As Fang Wannan’s voice fell, Jiang Ling seemed to be playing a game of “Red Light, Green Light,” unexpectedly stopping her struggle and staring back at her with a face full of confusion.
“What’s wrong?”
It was only after Jiang Ling voiced her confusion that she realized their bodies were already tightly pressed together, their body heat growing increasingly hot through the layers of their somewhat thick clothing.
It seemed as if she only needed to lean down slightly to touch Fang Wannan’s currently trembling lips.
Jiang Ling genuinely didn’t know how to handle this kind of situation, so she abruptly pulled her body back, awkwardly averting her eyes as she tried to get off her: “Sorry…”
Seeing that she was about to pull away, Fang Wannan tightened her grip almost subconsciously.
Jiang Ling looked at her own unmoving body and patted her hand with some urgency: “Let me go.”
Hearing this, Fang Wannan gave a soft “oh.”
So Jiang Ling propped herself up with her arms and tried to slide down…
She still didn’t move an inch.
Jiang Ling didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as she watched Fang Wannan turn her face away with an air of nonchalance. Looking down, she could clearly see the hand pinching her waist was faintly exerting force.
“Nannan.”
“What is it?”
“If you want to hug me, just say so.”
Hearing Jiang Ling’s half-smiling voice, Fang Wannan reacted immediately, her face flushing red as she retorted: “What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”
“H-How could I possibly want to hug you?!”
Listening to her slightly pitchy voice, Jiang Ling responded helplessly: “Yes, yes. Then, may I ask, Miss, can you let me go now?”
At those words, Fang Wannan coughed lightly twice.
“…My body is a bit sore, let’s wait a moment.”
The two of them maintained that posture for a long time—
Until Bai Xue pushed open the door to the practice room.
She looked at Jiang Ling and Fang Wannan, who had quickly separated in a panic, and asked with feigned composure: “Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”
Bai Xue was carrying a very large bag. When she walked in, her high heels clicked and clattered against the floor.
“I am actually very happy to see the members of NOVA being so ‘loving’.”
Jiang Ling inexplicably sensed a hint of danger from her smiling tone.
Intuition told her that at a time like this, she should change the subject immediately!
“That… oh, right! How is the song selection going?”
After saying it, Jiang Ling pinched her own thigh in annoyance. She really had a knack for bringing up the worst possible topics!
Sure enough, hearing this, a faint look of worry appeared on Bai Xue’s face: “It hasn’t been very smooth.”
“After all, there aren’t many people available for us to choose from. Plus, everyone is a bit of a perfectionist and doesn’t want to just settle, so the songs we finally filtered out are two or three at most, and they still don’t perfectly meet our expectations.”
Looking at the dark circles under Bai Xue’s eyes, Jiang Ling squeezed her fingers and responded with a determined gaze: “I’ll do my best as soon as possible!”
After returning to her room, Jiang Ling fell into deep thought.
The Spring Festival would be arriving in a while. By then, everyone definitely wouldn’t have as much free time as they did now, so Jiang Ling couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious.
But the song was in Shen Yue’s hands. Even if she was anxious, she could only be patient and think about how to get her hands on it.
After several days of contact, Jiang Ling had come to a complete understanding: Shen Yue didn’t mind being friends with her at all and was even very happy about it.
But as soon as selling the song to NOVA was mentioned, she would either play dead or politely decline, giving Jiang Ling no opportunity to slip through the cracks.
Jiang Ling closed her eyes in pain and collapsed onto the bed.
Ah… if only a pie could fall from the sky at a time like this—
“Beep beep.”
The phone she was clutching tightly suddenly rang.
Jiang Ling thought it was some kind of spam message. she squinted her eyes and looked over lazily, then her pupils dilated almost uncontrollably as she stared at the screen in total shock.
[I want to talk to you about the song.]
The sender: Shen Yue.
Jiang Ling rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
The message above was still glaringly obvious; she hadn’t misread it.
“How did a pie actually fall from the sky?!”
Jiang Ling suddenly performed a kip-up and stood up, pacing back and forth in the room excitedly, her breathing becoming hurried.
