“Hello?” she answered.
The voice on the other end said: “Xu Zhinan, where did you go?”
Xu Zhinan didn’t react immediately, blinking: “What?”
“Didn’t I tell you about my flight today? You didn’t even come to pick me up. I’m all alone at Yan City Airport right now!”
“I know you’re coming back today.” Xu Zhinan glanced back at Lin Qingye and lowered her voice. “But you didn’t ask me to pick you up.”
“I can’t believe you, girl. How can you be so heartless? Didn’t your big brother always take you everywhere when I was in China before?”
Xu Zhinan didn’t argue with Young Master Gu: “What are you going to do now? Nobody came to pick you up at the airport?”
“I’ll come by myself!” Young Master Gu said angrily, then dropped a quick “I’ll find you at the shop” before hanging up.
Xu Zhinan put her phone back in her pocket and walked back to Lin Qingye: “Qingye Ge.”
His expression remained unchanged, though his aura somehow felt oppressive now, with a hint of coldness spreading across his features. He replied flatly: “Mm.”
After the earlier incident, even though Lin Qingye had said she was his girlfriend, his attitude was dismissive and deceptive. Xu Zhinan felt embarrassed by his behavior and didn’t want to stay any longer.
“I should go now,” Xu Zhinan said softly.
Gu Congwang was like a childhood friend to her; they grew up together.
But there was a huge gap between their families. Xu Zhinan’s father was a police officer and her mother a teacher—an ordinary family. The Gu family, however, was a prestigious clan in Yan City. Gu Congwang was their pride and joy, born with a silver spoon in his mouth—the little prince of the Gu family, cherished and adored.
She hesitated about how to describe Gu Congwang to Lin Qingye.
Then she heard him say: “Fine.”
Xu Zhinan opened her mouth, then closed it again, silently walking out of the bedroom, picking up her backpack, changing back into her shoes, and leaving.
The studio door slammed with a loud “bang.”
Lin Qingye entered with a dark face. The rest of the band members were all there.
“Captain.” Guan Chi called hesitantly, “Is everything okay?”
He didn’t respond, just grabbed his guitar and went straight to his room.
The three remaining members looked at each other in bewilderment. What was going on?
Guan Chi: “What’s the situation? It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the captain with that expression.”
Ji Yan frowned: “Did he argue with his mom again after going home?”
“Doesn’t seem like it. Hasn’t it been a long time since he went back?”
Ji Yan gave him a sidelong glance: “Then who else could make our captain angry?”
Shi Si: “Didn’t that show ‘I Come for Music’ release an audio clip today? Could it be because he saw those insulting comments?”
After saying this, he also felt this guess was completely implausible: “No, the captain doesn’t seem like someone who would pay attention to such things.”
After leaving Lin Qingye’s apartment, Xu Zhinan took the subway directly back to the tattoo shop.
His apartment was in the city center, and at this hour, it was the evening rush hour. The subway station was crowded with people coming and going.
Gu Congwang took a taxi directly from the airport. Just as Xu Zhinan walked out of Pingchuan University Station, she received his call saying he had already arrived.
“I’ll be there soon,” Xu Zhinan said. “Five minutes. I just left the subway station.”
“I thought you were already at the shop. Have you been busy lately?”
“It’s okay.” Xu Zhinan quickened her pace, looking across the road. “I see you.”
Gu Congwang was standing at the shop entrance, wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and jeans, looking refreshed.
He had enrolled in a 2+2 program, going to study in the UK after his sophomore year. He had just finished this semester’s courses and returned to China.
When Gu Congwang saw Xu Zhinan crossing the zebra crossing toward him, he smiled, raised his arm to wave enthusiastically, and called out: “Nanan!”
Xu Zhinan had a gentle personality and a naturally soft voice that wasn’t very loud. She just smiled and waved back at him.
She crossed the zebra crossing and asked: “How were your exams?”
Young Master Gu waved his hand dismissively: “You start with the topic I don’t want to discuss.”
Xu Zhinan smiled, took out the keys from her backpack, and opened the shop door: “It’s hot outside. Come in first.”
“Where were you just now? You came here by subway.”
Xu Zhinan paused, and before she could answer, Gu Congwang asked again: “Have you eaten?”
“I have.” She only answered the latter question.
“Damn, you’re really out of sync with me. Not only did you not pick me up at the airport, but now you’re going to let me eat dinner alone?”
Xu Zhinan took out her phone: “Then I’ll order takeout for you.”
