A New Plan

“Not a match.” Yu Qingkong followed up with those three words, short and dry. Her face was nearly expressionless, as if it had been flash-frozen.

Lu Keke was instantly silenced. Beside her, Zheng Shiyi let out a secret sigh of relief. Lin Wanzhao, however, tilted her head and looked directly at Yu Qingkong.

“Oh…” Lu Keke muttered, scratching her head in an attempt to dissipate the awkwardness. She sized Yu Qingkong up again from head to toe, feeling more and more that there was definitely something going on between her and Lin Wanzhao.

“I feel the same way. How can you talk about being a ‘match’ when we’ve just met? Besides, I already told you not to introduce me to anyone; I can find someone myself,” Zheng Shiyi said, glancing at Lu Keke. She checked her watch. “I need to get going.”

“Sorry everyone, I’ll be leaving first.” With that, Zheng Shiyi slung her bag over her shoulder and turned to walk away.

“Hey, Shiyi! Wait up, I’ll give you a lift!” Lu Keke looked at her friend, then turned back to the other two. “Um, I’m gonna take her home. See you guys later!”

“Sure, go ahead,” Lin Wanzhao nodded.

Yu Qingkong watched them leave with a cold, detached gaze. Why are Lin Wanzhao’s friends getting more and more persistent? It’s like they’re working for a dating agency. They don’t look like they’re hurting for money, though…

After a while, she heard Lin Wanzhao ask softly from beside her, “Why aren’t we a match?”

Yu Qingkong’s fingers tightened instinctively. A moment later, she turned her head to look at her. “Didn’t Lu Keke ask for my opinion? I just gave my honest take based on intuition. Was I supposed to lie?”

This time, Yu Qingkong didn’t even bother making up a complex excuse.

Lin Wanzhao stared at her, saying nothing. But truthfully, she was feeling quite happy. Even if she was overthinking it, Yu Qingkong had given off a vibe of “This person is mine, don’t you dare touch her,” which made Lin glow inside.

Yu Qingkong fidgeted with her hands. “What, do you like Zheng Shiyi?”

“No.” Lin Wanzhao shook her head.

“Then it’s fine.” Yu Qingkong took a few steps forward, then stopped and looked back. “Your friends certainly are… enthusiastic.”

Lin Wanzhao caught up to her. “Yu Qingkong, you don’t look very happy. Is everything okay?”

“I’m fine,” Yu Qingkong turned away. “Maybe it’s just because my sister suddenly said she can’t visit. I’m a bit disappointed.”

“Oh…” Lin Wanzhao nodded, then brushed past Yu Qingkong to walk in front. “It’s not a big deal. If you miss her that much, just go visit her when you’re free.”

Yu Qingkong tilted her head slightly and let out a long breath, closing her eyes for a moment.

In reality, this had nothing to do with her sister. Her sister had never said she was coming, so there was no “disappointment” to speak of. Yu Qingkong watched Lin Wanzhao’s back, her fingers practically crushing each other.

She didn’t even know when she had become like this—so desperately wanting to possess a person, even going so far as to interfere with her dating life. This style of hers…

But she couldn’t control herself. She couldn’t stand the thought of Lin Wanzhao being intimate with someone else. Her head felt like it was going to explode.

“Are you still planning to go on dates?” Yu Qingkong suddenly blurted out.

“Why? Do you want to personally give me advice or vet them for me?” Lin Wanzhao turned back.

Yu Qingkong looked at the ground, her body stiff. “Just asking.”

“We’ll see. Judging by today, my luck is pretty bad. It’s not a good time for it,” Lin Wanzhao answered.

“Mhm…” Yu Qingkong nodded, exhaling a sigh of relief.

Then, Yu Qingkong asked another question: “Other than that three-month ‘best friend’ phase you had, have you ever seriously loved someone?”

Lin Wanzhao stopped in her tracks. “Yes.”

And it’s not ‘loved’—I still love them now.

“What does it feel like?”

“My heart won’t stop thumping. If she smiles at me, I feel like I want to give her the entire world,” Lin Wanzhao replied.

Yu Qingkong lowered her head. “I see.”

Lin Wanzhao paused. “Have you… never felt even a little bit of attraction toward someone?”

