After Tang Yuanyuan left, Yuchi Yishu sat in the driver’s seat and mulled over it alone for a long time. For some reason, he felt slightly nervous. The gaze she had, as she left, made him feel like he was about to lose something important. After thinking about it, his mood turned sour—so much so that he craved a smoke. Then, it occurred to him that he did not smoke.
In the end, he drove to a small kiosk and bought a packet of chewing gum. Then, he popped a few into his mouth. Unfortunately, the sugar couldn’t wipe away the suffocating feeling in his heart. Thus, he stuffed the packet of gum into his pocket and left.
Over the next few days, Tang Yuanyuan continued to visit and help take care of Chufeng’s mother. Even so, she stopped going there once school reopened.
She had a slight fear of going back to school. This was because she and Meng Kefei sat at the same table. However, after their fallout, they probably couldn’t sit at the same table again. Besides, sitting at the same table would be awkward.
She regarded Meng Kefei as her best friend. Still, if Meng Kefei hated her that much, then there was no need for her to shamelessly approach Meng Kefei. Only, she did not know whether she should take the initiative to ask the teacher to change their seats. If she came forward first, wouldn’t that paint Meng Kefei in a bad light? I should let Fei do it herself.
Then, the long-awaited day of returning to school arrived. Thus, Tang Yuanyuan dragged her luggage to the dormitory.
At the same time, Mrs. Zhong was discharged from the hospital. For that reason, Zhong Chufeng and Yuchi Yishu sent her to the dormitory as usual and helped to clean up the place. However, due to delays on the road, they arrived late.
When she arrived, Zhang Xiaolu and Yuan Yuehan were already at the dormitory. Seeing Tang Yuanyuan, as well as Yuchi Yishu and Zhong Chufeng following behind her, the two girls immediately stood up.
“Yuanyuan; Yishu and Chufeng! You’re here!”
“Hello.” Tang Yuanyuan exchanged greetings with them. Then, she subconsciously glanced over at Meng Kefei’s bed—nobody had cleaned up the place. Despite her resolve not to shamelessly approach Meng Kefei, they had been best friends for many years. Thus, she couldn’t help asking, “Where is Fei? Has she not arrived?”
“Meng Kefei?” Zhang Xiaolu replied. “She’s not coming anymore.”
“Not coming anymore?”
“Yuanyuan, did you not know? She applied to change her dormitory room. Now, she is staying upstairs. It so happens that she is in the same room as my best friends.”
Hearing that, a flash of sorrow flitted across Tang Yuanyuan’s eyes. I guess now that she has changed her dormitory, I’m sure she’ll change her seat too. Oh, well. The relationship between us has fallen apart. This is fairly normal behavior. Even so, she couldn’t help feeling lonely. She did not truly believe that Meng Kefei had no intentions of ever being friends with her anymore.
“Yuanyuan, what happened between you and Fei over the winter break? Why did she want to change her dormitory the moment she got back to school?
“That’s right. Did she hurt you?”
As Yuchi Yishu and Zhong Chufeng were present, the two girls showed great concern for Tang Yuanyuan. Moreover, they did their best to show that they were on her side, even going so far as to talk badly of Meng Kefei.
“Yuanyuan, seeing as she has already applied to change her dormitory, then you should forget about her. Nothing will change even if it’s only the three of us staying here. In the future, if she won’t spend time with you, you can join us instead.”
“That’s right. We will take good care of you.”
“Thank you. I’m going to start cleaning up.”
Tang Yuanyuan placed her bags on a nearby study table, then she went to the bathroom. When Yuchi Yishu saw that, he pursed his thin lips and followed after her. Upon entering the bathroom, he found the young lady standing there with red-rimmed eyes.
“It’s not worth it,” he said neutrally. Then, he walked over and picked up a rag hanging by the side. “Let’s clean the place up.”
“Okay.” She forced her tears back, then put a smile on her face. “It’s nothing, Yishu. I was just feeling a bit down about it. I’ll be fine after some time.”
Reaching out, he rested his palm on the top of the young lady’s head. His gaze was gloomy. “Don’t be sad for the people that don’t cherish you—no matter who it is.”
“Okay.” She picked up a basin and filled it with clean water. Then, she put a rag into the water, washed it, and wrung it dry. “I’ll go wipe down the window.”
“The window is too high. I’ll do it. Why don’t you take the blankets out to sun-dry and wipe down your closet?” After saying that, Yuchi Yishu took the rag out of her hands and walked out.
Tang Yuanyuan took a while to get her emotions back under control before walking out with the plastic basin in her hands. At first, she was going to clean her closets as per Yuchi Yishu’s instructions, then unpack her luggage. However, as soon as she walked to her closet, Zhong Chufeng came over and took the rag out of her hands. “I’ll do it.”
Feeling helpless, she then went to wipe down her bed. This time, Zhang Xiaolu and Yuan Yuehan rushed over and took over her chores, pushing her aside.
“Yuanyuan, why don’t you sit by the side and wait? You can play with your phone or read a bit. We’ll be done in a flash.”
What a joke! Now that the hateful Meng Kefei is gone, there’s only the three of us left. Moreover, Tang Yuanyuan is surely feeling upset at the moment. Thus, it was the perfect chance for Zhang Xiaolu and Yuan Yuehan to integrate themselves with Tang Yuanyuan and snatch over the position of her best friend.
Over two years, Zhang Xiaolu and Yuan Yuehan had made up their minds. Even if they couldn’t snag Yuchi Yishu for themselves, Zhong Chufeng wasn’t such a bad catch either. Besides, it didn’t matter if they couldn’t obtain him either. They couldn’t put all their eggs in one basket—there were so many other outstanding men with wealthy family backgrounds. If they had a good relationship with Tang Yuanyuan, they could get closer to the Han Family, the Ye Family, the Yuchi Family, and countless other conglomerates. These were more important than a single man.
Tang Yuanyuan was dumbstruck. There was nothing she could do, so she could only stupidly stand to the side. The moment she approached them, she would be pushed aside. Thus, she did nothing in the end.
Once they were done cleaning up, she felt embarrassed. Therefore, she decided to treat all of them to hotpot outside the school. As it was still winter, they decided on having beef hotpot.
After eating the hotpot, the two guys sent the three girls back to their school before leaving.
On the way back to the dormitory, Zhang Xiaolu and Yuan Yuehan surrounded Tang Yuanyuan on both sides as they showered her with kind words.
“Yuanyuan, don’t feel sad. If Meng Kefei decides not to sit at the same table with you, you can randomly pick one of us and join us at our table. It doesn’t matter who you choose.”
“That’s right! If you want to share the same table with one of us, we can go to the teacher together and ask for a change of seats. Or, we could take turns to keep you company. What do you think?”
Tang Yuanyuan was slightly taken aback by their sudden friendliness. “No, it’s okay.”
“Don’t be afraid, Yuanyuan. We are just worried that you’ll be upset. That’s why we want to keep you company.”
“Yup, yup. We may have done some things to you that made you sad in the past, but we’ve come to regret our actions. Besides, we don’t have our eyes on your brother anymore. We won’t try to snatch him from you, so don’t worry.”
Tang Yuanyuan began, “I—”
“By the way, how far has the relationship between you and your brother developed? Your coming-of-age ceremony is over, so when are you going to become a couple?”
Tang Yuanyuan blushed. “How did you know?”
