Chapter 26: A Promise and a Misunderstanding

After eating and drinking their fill, Yaqi and the others headed back together. Along the way, they took out their phones and added each other as friends.

Passing by the convenience store, Mengmeng dragged Ye Feng and Yang Xue to buy snacks and strategic supplies for afternoon class. She waved at Gongyu, telling her to go ahead.

On the road, Gongyu noticed it was a bit quiet and wanted to find a topic.

“Yaqi, what hobbies do you usually have?”

“Me? Hmm… watch TV dramas, I guess?”

“What genre?”

“Romance, or I also watch anime!”

“Heh… That does seem like something you’d watch. Hehe.”

“Hehe! What about you?”

“I don’t seem to… have any hobbies? My family is strict, so maybe I just occasionally read books.”

“I see. Are they novels? I remember Liu Ya also reads novels often. Oh right! Speaking of which, I remember she used to like reading comics and novels.”

“I remember before…”

As she was speaking, Gongyu’s expression turned a bit unpleasant, but Yaqi didn’t notice and kept talking about her past with Liu Ya. Gongyu turned to glance at her and sighed helplessly.

“Let me confirm something. You… really don’t like Liu Ya?”

“Oh come on… really not! Don’t you believe me?”

As she said this, Yaqi stared at her with a slightly aggrieved look, making Gongyu’s heart itch.

Yaqi’s face was naturally the cute type, and today’s light-colored casual clothes added more of the unique youthful aura of a girl. Her big eyes and slightly pouted lips made her look like a fluffy little bunny, ridiculously cute.

“Seriously… Has no one ever told you you’re very cute?”

“Huh?”

Hearing this, Yaqi’s little face flushed red. She froze for a moment, then retorted defiantly:

“Gong… Gongyu, aren’t you the same! Your eyes are so pretty, your eyelashes are long, and your face has such a nice shape. Not like me, with a round face…”

As she spoke, Yaqi pushed her hands against her cheeks and rubbed them. Gongyu covered her mouth and chuckled.

“Heh… I think Liu Ya definitely likes you.”

“Oh, why are we still talking about this… How is she supposed to like me?”

Yaqi dragged out her tone with slight dissatisfaction, sighed, and hung her head helplessly. Gongyu was silent for a moment, stopped walking, and quietly looked at Yaqi’s back. Her expression became somewhat intriguing.

Seeing that Gongyu hadn’t caught up, Yaqi looked back in confusion.

“Huh? Why aren’t you walking?”

“…How about we make a promise?”

“Huh? What promise?”

“The promise is: you absolutely must not fall in love with her!”

“Oh, I told you…”

“And! If Liu Ya confess… no. If Liu Ya bullies you, then you have to keep your distance from her, and then you and I will pretend to date!”

“Huh?”

Yaqi widened her eyes in confusion, but seeing Gongyu’s serious expression, she adjusted her state and analyzed earnestly.

“Um… wait a moment… dating… do you mean…”

“Like boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“Well… I can understand the first part… but why would I need to date you if she bullies me…?”

Yaqi looked puzzled and asked in a small, awkward voice. Gongyu rubbed her forehead and sighed.

“Please… can you add the word ‘pretend’ that I said earlier…”

“Oh right, right… But why?”

Hearing this, Gongyu immediately said:

“The reason is simple! Because Liu Ya is especially good at manipulating people’s hearts. Xinyu was like that before.”

“An honest, hardworking person, and she kept setting up obstacles everywhere. Then when she encountered difficulties, Liu Ya would step forward to help solve them, making others dependent on her.”

“Many things before have shown this. For example, during student council, whenever Xinyu was grouped with Liu Ya, her workload was especially heavy.”

“In class, the outdoor duty area Xinyu was responsible for, even though she had already cleaned it up, would inexplicably have a lot more trash, and then Liu Ya would help her clean it up. And many more like this…”

Gongyu gave one example after another. Yaqi listened in a daze, because the Liu Ya in her memory couldn’t be connected to what Gongyu was describing.

But recalling how Liu Ya had treated her over the past two days made her firm belief waver a bit.

“After all that I’ve said, you should understand, right?”

