”
Huai Dan ignored him, continuing to look at his phone screen.
Luo Jing hadn’t replied to his messages for almost ten hours.
Considering how active this person usually was, practically ignoring the time difference, this was a bit unusual.
It was making even Huai Dan feel unusual.
He tapped his fingers on the screen unconsciously, then exited WeChat and instinctively opened the flight booking app.
After browsing for a moment, realizing what he was doing, he paused, then exited the app.
Luo Jing’s last reply was at exactly midnight last night, wishing him a happy birthday.
There had been a lot going on at the company recently.
There was a very important project yesterday, and he had practically worked all night with the employees, with no time to look at his phone. Plus, there hadn’t been any message notifications, so he hadn’t paid much attention.
When he finally finished and opened his phone—he found it had died.
In short, by the time he got home and charged his phone, it was already past midnight when he saw the message.
Huai Dan rarely felt so at a loss.
After replying to the message, he sat by his bed and waited for over an hour.
Because based on the time he replied, it should be daytime where Luo Jing was.
But he didn’t receive any reply.
They had been deskmates for two years in high school and had become good friends.
Although it was probably mostly one-sided on Luo Jing’s part.
The other person was too oblivious… and he was also good at hiding his emotions, so their relationship had remained in this subtle state.
After graduating from high school, Luo Jing went abroad to study.
Huai Dan, however, had to stay in China due to some family matters, and almost all his spare time was occupied by the family business.
But even though Luo Jing was abroad, they still kept in touch, and he would often return to China to visit during holidays.
It was already quite good. Huai Dan had thought their relationship would gradually fade due to the distance, but fortunately, that hadn’t happened.
Huai Dan didn’t usually remember his birthday. He only remembered it after seeing Luo Jing’s message.
He had been too busy recently, and Luo Jing knew that, so they barely had any real-time conversations, it was more like leaving messages for each other.
Luo Jing didn’t seem to mind and still enthusiastically shared his daily life with him.
Huai Dan was silent for a moment, put his phone on the bedside table, went to the bathroom to wash up, and decided to sleep first.
When he woke up the next day, he opened his phone, but the message he received wasn’t from the expected person, but a dinner invitation from Ye Lin.
Until now.
Seeing that Luo Jing still hadn’t replied after so long, Huai Dan felt a rare sense of unease.
Did Luo Jing really not care?
Even friendships needed to be maintained. He had been too busy with work to reply to his messages recently. Could Luo Jing be unhappy?
He put down his phone, his fingers tapping lightly on the table unconsciously.
After a moment, he looked up at Ye Lin.
“He’s not replying to my messages,” he said.
Ye Lin, who had been waiting boredly for Huai Dan to finish his work, paused upon hearing this, a look of disbelief on his face.
“You’ve been looking at your phone for so long, just looking at your chat history with Luo Jing?”
“Mm,” Huai Dan replied straightforwardly.
Ye Lin was speechless for a moment: “Don’t worry, he’s probably just busy, not intentionally ignoring you.”
His expression was slightly unnatural as he said this, but it was only for a moment, almost fleeting.
But Huai Dan noticed it.
“How do you know?” he asked calmly.
Ye Lin: “…”
Why did this person become so sensitive whenever it came to Luo Jing?
“I guessed,” Ye Lin cleared his throat, then teased, “…You know, Mr. Huai, you’re acting like those male protagonists in novels waiting for their white moonlight to return from abroad.”
Huai Dan: “?”
This seemed to be beyond Huai Dan’s knowledge, so Ye Lin started explaining.
“It’s a very popular plot now. The male protagonist has a crush who’s abroad, out of contact, practically vanished. And he’s waiting faithfully for his white moonlight to return… Oh, some of the more scummy ones even find a replacement who looks like the white moonlight to ease their longing, then when the white moonlight returns, the replacement is heartbroken and leaves, and just as the male protagonist is about to be with his white moonlight, he realizes he actually likes the replacement… Anyway, it’s like that, very dramatic.”
The more Huai Dan listened, the more he frowned. After listening, he commented speechlessly, “It’s very… dramatic.”
