Chapter 15 Back to the Past

Sophie returned to the dormitory, turned on the light, and collapsed on the bed. Everyone else had gone to dinner, but she didn't want to go; she wasn't hungry.

Yang Pan's words had upset her. She knew he was worried about her and Zhang Jun. Her discomfort wasn't because of Yang Pan's tone, but because of her current relationship with Zhang Jun.

What was he up to? Deliberately missing the penalty kick, running off after the game, and not coming to see her much lately. She had thought he was busy training... Saying it was nothing was just deceiving herself!

When she said "I love you" to Zhang Jun on the phone that night at the end of the century, even though there were no solemn vows, she truly believed they would live happily ever after, like in all fairy tales, forever and ever... She never imagined that only two years later, they would be at this point. Could it be that love can't last? Then what was the point of her pursuing a blurry figure in the twilight for five years? What was the point of ignoring so many boys who pursued her?

Was that hug in the rain, that steaming bowl of Yangchun noodles, all in the past now? Was "I'll cook for you for the rest of my life" just a slip of the tongue? Careless words from the speaker, taken to heart by the listener? Just wishful thinking? Had these three years all been just a dream? And now the dream was finally over? What should she do?

Countless question marks swirled in Sophie's mind. The more she asked herself, the more her nose tingled, and something kept swirling in her eyes. She had held back for so long in front of others, and now she just wanted to hold something and cry her heart out, to release the grievances in her heart. Maybe crying would make her feel better.

Sophie reached out and grabbed something furry. She pulled it closer and saw that it was the birthday gift Li Shuai had given her today—an extra-large Machimaro rabbit. Looking at the rabbit, Sophie's mind flashed, and all the question marks turned into exclamation points. She found the answers to all her previous questions.

Why had Zhang Jun become distant? Why had he deliberately missed the penalty kick?

She had been asking Zhang Jun why, but hadn't thought to look for answers within herself. She understood Zhang Jun; he was the type of guy who wasn't proactive with girls. Therefore, he wouldn't become distant just because there were many beautiful girls in the history department. After all, wouldn't three years of history outweigh two months?

So, the problem lay with her.

Li Shuai, Li Shuai, Li Shuai... His enthusiastic help at the beginning of the semester gave her a false impression that he was a warm-hearted, humorous, and generous boy. There was nothing wrong with making more friends in college, so he naturally appeared by her side, a warm-hearted "friend." But what was his real motive?

She had even appeared with him at Zhang Jun's game. What would Zhang Jun think when he saw that? No wonder he had glanced over here so many times; he must have thought she and Li Shuai were...

Oh heavens! A misunderstanding! It was all a misunderstanding! She had misunderstood Li Shuai's kindness, and Li Shuai had also misunderstood her attitude towards him, and then Zhang Jun had misunderstood the relationship between them... Actually, nothing had happened. Everything was still the same as before. Zhang Jun hadn't betrayed her, she hadn't changed her heart, and Li Shuai had just been wishful thinking from the start.

She had even been there, tearfully questioning her relationship with Zhang Jun! Three years might not be a very long time, but compared to those "fast-food romances," it was considered ancient history. Could such a long relationship not withstand two months of testing?

The door opened, and her roommates came back from dinner.

"Huh? Sophie, didn't you go to eat?" the girl at the front asked, a little strangely.

"I'm on a diet," Sophie joked.

"Tsk, tsk! You're on a diet? Then wouldn't we be so inferior that we'd have to jump off the building?" the girl said with a laugh as she put down the thermos.

"Wow! What a cute Machimaro rabbit!" the youngest girl in the dormitory suddenly exclaimed excitedly, startling everyone else.

Sophie looked at the rabbit beside her. "You like this?"

The girl nodded. "I only have small ones, not ones this big..."

Sophie stuffed the rabbit into her arms. "Here, I'll give it to you!"

"No way? This is what that handsome guy Li Shuai gave you..." the first girl said in surprise.

