Everyone was listening attentively. It was the last lecture before their break, yet no one skipped it, so it should be easy to conclude that this period was paramount.
Lin Miao didn’t understand a single bit, but she remained silent, not distracting the Young Master.
She hung her left hand on her older brother’s shirt, and propped her head up with her right. She sat on her seat, trying to make sense of the professor’s words.
Her attempt was unsuccessful, but she wasn’t demotivated. She wasn’t a little kid anymore.
Suddenly, she felt a hand against her left hand.
Lin Miao paused for a moment, then lifted her sight from the textbook and peered at the Young Master. He was still following the lesson, but he had stopped taking notes and instead dropped his right hand to hold her hand with it.
Lin Miao froze, embarrassed.
She had tugged onto a corner of the Young Master’s clothes with her left hand, so he held her hand accordingly with his right hand.
Lin Miao wanted to tell him to let go and take his notes like everyone else, but it wasn’t convenient for her to speak out loud during class.
So, Lin Miao pulled his notebook over and started taking notes for him.
It didn’t matter if she didn’t understand it— she just copied everything from the presentation.
She was quite fast at it, too.
Very focused.
Then, she noticed that half of the page was in her older brother’s handwriting, and the other half was hers…
She had a hidden feeling of joy from seeing their words on the same page.
Her face turned rosy, but she continued jotting down notes.
She couldn’t even turn her head to look at the Young Master anymore.
After class, Lin Miao handed the notebook back to the Young Master, “Gege, look, did I make any mistakes?”
The Young Master scanned the page, speaking softly with traces of happiness, “No, Shuishui is very good at taking notes.”
Lin Miao was a bit embarrassed, and then was led out of the classroom by the Young Master.
The Young Master asked his roommate to carry his books back to their dorm room, and then left the premises with Lin Miao.
He invited her to dinner at his house as his parents and grandma all missed Lin Miao.
So, Lin Miao called her mother and told her that she wasn’t returning for dinner tonight.
Her mother thought for a bit, “Then are you coming back tonight?”
The caretakers in the Yu family kept her room tidy since she last stayed there a year ago. The Young Master’s parents said that the room belonged to her, and it would remain in that condition indefinitely.
But through her tone, Lin Miao felt that her mother wanted her to return home, “I’ll come back right after dinner.”
Lin Miao’s mother sighed but agreed for her to go.
Arriving at the Yu family, the three dogs were quick to greet them warmly in the yard.
The Young Master’s mother and grandma also came outside, “You’re back! Dinner will be ready soon.”
The Young Master’s grandma walked over to receive Lin Miao, “Shuishui has gotten taller again!”
Compared to the Young Master and his mother, his grandma didn’t see Lin Miao as much.
Holding Lin Miao’s arm, she spoke, “Shuishui is now the world champion, you’re so talented!”
The Young Master “rescued” Lin Miao from his grandma, “Grandma, I’m going to walk the dogs with Shuishui first.”
And so the two headed out to the yard with the three big dogs.
She started running with the dogs but then realized that she was wearing a dress. It was too inconvenient for her.
The Young Master had also noticed, so they strolled with the dogs instead.
The dogs were all aging, so their ability to run had weakened.
Lin Miao leisurely walked holding Dahuang’s leash while chatting with the Young Master.
Their worlds had completely separated from each other, so it has been quite long since they’ve last hung out.
Lin Miao’s little world consisted of her teammates, badminton, and the occasional break and meal at home.
The Young Master’s world included his dorm friends, classroom peers, family at home, and the three dogs.
Not even the other person’s shadow can be found in their worlds.
However, both of them have always been trying their best to be a part of the other’s world from the start.
It was the nature of their relationship, so they were used to telling each other the parts of their own life the other didn’t know yet.
Lin Miao was enthusiastically telling her older brother about things that had happened in her team.
“There were so many mosquitos at the place where we stayed, so our coach handed us tiger balms and Florida water mosquito repellants. A neighbouring team from another country heard this, and then they came to borrow from us. Our coach joked that we can each bring a box of tiger balms next year and start a business.”
The Young Master patted her head. She must’ve been so happy, living with people who shared the same goals and competed alongside each other.
