Chapter 59: Lin Lin
In Qing City, she was only familiar with one person.
Her childhood friend, Lin Lin.
Who was also the “Xiao Lin” that appeared in her diary.
Strictly speaking, she should have called her “Xiao Lin”, but when she was little, she didn’t know how to write the character “Lin”, so in the diary, it appeared as Xiao Lin.
Anyway, the two characters have the same pronunciation.
When she grew older and learned to recognize and write the character “Lin”, she had already stopped writing in her diary.
Her relationship with Lin Lin was pretty good when they were little; they lived close by, and at that time there were no smartphones or computers like now, so after school or on normal holidays, they could only play with friends or watch television together.
Occasionally, their town would show movies in a square, and basically all the old men and children in the town would gather together.
Her body wasn’t very healthy, and Lin Lin was the same; otherwise, the incident where she gave her jacket to Xiao Lin to wear, causing herself to get sick, wouldn’t have happened.
However, her body gradually improved as she grew older, but Xiao Lin’s did not.
She vaguely remembered that even when they reached high school, their relationship wasn’t as close as when they were little, but Lin Lin’s body was still as frail, constantly soaking in medicine jars year-round.
By then, they already had their own circles of friends in their respective classes, and they usually had to stay in the school dormitories, not in the same one; they only walked together on weekends when going to and from school.
As for weekends, they didn’t really hang out together much either.
“So, suddenly applying to a school not in our agreement isn’t that hard to understand, right?”
Although Lu Jinzhao said this, she wasn’t necessarily that “understanding” in her heart.
Friendship can also have jealousy and exclusivity; although Lu Jinzhao could handle interpersonal relationships well and make many friends if needed, she felt she didn’t need that many friends.
But Lin Lin was different; this girl was practically a “Miss Popular”. It wasn’t obvious in elementary school, but starting from junior high, this girl’s “Miss Popular” traits began to quietly emerge.
By high school, it was completely out of control; even though they were in different classes and she didn’t socialize much at school, she could often hear Lin Lin’s name from classmates.
Many times, she could see Lin Lin passing by in the corridor; she was never alone, always followed by a bunch of people surrounding her, just like worker bees around a queen bee.
Every time Lu Jinzhao saw such scenes, she didn’t really want to greet Lin Lin.
Thinking about it now, it was probably because she was too young, and the jealousy from her only good friend playing with others made her unconsciously start sulking.
At first, they would occasionally run into each other at school, chat a bit, or eat together, but from some point onward, they stopped communicating at school too.
Thinking back carefully, it seemed to start because Lin Lin ignored her message?
The reason given was “went out to play with classmates on the weekend and forgot to reply”.
From that time on, Lu Jinzhao stopped messaging her, and Lin Lin seemed to pick up on some signal; they tacitly began a “cold war”.
Looking back now, Lu Jinzhao couldn’t say if she was childish or what at the time; if the current her went back to the past and encountered the same thing, her choice would probably be the same.
“After all, it’s only been two or three years.”
But during senior year of high school, this Miss Popular suddenly toned it down a lot, no longer hanging out with crowds, always sitting at her seat buried in studying; when going home together on weekends, her earphones were playing English words.
She was diligent to a frightening degree.
Lu Jinzhao had asked her what was going on, why she was suddenly so hardworking?
Miss Popular replied: “I want to find a method to change my destiny.”
Although Lu Jinzhao didn’t know why she suddenly seemed so bitter and resentful—her family wasn’t poor, and studying wasn’t her only way out.
Later on, Lin Lin went to the capital, and the two of them had no more communication.
Lu Jinzhao’s score was also enough for the capital, but she didn’t go; the deposit her parents left her was enough for her to live comfortably for the rest of her life, and she had no grand ambitions to get ahead, nor any major or school she particularly liked and had to attend.
So she chose to stay in her hometown.
But now… this person suddenly called; what was she up to?
Lu Jinzhao hesitated for a good while; actually, she didn’t know why she was hesitating so much—maybe it felt unexpected.
But she still answered, and after picking up, in a cold tone: “Hello?”
After saying it, she even affirmed herself inwardly: good, very calm and normal tone.
“Hello~ Chao Chao, there’s a five-day holiday soon; I’m coming back to Yuncheng. Want to hang out?”
Miss Popular showed no awareness that they hadn’t spoken in months, completely acting like they were still good friends.
Perhaps because she had been physically weak since childhood, Miss Popular’s voice was always very soft, with a gentle tone that sounded like coquetry.
Lu Jinzhao thought for a moment; she had just gotten off the train, and there shouldn’t be any missions arranged recently, so she had time during the holiday.
So she replied quite coldly: “Sure.”
The other side seemed to laugh, then suddenly started reminiscing: “Chao Chao, how’s university feeling?”
Lu Jinzhao said: “Not bad.”
If she hadn’t become a passenger, her university life probably would have been not bad.
Miss Popular sighed: “Lucky you; I’m exhausted!”
Lu Jinzhao said “oh” and asked: “How’s your body been lately?”
“My body’s doing okay now; I don’t even need to take medicine anymore!”
That’s pretty impressive.
“But lately I’ve run into some really annoying things; my mood hasn’t been great.”
So that’s why she called her?
“How can some people be so annoying?”
It seemed like she had a conflict with classmates?
This wasn’t like her; in high school, Lin Lin got along well with everyone, with almost no one she had a particularly bad relationship with.
“Sigh, it’s hard to explain over the phone; let’s talk when we meet!”
“Mm, okay.”
Lin Lin didn’t mind her quite cold response; after all, when they always walked home together, Lin Lin was the one talking the whole way, with her occasionally responding.
Sometimes when taking the bus to the city to hang out, Lin Lin would turn her head mid-sentence and ask: “Are you spacing out? Are you even listening?”
At such times, Lu Jinzhao would innocently say: “I’m listening.”
Actually, she really was listening; she just looked like she was spacing out.
Even though they hadn’t hung out much in the past two years, the friendship from childhood was still there; perhaps it would gradually fade due to distance in the future, but at least now, Lu Jinzhao felt they were still friends.