"So what? I hate Korean stuff!" Sophie shook her head. "Besides, it's so big, it takes up too much space in my room. You're on the top bunk, you can hang it from the ceiling." She smiled at the girl who was staring blankly at the rabbit, smiling with unusual ease.

Yang Pan didn't even eat dinner. He wandered around the campus, covering all the places lovers often went, but he didn't see Zhang Jun and Lin Wei. Now only the small garden in front of the Modern Art Center was left.

From a distance, he could see two figures in the light of the art center. They had just sat down on a bench.

Yang Pan thought for a moment, then took a large detour, circling behind the two. He didn't want to go straight up to them. After all, they were all classmates and saw each other every day. It was better to save face for everyone. He would listen to what they were saying, and if they said anything crucial, he would find an excuse to call Zhang Jun back and give him a good scolding back at the dormitory!

Lin Wei was in a good mood. It was her first "date" alone with Zhang Jun, but Zhang Jun was a little absent-minded. No matter what Lin Wei said, he just replied with "Mm," "Yeah," and "Not bad."

"Look! Stars! Tomorrow will be a nice day!" Lin Wei said excitedly, looking up. Her mood was like the clear night sky. The conflict between Zhang Jun and that girl had finally erupted completely, and now was her chance. She had to seize it. "Hefei rarely has such a long stretch of good weather!"

"Mm."

"The semi-finals were won, too. You're confident about next week's finals, right?" Lin Wei asked, looking at Zhang Jun.

"Not bad."

"Then how many goals do you think you can score?"

"Yeah."

"...Zhang Jun, are you worried about something? You're always absent-minded. Can you tell me?"

"You?" Zhang Jun looked at Lin Wei, shook his head, and shifted his gaze away from her face, wandering over the library in the distance.

Lin Wei suddenly stood up. "I know! I know even if you don't say it! You and her had a fight, right? You suspect she betrayed you, right?"

Zhang Jun's eyes widened. "You, how do you know? No..." He shook his head again. "...It's not like that, don't guess..."

"Liar! Contradictory words!" Lin Wei stood in front of Zhang Jun, a little angry. "When I saw her saying goodbye to another boy, I was not far behind you! When she and that boy came to watch your game, I was also by their side! How could I not know? I..."

"You..."

Lin Wei bit her lip and finally said it, "I like you, Zhang Jun!"

Yang Pan, listening behind the tree, tensed up and was about to step out, but he heard Zhang Jun laugh. "You? Like me? Ha! Don't tease me, Lin Wei!"

"Teasing?" Lin Wei was a little angry. "Why do you say I'm teasing? I really like you, is there anything wrong with that?"

"But I have a girlfriend!" Zhang Jun stopped laughing.

"So what? You two had a fight, didn't you? She was with another boy, wasn't she? Why can't I be your girlfriend?"

"No, you can't," Zhang Jun still shook his head.

"Why?" Lin Wei was unconvinced.

"Because... she's very special, you don't understand. To draw a bracket, she could kneel on the ground for four hours, not caring if her knees were swollen. To make a decent meal, she flipped through countless recipes and cut her fingers countless times..."

"But you two now..."

"We're nothing, what you said are all small things, nothing..."

Yang Pan laughed when he heard this. This kid was saying exactly the same thing as Sophie! It really was a meeting of the minds! It seemed that they really wouldn't be together anymore. There was no point in him listening anymore. He might as well go back and prepare.

"I don't care! Even so! Can't I compete with her? I like you..."

"What do you like about me? I'm not handsome, my grades aren't good, my family has no money or power, I'm lazy, I'm a glutton, I'm stubborn, I don't know how to be considerate, and I don't know how to sweet-talk... What exactly do you like about me?" Before Lin Wei could answer, Zhang Jun continued to say to himself, "Because of my glamorous performance on the field? Or do you think I'm a star? But you have to know that football isn't just about joy and glamour. You just haven't seen the failures. If I win, you can cheer and be happy for me, but if I fail, can you still cry for me? When I'm down, can you stay by my side and encourage me? No matter what, whether I'm successful or down and out, can you guarantee that you'll always be by my side? Will you not leave me?" Zhang Jun looked at Lin Wei.