His situation wasn’t entirely dissimilar.
Except for the part about him having a crush on Luo Jing, and the fact that Luo Jing was indeed abroad, his current situation did match the description.
“And he’s not out of contact,” Huai Dan retorted after a pause.
“Isn’t he now?” Ye Lin pointed at his phone gloatingly.
Huai Dan: “…”
He placed his phone face down on the table with a straight face.
Agreeing to have dinner with this person was his biggest regret today.
“So, Mr. Huai, have you found your replacement?”
A clear voice suddenly sounded from behind them.
Very familiar.
The voice of the person who had been on his mind all morning.
Huai Dan froze, then seemed to be frozen in time.
Luo Jing, carrying a cake, walked over and sat down next to Huai Dan, placing the cake on the table.
“Oh, the white moonlight has arrived,” Ye Lin said, chuckling, as if he had known Luo Jing would come.
“Yeah, if I don’t come back, my position will be in jeopardy,” Luo Jing replied seriously, playing along.
Luo Jing didn’t think much of it.
He thought Ye Lin was just joking, because he was studying abroad, and he had a good relationship with Huai Dan.
After a pause, he looked at Huai Dan and said with a smile, “Happy birthday.”
Huai Dan blinked, took a sip of his cold tea, his movements slightly stiff.
After swallowing the tea and seeing the strange, teasing look on his friend’s face, he finally reacted.
Huai Dan put down his teacup, looked at Luo Jing, and said calmly, “Thank you.”
Ye Lin’s face instantly fell, and he put down his chopsticks.
With Huai Dan like this, it was no wonder he couldn’t get anyone.
Luo Jing observed his expression, didn’t see what he wanted to see, and felt a bit discouraged: “Why are you so calm? Aren’t you surprised at all?”
“Ye Lin and I planned this all day, and I even took a day off from school to celebrate your birthday with you,” Luo Jing said, looking a bit sad.
“…I’m very surprised,” Huai Dan looked away, then lowered his eyes after a moment.
He was indeed very surprised, so surprised that he didn’t know how to react.
So he appeared unusually calm.
The person who was supposed to be across the ocean, and hadn’t replied to his messages for more than ten hours, had suddenly appeared beside him, and he was still a bit dazed.
His heart was still pounding, hadn’t stopped since he appeared.
“Okay, I forgive you,” Luo Jing said, easily appeased, and his playful disappointment vanished.
After all, his friend’s personality was like this, always calm and collected, as if nothing could easily affect him. This reaction was normal.
Luo Jing handed him the prepared gift: “Have you been very busy recently?”
“A little,” Huai Dan replied. “Are you busy?”
“Of course…” Luo Jing recalled his three group projects and two unfinished papers, all due at the end of this month, and his eyes glazed over.
It was his final semester, so he had a lot to do. He had been getting through each busy and desperate day with the thought of finishing his studies and returning home soon.
Actually, he hadn’t come back solely for Huai Dan’s birthday. Perhaps 10% of the reason was that he was going stir-crazy from the two-point-one-line life between school and home, and he wanted a break.
Then, remembering something, he looked at Huai Dan: “You must be even busier than me.”
He always felt that his own busyness was nothing compared to Huai Dan’s constant running around.
Like him, Huai Dan also had to prepare for graduation, and he also had to manage the company… He didn’t even dare to imagine how much work he had.
Luo Jing hadn’t told Huai Dan, but he would sometimes, excessively, secretly compare himself to Huai Dan.
It brought him a bit of comfort to see someone even more miserable than himself.
Every time he felt desperate, thinking about how much more work Huai Dan had, it would rekindle a bit of hope in his life.
The waiter served the dishes just then, and Luo Jing’s eyes lit up seeing the food.
Ye Lin, seeing this, teased, “Don’t they feed you abroad?”
“It’s not that,” Luo Jing replied. “I just haven’t had time to find good food recently. Sometimes I just eat whatever to survive… It’s terrible.”
“How long will you be staying this time?” Huai Dan, who had been sitting quietly beside him, suddenly asked.
