Every word and action from Pei Song followed the strictest rule; there was simply no flaw with the guy. Therefore, his sudden furlough was surprising, let alone the fact that it overlapped with Ning Li’s leave.
Therefore, Lin Zhouyang’s surprise was understandable.
Ning Li had already packed her things and was about to leave.
“Brother Pei, when are you leaving after this?” Lin Zhouyang curiously asked.
Pei Song answered without looking, “After the first class in the afternoon.”
The timing was a little different from Ning Li’s.
Ren Qian gave Lin Zhouyang a side glance. “How’s your vocabulary going?”
Lin Zhouyang cried out loud. “Abandon! A.B.A.N.D.O.N!”
…
“Ning Li is leaving?”
Cheng Xiangxiang turned around and saw Ning Li walking out of the back door.
Ye Ci shook her head. “I don’t know. Sister Ning Li rarely talks to us about her whereabouts.”
“So, does that include her staying out for a whole night? Who knows what she’s doing out there?” Sun Huihui said. She slammed her book on the desk, seemingly irritated by the fact.
Lin Zhouyang might have said those words unintentionally, but those who heard them might have thought differently.
It was rare for Pei Song to take leave from class, yet it coincidentally overlapped with Ning Li’s leave. The coincidence was uncanny.
Cheng Xiangxiang smiled and looked at Sun Huihui. She whispered, “Are you irritated by our class monitor?”
“N-no?” Sun Huihui denied instinctively. “I’m just saying Ning Li is…She’s always with our class monitor. Aside from the English presentation the other day, someone saw her having a meal with the class monitor at the cafeteria. And now, the two of them have applied for leave together…”
The more Sun Huihui realized it, the more irritated she felt.
Lin Zhouyang, who was memorizing his vocabulary, overheard the conversation. He looked up in confusion and said, “I mean I can ignore the other facts except for the meal at the cafeteria. Miss Sun Huihui, were you ignoring my existence the whole time?”
Up until now, the group had only one meal together at the cafeteria, and all five of them had been there. Sun Huihui made it sound like Ren Qian, He Xiaochen, and Lin Zhouyang had been invisible during that meal. She singlehandedly robbed the glorious achievements of all three of them.
“Besides, Brother Pei and Ning Li barely speak to each other. I don’t think they will have a common topic.”
Sun Huihui rolled her eyes.
Lin Zhouyang sometimes found that he could not understand a girl’s thoughts.
…
Ning Li returned to her rented unit to retrieve her sketches before she took a taxi to the airport.
Wei Songze knew that her flight was in the afternoon. He insisted on seeing her off, but she told him to stay home.
“Sister Lili, it’s your first time alone in the capital! You have to be careful! If you run into any bad guys—” Wei Songze nagged like an old lady through the phone.
“What if I run into bad guys?”
Wei Songze was stunned for a moment before he said with a serious tone, “Then…please go easy on them. If you cause any trouble there, no one will be able to bail you from the station…Hello? Hello?”
Ning Li hung up the phone. Anyway, it was not her first trip to the capital and she was not there to cause any problems.
…
At Yunzhou Airport, Ning Li got out of the taxi and then received a message from Su Yuan.
[You took leave for the day? Where are you going now?]
After what happened last time, Su Yuan tried not to care about Ning Li’s whereabouts. The girl was stubborn and uncontrollable, thus Su Yuan had no way around her.
However, after hearing about this from Ye Ci, Su Yuan could not help but send Ning Li a message.
Ning Li was still her daughter, and she could not just turn a blind eye when the girl went missing.
Ning Li replied: [Lincheng. Back on Sunday]
Su Yuan did not ask for a reason after she saw the destination, Lincheng.
Ning Li put her phone away.
There was always a crowd in the airport. She checked in at the counter, went through security, and soon arrived at the boarding gate.
She wore a white hoodie and a pair of jeans instead of her school uniform. Her hair was tied into a ponytail and she did not put any makeup on. All she had was a messenger bag, yet her presence attracted a lot of attention.
Her flight was at 6:15 p.m. She had 40 minutes more before boarding, so she simply found a spot and sat down.
…
Gu Tinglan was talking through the phone while holding a briefcase, “I got it. I’ll be at the boarding gate soon.”
The voice on the other end of the call said something and he smiled.
“There’s no use for you to rush me now. This is the last flight of the day.”
His reason vexed the person on the other end of the phone. “I think that’s an excuse. What’s with the private jet that you bought last year? Is it for show?”
Gu Tinglan was not bothered by the reaction. “I just came back from abroad, and I still haven’t applied for the pilot’s course.”
The other person cursed at him.
Suddenly, Gu Tinglan looked forward and saw a familiar figure. He checked his boarding details again and confirmed that he was at the correct boarding gate.
He then smiled. “I’m at the boarding gate. I’ll talk to you when I reach the capital.”
Before the person could say another word, he hung up the phone and went up to the familiar figure.
…
Ning Li was looking at her phone before she sensed someone coming closer to her.
She slowly looked up and saw Gu Tinglan beside her.
Gu Tinglan smiled happily. His smile was warm and kind as if he was Prince Charming. “Ning Li, what a coincidence running into you here!”
Ning Li sized up the man who was in a white shirt coupled with a pair of pants, with a blazer hanging over his arm. Beside his feet was a briefcase. The man seemed to be on a business trip.
She stood up.
“Dr. Gu.”
Why would she run into Gu Tinglan at this timing?
Gu Tinglan looked around before he asked, “Are you alone?”
She did not deny it.
“Does your family know about this?”
Ning Li believed that Gu Tinglan knew about her little escapade from home the other night, so she nodded. “I’ve applied for leave from school.”
Gu Tinglan nodded. “Does…Lu Huaiyu know about this?”