“Well…”

‘What Gongyu said doesn’t seem false, and her tone was serious. But can Liu Ya really do that? It’s still hard to imagine…’

‘However… last night when Liu Ya was teaching me problems, it did seem like what Gongyu said…’

‘But… in the end, it’s also because I did something similar before… That was a blatant revenge!’

‘Ah? Then… am I also the kind of person who manipulates others…?’

Yaqi’s gaze was fixed ahead, dazed, and she let out a light awkward laugh. Gongyu was momentarily stunned and gently shook her arm to wake her up.

“Hey~”

“Ah?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing… Okay, fine, I agree!”

Her thoughts were like a tangled ball of yarn, so Yaqi simply gave up thinking. Because she was very sure that Liu Ya wasn’t that kind of person, what she needed to do now was to follow Gongyu’s proposal and prove it with facts.

“After all, I agreed to help you investigate Xinyu’s matter. And I still believe Liu Ya isn’t that kind of person. There must be a misunderstanding. I’ll use this promise to verify it!”

As she said this, Yaqi proudly patted her chest.

“Yeah, okay!”

“And besides, if that day ever comes, forget pretending to date you, I’ll just sell myself to you! You can order me around however you want!”

“Heh… you really are…”

Gongyu recalled the scene from yesterday morning when Liu Ya shielded Yaqi behind her.

At that time, Liu Ya’s gaze was extremely firm. That expression was completely the look of protecting something important. She had never seen that expression even when Liu Ya was with Xinyu.

Of course, she also hoped that play was real. But unfortunately, it wasn’t. It was just a performance! One could only pitifully and laughably admire the performer’s acting skills.

“…Are you really that trusting of her?”

“That’s right!”

“Why?”

Yaqi hesitated for a moment, bit her lip, looked up, and stared at her.

“Liu Ya… to me, is like a little sister. I’ve always believed in her! And… now I can only believe in her…”

“…”

“It’s not like I like her that way! But… I also don’t like others speaking ill of her…”

“Liu Ya isn’t the kind of person you described, Gongyu. There must be a misunderstanding!”

Yaqi’s eyes were sincere and pitiful. Her pitch-black pupils trembled in the snowy white of her eyes, and her hands clenched slightly. Gongyu instinctively looked away, tugged at her skirt, frowned slightly, and said in a low voice:

“…Fine. Let’s see the results. But I will never allow anyone to become like Xinyu again!”

After saying that, Gongyu took Yaqi’s hand and stared at her intently. Yaqi smiled back.

“Yeah.”

“Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

Just after they walked a few steps, Yaqi stopped again.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“I… seem to have forgotten something? Like something about lunch…”

“Did you leave something in the cafeteria? We should hurry back…”

“No, no… it’s not my thing…”

Yaqi held her head and thought for a long time, but finally shook her head.

“Forget it! It shouldn’t be anything important, otherwise I would have remembered. Let’s go!”

“Heh. Okay.”

“Hey! Wait up!”

At that moment, Mengmeng and the others caught up. They chatted and walked back together.

***

“Hi~ Liu Ya!”

“Huh? Why are you here?”

Just as Liu Ya came out of the activity building, she saw Qu Lin sitting in the small garden waving at her. She approached in surprise. When Qu Lin saw her, she scooted over, made some space, and patted the seat.

“Hehe~ Have a seat!”

“Heh, are you in a good mood? I’ve been working my tail off, and you’re here enjoying yourself? Shouldn’t you be busy with the play?”

Liu Ya plopped down, stretched out her legs, lay back, closed her eyes, and let out a long breath. Her head, like a deflating balloon, slowly drooped down again.

“Heh, am I some cheap horse that works 24/7? I just took a break and came out to buy water.”

“Oh.”

After that, Liu Ya took another breath, lifted her head, and stared blankly ahead. Qu Lin supported herself on the bench with her hand, tilted her head, and quietly watched her.

“What’s up? In a bad mood?”

“Yeah…”

“What happened?”

“It’s… nothing much…”

Liu Ya forced a smile. Qu Lin looked at her thoughtfully, turned back, and looked up.

“Hey… I thought you were upset because Tang Yaqi got scolded.”

“What?”

Liu Ya instantly shot up. After a moment, she immediately sat down again and leaned in to ask:

“When? How come I didn’t know? Who scolded her? What did they say?”

