F: [Sure]
Upon receiving the reply, Li Xia realized the situation was spiraling somewhat out of her control.
Fortunately, reality imposed a dose of reason.
F: [But I’m still abroad right now]
F: [If you don’t mind, we can decide after I get back to the country]
He sounded sincere, yet not entirely so.
Li Xia wanted to ask when he would return, but F beat her to it with an explanation: [It’ll take a few more days on my end—mainly depending on the team’s progress]
Li Xia: [Got it. So you’re planning to string me along for these few days?]
F: [No]
F: [It’s genuinely circumstantial. Being abroad just isn’t convenient, and I can’t fly back tomorrow anyway]
Still have to wait, huh.
Whatever, then.
Li Xia had always been the first to back out.
Most importantly, wasting away inside over a guy wasn’t her style.
This delaying tactic from F made her keenly aware of her vulnerable position.
Waiting for his return to the country. Waiting to meet him. Tormenting herself over whether he actually liked her or not?
No, that wasn’t what she wanted.
So Li Xia replied: [Then it’ll be up to me whether I want to see you after that]
F: [What’s the probability you’ll want to see me?]
Li Xia: [Uncertain]
F clearly seemed surprised: [Uncertain?]
Li Xia figured her hot-and-cold routine had successfully chilled the conversation.
But she never expected F to take the initiative and shatter the stalemate.
She certainly hadn’t imagined he’d do it in such a brazen way.
Eyes wide, she watched two new lines pop up on her phone screen—each one a massive snowball, growing larger as it rolled, crashing one after another into the frozen stillness of her chat, sending out resounding thuds—
F: [Let’s start over]
F: [Need a girlfriend. Wanna be mine?]