The topic didn't return to matters of the heart. The two chatted about everything under the sun, from middle school to studying abroad, from China to Germany, sharing their experiences of living in Germany. Of course, Zhou Yi's status as a professional soccer player inevitably came up.

Zheng Lulu took out a Borussia Dortmund jersey with Zhou Yi's name and number printed on it from her bag, and then said to Zhou Yi, "Can you sign it for me?"

"No problem at all! I can sign the whole thing if you want!" Zhou Yi was very generous. He took the jersey and pen, and wrote next to his name on the back of the jersey: "To classmate Zheng Lulu, may you bloom with confidence and always be happy." It was signed, "Your classmate, Zhou Yi."

Watching Zhou Yi lower his head to write on the jersey, Zheng Lulu pursed her lips.

After signing the autograph and finishing the wine in the bottle, the dessert that had come last was also finished.

This Christmas Eve dinner had come to an end.

If they followed Zheng Lulu's roommate Katharina's plan, then the two of them should move to a dimly lit bar with suggestive music, have a good drink, and pour out their hearts to each other. Finally, they'd head to Zheng Lulu's hotel room for the final showdown.

But neither Zhou Yi nor Zheng Lulu seemed inclined to continue the next act.

Zheng Lulu took the initiative to say, "I should get back."

Zhou Yi nodded and said, "I'll take you back."

If Katharina heard this, she would definitely think that Zhou Yi was making a move. But Zheng Lulu knew very well that there would be no such misunderstanding between Zhou Yi and her.

Him saying that he would take her back was only out of concern for a single woman being out so late.

So she shook her head and said, "No need. You're a public figure now. If people see us, they'll get the wrong idea. I don't want the media saying I'm your girlfriend."

Zhou Yi scratched his head. Zheng Lulu's concern was very practical. It was normal for him, as a celebrity, to have a little scandal, but Zheng Lulu would be caught in the crossfire. That wouldn't be good.

So he didn't insist. Instead, he said, "I'll call you a car."

This time Zheng Lulu didn't object.

"All set. It'll be here in a minute," Zhou Yi said to Zheng Lulu, putting down his phone.

Zheng Lulu nodded.

After that, the room fell into silence, the first time all evening. The atmosphere began to cool.

Zhou Yi could feel the change in atmosphere. They had been chatting enthusiastically, laughing and having a good time, but suddenly the mood was gone.

Maybe they were just tired from chatting all evening?

Zhou Yi thought to himself. Actually, chatting could be tiring sometimes. He forgot where he had read it, but it said that chatting was like playing tennis. If one person only served and didn't receive, then the game couldn't be played. Two people had to go back and forth. But at the same time, they had to be at the same level. If one person's serving and receiving were both good, but the other person's serving and receiving weren't very good, then the game could still be played, but the high-level player would be very tired. Only when two people were at a high level could the game be exciting and beautiful.

But being exciting and beautiful came at a price, which was that it required a lot of brainpower from both people. They had to constantly search for common ground in the topics, and think about the next topic while discussing the current one, and then constantly extend it.

Tonight, Zhou Yi thought he had a pretty good chat with Zheng Lulu. When he agreed to have dinner with Zheng Lulu, he hadn't expected such an atmosphere. He had initially told jokes to avoid awkwardness, but he didn't expect Zheng Lulu to be so cooperative.

Based on his previous impression of Zheng Lulu, she was the kind of girl who would give you one word back for every three you said to her, introverted, shy, lacking confidence, taciturn, and unsociable.

Such classmates, whether male or female, would definitely exist in any class. They were often the easiest people to ignore in the class. Many years later, everyone would forget to notify them of class reunions, and they wouldn't be able to remember the names of those faces in the graduation photo.

But it was such an unremarkable classmate who made Zhou Yi look at her with new eyes tonight.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yi found a topic to continue the conversation, an oldie but goodie—praising Zheng Lulu's changes and complimenting her confidence. When you had nothing else to say, flattering people was never wrong.

But just as he was about to open his mouth, Zheng Lulu, who had been looking down in front of him, suddenly looked up and opened her mouth to speak.

※※※

While Zhou Yi was thinking about how to "save face," Zheng Lulu's heart was actually going through a very intense struggle.

When she first came to Dortmund, she came with a very strong "purpose." After arriving and the atmosphere was good at first, she had some fantasies. But as the conversation went deeper, especially when it came to personal feelings, she realized that the good feeling before was just Zhou Yi being enthusiastic toward an old classmate he hadn't seen in a long time, and there was no other meaning.

At first, after understanding this, Zheng Lulu felt somewhat frustrated—even if she tried so hard to change herself, changing in ways that surprised Zhou Yi, Zhou Yi still didn't have any other feelings for her. So what was the point of her trying so hard? Was all her effort in vain?

She had originally planned to adjust her mindset, treat it as a class reunion, not think too much, smile and say goodbye to Zhou Yi after dinner, and leave with dignity and grace.

But just as she was about to say goodbye, she suddenly became unwilling.

Because she didn't know if she would have the courage to stand in front of Zhou Yi again and say those words after this time. If she didn't say them, it would be impossible to pretend that nothing had happened. Zhou Yi, who didn't know anything, could certainly pretend that nothing had happened, but she couldn't.