“Oh, stop… it wasn’t me, why are you coming at me…”

Qu Lin pushed her back, caught her breath, and recounted what had happened between Yin Bing and Yaqi. After hearing it, Liu Ya’s face instantly darkened. She lowered her head and clenched her fists tightly.

“What…!”

“Yeah, that’s how it was. It seems Yaqi even cried.”

“But it’s understandable. After all, she had just transferred and was scolded like that. Anyone would feel terrible, even though she didn’t do anything wrong…”

“Damn it…!”

‘That person actually talked about Sister Qiqi like that… What was her name? No, that’s not important! But why? I don’t seem to have any dealings with her either?’

‘No wonder Sister Qiqi said everyone was bullying her. So it’s because of this trash! Damn it… When I get the chance, I’ll make her pay!’

“Liu Ya… are you angry?”

Seeing that Liu Ya didn’t move, Qu Lin pushed her.

“Ah. No… no…”

“Sigh, if you’re angry, just say it! I’d definitely be angry if it were me!”

“Yeah… a bit…”

Although Liu Ya said that, her clenched hands never loosened. Qu Lin saw this and didn’t ask further, just laughed it off.

“But… thank you, Qu Lin. It’s thanks to you for speaking up for her.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. It really was too much at the time. And Liu Ya, your friends are my friends!”

“…Besides, it seems like you’re more than just ordinary friends?”

As she said that, Qu Lin glanced at Liu Ya and gave a meaningful smile.

“Uh… well… not exactly ordinary. You could say we have a very good relationship…”

“…That’s it?”

“That’s… that’s it.”

Hearing this, Qu Lin’s smile gradually froze. She leaned back, hands supporting her on the wooden bench, swinging her legs, and looking at the sky.

“Liu Ya, we’ve known each other for a year after all. I don’t like it when you lie to me. Is it really just that?”

Liu Ya hesitated but still answered with a smile:

“Really… It’s just a good relationship… If I had to say, I’ve always seen her as a sister.”

Qu Lin turned to look. Liu Ya’s hands were gesturing randomly in the air, very stiff. After watching for a while, the frozen corners of her mouth lifted again.

“Alright! Then I must have overthought it!”

After saying that, Qu Lin stood up, smoothed her skirt, turned to Liu Ya, and said seriously:

“But Liu Ya, you should know how popular you are at school, right? You might have good intentions, but this really does affect the people around you! Have you forgotten about Xinyu?”

“Yeah… No.”

Liu Ya silently lowered her head. Qu Lin continued:

“Anyway! I think it’s better to keep some distance! Of course, I know you two are close, but don’t be too conspicuous!”

“Uh… alright… Thank you, Qu Lin.”

“Hehe, you’re welcome!”

Qu Lin laughed and stretched.

“But this time, it’s lucky I was there. Because of my influence at school, Yin Bing didn’t start a fight with me.”

“If they had been alone… I really can’t imagine…”

“Her name is Yin Bing?”

“Huh? Darling? Is that what you should be focusing on? And she’s in our class, you’ve been here a year and you don’t know her?”

“Oh… I really don’t remember her?”

“Sigh, she’s at least fourth in the school rankings. You really don’t take her seriously.”

Qu Lin sighed helplessly. Liu Ya said indignantly:

“Only fourth? With that kind of attitude toward Sister Qiqi? If she were first, would she want to fly to the sky?”

“Oh… Maybe. Haha!”

“Hmph!”

The topic ended abruptly. They were silent for a moment. Then Qu Lin spoke:

“Alright! Break’s over. I still need to finalize the script during lunch. I’m off!”

“Yeah. Bye!”

“Yeah. Bye!”

After saying that, Qu Lin jogged away. Liu Ya stared at her back, dazed for a moment. She let out a long breath, leaned back slightly, and looked at the slowly drifting clouds in the sky.

‘Good thing Qu Lin was here this time. I’ll get her some treats another day!’

‘Even though I wasn’t gone for long, something like this happened… Really! I’ll have to be more careful in the future!’

‘But… I clearly told Ye Nuo and the others about it, yet when Qu Lin asked, I didn’t really want to say? Strange…’

‘Knowing Qu Lin’s personality, if I told her, she’d definitely help. And with her influence, she could solve many problems!’

‘Ah, forget it. I won’t worry about it. I’ll think about it later.’

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