This made Jiang Ling, who was already feeling a bit spiritless, shudder instantly.
“What’s wrong?”
Song Meng noticed her strange behavior and glanced over, setting her chopsticks on the plate. “I’m just about finished. Are you going back to the dorm or somewhere else?”
“I… can I just play dead for a bit?”
Jiang Ling seemed to have completely forgotten how she had just vowed her commitment to her sisters. Tears and snot streaming down her face, she looked at Song Meng, trying to seek her approval.
“Huh?”
Song Meng naturally couldn’t understand her nonsense. Following her gaze, she caught sight of the message from Shen Yue and saw Jiang Ling’s trembling fingers. She looked genuinely terrified.
“Is this that composer you mentioned?”
Song Meng grasped the situation almost immediately and held out her hand toward Jiang Ling. “Let me see what you’ve been talking about.”
With a face as pale as ash, Jiang Ling handed over the phone. In her mind, she was already plotting how to tactfully decline. After all, she had just been scolded so harshly. Wouldn’t it be incredibly awkward to meet again?
Why didn’t Shen Yue have any self-awareness?!
While Jiang Ling was grumbling to herself, Song Meng had already scrolled through all the messages between her and Shen Yue since they added each other. They hadn’t known each other long, so besides invitations to eat and Jiang Ling’s tireless requests for songs, there wasn’t much extra chatter. It only spanned a few pages.
“Looking at it this way, her attitude the last time she spoke to you really was strange.”
Song Meng gave her verdict. She didn’t believe a person could undergo such a massive change in a short amount of time unless something had actually happened. After Jiang Ling told her about it, she had also done a brief search into Shen Yue’s background, and a sense of worry had risen in her heart.
“Are you sure she didn’t encounter something bad?”
Hearing the concern in Song Meng’s voice, Jiang Ling immediately stopped her incessant muttering and responded with some confusion, “Something bad?”
“It might just be me being oversensitive, but she’s suffered trauma before. Logically, she shouldn’t have agreed to your request so easily. She should have maintained a polite distance, just like she did in your earlier chats.”
“But then she invited you out directly and even took the initiative to say she was willing to give you songs, only to discourage you at the end with that critical tone… How should I put it? It’s just not right. Personally, I think you should talk to her again.”
After listening to Song Meng’s thorough analysis, Jiang Ling nodded her head in agreement, then swiftly turned off her phone again.
‘You’re right, but I don’t dare!’
She whimpered and buried her head in her arms, as if she could already see the terrifying scene of her own corpse being repeatedly desecrated.
‘One dose of injury is enough!’
Song Meng looked at Jiang Ling’s cowering expression, rested her chin on her hand, and spoke leisurely, “So, are you planning to give up?”
“Um… well, not exactly…”
“You said you’d give your all for NOVA and shine bright. Is this as far as you go?”
Song Meng deliberately added a bit of weight to her words, making Jiang Ling restless. However, Jiang Ling didn’t say anything, only staring blankly at the dark screen.
Seeing this, Song Meng’s expression remained calm as she continued in that same slow tone, “Weren’t you so full of confidence before? Why are you backing down just because you got scolded? You little coward.”
Her voice was half-reproving and half-helpless.
Song Meng knew that for someone like Jiang Ling — who was always passive — if no one pushed her from behind, she would likely stay in the same spot forever. One couldn’t expect her to figure things out on her own.
So, Song Meng picked up the forced-off phone. After starting it, she familiarly grabbed Jiang Ling’s finger to unlock it, opened the chat with Shen Yue, and quickly typed a single “Okay.”
Jiang Ling didn’t even have time to stop her — or perhaps she didn’t actually want to. She just watched the chat log with a complicated expression. Scenes from the conversation at the Western restaurant that day involuntarily surfaced in her mind.
Shen Yue’s unpredictable attitude made her hesitate.
Ultimately, she felt that since the other girl had been so blunt with her, they would naturally drift apart until they eventually disappeared from each other’s social circles, right?
Yet, Shen Yue had invited her out again as if nothing had happened. Could it be that Jiang Ling had imagined what happened last time?
Before she could think further, the phone buzzed.
[Let’s eat tonight. I have some things to deal with at noon.]
Shen Yue’s response was open and natural, as if that argument-like conversation had never happened between them. This made Jiang Ling even more bewildered. She looked at Song Meng with a pitiful gaze.
“How about you come with — “
“No.”
Song Meng airily rejected the suggestion before Jiang Ling could finish. Then, as Jiang Ling’s eyes quickly filled with disappointment, she added, “This is between the two of you. More specifically, it’s between NOVA and the composer, Shen Yue. You need to work hard on this yourself instead of relying on others.”
“I understand the logic, but… but still!”
Jiang Ling was still immersed in her fearful memories of the last encounter. Her voice couldn’t help but sound anxious and pathetic.
Seeing her like this, Song Meng curled her lips into a smile. She took Jiang Ling’s twisting, fidgeting fingers and slowly closed her hand over them.