Luo Jing paused his eating, put down his chopsticks, and said, sounding a bit dejected, “My flight is the day after tomorrow. I’m only staying for two days, otherwise I won’t be able to finish my homework.”
Huai Dan nodded silently, wanting to say something but not knowing how to start.
Ye Lin continued to be exasperated.
Just as he was about to speak, trying to create an opportunity for his hopeless friend, Luo Jing spoke again: “By the way, is anyone staying at your place these two days? Can I stay at your place for two nights?”
So Ye Lin relaxed and leaned back in his seat.
“I came back secretly, no one at home knows,” Luo Jing explained. “Can you take me in for a couple of days?”
And he hadn’t seen Plastic Bag in a long time, and he missed it.
Plastic Bag was the name of the puppy they had taken in on that rainy day. Luo Jing had gone abroad, so it had been entrusted to Huai Dan’s care—Luo Jing thought Huai Dan probably also liked dogs.
During high school, Huai Dan often came to his house to see Plastic Bag, and Plastic Bag also liked him.
Although Huai Dan never acted very close to it, usually just playing with it for a while with a toy, Luo Jing attributed this to his reserved personality.
Before going abroad, Luo Jing had originally planned to leave Plastic Bag at home for his family to take care of, but to his surprise, Huai Dan offered to take care of it, and Luo Jing readily agreed.
Huai Dan would occasionally send him updates on Plastic Bag, sometimes pictures, sometimes short videos, and it was clear that the puppy was being well-cared for. Plastic Bag also occupied a large part of their daily conversations.
Luo Jing always felt satisfied seeing the puppy’s white, fluffy fur, and a strong desire to pet it would arise in his heart.
But it was always through a screen, and he couldn’t actually do it.
Worried that Huai Dan might find it inconvenient, he added, “It’s okay if it’s not convenient, I can book a hotel…”
“It’s convenient,” Huai Dan replied. “Come stay… Plastic Bag also misses you.”
Luo Jing’s eyes crinkled with a smile: “How do you know? Did it tell you?”
“Mm,” Huai Dan replied.
It wasn’t often that he would blatantly lie like this, and Luo Jing, rarely seeing this, found it amusing and smiled even wider.
Ye Lin, witnessing the whole scene, suddenly had a thought.
He looked at Luo Jing and asked seriously, “Have you considered staying at my place?”
Luo Jing’s chopsticks paused.
He hadn’t actually considered it.
Luo Jing blinked, speechless for a moment, opened his mouth, then didn’t know what to say.
“Okay, okay, I get it, you two are best friends forever.” Ye Lin clutched his chest dramatically, his exaggerated sadness very convincing.
But seeing this, Luo Jing felt at a loss, realizing he was in the wrong: “This… do you want me to stay at your place?”
“No, I don’t,” Ye Lin instantly returned to normal. “It’s a bit inconvenient at my place recently… but you should reflect on why you only thought of Huai Dan. I think our friendship is on the verge of collapse.”
He could tell Ye Lin wasn’t actually offended and was just joking, but Luo Jing became unusually quiet.
As if he was seriously considering this question, or simply spacing out.
Huai Dan, seeing him distracted, picked up some food for Luo Jing with his chopsticks: “Don’t mind him.”
Luo Jing unconsciously ate it.
“Hey, have you considered dating anyone abroad?” Ye Lin asked casually after a while.
He felt like he was really putting in a lot of effort for his friend’s happiness.
He would definitely ask for something in return from Huai Dan later.
“No time,” Luo Jing replied. “Dating is too troublesome, having to get to know someone completely new, build a relationship… I could write so many papers in that time.”
“You’re too devoted to your studies…” Ye Lin sighed, then continued to ask, “Then is there anyone you’re interested in?”
Huai Dan’s movements paused slightly, then he lowered his gaze.
“No,” Luo Jing replied.
“Really? Not a single one after all these years?”
“No,” Luo Jing replied firmly, then added, echoing his words, “I only have studying in my heart.”
“Being alone is no fun,” Ye Lin leaned back, trying to hint, “If getting to know strangers is troublesome, then find someone you already know…”
“Sigh, forget it,” Luo Jing sighed, thinking about his unfinished deadlines.
