He stood there, looking downcast. It was as if he had just been abandoned.
What’s wrong with him?
Tang Yuanyuan was startled. Why does he look like I have just bullied him? I’m the one who should feel this way.
“You should go,” Yuchi Yishu added before Tang Yuanyuan could even react. He sounded like he had just been hurt.
Tang Yuanyuan did not move an inch. After a while, Yuchi Yishu turned to her. “Why are you still here? I thought you didn’t care about me anymore.”
Tang Yuanyuan responded, “Since when did I say that?”
“Isn’t that what you meant?” Yuchi Yishu bitterly looked her in the eye.
“That’s not true.” Tang Yuanyuan defended herself. “If that’s what I wanted, I would’ve…”
I would’ve gone in already. Why would I still be bothered to talk to you here?
“You would’ve what?” Yuchi Yishu pursed his thin lips as he slowly walked toward Tang Yuanyuan, who remained silent.
It took her an instant before she looked up at Yuchi Yishu, looking unhappy. “You are the one who upset me. Why do you look like I’m the one who upset you?”
“Do I?” Yuchi Yishu blinked innocently. “Since when did I upset you?”
Tang Yuanyuan widened her eyes in disbelief at his denial.
“Little girl, didn’t I tell you how much I feared that those words would scare you off? If that happens, how am I going to find someone like you again?”
“If that’s the case, why did you tell me now?”
“Don’t you already know why?”
Yuchi Yishu lowered his voice as he approached Tang Yuanyuan.
“W-Why would I know?”
She subconsciously tried to avoid him by moving away from him, but who knew that Yuchi Yishu would grab her by her arm. “You ate hotpot with that guy today. Does that mean that you’re going to start dating him?”
“I’m not!” Nose wrinkled, Tang Yuanyuan shook her head. “We were just eating hotpot together. There were no other intentions.”
“Are you sure there aren’t?”
“There aren’t.”
“What about him? Can you guarantee that he feels the same?”
“I…”
“You can’t guarantee that, can you? Previously there were no pursuers around you, so I could still put off telling you about my feelings. I thought I would wait for a while until you become more mature as by then you would perhaps be able to see that I had feelings for you. But it wasn’t until today that I realized that I couldn’t tolerate knowing that someone else is interested in you.”
These words took Tang Yuanyuan aback. Did I hear it wrong?
He can’t tolerate knowing that someone else is interested in me?
Does that mean that he likes… me?
Since he did not expressly say that, Tang Yuanyuan was afraid that she was reading into the lines too much. She bit her lower lip and stood there stolidly.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Yuchi Yishu pinched her cheek. “Are you okay?”
“Yishu, are you saying—”
“Yes,” Yuchi Yishu responded right away before letting her finish her sentence. “It’s exactly what you think it is.”
“Alright. Go back and give it a think.”
Yuchi Yishu’s hands were on her shoulders when he turned Tang Yuanyuan around to the direction of the school entrance. “You should go. Let me know when you have an answer.”
Even though he really wanted to know the answer right now, he felt that it would be unfair to Tang Yuanyuan. She probably needed some time to clear her head.
“Keep walking and don’t look back.”
“Wh—” Tang Yuanyuan subconsciously tried to look back only to hear Yuchi Yishu’s comment, “If you look back today, you may not be able to get back to your dormitory tonight.”
Tang Yuanyuan paused for a second before turning her head back and slowly walking toward her dormitory.
The farther she was from Yuchi Yishu, the more his eyes turned dim. It’s really not as easy as I thought it would be, but this is the only way to be fair to her.
Just as she almost disappeared in front of his eyes, she suddenly stopped in her tracks. Yuchi Yishu’s gaze rested on her.
Is she going to look back?
Unfortunately, Tang Yuanyuan did not move for a long while—she did not move forward, nor did she look back.
The hope that was welling up in Yuchi Yishu’s heart had slowly vanished.
So, this is what it feels like. This is probably how she feels every time she looks at me only to be rejected by me.
I deserve it.
In the end, Tang Yuanyuan took a step forward and eventually disappeared.
Yuchi Yishu let out a sigh and remained there for a long time just to make sure that Tang Yuanyuan was never coming back. After that, he left.
To Tang Yuanyuan, it almost felt like she had to drag her body back to her dormitory. It was exhausting as if she had just gone through some sort of major event in her life.
Earlier on, there were so many occasions where she wanted to look back, but she felt that she should not let him have it so easily after how much he had neglected her in the past.
Therefore, she decided to keep walking.
When she opened the door to her room, Zhang Xiaolu and Yuan Yuehan were both inside. Seeing that she was back, they quickly went up to her.
“Yuanyuan, you’re back!”
“Xiaolu, Yuehan, didn’t you guys tell me—”
“You’re right, but we’re back home already. How was everything with Zong Yongran tonight with the hotpot? Did you notice how nice and caring he was?”
“He sent you home, didn’t he?”
Tang Yuanyuan was conflicted as she did not know how to explain to them what happened tonight, but she for one was clear about one thing. Then, she grabbed them by their hands and said thoughtfully, “Please stop trying to set me up with Zong Yongran.”
The two looked startled as they listened to Tang Yuanyuan. Yuan Yuehan responded, “We weren’t setting you guys up. It was just an opportunity for you to get to know him. No one is saying that you have to date him.”
“She’s right, Yuanyuan. You are still young. You need some practice.”
“I-I don’t need that.” Tang Yuanyuan let go of their hands, walked to her bed, and sat down. “Anyway, please stop trying to set me up with him. I don’t like him and nothing will ever happen.”
At this point, Zhang Xiaolu walked up to her and sat next to her.
“That’s completely fine. We can find another one as there are so many outstanding people at school. Just tell me who you like, and I’ll make the arrangements.”
“Yeah. Even though Zong Yongran is pretty decent, no one can force you if there aren’t any feelings.”
Tang Yuanyuan shook her head. “I don’t want anything or anyone right now.”
She went to grab her clothes. “Alright. I’m going to take a shower.”
Zhang Xiaolu quickly ran up to her. “How can you think that way? Are you still having hopes for Yishu? If he’s genuinely concerned about you, he would’ve come and visited you already. We haven’t seen him at all since the beginning of the semester. He may even have a girlfriend already. You should just forget him.”
Tang Yuanyuan turned back and refuted, “Yishu doesn’t have a girlfriend.”