Yu Qingkong was silent for a long time. Then she spoke: “Tell me, how do you distinguish between loving someone and just wanting to selfishly possess them like an object under the guise of ‘liking’ them?”

“And how do you know if the ‘love’ people talk about is the former or the latter?” Yu Qingkong continued.

Lin Wanzhao was stunned again, her brain unable to keep up. She didn’t know how to answer. Love, by its very nature, often includes possessiveness and desire; they are incredibly hard to separate.

“The difference between real love and fake love is…” Yu Qingkong didn’t wait for her to finish. She turned her head, muttering to herself.

She truly couldn’t distinguish it. She couldn’t do it like a “normal” person. She thought about it a lot, but no matter how much she thought, she never understood.

Lin Wanzhao looked at her, suddenly remembering the “obstacle” Yu Qingkong had mentioned before. She realized now that Yu Qingkong hadn’t been making excuses; it was real. Their perspectives on love were completely different. Why did Yu Qingkong think about something that should be so simple in such a complex way?

“What really is the difference, CEO Lin?” Yu Qingkong murmured again.

Lin Wanzhao still couldn’t find the words. She knew her own heart so clearly that she had never had to analyze it.

“Never mind. Let’s go.” Yu Qingkong lifted her bags and headed forward.

******************************************

That night at home, Yu Qingkong took a long bath.

The weather was indeed getting colder. Everything outside seemed to be shrouded in a chill that reached straight to the soul. After applying her skincare, Yu Qingkong slumped in her chair, scrolling through her phone. In the group chat, Liu Ting and Lu Xiaoxiao were chatting about everything under the sun, but she didn’t feel like joining in.

She lay down in bed and put on her headphones, putting a playlist on shuffle. Usually, music helped her stabilize her emotions when she was restless. But tonight, it failed. The sounds only made her more irritable.

Lin Wanzhao’s face and voice kept popping into her mind—the way she looked at work, the way she acted in private, and… the way she looked in bed.

Unconsciously, Yu Qingkong reached her hand to her neck. The hickey there had long since faded, as if nothing had ever happened. Originally, she should have loathed the fact that she had crossed that line with Lin Wanzhao, but now, she missed it intensely.

She sat up, reached for her guitar, and began wiping it with a cloth. Remembering that Lin Wanzhao liked people who could play and sing, Yu Qingkong’s fingers brushed the strings, plucking a single note.

Hearing the sound, she froze and set the instrument aside. What am I thinking? What am I doing?

Her headache worsened. Unable to sleep, she finally took an ibuprofen and lay back down, eventually drifting off.

***********************************

In the blink of an eye, more than twenty days of December had passed.

Sheng City had officially entered winter. The wind was bone-chilling. Everyone was busy—it was peak season for the company, and the office was perpetually filled with the smell of coffee. Even during lunch breaks, everyone was too busy to rest.

With New Year’s Day approaching, everyone was also frantically trying to book tickets for attractions or trips home.

Yu Qingkong had originally planned to go to a neighboring city with Liu Ting and Lu Xiaoxiao for two days, but she turned them down when she remembered her photo shoot with Lin Wanzhao.

She took out her camera, which she hadn’t touched in a while. As she cleaned the lens, she paused when she remembered the theme of the shoot: swimsuit photos.

No one knew better than her how exquisite Lin Wanzhao’s figure was. Wearing that… she would surely be very sexy. Thinking of this, Yu Qingkong squeezed the air blower in her hand a little tighter.

**************************************

On the other side, after washing and drying her hair, Lin Wanzhao returned to the living room and saw her phone ringing. It was a message from Lu Keke, asking if she was free for New Year’s.

Lin Wanzhao sat on the sofa and replied: “I’m busy for New Year’s. I promised Qingkong we’d go take some photos. How about another day?”

After hitting send, she took a sip of water, a small smile playing on her lips. They had all been so busy lately that it had been a while since she’d spent time with Yu Qingkong. She couldn’t deny her excitement.

Lu Keke: “Fine. By the way, are you and Yu Qingkong really just friends?”

Lin Wanzhao froze. She thought for a second and replied: “Why? Doesn’t it look like it?”