He had initially planned to completely relax these two days and leave all the mess for his future self to deal with.
But after calming down, thinking about what he had to face when he went back, he felt a bit discouraged.
Maybe he should do some work tonight.
At least finish the assignment he had started.
Thinking this, Luo Jing took a bite of bitter melon, chewed, and felt that his life was indeed bitter.
Ye Lin looked at the two sitting opposite him, a seemingly perfect match, but one oblivious, the other refusing to confess, and shook his head, unable to bear it.
After dinner, the three of them went to see a movie that Luo Jing had wanted to watch abroad but hadn’t been released yet—Ye Lin, after watching the opening credits, said he had something to do and left.
Luo Jing felt a bit sorry for him, because the movie was as good as he had imagined.
After the movie, they went shopping at the mall. Luo Jing’s trip back was too impromptu, and he hadn’t brought any luggage, so he bought some disposable toiletries and a change of clothes.
After shopping, they had dinner together, and it was already late when they returned home.
“Beep, click.”
Two soft sounds, and the door opened. Plastic Bag, as usual, was waiting at the door, wagging its tail excitedly.
Huai Dan entered first, carrying the shopping bags.
Seeing who was behind him, Plastic Bag froze, then instantly became incredibly excited, rushing towards Luo Jing like a small white cannonball, jumping and pawing at his pants, its tail wagging so fast it was almost a blur.
Luo Jing was also happy and closed the door behind him, then squatted down and picked up Plastic Bag.
After interacting with the dog for a while, Huai Dan walked over, seemingly wanting to say something.
“What’s wrong?” Luo Jing asked, looking up at him.
Huai Dan met his gaze, then looked away after a moment: “…I forgot, the guest room is currently occupied by Plastic Bag, and it hasn’t been cleaned yet. I’ll have the cleaning service come tomorrow. You can sleep in my room tonight.”
He then added, “I’ll sleep on the sofa.”
Luo Jing froze, then looked at him, puzzled.
“Your bed is so big, can’t we sleep together?” he asked. “Why do you have to sleep on the sofa? Are you not used to having someone next to you?”
Huai Dan lowered his eyes: “…No.”
“Then let’s sleep together, or I’ll sleep on the sofa,” Luo Jing said seriously. “Ye Lin said you’ve been working very hard recently. It would be too much to make you sleep on the sofa.”
In the end, Huai Dan couldn’t refuse him and tacitly agreed.
Luo Jing patted Plastic Bag’s furry head and sighed, “You’re living such a good life, even having your own room.”
After washing up, Luo Jing sat on Huai Dan’s bed.
Listening to the sound of water from the bathroom, he inexplicably felt a bit awkward.
Luo Jing started to wonder if this was really okay, maybe he should just sleep on the sofa.
But then he thought he was overthinking it.
They were all friends, was there anything wrong with sleeping together?
No.
Quickly adjusting his slightly strange mood, Luo Jing leaned against the headboard relaxedly, opened his phone, and started browsing.
He caught a glimpse of the corner of his laptop sticking out from his backpack, and the smile on his face instantly froze.
After staring at the cold, hard corner of his laptop for half a minute, Luo Jing struggled internally, then sighed and resignedly got out of bed.
Summer was approaching, the temperature rising, and every household had turned on their air conditioners, including Huai Dan’s.
Luo Jing was wearing a short-sleeved pajama set. He sat cross-legged on the bed, placed the laptop on his lap, and shivered slightly as the cold metal touched his skin.
He opened the laptop, and his half-finished thesis appeared on the screen.
Luo Jing closed his eyes tightly, a deep sadness washing over him.
He remembered that his sudden idea of coming back to celebrate Huai Dan’s birthday was because he was stuck with this thesis and desperately needed a change of mood.
Seeing it, his barely recovered spirit was dealt a heavy blow.
All the despairing memories returned, and Luo Jing took a deep breath, put on a serious expression, and started trying to tackle this difficult problem.
When Huai Dan came out of the bathroom, this was the scene he saw.
