“It’s hard to say. Third Sis probably doesn’t want to see you right now. She almost never deletes friends—last time she did was that guy who wouldn’t stop spamming ads.” Zhu Niao shook her head, but still answered Xiao Yi’an’s question truthfully.
“Please, just help me pass on the message, that’s all.” Xiao Yi’an stood up and gave Zhu Niao and Liu Xie a deep bow. “I can’t let her down again.”
“Uh…”
Zhu Niao and Liu Xie exchanged glances. Liu Xie made a gesture—saying one thing but doing another.
Xiao Niao understood right away; this was the quickest she’d ever picked up on a hand signal. “Alright, but I still have to tell you, it’s very unlikely she’ll agree to meet you.”
“Thank you both.” Xiao Yi’an bowed again.
Liu Xie and Zhu Niao both felt a shiver run down their spines and hurried out of the milk tea shop.
As soon as they pushed the door open, two or three raindrops landed on their faces.
Oh, they hadn’t brought umbrellas.
Just then, an umbrella was thrust into Zhu Niao’s hand from the side—a large umbrella, big enough for two people.
Ye Qingchang was standing beside them, still dressed all in black—a black dress, black sneakers, and holding a black umbrella with a lace trim.
Her expression was calm. “I sent you both a voice message to ask if you brought umbrellas, and neither of you replied.”
Zhu Niao started scratching her head and looking up at the sky, like a neighbor caught red-handed in the act.
“You two…” Ye Qingchang looked through the milk tea shop’s glass door at Xiao Yi’an, who was still bowing with his head down. “Did you spill everything to him?”
“You haven’t even mentioned not being able to eat dinner last night.” Liu Xie said seriously.
“You didn’t have to come. I don’t owe him, and he doesn’t owe me. The best choice is to just let each other go.” Ye Qingchang held her single umbrella. “Let it be. So you two came out saying you were going to buy food, but you didn’t buy anything—just came to stand up for me?”
“We’re just loyal like that.” Zhu Niao and Liu Xie both gave a big thumbs-up.
Ye Qingchang took a deep breath, filled with the freshness of autumn rain and a hint of decay.
“Let’s go back to the dorm.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhu Niao and Liu Xie saluted and huddled under the umbrella together, walking into the curtain of rain.
Ye Qingchang didn’t rush to leave. She turned back and took a long look at Xiao Yi’an, who was now drawing plenty of attention.
There was no hatred in her eyes, nor any love. The two of them had no connection left at all.
Just two somewhat familiar strangers.
Maybe it was fate. At the very last moment before Ye Qingchang turned to leave, Xiao Yi’an caught sight of her standing by the glass door.
With faltering steps, he forced his legs, as if they wouldn’t obey him, and nearly bumped into people as he dashed into the rain, calling out to Ye Qingchang, who had reached the roadside.
“Ye Qingchang!”
Ye Qingchang stopped slowly, turning just halfway.
Her expression was calm. “What is it?”
Xiao Yi’an rushed to her, almost using up all his strength, afraid that if he was even a moment late, Ye Qingchang would leave and he’d never see her again.
“I’m sorry,” Xiao Yi’an said. “I didn’t recognize you.”
“You don’t need to apologize, Xiao.”
There wasn’t the slightest ripple in Ye Qingchang’s beautiful eyes. “I hid it from you on purpose. I kept it from you until now, made you think your White Moonlight had turned from a girl into a boy. You don’t need to apologize. Just like the message I left for you, we owe each other nothing.”
“That’s not right, it’s not like that.” Xiao Yi’an paid no mind to the cold rain pelting his body. “You weren’t that one special person to me because of whether you were a man or a woman. You saved me—so as long as it’s you, nothing else matters to me.”
“Really?” The girl in black raised an eyebrow. “But I’m tired. I’m too tired to reply to pointless messages every morning when I wake up, too tired to keep an eye out to share happy things just to warm someone other than myself, too tired to always be worrying about and caring for someone who isn’t my concern.”
“All that ‘being a good person to the end’—that’s just nonsense.” Ye Qingchang let out a cold laugh.
The rain was pouring, so heavy it made it hard to breathe.
“I also need to apologize,” Xiao Yi’an said. “I didn’t know you were her. I didn’t know, and I hurt you. I’m sorry…”
“These are all such ridiculous reasons.” Ye Qingchang’s voice took on an edge of annoyance. “I told you, you have nothing to be sorry for. It was me who hid it from the start, made you think your White Moonlight was always a girl, and it was me who kept it from you later, making you think Ye Qingchang and White Moonlight were two different people. It was my mistake all along.”
She wasn’t as calm as she seemed on the surface.
“In the beginning, I was just playing the good guy to the end, helping you with two identities until now. That was just me trying to make myself feel good. Your sadness now, your guilt for hurting me—that’s just you trying to make yourself feel good, too.”
“Face reality. From the start, it was just two awkward people helping each other get by. Now I’m tired of playing. I don’t want to keep tying my emotions to an empty puppet, shouldn’tering a responsibility that was never mine. Do you not understand?”
“Hoo…” The girl in black took a deep breath. “This is where it ends, Xiao.”
“No.”
Xiao Yi’an grabbed Ye Qingchang’s wrist.
“We can’t just end it like this.”
“Are you out of your mind? We owe each other nothing now. You don’t owe me, I don’t owe you—what more do you want?” Ye Qingchang’s tone was no longer calm.
“Let’s not talk about whether your so-called betrayal—which I don’t care about—can compare to the mental drain I’ve suffered all these years.” Xiao Yi’an clung tightly to Ye Qingchang’s wrist, but didn’t dare use force. “I want to be with you, as your lover. Otherwise, something will happen.”
Ye Qingchang was stunned for a moment, then let go of the umbrella she was holding with her other hand.
Her free hand came up.
Pa!
A crisp slap rang out in the rain.
“You’re so damn disgusting. You insist on being with me? Can’t you just let me go? Can’t you live your own life?” Ye Qingchang grabbed Xiao Yi’an by the collar. “Now you’re using yourself to threaten me, to hold me hostage. Do you still want me to be responsible for you?”
Her voice trembled uncontrollably.
“I never owed you anything, Xiao Yi’an.”
“Xiao Yi’an, I never want to see you again. