MTLY | Chapter 16

◎Pouncing into his arms.◎

The rain grew heavier and heavier as midnight passed.

Song Tinghuan hid under the quilt, only her dark, soft eyes showing. The room was pitch-black.

Boom.

A burst of thunder cracked overhead, followed by lightning that tore open the sky, flashing the whole room bright, then dark again.

Song Tinghuan yanked the quilt over herself in a rush.

But the darkness offered her no sense of safety at all. Gripping the edge of the blanket, her whole body began trembling uncontrollably.

At one in the morning, Jiang Yu closed his laptop and was just about to sleep when his phone screen lit up. Li Yiliang was losing his mind in the group chat.

Li Yiliang: [I’m going crazy, I’m going crazy]

Jiang Yu: “…”

Li Yiliang seemed to have no concept of time at all. He went off directly on WeChat.

[Brother Yu, help, can I sleep at your place?]

[My little sister is driving me insane. She’s been crying and whining all night, and every time there’s thunder she starts screaming]

[Do all kids act like this? It’s just some rain and thunder, why are they acting like the world’s ending?]

Jiang Yu: [How old is your sister?]

Li Yiliang: [Three]

Jiang Yu didn’t reply after that.

So you do know your little sister is only three.

Li Yiliang: [Bro, is that okay? I’m coming to your place to sleep]

Jiang Yu: [No]

Two very cold, very heartless words.

Lifting the edge of the quilt, Jiang Yu was just about to get into bed when his gaze fell on the line on the screen, “Do all kids act like this? It’s just some rain and thunder, why are they acting like the world’s ending?”

There was a little kid living right next door to him.

And that kid didn’t have a very big胆子[1].

Boom.

Another crack of thunder exploded. Lightning split the night sky, lighting up even the blackout curtains for an instant.

He didn’t know whether the little neighbor next door would also be scared to tears.

Jiang Yu curled the corner of his lips and decided to sleep.

Rumble, rumble.

When he looked at his phone again, it showed 1:50. Jiang Yu cursed under his breath and got out of bed.

Song Tinghuan’s door was shut tightly. Jiang Yu stood in the empty hallway and felt like a pervert.

He clicked his tongue and was about to go back when he heard rustling from behind the door, followed by a dull thud.

His retreating steps stopped abruptly.

“Song Tinghuan?”

The boy kept his voice low. His cool, dark tone stood out especially clearly in the chilly silence of late night.

Boom.

Rumble, rumble.

Thunder came one after another outside the window, each strike louder than the last, grinding against Jiang Yu’s eardrums. He raised his hand and knocked on Song Tinghuan’s door, his voice tight as he called urgently, “Song Tingting, open the door!”

There was no sound from inside.

Jiang Yu frowned, pounding the wooden door until it slapped loudly under his hand. “Open up, it’s me, Jiang Yu.”

He seemed to hear a girl’s faint sobbing. Jiang Yu didn’t care about etiquette anymore and kicked the door open.

In the pitch-black room, lightning kept striking, lighting up the small space in flashes. Beneath the desk, a corner of white clothing showed, along with the trembling shape of a girl crouched there.

Song Tinghuan had actually heard the knocking. She had also heard Jiang Yu’s voice, but it felt as if something was stuck in her throat, blocking her so completely she couldn’t say a word.

Until the boy came closer and knelt down in front of her, his dark brows and eyes weighed down with shadow.

Frowning, he reached out to her. “Song Tingting, come out.”

Song Tinghuan looked up.

Jiang Yu saw at once that the girl’s eyes were red. Her dark, soft eyes were black as ink, filled to the brim with watery light.

It felt as if someone had hard, mercilessly pinched his heart. Jiang Yu didn’t give Song Tinghuan any more time to stare blankly or hesitate. He simply took hold of her wrist.

The girl’s wrist bones were delicate, just like her whole self, all thin and slight.

Yet oddly soft.

“Get up.”

