Qi?
Lin Jinran's pupils dilated slightly, and her hand holding the tablet trembled.
She remembered Qi. She had always remembered Qi.
Qi was a net - friend she met at the beginning of her senior year of high school.
Qi, Su Qinian.
Lin Jinran's lips twitched slightly as she silently repeated the names "Qi" and "Su Qinian". They both pronounced "qi". How could she not have thought back then that "Qi" was actually Su Qinian?
Many fragmented memories flashed through her mind and gradually settled, becoming the nourishment of her memory.
She turned her head extremely slowly, raised her eyes, and her gaze passed over her friends who were still confused. Then, it landed on the familiar face with a certain weight.
In the distance, Su Qinian nodded with a smile, as if confirming the answer: Yes, I'm Qi.
Suddenly, her eyes welled up with tears. Lin Jinran quickly shifted her gaze and tilted her head up, not wanting the tears in her eyes to fall.
After a long while, she lowered her head and turned off the tablet.
Back then, her phone was taken away by Lin Tingnian, and her phone number was cancelled. She lost all her information, including her secondary QQ account.
So many years had passed. How could she possibly find that old secondary account?
With mixed feelings, Lin Jinran slowly walked towards the steps and then to the bench. She couldn't bear to meet Su Qinian's expectant eyes.
Maybe her reaction was too obvious. He Jiao called her name worriedly.
"I'm okay. I'm just too surprised," Lin Jinran said, maintaining a decent smile as she sat down.
Su Qinian thought she was angry. He pursed his lips and gently tugged at the corner of her clothes where the camera couldn't see. Leaning in, he whispered an apology, "Ranran, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hide it from you back then."
Back then, he didn't tell Lin Jinran because he wanted to plan a huge surprise for her in the future.
"It's okay. I'm not angry. I just...," Lin Jinran sighed slightly and shook her head. "I can't log in to that secondary account from back then."
Now it was Su Qinian's turn to be surprised. He remembered that in the past few years, he had sent messages to her through that secondary account, but Lin Jinran never replied.
He had guessed the reason why Lin Jinran left without saying a word back then, and this might be one of the factors.
"It's okay. I can let you log in to my secondary account. I just wonder if Ranran would give me this chance?" Su Qinian asked, looking at her with a smile.
Lin Jinran's heart skipped a beat. She lowered her head and stared at the water cup in front of her without saying a word. Instead, she nodded.
Now only Su Qinian was left to receive the "Heart - fluttering Message". The director had been giving them hints with his eyes for a long time, but Su Qinian's gentle gaze remained fixed on Lin Jinran.
It wasn't until their conversation ended that Su Qinian stood up, went to the base, and played the "Heart - fluttering Voice Message" on the tablet.
"Su Qinian, thank you for protecting me this afternoon. I seem to... like you a little more than before."
Su Qinian was stunned, and so were the other guests on the scene.
This was the first time Lin Jinran had revealed her true feelings.
Su Qinian suddenly turned his head and looked at Lin Jinran in the crowd. He was in a daze for a while. Then, worried that he had misheard, he clicked to play the message again.
It was exactly the same words.
The smile spread like wild grass from his lips to the corners of his eyes and eyebrows. He couldn't stop it.
Suddenly, he realized that all the guests, the audience in the live - broadcast room, and the behind - the - scenes staff of the show were watching. It took him a great deal of effort to suppress his excitement.
[Wow, look at Su Qinian. He looks so happy. It's so sweet. I really don't want the live - broadcast to end.]
[I'm totally shipping them. I'm smiling from ear to ear. "Seven - year Affair with Ranran" is definitely worth loving.]
[Lin Jinran, are you sure it's just a little more? Isn't it a huge amount more?]
Su Qinian forced a laugh and calmly returned to his seat, but in fact, his hands were shaking with excitement.
The director announced the end of the fifth day of "Crazy Heart - fluttering". They would go on a group outing tomorrow. He smiled subtly and said meaningfully, "There will also be a great activity to promote feelings tomorrow night."
Everyone: "..."
As soon as they heard the words "great activity", they had a feeling that the director had come up with some crazy idea again.
Su Qinian wasn't in a hurry to go back to his room. He followed Lin Jinran and whispered with a smile, "Ranran, actually, I love you a little more than yesterday every day."
A blatant confession.
A blush spread across Lin Jinran's cheeks. She turned her head and just walked forward.
"Ranran, do you still want to log in to my account?"
Hearing this, Lin Jinran slowed down, opened the QQ login interface, and tilted her chin at him.
Su Qinian reported the account number and password beside her. The long - silent QQ account was finally logged in, and many messages were still being loaded.
"Ranran, how could you even lose your own secondary account back then...," Su Qinian realized that the topic was getting dangerous. He was startled and quickly stopped himself, slapping his own mouth. "Look at me, talking nonsense."
The QQ messages were still being loaded. The two of them walked up to the second floor of the cottage. Lin Jinran glanced at him and said coldly, "I used my phone number to log in. After the SIM card was cancelled, I couldn't find the account."
Su Qinian vaguely thought of something, but the thought flashed by so quickly that he couldn't figure it out for a while.
"You should go back and rest first. If you have any questions, contact me on your phone. There are no secrets in my QQ. You can look at it if you want," Su Qinian said proudly, like a peacock showing off its feathers, as if he was saying "Praise me quickly".
Lin Jinran couldn't help but laugh and pushed him. "Go back and rest quickly. I'll only look at the messages you sent me later. I won't rummage around."
"Okay then," Su Qinian sighed, covering his forehead. Then, he made a gesture and smiled with his eyes bent. "Tomorrow, I'll love you even more."
Lin Jinran: "..."
Back in her room, when the QQ message interface of Su Qinian's account finished loading, Lin Jinran directly searched for the nickname "Watching the Mountains Turn Red". When she clicked on the search box, she suddenly found that her own account was the only one pinned on his QQ.
The only one.
Her eyes swelled with soreness. She scrolled up the chat records and found the last conversation between them, which was two months before the college entrance examination.
At that time, the academic workload was heavy. She rarely logged in to her secondary QQ account, so the chats with [Qi] gradually decreased.
Ten years ago.
[Qi]: "Ranran, actually, I'm Su Qinian. I'm really sorry for not telling you all this time. Where are you now? Did something happen?"
[Qi]: "Ranran, it's okay. Maybe my confession was too sudden, which scared you away. It's my fault this time. Next time, I'll find a more suitable time to confess."
[Qi]: "Where did you go? Why have I searched for so long but still couldn't find you? Why don't you even reply to my messages?"
...
Nine years ago.
[Qi]: "The new school is great, just as I imagined. But why isn't your name on the freshman official website? I've searched it three times, and there's no sign of you."
[Qi]: "Even if you don't like me or you hate me, you should at least tell me. You left without a word. I... I really don't know what to do."