Chapter 487: A Lonely Girl
She didn’t know when she had learned to miss someone. She had originally been a person with no fixed abode, making her home wherever she went, and had never had a stable life. Even after becoming a novelist, she had still not been able to live the stable life she wanted. On the contrary, she had become even more rushed.
She would sometimes pick up her phone and pay attention to some people online. Everyone was doing their own thing. Even the great slacker, Zhao Yuyan, now had her own stable life, often attending events and even endorsements, and her ambiguous relationship with Luo Nan had also slowly begun to become clear.
Her ex-girlfriend, Ye Zhiyun, had also walked on the path she wanted to take, right? She had also succeeded. The wish that Yu Linna had had when she had first given her that script had also been fulfilled. Ye Zhiyun had succeeded. Yu Linna had nothing more to say. What she could do for her, she had already done. The rest, she would leave it all to Ye Zhiyun to do.
But why was she so unwilling? She had clearly helped her, but she felt so wronged, felt that her efforts were like a fool’s. She had originally thought that she wouldn’t mind, but she had found that that was not the case.
Yu Xiayue was close to nine o’clock when she got off work. She returned to the hotel and waited for Yu Linna. Yu Linna was sitting on the side of the bed alone, boredly scrolling through her phone. Yu Xiayue went over and gave her a gentle hug.
“I’m back. I’m sorry. I don’t have a vacation, so I can’t go out to play with you.”
“It’s fine. I’m leaving tomorrow too. I just wanted to see you today.”
“Are you going back to your home country? So soon.”
“No, I’m going to France.”
“What are you going there for!”
Yu Xiayue showed a worried expression.
Yu Linna was just one person. To go abroad so frequently, and to countries she was not familiar with, was not a good thing. She couldn’t take good care of herself when she was out. Yu Xiayue was not very at ease with her going abroad alone.
And it was even France, so far away. She didn’t know anyone there, and she didn’t even speak French. What on earth was she trying to do by running to that kind of place?
“I’m going to gather material. Also, I want to clear my head. It’s been two months, and I still can’t forget what happened that day in my mind. Every time I fall asleep, I always dream of what happened that day. I think I won’t be able to forget it for a long time. I need to go and calm down.”
“Why do you have to do this? You’re always torturing yourself like this. It’s clearly not your fault. Why are you doing this?”
“Maybe people are always contemptible. I, I still can’t let go of her even now. Yu Linna likes Ye Zhiyun, but Yu Linna can’t be with Ye Zhiyun forever, let alone walk a path together. I can’t forget it now, but I think I’ll get used to it with some time. Get used to a life without her. I know I will get used to it one day.”
Now that she had said this, how could she refute it? Yu Xiayue couldn’t think of anything.
Love is certainly beautiful, but the deeper the love, the more painful the separation. Yu Xiayue could not experience this kind of feeling.
Unable to persuade her, Yu Linna still decided to leave the next day. Yu Xiayue could only accompany her for her last night in South Korea.
At night, the two girls were on the same bed, looking at each other’s eyes. They had originally wanted to say something, but in the end, they didn’t know what to say. In the quiet night, the lights had long been extinguished, leaving only the sound of each other’s heartbeats, and that incomparably plain mood.
“Nana, although the time I’ve known you is not long, I see you as my younger sister.”
“Mmm.”
“Actually, I have a younger sister, but she died when she was very young. I see you as that deceased younger sister.”
“Mmm.”
“Take care of yourself. Don’t let people worry. You are not alone now.”
“Okay.”
There were no more topics.
The next day, Yu Linna left, and flew to France.
Compared to South Korea, the flight to France was even longer. She was also patient, slowly flying and flying, flying to the clouds, farther and farther away from her hometown, until she could no longer turn back. Before she left, she had greeted Kang Hyun-ah, saying that she was leaving today, and would come back next time.
When she arrived in Paris, France, she was already very tired. After she got off the plane, there was no one she knew here. She had to start from scratch again, slowly getting in touch with the novel publishers on the French side, asking if they could talk about publishing matters. But to be honest, for a Chinese novelist to come to France was not very popular. The number of times she had been given a closed door was not small. After all, Chinese novels were not very popular in this place, France.
In the end, she couldn’t get anything done. Yu Linna had no choice but to temporarily put this aside and wholeheartedly go to gather material. She had used her connections to try to interview a European esports team, to gather material from them. After all, the European esports teams had also had a brilliant performance at the World Championship. Last year’s World Championship had even been held in Paris, France. It was just that the European team was really unlucky to have run into a Chinese team, and had been swept aside in their own home country and had had the championship snatched away, taking second place.
She had wanted to interview them, but she couldn’t get an appointment. Compared to South Korea, the people here were even more unwelcoming of her arrival, and were also unwilling to make time for her to interview the professional players, saying it would delay their training.
Yu Linna was walking alone on the streets of Paris. Her appearance was not much different from the people living here. The European blood in her body occupied the majority. To say that her ancestors should be from here, right? She had always wanted to know where she was born since she was little, and where her relatives were. Perhaps they were here.
