Zhong Chufeng didn’t expect that An Qian would be so cruel and actually threaten to tell Tang Yuanyuan his feelings, just to force him into carrying her luggage.
However, she now knew his weakness. Zhong Chufeng was already accustomed to An Qian’s antics in front of his parents. He knew that his parents wouldn’t believe a word she said, even if they did end up believing some of it. They were his parents after all, and wouldn’t berate him too much.
After all, blood was thicker than water.
But Tang Yuanyuan was different.
This girl was as innocent as a lamb. If An Qian were to spout nonsense to her, or say bad things about him, it was hard to tell if Tang Yuanyuan would believe it or not.
It was fine if she was just bad mouthing him, but Tang Yuanyuan absolutely could not know about Zhong Chufeng’s feelings for her; otherwise, how would he face her in the future?
Could he deny it and say that he did not like her? If he did, he would leave Yuanyuan with the impression that he didn’t like her. Even if she gradually came to learn about the romantic feelings between a man and a woman, she would still be under the impression that he did not have feelings for her.
However, if he were to admit his true feelings, he might just scare the little girl off.
I better not bring this up now. She deserves to grow up carefree at her own pace. I’ll tell her when the time is right.
“Pick it up now, old man. You will carry my luggage for as long as our journey requires.”
Now that An Qian got what she had wished for, her lips curved into a smile of satisfaction. “Zhong Chufeng, I really didn’t expect for her to be your weakness. Why did you agree so easily to my request? Now that you’ve exposed your weakness to me, I’m afraid you will have to suffer for the whole trip.”
“Oh!” An Qian exclaimed as a realization hit her. She then smiled and waved her phone at Zhong Chufeng. “Don’t forget that I can easily get in touch with Tang Yuanyuan via WeChat. You know, just in case you have thoughts of upsetting me in the near future. I will immediately tell her about your nasty intentions.”
“Nasty intentions? Do you think that you are the only one in a position to make threats? Do you think I don’t know the purpose of you coming here?” Zhong Chufeng responded rather bitterly.
An Qian froze for a moment.
“What do you mean?”
Noticing that Yuchi Yishu and Tang Yuanyuan had almost reached them, Zhong Chufeng realized that they could very likely hear the two of them speaking from that distance. “Just so you know, I am not the only one walking on thin ice here. I will help you with your luggage, but if you ever cross the line, don’t blame me for my actions then.”
With that, Zhong Chufeng turned to pick up An Qian’s luggage and walked away from her.
An Qian wanted to retort, but had to hold her tongue as Tang Yuanyuan and Yuchi Yishu had reached them. She now looked rather pale.
She knew exactly what Zhong Chufeng was referring to. She stood there biting her lower lip in anger just as Tang Yuanyuan approached her.
“An Qian?” Tang Yuanyuan called out to her with an innocent expression and earnest eyes. “You called out to me earlier. Is something the matter?”
Zhong Chufeng tensed up as he picked up the luggage. He wouldn’t put it past An Qian to spill the beans.
“It was nothing, actually.” An Qian smiled thinly. “I just wanted to ask you; will we be sharing a room?”
A room?
Tang Yuanyuan initially assumed they would each have a room to themselves, and she wasn’t expecting An Qian to share a room with her. She stood there in a daze as An Qian came forward and took Tang Yuanyuan by the hand. “I’ve been meaning to tell you, I am only one year older than you, so feel free to call me ‘Qian’. Also, seeing that we will be sharing a room, we won’t have to be scared of sleeping alone in the dark.”
Tang Yuanyuan responded naïvely, “I am actually not afraid to sleep alone.”
For a moment, An Qian’s mask slipped. “Well, I am actually a little scared to be alone. Do you think you could keep me company?”
“Well, if you’re afraid, then we’ll share a room!”
Tang Yuanyuan kindheartedly patted An Qian on the shoulder and said, “You don’t have anything to be worried about!”
An Qian was speechless. In reality, she wasn’t afraid of anything.
Zhong Chufeng was amused by Tang Yuanyuan; all he could do was swallow his laughter. Carrying the luggage, he asked, “Shall we go now?”
“Okay.”
As the conversation died down, Yuchi Yishu kneeled before Tang Yuanyuan and said to her in a deep voice, “The snow is too deep to walk. Hop onto my back.”
Tang Yuanyuan asked in surprise, “You want to give me a piggyback ride?”
“Yep.”
And so, she hopped onto Yuchi Yishu’s back, her little hands wrapped around his neck happily, as excited as a child with a candy cane.
An Qian watched the entire scene unfold, feeling jealous.
She then turned to look at Zhong Chufeng, who pointed to the suitcase in his hand and said, “You wanted me to carry that. I can’t carry you and the luggage both.”
After hearing this, An Qian wanted to stamp her feet in anger.
Yuchi Yishu was a prize; she knew this because he was very famous in their circle of friends. He was the Prince Charming equivalent—tall, dark, handsome, and not to mention wealthy too. He truly was a catch.
In addition to the girls from their own school, those from other schools also had their eyes on him.
Occasionally, a photo would cause quite a stir among the girls. It was by accident that An Qian stumbled upon a photo and fell in love with him at first sight. After that, she dug up some intel on Yuchi Yishu’s background.
She discovered that he was the grandson of the Ye Family, the richest family in North City. His maternal grandfather had no heir, therefore he adopted the Yuchi surname in order to inherit his maternal grandfather’s company.
In other words, not only was he from the richest family in North City, he also had the backing of the famous Yuchi Group from abroad.
A union of these two powerhouses was sure to turn heads.
Of course, there was also his mother, Han Muzi, who was the sister of Han Qing, which made him the nephew of the president of the Han Group.
Just saying one of those three names was good enough to catch people’s attention, what more to say when these three big fishes were put together.
Plus, not only was he easy on the eyes, he was also intelligent, and very low-key about his background, which had got countless girls eyeing him as their future husband.
It was also around this time that An Qian unintentionally found out that Zhong Chufeng had a good relationship with Yuchi Yishu, and that they were about to embark on a trip to Snow Town. Therefore, An Qian took the opportunity to follow them.
However, much to her surprise, Yuchi Yishu was much too kind to Tang Yuanyuan during their journey. Although they did address each other as brother and sister, it was a known fact that they were not related by blood, and were merely friends who grew up together.
As a matter of fact, Tang Yuanyuan practically grew up in the Ye household since she was a child.
An Qian didn’t know if she was reading too much into it, but it felt as though the relationship between these two was much more complicated.
As she thought of this, she ran to catch up with the rest of them.
The journey that usually took only half an hour ended up becoming an hour long because of the heavy snow. By the end of it, An Qian’s legs were almost frozen.
Looking at Tang Yuanyuan sprawled on Yuchi Yishu’s back comfortably, An Qian was going crazy with jealousy.
Why take the trouble? She is obviously a fat bumpkin. Just how far does Yuchi Yishu think he can walk with her on his back?
The rage An Qian was building up inside her only made the evil thoughts in her head grow.
“Hmph, had you not made me carry your luggage, I could have probably carried you on my back too.”
Of course, Zhong Chufeng did not miss the opportunity to poke fun at her.
Just like that, An Qian decided to hold Tang Yuanyuan responsible for her situation.