The two words slipped out, softer than Jiang Yu himself had expected.

Song Tinghuan was like someone drowning. With her wrist held in his hand, the boy’s palm was warm, carrying a strange sense of steadiness that little by little pulled her nearly scattered awareness back together.

“Jiang Yu.”

Those two low, soft syllables came out thick with tears.

“It’s me.”

As if finally receiving some kind of confirmation, all at once, before Jiang Yu could even react, the soft little bundle of a girl threw herself into his arms.

She was dressed lightly, and in weather like this, her exposed skin carried a chill. Jiang Yu only felt a patch of warmth against his neck, and his lifted hand froze behind Song Tinghuan’s back, unable to fall.

The little girl was crying in little hiccuping sobs.

Jiang Yu lowered his hand, and for no reason at all, thought of Li Yiliang complaining about his little sister.

“Scared?” he asked.

Song Tinghuan clung to his neck and refused to let go, her whole face buried in the crook of his neck. “Mm.”

Muffled and stuffy.

Jiang Yu curved his lips, his eyes dripping with a tenderness he didn’t even realize he had, and let her keep holding on like that.

“You little coward.”

Song Tinghuan didn’t explain. She just tightened her arms around his neck and gave a soft, choked sob.

She really did seem very scared, as if she had finally found something she could depend on, letting her emotions pour out without restraint.

No one knew how long passed before Jiang Yu shifted his shoulder. “Song Tingting?”

His voice was very soft. The girl in his arms seemed to have cried herself tired. She was still hanging on him, but her breathing had become light and even.

Jiang Yu was speechless. This little girl had actually fallen asleep just like that. Instinctively he reached for Song Tinghuan’s arm, but the girl startled and tightened her hold again.

Jiang Yu: “…”

The person in his arms was soft and fragrant. The completely unfamiliar sensation made Jiang Yu go stiff all over.

It was the first time he had ever run into this kind of situation, the first time he had been held by a girl who refused to let go.

After a long time, as if he had finally prepared himself mentally, Jiang Yu lifted his hand and wrapped it around the girl’s slender waist. Song Tinghuan’s arms loosened at once. He let out a long breath, and the tip of his ear, exposed to the air, turned a thin, translucent red.

Jiang Yu carried Song Tinghuan to bed and tucked the quilt around her. Just as he was about to stand up, his wrist was grabbed again.

He lowered his eyes and looked at the girl’s tender bamboo-shoot fingers. They were clearly thin and white, but the strength in her grip was not small at all.

“That’s enough free benefits, okay.”

The person lying on the bed knew nothing, only her soft red lips moving slightly.

Jiang Yu lowered himself a little and heard Song Tinghuan’s soft voice. “Dad.”

Jiang Yu: “…”

*

The next day.

When Song Tinghuan woke, it was still dark outside. She opened her eyes in a daze and saw a white ceiling.

She didn’t know when she had fallen asleep last night, but she had slept especially well. Guessing it was still early, she rolled over and buried half her face back into the quilt.

The air in her nose was fresh and familiar, like a bunch of mint leaves fallen onto a snow mountain. Song Tinghuan’s brain stalled for a second. She rubbed her small nose against the quilt again. The texture was just as soft, but the smell was not one she knew.

Song Tinghuan suddenly opened her eyes. In her line of sight appeared a dark blue quilt corner: “…?!“

It wasn’t just the quilt. Her frightened gaze moved slowly through her field of vision. Even the room wasn’t hers!

This layout, this color scheme, this… Song Tinghuan shot upright in bed. Across from the large double bed was a sofa, and a tall, slender boy was leaning diagonally against it. Clearly, the length of the sofa had wronged his long legs, and one leg had to be braced on the floor.

Song Tinghuan: “???”

Countless question marks flashed through her mind. Why was she in Jiang Yu’s room?

Last night she had clearly been sleeping in her own room!!!

The thunder from last night exploded in her ears again. Song Tinghuan remembered hiding under the desk because she was scared, and then Jiang Yu came and dragged her out from under there.