She was missing her days in her home country.
“Linna, you’re in Paris now, right? How is it over there? It’s still daytime here. It should be night over there, right?”
Fang Jiangning had talked about this when she had had a WeChat call with her. Fang Jiangning herself was relatively busy, often having to run around. After becoming a commentator for a professional competition from a simple streamer, her personal time had actually decreased a lot, but she still found time to chat with Yu Linna when she was free. Girls are like this. When they are free, they want to find their best friends to talk to. Only then can they feel at ease.
“I’m fine. The prices here are quite expensive, but everything else is fine. You can also see Asian faces tourists here in Paris. Maybe you’ll even see Chinese people.”
“That’s really nice. I’m quite busy here. I have to take a car to the competition site in a bit. I’m hanging up.”
“Mmm.”
Putting down her phone, Yu Linna tidied her appearance. In a foreign country, she was walking on the streets, and she couldn’t find her own direction. When she opened her phone’s Weibo, she had accidentally scrolled to the interview news of Ye Zhiyun. She didn’t know why she was so idle, but she always liked to click on it to see.
“Director Ye, do you have any definition of love?”
“This thing, love, is actually a matter for two people in the end. We can’t always ask our other half to give completely for us, nor can we ask others to understand ourselves. After all, this is a very selfish thought. Unfortunately, this principle, I knew it too late.”
“Director Ye is a person with a story. Can you share your own story?”
“This involves my own affairs, so it’s not convenient for me to disclose it here. But I personally feel that if there is a next time, perhaps it won’t be a breakup just like that. I used to always say that when I have money, I will definitely do something, but will time wait for you? When you have money, that’s just an excuse. You keep waiting, and in the end, the person is gone. Are you going to leave your money for others to get married and give as a gift? I just hope that everyone can cherish their other half. This is also the theme of the movie.”
Yu Linna’s eyes slowly blurred. Slowly, she thought of that most famous breakup song, that one line, “Don’t say ‘love’ if you’re lying,” that one line, “Just like that, we broke up.”
In a foreign country, she thought of her, thought of her past with Ye Zhiyun.
She was really so contemptible. After breaking up for so long, how could she not have let go? Ye Zhiyun’s words were clearly the same as Nangong Ying’s, but she just wouldn’t hate her. On the contrary, it was even more sad.
After watching the video, she held her phone, her hands trembling as she opened Ye Zhiyun’s avatar. She hesitated for half a day, but she still pressed it. She knew that at this moment, she had used up all her strength.
Ye Zhiyun had answered in a few seconds.
“Na, Nana…”
“Mmm. It’s me.”
“…Where are you?”
“On the other side of the earth. I’m in Paris, very far away from you.”
“…I see.”
What could they say? They were no longer lovers. What else could they say?
Yu Linna looked up and opened the conversation.
“I say, Zhiyun, what you said in the interview, is it true?”
“You could say it is, and you could say it isn’t. But this doesn’t have much to do with us.”
Ye Zhiyun’s words had sealed off Yu Linna’s final thoughts.
That’s right. That is an unrealistic thought after all.
People who have separated, why bother to ask for trouble again?
“Can we delete each other on WeChat?”
Yu Linna said.
“No.”
Ye Zhiyun’s voice was trembling, as if she were pleading.
“Why? Haven’t we already separated? It’s been a long time, Zhiyun.”
“I don’t want to delete my chat history. Although it’s sad, it’s a memory after all.”
“You silly girl, you idiot.”
“Yes, I’m silly, I’m stupid. But at least, we are not strangers, are we? Let’s just each take a step back and be friends, okay?”
“…Whatever you want. Goodbye.”
Hanging up the phone, Yu Linna covered her eyes and walked on the street. It was night in Paris. The lights were bright and the city was bustling. The city had entered its most dazzling moment.
Yu Linna climbed up a ladder and sat on the ground. There were very few people now. She could sit there. Below were cars and lights. She hugged her knees, her eyes brimming with tears, wanting to cry out loud. Her lonely self was just like the female lead in a literary story. Especially in Paris, in the days of being alone without friends, and on a night of complete despair, her heart was really cold to the extreme.
She would let go. She believed that she would let go.
Time would eventually let her forget all this. This thing, love, would only remain in her memories. She told herself that after tonight, she would really let go.
…
In her home country, at the Chenghe Film Company headquarters, a senior manager had given Yu Tianchen a USB drive. Yu Tianchen had plugged it into his computer and had opened it, and had found that it was a file about Yu Linna. Actually, there wasn’t much content. It was just the news of Yu Linna refusing to act as an extra in a movie that involved insulting her countrymen. This news had been written by an entertainment newspaper. It was unknown how they had gotten this first-hand information. Now it had been intercepted by Chenghe and had been bought at a high price.
Yu Tianchen thought for a moment and felt that this was an opportunity. Yu Linna herself was also an unstable factor, but if she was used well, she was indeed a cash cow.
“We, how about we give it a try?”
Yu Tianchen took out the USB drive, pushed his glasses, and a strange light flickered in the lenses.
