Chapter 16: The First Meeting
Lu Li arranged the desks in the activity classroom, had the two girls sit on opposite sides, and then opened his laptop to connect with Chen Jianing. His serious demeanor made the girls’ eyes widen. Chu Jingyi frowned and asked, “Lu Li, we have class soon, what’s this all about?” Lu Li chuckled proudly, not answering, and turned to write on the blackboard in large characters: “Game Development Club First Meeting.”
“It’s a meeting, of course.” Speaking of meetings, they were usually quite boring. Most meetings in this world could be handled efficiently with just a few people communicating privately. But to make the process seem more democratic and fair, originally concise and efficient meetings had become increasingly bloated, with at least half of the attendees there just for show. Lu Li didn’t like meetings.
“Yay, a meeting, a meeting! I love meetings!” An Baili cheered, raising both hands. She didn’t actually like meetings, she just didn’t like classes.
“Our club has been established for six months, but the members haven’t officially met yet. And now that our game is about to be released, we need to discuss some club matters.” As Lu Li was speaking, the video call connected, and Chen Jianing’s impatient face appeared on the screen. The angle of the front-facing camera made her chin look big and her head pointy. The little tiger yelped and quickly covered the camera.
“Lu Li, what are you doing? Why are there other people? Ah… I just woke up, I haven’t even washed my face yet…”
You answered my call without even washing your face? Do you have no guard against me at all? Girls’ makeup routines were generally divided into three stages. The first was meticulous and flawless, like a beautiful butterfly, usually during the ambiguous stage of a relationship. The second was more casual, but not completely letting go, usually shortly after the relationship was established. The last was completely natural, not even caring about waking up with a bird’s nest on their head, usually for couples who had been together for a long time.
What stage was he and Chen Jianing at? He couldn’t figure it out.
“Didn’t I tell you we’re having a meeting today…?” Lu Li said innocently.
“You could have at least given me some warning, I… I…” Chen Jianing was speechless. She couldn’t say that she had answered his call without thinking, completely forgetting about the meeting.
Chu Jingyi, hearing the unfamiliar girl’s voice, felt a pang of displeasure. “Who is she, Lu Li?” Why did that girl sound so close to Lu Li? Silly Goose fidgeted with her fingers, biting her lower lip, her face clouded with gloom. Besides Baili, she didn’t want to see any other girl close to Lu Li. Even with Baili, she had been unhappy for a long time…
Chen Jianing was combing her hair. Hearing Chu Jingyi’s voice, she snorted. “Lu Li, who is she?”
An Baili whispered in Silly Goose’s ear, “A little wildcat, all claws and no purr.”
“Who are you calling a wildcat?” Lu Li finally understood why Chen Jianing always argued with her roommates. This girl was a walking firecracker.
“Whoever reacts to it is the wildcat, the one who steals other people’s boyfriends.” An Baili was afraid of Wen Hupo, but not Chen Jianing.
Chen Jianing was silent for a moment, then retorted, “Who’s stealing boyfriends? Don’t tell me there’s someone else who’s interested in Lu Li? Some people are just too possessive, overthinking and getting jealous over a single sentence.”
Was that overthinking? Silly Goose felt wronged. Even she knew that she would never have a casual video call with a male friend, let alone one early in the morning while still in her pajamas.
“Okay, okay, it’s all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding.” Lu Li quickly intervened. An Baili and Chen Jianing were like fire and ice, always clashing. Even though this was the first time Chen Jianing had met Baili in this life.
He remembered when they were roommates in his past life. Whenever he wanted to spend some alone time with An Baili, Chen Jianing would always appear out of nowhere and start subtly undermining An Baili, ruining several of their anniversaries. Later, after he and An Baili got married, Chen Jianing would often visit them, acting like she was part of the family. Whenever Lu Li came home late, An Baili would suspect that he was with Chen Jianing, bombarding him with calls. An Baili had always disliked her.
The camera turned back on. Chen Jianing had smoothed her hair and changed her clothes. The girl did look quite attractive, her hair framing her face, her delicate features like those of a porcelain doll, full of spirit and charm.
The girls sized each other up through the screen. It was the little tiger who spoke first. “Is she your girlfriend?” Her voice was a bit muffled, but she deliberately raised her volume, making it sound distorted.
“Who?”
“The one on the left.” She was talking about Chu Jingyi. She wouldn’t admit that she had secretly seen Chu Jingyi before and cried herself to sleep that night.
Lu Li was about to say no, because he thought Silly Goose wouldn’t like such a sudden and possessive declaration, even though he felt that they were already very close to being “boyfriend and girlfriend.”
“Yes.” Silly Goose nodded seriously.
Lu Li and An Baili looked at her in surprise.
Silly Goose’s face flushed red, but she didn’t change her answer. She held An Baili’s hand, her grip tight.
She felt a surge of competitiveness, a feeling unique to women. She didn’t want to back down at this moment. Silly Goose’s sharp empathy told her that the petite girl on the screen was her rival – a rival different from An Baili, a rival who could truly take Lu Li away from her.
Chen Jianing tilted the camera upwards, so they could only see the ceiling. “Oh.”
“Chen Jianing, I can’t see you.”
“I’m changing my clothes.” She said as an excuse.
She wasn’t changing her clothes, just putting on her socks. The soft cotton socks hugged her delicate toes. The girl’s movements were slow and deliberate. She thought about many things, her mind finally settling on that awkward kiss with Lu Li during the epidemic. The little tiger’s nose tingled. She suddenly felt a sense of emptiness. She felt empty, and Lu Li felt distant. Why was he having a meeting with his girlfriend? Why was he calling her? Was he deliberately showing off?
“I have class, I’m hanging up.” Chen Jianing abruptly ended the call, curled up in bed, and pulled the blanket over her head.
Her roommate walked past, hesitated, and then asked kindly, “Aren’t you going to class? This teacher takes attendance.”
“No.” The little tiger didn’t even lift her head.
“Remember to lock the door when you go out.”
“I won’t.”
“…”
In the activity classroom of Chuanhai No. 1 High School, Lu Li stared blankly at the words “Connection Lost” on the screen, then scratched his head awkwardly. “It seems like the timing for the meeting wasn’t ideal.” He subconsciously looked at Silly Goose, who had lowered her head shyly, unable to utter a word. She didn’t explain, didn’t defend herself, didn’t even correct him.
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