“Eh? By the way, where did A-Yan go?”
Not long after they sat down, Li Tang seemed to remember something. She scanned the surroundings, feeling that something wasn’t quite right. She had seen Yu Xiaowei before she came back, so where was the other one?
Li Tang looked around in confusion, then turned to the girl beside her. “Ayuan, did you see her?”
Lin Xinyuan blanked for a moment before remembering. she searched her memory but quickly shook her head. “No, I didn’t see her at all. She seemed to just… disappear suddenly.”
She had been in such a rush to leave the court earlier that she hadn’t paid any attention to them. Naturally, she had no idea where Liu Qingyan had gone.
“Did you not see her, A-Tang?”
Hearing this, Li Tang couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “If I knew, would I be asking you? Ayuan, have you gone silly?”
Lin Xinyuan finally realized what a stupid question she had just asked. Feeling awkward, she turned her head away in bashful annoyance and instinctively retorted, “You… you’re the silly one!”
It’s all Brother Feng’s fault… insisting I do that kind of thing in front of so many people…
Otherwise, her head wouldn’t be such a mess right now! She wasn’t silly; if she were, how could she have gotten into Tianbei University?
Yes… that must be it… Lin Xinyuan kept comforting and convincing herself. The more she thought about it, the more certain she became, and she nodded secretly, satisfied with her own logic.
Then, thinking of Liu Qingyan, she guessed: “Qingyan probably went to the restroom, right?”
Li Tang nodded at first, thinking that made sense, but then something felt off. She frowned and voiced her doubt: “Then… who exactly did A-Yan buy that water for?”
Lin Xinyuan didn’t follow her friend’s train of thought and looked blank. “Didn’t Qingyan say she bought it for herself?”
Seeing Lin Xinyuan’s oblivious look, Li Tang truly couldn’t bear to look at her. She wanted to cover her face, torn between wondering if the girl was just worldly-innocent or if she really had become a ditz.
With the restless way A-Yan had been acting, it was obvious it wasn’t as simple as “buying it for herself.” Otherwise, why would she have left it unopened the whole time? Who else would it be for? It didn’t take much thinking to figure out.
Ayuan used to be quite sharp… how did she become so muddled after starting a relationship?
However, Li Tang figured it was likely the former: the girl was simply too dense and pure-hearted when it came to matters of the heart. She was genuinely worried about this personality trait. She knew how heavily her friend relied on Qin Nanfeng—likely even more than she and Brother Yan relied on each other.
Li Tang was truly afraid that if Lin Xinyuan were bullied or betrayed one day, she might do something foolish…
But since relationships are such sensitive matters and the person involved is often the most blind, she couldn’t say much. She could only take it one step at a time. Since everything was fine for now, she couldn’t go around meddling. She just hoped Qin Nanfeng would stay the way he was. If anything went wrong, she didn’t know if the girl could handle it.
Seeing Li Tang remain silent, Lin Xinyuan tilted her head and went back to watching the game. Her gaze followed a certain someone, her mood rising and falling with his movements.
Beside her, Li Tang snapped out of her thoughts, looked at this scene, and could only let out a soft sigh. “Sigh…”
Yu Xiaowei was the first to return, sitting down naturally beside the girl. As soon as she arrived, Li Tang immediately questioned her.
“Sister Weiwei, have you seen A-Yan? I messaged her and called, but she didn’t pick up!”
Hearing this, Lin Xinyuan also looked over. Li Tang had just tried calling beside her, and the fact that the call didn’t go through made her a little worried as well.
“She probably went to the restroom?” Seeing how worried the two looked, Yu Xiaowei thought for a moment but decided not to tell them the whole truth. “I saw her heading toward the restrooms. Maybe her phone died, so she didn’t pick up?”
“Oh, I see…”
Lin Xinyuan and Li Tang felt much more at ease. It sounded plausible, so they decided to wait a bit longer. If Liu Qingyan didn’t return or contact them soon, they would go looking for her.
Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait long. Not long after their conversation, she finally returned.
“Qingyan, where did you go?” Lin Xinyuan was the first to ask, her face full of concern. Although she hadn’t known Liu Qingyan for very long, she had a very good impression of her and truly considered her a friend.
“Yeah, why couldn’t we get a hold of you?” Li Tang echoed, her eyes full of worry. While Yu Xiaowei didn’t speak, she watched her silently, seemingly waiting for an answer.
Seeing their concern, Liu Qingyan blanked for a moment, then took out her phone. Sure enough, it was full of messages from them…
Liu Qingyan’s heart was touched, and a wave of warmth washed over her. She lightly bit her lower lip, pointed at her phone, and waved her hand. Her meaning was clear: the phone was on “Do Not Disturb,” which was why she hadn’t received the notifications.
At this, Lin Xinyuan and the others finally relaxed. Although Li Tang still had some doubts, she chose not to ask…
For the next while, Lin Xinyuan continued to tirelessly watch that familiar figure on the court while listening to Li Tang and the others talk. Overall, however, most of her mind was on the distant Qin Nanfeng. Watching him in his high spirits made her head feel more and more muddled.
I feel like I’ve forgotten something? What was it…
The girl kept searching her memory as her thoughts drifted. Images of the day spent with Qin Nanfeng flashed through her mind. Bashfulness, love, moving moments… until finally, the memory froze on the scene of their intimacy a short while ago—
Thump…
Whatever she realized, Lin Xinyuan’s gaze suddenly went blank.
I… what did I hear then? And what did I say?
In an instant, Lin Xinyuan’s fair little face, which had just cooled down, began to burn again. The heat rapidly spread to the base of her neck. Her whole body couldn’t stop trembling slightly as an unprecedented sense of shame flooded her heart, making her head spin. In that moment, her legs felt as weak and soft as if she were stepping on clouds.
An inexplicable current of electricity stimulated her so much she almost fainted.
That guy… he actually said those disgusting things at the time…
If it were just that, it would have been fine; she wouldn’t be this ashamed. But the problem was… she had actually said… she said…
Escaped\nNewlines\tTabsAnd\BackslashesForTesting“Oh, water… thanks… Ayuan’s water must taste especially good…”
Escaped\nNewlines\tTabsAnd\BackslashesForTesting“Well… of course…”
Water… tastes good… Ugh…
What on earth! I even agreed with him… I can’t face him… It’s all his fault! Waaaah…
At this thought, Lin Xinyuan was nearly driven to tears. The feeling of shame and indignation in her heart was almost uncontrollable, yet it felt like a tight circlet locked around her, preventing the emotion from venting out.
And right at that moment, as if he had anticipated her thoughts on purpose, that guy on the court looked directly over for a split second.
Their eyes met.
Even though they weren’t close, Lin Xinyuan seemed to clearly see the flirtatiousness and playfulness in that “stinky blonde’s” eyes.
Lin Xinyuan panicked instantly. She hurriedly lowered her head, not daring to look at Qin Nanfeng again.
You hateful jerk! You just love bullying me! I’m ignoring you…
The girl kept her head down in silence, as if she hadn’t been the one staring at the court with all her might just moments ago. Only her body, which was still shaking imperceptibly, betrayed the turbulence in her heart.
Li Tang and Liu Qingyan looked at each other, confused by the situation. Only a certain person who had been observing the girl all along seemed to have a moment of realization.
She glanced at the young man in the distance, then stared at the girl for a while. A strange curve gradually appeared at the corners of her mouth, her beautiful eyes full of interest.
Student Lin’s changes are truly massive… Interesting…