Although the young girl didn’t speak, looking at her expression, Liu Yinuo knew she had guessed correctly.
This made her feel a bit better, and she was now ninety-nine percent sure of her theory. In that case, there was even less reason to rush. Fortunately, there was still plenty of time. She could wait a little longer, waiting to gradually melt into the young girl’s heart.
At this moment, she believed that her position in the girl’s heart was something no one else could ever reach.
Time — her greatest reliance was time.
‘As long as I move forward steadily, she will definitely accept me completely again,’ she thought. Therefore, she was no longer in a hurry.
However, she still had one question — a very important question. That question required an answer from the young girl, and she believed the girl would answer her honestly. Only after confirming that one thing could she truly feel at ease.
Taking a deep breath, she said, “Alright, I can let those things go for now, but I have to ask you one thing.”
Her gaze grew serious. The girl felt her embrace tighten and couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous.
“That Qin Haiyue… she said the two of you were lovers, and you confirmed it that day. I want to know right now, did she force you to admit that?”
This was not a difficult question to answer. The girl was silent for a moment, knowing that deceiving Liu Yinuo wouldn’t do her any good.
“Yes…”
She decided to answer honestly.
However, the moment she heard the answer, Liu Yinuo suddenly became excited. She hugged the girl tightly, with so much force that it was almost impossible to breathe.
“I knew it! I knew it!”
She muttered something under her breath. The girl was a bit dazed. After hesitating for a moment, the girl tried to struggle slightly.
“Class Monitor…?”
Liu Yinuo didn’t respond, still swept up in her excitement. The moment she got the girl’s answer, she felt as if all the grievances from the past few days had been swept away. It was an unprecedented sense of relief.
This way, she didn’t have to worry anymore. Now that she had a solid foundation, she also gained confidence.
Based on her understanding of Qin Haiyue, that person’s friendly attitude toward the girl probably wouldn’t last long. Therefore, she didn’t need to worry too much about her stealing Ye Xingmian’s heart.
When the time came, she only needed to appear at the critical moment to rescue the girl, and everything would be over.
Having planned all this out, a smile appeared on her face. This meant she only needed to sit back and reap the benefits now.
Snapping back to reality, she noticed the look on the girl’s face and was momentarily stunned. She regained her composure and asked with a smile, “What’s wrong?”
Pursing her lips, the girl felt uneasy. The Class Monitor had seemed like a stranger just now. ‘Is she… possessed?’ she wondered.
Closing her eyes, she decided to suppress that faint unease in her heart. Struggling gently in Liu Yinuo’s embrace, she said, “Um… could you let go of me first?”
“Ah! Of course!” Liu Yinuo released Ye Xingmian.
Pursing her lips, the girl suddenly thought of something. She picked up her backpack and rummaged through it for her phone.
“Hmm? What’s this?”
Liu Yinuo was surprised to see the phone in the girl’s hand, but she soon thought of something, and her gaze sharpened.
“Qin Haiyue bought it for me,” the girl explained.
“Why would she buy you a phone?” Her suspicion confirmed, Liu Yinuo felt a surge of irritability. She hadn’t expected that, besides the clothes, Qin Haiyue would spend so much to buy the girl a phone. This made her slightly worried about whether her previous guess was correct.
“She probably thought it would be less of a hassle.” Without saying much else, the girl pressed and held the power button to turn on the phone. The reason she took it out was that today’s experience made her suddenly realize that sticking to her previous ideas didn’t seem to be the way. So, she was starting to give up.
Her head was still a bit foggy. She didn’t know if what she was doing was right or wrong; she just followed her instincts. “Class Monitor, I have a social media account now. Can I add you as a friend? Although I might not be able to reply to messages right away…”
Keeping her head down, she took the initiative to suggest adding each other.
“Okay.”
Nodding, Liu Yinuo also took out her phone.
The girl’s phone had always been turned off at home to prevent it from making noise and being discovered by the Lin family. Because of this, this was the first time she had turned it on since last night. When the screen lit up, she frowned, her expression becoming uneasy.
— There were several message notifications on the lit-up screen, all from someone named “Lone Cicada.”
‘Lone Cicada? It sounds like a poetic name. Of course, that’s only if I ignore that the person behind it is Qin Haiyue,’ the girl thought.
She didn’t even have to think to know it was her because Ye Xingmian only had this one friend on her social media app. And the messages she sent were quite unsettling.
Lone Cicada: “11:30, I’ll be waiting for you at the school gate. Get over here, and don’t be late.”
Lone Cicada: “Hey, answer me!”
Lone Cicada: “Did I not tell you that you aren’t allowed to ignore my messages? Are you asking for trouble?”
Just from the text alone, one could practically imagine Qin Haiyue’s irritable face. The girl’s hand holding the phone couldn’t help but tremble slightly, but she feigned composure. Taking a deep breath, she swiped the messages away one by one, making sure Liu Yinuo didn’t see them.
Unlocking the screen as if nothing were wrong, she turned her head.
The phone number was registered under Qin Haiyue, so the real-name information should also be hers. ‘Once I leave here, I must change this SIM card to keep her from finding me,’ the girl thought.
“What should we add first?”
There weren’t many apps on the phone. She didn’t know how to play games and had no chance to watch videos. The home screen was empty, containing almost nothing except the system apps.
“Let’s add the Penguin app first. Does your phone have a SIM card?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me your phone number too.”
“But… the card is Qin Haiyue’s…”
“It doesn’t matter. The person I’m contacting is you, right?”
After a moment of silence, the girl nodded and gave her the phone number and the Penguin ID.
The girl’s social media account was basically a blank slate. There was no profile picture, the name was just the default number, and the level was only Level 1.
“Why haven’t you set a name or a profile picture?”
“Ah? I… I don’t know how to come up with a name…”
“Then I’ll help you think of one. How about this — your name will be Chilly South Wind. What do you think?”
“Oh… okay…”
Blankly finding the settings, she changed the name as Liu Yinuo instructed. A moment later, Liu Yinuo sent a friend request.
**[Warm North Wind has requested to add you as a friend.]**
Eh??
Stunned, she looked back at Liu Yinuo. The other girl seemed to notice her gaze and gave her a playful wink.
For some reason, her cheeks felt strangely hot. The girl silently turned back and accepted the friend request.
Chilly South Wind, Warm North Wind…?