Qiuqiu was a little annoyed today.
It lay on the armrest of the sofa, tail swishing back and forth, eyes squinting into slits as it watched the stupid poop-scooper dazing off while holding her phone.
It had been half an hour.
That stupid poop-scooper had stayed in the exact same position—legs curled up, phone held before her eyes, the screen brightening and then dimming, dimming and then brightening.
“Meow.”
No reaction.
“Meow, meow.”
Still no reaction.
Qiuqiu rolled its eyes, jumped down from the armrest, walked to her legs, and rubbed its head against her.
Only then did Shen Qingyue snap out of it and look down at the cat.
“Qiuqiu…”
She reached out to pet its head, but her eyes drifted back to her phone.
Qiuqiu: “…”
Fine, keep going then.
It jumped onto the sofa, curled into a ball beside her, and watched her with squinted eyes.
The screen showed the chat window with Lin Mo.
The last message was from two days ago.
It had been two days.
(>﹏<)…
Shen Qingyue took a deep breath.
Her finger hovered over the screen.
She typed a line: [The results are out, 706.]
‘Too blunt.’
Delete.
She typed again: [Guess what score I got?]
‘Seems a bit childish.’
Delete.
She tried again: [Are you free? I want to tell you something.]
(；一_一)…
‘Isn’t this just asking him out in a roundabout way?’
Qiuqiu watched from the side as she deleted and typed, typed and deleted, until its tail stopped swishing entirely.
“Meow.”
It let out a cry, its tone carrying a hint of disdain that said, “Can you do this or not?”
Shen Qingyue looked down at it.
Qiuqiu rolled over, exposing its belly with its four paws curled up, looking like it couldn’t be bothered with her anymore.
Shen Qingyue suddenly laughed.
She picked up Qiuqiu and buried her face in its soft belly.
“Qiuqiu, I got a 706…”
“Provincial Fifth…”
“Did you know…”
Qiuqiu was being smothered so hard it couldn’t breathe, so it used its paws to push at her face.
Shen Qingyue let go and looked at it.
Qiuqiu stared at her with an expression that screamed, “Are you sick?”
Shen Qingyue laughed again.
Then she picked up her phone, and this time, she didn’t hesitate.
Shen Qingyue: [The results are out.]
Lin Mo: [Holy crap, how much???]
The corners of Shen Qingyue’s mouth curled up.
Shen Qingyue: [It’s okay, a score of 706.]
Lin Mo: [???] Followed by a meme of a confused child with many question marks.
Lin Mo: [The Study Representative is terrifying!]
Lin Mo: [Right, what’s your province rank???]
Shen Qingyue: [Provincial Fifth.]
Lin Mo: [Sent a “God” meme!!!]
Lin Mo: [Study Representative, are you even human? That’s way too scary.]
Lin Mo: [I already felt like a total badass with my 630.]
Lin Mo: [But you got 706???]
Looking at the series of messages on the screen, Shen Qingyue smiled with a bit of pride.
Qiuqiu watched from the side and rolled its eyes.
Shen Qingyue: [What about you? Which school did you end up applying to?]
Lin Mo: [The one in Haicheng.]
Shen Qingyue: [That far?]
Lin Mo: [Yeah.]
Silence followed for a few seconds.
Shen Qingyue bit her lip and typed:
Shen Qingyue: [I applied to Provincial Normal University.]
Lin Mo: [I know.]
Shen Qingyue froze for a moment.
‘He knows?’
‘When did I say it? I didn’t say it, did I?’
Shen Qingyue: [How do you know?]
Lin Mo: […You said it yourself before, didn’t you?]
Shen Qingyue thought about it.
‘Did I say it?’
‘Maybe? I can’t remember. Uh.’
(｡•́︿•̀｡)…
Never mind.
Shen Qingyue: [That poem… did you understand it?]
Sent.
The moment it sent, she regretted it.
‘This is way too direct.’
But the message was already out, and she couldn’t take it back.
She stared at the screen, her heart rate accelerating rapidly.
Qiuqiu struggled a bit as she gripped it too hard.
“Meow!”
Shen Qingyue ignored it.
On the screen, Lin Mo was typing.
Typing…
Typing…
Shen Qingyue held her breath.
And then—
The phone vibrated.
Lin Mo: [I understood it.]
Shen Qingyue’s heart skipped a beat happily.
Lin Mo: [It was well-written.]
Shen Qingyue: […]
‘That’s it?’
‘Well-written?’
