88: Long-Haired Girl
Lin Miao never knew about the love letters. Apart from the period of confusion at the start of her break, Lin Miao was calm. She followed her own steps, studying, training, and chatting with Yu Jingxuan. Her schedule was tighter than ever, leaving her no time to think about all these random things.
Her coach had suggested that she could likely enroll in a university through an alternative path, but Lin Miao thought that it would still be better if she studied and took the exam like everyone else.
Memories of visiting Yu Jingxuan's university were still engraved in her head. That time, she couldn't understand a word the professor was saying.
She needed to study hard so that she could at least understand the lectures.
Seeing that it wasn't affecting practice, the coach let Lin Miao do it her way.
Lin Miao was still outside of public view outside of tournaments. Amazingly, her performance kept improving. Growing older, her appearance had also changed.
Her face became sweeter, and it was only cuter when matched with her aggressive play and reluctance to show her face in public.
Especially with a talkative Tan Jing publicly stanning for Lin Miao; she was a magnet for fans.
A lot of Lin Miao's fans were attracted by Lin Miao, and not much by badminton.
As her fan base grew, her advertising value also grew.
A lot of advertisers invited Lin Miao to star in their advertisements. However, Lin Miao declined all of them. She didn't want to be recognized by that many people when she was little, and now, she still felt that she wasn't worthy of all the praise. She would still feel shy when she occasionally read the comments online.
Yu Jingxuan was naturally supportive of her choice. Days passed quickly this way.
As busy days passed the fastest, Lin Miao was soon on another break.
This time, Lin Miao didn't tell Yu Jingxuan in advance, not even during their conversation the previous evening.
That night, after Lin Miao finished talking with Yu Jingxuan, Tan Jing crawled into Lin Miao's bed with the intention to gossip, "Brother Shui, are you going to see your boyfriend tomorrow?"
They had already replaced "Gege" with "boyfriend" in their dorm room.
Lin Miao wasn't shy in front of Tan Jing anymore, mainly because she... always gossiped, and Lin Miao had gotten used to it.
Lin Miao nodded.
"Brother Shui, do you want to surprise your boyfriend?"
Her eyes were glowing. Lin Miao felt anxious, "Sister Jing, don't look at me like this, you're freaking me out."
Tan Jing hugged Lin Miao's arm, shaking it and whining, "Brother Shui~"
Lin Miao was defeated by this act, "Congrats, now, what do you have in mind?"
"Brother Shui, do you remember the wigs I told you about last time?" Tan Jing asked.
There were many comments online saying how pretty Lin Miao would be if she had long hair. Lin Miao and Tan Jing both had their hair cut short, so Tan Jing was always curious how it felt to have long hair.
She wanted to do it with Lin Miao, but Lin Miao never wanted to. She thought wearing wigs was weird.
Now, Tan Jing found an opportunity.
"Brother Shui, it's really convenient. No one would notice you, and you can also surprise your boyfriend." Tan Jing said.
Lin Miao was sold. She always felt a bit embarrassed every time someone recognized her in public.
Seeing that she had convinced Lin Miao, Tan Jing jumped off of Lin Miao's bed and went to get a wig.
She had bought it long ago. Tan Jing had been winning lots of money from her tournaments. Her wallet wasn't tight, so buying a wig wasn't a big deal for her.
She had already tried it on in secret before, so she knew how to put it on, "Brother Shui don't move, I'll put it on for you."
She put on the wig as she spoke, combing the bangs with her fingers.
Suddenly, Tan Jing felt... coarse. Even with a wig on, she still looked coarse compared to Lin Miao in the wig.
"This feels so weird..." Lin Miao touched the bangs, feeling a bit uncomfortable.
Tan Jing pulled her up, "Brother Shui, look in the mirror! You're super pretty!"
Lin Miao raised her head to look at the mirror beside her. Lin Miao's wig was black, with light curls and airy bangs.
Having her hair down below her shoulders, Lin Miao felt... so pretty!
She found the bangs to be weird at first, but not anymore. To a girl who was still obsessed with beauty, looking good was a great priority.
The next day, Tan Jing and Lin Miao quickly became long-haired, and quickly left the school.
Tan Jing also peer-pressured Lin Miao to change into a dress before going to Yu Jingxuan's school.
Since she was older and more mature now, she patiently stood there waiting for Yu Jingxuan to surprise him. She also brought him some food.
Yu Jingxuan was already a postgraduate, but he was still about as old as a freshman. He was also his professor's assistant, so despite knowing that he had a stunning girlfriend, many girls still liked him.
Beauty was a scarce resource, even more so for males. He had an affluent background, and was also a genius. He was the perfect significant other for many girls.
Liking was liking, but there were very few who would actually chase him.
When Yu Jingxuan was leaving the campus grounds, he was thinking about what to eat for lunch.
Then he suddenly felt someone grip his hand. It felt familiar. He turned around in surprise and saw a girl with long hair. She was looking down, he couldn't see her face.
He was about to take his hand back when she raised her head, revealing the face he had been thinking about day and night. "Gege."
Yu Jingxuan was stunned, "What happened to your hair?"
Lin Miao blushed. "Sister Jing bought it for me. Gege, does it look good?" The long-haired girl said.
Yu Jingxuan's eyes fixated on her, reluctant to look elsewhere as if something was gripping his heart. He held her hand tightly, closing in on her to the point of almost hugging her. He spoke a bit hoarsely, "Yes."
.....