Chapter 40: The Truth About Feelings

“Speaking of… Ye Nuo, which university do you want to apply to?”

“Me? Hmm… not sure yet. But I do want to go abroad to see the world!”

“Abroad, huh? Sigh…”

“Hey~ why are you sighing?”

“Because! I originally wanted us to go to the same university…”

“What’s the problem? If you want, you can apply abroad with me?”

The girl sighed, reached out, and pinched Ye Nuo’s cheek hard.

“Ow! That hurts… what was that for?”

“Are you joking? What are your grades compared to mine? You want me, the student council president, to score the same as you? Really?”

The girl looked down dejectedly. Ye Nuo rubbed her face, giggled, and hugged her.

“Oh~ why not? Xiaoyi, you’re not dumb, you’re just lazy! With a little effort, what good university can’t you get into?”

“…I’ll take that as a compliment!”

“No need to ‘take it as,’ it is a compliment! Hehe. And I’m not the president anymore, why do you still call me that?”

“Hehe. Habit…”

“Haha… ah!”

Suddenly, a girl rushed in head down, bumping into Ye Nuo. Both were startled. Ye Nuo nearly fell but quickly steadied herself, then looked at the little girl in confusion.

“Oh my! You scared me… um… classmate? What’s wrong?”

“Oh my god… you scared me! What happened?”

Xiaoyi was also dazed, staring blankly at the girl.

They waited a long time but got no response. The girl just stood there stiffly, her hair covering her face. Ye Nuo curiously tilted her head to see who it was when the girl started sobbing.

“Hey! Liu Ya?!”

“Huh?”

Xiaoyi puzzledly parted the girl’s hair, revealing a tear-streaked face with big drops of tears rolling down the corners of her eyes.

“Ah! It really is Liu Ya! What happened to you?”

“You… who bullied you!”

Ye Nuo quickly stepped forward to embrace her, smoothed her hair, and took out a tissue from her pocket. But Liu Ya just cried with her eyes closed, not reacting. Ye Nuo had no choice but to hold her head and turn to Xiaoyi.

“Um… Xiaoyi, you go back first! It’s crowded here. I’ll take her to the student council office for a bit, then head straight to the dorm.”

“Oh, okay. Do you need me?”

Ye Nuo looked down at Liu Ya, pursed her lips, then looked at Xiaoyi.

“It’s fine, no need. I’ll go now!”

“Yeah, okay! If you need help, message me!”

“Okay.”

With that, Ye Nuo wiped Liu Ya’s face and led her toward the activity building.

—

On the other side:

After hearing Yaqi’s words, Gongyu was stunned for a long time. Yaqi frowned deeply. They sat in silence.

After a while, Gongyu lowered her head and spoke softly.

“So… sorry… I didn’t know about this…”

Yaqi looked up, still visibly angry. She let out a long, helpless sigh.

“I already agreed with you, so why did you have to say that?”

“I… I didn’t say anything too harsh… maybe just a bit loud…”

“Why can’t you speak nicely? And that wasn’t just loud! You were shouting at her!”

“But… I didn’t expect someone like Liu Ya to be bullied either…”

“Hmph!”

Yaqi forcefully turned her head away, crossed her arms, leaned back in her chair, and pouted. Gongyu slowly looked up, glanced at her, then lowered her head again.

“I’m sorry…”

“Don’t talk to me!”

“…I… I understand…”

Gongyu sighed helplessly, turned to look out the window, but subconsciously glanced at Yaqi. She saw Yaqi’s face flushed red, her brows tightly furrowed.

Yaqi’s words echoed in her mind. She had only wanted to get justice for Xinyu, never thinking that one day she would become the bully herself.

“Yaqi… don’t be angry. When Liu Ya comes back, I’ll apologize to her, okay?”

“Hmph… fine.”

“So… what happened to Liu Ya when she was young?”

Yaqi was stunned, biting her lip. Just as she was about to speak, Mengmeng came back cheerfully.

“Oh? You two didn’t go eat?”

Mengmeng came over casually. Yaqi and Gongyu instinctively looked at her, their eyes coincidentally meeting, then both silently turned away.

Mengmeng sensed the awkward atmosphere, her cheerful expression becoming reserved.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen between you two?”

Yaqi stared out the window silently. Gongyu nudged her.

“Nothing… just move aside…”

“Why? I just got here?”

“Isn’t it nap time now? Aren’t you going back?”

