SYLM Chapter 116

Chapter 116 “I don’t care, I want a hug.”

Facing Jiang Zhen Zhen’s questioning, Chen Lu didn’t know where to begin.

How could the matter between Fu Yi Wen and Tang Ying be explained in just a few words?

Soon, a tutor’s urging voice came from the other end of the video. Chen Lu couldn’t understand German, she only heard Jiang Zhen Zhen raise her head and respond, then look at the screen, her tone helpless and anxious:

“The tutor is urging me, let’s talk during the lunch break.”

“Okay, take care of yourself.”

“You too.”

After hanging up the phone, Chen Lu immediately asked Gu Wan Jun to confirm the news of Tang Ying’s divorce.

“Yes, Tang Ying is divorced. She asked the school for a long vacation yesterday, and we had a meal together.”

Gu Wan Jun didn’t hide anything. She took the water glass from Chen Lu’s hand and couldn’t help but sigh:

“But I didn’t expect her to go to Germany to find Jiang Zhen Zhen.”

“Did her family agree to her divorce?”

“Of course, the Jiang family didn’t agree.”

Gu Wan Jun reached out and tucked Chen Lu’s stray hair behind her ear, her fingers gently hooking the little girl’s palm:

“But I don’t know why, Tang Ying’s mother didn’t stop her, and seemed to even help. But Tang Ying didn’t say the specifics, and I’m not too sure.”

In fact, without Gu Wan Jun saying it, Chen Lu could probably imagine that for someone with Tang Ying’s family background, divorce would definitely not be easy.

After a moment of silence, Gu Wan Jun tilted her head and looked at Chen Lu, who was lowering her eyes, and softly asked, “What are you thinking about?”

Chen Lu squeezed Gu Wan Jun’s fingers. In front of this person, she could be extremely honest: “Thinking about Fu Yi Wen and Tang Ying’s matter.”

Hearing this, Gu Wan Jun nodded, seemingly not intending to continue the topic.

Chen Lu raised her eyes and looked at those eyes that were so gentle as to encompass everything, her voice adding a soft, nasal tone:

“Don’t you want to ask if I know Fu Yi Wen’s whereabouts?”

Gu Wan Jun blinked, seemingly thinking. After a moment, she tried to learn from her lover’s honesty and told the truth:

“Honestly, I want to ask, because after all, Tang Ying and I are friends, and I want to help her.”

“Then why don’t you ask me?”

Gu Wan Jun curved the corners of her mouth: “Because I know you won’t tell me.”

Chen Lu’s eyebrows twitched slightly, she didn’t deny it, but blinked and subconsciously asked, “Why?”

“Because Fu Yi Wen is your friend, and you want her to be happy, I completely understand that feeling.”

Those beautiful eyes just kept looking at her, the gentle and calm tone didn’t have a trace of complaint or misunderstanding.

How could this person be so good?

Chen Lu’s heart warmed, and she directly pulled her hand to hug the person into her arms, burying her chin in the other’s neck and taking a deep breath.

She always believed that in a stable relationship, respect is more important than love.

She was so glad that she had both.

In the kitchen.

When preparing ingredients for cooking noodles, Gu Wan Jun wouldn’t let Chen Lu touch anything. Watching her lover’s back as she cut vegetables, a few strands of hair fell from her updo, and a small patch of fair skin with red marks was exposed at the collar of her home clothes, Chen Lu couldn’t help but step forward and hug that slender waist, resting her chin on her shoulder.

“Stop it…”

Gu Wan Jun scolded playfully, but her ears turned red. Chen Lu took the opportunity to steal a kiss, not planning to let go at all:

“I want a hug.”

“The vegetables will be all chopped up in a minute…”

“I don’t care, I want a hug.”

“……”

Gu Wan Jun chuckled, letting the person behind her hang on her.

This was the life she had dreamed of.

The two were like Siamese twins, wherever Gu Wan Jun went, Chen Lu followed.

Soon, the water in the pot was bubbling, the steam blurring the glass.

“Do you think…” Chen Lu rubbed her chin against the shoulder of the person in her arms, and suddenly opened her mouth: “How long will Tang Ying persist?”

The action of stirring the noodles paused, Gu Wan Jun thought for a moment, and said, “According to my understanding of her, she will persist until she finds Fu Yi Wen.”

“Will she?”

“Yes.” Gu Wan Jun sighed, her tone affirmative: “It’s not that I want to speak well for her, but she really loves Fu Yi Wen.”

“……”

Chen Lu opened her mouth, her eyes staring straight at the trembling poached egg in the pot, and finally swallowed the rambling words back.

Whether she loves Fu Yi Wen, or loves the feeling of being loved by Fu Yi Wen, can Tang Ying distinguish it herself?

—-

There is a six-hour time difference between China and Germany. When Chen Lu and Gu Wan Jun were eating noodles in the twilight of dusk, Germany on the other side of the earth—

A hint of coolness permeated the lingering warmth of late summer, the edges of the plane tree leaves began to turn yellow, rustling in the wind. The midday sun, still quite bright, shone through the gaps in the leaves onto the stone road, dappling the light and shadows. Trams rang as they passed along the stone road, startling a flock of gray pigeons on the square that were vying for food.

On the streets of the Heidelberg University district, students from different countries with different faces could be seen everywhere, holding books as they walked by, the slightly sour aroma of rye fermentation and the bitter aroma of coffee wafting in the air.

It was lunchtime.

Jiang Zhen Zhen rubbed her sore neck and pushed open the glass door of the laboratory.

Having been busy all morning, she was already hungry. While packing her things just now, she had been considering whether to go to the Vietnamese rice noodle shop around the corner for lunch, or to go back to the apartment to cook noodles herself, so that she could make a video call to Chen Lu earlier.

However, things don’t always go as planned, and plans can’t keep up with changes. Whether it was eating or making a video call, it would probably have to be put off.

As she passed through the lobby on the first floor of the laboratory building, Jiang Zhen Zhen stopped in her tracks, discovering that the familiar figure was still sitting in the same position she had seen when she arrived in the morning.

Black haute couture suit, wavy long hair parted at a 3/7 angle, fair skin and red lips. Under Germany’s strict no-smoking regulations, the person was listlessly twirling an unlit cigarette between her fingers.

Tang Ying hadn’t left yet…?

Jiang Zhen Zhen’s eyes darkened, hoping it was her illusion.

However, when their eyes met, Tang Ying, who was crossing her legs, smiled and waved at her.

Damn it, it wasn’t an illusion.

Twisting the backpack strap around her finger again and again, Jiang Zhen Zhen’s eyebrows knotted together, and finally she sighed and walked forward as if resigned to her fate: “Teacher Tang.”

“Lunch break?”

“Teacher Tang…” Jiang Zhen Zhen’s tone was quite embarrassed: “I really don’t know where Fu Yi Wen is.”

Tang Ying stood up, her high heels knocking out crisp sounds on the marble floor. She was half a head taller than Jiang Zhen Zhen, who was wearing flat cloth shoes, and the light perfume scent emanating from her body didn’t seem like her usual strong style, but rather like the scent Fu Yi Wen would use.

“I heard there’s a nice restaurant nearby, I’ll treat you to lunch.”

“……”

Jiang Zhen Zhen’s heart thumped. She was just about to wave her hand in refusal, but the person in front of her had already turned around on her own and said lightly, “Let’s go.”

Jiang Zhen Zhen: “……”

Did she have another choice…?

The restaurant Tang Ying chose was located deep in a small alley paved with cobblestones. The wooden sign was written in German cursive 【Old Heidelberg】. Jiang Zhen Zhen had been there a few times with her classmates before, and the taste was indeed good.

Pushing open the door to enter the restaurant, the rich aroma of roast meat hit her face. A waiter wearing traditional Bavarian clothing smiled and led the two to a window seat.

After sitting down, Tang Ying handed the menu to Jiang Zhen Zhen.

“Order whatever you want.”

Jiang Zhen Zhen, who had been twisting the hem of her clothes all the way, quickly waved her hand: “Anything is fine, Teacher, you order.”

As soon as she said this, Jiang Zhen Zhen suddenly realized that this was Germany, and everything was in German. She was just about to offer to help Tang Ying translate the menu, but the person directly opened the menu herself and said to the waiter:

“Two servings of the signature roast pork knuckle, dark beer, and a side of sauerkraut and mashed potatoes.”

Tang Ying ordered fluently in German, her fingers occasionally tapping lightly on the menu. The nails that used to be covered with all kinds of beautiful nail art were now trimmed round and clean, quite different from the “Tang Ying” in Jiang Zhen Zhen’s impression. So much so that when Tang Ying ordered in German, Jiang Zhen Zhen didn’t forget to say that she didn’t drink alcohol.

What exactly happened between Teacher Tang and Fu Yi Wen, why did she feel that the Teacher Tang in front of her seemed different from before…?