Daily practice may be boring and repetitive, but it was also this plain life that gave meaning to the success and cheering she received later on.
The Young Master looked at her. She looked like a phoenix unfolding her wings to take flight. Someday, everyone will see her beauty and brilliance.
Compared to Lin Miao, the Young Master felt that his life was a lot more bland, but he still had things to share. There were plenty of funny and strange things that happened in their dorms.
The two chatted and Lin Miao suddenly thought of something. All the athletes in her school were forbidden from romantic relationships, but there was one couple. Everyone knew it except for the coach, and no one had told him.
However, he still found out.
He then talked to all of them seriously.
Lin Miao still remembered a few lines her coach had said. He said that these emotions were natural with puberty, but that one shouldn’t pursue them. He said that none of these first love relationships ever made it to marriage, so even if someone developed feelings for another, it was best for them to numb themselves as the other person won’t be the one with them for the rest of their lives.
Lin Miao was naive back then and thought that there were definitely exceptions.
Lin Miao intended to ask her older brother if he had anyone he liked. Her relationship with the Young Master was great, so it wasn’t that out of the blue for her to bring this up. It was like how they had the conversation about marriage before.
She had talked to Tan Jing about how the Young Master wasn’t marrying. Tan Jing immediately said that no marriage didn’t mean no dating. Much of the younger generation wanted to stay single, but dating was inevitable.
So, Lin Miao wanted to talk about the topic of dating with her older brother.
However, she found the words stuck in her mouth, unable to be said.
Suddenly, her older brother began talking, “Oh, about Jason, is the relationship between you two really good?”
Lin Miao was a bit bewildered, “Who?”
“A foreign athlete, forget it if you don’t remember. I heard that he had quite a lot of negative comments, so I just wanted to remind you.” The Young Master was almost certain that she had forgotten about that athlete who took a picture with her at the world championships.
Lin Miao then remembered, “Oh, you mean the boy with glistering blond hair and gorgeous eyes.”
The Young Master: “…”
“How did Gege know him?” Lin Miao asked.
The Young Master: “…”
That person was linked to hers if one were to search “Lin Miao” up on the internet.
The dogs wanted to return by then, so they stopped discussing this topic.
Compared to the past, Lin Miao wasn’t as timid while eating at the Young Master’s house.
She also sat much closer to them compared to when she was little.
After dinner, the Young Master’s mother wanted Lin Miao to stay for the night, but Lin Miao had promised her mother to return after dinner, so she politely declined.
The Young Master climbed into the car with the driver to accompany her home.
It was past nine in the evening when they arrived at Lin Miao’s apartment. The Young Master watched Lin Miao head up before leaving.
Back home, Lin Miao noticed that Little Ling was also back due to the holiday break.
She has more meat on her now. She was too skinny back then, but now it was perfect.
She looked pretty with her petite face and long hair.
Seeing that Lin Miao finally came back, her face was filled with delight, “Shuishui, you’re finally back.”
During bedtime, Lin Miao shared the bed with Little Ling; a thin blanket covered them.
They were both struggling to fall asleep.
Little Ling turned sideways, whispering to Lin Miao, “Shuishui, one of my past classmates confessed to me.”
Lin Miao was shocked, then asked, “Who?”
Little Ling used to attend school in the village, and Lin Miao was able to know all of Little Ling’s classmates through her.
Little Ling sighed, “Li Yong. I liked him before, too.”
Lin Miao thought of the last time she ate at the village head’s house. He said then that Little Ling was already engaged. Li Yong was also there, but he didn’t react a single bit.
“How did you guys meet up?” Lin Miao asked.
“He seemed to have a favor to ask uncle Lin, and then we met. However, I didn’t really feel happy when we met even though I really liked him back then.”
Lin Miao brushed her fingers through Little Ling’s hair, “It’s okay, you’re still young. You don’t have to be with him, you don’t even like him anymore.”
Little Ling nodded, “Yes, not anymore.”
She felt much more at ease now that she told someone this.
A bit after Little Ling fell asleep, Lin Miao scratched her head. It seems like the coach was right. First love never makes it to the end.