Luo Jing, who had been frowning and staring intently at his laptop, looked up when he heard him, and they made eye contact.
The scent of shower gel wafted from the bathroom, filling the room.
After a pause, Luo Jing looked away first.
Huai Dan paused slightly, closed the bathroom door, walked to the air conditioner control panel by the door, and raised the temperature by one degree.
Because Luo Jing seemed a bit warm, his ears slightly red.
After adjusting the temperature, Huai Dan sat down and looked at Luo Jing: “Doing your homework?”
Luo Jing’s wandering mind returned with his words.
“Yeah…” His expression instantly became one of despair. “I’m planning to finish this tonight, and hopefully a bit more of the others, otherwise I’m doomed when I go back.”
Huai Dan nodded, then picked up his own laptop.
Luo Jing looked at him curiously: “You also have a thesis to write?”
“I’ve already finished mine,” Huai Dan replied.
Luo Jing: “…”
Two seconds later, he looked at Huai Dan, his eyes narrowing slowly, a hostile look on his face.
“Our friendship is really over,” Luo Jing said with a straight face.
Huai Dan’s lips curved slightly: “But I still have some work to do, I can keep you company.”
So Luo Jing’s expression softened, feeling a sense of camaraderie.
In the end, the two huddled together, each occupying one side of the bed, staring at their respective laptops, spending a very business-like and academic evening.
Luo Jing finally finished his thesis at 1 a.m.
To his surprise, Huai Dan had also stayed up with him until this late.
“Are you also done?” The weight on his heart lifted after saving his thesis, and Luo Jing happily closed his laptop, placed it on the bedside table, and seeing Huai Dan also closing his laptop at the same time, asked.
“Mm,” Huai Dan replied.
He had actually finished a long time ago, but he had kept it open to keep Luo Jing company.
Luo Jing guessed as much and didn’t say anything, feeling a bit touched.
Huai Dan was too kind.
Having just finished his thesis, he was still a bit excited and not sleepy yet, but thinking that Huai Dan probably needed to rest, he picked up his phone, intending to browse for a bit before going to bed.
Ye Lin’s message was from an hour ago. Luo Jing had been busy at the time, so he had only glanced at it briefly and only now had the time to read it carefully.
It was a link to a post, an introduction to a night market event in their city.
It looked interesting, and most importantly, there was a lot of good food.
Luo Jing looked at the pictures of steaming food and unconsciously swallowed, feeling like he hadn’t eaten enough for dinner.
Scrolling to the bottom, he realized that this highly-rated night market had been open for six days, and tomorrow was the last day.
Luo Jing instantly felt like this night market was meant for him.
Thinking this, he exited the page and messaged Ye Lin.
AAA.Thesis Wholesaler Xiao Luo: [Can’t you find anyone to go with you?]
Unexpectedly, Ye Lin was still awake at this hour, and the “Typing…” appeared almost instantly.
Two seconds later, Ye Lin sent a question mark.
Luo Jing: “?”
Before Luo Jing could ponder the meaning of the question mark, Ye Lin sent another message: [Don’t you want to go?]
AAA.Thesis Wholesaler Xiao Luo: [I do.]
Ye Lin: [Then go.]
AAA.Thesis Wholesaler Xiao Luo: [Aren’t you going? You were the one who wanted me to go with you.]
Ye Lin was silent for a while.
Ye Lin: [I have something to do tomorrow.]
Ye Lin: [You can ask Huai Dan to go with you, he also needs to relax.]
Ye Lin was acting a bit strange today.
But maybe he was just recommending fun places to him because he was back and had nothing to do.
Thinking this, Luo Jing readily accepted his suggestion, then, looking at his last sentence, felt he had a point, so he turned to the person sitting next to him, also looking at his phone.
“Are you free tomorrow? Do you have to work?” Luo Jing asked.
Huai Dan chuckled: “What kind of company is so heartless that they make their employees work on weekends?”
“Not necessarily,” Luo Jing muttered softly. “You might not be heartless to your employees, but you’re quite heartless to yourself…”
“Thanks to you, I just finished tomorrow’s work,” Huai Dan chuckled, then said, “I’m free, what’s up?”