The waiter left, noticing Jiang Zhen Zhen pursing her lips and staring at her, Tang Ying tapped the table with her finger: “What’s wrong?”

“Ah… nothing…” Jiang Zhen Zhen withdrew her gaze somewhat flusteredly: “I didn’t expect Teacher Tang to be so good at German.”

“I crammed it on the plane.”

“……Ah?”

Jiang Zhen Zhen was clearly a little shocked.

Crammed it?

German is notoriously difficult to learn…

Seeming not to have seen the incredulity in Jiang Zhen Zhen’s eyes, Tang Ying changed the subject: “Is grad school tiring?”

When it came to studying, Jiang Zhen Zhen subconsciously sat up straight, like an elementary school student reporting on her homework: “…It’s okay.”

“Are you usually busy?”

“…It’s okay.”

“Fu Yi Wen mentioned your study abroad life to me before…” Tang Ying paused deliberately, catching a glimpse of the expression on Jiang Zhen Zhen’s face that she wished she could freeze. The woman raised her eyebrows slightly and tugged at the corners of her mouth: “What, are you nervous talking to me?”

“No…”

The denim fabric was twisted into wrinkles, Jiang Zhen Zhen herself didn’t believe this when she said it.

Okay, it would be a lie to say she wasn’t nervous.

Even though she had heard how Tang Ying and her good friend had been entangled for five years, with love and hate intertwined, Jiang Zhen Zhen’s impression of Tang Ying still remained in the image of the strict teacher from high school who was sarcastic, had a poisonous tongue, and would twist people’s ears at the slightest disagreement.

And now this strict teacher herself was sitting right across from her, and asking her one “life-threatening question” after another that had no standard answer…

Jiang Zhen Zhen suddenly missed Chen Lu and Fu Yi Wen very much.

“Fu Yi Wen often told me about you and Chen Lu…”

Tang Ying opened her mouth again, seemingly lost in memories, a little smile gradually condensing in those eyes that always looked cold.

But this didn’t make Jiang Zhen Zhen feel relaxed, but rather made her feel as if she was drumming in her heart and sitting on pins and needles.

Trying to figure out the thoughts of the person in front of her for a long time, Jiang Zhen Zhen bit her lip and said softly:

“Teacher Tang… I really don’t know Fu Yi Wen’s whereabouts…”

Tang Ying raised her eyes to look at her, and suddenly smiled, answering with a question: “Jiang Zhen Zhen, am I a difficult person to get along with?”

“……”

“Looks like it is. We’ve only chatted for a few sentences, look, your forehead is covered in cold sweat.”

“……”

Jiang Zhen Zhen was momentarily speechless.

Tang Ying had said everything, what else could she say…

A few seconds later, the waiter appropriately brought the food up, successfully giving Jiang Zhen Zhen a chance to catch her breath.

At least let people eat first. Tang Ying didn’t continue the question from just now.

The huge roast pork knuckle had a golden crispy skin, and the accompanying sauerkraut side dishes exuded an appetizing aroma, reminiscent of authentic Northeastern winter home cooking in China.

Jiang Zhen Zhen looked at the steaming dishes on the table and silently swallowed her saliva.

She was really hungry.

But looking at Tang Ying, she didn’t even look at the dishes, and directly picked up the dark beer that had been brought up and drank it on her own.

The carbonated bubbles were delicate and smooth, the toasty baking flavor lingering briefly on the tip of her tongue before quickly dissolving, leaving only bitterness silently spreading at the root of her tongue.

So bitter.

Tang Ying didn’t move, and Jiang Zhen Zhen didn’t dare to eat first, so she could only keep staring at the dishes and swallowing her saliva.

Seeing that the person in front of her hadn’t moved for a long time, seemingly realizing something, Tang Ying raised her chin at the other person, signaling:

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

“I don’t have an appetite.”

The presentation of this dish was far worse than what Fu Yi Wen made.

Tang Ying took another gulp of wine.

Almost only Jiang Zhen Zhen was eating this meal. Tang Ying occasionally poked at the mashed potatoes in front of her with a knife and fork, but in the end, she didn’t take a bite.

As it neared the end, Jiang Zhen Zhen was embarrassed to let Tang Ying treat her. She was just about to pay, but the other person had already handed over her card.

“Are you full?”

“Yes, I’m very full.” Jiang Zhen Zhen nodded: “Thank you, Teacher Tang.”

“As long as you’re full, now can we continue the topic from just now?”

“……”