Lu Keke: “To be honest, no. I’ve never seen you act so ‘little bird following a person’ before! Also, I didn’t want to say it then, but when I was introducing dates to you, Yu Qingkong looked like she wanted to eat me alive. Terrifying.”

Lin Wanzhao read the message several times, a spark of joy rising in her heart. Honestly, hearing Yu Qingkong say “Not a match” that day had made her day.

Lu Keke: “Babe, does she like you?”

Lin Wanzhao’s heart skipped a beat. “I wish she did. Unfortunately, no. It’s just me crushing on her.”

She waited intently for the reply.

Lu Keke: “I don’t think so. The person involved is confused, but the bystander sees clearly. I think she’s totally into you.”

“Unlikely…” Lin Wanzhao had once thought so too, but the more they interacted, the more she felt she had miscalculated. “She just wants to be friends.”

A moment later, Lu Keke sent a barrage of questions: “How do you know? Have you even tried to seal the deal? Have you thought about taking her down?”

Lin Wanzhao felt a headache coming on. “Of course I have. I’m just afraid if I chase too hard or go too far, we won’t even be able to be friends anymore.”

Lu Keke sent a smiling emoji. “Do you want to be her friend? Is a ‘friend’ what you’re missing in your life?”

Lin Wanzhao’s heart thumped. She gripped her phone.

“Don’t tell me you have that ‘if we can’t be lovers, being friends is enough’ mindset. That’s stupid. In my opinion, if you like her, you either take her down and make her your girlfriend, or you give up. Better a short, sharp pain than a long one. What’s with the ‘friends’ thing?”

Lin Wanzhao frowned. “I haven’t given up! I want to chase her, but I don’t know how. We’ve already been to bed and she didn’t react—she even distanced herself. What can I do?”

Lu Keke: “Whoa! Babe, you guys already did that? When? You mean you’re friends with benefits?”

Lin Wanzhao rubbed her forehead. She pressed the voice message button and explained the whole situation from start to finish to Lu Keke.

The “typing…” indicator appeared and disappeared several times. Finally, Lu Keke sent a long paragraph: “Babe, wake up! She is DEFINITELY into you! Physically and mentally! The fact that she’s avoiding physical contact isn’t because she doesn’t like you; it’s because she’s confused and has too many concerns. You guys have a big gap between you. Too much physical entanglement leads to mental entanglement, and she’s afraid of falling too deep. She’s trying to ‘save’ herself. And didn’t you say she has an ‘obstacle’? Maybe that obstacle is what’s messing things up!”

Lin Wanzhao was stunned. “Really?”

Lu Keke became an exclamation mark maniac: “YES! Believe me and believe yourself! There’s a reason for the saying about the bystander seeing clearly! As for the obstacle? Strike hard! Once she realizes she can’t live without you, what the hell does the obstacle matter?!”

Lin Wanzhao thought about it. It actually made some sense. She quickly typed: “So what do I do next?”

Lu Keke: “What to do? Proceed with your plan, but push harder until she can’t hold out! Didn’t you ask her to take swimsuit photos? Did you buy the swimsuit?”

“I did.” Lin Wanzhao snapped a photo of the swimsuit and sent it over.

Lu Keke: “No. Not sexy enough. Too conservative. Why are you covering so much? It even has a little skirt? Are you crazy?”

Lin Wanzhao sent a string of ellipses. She was just afraid of going too far. Ever since Yu Qingkong rejected her multiple times, she was cautious about everything.

A moment later, Lu Keke sent a photo: “Change it. Buy this one!”

Lin Wanzhao looked at it. It actually seemed reasonable. She nodded. “Fine. Then what?”

Lu Keke: “Where are you shooting?”

Lin Wanzhao thought for a moment. “The gym.”

Lu Keke: “…”

Lu Keke: “Babe, that won’t work. Have you thought about what happens if things get ‘heated’ during the shoot? How will you solve it?”

Lu Keke: “I think you need to find a place where you can… roll around whenever you want. Like a private villa. Yours is still being renovated, right? No problem. I’ll lend you the villa my dad gave me in Yan City. It’s tropical there; you can wear whatever you want. Also, buy a few bottles of wine. I believe in you. Go have a New Year’s filled with passion. Go for it!!!”