Hearing his reply, Luo Jing perked up, then moved closer to Huai Dan, showing him his phone screen.
They were a bit too close now.
Their summer clothes were thin, and he could even feel his warmth and scent.
Luo Jing, oblivious, placed his phone between them so Huai Dan could see. Their shoulders were practically touching, and warmth seeped through their thin clothes.
Although they weren’t really touching, Huai Dan felt the presence of that patch of skin become unusually strong.
Luo Jing scrolled through the pictures, excitedly explaining the information he had just learned from the post and envisioning tomorrow’s fun activities. After he finished speaking, he waited for two seconds, but Huai Dan didn’t react.
So he looked at him, puzzled.
Huai Dan seemed to be distracted.
It was rare to see him so absent-minded, and Luo Jing watched him curiously for more than ten seconds, then waved a hand in front of him: “What are you thinking about?”
Suddenly, Huai Dan grabbed his hand.
Luo Jing froze.
Huai Dan’s action was instinctive. After reacting, he immediately let go of Luo Jing’s hand.
“Nothing,” Huai Dan lowered his eyes and said softly. “I was just spacing out.”
For some reason, the atmosphere became strangely awkward. Luo Jing paused, withdrew his hand, and, as if finally feeling uncomfortable, subtly moved away.
They were both silent for a few seconds.
After a moment, Luo Jing cleared his throat: “Do you want to go tomorrow?”
“I can go with you,” Huai Dan said.
“…Oh, then let’s go to sleep, I’m a bit sleepy.”
“Okay.”
Luo Jing moved back to his side of the bed, lay down obediently, covered himself with the quilt, closed his eyes, and suddenly became very quiet.
Huai Dan glanced at him, then reached out and turned off the bedside lamp.
With a soft click, the room was plunged into darkness.
Luo Jing buried half his face in the quilt, trying to summon his sleepiness, but he couldn’t fall asleep.
The tension from working on his thesis had dissipated, and the adrenaline rush was over. Logically, this should be the most relaxing and sleep-inducing moment.
But he still couldn’t sleep.
The reason was none other than the hand Huai Dan had just held, which, for some reason, still felt warm, and the lingering touch, even though it had been brief.
…It was as if Huai Dan was still holding his hand.
The consequence of insomnia was that Luo Jing spent the entire morning listlessly watching TV, eating takeout, and occasionally playing with the dog with Huai Dan, completely vegging out.
But it was also quite enjoyable.
By evening, Luo Jing was fully recharged, changed into the freshly laundered clothes from last night, and excitedly urged Huai Dan to leave.
When they reached the garage, Luo Jing looked at Huai Dan’s car, feeling a sudden urge.
“Why don’t… I drive?” he looked up at Huai Dan and asked tentatively.
Cars abroad were right-hand drive, so although he had a driver’s license, he had never had the chance to drive.
“When did you get your driver’s license?” Huai Dan asked after a moment of thought.
“Three years ago?”
“When was the last time you drove?”
“…Three years ago.”
“When you took your road test?”
“…” Luo Jing fell silent.
After a moment, he tried to defend himself: “I really can drive, I still remember.”
Huai Dan refused decisively: “I’ll let you drive next time.”
He opened the passenger door for Luo Jing, then went to the driver’s seat and got in.
“When is next time?” Luo Jing felt he was being brushed off, but he still obediently got into the passenger seat.
“There will be traffic today, it’ll probably take more than half an hour to get there,” Huai Dan said, changing the subject.
Luo Jing: “…”
Although there was indeed some traffic, they didn’t arrive too late. It was early evening, and there was still a hint of light in the sky.
The stalls were already set up, colorful LED lights illuminating the area. Vendors were either displaying their goods or making preparations, and customers were already milling around.
Luo Jing and Huai Dan joined them.
Thinking about having to leave his beautiful motherland tomorrow and face a pile of terrifying English texts, Luo Jing channeled his sadness into his appetite and bought a bunch of food he wanted to eat.
