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墨書 Inktalez
“Lin Feng, where have you been these past few days?” Liu Jing asked, trying to bridge the gap she felt had grown between them.
“Oh, I went to another city,” Lin Feng replied coolly, offering no further details about where he had gone or why.
“Oh.” Liu Jing was just a girl after all, and despite her somewhat spoiled demeanor, she felt compelled to suppress her curiosity and refrain from asking Lin Feng any more questions.
Seeing that Liu Jing had stopped questioning him, Lin Feng felt a weight lift off his shoulders. To be honest, if Liu Jing had truly done something to hurt him, he could have easily told her that he didn’t want to be friends anymore. However, the reason he was distancing himself from her was because of her brother and her family. Even though he had made up his mind not to get too close to Liu Jing, he wasn’t quite sure how to go about it. So for now, he could only engage in this superficial conversation with her.
Fortunately, Liu Jing didn’t press him further, and Lin Feng naturally didn’t feel inclined to initiate any new topics of conversation.
Finally, when class ended, Lin Feng stood up to leave. He hadn’t brought any books with him and had been distracted throughout the lesson because Liu Jing was sitting next to him. He intended to slip away quickly; he wouldn’t be attending the next class. With Liu Jing beside him, he didn’t want to endure this kind of torment any longer. There was no real conflict between them, yet he felt compelled to keep his distance—a task that was inherently difficult for him.
“Lin Feng, are you leaving?” Liu Jing asked. She had also been distracted during class and now mustered the courage to ask him.
She needed to understand why Lin Feng had become so distant after being absent for a few days.
Liu Jing reflected on the past few days; aside from worrying about Lin Feng, she hadn’t done anything else—certainly nothing that would hurt him or make him dislike her.
“Yeah, I can’t understand anything anyway; staying here is pointless,” Lin Feng replied honestly. He couldn’t lie to Liu Jing; after all, he knew best whether or not he would return. Besides, as long as they didn’t meet face-to-face, he believed their relationship could drift apart as much as he wanted.
Time could dull everything; while that statement might seem absolute, it wasn’t without merit. At this moment, Lin Feng felt it was a reasonable perspective with some validity.
“Well then, let me share some other knowledge with you,” Liu Jing said as she called out to stop him. Being a girl and this being her first time taking the initiative to stop a boy made her feel a bit awkward; she needed an excuse to spend more time with Lin Feng.
As for what would happen once they were together, Liu Jing hadn’t thought that far ahead. She just knew she couldn’t let Lin Feng walk away like this; if he left now, their relationship would only grow more distant—a result she did not desire.
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Lin Feng said. He genuinely wanted to brush up on his computer skills since understanding computers could help him handle many tasks more efficiently. Moreover, he learned quickly and figured that gaining more knowledge wouldn’t hurt. Liu Jing was indeed an excellent teacher. But at this moment, he wasn’t in the right mindset to learn computer skills from her.
In fact, Lin Feng had already decided that he wouldn’t study computer skills with Liu Jing anymore. There were plenty of people who understood computers better than he did; all he needed was a basic understanding. He could easily pay someone for lessons or even teach himself given his current learning ability. After all, computers were something one could figure out through personal exploration.
“What do you mean it’s unnecessary? At the café by the school gate—Lin Feng, we’ll meet there!” The more Lin Feng tried to decline, the more suspicious Liu Jing became. Her spoiled side flared up; she had taken the initiative to invite him and couldn’t believe he would refuse. So she left with a parting remark, betting that Lin Feng wouldn’t dare not show up.
"Alright, I'll go." At this moment, Lin Feng felt that he could no longer refuse. If he did, it would seem unreasonable. Moreover, he sensed that Liu Jing had probably noticed his intention to distance himself, so he decided to be straightforward about it. After all, they were just ordinary friends.
The two of them arrived at the café near the school entrance, a place designed for young couples to enjoy their time together. The atmosphere inside was calm and elegant, with soft romantic music playing at a low volume.
Lin Feng and Liu Jing casually chose a table and ordered a cup of coffee. For them, it didn't matter where they sat as long as they had a place to talk.
"Lin Feng, you go first. What have you been up to these past few days?" Liu Jing asked after ordering coffee, noticing that Lin Feng wasn't inclined to speak first.
"Well, I just went out for a stroll," Lin Feng replied with the same answer he had given before. He saw no need to tell Liu Jing the truth.
Although Liu Jing had an intelligence team at her disposal, she genuinely didn't know what Lin Feng had been doing during his disappearance. It wasn't that she hadn't sent people to investigate; the results all indicated that Lin Feng was dead. Of course, during those days when Lin Feng was missing, only Chen Xinni and Dong Jie knew what he had been up to. Very few people in Lin Feng's circle were aware of his activities.
