As She Wished (GL) - Chapter 3

Her words were a question, but her casual tone gave no hint of her emotions.

“It’s not like that…” Fu Jing swallowed, shaking her head like a small rattle drum. She hadn’t figured out how to smooth things over yet.

Gu Qingci gave Tao Xian a look and turned to leave.

She hadn’t really intended to listen to an explanation anyway.

Tao Xian followed, whispering to Fu Jing, “It’s fine, she won’t be angry. Just sit and play by yourself for a bit.”

Fu Jing: “…Okay.”

She watched the two disappear, puffed out her cheeks, feeling both disappointed and slightly relieved.

At least the beauty wasn’t angry.

Fu Jing sat for a while, idly chatting with Qin Ziqin via messages. She stood up, wanting to get a glass of iced water. She walked forward, didn’t see a step, and tripped. Her body steadied, she didn’t fall, but her phone flew out.

It sailed a good two meters away.

“…”

A woman nearby bent down to pick it up for her, glanced at it, and chuckled, “You’re really lucky, the screen didn’t even crack.” Her voice was soft and gentle.

She was impeccably dressed, her demeanor exuding the composed elegance of an intellectual.

Quite different from the other patrons.

When Fu Jing took her phone back, she blurted out, “Thank you, Professor.”

The woman froze, her gaze falling on this unfamiliar young girl. After a few seconds of hesitation, she asked, “You are…?”

“I’m a student at Songjiang University,” Fu Jing instinctively reported her affiliation, then paused, realizing what she meant, and quickly explained, “No, I mean, I’m not your student. I just thought you looked especially like a teacher.”

So she guessed right? From this reaction, she must have guessed right!

Fu Jing was pleased with her rare perceptiveness.

Seeing the other person nod in confirmation, she immediately asked cheerfully, “Professor, are you from a university nearby?”

“No,” Song Shujin paused for a few seconds, then smiled kindly, “I just teach middle school.”

“Oh…”

It was the weekend.

Fu Jing was genuinely bored, and combined with a natural sense of closeness she felt towards teachers, she found a topic and continued to ask, “Then, Professor, who do you like here?”

Song Shujin paused again, then quickly said, “No one, I just came in to look around. I should go now.”

She gave Fu Jing an apologetic smile and turned to leave.

“…”

It seemed she had asked the wrong thing.

Fu Jing could only return to the booth alone, bored, and ordered every type of tea on the menu, trying them one by one to pass the time. She wondered when Gu Qingci would come to work normally.

As she was thinking of her, slowly, another scene suddenly flashed in her mind.

Hazy and indistinct.

A draft of wind carried the sweet scent of osmanthus. The person in front of her was poised to copy Buddhist scriptures with a brush. Fu Jing, seemingly trying to please her, refilled her tea, but clumsily spilled water, soaking a corner of the scripture paper.

That person looked up, her plain white clothes glowing in the sunlight, her phoenix eyes like stars, gazing at her bewildered face with a faint smile, and asked with feigned surprise, “Is there something Her Royal Highness is dissatisfied with? Why not speak directly?”

That year, she stood beneath a peach blossom tree, her hair caught on a branch.

That year, the branches were full of spring blossoms, and the moon was round in the sky.

“…”

••••

Fu Jing snapped back to reality, realizing she was still sitting in the bar booth. The lights were dim and ambiguous, the music boomed, and her surroundings hadn’t changed at all.

That brief moment felt like a short dream.

She blinked hard, wondering why she had suddenly experienced a waking dream…

And it didn’t feel like a dream so much as a memory of past events.

She knew that people sometimes experienced a sense of déjà vu, where current events felt like they had already happened, which was a type of memory processing error in the brain.

But it was usually a fleeting feeling.

And it was about mistaking current events as having already happened, not recognizing an imagined scene as something from the past…

The colored lights flickered and changed with the music, setting the mood. Light and shadow danced across the various teas on the table. So many cups in front of her, the booth empty, still only her sitting there.

Fu Jing bit her lip, a sudden, indescribable sense of emptiness and loss in her heart. She couldn’t remember anything, yet she desperately wanted to.

She took a sip of tea, almost helplessly looking up.

Just then, she saw Gu Qingci coming down from the second floor.

Bathed in the light, her features were elegant, her fair face delicate and beautiful, her demeanor soft and dignified. Only her pitch-black phoenix eyes were too bright, holding a warm yet unapproachable quality.

Their eyes met, and Fu Jing miraculously forgot all her dejection.

She couldn’t help but flash her a wide, unrestrained, dazzling smile. At the same time, the teacup in her hand slipped and clinked against the table.

