MTLY | Chapter 17
by _squishee◎Sincerity? There is some, but not much.◎
Ask Jiang Yu to get set up with someone?
Song Tinghuan could hardly believe her ears. She looked at Jiang Yu and asked earnestly, “You… still need someone else to introduce you to people?”
Jiang Yu didn’t answer. Song Tinghuan felt that the look he gave her had upgraded to Version 2.0 of “idiot.”
“Forget it, who you date is your own business anyway. You just have to…”
She was actually lecturing him like a tiny little schoolteacher. Jiang Yu gave a light laugh. “I just have to what?”
You just have to be all in and not be a scumbag.
But when she met Jiang Yu’s lowered gaze, Song Tinghuan didn’t dare say that out loud. She swallowed and, catching sight of the book in her arms, abruptly and stiffly changed the subject. “Oh, you mean borrowing books? I wasn’t planning to borrow one.”
Jiang Yu: “…”
Her reaction time was ridiculously long. No wonder she seemed so silly.
“You don’t like reading?”
Song Tinghuan fell silent. She did like it.
She puffed out her cheeks. “But it’ll affect my studying.”
Jiang Yu gave a noncommittal hum and twirled his phone between his fingers. “Want to go back?”
As soon as he spoke, the screen lit up. Song Tinghuan saw the name “Han Jingjing” at a glance, but Jiang Yu directly hung up the call.
It rang again, and he hung up again.
There weren’t many people in the fourth-floor lounge area. The buzzing vibrations were cut off, and the surroundings turned especially quiet.
Song Tinghuan swallowed a little nervously and asked in a small voice, “Do you want me to step away?”
Jiang Yu didn’t answer, but the clear message in the girl’s dark eyes was obvious, there’s gossip here, and I’m the lightbulb.
His lips curved slightly. “And that won’t affect your studying?”
Song Tinghuan: “?”
Jiang Yu tapped the top of her head very lightly with his phone. “Kid, focus on studying. Stop thinking about all this random stuff every day.”
Song Tinghuan frowned, rubbing the spot he’d tapped.
What random stuff? What exactly was she thinking about?
Jiang Yu had already taken the book out of her arms and was striding down the stairs. He held the edge of the book with one hand and his phone with the other, head lowered as he replied to messages.
Song Tinghuan didn’t disturb him and followed close behind. When they reached the first floor, Jiang Yu swiped his student ID, put the art appreciation book into a small locker, and closed the door again.
The first time Song Tinghuan came to the library, Guan Linlin had introduced this to her. It was a temporary storage locker. If there was a book you wanted to read but couldn’t conveniently take with you, you could leave it here for a while and not worry about other students borrowing it. But if the locker wasn’t opened for three days, the librarian would put the books back on the shelves to avoid wasting space.
Jiang Yu pressed the locker shut, then held out his student ID in front of Song Tinghuan.
Song Tinghuan: “?”
Jiang Yu reached for her hand, slapped the student ID back into her palm, and threw out a cool, clipped line: “Come by yourself next time.”
*
Song Tinghuan tucked Jiang Yu’s student ID into her English textbook and put it in her backpack. It was such a tiny card that it was almost weightless, but for some reason Song Tinghuan still felt like she had a bomb stuffed in her bag.
As if she felt guilty, Song Tinghuan shoved the English book farther inside. Then Guan Linlin suddenly leaned over and whispered, “Ear, have you heard?”
“Heard what?”
“Someone ran into Jiang Yu and Han Jingjing at the library today.” Guan Linlin clicked her tongue in regret. “Same library, so why is it that I never get to witness the gossip scene with my own eyes?”
Song Tinghuan, who had in fact witnessed the gossip scene with her own eyes: “…”
“But all signs point to Han Jingjing probably dating Jiang Yu.”
“Not necessarily.”
“?”
Guan Linlin looked at her little deskmate in surprise. “What did you just say?”
Song Tinghuan pressed her lips together. “Nothing.”
It wasn’t just because Jiang Yu had denied it. She had thought about it carefully too.
The vibe between Jiang Yu and Han Jingjing when they were together didn’t look like dating at all. And Han Jingjing’s attitude toward Jiang Yu didn’t seem like Zhang Xinran’s blatant pursuit either.
