Figure Skating: Waltz on Ice

"Beep beep beep...!"

The phone rang. Du Liangchen put down the half-eaten bun in his hand, wiped his hands, and saw the message on his phone: there was still half an hour until the housekeeping service time, and the message asked if anyone was home.

He quickly put on his coat, left the apartment, and took a taxi home.

......

Inside the gymnasium, a dozen or so people, drenched in sweat from their training, slumped in chairs, having just completed a flexibility workout.

Coach Jiang glanced at the time and said, "Dismissed!" Everyone struggled to their feet and moved toward the cafeteria.

Just as Wang Chenghao was about to turn around to look for Mei Jing, he saw her disappearing figure at the gate. He muttered, "So fast! Wasn't he the one who shouted the loudest just now? How can he walk so fast? He didn't even wait for me." As he spoke, he rubbed his legs, which he still couldn't bend back.

Mei Jing rushed to the cafeteria to get food and then went back to the dormitory to check on Du Liangchen.

When I opened the door, I didn't see anyone in the living room, except for the uneaten steamed buns on the dining table that had gone cold.

"Xiao Chen, I'm back, Xiao Chen?"

He knocked on Du Liangchen's door and called his name several times, but there was no response. He gently turned the doorknob and pushed it open, but the room was empty.

Mei Jing's face instantly darkened, and she muttered, "Where did he go?" She quickly took out her phone to call him.

In the few seconds it took for the call to connect, a bad feeling gradually welled up in Mei Jing's heart, and she impatiently tapped her fingers on the table.

"Hello?" A lazy voice came from the other end of the phone.

Mei Jing sighed, "Where did you go?"

"I......"

Hearing his serious tone, Du Liangchen glanced at his phone, blinked blankly, and fluttered his long eyelashes.

"I'm home. You're back from your lunch break?"

"Hmm, you thought I was coming back and you didn't see me..." Mei Jing's voice was low, and she stopped halfway through her sentence, leaving people in suspense.

"Achoo~" Du Liangchen stood in the living room, watching the housekeeper clean, when his nose itched and he sneezed. "I thought something was wrong with me?"

He quickly thought of Tian Zhixi's matter and chuckled, saying, "Did you think I was hiding somewhere crying? Don't worry, I'm not that fragile."

Mei Jing didn't say anything to upset him, but asked, "When are you coming back? I brought you food. The cafeteria made your favorite sweet and sour pork ribs today."

"Ah! Sweet and sour pork ribs, I really want to eat them." Du Liangchen swallowed hard. "It's a pity I can't have them now."

"What do you mean?" Mei Jing frowned. "You'll be able to eat it when you come back?"

Unexpectedly, Du Liangchen said, "I'm not going back to live there. The house will be cleaned soon. I'm injured and can't train. My uncle is right. I can't affect you."

His lips parted slightly, but he didn't say a word. Finally, he pressed them together tightly and said sadly after a long while, "You insist on going back to live here. Is there someone to take care of you? Has your mother come back?"

"Um...she's too busy, she's not coming back." He had originally intended to lie, but somehow he ended up telling the truth.

Mei Jing's throat trembled slightly, as if she was trying to suppress her emotions. After hearing his words, she angrily shouted, "Du Liangchen, are you trying to distance yourself from me? Do you think I would feel comfortable letting you live alone?"

Du Liangchen quickly explained, "Why are you still angry? I was only thinking of you, I..."

"Do you think I, the person involved, wouldn't know if you're bothering me!" Mei Jing interrupted before he could finish, saying bluntly, "What you're doing is making me uneasy, constantly worrying about your injury, do you even realize that?!"