Lin Wei was stunned. "You, you said so much, can she do it too? I don't belie..."

"Yes, I believe she can definitely do it," Zhang Jun said firmly. "Thank you so much, you've helped me recognize my true feelings today." He stood up. "You're a very outstanding girl, beautiful, talented... But, love isn't what you think it is. Stories of romance and moonlight only exist in novels. I'm sorry, even if you're excellent, I can only say sorry to you..." Zhang Jun left alone, leaving Lin Wei standing there, not even saying a word to stop him, letting Zhang Jun walk away. The story of the prince and princess, perhaps she had chosen the wrong prince...

Zhang Jun staggered back to the dormitory alone, and found that everyone was there, with a few bottles of beer on the table.

"Hey, what's going on?" Zhang Jun pointed to the bottles of beer on the table.

"Boss bought them, said we're celebrating," Zhang Fan said, taking a sip of beer.

"Celebrating? Celebrating what? Celebrating making it to the finals?" As Zhang Jun was speaking, Yang Pan came back from the bathroom. He pushed the door open and saw Zhang Jun standing in the middle of the room.

"Ha! Zhang Jun's back! Come on, give me a hug!" He hugged Zhang Jun tightly.

"I... what, what are you doing!" Zhang Jun finally broke free. "Are you drunk?"

"Nonsense, how could I be drunk? When have you ever seen me drunk?" Yang Pan laughed, "I just went to see Sophie and wished her a happy birthday, and then gave her a hug on your behalf. Now that you're back, I naturally have to return the favor. Hehe!"

Zhang Jun was already in a bad mood, and Yang Pan's words hit him right where it hurt. He didn't care whether Yang Pan was telling the truth or not, and threw a left hook, knocking Yang Pan onto the bed. "Don't you know you can't deceive a friend's wife?"

Yang Pan sat up. "Of course I know, so you have to work hard! Sophie is a good girl, don't let her down, and don't let down the brothers of Shuguang. Ka Ka, An Ke, Ren Yudi, and me, we're all waiting to drink your wedding wine!" He reached for an opened bottle of beer and handed it to Zhang Jun. "Damn, I originally promised to help Sophie teach you a lesson, but I ended up getting beat up by you. A real miscalculation..." he muttered, rubbing his aching cheek.

Zhang Jun looked at Yang Pan, and his nose suddenly started to tingle. This brother he had known since childhood... He suddenly pounced on him and hugged Yang Pan tightly.

"Hey! Hey! What are you doing? The beer! Be careful the beer spills!" This time it was Yang Pan's turn to yell.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

Yang Pan felt warm water on his face. He patted Zhang Jun's shoulder. "What are you crying for? What's a man crying for... But, if you want to cry, then cry..."

At some point, only the two of them were left in the dormitory. The other three were all...

Zhang Fan squatted at the dormitory door, with a bottle of unfinished wine in front of him. He took out three cigarettes from the newly opened pack, put one in his own mouth, gave one to Zhu Hui, and one to Lele, but Lele declined. "Football players don't smoke..."

"Today's an exception... Never mind if you don't smoke!" Zhang Fan took the cigarette back.

"Boss is drunk," Zhu Hui said, lighting a cigarette.

"Zhang Jun's also drunk..." Zhang Fan also lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.

"Yeah, talking nonsense... But, I know why they never lose when they're both on the field," Lele said, squatting on the ground and playing with his bottle of wine.

"I know too."

"I knew it a long time ago!" Zhang Fan exhaled a smoke ring.

The other two turned their heads to look at him, and he turned his head to look at them.

"Let's do it!" He picked up the bottle of wine in front of him, and the other two picked up their own bottles of wine.

"Cheers!"