In that hazy state of awareness, she seemed to have cried in Jiang Yu’s arms for a long time.

And then?

What happened after that?

Maybe her staring was too burning. The boy on the sofa frowned, lifting his pale eyelids. His dark eyes still carried the moisture of just waking up, along with obvious fatigue.

Just one look was enough for Song Tinghuan to be absolutely certain Jiang Yu was the kind of person with a heavy sleep inertia.

She didn’t even dare breathe too loudly, only looked flustered and at a loss at the person leaning against the sofa.

She didn’t know when her voice had come back. Song Tinghuan only heard her own soft, sticky voice ask, “I… why am I sleeping in your room?”

The water-bright look in Jiang Yu’s eyes was still a little unfocused. He lifted a hand and ran it through his messy short hair, then fixed his gaze on Song Tinghuan.

Last night he had carried her onto the bed, but this little girl had grabbed him and refused to let go. He was a guy, and it didn’t feel right to sleep in a girl’s room, so in the end he had only been able to carry her back to his own room.

The kid had fussed for half the night. Only when dawn was almost breaking did she finally let go. He’d slept by the bed in the first half of the night, and only in the second half had he gotten the sofa.

And the one who’d occupied the entire bed was actually still bold enough to ask why she was sleeping in his room?

Jiang Yu’s thin lips pressed into a straight line, his eyes full of the impatience and irritation of being woken up.

He cleared his throat, voice rough. “Last night you went crazy and said you absolutely wouldn’t sleep in your own room. You changed through seven or eight rooms and insisted on sleeping in mine.”

Song Tinghuan: “…?”

Even so… why did that sound kind of strange? She was afraid of thunder, but when she’d lived in Lingcheng before, she never had this habit of picking out rooms.

Could it be because she’d suddenly changed environments?

Song Tinghuan said nothing, only looked at Jiang Yu in some confusion.

Since she was already awake, there was no way she could calmly keep sleeping in Jiang Yu’s bed. Embarrassed and dazed, she returned to her own room.

Because of this little interlude, Song Tinghuan was distracted all morning, even stumbling through answers when the English teacher called on her. Guan Linlin noticed something was off and asked during the break between classes, “Erduo, what’s wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

Song Tinghuan hesitated for a long time before speaking in a low voice, “Linlin.”

She was very serious when she mouthed Guan Linlin’s name. “Do you think, when someone suddenly moves to a new environment, they might do something that’s different from their usual self?”

The question was too broad, and Guan Linlin was clearly a little bewildered.

Song Tinghuan paused again. She felt that maybe it really was just like Jiang Yu said. She had actually done something that strange.

“Forget it, it’s nothing. Just pretend I was overthinking.”

Maybe her class performance really was too poor today. During the big break in the afternoon, she was called to the office by Qin Shuxia. The talk was about the same as after the last monthly exam, just asking after her and checking in.

Qin Shuxia said that if studying was difficult, she could find a tutor. He also brought her the first-year high school textbooks from Jiāngběi, telling her to look through them, and that if she didn’t understand something, she could come ask any of the subject teachers at any time.

It wasn’t as if Song Tinghuan had never thought about finding a tutor, but Song Mingcheng seemed to be very busy lately. She often sent messages, and half a day would pass without a reply.

She knew Song Mingcheng was busy raising money. The company was in trouble, and he was very short on cash.

If she wanted a tutor, Song Tinghuan believed Meng Shutang would definitely find her the best one, but the fees would also be very high. Song Tinghuan didn’t want to spend the Jiang family’s money, and she also didn’t want to add to Song Mingcheng’s burden.

After leaving Qin Shuxia’s office, Song Tinghuan was at a loss. Guan Linlin leaned over. “What, old Qin poured more chicken soup on you again?”

Song Tinghuan spread out this morning’s math quiz. Just the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank section alone, she had gotten seven out of ten wrong.

