“We won again, we’re really awesome.”
After beating up Gou Yu, Zhu Niao grinned and nudged Gou Yu with her elbow.
“It doesn’t really have anything to do with you though, you didn’t even get any extra points,” Gou Yu retorted mercilessly.
Then he met Zhu Niao’s expressionless face, so calm it was a little scary.
He instinctively covered his mouth, but it seemed it was already too late.
As Zhu Niao began beating up Gou Yu again, Liu Xie remained impassive.
At this moment, the desire to have his good little brother by his side peaked.
Ye Qingchang also caught up from behind, coming over to stand next to Liu Xie.
With his golden mane, Lion King Liu Xie looked at Ye Qingchang, who was walking while scrolling through her phone, and suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu.
It was just like last time they went to the seaside together—only she and Ye Qingchang could be considered relatively harmonious.
“We have to be good brothers for life,” Liu Xie suddenly said, hooking his arm around Ye Qingchang’s neck.
“What’s with you all of a sudden?” Ye Qingchang scrolled her phone, “What about the campus run? They’re cracking down pretty hard on substitutes now.”
“Shouldn’t it be ‘wealth comes with risk, the bigger the waves, the bigger the fish’?”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I mean. So I just noticed the price for hiring a runner went up—a lot.” Ye Qingchang frowned, “If it’s at this price, I might just try running it myself. If it really doesn’t work out, then I’ll consider hiring someone.”
After saying this, she glanced at Zhu Niao and Gou Yu, who were still brawling up ahead.
She figured Little Bird wouldn’t hire a substitute either, so she’d have someone to run with.
After all, this is the activity that comes to every college student’s mind first when talking about youth—perhaps because, for them, it’s the sunniest thing in their lives.
At the intersection, after crossing the street, Yang Shuli ran off with Xu Nian, and Zhu Niao went home with Gou Yu. From start to finish, it seemed like it was just the two of them.
“Oh right, one more thing—I don’t know if it’s just happening to me or to you guys too.”
Ye Qingchang put away her phone and glanced at Liu Xie, who was still laughing without a care in the world.
“What thing?” Liu Xie tilted his head.
“That day when it rained, Xiao Yi’an confessed something to me,” Ye Qingchang began. “He said this romance quest has a time limit. If you don’t finish it within three years, someone will die.”
Liu Xie’s footsteps stopped.
“What did you say?” The Golden Lion King grabbed Ye Qingchang’s shoulder. “Are you serious? Isn’t he just making that up to fool you?”
“It should be real. He said the one who told him was the Apprentice Goddess. That kind of thing is abstract enough as it is, but when you mention ‘Apprentice Goddess,’ you can almost believe it.” Ye Qingchang’s expression was still calm—clearly, she’d already thought this matter through.
“Then why didn’t I get any news about this?” Liu Xie took out her phone to check—the latest call was still from a delivery guy telling her to pick up her order.
“So maybe it’s just a message for me alone. Anyway, I’m not sure,” Ye Qingchang shrugged. “Back then, I couldn’t get in touch myself, so I had Xiao Yi’an pass the word.”
“But honestly, I do think this is something meant just for me.”
“Huh? Why?” Liu Xie, just about to relax at the thought it might not concern her, tensed up again at Ye Qingchang’s words.
“Because what the Apprentice Goddess wants is for me to complete this so-called romance quest. I just broke it off with Xiao Yi’an, so she definitely isn’t happy about it. This three-year deadline probably just applies to me alone.”
“Thinking about it that way… it does make sense…” Liu Xie pinched her chin. “So, what do you plan to do?”
“Three years means three years to live, and I don’t believe that girl can decide my life or death with a single word. If she really could, why not just force me to fall for Xiao Yi’an outright?”
Ye Qingchang looked completely indifferent. “She needs me to complete the task right now. It’s not like I’m begging her for something.”
“As for romance? To be honest, I don’t think so.”
“Xiao Yi’an has definitely changed a little, but I’m not going to expect him to have transformed just because he’s shown a hint of improvement, or hope that he’s really become an independent, mature person.” The girl took off her glasses, wiped them a bit, and put them back on. “If I did that, it’d make me look cheap—like I have no self-worth.”
“If I can say out loud that I want to break up, then as long as I’m not deliberately humiliating him, at most we’ll just be two ordinary friends who nod in passing.”
“If he really does change and grow, then I’ll be happy for him, but there won’t be any intimacy. If he’s still the same as before, with no progress, then it’s got nothing to do with me, and I won’t be sad about him ever again.”
That was Ye Qingchang’s choice.
If Xiao Yi’an comes to her of his own accord and doesn’t disrupt her life, she won’t purposely make things difficult for him.
But if, for example, he pulls stunts like confessing with white candles this morning—that’s interfering with her life. So she gave him no face and left straightaway.
Later, when he helped her out in PE, she couldn’t just accept his kindness while hiding behind the excuse of having cut ties. She couldn’t be that despicable.
So, she gave him that bottle of water after the basketball game.
Right now, it seems Xiao Yi’an is actually studying, so she hopes he won’t just say it and then not change.
Like now, she doesn’t know if she’s overthinking it, but she always feels like Xiao Yi’an is circling around her.
She’d already made her stance on this before.
Of course, it’s understandable—Xiao Yi’an is even more anxious than Ye Qingchang herself, all because of this three-year deadline, because he doesn’t want her to die.
Not only does Xiao Yi’an want to do things well, he wants to do them quickly—to improve himself and also try to win over the impossible Ye Qingchang. So it looks like he’s always circling around her.
That’s why Ye Qingchang can’t really tell if Xiao Yi’an has changed or not.
If not for this so-called three-year deadline, and if Xiao Yi’an really had changed, then he’d be keeping his distance, just like she said—breaking up is good for both of them.
But with this so-called three-year limit, whether he changes or not, Xiao Yi’an will stick by Ye Qingchang’s side and give it one last try.
That’s what Xiao Yi’an said, too—he asked Ye Qingchang to give him a year to try to save her life.
Really, he was saying it to himself. If he can’t turn things around in a year, he’ll just have to leave.
Unfortunately, Ye Qingchang just can’t tell if this guy’s really changed.
This kind of thing can’t be guaranteed by patting your chest, nor can the other side just believe it straight away.
So, Ye Qingchang decided to keep observing and see what Xiao Yi’an does next.
“I’ll ask my little brother too, just in case he gets notified or something.”
Liu Xie thought for a bit and sent a message to Liu Anran.
Liu Anran didn’t reply.
“Did something happen? Why’s he so busy…”