Still Frame Chapter 45
byChapter 45: Not Calling Me Senior Anymore?
The next time Zhang Liuxin saw Wen Jin was during the summer vacation after his first year of university. Zhang Liuxin had originally thought their paths had diverged completely, as he hadn’t run into him once the entire semester, and neither Wen Jin nor Lü Zixia had been seen at the tennis court.
“Liuxin, tomorrow you and Nannan will go to Wuling for a study trip. You’re old enough now; you need to socialize more.”
Zhang Jiming said this to him in the study. There was no one else home at the time. Zhang Jiming sat comfortably in his boss chair. “Stop acting like a block of wood all the time. No one will ever notice you.”
“I have a part-time job tomorrow…”
“What’s the point of earning those few pennies?” Zhang Jiming immediately scowled. “You talk as if the family can’t feed or clothe you. It’s decided. Pack your things and go with Nannan.”
The feeling of being controlled by Zhang Jiming was unpleasant. Zhang Liuxin endured it for a moment, then finally asked, “Why do I have to go? I don’t know any of Zhang Qiannan’s friends.”
Zhang Jiming, challenged by his son, immediately grew impatient. “Young people get to know each other just by hanging out, don’t they? A Miss Zhao will also be going. Make sure you look after the girl.”
So that was the plan…
Zhang Liuxin scoffed inwardly. It was bad enough that Zhang Jiming had climbed the social ladder by leveraging his wife; now he expected Zhang Liuxin to also latch onto a high branch and contribute to the Zhang family?
Looking at Zhang Jiming’s face, which felt almost unfamiliar to him, Zhang Liuxin felt a wave of exhaustion. After a while, Zhang Jiming felt a chill down his spine from being stared at. He waved his hand to dismiss him, but then heard Zhang Liuxin say, “I like men.”
Zhang Jiming froze, his eyes wide with disbelief as he looked at Zhang Liuxin. He frowned. “Are you sick?”
The same-sex marriage law had been passed a long time ago, and Zhang Jiming himself was even pushing Zhang Qiannan to curry favor with Wen Jin, yet he blurted out that Zhang Liuxin was sick. Zhang Liuxin didn’t know what to say, and weakly curved his lips. “I’m not like you. I won’t marry some family’s daughter.”
The subtle mockery in his tone angered Zhang Jiming. He grabbed the pen holder nearby and threw it at Zhang Liuxin. Zhang Liuxin was half a beat too slow and was struck on the shoulder. His mind went blank for a moment, and then a sharp, burning pain radiated from his right shoulder.
“Zhang Liuxin, you really think you’ve grown wings and are tough now, huh? I leave you alone for one semester and you forget who your father is?” Zhang Jiming felt his gaze was sinister and unnerving. “You must go this time. Young Master Wen will also be there. Don’t be blind. I heard you and Young Master Wen are in the same club, so you should know him. Help your brother keep an eye on things and try to set them up.”
His fingernails dug into his palm. Zhang Liuxin experienced ringing in his ears for a moment, finally standing dumbfounded while Zhang Jiming pointed and cursed at his face.
He had a bruise on his shoulder, and it hurt even more when he woke up the next day. Zhang Liuxin had to carry his suitcase with his left hand, making his walk look slightly comical.
It seemed Zhang Qiannan wasn’t surprised that he was coming along. On the way to the airport, he told Zhang Liuxin, “Miss Zhao has a good family background and is very influential in Chidun. You need to be attentive to her.”
That he would say such a thing was unexpected to Zhang Liuxin. He turned his head away, ignoring him.
“Don’t you know Wen Jin? Later, be observant and put in a good word for me.”
Mentioning Wen Jin, Zhang Qiannan looked annoyed. Lü Zixia had told him to try and ask Wen Jin out himself, and he had tried, but Wen Jin never replied to his messages. He wanted to contact him but had no mutual friends. In the end, he had no choice but to try Lü Zixia, but Lü Zixia was busy dating and couldn’t be found.
Zhang Liuxin paused and said, “I’m not close with him.”
Zhang Qiannan raised an eyebrow, scrutinizing Zhang Liuxin, but ultimately couldn’t discern anything from his expressionless face.
“Wen Jin is really hard to approach,” Zhang Qiannan began to complain about Wen Jin, perhaps out of some complex feeling. “Academically, his research is too profound; I can’t understand it at all. In life, he rarely socializes. I don’t know what he even likes.”
“Born into a family like that, I don’t believe he has no strange habits. Wen Jin looks ascetic, and some say he’s either asexual or sexually repressed. But I don’t think so. People like that, maybe after restraining themselves for so long, might be very lustful…”
Zhang Liuxin listened to Zhang Qiannan’s words, one by one, feeling his temples throb painfully. He tried to raise his hand slightly, which pulled at the injury on his shoulder, making him frown.
“What, you don’t believe me?” Zhang Qiannan scoffed. “But does Wen Jin like men or women? Do you know?”
Sometimes Zhang Liuxin suspected that Zhang Qiannan had genuinely noticed his hidden feelings and deliberately brought up topics related to Wen Jin. But Zhang Qiannan was the type to hold a grudge and seek revenge, so Zhang Liuxin didn’t think he would be genuinely pleasant to him if he knew about his feelings for Wen Jin.
He said, “I don’t know.”
Zhang Qiannan took a sip of water and smiled at him. It was clearly a gentle smile, but Zhang Liuxin felt a chill.