“Teacher Qin said I could think about finding a tutor, but I don’t want one.”

Guan Linlin didn’t know about Song Tinghuan’s family situation. She just thought Song Tinghuan was introverted and didn’t like dealing with strangers. “Then ask Jiang Yu.”

“Huh? Oh.”

Ask Jiang Yu about finding a tutor. She didn’t really want to do that either. Jiang Yu always looked at her like she was an idiot. She had already embarrassed herself in front of him once over the monthly exam signature. She didn’t want to lose face a second time.

“Come on, Erduo, this is the big break. Don’t do problems anymore. Let’s go watch the boys play ball.”

Song Tinghuan didn’t really want to go, but she couldn’t resist Guan Linlin’s coaxing. The two of them walked to the edge of the playground together, and the outdoor basketball court was already packed tight with people, three circles inside and three circles outside.

Guan Linlin said, “Holy crap, what’s going on?”

A gossip-loving classmate nearby who shared Guan Linlin’s hobby explained that some senior from third year and some sophomore had issued a challenge. If the one-on-one basketball game today was won, then that someone would never again be allowed to bother Han Jingjing.

Song Tinghuan hadn’t caught the two boys’ names clearly, but she was now very familiar with the three characters Han Jingjing. But wasn’t she Jiang Yu’s rumored girlfriend?

Guan Linlin stood on tiptoe and looked a couple of times, then grabbed Song Tinghuan’s arm and headed toward the library. “Not worth watching, forget it.”

Song Tinghuan was a little lost. “Don’t you like watching this?”

“Huh? Do I like it? I guess so.” Guan Linlin’s eyes curved. “I just like watching handsome guys play basketball.”

Song Tinghuan: “…”

“Come on, let’s go to the library.”

Guan Linlin didn’t like studying. The only thing she did in the library on a regular basis was read novels. Song Tinghuan, on the other hand, held an English extracurricular reader and turned its pages aimlessly.

She was still thinking about what Qin Shuxia had said. She didn’t dare tell Qin Shuxia that she was actually still a little unaccustomed to Qinde’s teaching style.

Lingcheng No. 1 High was also one of Lingcheng’s long-established prestigious schools, so the quality of education was naturally beyond doubt, but overall it leaned more toward exam-oriented teaching. The teachers worked vertically, grinding and chewing through one important knowledge point over and over until it was thoroughly explained.

Qinde was different.

The teachers didn’t repeat the same content again and again, but they did expand on it a lot. It seemed to value breadth more.

Take English, for example. English was already one of Song Tinghuan’s stronger subjects. Back in Lingcheng, where the full score was 150, she could basically score 145 or above. Listening, reading, writing, she had almost no weaknesses on the paper.

But at Qinde, Song Tinghuan always felt a little off. Occasionally, when things were flowing smoothly, she was fine, but there was a vague sense of strain.

She felt that the little textbook advantage she’d built up in Lingcheng was almost used up. A lot of the vocabulary the teachers expanded on in class she didn’t really recognize.

As for speaking, Song Tinghuan was a little afraid of reading class. Every time there was a reading lesson, she had to listen through the material several times in advance, trying her best not to let her accent show.

Guan Linlin found it especially unbelievable that she was holding an English extracurricular reader. “Isn’t this the big break?”

“I feel like I’m a little behind, so I want to look at it more.”

Guan Linlin froze.

Behind? In the earlier quiz, wasn’t her little deskmate first in the whole class for English?

“Song Xiaohuan, you’re being a little Versailles here.”[[N]]

“I’m not.” Song Tinghuan shook her head. “My speaking isn’t very good. Susan told me to read more English originals and watch more movies when I have time.”

She was struggling through an English original when she didn’t know when two girls had sat down by the aisle nearby, holding books up to hide their faces as they whispered to each other.

“Is it really Han Jingjing?”

“Yeah, my sister is in the same class as Jiang Yu. She heard it herself. Han Jingjing asked Jiang Yu to help her canvass for votes.”