“I can’t go with you, but if anything happens, call me anytime.”
Her eyes were firm but held a trace of tenderness, giving off an oddly reassuring feeling.
Jiang Ling fell silent and finally nodded.
‘If I don’t enter hell, who will?!’
—
But when evening came and Jiang Ling stood before that familiar burger shop again, her feet refused to move forward. She just stood there, biting her lip and pacing in circles, staring at the wind chimes hanging on the doorframe with a mix of timidity and hesitation.
“What do I do, what do I do…”
She muttered to herself, completely unaware of the petite figure approaching from behind.
“Jiang Ling?”
Shen Yue watched Jiang Ling spinning like a top in front of the door and let out a confused sound.
“Ah?!”
Jiang Ling jumped in fright at the sound. She whirled around and met Shen Yue’s slightly tilted head and questioning gaze. Jiang Ling immediately scrambled back several steps, nearly slamming into the door.
“Nothing! It’s nothing!”
Jiang Ling laughed nervously, her eyes darting away.
“Then let’s go in. Why are you standing out here?”
Seeing Jiang Ling’s face turning red, Shen Yue grew even more confused, but she didn’t say much. She stepped forward and pushed the door open, causing the wind chimes to *clatter and jingle*.
“Welcome.”
The shop owner greeted them familiarly. Compared to others, Jiang Ling and Shen Yue were already regulars here. Sometimes, the owner would even give these two cute girls some free side dishes.
“Boss, the usual.”
Shen Yue placed her order and sat in her usual spot. Jiang Ling followed, sitting opposite her with some restraint. She didn’t speak for a long time.
“Why are you being so strange today?”
Shen Yue clearly felt Jiang Ling’s odd behavior. She stirred her drink and looked up to ask.
Yesterday, after finishing her song as usual, she had thought about playing some games to relax. Naturally, she remembered how Jiang Ling had been pestering her the other day. Finding it both helpless and amusing, she checked her phone.
To her surprise, Jiang Ling hadn’t sent her any messages. This unexpected turn of events caused Shen Yue to exit her game immediately and stare at the screen blankly for a long while.
‘Did she finally decide to give up?’
After all, she had consistently refused Jiang Ling and sometimes even ignored her. It would be normal for Jiang Ling to back down.
Shen Yue scrolled through their chat history, feeling an inexplicable sense of melancholy.
‘Wait, what is this feeling?’
Shen Yue thought about it for a long time but couldn’t reach a proper conclusion. However, she knew that she seemed a bit worried and troubled by the lack of news from Jiang Ling.
But then again, why was she troubled?
Shen Yue hadn’t made a friend in many years. She had long forgotten the so-called rules of social etiquette and had no idea what was going on with her current state of mind.
As a result, she tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep.
It got to the point where she crawled out of bed at 3:00 or 4:00 AM, stared at her pale reflection in the mirror, and muttered, “I’ll just ask her out to eat tomorrow. I’m not allowed to think about it anymore. Go to sleep.”
Strangely enough, after saying that to herself, Shen Yue fell asleep quickly, entering dreamland almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.
That was why she contacted Jiang Ling as soon as she woke up.
Now, Shen Yue noticed that Jiang Ling seemed to be avoiding her gaze, her expression very subtle.
This caused the anxious Shen Yue to suddenly freeze.
‘Wait, is she annoyed with me?’
After all, if she didn’t agree to sell her songs to NOVA, then to Jiang Ling, she might just be a passerby…
The moment she thought of this, Shen Yue felt a dull ache in her heart.
“Ah, no, I’m not.”
Jiang Ling tried her best to appear calm, answering as levelly as possible, terrified that Shen Yue would discover her messy, frantic emotions.
But this attitude only made Shen Yue more certain —
Jiang Ling didn’t want to be friends with her anymore.
The sparkle in Shen Yue’s eyes instantly dimmed. She stared at the drink on the table, masking her inner sadness and confusion. “Um… okay then.”
The two girls, each lost in their own thoughts, fell into silence.
It wasn’t until the shop owner walked up with a tray full of food and saw the two girls, who were usually so harmonious and cheerful, sitting there in stony silence that she spoke up in surprise. “Did you two have a fight?”
At those words, both Jiang Ling and Shen Yue looked up instantly, their voices a bit strained as they answered together, “No!”
“Eh, look at that chemistry.”
The owner set down the food and spoke in a heartfelt tone, “You young people shouldn’t be so hot-tempered. If there’s a problem, just talk it out. Understand?”
Her words left Jiang Ling unsure of how to respond, so she could only nod repeatedly with a forced smile.
After the owner left, the atmosphere, which had briefly lightened, sank back into silence.
Realizing she couldn’t let this continue, Jiang Ling bit her lip and worked hard to draft a speech in her mind. She repeated it several times before suddenly looking up, only to lock eyes with Shen Yue’s complicated gaze.
Their voices rang out at the same time —
“Do you not want to be friends with me anymore?”
“Are you still angry?”