“Alright, you don’t have to speak to her. You can even ignore her existence.”
“Chufeng, is your leg hurting?” Tang Yuanyuan asked as she glanced at his thigh. “You hit the table quite hard just now.”
“I’m okay!” Zhong Chufeng smiled, holding back his tears. “I’ll be fine as long as you don’t cry. I can even bump into it a few more times just for you.”
With that, he reached out and wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes. “Don’t cry, okay? These beautiful round eyes might just lose their shine from too much crying.”
Beautiful eyes?
Tang Yuanyuan bit her lower lip lightly and asked, “Are my eyes really beautiful?”
“Of course!” Zhong Chufeng replied quickly, “There is not a single part of you that looks ugly, my dearest Yuanyuan. Everything about you is unique and beautiful. Don’t believe whatever nonsense An Qian has said.”
“I’m okay now.” Tang Yuanyuan wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and whispered, “Chufeng, you can stop worrying now. I may have spoken rather harshly to your cousin earlier. Although what she said had crossed the line, when I think of it now, she is right after all. I am fat…”
“You are not fat!” Zhong Chufeng interrupted her before she could even finish saying the word. “Anyone who dares speak that way about you is my enemy, regardless of who he or she might be. You are perfect in my eyes, Yuanyuan!”
Tang Yuanyuan was taken aback by Zhong Chufeng’s reaction. She froze for a long moment before slowly lowering her gaze, choosing to remain silent.
Zhong Chufeng tidied up the messy silk sheets and said softly, “Yuanyuan, you are too young to be beating yourself up about what others think of you. All you need to do right now is to do what you like and be yourself. There are so many people in the world, and each one has their own thoughts and opinions about things. Don’t let those voices affect you. Their opinions of you carry no weight. You are your own person, okay?”
“I understand now, Chufeng.”
“Let me deal with An Qian. You leave this to me and get a good night’s sleep. When you wake up in the morning, this will be nothing but a forgotten memory.”
After comforting Tang Yuanyuan, Zhong Chufeng left.
Tang Yuanyuan felt a radiating warmth in her heart after hearing Zhong Chufeng’s kind words. He is probably being nice to me because it was his cousin who caused trouble.
Had the roles been reversed, she was certain that Yuchi Yishu would do the same for her, helping her to sort out the situation.
Yuchi Yishu…
As she thought of him, Tang Yuanyuan’s mind wandered to the photo on her phone again.
She was unsure herself as to why she had become more sensitive recently, and her thoughts often strayed toward things that she should not even think of.
When she looked at the photo, she felt that she was too fat and didn’t deserve to stand next to her brother. There should be a better and more beautiful girl beside him, and not her. Not this chubby blob, with nothing good about her.
Thinking of this, Tang Yuanyuan closed her eyes. Could it be that I have feelings for—no, that’s impossible.
How could she have such thoughts?
Tang Yuanyuan shook her head in denial, trying hard to dispel those ridiculous thoughts. Her brother was so kind to her; she simply couldn’t think that way about him!
In order to clear this doubt in her mind, Tang Yuanyuan opened an anonymous account in a forum and posted about this.
She briefly explained the relationship between her brother and herself, and talked about the recent events, finally asking if she should stay away from him, and if her feelings were normal.
After she posted it, Tang Yuanyuan held onto her phone tightly, biting on her lower lip. I did not mention anything too detailed in the post. Nobody would know it’s me right? Or… should I delete it?
Just as Tang Yuanyuan picked up her phone again to delete the post, she found that someone had responded to her.
‘Greetings, Original Poster! I think you like your brother. You said it yourself that you two are just childhood friends who grew up together. You are not related by blood, nor do you share the same parents. What’s wrong with liking him, then?’
It was true that she and her brother were childhood friends. He had indeed always treated her very well.
‘In agreement with the previous poster, I, too, think that it is completely fine for the Original Poster to have such feelings. Plus, based on what you said, your brother seems like an excellent all-rounder. Also, you grew up with him right? Had I been in your position, I would have chased after him long ago. You know the saying, the heart is easily fond of those close to it. Which other girl would have such an opportunity? Think about it.’
‘I think the family of this boy has already thought of making her their own daughter-in-law, right? Why else would they treat someone like their own daughter? For all you know, your brother also thinks the same way.’
Making me their daughter-in-law?
Seeing this statement, Tang Yuanyuan’s cheeks flushed red as she anxiously typed out a response.
‘No, no, my aunt and brother are just being kind to me. I’m sure they do not have such intentions.’
After thinking for a while, she immediately explained, ‘My relationship with my brother is not like what everyone thinks, nor do I… like my brother. Please don’t get me wrong.’
‘Are you sure? You sounded so cautious just now. You seemed to be afraid that everyone might perceive you as abnormal, hence why you dare not admit your true feelings. Am I right?’
Seeing these words, Tang Yuanyuan felt as if her heart had been pierced. She didn’t dare to think of it.
‘Come on, which era are you living in? If you like this person, be courageous and fight for him. Just like a previous commenter stated—the heart is easily fond of those close to it. If you give this opportunity up, you might regret it in the future.’
Tang Yuanyuan stared at the words for a long time and finally started typing out her response slowly.
‘But I’m just a fattie. I’m nowhere near to being a perfect match for my brother.’
After posting it, Tang Yuanyuan felt that it was wrong to say that, so she immediately deleted the message.
Stop thinking about it already. I should not even have posted this today.
At this moment, a commenter who was presumably online at that moment saw Tang Yuanyuan’s reply and left her a message in the comments section.
‘I realized that you had deleted your reply before I could respond. You have to be more confident. It is not a problem at all. If you really like him, you can make some changes.’
Make a change? To slim down?
Tang Yuanyuan had never considered this to be an issue before. Her day always started with wondering about what she was going to eat.
It had never once crossed my mind to… lose weight.
‘It is difficult to make changes, but the key lies within yourself. If you really like him, you should not hesitate to want to change yourself. I am not saying that you have a problem, but since you are not confident now, why not change in order to boost your confidence? Become confident and pursue him openly. Don’t you agree?’
These words really touched Tang Yuanyuan’s heart.
Now that she had admitted her feelings, it had left her with no way out.
After so many years of his companionship, how could she have no feelings at all?