“Jiang Yu agreed?”

“His own girlfriend, why wouldn’t he agree? I even think Han Jingjing is kind of leaning on Jiang Yu. For something like this, shouldn’t the boyfriend be the one to step up and take the initiative?”

“That’s Jiang Yu we’re talking about.”

“So what if it’s Jiang Yu?”

“If he were willing to date me for one day, I could brag about it for a lifetime.”

“Have some ambition. Date him for a lifetime.”

“Broad daylight and you’re already dreaming.”

Hearing the two words “Jiang Yu,” what happened this morning suddenly came back to her. Song Tinghuan couldn’t really keep reading.

“Linlin, I’m going to the restroom.”

Guan Linlin was pressing down a novel while browsing forums. “Holy crap, it’s only been one afternoon and Han Jingjing has already been left in the dust by Zhang Xinran by so many votes?”

Song Tinghuan pursed her lips.

The name Han Jingjing had been appearing in her life a little too often lately.

Coming out of the bathroom, Song Tinghuan went up to the fourth floor. Qinde was a century-old prestigious school, and the library’s collection was extremely rich. She walked to the art section, stood on tiptoe, and tried to take the *Art Appreciation* volume from the top shelf, when she heard a familiar male voice from the other side of the bookshelf.

Probably because they were in the library, Li Yiliang was already keeping his voice down as much as possible. “Brother Yu, Han Jingjing’s already been left hundreds of votes behind by Zhang Xinran. You’re not going to do anything?”

“Are you very free?”

The flat voice was Jiang Yu’s usual lazy tone, only today it sounded unusually nasal.

Her fingertips had already touched the *Art Appreciation* book, and Song Tinghuan rose on tiptoe again. The instant her body lost balance, she hurriedly grabbed the bookshelf, which made quite a bit of noise.

Several books on the lower shelf were knocked over and lay horizontally on the shelf. In the narrow line of sight between the rows, Song Tinghuan met a pair of calm black eyes.

But only for an instant. Once her feet were firmly on the ground, the shared line of sight between them was blocked by the thick stack of books in front of her. There had never been a moment when Song Tinghuan felt that being short was actually pretty good.

Li Yiliang belatedly looked across, only seeing the top of a round little head. Seeing that Jiang Yu had already started walking away, Li Yiliang hurried after him. “No, you’re really not going to care about Han Jingjing? Or wait, holy crap, the younger schoolmate said you have a girlfriend. Don’t tell me it’s Zhang Xinran.”

Jiang Yu ignored him. Li Yiliang felt like he had finally figured it out. “Damn it, Jiang Yu, you bastard, you’ve got a girlfriend and you didn’t tell me!”

As soon as he said that, Jiang Yu had just turned around the bookshelf. The girl in the purple-and-white school uniform silently turned her head and gave him the back of her head.

Li Yiliang: “?”

Footsteps sounded behind her. Song Tinghuan closed her eyes and turned around suddenly, almost crashing into Jiang Yu.

The tall boy stood in front of her, his dark lashes lowered, his oppressive gaze almost physical.

Song Tinghuan bit her lip, embarrassed to death.

No wonder Jiang Yu always looked at her like she was an idiot. Why was she always making a fool of herself in front of him?

As soon as she spoke, the latest issue of *Art Appreciation* was handed to her.

Song Tinghuan: “?”

Jiang Yu: “Not this one?”

Seeing him make as if he were about to put it back, Song Tinghuan quickly grabbed it. “Yes, this one.”

Jiang Yu’s lips curved slightly. Song Tinghuan looked at him and thought that as long as he lifted his hand a little, he could reach it easily, and silently complained in her heart: So what if you’re tall.

Li Yiliang poked his head out from behind Jiang Yu, grinning with all his white teeth as he greeted Song Tinghuan. “Little schoolmate~”

Song Tinghuan obediently nodded at him. “Hello, senior.”

Those three soft, gentle syllables brushed past Jiang Yu’s ear. He narrowed his eyes slightly.

Li Yiliang was very easygoing. Seeing that Song Tinghuan was holding *Art Appreciation*, his interest surged at once. “You like this kind of thing, little schoolmate?”

This magazine was quarterly. It collected many paintings, from famous masters to niche artists. Back when Song Tinghuan was in Lingcheng, she bought it every quarter.

She liked painting, but Song Mingcheng liked music, so she studied piano.

Song Tinghuan didn’t intend to tell Li Yiliang all that. She just nodded. “There’s a very niche painter in there that I really like.”

Li Yiliang’s eyes lit up immediately. “Don’t tell me it’s Fala.”

In Song Tinghuan’s dark, soft eyes, surprise and brightness also suddenly rippled. “Senior knows her?”

“Know her, of course I know her. Not just know her, I even made a special trip to Italy last year to photograph one of her paintings.”

As Song Tinghuan said, she was a very niche painter, so suddenly meeting someone who liked Fala this much made her feel a little excited, like encountering an old friend in a foreign land.

“Little schoolmate, let me tell you…”

Jiang Yu glanced at Li Yiliang. “Finished the tracing assignment your teacher left?”

Li Yiliang: “…”

“Damn it!” Li Yiliang was heartbroken. “Little schoolmate, I’m going upstairs to do my homework, can’t chat with you now. Later, when I’m free, I’ll take you to my place. I’ve got several Fala paintings… ow, why the hell did you kick me?”

Li Yiliang glared at Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu: “Homework.”

Li Yiliang: “…”

Seeing Li Yiliang rush upstairs in a panic, Song Tinghuan was still a little dazed. Her eyes were naturally round, almond-shaped ones, and when she widened them a bit, she looked adorably silly.

“He’s an art student,” Jiang Yu explained casually.

“Huh?”

That was a little beyond Song Tinghuan’s expectations. Li Yiliang really didn’t seem much like an art student at all.

“Is senior painting upstairs?”

Jiang Yu turned to look at her, hearing the soft word “senior.”

“Mm.”

A single syllable, carrying no emotion.

The fifth floor of the library was the art studio. No wonder they had run into him here.

“You’re borrowing books?”

“Huh? Oh.” Song Tinghuan shook her head. “First-year students can’t borrow yet.”

Jiang Yu frowned slightly, briefly recalling it. It seemed there really was such a borrowing rule.

“Let’s go.”

“?”

Song Tinghuan was just about to speak up and say she didn’t need to borrow anything when, at the end of the bookshelf, she saw a very pretty girl.

The girl had tied up a high ponytail, nearly hanging down to her waist. She was wearing Qinde’s purple-and-white school uniform on top, but it ran large, covering most of her denim shorts and leaving only a small edge visible. Her slender, straight legs were white enough to glow.

She wore light makeup and looked delicate and beautiful.

Intuition told Song Tinghuan that this was the girl whose appearance rate on the school forum had been the highest recently, and who was most likely practicing Qinde’s second school motto, Han Jingjing.

Han Jingjing’s gaze landed first on Song Tinghuan and paused for a moment before shifting to Jiang Yu. “Jiang Yu, I have something I want to talk to you about.”

She was dazzlingly beautiful, but her voice was slightly cool, balancing out her overly aggressive looks very well.

Jiang Yu took his student ID from his trouser pocket and handed it to Song Tinghuan’s face. “Go borrow it yourself?”

“Huh? I…” Before the words of refusal could leave her mouth, the hard plastic card was already placed in her palm. Looking at the boy with the handsome features on the card, it was probably taken two or three years ago, when Jiang Yu looked even more refined than he did now.

Han Jingjing stepped forward, looked at Song Tinghuan, and raised a brow slightly.

“Then, should we go to our usual place and talk?”

Usual place, such an ambiguous phrase, Song Tinghuan thought.

Han Jingjing said, “I’ll treat you to coffee.”

