A Love Letter Written to You - Chapter 38

Chapter 38

 

Leng Ying stood up and asked for confirmation: “Are you sure you want to choose me?”

 

“Yes,” Luo Qing said. “Teacher Leng Ying, I have a question I’d like to ask you.”

 

Leng Ying respected the game. “Please go ahead.”

 

Luo Qing thought as she spoke, her speech a bit slow. “I want to ask, yesterday you played the guitar, and you also played it during the initial promotional phase—does that mean you’re willing to step out from the shadow of your past shows?”

 

Ji Yu: “!”

 

She wanted to stand up, but Leng Ying placed a hand on her shoulder, quietly holding her down.

 

Leng Ying smiled. “Actually, the answer has existed for a while.”

 

Since Luo Qing had asked sincerely, Leng Ying gave it more thought and replied, “I think coming to Our Life is already a way for me to make peace with the past. Ji Yu really wanted to join, and my desire to accompany her outweighed the shadow in my heart. After coming here, I realized… it’s not that scary after all.”

 

Luo Qing followed up: “And the guitar?”

 

Leng Ying was briefly taken aback. “Is that important?”

 

Luo Qing wasn’t asking randomly: “Teacher Leng Ying, in Travel Journal, the first instrument you played was the guitar. You said you loved it. But later, your compositions rarely included this commonly used instrument… The guitar in the promotional vlog was the same one from Travel Journal.”

 

Ji Yu: “???”

 

She was utterly shocked, turning to Luo Qing.

 

What is going on?!

 

Why does she speak better than me!

 

So annoying… I lost…

 

But Leng Ying’s palm remained gently on her shoulder, giving a soothing little rub. The tingling sensation spread from that point across Ji Yu’s whole body. She fell quiet and endured.

 

Ji Youqin was also stunned. Her tone was a bit accusatory: “Weren’t you here to join the show with me?!”

 

“Yes,” Luo Qing replied first, and then added, “But I’m also a fan of Teacher Leng Ying. Uh… a fan-sister?”

 

She was unsure how to categorize herself. “Anyway, I’ve been a fan since Travel Journal.”

 

“I’m crying. Thought she’d be a dark horse in the fandom war, turns out she’s a solo stan”
“Proud of our fandom—we’ve got insiders on the show now”

 

Leng Ying: “…Thank you for your support.”

 

Luo Qing had bought her music. Leng Ying considered her a good trade partner—quiet and low-maintenance—until she said she was a fan.

 

Some unpleasant memories began to resurface, but seeing the sincere look in Luo Qing’s eyes, Leng Ying knew she was different from the others in those memories.

 

And so, she couldn’t refuse to answer a second question, even though the rules allowed only one.

 

She was someone who had supported her until now.

 

Someone who hadn’t given up on her.

 

Not just Luo Qing—there were many fans still waiting for this answer.

 

Leng Ying couldn’t turn her back on them.

 

She carefully answered: “Actually, my choice to stop using the guitar doesn’t have much to do with Travel Journal.”

 

After all, Travel Journal once gave her some relatively good memories.

 

“It’s because Leng Xingming and I had a terrible fight.” Leng Ying named her directly. “She smashed my guitar. I couldn’t even go pick it up. And after that, when I could… I didn’t want to anymore.”

 

Leng Ying smiled gently. “Speaking of guitars… the pick I used in the vlog was made by Teacher Ji. It worked wonderfully.”

 

“Willing to join a show for her, willing to pick up the guitar again for her… I’m crying”
“You all said they’re just friends—LOOK AT THIS”
“This is the true slow-burn romance. I’m living for it”

 

Hearing her name mentioned, Ji Yu looked up and gave her a trusting, radiant smile.

 

Leng Ying looked down just in time to see her smile.

 

“Teacher Ji, you’re smiling so happily.”

 

“I’ll make you all the guitar picks you’ll ever need!” Ji Yu said earnestly.

 

“Help, I’m laughing so hard”
“Other CEOs: I’ll buy you an island. Ji CEO: I’ll make you guitar picks”
“This is peak romance, no lies”

 

Leng Ying smiled, reaching out to pat her on the head. Her hair was smooth and didn’t mess up the hairstyle.

 

Always so cute.

 

After answering Luo Qing’s questions and briefly revisiting Travel Journal, Leng Ying felt her own mystery had lost its edge—everyone here could easily guess it now.

 

A few turns later, the next audio clip finally randomly selected Leng Ying’s.

 

The first sound played, not even a second in, Ji Yu instantly stood up and shouted: “Travel Journal!”

 

She answered confidently, lifting her chin and smugly glancing at Luo Qing.

 

Luo Qing: “?”

 

“Teacher Ji is correct,” the producer Pan’s voice boomed. “Who would you like to play the game with?”

 

“Of course, I choose my big sis,” Ji Yu replied without hesitation.

 

She was standing while Leng Ying sat.

