85: Here, have an umbrella!

When he returned to the dorm, Hao Junran had just finished a round of King of Glory: "We have practice tomorrow afternoon."

"Practice?" Yu Heng was stunned for a moment before remembering. "What time is practice?"

"From two to four," Hao Junran said. "It won't conflict with anything."

Yu Heng walked over to his desk, sat down, and took out his phone.

There were a few unread messages on WeChat.

Ning Yutong had sent: "Yu Heng, have you finalized the interview list?"

Yu Heng tapped open the chat box and typed a reply: "I'll send it to you."

He sent over the names of the five people provisionally selected today: "These are confirmed for now. We'll finalize the rest after tomorrow's interviews."

Ning Yutong replied almost instantly: "Got it! Will the interview still be at five tomorrow?"

"Yep, five o'clock, Lecture Hall 204," Yu Heng replied.

"Okay, I'll go early tomorrow to prepare~" Ning Yutong sent a nodding kitten emoji.

Yu Heng looked at the emoji and twitched the corner of his mouth.

This girl seems particularly fond of using cat emojis.

He typed another line: "Alright, I have basketball training this afternoon. I'll head over right after. By the way, I'll edit that video tonight and send it to you tomorrow."

After sending it, he waited a few seconds.

Ning Yutong replied: "Really? That's wonderful! Thank you, Yu Heng~"

This was followed by a spinning kitten emoji.

Yu Heng didn't reply again. He put his phone aside and opened his laptop.

He needed to organize the interview list from today and then edit the video.

On the computer screen was Ning Yutong's footage.

Yu Heng dragged the timeline, adjusting it frame by frame.

The girl was indeed photogenic; she had a good figure and natural expressions.

Halfway through the editing, his phone vibrated again.

Yu Heng picked it up and saw it was a message from Bai Xinran.

Bai Xinran: "I'm going to shower, and then I'm going to sleep."

Yu Heng raised an eyebrow and replied: "Mhm, good night."

Bai Xinran: "Good night to you too."

It was a simple two-line conversation with nothing superfluous.

But he could sense that Bai Xinran was reporting her plans.

He smiled and put the phone back down.

He continued editing the video.

---

In the girls' dorm, Ning Yutong was lying on her stomach on the bed, staring at her phone screen.

She rolled over and stared at the ceiling.

During the interview today, she had actually been paying attention to Yu Heng the whole time.

He hadn't really looked her way much.

But that Teacher Qin Lu... Ning Yutong frowned.

She felt that her state today was a bit strange.

She couldn't quite pinpoint what was strange, just that she seemed restless.

And when Yu Heng spoke to her, her reaction was somewhat exaggerated.

That state seemed a bit similar to how she had been that day at the cinema?

Maybe she was overthinking it.

Ning Yutong opened the list Yu Heng had sent and looked at the five names.

Chen Yuqiang, Zhou Mengqi, Zhang Tingting, Liu Hewei, Wang Luyu.

They were indeed the ones who performed well today.

She saved the list and then opened the chat box with Shen Yueling.

Ning Yutong: "Yue Ling, are you asleep?"

A few minutes later, Shen Yueling replied: "No."

Ning Yutong: "Are you coming to the club interview tomorrow? It's quite interesting."

Shen Yueling: "Not sure, depends on the situation."

Ning Yutong: "Alright, let me know if you decide to come~"

Shen Yueling didn't reply again.

Ning Yutong put down her phone and sighed.

Although they had been chatting more recently, she still felt Shen Yueling was a bit distant toward her?

But that was normal, after all, they liked the same person.

Ning Yutong turned onto her side and buried her face in the pillow.

She was actually quite envious of Shen Yueling.

She had known Yu Heng since childhood and had so many years of time spent together.

While she... was just his high school deskmate.

As she thought about it, she started to feel sleepy.

Just as she was drowsily drifting off to sleep, her phone vibrated again.

Ning Yutong reluctantly opened her eyes and reached for her phone.

It was a message from Yu Heng.

Yu Heng: "The video is edited. I sent it to your email."

Ning Yutong instantly woke up.