“Get something expensive.”
“Okay.” Xu Zhinan changed the filter to “high to low price per person.”
“Never mind, I’ll order myself. How’s your business going?”
“Pretty good. This area is a university town with lots of young people curious about tattoos. Not many end up getting tattooed, though. Most of my business comes from regular customers.”
Gu Congwang flopped down on the sofa and ordered a sushi platter: “Do you earn enough to feed yourself?”
“More than enough.” Xu Zhinan smiled, showing her small white teeth. “My rates aren’t low.”
Tattoo shops mainly fall into three categories.
Large shops have high visibility, a solid customer base, strong promotion, and many resident tattoo artists with seven to eight years of experience or more. With good technique and many clients, they charge two to three thousand per hour.
Small shops have an average technique and weaker design sense, catering to the most ordinary tattoo artists who charge low prices. Their target clients are mainly those with limited financial means but interested in getting tattoos.
Xu Zhinan’s tattoo shop fell in between.
When she first opened, there was a difficult period—she couldn’t match the reputation of large shops nor compete with the low prices of small ones.
Fortunately, her photos went viral on Pingchuan University’s campus forum during her freshman year, and people gradually began to inquire about her, learning that she had opened a tattoo shop outside the school.
This area was a university town, and after Xu Zhinan was acclaimed as “Pingchuan’s Pride,” many people came to seek her out, gradually creating a promotional effect.
Tattoos mainly come in four classic styles: traditional, old school, realistic, and tribal.
Among them, realistic tattoos pursue true-to-life appearance and extreme detail, requiring strong drawing skills to execute well.
Not many tattoo artists in Yan City could do this style well. Xu Zhinan was one of them, and indeed her technique was good enough to retain customers. Her original unique tattoo designs charged around five hundred dollars per hour.
“That’s impressive,” Gu Congwang gave her a thumbs up. “I was thinking of sponsoring you by offering my precious body for you to do some business.”
Xu Zhinan sat down: “If you want a tattoo, I’ll do it for free.”
Gu Congwang: “No thanks, too painful.”
It was now the evening rush hour, and also peak time for food delivery orders. It took quite a while for Gu Congwang’s takeout to arrive—a sushi platter and a bottle of sake.
Xu Zhinan had been practicing ink wash tattoos recently. She drew several hand-drawn designs in her sketchbook, took photos, and posted them on her Moments.
She wasn’t fond of posting daily updates, but because she ran a tattoo shop, she often shared new works.
Soon, regular customers came to ask about them. Compared to common tattoo styles, ink wash tattoos were relatively rare, with stronger Chinese elements, making them special.
While replying, she glanced at Gu Congwang: “Why are you eating sushi right after returning to China? Isn’t it said that what international students miss most is Chinese food?”
Young Master Gu would never shortchange himself: “I often went to Chinese restaurants there too. The owner was Chinese, and the taste wasn’t different from home.”
Gu Congwang took two glass cups from her cabinet and raised the bottle: “Want some?”
Xu Zhinan didn’t like drinking, especially after that wild night. But remembering the scene when she left Lin Qingye’s apartment earlier, she felt somewhat stifled.
So she nodded: “Just a little.”
Gu Congwang poured her just half a glass: “Why do you want to drink today? Feeling down?”
“Hard to say.”
Xu Zhinan took a small sip of wine, leaned back in her chair, turned her head to look at the Buddhist scripture on the bookshelf nearby, and said slowly: “I just feel like I’m doing something wrong.”
Gu Congwang was startled: “What wrong thing?”
Xu Zhinan was indeed close to him, but precisely because they were so close—Gu Congwang even knew her mother—she didn’t dare mention anything about Lin Qingye to him.
She shook her head and mumbled: “All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows, like dew and lightning, they should be contemplated as such.”
When Gu Congwang heard her speak like this, he felt a headache coming on: “What gibberish are you talking about again?”
“…”
Xu Zhinan gave him a sullen glare and solemnly corrected: “It’s not gibberish.”
Gu Congwang laughed: “Fine, then translate it.”
“Things that arise from causes and conditions are not real and cannot last forever.”
Despite the plain language translation, Gu Congwang still thought it was gibberish and couldn’t quite understand. After a while, he asked: “Did you get dumped or something?”
“…”
Her throat moved, and she swallowed a mouthful of wine in one gulp, choking for a good while: “Of course not!”
