The Wind Heard Her Confession - Chapter 4: A Blinding Crush part 2

It wouldn’t do for the elevator to get stuck at the fifth floor, so Lin Yuran could only brace herself as she stepped inside.

Should she greet him? How should she greet him? Pretending they were strangers seemed unfitting; they had met just yesterday.

Lin Yuran nodded lightly in greeting instead.

Chi Ye returned her nod, expression indifferent.

Lin Yuran concluded from the distance in his gaze that Chi Ye might not have recognized her after all—so she decided to play along. 

“Which floor?” A deep voice, slightly husky yet refined, rang out.

Lin Yuran turned toward him, and Chi Ye took a step forward, standing right next to the elevator buttons. His question almost sounded like he was asking if he could help her press them.

For such a small matter, Lin Yuran didn’t have any habits regarding accepting assistance, so she freed up one hand and answered reflexively, “First floor.” As she spoke, she swiftly pressed the button for the first floor.

At this response, Chi Ye also reached out a finger.

Their fingers met at button [1]. It felt like a spark of electricity between them.

Lin Yuran’s umbrella fell from her hand and landed on the ground with a thud. Before she could react, Chi Ye leaned down to pick it up for her, then offered it back.

Eyes briefly met eyes. Lin Yuran stared blankly at him, reached out, and accepted the umbrella, murmuring, “Thank you.”

The moment their gazes parted, Lin Yuran thought she saw the corner of his lips curve faintly upward. She couldn’t help but recall that day they first met, when he had said, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Following this exchange, silence enveloped the elevator.

At the third floor, the elevator doors paused and opened, revealing eight or so people chatting idly as they waited inside. Upon seeing Chi Ye, everyone swiftly quieted and bowed slightly before stepping into the lift one after another, hesitating slightly.

There were too many people waiting; Lin Yuran carefully maneuvered herself toward the front, eventually being squeezed right in front of Chi Ye.

During these thirty seconds, Lin Yuran felt a pair of eyes staring at her from above, making her feel strangely uneasy—but she didn’t dare turn her head to confirm.

When the elevator arrived at the first floor, Lin Yuran, standing relatively close to the front, stepped out ahead of the crowd.

As if fleeing.

Lin Yuran swiftly walked out of the RanYe building and let out a deep breath. The rain had stopped; the sun was just about to rise, struggling bravely between layers of cloudy mist.

Lin Yuran opened her navigation app, searched for directions back to the studio, and headed home.

Xu Jianwei wasn’t around. Since Beijian Stuidio’s inception, Xu Jianwei and Lin Yuran were its only employees. Lin Yuran contributed her technical expertise as part of the investment while Xu Jianwei provided funding, handled client relations, and managed marketing and promotion, so she often wasn’t present during work hours.

At first, everything from 3D modeling to game design had been done solely by Lin Yuran. However, after their IP became a hit, the studio gradually gained some recognition within the industry, business began to grow, and they hired additional modelers and marketers.

But all designs still needed to be approved by Lin Yuran herself.

Upon returning to her desk, Lin Yuran pulled out that very handbook from her bag and buried herself in it once again.

After flipping through it for a long time, Lin Yuran felt increasingly familiar with these characters—more precisely, she felt very familiar with them.

This reminded her of those traditional-style character reference books she used to draw when she was in high school.

When Chi Ye transferred schools and sat beside her in class, they hardly spoke.

She had been either sleeping or paying full attention in class; when she wasn’t studying, she was drawing and writing during her free time, then running out as soon as the school bell rang after classes, so she never really had the chance to interact with others.

Her first encounter with Chi Ye had been that night she ran away from home at midnight to spend the whole night in a cyber café instead.

That night, she had run too hastily, leaving behind her ID and wallet, only bringing ten yuan from the pocket of her uniform. Staying overnight in a hotel was unrealistic, but those ten yuan were just enough for one night’s stay in a cyber café.

She visited several internet cafes along the way, only to find them all filled to capacity.

Lin Yuran walked anxiously the entire way, fearing she might have to sleep on the streets.

Stepping carefully through the dark night, she found herself walking toward Third Middle School without realizing it.

There was only one internet cafe near Third Middle School, called Speed Dream Net. It was the largest and most well-equipped in the area, which also meant its overnight rates were slightly higher than other places, at twelve yuan per night—ten yuan less than what Lin Yuran had in her pocket.

She stood before the entrance of Speed Dream Net for quite some time, then mustered up the courage to walk inside, hoping to ask if she could put aside two more yuan in credit.

Unfortunately, Speed Dream Net was also filled to capacity.

It was pitch-black outside; as she walked along, Lin Yuran occasionally brushed past some drunkards on the street. The way those men stared at her frightened her, and she no longer wanted to step out into this darkness again.

Lin Yuran mustered up all her courage to ask the manager, “Can you add another chair? I don’t need to play.”

The manager laughed. “Where would I find extra chairs?”

He suggested, “You can go check if any of your classmates are inside one of the private rooms and ask them if they’d be willing to let you join them. If they say yes, they may give you a discount, ten yuan is fine.”

Just when Lin Yuran was fretting over how she should check each room individually, someone called her name.