Although she was still a bit dazed, Jiang Ling naturally wasn’t going to give up this hard-won opportunity, and she hurriedly typed out a line of text.
[Okay! When?]
[Tomorrow then. I’ll send you the location.]
Seeing Shen Yue’s reply without much hesitation, Jiang Ling finally regained a sense of reality, and the joy in her heart grew even stronger.
***
The next day, Jiang Ling looked at the location on her phone and then looked around to confirm. The place they agreed on was a Western restaurant with a magnificent, golden interior that was somewhat intimidating.
But when Jiang Ling thought of Shen Yue eating a burger with her with great relish last time, she felt relieved again. She was glad she was dressed somewhat formally as she walked inside.
As soon as she entered, a waiter with a gentle smile greeted her: “Hello, Ma’am. Do you have a reservation?”
Jiang Ling rubbed her fingers nervously and then reported the number Shen Yue had sent her beforehand with a slight stutter.
Hearing the number, the waiter nodded in understanding and reached out to guide her: “This way, please.”
Jiang Ling cautiously surveyed the surroundings. Fortunately, she soon saw Shen Yue’s figure and quickly walked forward.
“Are you finally planning to cooperate with us?”
Almost as soon as she sat down, Jiang Ling asked impatiently, her eyes filled with earnestness.
Watching her anxious appearance, Shen Yue didn’t deny it: “Yes.”
Upon getting a positive answer, Jiang Ling was so happy she wanted to scream right there, but sensing the quiet and elegant atmosphere around her, she forced herself to endure it. Her face was flushed as she stared intently into Shen Yue’s eyes: “Have you really made up your mind?”
“Mm.”
Shen Yue nodded and then opened the menu: “Let’s order first? I’m a bit hungry.”
Jiang Ling’s heart was filled with joy at this moment, and she had no heart to look at it, so she simply closed the menu: “I’ll have the same thing as you.”
Hearing this, Shen Yue raised her eyebrows slightly, then quickly recited a list of dish names that Jiang Ling had never heard of. But Jiang Ling didn’t care much; after all, she probably ordered something like burgers and steak—
But when the waiter covered the table with vegetable salads, Jiang Ling couldn’t help but freeze in place in silence.
She looked at the food, then at the smiling Shen Yue, and picked up her knife and fork with great effort, opening her mouth with a dry laugh: “Haha, are we… are we eating this?”
Shen Yue propped her chin on one hand and asked back with a bright smile: “Don’t you like it?”
“It’s not that I don’t like it, I just didn’t expect you to only order these.”
Because in her impression, Shen Yue wasn’t a vegetarian. But after Jiang Ling reacted, she wasn’t particularly shocked; after all, maybe she just wanted to eat something light today?
Listening to her words, Shen Yue narrowed her eyes imperceptibly: “Speaking of which, you seem to know me very well?”
“Huh?”
Jiang Ling poked a piece of vegetable into her mouth, looking a bit puzzled: “We’ve been talking for so long, after all. I might not know everything like the back of my hand, but I at least know most of your preferences.”
“Like?”
“Um… for example, you love eating meat as much as I do, you don’t really eat vegetables, and you don’t like things that are too sweet, except for drinks…”
Jiang Ling spoke as she recalled, completely failing to see the increasingly interested look in Shen Yue’s eyes.
After she finished speaking, she heard Shen Yue speak abruptly: “Do you want this song from the bottom of your heart?”
Meeting her gaze, Jiang Ling nodded without hesitation.
“Yes.”
For a long while, Shen Yue didn’t say anything more. She just swirled the wine glass containing a dark red liquid, then gently placed it on the table and hooked her finger at Jiang Ling with her slender, fair fingers.
Jiang Ling didn’t understand, but her body moved before her head did. She got up, went around the table, and sat down next to her.
The smile in Shen Yue’s eyes deepened. Her finger flicked through the air, easily tilting up Jiang Ling’s slightly startled face, forcing her into a direct gaze.
Because of this, Jiang Ling saw that small mole under her right eye.
Immediately after, the girl’s teasing voice, laced with a hint of contempt, rang in Jiang Ling’s ear.
“Jiang Ling, have you truly prepared yourself?”