Gongyu was getting impatient, her face not pleasant. Seeing this, Mengmeng didn’t say more. She glanced at Yaqi and spoke softly.

“Then… I’ll go back first. Yaqi, are you still sleeping in the classroom?”

“…Mm.” Yaqi replied quietly.

“And you, Gongyu?”

“I’ll also sleep in the classroom today. I won’t go to your dorm. You just sleep.”

“Okay… I’m leaving then…”

Neither answered. Mengmeng quietly slipped away. Just outside the door, she peeked in, worriedly looking at them. Seeing them motionless for a long time, she finally left.

“Yaqi, will you come to afternoon class?”

“…Only after you apologize to Liu Ya!”

“…Fine.”

—

In the student office:

Liu Ya sat blankly on the chair, sobbing softly. Ye Nuo handed her a tissue, but she didn’t take it. Tears kept dripping onto her skirt.

Seeing this, Ye Nuo could only pull out some tissues and gently wipe her tears. She stood by, quietly watching her.

‘Seriously… this is the first time I’ve seen you cry. I thought you were an all-knowing girl, but I guess you’re just a little sister after all…’

‘No need to guess, it must be because of Yaqi. Do you like her that much? When Gongyu came to the student council and scolded you, you didn’t cry. Now you’re like this…’

Ye Nuo looked at her, a smile gradually appearing on her face, but it was somewhat bitter.

‘As expected, I wasn’t wrong about you! You really are… not the perfect person everyone says. Just like me, a paper tiger putting on a show. Haha.’

‘Probably no one would believe that the famous Liu Ya would cry like a child over liking someone… so embarrassing~’

‘But… having someone you like must be really happy, right? If I could, I’d also want to experience such pain…’

After a long time, Liu Ya gradually calmed down. Her unfocused eyes regained focus, staring blankly at Ye Nuo.

Ye Nuo was startled, then smiled helplessly.

“Want some water?”

“Mm…”

“Hah…”

Ye Nuo got up to pour a glass of water and handed it to her. Liu Ya held the cup with both hands, stared at it for a while, then drank it all in one gulp. She rubbed her eyes and muttered.

“Qiqijie… Qiqijie is cheating on me! Wuwu…”

“Huh? Huh?”

Liu Ya couldn’t help but cry again. Ye Nuo looked at her in a daze.

“Qiqijie? You mean Yaqi?”

“Wuwu… mm…”

“Oh, okay. But you said cheating… did you two date?”

“What are you saying!?”

Liu Ya stared at her resentfully, her mouth pouted into a little hill. The corners of her droopy eyes trembled, as if about to burst into a flood.

“Hey, hey, hey! No, no! Pretend I didn’t say that…”

“Wuwu…”

Liu Ya silently turned away, closed her eyes, and sobbed softly.

“Sigh… so what exactly happened?”

“Mm…”

Liu Ya sniffled, looked up at Ye Nuo, then lowered her head again, telling the story in detail.

“Oh… I see…”

“Mm… I… I really didn’t expect Yaqijie to be like this! I… I…”

As she spoke, Liu Ya felt like crying again. Ye Nuo quickly covered her mouth.

“Mmph!?”

“Oh, come on! Will crying solve anything? So pathetic… This isn’t the Liu Ya I know!”

“Mmph~? Mmph mmph!”

Liu Ya slowly removed her hand and said weakly.

“Yaqijie has been taken away by someone else. Who cares who I am anymore…”

Liu Ya silently curled up on the chair, hugging her knees and burying her face. Seeing this, Ye Nuo was momentarily speechless, her face darkening.

“Oh my god! I never thought I’d hear such words from your mouth. Disgusting!”

“Mm! What do you mean…”

Liu Ya slowly looked up, only to face a ready hand that ‘thumped’ hard on her forehead.

“Ow!”

“Whoosh~ that feels better…”

“Mm! What was that for?”

Liu Ya covered her head aggrievedly. Ye Nuo glanced at her disdainfully and said irritably.

“What for? Rebooting your useless brain!”

“No, I mean… back when Gongyu came to the student council to cause trouble, she said worse things, and you were fine. I was so angry I wanted to hit her!”

“But this time, she just said something like that, and you’re crying like this? Why?”

“Because…”

Liu Ya slowly lowered her hands and sat up straight.

“Because Yaqijie also thinks I have some ulterior motive… And she even spoke up for that Gongyu!”

