“How come it’s another pretty girl, and she looks like a country bumpkin too?”
“Could it be that all the good-looking girls these days are born in the countryside?”
Cai Xiangxiang looked at Cat sitting opposite Su Li, who occasionally glanced up at Su Li, and spoke with some displeasure.
She could tell at a glance the cheapness of the clothes the girl was wearing, and the kind of meticulously prepared bento.
Only poor people would try to save money by bringing a bento.
Otherwise, who would eat a bento in the university canteen?
It’s a waste of time and energy.
But Su Li fit Cai Xiangxiang’s idea perfectly.
Poor, that’s why she always exchanged her own time for these cheap things.
Using her precious university years to work and earn money.
Spending time to bring her own meals.
In the end, it’s just putting the cart before the horse.
“Probably someone from Su Li’s village. They came here to work together, and neither of them has much money.”
“So one is responsible for cooking, and the other covers the cost of ingredients.”
“That way, both can save a bit of their capital.”
Wei Yanxi was clearly a bit disappointed. She thought that following Su Li, she would see Su Li with some pot-bellied middle-aged man.
She didn’t expect it to be a cute girl dressed plainly. She was even a little jealous of the other girl’s looks.
“How annoying. Su Li actually has a pretty girl bringing her food. Why?”
Wei Yanxi said unhappily, looking at the meal she had bought in the canteen, then secretly glancing at what Su Li was eating.
Even though the food gave off a cheap feeling, it still filled her with envy.
“If you were that poor, maybe you’d have a girl bringing you food too. Don’t even think about it.”
“It’s just a shame we didn’t manage to get a photo of Su Li meeting a client this time. Otherwise, I’d have liked to tease Su Li with it, to see if she’s still as composed as she is now.”
Chen Tangguan fiddled with her phone, speaking with some regret, though she had already taken a photo of Su Li eating with another girl just moments before.
And she had sent the photo to the group chat that had Chi Qingya in it.
That small group had long been buried under other chat records. Just finding the group was a hassle.
[Little Bear Gummy: Qingya, Qingya, look, see what we found? @ElegantAndCommon]
[Little Bear Gummy: [image.jpg]]
[Little Bear Gummy: Who’s that girl next to Su Li, Qingya, do you know?]
[Little Bear Gummy: She even specially brought Su Li a meal. I wonder what their relationship is.]
Chen Tangguan sent the messages into the group with a blank expression.
After sending them, she looked at the gazes of her two girlfriends and made a gagging motion.
Cai Xiangxiang and Wei Yanxi smiled, understanding each other without saying a word.
—
Chi Qingya felt her head was fuzzy. She couldn’t remember how much she had drunk.
She had just been lying on the table, not for very long, when she heard her phone vibrate again.
Was it Yaoyao?
Chi Qingya didn’t know, but she still held a sliver of hope in her heart.
Her girlfriends had just sent her a message, surely it couldn’t be them again this time?
Chi Qingya squinted her eyes and looked out the window. The sun hadn’t set yet, so Yaoyao probably hadn’t arrived in S City.
Maybe it was Su Li.
Her heart was filled with anticipation.
If it was Su Li, then she wouldn’t have to ask her girlfriends for their opinion about Su Li when they had dinner together tonight.
Chi Qingya didn’t know why, but she felt a vague resistance in her heart about asking her girlfriends for advice on this matter.
She didn’t want to ask them.
If she didn’t maintain contact with her girlfriends, she might be all alone in this big city.
She didn’t want to experience that lonely feeling.
Chi Qingya felt a bit sad.
If only Su Li was still by her side.
Then maybe she wouldn’t be alone.
She fumbled to pick up her phone, feeling her heart beating faster and faster, almost as if it was about to jump out of her chest.
‘Please let it be Su Li…’
‘Even if she doesn’t say anything.’
Chi Qingya thought this, tightly closing her eyes like a devout believer.
She began to pray to the gods, praying that it was Su Li who had sent her a message.
Even when opening her eyes, Chi Qingya didn’t dare to open them fully, just squinting into a slit to secretly look at the phone in front of her.
But the moment she saw the message, her movements froze for a moment.
In the past, she would have really hoped for her girlfriends to message her, but now, seeing them send messages so frequently, Chi Qingya felt inexplicably irritated.
Still, she tapped open the message to look.
Seeing the person in the photo, Chi Qingya’s hand holding the phone began to tremble slightly.
She wasn’t even clear on when the phone slipped from her hand and fell to the floor.
It was the sound of the phone knocking over a wine bottle that pulled Chi Qingya back to reality.
She instinctively thought it was her own mistake and hurriedly picked up the phone. Seeing it was Su Li, she let out a sigh of relief.
Su Li hadn’t eaten in the canteen for a long time.
The last time she saw Su Li was when she stole Su Li’s boiled fish.
Was it because she was worried about having her food stolen that Su Li stopped appearing in the canteen?
Chi Qingya didn’t know.
She felt her heart beating wildly, but the next moment, upon seeing the girl next to Su Li, Chi Qingya’s heart felt like it skipped a beat.
‘Who?’
‘Who is she?’
‘Why is there another girl by Su Li’s side?’
‘And this person isn’t even Bai Huizi.’
Originally, when facing Bai Huizi, she felt she didn’t hold out much hope.
But upon seeing another girl appear by Su Li’s side, Chi Qingya felt hope rekindle in her heart.
She scrutinized the girl in the photo, feeling she wasn’t any worse than this girl.
‘Why can this girl stay by Su Li’s side, but I can’t?’
‘Has Su Li made herself so cheap?’
‘Can anyone stay by Su Li’s side except me?’
‘Why?’
Chi Qingya felt an indescribable sense of oppression in her heart.
‘She couldn’t figure out where exactly she fell short?’
‘Or is it that Su Li is so desperate for money now that she’s started grabbing at anything?’
‘This is all my fault!’
‘It was me who pushed Su Li into the abyss!’
‘If it weren’t for me, Su Li could have grown up properly, right?’
‘She wouldn’t have gone down the wrong path…’
Chi Qingya looked at the scene of Su Li with another girl in the photo, and a deep sense of guilt surfaced in her heart.