But his appetite and his stomach capacity were clearly not proportional.
Huai Dan seemed to have anticipated this and didn’t buy anything.
But even so, Luo Jing didn’t stop buying, as if finding an outlet for his miserable life abroad in the past few months.
Finally, Huai Dan couldn’t take it anymore and stopped him.
“Stop buying,” he said, gesturing to the five or six bags of food and two drinks in his hands.
Luo Jing, also carrying a few bags, looked at them and felt it was a bit excessive. Just as he was about to speak, he overheard a couple passing by.
“Stop buying, baby, you really can’t eat anymore.”
“Are you full already? I feel like you haven’t bought anything.”
The boy’s voice was a bit helpless, but also indulgent: “Who do you think is finishing all the food you can’t eat?”
Their voices gradually faded into the crowd.
Luo Jing stood there, his head lowered, silent for more than ten seconds.
What was with this strange sense of déjà vu?
Thinking this, he felt he was overthinking it, so he looked up at Huai Dan—and found him looking at him.
He was quiet, his eyes seemingly unreadable, he didn’t know how long he had been looking.
Luo Jing’s heart skipped a beat from his gaze.
Huai Dan looked away, then raised the bags in his hand: “Let’s go find a place to sit and eat.”
“Okay,” Luo Jing replied and obediently followed behind him.
In the end, despite their best efforts, they still had about a quarter of the food left, and Luo Jing could only give up tearfully.
He could already imagine how much he would regret this when he thought about this food back in America.
After eating and drinking their fill, they didn’t go home immediately but decided to walk around the streets.
This area was well-developed, crowded, and lively, with beautiful lights at night.
Perhaps because they saw many couples strolling around, several children selling roses were weaving through the crowd, promoting their flowers.
Some people refused, but some would buy a rose and give it to their loved ones, a beautiful sight.
Luo Jing noticed a little girl selling flowers sitting on the steps not far away.
Unlike the others, she wasn’t walking around and trying to sell her flowers, but sitting there with her flower basket, the bright red roses blooming beautifully, but also making her look lonely.
The little girl’s head was slightly lowered, as if she was spacing out.
Although he didn’t know what had happened to her, Luo Jing suddenly felt a pang of sympathy.
Thinking this, he looked at the person beside him, opened his mouth, about to say something.
Looking at Huai Dan, his eyes reflected the surrounding lights, looking very bright.
“I’ll go buy some,” Huai Dan said, as if seeing through his thoughts. After a pause, he walked towards the little girl and bent down to talk to her.
Luo Jing stood there, watching Huai Dan.
For some reason, he felt a sense of loneliness from him.
Thinking about the pressure Huai Dan had been under these past few years, with no one to share his burden, and… not even anyone to talk to.
Luo Jing’s heart stirred, and Ye Lin’s words from the restaurant yesterday echoed in his mind: “Being alone is no fun.”
These words were more suitable for Huai Dan, why didn’t he try to persuade him?
When Huai Dan returned, he was only holding one rose, leaving the rest for the little girl to deal with.
As he approached, Luo Jing’s wandering thoughts returned, and looking at the flower in Huai Dan’s hand, he joked, “Mr. Huai is also doing charity today.”
“For you,” Huai Dan said simply.
Luo Jing: “…”
Although he was just stating a fact, these words sounded strangely awkward to Luo Jing.
Luo Jing felt like he had been overthinking things a lot recently… he didn’t know if it was a side effect of rushing to meet deadlines.
Luo Jing cleared his throat, collected himself, looked at Huai Dan, and said seriously, “Why don’t you find someone to be with you?”
“What?”
“Like… a partner or something,” Luo Jing said. “Do you have a type?”
He looked at Huai Dan, a hint of nervousness in his eyes that he didn’t notice himself.
Huai Dan looked at him for a moment, then suddenly sighed.
Luo Jing: “?”
After a pause, Huai Dan handed him the rose.
Luo Jing took it, puzzled.
“Why are you so oblivious?” Huai Dan looked at him, a bit helpless, then said seriously, “I don’t have a type.”
“Then…?”
“I like you.”