She quickly replied: "Received! I'll watch it right now!"

Yu Heng: "Mhm, rest early."

Ning Yutong: "You too~"

She exited WeChat, logged into her email, and indeed saw a new message.

The attachment contained the edited video file.

Ning Yutong tapped to download it, her heart inexplicably racing.

Once downloaded, she opened the video.

Yu Heng edited it really well; the rhythm was perfectly controlled, and the transitions were very natural.

She saved the video to her phone and then sent Yu Heng a message.

Ning Yutong: "I finished watching it. It's truly wonderful! Thank you, Yu Heng!"

Yu Heng didn't reply.

He was probably asleep.

Ning Yutong placed her phone beside her pillow, feeling sweet inside.

She decided she would post it on TikTok tomorrow.

She would post it right after the interviews in the afternoon.

She closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

---

The next morning, Yu Heng was woken up by the sound of rain.

He opened his eyes; the rain outside the window was pattering loudly, and it was pouring.

"Damn, this rain..." Hao Junran also woke up, leaning by the window to look. "It's coming down pretty hard."

Liu Tianqi climbed down from his bed: "I'm finished, I don't have an umbrella."

"Me neither." Hou Xudong rummaged through his closet and pulled out a hooded jacket. "We'll make do. Put on your hood and run fast!"

Yu Heng sat up and checked his phone.

Seven twenty.

Class started at eight.

He got out of bed, washed up, and changed his clothes.

Then he went downstairs with his roommates; the group stood at the dorm entrance looking outside.

The rain was heavy indeed, dense raindrops smashing onto the ground and splashing water everywhere.

"Should we make a dash for it?" Hao Junran asked, already holding a book over his head.

"Let's go," Liu Tianqi said, preparing himself.

Hou Xudong had already put on his hood.

Yu Heng clicked his tongue, just about to pull up his hoodie hood and follow them out.

"Yu Heng!"

A familiar voice came through the rain.

Yu Heng looked up and saw Ning Yutong jogging over, holding a light pink umbrella.

In her other hand, she held a black folding umbrella.

The rain was heavy, and she had run quickly; her pant legs and shoes were wet, and her chest rose and fell with her breathing.

"Here's an umbrella!" Ning Yutong ran under the eaves, panting. "I saw it was raining and thought you might not have brought one..."

When she saw the rain this morning, she had deliberately gone back to the dorm to grab an extra one; this was her spare.

Hao Junran winked nearby, nudged Yu Heng with his elbow, and whispered: "Not bad... Look at this special treatment..."

Liu Tianqi and Hou Xudong also exchanged knowing smiles.

Ning Yutong heard them, and her face flushed slightly.

"Thanks." Yu Heng took the umbrella from Ning Yutong's hand and opened it. "How about we share this one? My roommates don't have umbrellas either."

"Sure!" Ning Yutong immediately replied. "Then give the one you're holding to them!"

The two walked side-by-side into the rain.

Hao Junran and the others tactfully followed behind, maintaining a distance while chatting and laughing.

"Does this girl like Yu Heng?" Hou Xudong asked.

"Duh," Hao Junran rolled his eyes. "Isn't it obvious?"

Liu Tianqi frowned: "How is it obvious?"

"Coming to deliver an umbrella in this heavy rain, and it's not obvious?" Hao Junran chuckled. "The only people who would do that are your mom or someone who likes you."

"That exaggerated?" Liu Tianqi narrowed his eyes. "Isn't this just classmates helping each other out? Didn't Yu Heng say they were high school deskmates?"

"Alright, alright, you're hopeless," Hou Xudong waved his hand. "You focusing on playing your games well is better than anything else."

Up ahead, Yu Heng and Ning Yutong walked side-by-side.

The umbrella felt like a small, private world. Although the surroundings were wide and misty with rain, the space under the umbrella felt intimate.

It brought the distance between the two of them even closer.

Ning Yutong secretly glanced at Yu Heng.

The lines of his profile were quite sharp, his nose bridge was high, and tiny droplets of water clung to his eyelashes.

Her heart started beating fast.