Fu Jing reacted quickly to retrieve the cup, but the tea still spilled, soaking her white shirt.

From Gu Qingci’s perspective, this inexplicably downcast child across the way suddenly started grinning foolishly at her.

While grinning foolishly, she also awkwardly splashed water on herself.

She looked rather unintelligent.

“…”

Fu Jing awkwardly steadied the cup, her gaze sweeping around. She found nothing on the table to wipe her clothes with, so she simply let it go; wet clothes wouldn’t dry by wiping anyway.

She nonchalantly picked up the cup and drank the remaining half-sip of tea.

Her eyes continued to stare at Gu Qingci, secretly infatuated.

So beautiful, how could someone be so beautiful? Her face was pretty, and she had a perfect waist and legs…

Hey, her leg moved…

Huh??! Why is she walking over here…?

Fu Jing blinked, quickly adjusted her sitting posture, placing her hands obediently on her lap like an elementary school student. Her innocent, almond-shaped eyes looked at Gu Qingci, her lips curving into an uncontrollable smile.

She looked both cute and a little silly.

Gu Qingci walked over, casually took out a napkin from her bag, and handed it to her, her tone gentle, “Here, wipe it off.”

“Wipe what?” Fu Jing was stunned and confused, instinctively touching the corner of her mouth. Had she been staring at her and drooling?!

“…”

Gu Qingci saw her reaction, paused for a few seconds, and even she couldn’t help but curve her lips slightly.

She pulled out a tissue and helped her wipe away the water on the table that might get her wet again, “I heard you sit here every day, waiting for someone.”

It was just a casual remark.

Fu Jing opened her mouth, but couldn’t answer for a long time.

“Waiting for you…” Who else could it be?

Her words were too soft, lost in the noisy environment. The heavy metal music made Fu Jing’s heart tingle slightly.

Gu Qingci didn’t hear clearly, “Hm?”

Fu Jing stared intently at her. Their eyes met, then she quickly lowered hers, her heart pounding as she wondered if Tao Xian had mentioned her to Gu Qingci, and if so, what she had said.

She guessed for a long time but had no idea.

“Of course, I’m waiting for you.” Fu Jing suddenly felt a bit self-defeating.

She never knew how to beat around the bush.

“Waiting for me,” Gu Qingci got an unexpected answer. Her gaze fell on the unfamiliar girl’s face. After observing her for a few seconds, she asked with apparent interest, “Kid, do you know me?”

Fu Jing: “…”

She didn’t know if that counted as knowing her. She thought for a moment, “I know your name is Gu Qingci, and you’re the top earner in the store.”

As her words fell, Gu Qingci subtly furrowed her brow, then quickly smiled faintly, the curve of her lips playful, “So why are you waiting for me here?”

“Be-be-be…” Fu Jing tried but couldn’t get the words out. Why else could it be? But even with her lack of common sense, she knew she shouldn’t confess on their second meeting.

“Incessant ‘be-be-be-ing’,” Gu Qingci suddenly sat down beside her, her elbow resting on the table, turning her face to her, her tone clearly teasing, “Are you trying to flirt with me, little one?”

“…”

Fu Jing’s face instantly turned bright red. Her breath hitched as she finally realized she was being teased.

She felt like she had never been so embarrassed in her life, “I… I…”

“What do you want to say?” Gu Qingci curved her lips and leaned closer to her ear, laughing with a noticeable breathy sound, “Speak properly. Are you a little stutterer?”

The “little stutterer” Fu Jing pouted aggrievedly, her eyelashes fluttering rapidly as a blush spread from her earlobes all the way down to her neck.

This person was too much!

She was clearly making fun of her!

After a moment of silence.

After being teased for so long, Fu Jing’s tension and awkwardness had subtly lessened. She thought that if this was the case, why not just be direct?

Yes, what couldn’t she just say outright?

Fu Jing made up her mind, cleared her throat, and asked with clear, soft eyes, “Because I like you. Can you give me your contact information so we can get to know each other properly?”

“No,” Gu Qingci shook her head with a smile, her tone tactful, “I’m sorry, you’re too well-behaved.”

Fu Jing: “…”

She didn’t fully understand what that meant.

She only knew she had been rejected. She was saying she was too well-behaved, and that was why she was rejected.

Although she couldn’t deduce more information, an instinctive thought surfaced: No! She couldn’t be rejected like this!

The pink bubbles that had been floating in her mind quickly disappeared.

Fu Jing’s eyes widened, and a brilliant idea struck her. She immediately stood up and retorted forcefully, “Am I well-behaved? Then I guess you’re blind!”