What’s it like to start caring about someone you might never meet again?
Lu Chengze felt that he could give a good answer.
He had a strong interest in the stranger who had only one earbud name in his mobile phone. It was inexplicable but also understandable, because her “Candy” ID was a bit cute, because she was fairly daring, and was not scared off by his mischievous behavior in playing his music, instead calmly remaining in his ‘concert hall’ for over ten minutes .
So Lu Chengze did not delete the records and traces of her, but kept them in his phone.
It was like keeping it as a souvenir, or handing over a key, so that the other party could come and go freely.
Would he meet her again?
If he met her again, what could he do?
Psychological cues, a peculiar but also terrifying conditioned reflex, could unconsciously drive people to do things based on their assumptions.
When he got home that night, Lu Chengze stared at the new device in his Bluetooth, rolled out of bed and decided to make an audio recording in case he needed it later on.
“Test! Test!” The young man sat at the desk and cleared his throat: “Hi, you…”
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Jlqsal vbl plnsde osae nyxl swv, bl zywtble clnywpl bl oyp kdlmrzknyczu nywvkswp yde plakswp. Tl awccle bkp dspl wdnsxqsavyczu, elzlvle vbl qykzle alnsaekdt qasx clqsal, yde al-alnsaele vbl kdvas.
“Tk, blzzs, R’x—”
Rv’p wdpsrbkpvknyvle, elzlvl kv.
“Tk? Gal usw pvkzz vblal? R’x—”
Tl eked’v dlle vs kdvasewnl bkxplzq zkjl vbkp. Rq vblu xlv ytykd, vbl svbla ryavu oswze elqkdkvlzu jdso obs bl oyp.
“Tk,” bl rywple: “Uyd usw blya xu hsknl? Ebu yal usw pvkzz nsddlnvle vs xu rbsdl? Bx…”
Rv’p vss ekqqknwzv, kv’p kxrsppkczl vs rwv kv yzz vstlvbla.
Nw Ubldtgl bye ds kely obyv vs es. Tl vwadle sqq vbl elhknl, vssj swv yd G4-pkgle rklnl sq ryrla qasx vbl eayola, yde oasvl esod obyv bl oydvle vs pyu. Jwv vbl alpwzvp olal dsv pyvkpqynvsau, yde vbl qllzkdt sq alyekdt qasx y pnakrv oyp dsv dyvwayz, yp kq bl oyp ralynbkdt sa xyjkdt y prllnb.
It still came down to doing it on the fly.
Lu Chengze rethought his preferences for the recording.
“Hi.” Was it better to use a questioning tone or a normal tone?
Questioning then.
“Hi?”
“Are you still there? Why are you still connected to my phone?”
“Should you be able to hear my voice? Are you listening?”
……
“We seem to be connected for the second time, this is my WeChat…”
The numbers were spoken too quickly, and it seemed the other party wouldn’t have time to write them down, so he tried again.
In this way, two and a half hours passed, and after one o’clock in the morning, Lu Chengze finally finished the audio that almost made him fall apart.
In the next few days, Lu Chengze would ride in a fixed subway car at a fixed time, like a fisherman who carefully prepares sumptuous bait.
In the end, all his attempts resulted in him coming back empty-handed.
A colleague noticed the difference and asked him, “What’s up with you lately?”
Lu Chengze then glanced sideways: “What’s wrong?”
A colleague said, “I haven’t seen you carry the same bag for the past three days.”
Lu Chengze pretended to be stupid and let out an “ah”, before smiling: “Paying so much attention to me, seems you have a crush on me.”
The colleague gagged.
We probably won’t meet again. While thinking this, Lu Chengze felt a little discouraged.
But it was a result within his expectations. The universe was boundless and everyone had their own little universe. How likely would it be for them to collide a second time.
When he got busy with his work, he erased his boyish longing. After getting back home from working through the night, he was called back to the company after sleeping for two hours. As good-tempered as he was, he couldn’t help but cuss once after hanging up the call. Then, without combing his hair, he randomly scratched his hair for a moment, and threw on a T-shirt before going out the door.
Maybe it was because he didn’t rest well, Lu Chengze’s nose was blocked, and he seemed to be close to catching a cold.
Fortunately, there was a seat at this time, so Lu Chengze tried to take a nap with his eyes closed, but he was unable to. He found himself in a contradicting state of irritation and exhaustion, so he was only left with taking out his phone to pass the time.
Just as soon as the screen was unlocked, a pop-up window appeared. It was a familiar device name.
The HP and MP bars were full in an instant, Lu Chengze’s expression was no longer disorganized, he froze in place for a moment, and then slowly straightened up.
He was wide awake.