She couldn't get past herself.

Some things had happened, some feelings had happened, some words had been held in her heart for a long time, how could she pretend that nothing had happened?

They had clearly left such a deep mark on her body and in her heart.

She thought about it and felt that she should still say it, even though she knew that saying it would probably not have a good result, because she actually understood Zhou Yi's feelings—he only treated her as an ordinary classmate, and because they were both in Germany, he would be a little bit more friendly, but that didn't mean he would develop feelings for her that he didn't already have. Perhaps this kind of thing would happen to other people, but based on her understanding of Zhou Yi, the probability of it happening to Zhou Yi was zero.

But she still wanted to say it. She wasn't saying it to elicit a response, but to prove herself. She was taking this crush very seriously. Whether it worked or not, there had to be an ending. She couldn't let this relationship that she had taken so seriously remain unresolved.

Thinking of this, she suddenly raised her head and looked into Zhou Yi's eyes and said, "I want to apologize to you, Zhou Yi."

"Huh? Apologize?" Zhou Yi was very strange, not understanding why Zheng Lulu said that.

"Because I didn't tell you the truth."

"This…"

Zhou Yi didn't quite understand what Zheng Lulu was trying to do.

"I lied to you, Zhou Yi. I didn't come to Germany to study because I like Germany." Zheng Lulu didn't give Zhou Yi time to react, nor did she give herself a chance to chicken out. She blurted out all the words that had been stuck in her heart.

"It's because I like… I like you!"

Hearing these words, Zhou Yi felt as if he had been struck by lightning, and his whole body stiffened in his seat.

Looking at Zhou Yi's dazed expression, Zheng Lulu paused for a moment and continued, anyway, she had already said those words, so what else couldn't she say?

"... I've been secretly paying attention to you at school. I think you're a very interesting person. Although many of your things seem incomprehensible to others, I think you're very energetic and charming. But at that time, I didn't have the confidence to confess to you. I was afraid of being rejected by you. Who would like someone like me with braces on my teeth? So after knowing that you were going to Germany to play soccer, I also persuaded my mother to send me to Germany to study, just to be closer to you."

"After coming to Germany, I desperately changed myself, forcing myself to live independently in an unfamiliar Germany, learning the language, working part-time, making friends, actively participating in school activities, and trying to speak loudly in front of many people. I even participated in our school's speech contest... My classmates in Germany don't know that I'm actually a girl who doesn't dare to speak loudly and always purses her lips and smiles cautiously... And I do all this to make myself more confident and better so that I dare to say that sentence in front of you..."

"I follow every game you play in Germany, and I follow every news story about you in Germany. I can see you improving every day, which makes me work harder to change myself, hoping to have the courage and qualification to stand by your side... But no matter how cheerful I become, I lack the courage when I think about meeting you... So I'm sorry, I lied to you again. My QQ wasn't hacked at all. I just didn't dare to come out and say hello to you..."

"I want to be as good as you, but I always feel like I'm not good enough. It wasn't until I was about to graduate that I mustered up the courage to decide to see you. But after I really saw you, I... I chickened out again. I didn't dare to say that sentence. I fantasized that you actually liked me too, and then confessed to me on Christmas Eve... I'm sorry, I watch too many romance novels." At this point, Zheng Lulu shook her head with a smile.

"I know you've always treated me as an ordinary classmate, and I also know that if I say that sentence, it might cause you a little trouble... So I thought, well, let's just treat it as an ordinary class reunion. After this meal, nothing happened. We'll say goodbye to each other and go back. But just now, I regretted it. Because, because I... I'm not willing..."

When Zheng Lulu was speaking earlier, although her speed was fast, her tone was still quite calm. She was still able to maintain a smile. But as she said this, her voice gradually trembled, faintly carrying a sob.

But she quickly stabilized her emotions again and continued:

"I'm not willing to say goodbye to you like this. I'm not willing that I've worked so hard for so many years but I'm still not confident. I'm not willing that your impression of me is just an ordinary classmate... I still want to convey my feelings to you. But please rest assured, I won't ask you for anything. This is what I ask of myself. I'm afraid that if I don't say it today, I won't have another chance to say it in the future. So it's okay if you reject me or laugh at me. You don't have to be troubled at all. I just want you to know this, that's all."

Saying this, Zheng Lulu took a deep breath, and a smile reappeared on her face: "As expected, I feel much better after saying it. And I was afraid of this and afraid of that before, afraid of being rejected, afraid of embarrassing myself. Actually, it's okay to say it. There's nothing to be afraid of!"

After saying that, she got up and bowed slightly to Zhou Yi: "Thank you, Zhou Yi. Thank you for this meal. Thank you for listening to me say so much. Thank you... for appearing in my life."

After saying that, she picked up her bag and turned to leave. Without the slightest hesitation, and without daring to linger, she still didn't have the courage to hear Zhou Yi's answer in the end, but it didn't matter. She had said everything she needed to say, and now she felt that the result was not that important.

Behind her, Zhou Yi's phone made a notification sound—the taxi he had called for Zheng Lulu was already at the entrance of the restaurant...