Whether he was a bad person or not, Yuchi Yishu could not be bothered.
But if that behavior annoyed Tang Yuanyuan, he was willing to change it. He nodded. “Sure. I’ll be mindful of that.”
“Thank you, Yishu.”
After dinner, Yuchi Yishu and Zhong Chufeng sent the two girls back to their dorms and waited until they entered the building.
“What were you trying to do?”
Yuchi Yishu’s voice was cold and callous. The evening breeze blew off the heat on Zhong Chufeng’s body together with the smile on his face.
He turned to Yuchi Yishu while his intention to pamper Tang Yuanyuan had gradually died down.
“I wasn’t thinking of doing anything apart from buying her dinner. What’s wrong?”
“If that’s the case, why did you have to act so suspiciously?”
“Suspiciously? Didn’t you see two of her classmates?”
Staring at Zhong Chufeng with his deep eyes, Yuchi Yishu did not respond.
A short while later, rage began to rise within Zhong Chufeng.
“We’ve been close friends for so long, so I don’t wish to hide anything from you. I’d like to make her happy. Is that okay?”
Yuchi Yishu let out a frown.
“Are you out of your mind? She’s so young.”
“I can wait. Besides, being in high school is not considered young anymore. Since she’s pretty oblivious at this stage, I’ll wait until she’s more mature to confess my feelings to her. I just want to spend more time with her right now. Am I not allowed to do that?”
Zhong Chufeng puckered up his lips and decided to squat down somewhere near the entrance of the school while staring at the streetlight far away from him. “Three more years. That’s how long I’ll wait before I tell her my feelings.”
He looked up at Yuchi Yishu.
“Don’t worry; I won’t cross any lines. We’ve been close friends for so long—don’t you know what kind of person I am?”
Frankly, Yuchi Yishu should have seen this coming. After all, Zhong Chufeng had not been hiding his feelings for Tang Yuanyuan. Yuchi Yishu had just been telling himself that Zhong Chufeng was taking care of her because she was his younger sister—nothing more.
But who knew that Zhong Chufeng would painstakingly admit to that in front of him?
Yuchi Yishu pursed his thin lips for an instant and responded, “You can’t do that to her.”
Zhong Chufeng almost exploded in a wild rage. “Why can’t I?”
“No reason.”
“Yuchi Yishu, I don’t care what it is, but you have to tell me. Tang Yuanyuan isn’t your biological sister, so there’s a limit to your involvement in her life. Do you understand?”
The last thing Zhong Chufeng wanted to hear from Yuchi Yishu was his disapproval; this was why he was nice to Tang Yuanyuan after all.
“Since we grew up together, she’s closer to me than a biological sister. You can go after anyone but her.”
“You’re wrong.” Zhong Chufeng smirked and looked him in the eye. Even though he was upset, he still had to maintain his composure. “What’s wrong with me? Do you think I’m not worthy of her? You may be right. I admit that I don’t come from the right family, but I’ll work hard to provide her with a happy life.”
Yuchi Yishu was rendered speechless. At this point, he decided to stop this conversation and leave. Unwilling to give up, Zhong Chufeng immediately followed suit.
“You owe me an explanation today. Why can I go after anyone but her? She’s not just a younger sister to you, is she?”
Yuchi Yishu remained silent.
“Yuchi Yishu, you son of a b*tch. You have feelings for her too, right?”
Zhong Chufeng finally voiced out his speculation.
Yuchi Yishi, who had been ignoring Zhong Chufeng, stopped in his tracks all of a sudden and turned around. He gave Zhong Chufeng a sharp look and growled in a raspy voice, “What did you just say?”
The look in his eyes was as cold and sharp as a knife.
“Can you repeat what you just said?”
After calming down, Zhong Chufeng realized what he had just said. Startled, he quickly explained, “No, Yishu, it’s a mistake. I wasn’t in the right mind when I said that. Please ignore it; will you? It’s my fault!”
How could he say such things? Yuchi Yishu loved Tang Yuanyuan so much, and Zhong Chufeng should not have doubted his intentions.
No matter how much he apologized, some words once said could never be taken back. Yuchi Yishu walked up to him. “If I hear those words again, we’re done.”
Zhong Chufeng quickly swore, “Not a chance! I’m clearly not in the right mind today. It won’t happen again!”
Lips pursed, Yuchi Yishu walked away.
“So, I won’t say that again, but I’d really like to pursue your sister. Yishu, could you give me a chance, please? I know Yuanyuan is still young and oblivious now, but I never planned to do anything at this stage. Tonight, I merely wanted to buy her dinner for her to get to know me a little more. I’ll only tell her my feelings when she goes to college, and by then, I’ll let her make her own decision. Is that okay?”
No matter how much he said, Yuchi Yishu did not respond.
Just like that, Zhong Chufeng did not stop talking as the two walked back to their dorms. After they got back, Yuchi Yishu was still unresponsive when Zhong Chufeng had exhausted his words. Eventually, Zhong Chufeng decided to stop trying.
Meanwhile, Yuchi Yishu lost sleep that night.
It had been a while since he was insomniac. So much was going through his head, which made him struggle to fall asleep. He was confused, and all the things that Zhong Chufeng said to him tonight were still echoing in his ears.
Ridiculous! Truly ridiculous!
How can he say such things? How can I possibly feel that way about Yuanyuan? Is it something I did that caused others to misunderstand?
Yuchi Yishu opened his eyes and stared at the calm night outside his window.
Anyway, Yuanyuan has already grown up. She’s in high school, and I’m a freshman in college. We’re no longer little kids like we used to be. We’re different now, and we are not blood-related. Things can no longer be the same as before.
Even though nothing was happening between him and Tang Yuanyuan, from an outsider’s point of view, it would be strange for two persons who were not biological siblings to be so close to each other.
He might be fine with that, but what about Yuanyuan?
Just like that, Yuchi Yishu did not sleep for an entire night.
But that was not the case for Zhong Chufeng, who fell asleep right away the moment his head hit the pillow. He slept soundly, even though he was very upset before that.
The next day, Zhong Chufeng woke up to Yuchi Yishu sitting right in front of his bed, quietly staring at him.
This gave Zhong Chufeng a jolt. He quickly grabbed his pillow. “Yishu, you’re scaring me to death!”
Lips pursed, Yuchi Yishu remained silent and looked him in the eye.
“Why did you say what you said last night?”
Zhong Chufeng immediately sat up and begged him. “Yishu, I’ve admitted that I’m wrong. I was clearly angry when I said those things. I didn’t mean any of them. Can you please forgive me?”
“People normally tell the truth when they’re angry. Why did you say what you said?”
“I was just talking nonsense.”