But then what was it?
Song Tinghuan frowned, unable to figure it out. Suddenly, a boy’s face with a crooked smile flashed in her mind, along with those words, Kid, focus on studying. Stop thinking about all this random stuff every day.
His voice was low, and the words kid seemed to grind right into her eardrums. Song Tinghuan felt the tips of her ears heat up.
Jiang Yu was right. She should really study hard and not think about this random nonsense.
She… why was she thinking about Jiang Yu!
No, she wasn’t thinking about Jiang Yu at all!
Today was Friday. Over the weekend, the second mock exam for twelfth grade would be held and the exam rooms were needed, so the other grades didn’t have evening self-study and got out at six.
Song Tinghuan still dawdled her way out of the teaching building, only to see the boy waiting by the railing. Jiang Yu was texting with his head lowered, his school uniform jacket hanging over the railing.
Song Tinghuan walked up and very naturally picked up his uniform and hugged it in her arms. The familiar cool, clean scent drifted into her nose, and only then did she belatedly realize that she seemed to have been conditioned into a habit.
Jiang Yu lifted his brows slightly, the corner of his lips curling. “A teachable child.”
Song Tinghuan: “…”
Before Song Tinghuan could react further, Jiang Yu grabbed her backpack, and Song Tinghuan also very naturally took off her shoulder bag.
It felt even more like a kind of tacit understanding.
The two of them still walked one in front of the other. Song Tinghuan held Jiang Yu’s uniform, and Jiang Yu carried her backpack.
An odd but harmonious scene.
“What do you want to eat tonight?” Jiang Yu stopped and turned to ask her.
The hourly helper at the Jiang family had taken the night off, and Meng Shutang had told the two of them to solve dinner outside.
Song Tinghuan said, “Anything is fine with me.”
“KFC?”
“?”
“Don’t all kids like it?”
“…”
There was a somewhat wicked smile in the boy’s eyes. Song Tinghuan puffed out her cheeks. “I’m not a kid.”
I’m just a little shorter.
“Jiang Yu.”
That cool voice. Song Tinghuan turned toward it and saw the beautiful girl they had run into at the library that afternoon. She was now completely sure that the girl was Han Jingjing.
Han Jingjing walked over, glanced at Song Tinghuan with obvious hesitation, and Song Tinghuan, very self-aware, was just about to turn and leave when Jiang Yu grabbed her arm.
Song Tinghuan: “?”
There weren’t many people on campus at that hour, only senior students, but Jiang Yu was the center of attention no matter where he stood, so quite a few eyes still turned their way.
Han Jingjing suppressed the gossip and curiosity in her eyes. “Jiang Yu, can I talk to you alone?”
Song Tinghuan only felt the grip on her arm tighten. The boy beside her had an indifferent expression. “I think I made myself very clear this afternoon.”
With just that one sentence, Han Jingjing’s eyes reddened.
“But this is really important to me. Jiang Yu…” Her voice lost its coolness and took on a hint of coquetry and pleading. “Can you just do me this favor? Please?”
Han Jingjing was about to grab Jiang Yu’s arm, but he blocked her with his phone. “Han Jingjing, you should know that this trick doesn’t work on me.”
Han Jingjing clenched her teeth in secret, looking at Jiang Yu holding Song Tinghuan’s wrist, and a crafty glint suddenly flashed through her bright eyes.
“Jiang Yu…” She softened her voice even more. “Are you really this heartless? Not even a little bit considerate of all our years together? How can you treat me like this?”
Maybe Jiang Yu was disgusted by her limp, mushy tone. His face twisted with obvious distaste. “Han Jingjing, act normal.”
“Then will you agree to my request?”
“No.”
“You really do have someone else in your heart.”
“?”
Song Tinghuan was being held by Jiang Yu, and her shock was impossible to hide.
Han Jingjing glanced at her, and her eyes immediately reddened too. “Jiang Yu, how can you do this to me?”
“Han Jingjing!”
Song Tinghuan’s arm suddenly hurt. She hissed softly. Jiang Yu belatedly realized he had used too much force, and he loosened his grip a little. Looking at the girl across from him with red-rimmed eyes, his voice carried warning. “Han Jingjing, what the hell are you going crazy for?”