"Lin Feng, tell me the truth. What have you really been doing these past few days?" Liu Jing pressed on, not willing to accept Lin Feng's evasive response.
Earlier in the classroom, she had chosen not to press him too hard out of consideration for him. But now that they were away from the classroom and she was determined to get answers, Liu Jing wouldn't let Lin Feng off easily.
"I really just went out for a stroll," Lin Feng insisted again. He knew that if he revealed the truth, Liu Jing would bombard him with questions he wasn't prepared to answer. Since he couldn't provide a full account of everything that had happened, it was better not to say anything at all.
Feeling frustrated by Lin Feng's half-hearted responses, Liu Jing decided not to pursue the matter further. She understood him well enough; if he didn't want to talk about something, no amount of pressure would change his mind. However, her next question came out somewhat hesitantly.
"You’re not going to say anything? Fine then. Let me ask you this: why have you suddenly distanced yourself from me?" Liu Jing asked, sensing Lin Feng's reluctance.
"Haha... you're overthinking it. We weren't very close to begin with. Besides, Liu Jing, the way you're asking makes it sound like we were a couple. Friends can have varying levels of contact; sometimes we talk more often and sometimes less. That's completely normal," Lin Feng replied while feeling relieved that Liu Jing finally got to the point. He pretended to be calm while joking around because he truly didn't know how to address this issue seriously with her.
"I’m overthinking? Alright then, Lin Feng, you’re something else! You can keep this attitude forever if you want." Liu Jing felt wronged as tears began streaming down her face. She grabbed her things and prepared to leave even though their coffee hadn't arrived yet.
Seeing Liu Jing cry made Lin Feng feel like he might have gone too far. He wanted to offer her a tissue and comfort her with a few words but held back. After all, it was better this way; enduring a long pain was worse than a short one—perhaps this was for the best.
At the same time, Lin Feng reflected on how fortunate it was that his relationship with Liu Jing was merely that of friends and not something more complicated like a romantic relationship. If they were dating, handling this situation would be much more troublesome. The reason was simple: if he and Liu Jing were in a relationship, he wouldn't choose to break up just because she belonged to the Liu family. Since breaking up wasn’t an option, their relationship would face even more challenges. At that time, both Lin Feng and Liu Jing would have to pay a hefty price while trying to maintain their love.
"Thank goodness these are just 'ifs,'" Lin Feng reassured himself internally.
As Liu Jing left, Lin Feng considered leaving as well; however, at that moment, the waiter brought over two cups of coffee and stared at him expectantly.
Clearly, the quality of this waiter was not very high. He was afraid that Lin Feng would order coffee and neither drink it nor pay for it, which would mean he had worked in vain.
Since that was the case, Lin Feng had nothing better to do and decided to sit down and have a cup of coffee to clear his mind. After all, what had just happened not only hurt Liu Jing but also left Lin Feng feeling unsettled. Their relationship had been quite good.
Losing a friend like this felt rather unfortunate to Lin Feng.
Just as Lin Feng was lost in thought about Liu Jing, his phone rang.
"Hello..." Being somewhat distracted, Lin Feng didn't check the caller ID and answered directly.
"Hello, is this Lin Feng, Mr. Lin?" The voice on the other end was quite polite.
"Yes, that's me. What can I do for you?" Lin Feng acknowledged without hesitation. There was nothing wrong with admitting his identity; since the caller had reached him, they clearly knew he was Lin Feng. The question was merely a formality.
"Oh, that's great! Mr. Lin, may I take a few minutes of your time? I am the President of the Jade Association in City A. I would like to invite you to a jade appreciation event hosted by Mr. Wu. Many notable individuals will be attending for discussions, and Mr. Wu will also showcase some of his treasured collections for everyone to appreciate. We hope that a young talent like you, Mr. Lin, can join us." The speaker had good eloquence and got straight to the point after introducing himself. His lively tone suggested that being the President of the Jade Association in City A required some capability.
"Mr. Wu? Which Mr. Wu? I don't seem to know him," Lin Feng replied, genuinely puzzled upon hearing the name.
The President of the Jade Association on the other end had expected Lin Feng to agree immediately upon hearing Mr. Wu's name. Hearing Lin Feng's response nearly made him faint; after all, this was someone personally requested by Mr. Wu's granddaughter to extend an invitation! How could he not even know who Mr. Wu was? How could he navigate the jade industry without that knowledge?
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