Song Tinghuan thought: Oh, so the usual place is the school cafe. From the library to the cafe in the administration building, you have to cross more than half of Qinde. So far.

Jiang Yu had both hands in his trouser pockets, his lashes lowered, not moving an inch. “Say it here.”

“But…” Han Jingjing looked past Jiang Yu again at Song Tinghuan behind him, hesitating as if she had something she wanted to say.

Song Tinghuan was very self-aware about being a third wheel. “I, I’m going to borrow books.”

Saying that, she hugged the volume of *Art Appreciation* in her arms and quickly fled the scene of the school beauty and school heartthrob being together.

Jiang Yu watched her slender back vanish in a flash, his brows slightly furrowed.

Across from him, Han Jingjing naturally noticed his gaze as well and followed it. “This is the girl everyone’s talking about, right? She’s so cute.”

Jiang Yu’s brows pinched faintly, irritation already showing in his eyes.

Song Tinghuan waited in the rest area. She hadn’t planned to borrow any books. Her daily schoolwork already had her head spinning, and if she took a magazine home, she’d definitely end up unable to resist reading it.

But she had to return Jiang Yu’s student ID.

Not long after, Han Jingjing came out alone in quick steps. Her gaze brushed past Song Tinghuan. Song Tinghuan saw the other girl’s red eyes.

Had she cried?

Then Jiang Yu also came out, looking lazy and loose as ever. When he reached her side, he didn’t urge her, only looked idly at the large monstera leaves behind the sofa.

Song Tinghuan’s gaze kept chasing after Han Jingjing.

“Aren’t you going after her?”

“Books borrowed?”

The two spoke at once.

The annoyance in Jiang Yu’s eyes was obvious to the naked eye. Song Tinghuan paused. “Weren’t you waiting for her to come back for a while? Why is she back now and you’ve just made her run off again?”

Jiang Yu frowned, feeling that this little girl’s thought process was very hard to understand. “When did I ever wait for her to come back?”

Song Tinghuan: “?”

But before, when Han Jingjing had gone away for training, Jiang Yu himself had said it, that he was very free, very bored.

What was that expression now, so annoyed?

Thinking of Zhang Xinran, who had been neck and neck with Han Jingjing in the school beauty vote on the forum these past two days, Song Tinghuan suddenly had a thought.

Had Jiang Yu… cheated?

But only for an instant, that thought was denied by Song Tinghuan herself. She always felt like something was off, but she couldn’t say what.

Her frown, her head shake, and that confused little movement all fell into Jiang Yu’s eyes. Without even asking, he could guess seven or eight parts of it.

“Can’t figure it out?”

“Mm. Ah…” Under Jiang Yu’s scrutinizing gaze, Song Tinghuan hurriedly reined in her curiosity and scratched at the stray hair by her ear.

“Still going to sleep tonight?”

“Hmm?”

“Song Tingting.” Jiang Yu called her by name. “If you can’t figure something out, then ask. Don’t go making things up in your own head.”

Ask? Was that appropriate?

She wasn’t the gossipy type, so why was she so curious this time?

A little, just a little bit, she wanted to know.

Song Tinghuan hesitated and bit down on the soft flesh inside her lip. “Jiang Yu, you and Han Jingjing, you two…”

“Not like that.”

Huh? Not like that, and he denied it so fast?

Song Tinghuan didn’t quite believe him. After all, the forum had been spreading it like it was the real thing, and Jiang Yu had even fought for Han Jingjing.

“Really not?”

Jiang Yu turned his eyes sideways to look at the girl’s bright, sparkling eyes.

Then the corner of his lips suddenly hooked up in a smile, looking a little roguish. “What, you want to introduce someone to me?”

Song Tinghuan: “…?”

Author’s note:

Han Jingjing: I’m on your side, a family member, don’t accidentally hurt me, okay. (pokes fingers)

Brother Yu is handing out red envelopes to everyone, biubiu~