 

Ji Yu lowered her head to look at her. The question she wanted to ask stuck in her throat.

 

Why ask at all?

 

If this is how she prefers to relate to each other, I’m okay with it.

 

Instead, Ji Yu changed her question. “Let’s skip straight to ‘dare,’ okay? I want to hug you for ten minutes.”

 

Pan’s booming voice rose: “Ji Yu, are you sure?”

 

“I’m sure,” Ji Yu said. “I don’t have any questions for her.”

 

She didn’t need to use a game to ask heartfelt things.

 

Ji Yu smiled gently. “I’m just tired and need to recharge. Would Teacher Leng Ying mind hugging me in public?”

 

Leng Ying responded by opening her arms.

 

Ji Yu immediately fell into them.

 

The other guests: “……”

 

Pan cleared his throat and added a new rule: “From now on, ‘dare’ choices must be approved by at least two-thirds of the group.”

 

“Pan Pan, if you don’t know how to run games, just say that!”
“Let them hug! Let them hug for a century!”
“They radiate such peaceful energy together. My heart feels calm just watching”

 

The other guests pretended they hadn’t heard anything and resumed their own game.

 

Ji Yu’s audio was played last.

 

It started with two or three seconds of silence, then a rustling sound—light, like footsteps on clouds.

 

The musically trained guests could tell what it was, but didn’t understand why it was chosen. Leng Ying smiled at Ji Yu and mouthed something; Ji Yu nodded enthusiastically.

 

She guessed right.

 

But why didn’t she say it out loud?

 

Leng Ying whispered to her: “Isn’t it better to let them ask why you chose this? I know your reason.”

 

Ji Yu was delighted and fully agreed.

 

“We can hear you whispering, you know”
“They don’t care”
“The main characters just want to hug and whisper sweet nothings”
“LMAO”

 

In the end, it was Ren Meng who raised her hand and answered: “It’s the sound of stepping on leaves.”

 

Producer Pan confirmed: “Correct.”

 

“I want to ask the person who submitted this audio—why did you choose it?” Ren Meng recalled the one-on-one interviews from the night before. “The crew asked for background music for important moments. Is this clip of stepping on leaves significant?”

 

“Of course.” Ji Yu smiled, the corners of her lips and eyes lifted with pride. “It was from my first voice chat with her. I stepped on fallen leaves under trees on my side, and she stepped on the ones over where she was. It was a coincidence, the sound was soft… but hit me hard, right in the memory.”

 

Ji Yu sighed. “It was the first time I seriously felt grateful—for the fact that we met.”

 

Such a small chance, yet it happened.

 

How could that not be fate?

 

Ren Meng regretted asking.

 

Though, Ji Yu did seem to look at her more kindly afterward…

 

…

 

Back in the little house they shared on the show.

 

Leng Ying finished washing up, her body carrying a soft, damp fragrance. “That leaf sound—did you record it back then?”

 

“…Yes,” Ji Yu sat next to her, leaning in, her thoughts adrift. “I felt the moment was rare, so I recorded it on a whim. Never imagined…”

 

“Never imagined we’d end up close friends,” Leng Ying chuckled. The pendant around her neck glowed faintly. Ji Yu’s gaze couldn’t help but fall there, watching the butterfly wings sway at her collarbone, fluttering upward, brushing lightly over skin—soft, drifting, elusive.

 

Ji Yu concluded: “It’s fate.”

 

“Mm.” Leng Ying replied softly. “Who would’ve thought? Fate is so mysterious.”

 

Fate had crossed oceans to tie them together, made Ji Yu—the kite—willingly return to her homeland.

 

Maybe because of all the past talk that evening, Leng Ying suddenly felt tired.

 

Ji Yu noticed and didn’t pursue the topic further. Even though the moonlight was just right, and maybe their talk could bring them closer than ever before…

 

Ji Yu voluntarily gave up that chance.

 

Instead, she whispered to her: “Good night, Yingying.”

 

“Have sweet dreams.”

 

Leng Ying smiled, eyes shimmering. At moments like this, Ji Yu always felt: the name Yingying really suited her.

 

A beauty made of water, with a chill of ice beneath.

 

And herself—

 

Ji Yu shivered.

 

That was excitement.

 

She was the smuggler on this icy plain.

 

She smuggled in fire, melting a crevice in the frost, turning it into a trickling stream. Yingying reflected the cold light of the ice as she drifted by.

 

And instead of dying out, the fire burned hotter than ever.

 

From a smuggler, she had become a co-conspirator in this land.

 

Ji Yu was content.

 

She should be content.

 

But her heart, too, had been burned open.

 

There was a hollowness inside her—no beautiful scenery could fill it. Only if she swallowed the ice, letting her burning desire be frozen… only then would she feel fulfilled.

 

Only then would she be satisfied.

 

Moonlight spilled faintly through the curtains.

 

Ji Yu turned over, gazing at the peacefully sleeping Leng Ying.

 

…Have a beautiful dream.