Chapter 23: You Don’t Need to Hear Clearly

"Mu Mu, have you ever been on a plane?"

"No, I haven't."

"Then how about we take a trip after graduation, and fly somewhere?"

"Haha, flying seems unsafe to me… I'm a little scared."

"Scared of what? I'll be by your side. Besides, flying is actually quite safe. Don't let those stories online fool you."

"But don't you think plane tickets are expensive?"

"I'll pay for you."

"Alright, I'll make sure to bring you along next time."

Su Jiamei didn't bring Lin Jie along. It wasn't that she didn't want to, but rather that Lin Jie didn't want to go. Perhaps, at that moment of their conversation, neither of them could have foreseen that the one to break their promise would be Lin Jie.

Lin Jie wasn't sure what he was feeling as he made his way to the airport. All he knew was that, unlike others who came to pick someone up, he felt unusually calm, devoid of any real emotion.

Su Jiamei, on the other hand, couldn't pinpoint her own feelings either. As she asked Lin Jie to pick her up, she was neither joyful nor excited. Instead, she was filled with an inexplicable nervousness, a quiet anxiety that clung to her.

Since the day Su Jiamei called Lin Jie only to have another woman answer, she hadn't spoken to him. There were times before when they wouldn't talk for days, but Lin Jie would always reach out eventually. She didn't need to reply right away because she knew Lin Jie wouldn't mind.

Sometimes, Su Jiamei even found Lin Jie a little annoying… But at least he always talked about things she was interested in, which made it bearable.

What she didn't know was that Lin Jie had gone to great lengths to discover her likes, simply because he feared being a nuisance.

That bothersome version of Lin Jie had disappeared.

In his place stood a stranger, cold and distant, with a casual indifference in his eyes.

He had indeed become unfamiliar—detached in a way that unsettled Su Jiamei. Every time she gathered the courage to speak to him, she felt a burning frustration, as if she was being challenged. This frustration spurred her to want to argue, to confront him.

As she gazed out the airplane window at the blue skies and clouds, a scene she used to adore, Su Jiamei felt oddly discontent.

Her parents had offered to pick her up, but, in a moment of inexplicable impulse, she had called Lin Jie instead.

This time, it wasn't a woman who answered but Lin Jie himself, which brought her a brief sense of relief.

Yet, as soon as that relief came, her chest tightened again. Lin Jie surely knew about the woman who had answered last time, but he hadn't offered any explanation. It was as if the incident hadn't mattered to him at all.

With these thoughts swirling in her mind, the plane soon landed at Tianbei City International Airport. After it touched down, Su Jiamei quickly switched off airplane mode and saw that Lin Jie had sent her a location pin.

That was it.

A faint sense of disappointment washed over her, though she tried to tell herself that it was nothing.

At the arrival gate, Su Jiamei spotted Lin Jie.

Among the crowd, Lin Jie stood out.

He was tall and handsome, with slender legs and a pair of thin, black-rimmed glasses that made him look both scholarly and refined.

Dragging her suitcase behind her, Su Jiamei quickened her pace, then, for some reason, slowed down again.

She thought to herself, Lin Jie is really good-looking.

Yes, he is good-looking… but why hadn't she noticed it before?

Suddenly, she recalled that even back in school, Lin Jie had never been short of admirers. In fact, girls had liked him even before he grew into his looks during his freshman year.

But Lin Jie had turned them all down, because Lin Jie liked her.

Su Jiamei's heart lifted at that thought—everything Lin Jie had done was for her.

"Lin Jie."

"Let me carry that for you."

"Alright."

Lin Jie took the suitcase from Su Jiamei's hand, not knowing if he managed to smile or not. He wheeled the suitcase along as they headed out of the airport.

"Thanks for picking me up," Su Jiamei said with a gentle smile.

"No need to thank me. We're… classmates, after all." Lin Jie began to speak, then abruptly changed his words.

Were they friends?

Probably not. Classmates seemed the safer term.

"Haha, not just classmates. We're good friends, aren't we?" Su Jiamei forced a smile, though a strange discomfort lingered in her heart. "I've always thought of you as a good friend."

Her meaning was clear. She didn't believe they were just classmates, and maybe they weren't. But guilt gnawed at her, and all she could do was offer friendship as a placeholder.

To Lin Jie, however, her words seemed almost absurd. He paused for a moment, gripping the suitcase handle tighter before relaxing again with a sense of resignation.

Let it be, whatever it is.

Friends?

Lin Jie certainly didn't feel like she'd treated him as a friend.

"Yes, I've always thought of you as a friend too," Lin Jie replied with a smile.

"Oh… I see," Su Jiamei felt an inexplicable flare of irritation within her.

"Yes, that's exactly how it is," Lin Jie said casually, nodding.

"Since I'm your friend, shouldn't you share your secrets with me?" Su Jiamei teased, her tone light but edged with something more.

"What secrets?" Lin Jie asked, feigning surprise.

"Don't tell me you don't have any secrets," Su Jiamei shot back with a hint of sarcasm. "When I called you a few nights ago, it was a woman who answered. Surely you remember that?"

Lin Jie was silent for a moment. He wasn't one of those people who forget everything after drinking—he remembered it all vividly.

Feigning ignorance, he said, "Oh? That happened? I must've been drunk."

Su Jiamei's eyes narrowed slightly as she scrutinized him.

Lin Jie met her gaze calmly. "I really don't remember. I was drunk."

"Is that so? Then who was the girl? She mocked me, you know. Aren't you going to defend me?" Su Jiamei huffed, still irritated by the memory.

They stepped outside into the scorching sunlight, the brightness making it difficult to keep their eyes open.

Lin Jie squinted slightly, feeling a growing sense of bewilderment. There were so many things he didn't understand, so many things he didn't want to dwell on. He wasn't even sure if he was as clear-headed as he claimed to be…

So, with a hint of sarcasm, he chuckled softly and, in a teasing tone, asked, "Did you ever stand up for me?"

Su Jiamei's eyes widened in surprise. "What?"

"Nothing," Lin Jie shook his head, deciding it wasn't worth saying more.

There was no point in overthinking things—they were trivial.

"What did you just say? I didn't hear clearly…"

"I said nothing at all. Of course you didn't hear."

You don't need to hear clearly, not in this already chaotic world.