After Meng Kefei had finally calmed down, she reached for Tang Yuanyuan’s hands. “Please don’t pick a fight with them. Even though they can’t measure up to you in terms of family background, they are both crazy and you have no idea what they might do when they’re desperate.”
Tang Yuanyuan wrinkled her nose. “I didn’t know who they really were before, but now I do. It’s hard for me to not do that.”
Not knowing what else to say, Meng Kefei felt helpless. She knew well that if Tang Yuanyuan was able to hold it in, she would not have got into a fight with them earlier. However, she also did not feel the need to please them. She could have very well avoided all the things that Zhang Xiaolu and Yuan Yuehan did to her had she chosen to be a hypocrite. But she could not bring herself to behave that way, which was what caused her to be bullied by them.
Meng Kefei reckoned this was also Tang Yuanyuan’s mindset, so she commented, “Alright then. Just try your best and stay safe.”
“I should be telling you this, Fei. If they ever threaten or hurt you again, please let me know.”
“Sure.”
Once again, the two girls had become best friends. Then, they went back to their room together.
The next day, Tang Yuanyuan had that group of boys over to their family hotel for a meal. They only realized it was a 6-star hotel when they arrived. No matter how wealthy these boys might be, they had never seen a little girl treat her friends to a 6-star hotel for a meal, much less at a hotel owned by the Tang Group. As such, they were stunned. Some who were planning to pursue Tang Yuanyuan in the past decided to back out after finding out about her family background. On the flip side, Tang Yuanyuan had found herself a group of good friends who would greet and cheer her up every day when she was running.
Tang Yuanyuan lived a happy life for the next half a month, including noticing an improvement in her weight-loss journey. She had not weighed herself in a while, but she could tell the difference. Ever since then, she had not contacted Yuchi Yishu. Zhong Chufeng had been visiting her at school very often to bring her yogurt drink, but she was never too enthusiastic about it. Later, Zhong Chufeng decided to stop bringing her yogurt drink but water instead, and he would sometimes pack food for her. After making the delivery, he would leave right away.
As the number of his appearances increased, the group of boys at the basketball field began to tease Tang Yuanyuan. “Yuanyuan, is he your neighbor?”
“No, he’s not.”
“He’s not? Then who is he? How does he know you?”
“He’s my brother’s classmate and best friend.”
“I see. Is he into you?”
Tang Yuanyuan blushed. “What nonsense is that?”
“Yuanyuan, I’m positive that this classmate of your brother likes you. Otherwise, who would so patiently come and deliver things to you every day from another school? Do you think he’s doing charity?”
“He’s right, Yuanyuan. I don’t think you’ve noticed that every time he comes to you, he will sit in the corner, and his gaze would never leave you. I bet he likes you.”
“He doesn’t, and I’m serious about it.” After hearing about Zhong Chufeng’s crush on her, Tang Yuanyuan waved her hands nervously. “Chufeng has always been nice to me, but not in a way that you guys are thinking. He has always treated me like his little sister.”
“Has he ever confessed to you?”
Tang Yuanyuan quickly shook her head. “No.” The thought did cross her mind that one time, but it only lasted for an instant before she quickly dismissed it. She should not be thinking of someone who treated her so well in this way.
“That’s strange. Why has he never confessed to you?”
“How’s that strange? Yuanyuan is still young, and that guy looks a lot older. Yuanyuan, to be frank with you, do you think he’s waiting until you get older?”
Tang Yuanyuan was nonplussed.
“You’re only a sophomore in high school. You’re turning eighteen after the new year, right?”
“Yes.”
“After you’ve turned eighteen, he’ll definitely be more aggressive toward you than he is now. Eventually, he’ll find the perfect opportunity to confess.”
This group of boys spoke earnestly to Tang Yuanyuan as they surrounded her. Being frightened by what they said, Tang Yuanyuan’s face turned pale. “Stop talking nonsense. That’s not the Chufeng that I know.”
Those boys decided to stop talking about that after seeing her pale face and how nervous she looked. All of a sudden, one of them asked, “Is it because you don’t like Chufeng? Why else would your face turn pale when you heard that he might be into you?”
Tang Yuanyuan’s eyes became downcast as she definitely liked Chufeng, but not in a romantic way. She merely felt that Chufeng was a nice, genuine, and kind person who took good care of people. After spending so much time together, it was impossible for her to not like him. However, her feelings toward him were different from those toward Yuchi Yishu. Ever since she started to lose weight, she had begun feeling anxious because she wanted to lose weight badly so that Yuchi Yishu could see her best side. On the other hand, she was afraid of seeing him, and she even started wondering if she could still be with him as the same person after going through so much of a transformation.
“If you have no feelings for him, you should reject him now.”
“Reject him?” Tang Yuanyuan looked up, looking confused.
“That’s right. As long as he knows that you don’t like him, he’ll stop spending so much time on you. Yuanyuan, if you don’t like him, everything that he’s doing for you would be a waste of time.”
“I got it.” Tang Yuanyuan nodded.
The next day, when Zhong Chufeng faithfully showed up with water and food for Tang Yuanyuan, he included in his bag a little hair ornament he bought from an accessory shop. It’ll definitely go well with the color of the shirts that she wears to exercise. She’s going to look good with this, Zhong Chufeng thought. However, to his surprise, Tang Yuanyuan was nowhere to be seen near the running tracks today but was found under a tree not far away from him.
That was where Zhong Chufeng would normally hang out, so he reckoned that she must have gone there to wait for him. He let out a smile. Good girl. Zhong Chufeng quickly walked up to her.
Right now, Tang Yuanyuan was feeling conflicted because she had been going over, since last night, how to let Chufeng know that she had no feelings for him so that he would stop liking her. In the beginning, she thought if Chufeng never liked her, these words would be redundant. But after giving it some thought, she felt that if he did like her, but she did not make her feelings clear to him, she would be wasting his time. Anyway, Tang Yuanyuan felt that she should be more upfront with him, even if that meant the possibility of her making a blunder. The key was that she should no longer waste his time. This was why she did not run today and decided to just sit under the tree to wait for him.
After Zhong Chufeng sat down, he asked mysteriously, “So, young lady, guess what I brought you today?”
