Chapter 24: Gongyu’s Concerns

Gongyu looked around, took Yaqi’s hand, and led her to the shade of a tree. Then she said:

“Xinyu is a friend I’ve known since elementary school. She… isn’t very smart. Her grades are below average.”

“But she’s the type who works hard! She’s persistent, you could say stubborn, someone who doesn’t know how to adapt.”

“We went to elementary and middle school together. Our relationship was always good! Until high school, when we met Liu Ya…”

“I won’t deny, Liu Ya is impressive, especially since she skipped grades.”

“Soon after enrollment, she was selected for the student council, and by the second half of freshman year she became the president. I don’t know if anyone will surpass her achievements, but she’s the first of her kind.”

“After Xinyu found out, she made Liu Ya her goal and studied until one or two every night. Before, she would still play games with me in the evenings, but gradually she didn’t even send me a few messages on her phone.”

“Hmm… then Gongyu, how are your studies?”

“Me? I’m almost in the top 50 of the grade.”

“Wow, that’s impressive too! No… then according to you, isn’t this a good thing? Why did Xinyu…?”

Gongyu sighed and continued: “I originally thought it was a good thing too. Even though it was a bit uncomfortable that she stopped looking for me, I was happy to see her living so fully. After all, Xinyu often used to…”

“Xinyu is really a hard worker! But as the saying goes, effort doesn’t always yield results. Despite working hard…”

Gongyu silently turned her head aside. Yaqi roughly understood and responded with silence.

“Ah, I digressed… back to the point. In the next semester, it seemed like September. Liu Ya suddenly approached Xinyu and said she wanted to invite her into the student council.”

“I remember it very clearly. That day Xinyu was especially happy, she kept talking to me about Liu Ya.”

“But after that, our communication grew less and less. Even though we were still deskmates, she barely spoke to me.”

“When I tried to talk to her, she would just brush me off with a few words.”

“And then, that thing happened…”

Gongyu breathed a heavy sigh. Yaqi noticed her clenched fist. She pursed her lips and listened quietly.

“Xinyu is a very honest girl. And she’s not the type to like girls at all!”

“But look at Liu Ya. Within a few days of starting high school, almost every day someone confesses to her.”

Gongyu looked at Yaqi with some anger.

“Xinyu already admired Liu Ya, and Liu Ya is so popular. And as far as I know, Liu Ya has never rejected anyone’s confession. If you say she’s chaste, I absolutely don’t believe it!”

“If that’s the case, then you tell me, Yaqi! If Liu Ya didn’t do something, what other possibility is there?”

“Ah… well…”

Yaqi wanted to explain for Liu Ya, but she recalled the girl she saw in the morning and instantly lost her confidence, instinctively stepping back two steps.

“Then… what happened in the end?”

“What do you mean ‘what happened’…”

“I mean… what did everyone think…”

Gongyu was silent for a moment, then said weakly: “Although there were photos, because of Liu Ya’s influence, and because Xinyu was like that… everyone thought Xinyu seduced Liu Ya…”

“…”

“That’s normal, I guess… After all, who would casually take off their clothes in the bathroom, and… like that…”

Gongyu bit her lip in frustration. Yaqi quickly explained: “But… but Liu Ya told me she doesn’t like girls!”

“Then why doesn’t she reject them?”

“This… is she afraid of hurting their feelings?”

“Others muster the courage to confess, and she neither accepts nor rejects. But she still enjoys their sincerity. Isn’t that hurting their feelings?”

“No. It should be said that she’s already playing with their true feelings!”

“This… but Liu Ya also deliberately avoids misunderstandings!”

“How can you tell?”

“I…”

Yaqi wanted to talk about what happened in the bathroom this morning, but because she was too useless, as the protagonist she couldn’t say it, so she chose silence.

(Liu Ya seemed angry at the time, probably thinking I was the type to like her. If that’s the case, how could she do that kind of thing?)

(But I really can’t say this… Although Ye Nuo said she was picking a fight, I really didn’t handle it well, so I have no confidence…)

“And I heard that all the girls who confessed said they were dating Liu Ya, and she even had multiple relationships at the same time!”

“This… I…”

Yaqi stood nervously, looking troubled. Gongyu realized she was being too extreme, took a deep breath to calm herself, and slowly opened her eyes.

“Ah, sorry…”

“Mm, it’s fine…”

“But Yaqi, think about it. You just transferred here. No matter what, logically, how could a newly transferred student enter the student council?”

“That’s true… but could it be because they happen to be short on people?”

“Huh? That reason is too far-fetched…”

“Hmm… that makes sense…”

Yaqi tried hard to defend Liu Ya, but not only did Gongyu think it was far-fetched, even she herself felt it was weak. But the recent development of events was indeed far-fetched, yet they still happened for these reasons.

Yaqi thought and thought but had nothing to say, so she gave up explaining.

“Liu Ya pulled you in definitely to keep you close for some purpose, just like what she did to Xinyu.”

“She must have done something, otherwise Xinyu wouldn’t have disappeared without a trace…”

“Huh? You can’t contact her?”

“Mm. I sent her messages but got no reply. I also went to her house, but her mother said Xinyu wasn’t feeling well and didn’t want to see anyone.”

“I know, she’s avoiding me. It must be because of Liu Ya!”

“It can’t be that bad…?”

Gongyu tightly held Yaqi’s hands, lifted them to her chest, and stared at her intently, her eyes full of grievance and hurt.

“I’m not lying! I swear! I’m just worried that you’ll also be hurt by Liu Ya. I don’t want to see anyone go through that again!”

“But…”

“You… don’t believe me…”

Hearing this, Yaqi lowered her gaze and let her hands drop. Seeing this, Gongyu’s eyes drooped, and she slowly lowered her head.

