Ning Weijin would not give her another chance and she was dreaming if she thought she could win him back.
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Ch. 55.1
Hearing a rustling sound, Ning Weijin looked up from his book and at Zheng Dingding’s face in front of him.
She had walked up to his seat, stopped and was staring at him.
Their eyes met: his were unmoved while she was clear-eyed.
Without giving him the time to open his mouth and ask ‘Is there a problem?’, she beat him to it by announcing, ‘Ning Weijin, goodbye!’ Every word was enunciated distinctly and pregnant with all the emotions that were surging up in her heart.
She turned round and walked off immediately after that.
After some consideration, Ning Weijin put down his book and strode over to the bin where he bent down and picked up the sandwich that he had thrown away earlier. Turning it over, he saw a small, white Post-it note with the words ‘For Ning Weijin’ stuck on the cling wrap. The characters were neat and precise and had undoubtedly been written by Zheng Dingding.
He unwrapped the sandwich rapidly and looked at the layers of lettuce, pickled cucumbers, diced mushrooms and light cheese: completely meat-free and very much to his taste.
He gazed at the sandwich for a while before bringing it closer and coolly taking a bite of it. The ingredients were fresh and the taste refreshing.
This had actually been made by Zheng Dingding. How long had it been since he had eaten her cooking? The last time that he could remember was when he had gone to her flat to help repair her laptop and she had made him a bowl of soup noodles. It had been simple, unpretentious cooking, similar to what his mother, Yin Yi, used to prepare when he was a child.
Zheng Dingding. As he thought of her name again, Ning Weijin frowned unconsciously. Since she already had someone whom she liked, he had set her free as well. Why then did she still persist¹ in following him around?
At this thought, he really felt like throwing the sandwich back into the dustbin but then he saw how full it was with scraps of paper, empty milk packs, drink cans, chewing gum and cigarette ends… He looked again at the clean, fortifying sandwich in his hand and dismissed the notion.
He went back to his seat with the sandwich but his attention was no longer on his book. Steepling his fingers together, he fixed his gaze on a cobweb on the wall, his bearing composed while allowing the mental image of Zheng Dingding to flit across his mind’s eye.
¹ 孜孜不倦. If you’re not reading this chapter at hiding in plain sight, it has been stolen and reproduced by novelscraping sites.
*
Zheng Dingding had decided to give up.
A truth had sunk in after the repeated failures over these last few days: Ning Weijin would not give her another chance and she was dreaming if she thought she could win him back.
He had used practical actions to implement a thorough break-up: ignoring her presence by treating her like she was invisible and even treating the food she had personally prepared like rubbish.
Since things had already come to such a pass, she could not continue her pursuit. For one thing, she had her pride and for another, there was no need to make futile efforts.
Since he hated her approaching him so much, then why should she persist in being thick-skinned and keep doing it, begging him to look at her and listen to what she had to say?
He had always been a cold and aloof man. Ning Weixuan had already warned her that he never felt any lingering attachment nor would he send mixed signals when it came to women he wasn’t interested in. She was the one suffering from unreciprocated affection², imagining that in his heart of hearts, he somehow perceived her as being a little different. The events of today however had told her that there was absolutely nothing different about her compared with other women.
She turned on her laptop mechanically, opened her journal and slowly typed an entry.
I’ve lost confidence and don’t feel like persevering. His dislike of me is far stronger than I had supposed and now that I’ve understood this, it’s time to give up. After all, it’s not as if we can’t live without each other…
Her fingers stopped moving and she stared fixedly at the black and white document, her chest tightening painfully.
From now on, there would be no more Ning Weijin, Ning Weijin, Ning Weijin…
She could fool others but not herself: only she knew at this moment just how awful she truly felt.
² 自作多情. Translation belongs to theresanother(DOT)wordpress(DOT)com.
For a time after that, Zheng Dingding did not chase after Ning Weijin and instead began applying for suitable jobs here and there. Any free time she had was spent entirely on making crafts and selling them through her online shop, XOXO.
Rather surprisingly, one of her creations called the Moody Keycase was a hit and demand was high for a whole week. She was kept so busy with sending out orders and fulfilling new ones that Su Mingjuan, who had come over at the weekend with some things for her, had to sit down and help her pack them.
‘How have you been lately? Got to know any new friends?’ Su Mingjuan probed.
The doorbell buzzed unexpectedly³ at this moment and Zheng Dingding instantly jumped up from the sofa and ran to open the lobby door for the delivery guy, even neglecting to wear house slippers in her haste.
‘Why aren’t you answering me?’ Su Mingjuan wanted to know, her eyes widening.
‘No! Don’t have the time!’ Zheng Dingding hung up the door phone in the foyer and waited for the delivery guy to come upstairs.
Su Mingjuan sighed. She knew deep down that Zheng Dingding had been unhappy ever since Professor Ning had left, and this time around it was compounded by the fact that she had fallen harder for him than she had for Chen Xun.
³ 猝不及防. Please consider reading from theresanother(DOT)wordpress(DOT)com rather than from novelscraping sites.
The delivery guy was quite a decent-looking fellow and after he left, Su Mingjuan observed smilingly to Zheng Dingding, ‘This fellow is not bad and has a very sweet smile, eh.’
The latter nodded perfunctorily.
‘You see, cute guys are everywhere as long as you don’t close your mind to them. There’s absolutely no need to pine for just one fish in the sea.’
Zheng Dingding ignored the hints Su Mingjuan was dropping and began humming a song while sitting back down in front of her laptop and busying herself again.
Su Mingjuan let out another deep sigh.
(Approx. 1076 words)
🎶 《如果，不是》, 孔雀東南飛 and 寶藏女王,《蒙面唱將猜猜猜》(第四季)
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Queen: Every time you didn’t answer, ★ Peacock: If you hadn’t hugged me tightly Queen: If you hadn’t let go of my hand on the street, Peacock: Every time you didn’t answer, ★ Queen: If you hadn’t hugged me tightly Peacock: If you hadn’t let go of my hand on the street, Bridge Queen: Every time you didn’t answer, |
12’s notes:
* Scene change as indicated in the original story.
Today’s duet is by two female singers (a bit of a rarity for this blog 😆) in outlandish masks and is playable only in YouTube.
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Translated and edited by 12
hiding in plain sight 