(；一_一)…
She took a deep breath.
‘Forget it, maybe he’s just… embarrassed?’
Just as she was about to type, her phone suddenly vibrated.
It wasn’t a message.
It was a voice call.
A voice call from Lin Mo.
Shen Qingyue was stunned.
Qiuqiu was also stunned.
“Meow?”
Shen Qingyue scrambled to press the answer button.
“Hello?”
Her voice was trembling slightly.
“Study Representative.”
Lin Mo’s voice came through the receiver.
Shen Qingyue’s heart raced again.
“W-what is it?”
“Nothing. Just… wanted to congratulate you.”
“…Thank you.”
She started having no idea what to say again.
Shen Qingyue could hear the sound of her own breathing.
She could also hear the background noise on his end, like the sound of a television.
“Uhm…” Lin Mo spoke.
“Yeah?”
“You just asked me about that poem… did you have something you wanted to tell me?”
Shen Qingyue was a bit dazed.
She hadn’t expected him to be so direct.
“I…”
She opened her mouth, not knowing what to say.
Qiuqiu watched her from the side, its tail swishing back and forth.
Shen Qingyue took a deep breath.
“Lin Mo.”
“Yeah?”
“That poem…” Her voice was very soft. “Did you look at it carefully?”
After a few seconds of silence on the other end.
“I did. But at the time, I thought I understood it, when I actually didn’t,” Lin Mo said.
Shen Qingyue’s heart was thumping wildly.
“Then…”
Lin Mo said, “Study Representative, let me ask you a question.”
“What? Hmm?”
Lin Mo didn’t speak.
There was only the sound of slight breathing on the phone.
A long time passed.
“I…” Lin Mo began, his voice sounding a bit strained. “I don’t know how to say this either.”
Shen Qingyue listened.
“It’s just…” Lin Mo paused. “A lot of things have happened recently. It’s a bit messy.”
Shen Qingyue didn’t say a word.
“But right now, sigh, I don’t know how to explain this matter,” Lin Mo said.
Silence.
A very, very long silence.
Qiuqiu let out a yawn beside her.
“Lin Mo,” Shen Qingyue spoke.
“Yeah?”
“Is it, is it that… you have something else going on?”
Silence on the other end.
Shen Qingyue waited.
A long time passed.
“I do,” Lin Mo said.
Shen Qingyue was stunned for a moment.
She hadn’t expected him to admit it.
“What is it?”
Lin Mo didn’t speak.
Shen Qingyue waited.
“Study Representative,” Lin Mo began. “I’ll continue with the question I wanted to ask you earlier.”
“Yeah?”
“If…” Lin Mo paused. “If you found out that someone did something very overboard to you… but you only have suspicions and no evidence, and you don’t know how to get evidence.”
“What kind of thing?”
Lin Mo was silent for a few seconds.
“Just…” His voice was a bit strained. “The kind that crosses the line.”
Shen Qingyue was startled.
“Crosses the line? There are many kinds of things that cross the line. What happened to you?”
“Maybe it is,” Lin Mo said.
Shen Qingyue was stunned once again.
“Huh? Maybe it is?”
“Yeah, maybe it is.”
“Forget it, it’s nothing. I’m just a little tired.”
Shen Qingyue didn’t speak.
She didn’t know what to say.
“Study Representative,” Lin Mo spoke again.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
Shen Qingyue was taken aback.
“Thank you for what?”
“That poem,” Lin Mo said. “Thank you.”
Shen Qingyue’s heart seemed to stop for a moment.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something.
But Lin Mo spoke first.
“I’m going to hang up now,” he said. “I have something to do.”
“…Okay.”
“Yeah. Bye.”
“Bye.”
The call ended.
Shen Qingyue held her phone, sitting on the sofa, dazed for a long time.
Qiuqiu watched her from the side, its tail swishing.
“Meow.”
It let out a cry.
Shen Qingyue looked down at it.
“Qiuqiu,” she said softly. ‘Is he…’
Qiuqiu ignored her, jumped off the sofa, and went to munch on its cat food.
Shen Qingyue leaned back against the sofa.
Her mind was a tangled mess.
‘Did he understand? Or did he not understand?’
And the question he asked—
‘If you find out someone did something very overboard to you…’
‘And what did “maybe it is” even mean?’
(｡•́︿•̀｡)…
‘What does it mean?’
Shen Qingyue couldn’t figure it out.
Beside her, Qiuqiu continued to eat with loud crunching sounds.
Outside the window, the night deepened.