Light and shadow crisscrossed in the Entrance Hall.
"Hello, Zhang Yan. We meet again." Liu Qingning spoke first.
Her voice was soft, with a slightly rising lilt at the end, like wind brushing past wind chimes.
It was completely different from the sudden, unguarded sense of pressure she had given off in the meeting room at the Xuanji Light Realm last time.
The woman before her seemed to have turned back into the person in Zhang Yan's memories.
Back on the high school campus, she had been that adorable girl who always seemed favored by the sunlight, whose eyes curved when she smiled.
Zhang Yan's lashes trembled violently. "H-hello... Liu..."
Her lips moved uncertainly, and she had no idea how she should address her.
Call her "President Liu"?
In such a private setting, that was clearly far too distant and ridiculous.
But if she called her "Qingning" outright?
She felt she had no right at all.
"Just call me Qingning." Liu Qingning saw her embarrassment and pressed her lips together slightly, making her tone as gentle as possible. "That day at the company was too rushed. I didn't even get to talk with you for a few more minutes before you were gone."
Zhang Yan apologized instinctively. "I-I'm sorry."
Liu Qingning paused, a trace of surprise flashing through her eyes. "You didn't do anything wrong. You don't need to apologize."
Zhang Yan didn't know how to answer.
She only kept her head lowered, not daring to look at those bright, radiant eyes at all.
The bit of Super Saiyan-like courage she had gathered in the hallway just now was like a balloon pricked by a needle, deflating completely in an instant. An odd silence spread by the door.
It was so quiet it left them at a loss.
"Qingning, aren't