He raised his eyes, looked around for a few seconds, worried that the other party would disconnect, he opened the playlist he prepared in advance, clicked on the first song, and started to communicate through the music.
《Second Time》
《Please Don’t Go》
《Hello》
《Good Morning Jay》
He looked for ways to say hello and keep them from leaving, all for the purpose of asking them, “May I be fortunate enough to know you?”
Lu Chengze observed the surrounding passengers while changing the songs. Suddenly, a girl in the same row as him stood up, they were around 1 meter apart.
She was wearing a dark wide-neck top, her bag was casually slung over her shoulders, her hair was short, chestnut, shoulder-length, slightly curled, revealing a small section of her white, skinny shoulders which were thin and slender from the side.
Lu Chengze couldn’t see her face from this angle.
But his heart was beating fast. Only she was left in his field of view, and the rest were foils, background, including himself.
The girl looked around, obviously looking for someone, but she didn’t turn around completely in his direction, her face only flashed by.
Even so, Lu Chengze was still startled, and lowered his eyelids to hide his gaze. Then he started to smile, secretly happy, swept along by this intense excitement.
When she looked to the other side, he looked up again.
Unconsciously or not, she pulled up one side of her hair, and Lu Chengze saw the white earphones she was using and confirmed the result.
It’s her.
And, she was looking for him.
Lu Chengze’s thoughts leaped and settled, eager and hesitant. The feelings he was going through in this second were too incredible for words. He thought that the girl who named her earbuds as “candy” was probably a sweet girl, but she looked——
Simple and high-end, like a heroine in a French movie, not easy to get close to, but who also makes people really want to get close.
He actually had a bit of an inferiority complex. Heaven didn’t make him beautiful, but why was he so sloppy today? God knows how much he wanted to play “Ms. Seductive” for her on the spot, because no song other than it fit the moment, and her, right now:
“Did you notice me looking at you
All the way from the other side of the room
Now honey you caught my eye from a mile away”
“Cause you
There is just something ’bout you
Maybe it’s the way you walk girl
But I just could not figure out
Why you give me butterflies when I
Simply just look at you”
It would be too abrupt, like a perverted idiot.
Lu Chengze thought self-deprecatingly to himself. One moment he was looking at the currently playing song, the next moment, he was looking at her, biding his time, keeping calm. Xilin Lake Station was coming up and Lu Chengze cut the song to 《Goodbye》- sending out a false signal, but in fact, he didn’t plan to leave. But it was also a real signal, this was indeed his stop, it had only temporarily changed for today..
As expected, she really did think that he was going to leave, so she purposefully moved closer to the door on the other side of the subway car, without any hesitation in her steps. Seeing this, Lu Chengze was encouraged and no longer hesitated. He immediately followed after, separated from her by only two-three pedestrians.
It’s time to reel her in.
Lu Chengze paused the music in the playlist, and the girl seemed to pause as well. She froze in place. Her figure that was looking left and right, seen from behind, seemed to be a little surprised and at loss.
Lu Chengze stopped moving and found the recording he had prepared in advance. His thumb hesitated for a moment before he pressed play.
—
All the way back to the company, he was full of energy, and his footsteps were unbelievably brisk. Even when he arrived at the company, Lu Chengze couldn’t control his smile, and with his hands—— he kept turning on the screen of his phone and checking WeChat.
It’s difficult to stay still.
Why hadn’t she added him yet?
Was it that he did not sound friendly enough? Upon finding a free moment, he connected his bluetooth headset and replayed the audio twice. He thought… it was okay? It wasn’t that bad.
At this moment, the screen went dark, and an unfamiliar number popped up, showing it as local, and disconnected before he could react.
In the era of big data, there was a severe leakage of personal information, but Lu Chengze had a hunch that this was not a spam call, and called back without hesitation.
After the call was made, neither party spoke.
Lu Chengze decided to take the initiative and greeted tentatively, “Hello?”
There was a response from the receiver, a “Mm”. It was a female voice, neither heavy nor light.
Lu Chengze laughed immediately, thank God, and finally got connected, he suppressed his heartbeat, and confirmed his identity in an unnecessary way: “Candy’s beats studio buds?”
Is it you?
I know it is you.
How could it not be you. It was always you, like the return of an old friend.
QC:
It’s so hard to meet new people when you’re older… Such a cute chance encounter~
Translator:
AHHH so sweet, I’m dying. LOVE this side story~~~~
I’m telling you if this story was written from his pov it will be sweetest
True!
His POV is sweet. He’s so much less of a player than he sounds and she thinks he is. She seems so normal in her POV, so his description of her as a bit of an unapproachable but desirable beauty is an interesting moment. And foreshadows that, yes, she IS difficult to get close to.