He took out the hairpin and confirmed that it was broken; he wondered if he could get it fixed.
This hairpin stood out to Zhong Chufeng the moment he saw it, and he reckoned that it would look good on Tang Yuanyuan. However, all his excitement had turned into disappointment.
After Tang Yuanyuan completed her run for the day, Zhong Chufeng forced a smile as he gave her some tissues.
“Are you tired? Have some water.”
He passed the thermal flask to her.
She took a sip, and the water was at just the right temperature. She smiled delightfully. “Thank you, Chufeng.”
“Don’t be a stranger. Please hold on to this flask. You’ve sweated too much so you should stay hydrated.”
“Sure.”
All of a sudden, something came to Tang Yuanyuan’s mind that prompted her to ask, “Chufeng, has Yishu been busy lately?”
“I don’t think he is that busy.”
“Ah.”
Tang Yuanyuan did not continue.
“What’s wrong? You haven’t seen him in a while, have you?”
“Uh-huh.”
“What about we go on a hike tomorrow since it’s Saturday? I can come and pick you up with him.”
“No.” Tang Yuanyuan shook her head and declined right away. “I’m not going.”
“What happened? Is it because of me?” He thought that he was the reason that she did not want to go. “Are you still doubting what I said earlier?”
“No. I believe you, Chufeng. I’m just—”
Before she hit her target weight, she did not want to see Yuchi Yishu.
“Anyway, it’s good to hear that Yishu’s not too busy. Chufeng, I’m done for the day. You should go back soon.”
As she finished, she waved him off and took off right away.
Zhong Chufeng stayed put for a long time, until night fell, as he watched her go.
He did not remember how long he sat there before he got up and left.
Yuchi Yishu had been doing his reading all day. Even though he knew that Zhong Chufeng had been diligently going to visit Yuanyuan, he never said anything to him about it because of what he promised him earlier.
Today, Yuchi Yishu had been waiting for Zhong Chufeng for a long time yet he was still nowhere to be seen.
Yuchi Yishu’s eyebrows tangled in a frown. Where’s this guy? Did he bring Yuanyuan somewhere?
Thinking about the naïve look of Tang Yuanyuan, Yuchi Yishu pondered for a second before putting down the papers in his hands, collecting his phone, and heading out.
Just as he was about to open the door, the door was pushed open from the outside, and there came a strong alcohol smell.
Yuchi Yishu took a few steps back right away before he even saw the person and tried to stay as far as possible.
“Ugh!”
It was Zhong Chufeng, who smelled of alcohol, stumbling in unsteadily and almost falling.
Yuchi Yishu almost lost it as he saw this. He immediately went up to him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. “Where did you go?”
“L-Let go of me.”
Since Zhong Chufeng was already wasted, after being grabbed by Yuchi Yishu, he became agitated and pushed Yuchi Yishu away.
Fortunately, Yuchi Yishu was strong enough. Since Zhong Chufeng was drunk, there was no way he would be able to push him away.
“Did you go and find Yuanyuan today?”
The sound of Tang Yuanyuan’s name provoked Zhong Chufeng. “Yes. I did go to see her today. So what? I got rejected today. Haha!”
Rejected?
Yuchi Yishu squinted darkly. “What do you mean by that? What did you tell Yuanyuan? Zhong Chufeng, did you forget what you promised me?”
“Of course, I didn’t! I didn’t forget!”
“So how did you get rejected?”
At this point, Yuchi Yishu was worried that Zhong Chufeng might have expressed his feelings to Yuanyuan. What if he frightened her?
Yuchi Yishu inquired angrily, “Don’t you know that she’s still underaged? What do you think you were doing?”
Yuchi Yishu was holding it in, trying not to punch him in the face.
Meanwhile, Zhong Chufeng was unsteadily leaning on the wall, looking extremely despaired. “Of course I know that she’s underaged, that’s why… I didn’t say anything. I thought it would be sufficient for me to silently be her guardian angel, but it seems that she has felt something.”
Felt something?”
“She asked me if I liked her.”
“And what did you say?” Yuchi Yishu became nervous, hoping that he did not admit it to her.
“What could I say? Tell me; what else could I say? She’s underaged. Can I say yes?” Zhong Chufeng angrily punched the floor. Even though his fists had started to bleed, he did not seem to care.
“What did I do wrong to deserve this? Why do I have to go through this even though I never said anything?”
Yuchi Yishu exhaled. “What you did was right. Otherwise, you would’ve scared her off.”
“That was exactly the reason why I didn’t say anything. But, Yishu, do you know that that might’ve been my last opportunity to tell her how I feel?”
Yuchi Yishu sat down next to him, put his hands around his knees, and commented with a callous look on his face, “Then don’t tell her.”
“If I don’t tell her, what am I supposed to do? Am I going to stay single forever?”
Stay single forever?
Feeling annoyed, Yuchi Yishu turned to him and asked, “Can’t you live without her?”
Zhong Chufeng let out a bitter smile. “It’s not that, but apart from her I have no feelings for anyone else, and it’s been going on for so many years.”
The scariest part was that Zhong Chufeng’s feelings for her had been deepening throughout the years as he saw her grow up day after day.
As his feelings for her began to grow, he had been feeling sorry for her recently.
But his plan was just for things to stay this way until she turned eighteen; he would then see how things went by then.
Little did he know how things would have turned out today.
“Do you think I’ve made it too obvious? I’ve been trying to keep it down. How could she tell?”
Yuchi Yishu frowned as he did not expect Tang Yuanyuan to be able to tell that Zhong Chufeng had feelings for her. Does this mean that she already knows what love is?
Right now, Yuchi Yishu was conflicted and so he pursed his thin lips, not responding to Zhong Chufeng.
“If only she would ask me after half a year, then I would definitely admit it. But why did she choose to ask now? Yishu, what am I going to do now?”
Yuchi Yishu threw him a glance and replied blandly, “What do you think you’re going to do? If you really like her, you should be more thick-skinned.”
“Thick-skinned?”
“If you can’t admit it now, can’t you admit it in the future? If she doesn’t like you now, does it mean she won’t like you in the future? Feelings change.”
This was just like his parents, who did not have a happy marriage in the beginning. Alas, it turned out really well, and now his father and mother were really close to each other. So many years had gone by and their marriage was still strong.
Zhong Chufeng was stunned as he heard that.
“Is that possible?”
Yuchi Yishu looked away. “Why not? As long as your feelings remain the same, it will never be too late.”
