Chapter 39: Go home with Yuting after school

Looking forward to the end of school, looking forward to the weekend.

This was the daily anticipation of the elementary school student, Xu Yuting.

Recently, she had added one more thing to look forward to.

Looking forward to playing with her boy-friend, Ah You.

On Friday, after school.

The entrance of Baiyun Elementary School was a sea of people. Students, parents, and various vehicles crowded the space.

Yuting’s home wasn’t far from the school, and she usually walked home by herself.

“You guys go on ahead. I still have something to do.”

Normally, Yuting would walk home with her friends from the neighborhood, but recently, she hadn’t been playing with them as much.

After declining her friends’ invitation to walk home, Yuting smiled and went to a small alley near the school.

‘Ah You, hurry up and get here!’

The girl rubbed her small hands, her face full of anticipation.

She waited for about two minutes.

The boy, carrying a small black backpack, arrived as promised.

“Ah You, I’m here.”

Afraid the boy wouldn’t see her, Yuting excitedly trotted over to greet him.

“Yuting, sorry to keep you waiting!”

This wasn’t the first time Lin You had walked home with the girl.

It had started on Wednesday.

Lin You had “run into” Yuting on his way home.

At the girl’s enthusiastic invitation, the two had formed a home-walking pair.

At the time, Lin You hadn’t really wanted to agree, since they had already decided to pretend they didn’t know each other during the day.

But Yuting had used the excuse that her parents wouldn’t let her go out at night recently, so she couldn’t play with the boy at all, and had successfully persuaded him.

“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go home. We can stop by the convenience store on the way.”

Yuting was ecstatic to see the boy and didn’t care at all that he was a few minutes late.

This girl was extremely playful, her mind completely filled with how to play with the boy.

“Mhm, mhm. Then don’t get too close to me, Yuting. We need to keep some distance.”

The girl was right up against him, which made Lin You lean to the side.

It wasn’t that he disliked her; he just didn’t want to be too close. If others saw them, it would cause trouble for Yuting.

When the two walked home together, at Lin You’s strong insistence, they kept a distance of at least a dozen centimeters.

“We’re good friends. Ah You, you’re so controlling.”

Yuting pretended to be a little disappointed.

She liked being close to the boy. She couldn’t say why, but it just felt very comfortable.

This was something she had never experienced when playing with her female friends of the same age.

After meeting up, it was time to go home.

Yuting led the way, and Lin You deliberately fell two steps behind, following the girl like a little tail.

“Ah You, come a little closer. You’re so far away. What if you can’t keep up?”

Yuting would look back from time to time to make sure the boy hadn’t gotten lost.

“There are people.”

Lin You reminded her in a low voice.

“So what? We’re good friends, Ah You. It’s none of other people’s business.”

Yuting didn’t care about the gazes of passersby; she just wanted to get a little closer to the boy.

“We agreed to pretend we don’t know each other during the day.”

Lin You had no choice but to bring up their previous agreement.

“Oh, for goodness sake, you’re always bringing that up, Ah You. Do you really see me as a friend or not…”

The girl had heard this line more than once and was starting to get annoyed.

“Of course I see you as a friend, it’s just…”

Lin You raised his hand to touch his left cheek. The conspicuous birthmark on it made him afraid of dragging Yuting down.

“I’m not afraid of others laughing at me for playing with you, Ah You. If anyone dares to gossip, I’ll beat them up.”

Yuting knew the boy’s intentions were good, but she felt it was unnecessary.

This friendship, of course, should be out in the open.

If she were afraid of being laughed at because of Lin You, then she wouldn’t have insisted on being friends with him in the first place.

“Yuting, I know you’re very nice, I…”

Lin You still wanted to insist. He also saw the girl as a true good friend, which was why he was so considerate of her.

One of them accepted everything about her friend.

The other was considerate of his friend.

Neither of their approaches to friendship was wrong.

“I don’t care! I’m going to hold Ah You’s hand and walk home.”

If being soft didn’t work, then Yuting would have to be tough.

She approached the boy with a “fierce” expression and, without another word, took one of his small hands in hers.

Hand in hand, just like when they played at night.

“Don’t be angry, okay? I’ll treat you to ice cream.”

Yuting’s assertiveness didn’t last for two seconds before she was coaxing the boy in a soft voice.

“Grandma has dinner ready and is waiting for me at home. I’m not hungry.”

Lin You tacitly allowed the girl to hold his hand, but he didn’t accept her kind offer.

“Ice cream whets the appetite! Come on, just one.”

Yuting gave him no chance to refuse, pulling the boy towards the convenience store she often went to.

It was after school, a time when elementary school students with spare cash generally couldn’t control their mouths.

The Yixing Convenience Store was occupied by a group of elementary school students.

“Ah…”

Seeing the large group of peers, Lin You instinctively lowered his head, his hand held by Yuting twitching.

“What flavor of ice cream do you want, Ah You? Strawberry, milk…”

Yuting held on tight. Her mind was on buying ice cream to please the boy, and she didn’t notice his abnormality.

“Yuting, let go of me first. There are a lot of students from Baiyun Elementary here.”

Because all the peers gathered in the convenience store were wearing blue and white school uniforms, Lin You knew they were all from the same school.

“That’s normal. They’re all elementary school students. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Yuting had always felt that the boy in his daytime state was too timid, completely different from how he was at night.

“Well, well, well, isn’t it Xu Yuting?”

Suddenly, a discordant voice came from the side.

It was a girl who was very fat and taller than her peers.

“Zhu Daye, don’t mess with me. I don’t have time for you.”

Yuting shot a disgusted glance over and lost interest.

This was a classmate with whom she had had a verbal spat before and had never liked.

“Hehe, Xu Yuting, do you have no friends? Actually playing with an ugly freak?”

Zhu Daye had finally found an opportunity to mock Yuting, and there was no way she was going to miss it.

A mocking smile spread across her chubby face, and her tone was deliberately pretentious.

“You’re asking for it.”

Yuting hadn’t wanted to stoop to Zhu Daye’s level, until the girl aimed her fire at Lin You.

Yuting was a tiger, not someone who only talked and didn’t act.

Without another word, the girl took off her backpack, swung the bag full of textbooks like a hammer, and was about to smash it into Zhu Daye.

“Yuting, don’t!”

The situation was tense, on the verge of a physical conflict. Lin You, in the nick of time, hugged the girl’s waist from behind, wanting to stop it all.

“Yuting, you play with an ugly freak and you won’t even let people talk about it? Just you wait, I’ll definitely let all our classmates know about this…”

At first, Zhu Daye’s fat jiggled in fear, but after Lin You held Yuting back, the girl became arrogant again.

“Ah You, let me hit her. She’s so asking for a beating.”

Yuting’s fur was ruffled. If not for Lin You holding her tightly from behind, Zhu Daye would definitely be crying her eyes out.