“Actually, I think this is quite good. Otherwise, what if he genuinely fell for some poor, ordinary person and caused a scene with his parents, insisting on marrying only her?” Zhang Qiannan spoke slowly in a frivolous tone that made Zhang Liuxin uncomfortable. “This way, at least he’ll obediently enter an arranged marriage.”
Did Zhang Qiannan like Wen Jin? Zhang Liuxin sometimes wondered about this. He unilaterally believed that given Wen Jin’s family background and appearance, Zhang Qiannan, who chose only the brightest diamonds for his brooches, must like him.
But now it seemed otherwise. Zhang Qiannan’s attitude toward Wen Jin didn’t seem like affection, or even pursuit. However, Zhang Qiannan was certainly much luckier than the “poor ordinary people” who liked Wen Jin.
This trip to Wuling was essentially a gathering of several wealthy heirs, using an academic pretext, with the main goal of providing a platform for the second generation to socialize.
They saw Lü Zixia in the airport VIP lounge. He was with his girlfriend, scrolling through his phone with one hand and resting the other on the back of his girlfriend’s chair, talking to her distractedly.
There was also the elegant Miss Zhao, sitting boredly watching TV nearby. When she looked up and saw them approaching, her eyes lit up, and she greeted Zhang Qiannan. “Qiannan, long time no see.”
Zhang Qiannan instantly dropped the sharp, mean attitude he had in the car and greeted her affectionately, complimenting Miss Zhao on her new hair color and how the color of her outfit made her skin look fairer.
“Is this your brother?” Miss Zhao’s gaze fell on Zhang Liuxin.
Zhang Qiannan nudged Zhang Liuxin with his elbow, signaling him to greet her.
“Hello, Miss Zhao. My name is Zhang Liuxin.”
Miss Zhao nodded and smiled politely at him. “Hello, I’m Zhao Wan. Please sit here.”
She removed the headphones placed beside her and patted the seat.
Zhang Liuxin hadn’t expected Miss Zhao to be so friendly. His initial nervousness subsided somewhat, and he sat down next to her.
Zhang Qiannan winked at him, then went over to Lü Zixia, complimenting Lü Zixia’s girlfriend on her beauty and grace, and then jokingly complained that Young Master Lü was so lost in romance that he forgot his friends, opening a joke about not missing the next gathering.
The person being teased kept fiddling with his phone, looking uninterested, which made Zhang Qiannan feel a bit awkward.
“Are you also at Interstellar University?” Zhao Wan asked.
“Yes.”
“Me too. I’m in the School of Mathematics.”
Interstellar University, School of Mathematics, and the Zhao family of Chidun… Zhang Liuxin asked, “Is your roommate Jiang You?”
Zhao Wan looked surprised and delighted. “Yes! Do you know her too?”
“She’s a good friend of mine.”
Zhao Wan realized. “So you’re Youyou’s friend from the School of Journalism. She sometimes mentions you and says you’re the most amazing person she’s ever met.”
Zhang Liuxin was touched that Jiang You described him that way.
“Jiang You is great too. She’s a very kind person.”
“Exactly. If it weren’t for people like Youyou in the dorm, I wouldn’t live at school. The rooms are tiny, not even as big as my bathroom at home,” this back-and-forth made them closer, so Zhao Wan continued, “So, what are your usual hobbies?”
“Reading, puzzles, and playing tennis,” Zhang Liuxin replied.
“What a coincidence! I like playing tennis too, but I got my nails done recently for this trip, so I haven’t played in a while.”
With that, she extended her hand toward Zhang Liuxin, showing off her delicate, beautiful manicure. “What do you think? They’re pretty, right?”
Zhang Liuxin couldn’t tell the difference, only thinking that such long nails must make writing inconvenient, so he just nodded and complimented her. “They’re beautiful. They suit you very well.”
Zhao Wan smiled, then her gaze suddenly fixed behind him. “Young Master Wen is here.”
Zhang Liuxin’s back stiffened. He heard Lü Zixia tease in his usual flippant tone, “King of Lateness. It’s one thing to stand me up normally, but now you’re making all these people wait.”
Presumably, only Lü Zixia would dare to speak to Wen Jin like that. Then a cool voice replied, “My apologies.”
Lü Zixia choked, looking at Wen Jin like he was some kind of monster. After a moment, he sat back down. “Uh… fine.”
“Brother Wen, sit here. Would you like something to drink?”
In the car, Zhang Qiannan had speculated about him recklessly, but now, facing Wen Jin, he played the role of the considerate person, asking gently and attentively what Wen Jin wanted.
“Plain water.”
Wen Jin was followed by two bodyguards who looked quite intimidating. He pressed his temples and told the bodyguards, “You two can go back.”
The two bodyguards exchanged glances. One of them leaned closer and said to Wen Jin, “Young Master…”
Wen Jin quickly interrupted, “I said, go back.”
He spoke slightly more forcefully, and the two bodyguards obediently lowered their heads and quickly left the waiting room.
He looked at Zhao Wan, his gaze briefly including Zhang Liuxin. It was a very fleeting glance. Zhang Liuxin felt he must have forgotten him.
Zhao Wan received the look and proactively stood up to greet him. Wen Jin was much more gentlemanly toward girls, nodding slightly and exchanging a few words with her.
Now, only Zhang Liuxin remained seated. Meeting Wen Jin’s eyes again, he finally reacted, walking up to Wen Jin. He lowered his head and said, “Young Master Wen, hello.”
The atmosphere suddenly became quiet. Wen Jin rested one hand on the side of his cup, his fingertips tapping a few times. Finally, he said, “Away from school, you don’t even call me Senior anymore?”