“Then what is it?” Gu Congwang narrowed his eyes, scanning her up and down. “I really can’t guess what kind of wrong thing someone like you could do.”
Indeed, no matter how you looked at her, she didn’t seem like someone who would be involved with Lin Qingye.
Xu Zhinan dropped the subject. A few more customers inquired about her ink wash tattoos, and she lowered her head to focus on replying.
After that day, Xu Zhinan never contacted Lin Qingye again.
Two days later, “I Come for Music” officially announced all its participants on Weibo, including Lin Qingye. This prompted his long-quiet fans to collectively become active again.
Pingchuan University’s forum was also extremely lively, with the homepage’s trending posts all about Lin Qingye.
One post contained photos of Lin Qingye over the past four years—singing at the bar, attending classes, on the basketball court, all captured.
Is our Pingda campus heartthrob about to take Pingda beyond the university circle and into the entertainment industry?
Hahahahaha true, many of our forum posts get reposted to his fan community.
His ability to retain fans is incredible. As soon as the show’s news came out, the super topic ranking shot into the top ten!
To be honest, although Lin Qingye’s hitting someone scandal was real, his face is truly exceptional.
In terms of looks, probably no university can beat Pingda. We have Lin Qingye for men and Xu Zhinan for women—two top faces.
Speaking of which, are there any photos of Lin Qingye and Xu Zhinan together? That could be straight out of a magazine!! Let me see!!
I want to see it too, but unfortunately, it seems no one has ever seen them together. What a pity.
As a senior about to graduate, let me say that I remember when Xu Zhinan first entered school and was the most popular; some people were betting whether Pingda’s campus heartthrob and beauty would spark a romance!
…
Zhao Qian leaned back in her chair, holding her phone and looking at the forum, laughing non-stop.
Today was the Modern History exam. Xu Zhinan had stayed up all night, memorizing the entire stack of materials. While preparing her exam supplies, she asked: “What are you laughing at? Be careful not to be late for the exam.”
Zhao Qian couldn’t stop laughing: “The forum is talking about you and Lin Qingye.”
Xu Zhinan turned her head: “What?”
Zhao Qian showed her the phone.
“…” Xu Zhinan read it and returned the phone without commenting. “Let’s go, let’s go. The exam is in Teaching Building 2, quite far away.”
The Modern History course didn’t assign specific exam numbers; it only required an empty seat between two people.
Everyone was quite casual about this type of course, whispering and plotting the upcoming “mutual assistance” phase.
By the time they arrived, all the prime seats in the back rows had been taken, so they could only choose seats in the front corner.
Zhao Qian sat in the innermost window seat and leaned close to Xu Zhinan’s ear, whispering: “Nanan, if you finish quickly, remember to move your test paper a bit toward me. Just the multiple choice questions will do.”
“Okay.” Xu Zhinan glanced at the proctor on the podium and reminded her, “Be careful.”
Zhao Qian made an OK gesture: “I’m a professional.”
“Alright! Quiet down!” the proctor called out. “Everyone, check if all your dormmates have arrived. We’re about to hand out the test papers.”
Xu Zhinan paused, looked back across the classroom, and didn’t see Lin Qingye.
Could he have forgotten about today’s exam…
Just as she was debating whether to send Lin Qingye a text message, the front door of the exam room opened, and Lin Qingye stood at the entrance.
The young man was tall with long legs. He seemed still drowsy, his brows furrowed, looking somewhat impatient.
A burst of discussions immediately erupted below.
Lin Qingye hadn’t attended any classes this semester, and the Modern History professor didn’t have a habit of taking attendance. Many people had no idea that they shared this class with Lin Qingye.
Everyone looked up, except for Xu Zhinan, who kept her head down, making her easy to spot.
Lin Qingye scanned the room and walked straight over.
A pair of shoes appeared in Xu Zhinan’s peripheral vision. She held her breath, her heart beating faster.
The way she had left his apartment last time was strange, and she wasn’t sure if they were on bad terms, but they indeed hadn’t been in contact for these days.
Lin Qingye hadn’t brought anything except a black pen, which he tossed on the desk, making a slight noise. Then, with perfect composure, he sat down next to Xu Zhinan.
Zhao Qian was sitting on the other side, leaning over and nudging Xu Zhinan’s elbow with her own.
Xu Zhinan lowered her head even more.
She could only hear Zhao Qian’s excited, suppressed exclamation beside her.
“Holy crap, I can’t believe it! They’re together in the same frame!”