Yu Ning froze, her mind going blank for a few seconds.

In the past, he had always posed questions in a relatively subtle way; this was the first time he had been so direct, and with such a hint of emotion.

It made Yu Ning feel a tiny bit excited.

“No.” Yu Ning denied it instantly. A flurry of thoughts flashed through her mind, but she wasn’t sure if it was because she had listened to his flowery, deceitful words too often in her dreams. She swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue and mimicked his way of speaking: “You’re too good to me; it makes me a bit uneasy.”

Ling Wangjin paused noticeably upon hearing this. “Really?”

Though he phrased it as a question, a smile hung on his face.

It seems his own tactics work quite well on him, she thought.

Yu Ning: “Of course it’s real. I’ve been thinking about the reason for this lately.”

Ling Wangjin: “Why would you feel uneasy?”

The topic had shifted, and Yu Ning felt a sense of relief.

However, his question left Yu Ning slightly stuck. She couldn’t speak plainly about the dreams, nor could she reveal the existence of Jin Miao.

“Just because I got into a fight with someone, and you fell in love at first sight?” Yu Ning didn’t quite believe it.

Ling Wangjin: “Sometimes, affection just comes out of nowhere.”

It’s impossible to crack him open, Yu Ning thought, feeling increasingly helpless. She didn’t know how to dig his past out of his mouth. Asking directly made her worry he would notice something, yet every time she tried to steer the conversation toward his past experiences, she couldn’t find an opening.

Yu Ning had no choice but to set her doubts aside for now and deal with them later.

“I can’t eat any more.” She pushed the burger box forward. “You finish it.”

Ling Wangjin picked up the crumpled burger wrapper she had balled up. He cleared the space in front of her, set the milkshake aside, and poured her a glass of plain water.

Then, he turned slightly to take off his jacket.

Yu Ning’s gaze naturally drifted along with his movements.

So he wasn’t wearing a dress shirt today.

Yu Ning had been wondering why he wore dress shirts every day, and why it looked a bit odd paired with a jacket.

Then, she realized why she had mistaken the polo shirt he was wearing for a dress shirt.

The two buttons at his chest were fastened tight, making the fabric lie flat and smooth against his chest. It wasn’t tight, but it had a sense of fullness, as if it were being slightly stretched from within.

From a distance, it looked just like he was wearing a well-fitted dress shirt.

She didn’t know how those chicken thighs were fried to produce such an aroma.

Yu Ning took a breath, swallowing the saliva in her mouth.

Her stomach was full now, but her eyes were hungry.

Without paying attention, her focus had drifted back to his body.

Yu Ning sighed repeatedly. She couldn’t stop herself from glancing at him, and her mind was filled with all sorts of thoughts.

Why is my self-control so terrible when it comes to Ling Wangjin?

He ate in a slow, deliberate manner. It was quite pleasant to watch, and it also looked appetizing.

Ling Wangjin slowly cut the burger. A piece of mushroom with cheese was tucked inside. Under his hand, a small pool of juice oozed from the mushroom, and the cheese stretched out into long, thin threads. The fork pierced into the fried chicken, emitting a crisp Kacha! sound.

Yu Ning stared for a while, feeling as though the fragrant fried chicken seemed even more delicious in his hands, and the beef patty seemed even juicier…

Yu Ning: ”…Cut a little bit more for me.”

* * *

As it turned out, Yu Ning ended up eating one and a half burgers and half the fried chicken.

Feeling her stomach uncomfortably full, Yu Ning regretted it deeply. She was led by him to the roadside to walk off the meal.

They walked around the landscape lake once.

Without realizing it, the sky had darkened. As the sun set, the orange-red light gradually spilled down, causing the lake surface and the glass curtain walls of the high-rise buildings to reflect the light, composing an orange painting.

Ling Wangjin turned his head, half of his face illuminated by the light as if he were about to melt into the scene.

Yu Ning looked at him, and a strange emotion welled up in her heart. The light seemed to carry a warmth that traveled all the way from her eyes into the depths of her soul.

She perceived an inexplicable sense of satisfaction from it.

Yu Ning truly, truly loved this kind of calm and peaceful daily life.

Why would I commit suicide?

She remembered Jin Miao mentioning the past two lifetimes.

She didn’t know about Life A, but in Life B, she had committed suicide not long after leaving Ling Wangjin.

So… in the end, who was redeeming whom?

* * *

She began to dream again.

Yu Ning could already face the content of the dreams calmly.

Then, from a first-person perspective, a layer of taxi receipts was spread out on a reddish-brown wooden desk.

The first receipt Yu Ning saw was one she had given to Ling Wangjin today.

Then, the perspective shifted to the right; he was likely turning his head.

A map of Echeng was hanging on the wall to the right, with several locations marked by red thumbtacks.

Those locations were the burger joint, the place she was currently staying, and Ling Wangjin’s hospital.

He divided the receipts into three piles.

Yu Ning saw that the prices of the three piles of receipts were not far apart, and the distances were similar as well.

Then, he picked up a ruler to measure the map and marked a few points with a pen. Next, a compass appeared in the frame. He extended the radius from the points he had drawn earlier and drew three circles around the thumbtacks.

Three circles appeared on the map, and there was an overlapping area in the center of the three circles.

Yu Ning looked closely; the overlapping area was exactly the neighborhood where she had met Jin Miao today.

Yu Ning: ”…”

I was careless. In the past, Ling Wangjin had told her that taxi receipts could be reimbursed, and his monthly travel reimbursement quota was more than he could ever use.

Yu Ning had believed him, so she would give him her taxi receipts every time—it had become a habit!

It didn’t end there. He picked up his phone, showing the WeChat chat interface, and at the top of the screen were the words “Little Darling.”

Little Darling: Are you eating out with friends again today?

Yu Ning had never noticed it before, but now she realized that Ling Wangjin had actually changed her WeChat nickname to “Little Darling.”

Hand-Cut Lemon: Yeah.

Little Darling: When will you be back? Eating alone doesn’t taste like anything.

Little Darling: [Image]

He had sent a photo of his dinner. In the center of the image sat a lonely, solitary boxed meal.

Hand-Cut Lemon: Eating so casually.

Little Darling: I have no appetite eating alone. What are you guys eating?

The topic shifted naturally.

Yu Ning could already imagine her future replies.

As expected, Hand-Cut Lemon also sent a photo over.

There were many similar chat logs.

Yu Ning watched helplessly as he collected several photos of food.

Following that, he saved these photos and started an image search.

Not every photo could be identified, but he still managed to find similar photos for a few of them, and along with them, the names of the restaurants popped up.

He entered the restaurant names into Meituan, opening the addresses one by one.

In the end, he narrowed it down to a few places.

Yu Ning looked at the parentheses following the names of those restaurants—(Echeng University Branch).

Yu Ning suddenly remembered Jin Miao saying she was only 19 years old; wasn’t she currently in college?

At this moment, Ling Wangjin in the dream made a move.

She saw the hand holding the pen in the frame lift and fall, marking a point within the overlapping area of the circles, and then circling the name of the location.

Echeng University.

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