Just as she was about to let go, Yaqi looked up at her again and said firmly: “No! I believe you!”

Gongyu was startled at first, then let out a relieved and happy smile, her eyes becoming more lively. But before she could speak, Yaqi continued:

“But Gongyu, I also don’t think Liu Ya would do such a thing!”

“What?”

“There might be some misunderstanding here.”

“…What misunderstanding could there be…”

Gongyu muttered softly, a bit dissatisfied but still somewhat acceptable.

“There must be! You’re not a bad person, and neither is Liu Ya! Then… to prove it, I’ll do my best to help you investigate Xinyu’s matter. Is that okay?”

Yaqi pulled her hands out and instead held Gongyu’s, looking at her firmly. Gongyu hesitated for a moment, but agreed: “…Okay. But be careful. I’m not sure what Liu Ya might do…”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ve known Liu Ya for a long time. The thing you mentioned won’t happen!”

“Mm, okay. Let’s go!”

“Okay.”

The school cafeteria is a whole building with four floors. The first and second floors are for students, the third and fourth for teachers, but the food is the same.

The first floor has common cafeteria dishes: spare ribs with potatoes, curry, etc.

Prices are affordable. The second floor has more elaborate dishes, time-consuming ones: sweet and sour pork, roast duck rice, ramen, etc. Prices are naturally a bit higher.

The school doesn’t mandate anything, allowing students to eat on either floor freely. Everyone has their own meal card, add money to it, and order their own dishes.

This decision gives students a variety of choices without making anyone seem special or superior.

Gongyu led Yaqi through the first floor lobby and went up to the second floor. As soon as they reached the lobby, they saw Mengmeng waving from a seat in the distance.

“Over here!”

The two walked to the seats. Mengmeng naturally leaned aside to let Gongyu in. Yaqi noticed that Ye Feng and Yang Xue were also there, hesitated and didn’t sit.

Seeing this, Mengmeng moved inward, grabbed Yaqi’s hand and pulled her down, hugged her arm with a grin, then turned to look at Gongyu.

“Eh? Gongyu, you came with Yaqi?”

“Mm.”

“Then… is Liu Ya here too?”

“No. Tang Yaqi didn’t know where the cafeteria was. Liu Ya said she’d take her, but stood her up. I happened to go back to get a napkin to wipe my hands, so I brought her along.”

“Ahaha… Liu Ya seems busy. Thanks to Gongyu.” Yaqi echoed.

“Oh, I see.”

Mengmeng looked at the table, suddenly realized something, and sat up straight with a ‘Ya!’

“Oh no… I only got food for Gongyu, I didn’t prepare a portion for Yaqi…”

“Ah. It’s okay, I’ll go get it myself…”

As she said that, Yaqi reached into her pocket, but it was empty. She felt the other side, still nothing. After a daze, she remembered that the meal card the teacher gave her was still in her bag. She lowered her head sheepishly.

“What’s wrong, Yaqi?”

“Umm… I forgot my meal card…”

“Huh? Hahaha!”

Mengmeng laughed without holding back. Everyone else also covered their mouths and snickered. Yaqi’s face turned red with embarrassment.

“Sorry… then I’ll go first…”

Just as Yaqi was about to get up, Mengmeng grabbed her.

“Hey! Sorry sorry, your reaction was too cute, I couldn’t help it… Why leave? It’s just a meal card. I’ll treat you! Say whatever you want to eat!”

“Eh? No need. I…”

“Oh. Don’t be so polite. Consider it a return gift for letting me see your notes!”

“Ah, well…”

“What do you want to eat? Meat? Meat? Meat?”

“Huh?”

Mengmeng was very enthusiastic, constantly leaning closer. Yaqi smiled wryly and waved her hands repeatedly. Seeing this, Yang Xue also smiled and chimed in:

“Oh, don’t be polite, Yaqi. She can’t just freeload, right? Let her treat! Haha.”

Mengmeng looked at Yang Xue with some dissatisfaction.

“No… one thing at a time! You make it sound like I have ulterior motives… Besides, didn’t you read them too?”

“You read them more!”

“Hey, you…!”

Yang Xue stuck her tongue out at her. Mengmeng got fired up. While the two were at a standoff, Gongyu also smiled and said:

“Don’t be polite, Yaqi. It’s nothing for friends to treat each other to a meal. Next time you can treat us.”

Hearing this, Yaqi felt warm inside. She looked at everyone, and they all smiled and nodded. Even Ye Feng, who had been quietly observing on the side, nodded slightly.

“Mm… then… thank you.”

“You’re welcome! So Yaqi, what do you want to eat?”

Since it was her first time, Yaqi didn’t know what was available. She looked at everyone’s dishes, but none seemed very home-style. Finally, her eyes fell on the stone pot bibimbap in front of Gongyu.

“Then I’ll have the same as Gongyu.”

“Eh?”

Mengmeng turned to look at Gongyu in disbelief, then turned back and shook her head repeatedly.

“Wow! Really. If I didn’t know what kind of person Gongyu is, I would really suspect if Yaqi has some masochistic tendencies…”

“Ah… ah?”

Yaqi was stunned. Gongyu kicked her with her foot upon hearing that.

“Ouch! Why did you kick me…”

“You talk too much! Just go, geez…”

“Alright alright. Then I’ll go, Yaqi, make way.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

Seeing Mengmeng leave, Yang Xue couldn’t suppress her curiosity anymore. She leaned over to look at Gongyu.

“Hey hey! So what exactly happened between you two?”

Gongyu blushed a little upon hearing this. She looked at Ye Feng, who just directly turned her head away, clearly indicating ‘none of my business.’ Helpless, she sighed and recounted what had happened earlier in detail.

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