Liu Ya stood up angrily.

“…That’s it?”

“What do you mean? Isn’t that enough!”

“Girl! It’s obvious that Gongyu said something to Yaqi! Can’t you see that?”

“I… of course, I saw that…”

“Then why did you run away like a coward? Shouldn’t you have firmly rebutted her? Running away like that only makes you look guilty!”

“I…”

Liu Ya choked up. Ye Nuo continued, somewhat angry.

“I used to think you were smart, but you’re so dumb! Can’t even see through such a simple thing! Useless!”

“I… wuwuwu…”

Liu Ya’s tears couldn’t be held back. She collapsed into the chair, closed her eyes, and sobbed silently.

Ye Nuo frowned angrily, crossed her arms, and turned away, not wanting to pity her anymore. But the intermittent sobs stirred her soft heartstrings. She sighed helplessly, stood up, and handed her some tissues.

“Alright… sorry. I was too harsh just now. Don’t cry…”

“Wuwu…”

“So why? You shouldn’t be that fragile. Why did you embarrass yourself like this…”

Liu Ya was dazed for a while, then took the tissues, rubbed her eyes, and blew her nose. She said weakly.

“Because… even Yaqijie suspected me! And she said, as long as my grades improve, it doesn’t matter who teaches me!”

“Who does she think she is! What does she mean it doesn’t matter who teaches!”

Liu Ya got emotional again, shouting at Ye Nuo.

“Does she know! These past few days, every night I’ve been searching for relevant materials for her, making test questions! In class, I’ve been watching which problems she doesn’t understand, quickly finding related content! Because of this, I haven’t even been paying attention in class…”

“Whenever I have time, I think about what Yaqijie doesn’t understand, how to explain it so she can grasp it easily! Eating, bathing, in class, I never stop thinking about it!”

“And after all that, she says it doesn’t matter who teaches! Everything I did for her is so dispensable in her eyes! Wuwu…”

Liu Ya paused, turned to grab more tissues. Ye Nuo was stunned by the outburst for a moment, then came to her senses and chuckled softly.

“Wow… I really didn’t expect you to go this far, Liu Ya…”

“So… what should I do? Yaqijie is so dumb…”

“Then why didn’t you say all this when Yaqi questioned you? Why let Gongyu step all over you?”

“Because… I panicked the moment I heard Yaqijie suspect me…”

“She said she trusted me before, but now she says that… What if she never believed in me from the start? Then she’d think I’m exactly what Gongyu said…”

Ye Nuo listened quietly, feeling both surprised and envious. Surprised that Liu Ya thought so much in that moment. Envious that liking someone could be so irrational.

“Sigh, really… do you like Yaqi that much?”

“Mm!”

Liu Ya nodded firmly. Ye Nuo asked curiously.

“But… how were you sure you like her?”

“This…”

Liu Ya paused, clutching her skirt, pursing her lips.

“I don’t know…”

“Huh?”

“But I just do!”

Before Ye Nuo could finish, Liu Ya straightened her clothes, sat upright in the chair, and stared at Ye Nuo intently, her face flushed.

“But… I saw online that to tell if you like someone, you imagine them with someone else… doing… ‘that’, and see if you can accept it!”

“‘That’? Oh… I see. Go on.”

“So I tried to imagine it…”

“And?”

“I want to kill him.”

Liu Ya’s tone suddenly turned cold, her eyes empty and icy.

“Oh… oh… okay! I can tell! You really do like her!”

“Mm…”

Ye Nuo nodded approvingly. Liu Ya blushed, nodded slightly, and gripped her skirt tightly.

‘Wow~ isn’t that way of judging feelings a bit too simplistic? And isn’t it just lust for someone’s body? But… maybe I shouldn’t say that. Liu Ya sounded like a yandere just now! What if… Eh, forget it.’

‘Come to think of it, did I influence her? Should I not have introduced her to this new world?’

‘But… is Liu Ya still a child? The goddess everyone worships, now acting so childish for someone she likes… Sigh… I don’t get it either!’

“And…”

Just as Ye Nuo was troubled, Liu Ya suddenly spoke.

“That was a method I found later. But actually, I’ve felt I liked Yaqijie for a long time!”

Liu Ya bit her lip, shyly looked up. In her wide eyes, pure black pupils trembled slightly in the snowy whites.

Ye Nuo was silent for a moment, then smiled with relief.

“Ha! I see~”

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