“What do you mean I’m going crazy?” Han Jingjing only got even more worked up. “You clearly weren’t like this before. You never treated me like this. You must have someone in your heart…”
“Fine!”
Jiang Yu finally gave in and ground out a single word through his teeth.
Han Jingjing was getting a little too into the performance and almost couldn’t rein it back in. She quickly pulled her emotions into place. “You said it. Then I’ll come this weekend.”
After saying that, she winked at Song Tinghuan. “Thanks, junior.”
Song Tinghuan: “?”
Watching Han Jingjing’s tears come and go at will, Song Tinghuan still hadn’t recovered when Jiang Yu irritably tugged her along. She was short, so trying to keep up with his steps made her a little unsteady, not to mention she kept looking back at Han Jingjing out of curiosity.
When Song Tinghuan turned back again, Jiang Yu’s patience was finally gone. “If you want to watch that badly, why don’t you set up a dinner with her later?”
Song Tinghuan: “Huh?”
The girl’s eyes were blank. She clearly hadn’t expected him to get this angry.
After a brief silence, Jiang Yu pressed his lips together and let go of her wrist.
“Go find a place to eat by yourself later. I still…”
Song Tinghuan tugged at his sleeve. “I know a place with really good xiaowontons. Want to try it? I’ll treat you.”
The girl’s voice was soft and sweet. When she lowered it, it really did sound like she was coaxing him.
It was completely different from Han Jingjing’s deliberately affected tone.
Jiang Yu looked down at her.
“The place you went to with your little boyfriend?”
Song Tinghuan: “?”
Only then did she remember belatedly that the little boyfriend Jiang Yu meant was Chen Yuan.
“I already said, he’s not my boyfriend.”
The person beside her didn’t answer. Song Tinghuan didn’t know why, but she felt that Han Jingjing’s appearance had made Jiang Yu a little irritable. That irritability didn’t seem to have anything to do with liking her. It was something else.
More like… not wanting to face it? Wanting to avoid it.
But Jiang Yu was a total bossy jerk, so what could he possibly not want to face?
Song Tinghuan took a deep breath. She wasn’t sure why she had suddenly become so concerned about Jiang Yu’s mood.
Maybe because they lived under the same roof, and if he was unhappy, it would rub off on her.
“Jiang Yu, are you in a bad mood right now?”
“Which eye of yours saw that I’m in a bad mood?”
“…”
Fine, that might just be the bossy jerk’s final bit of stubbornness.
Song Tinghuan decided not to argue with him. “Then do you want to go eat or not?”
Her soft, sticky voice was carrying a hint of impatience for the first time. Song Tinghuan herself didn’t even know how she’d ended up talking to Jiang Yu like this. She pressed her lips together and tried to persuade him anyway. “Mm, besides… as the saying goes, you’re not hungry until you’ve had a meal.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, both of them fell silent.
Suddenly, Jiang Yu let out a low laugh and looked at the somewhat embarrassed girl. “Song Tingting, you really are… remarkably eloquent.”
Song Tinghuan: “…”
She muttered quietly, “But it’s not wrong just because it sounds plain.”
The voice was very soft, but Jiang Yu still heard it.
“Let’s go.”
“Huh?”
“Weren’t you treating me to dinner?”
“Oh.”
This time, it was Song Tinghuan who walked in front.
But then she suddenly thought of a very serious problem. It was already the end of the month, and her pocket money for this month was almost gone. If she treated Jiang Yu to dinner tonight, that would mean that for the next three days next week, she’d have to live on air.
People really shouldn’t brag.
“What is it?” Jiang Yu didn’t miss the troubled look on her face.
Song Tinghuan paused, stopped walking, and looked up at Jiang Yu with an extremely sincere gaze. “Are you really hungry?”
“It’s okay.”
Oh, then that was easy.
Song Tinghuan followed up on Jiang Yu’s answer. “Then later, can you just order a small portion?”
Jiang Yu: “?”
“Because…” Song Tinghuan felt a little awkward, but still honestly told Jiang Yu, “I don’t have that much money on me.”
Jiang Yu: “…”
Author’s note:
Jiang Yu: There is sincerity, but not much.
Brother Yu will keep handing out red envelopes~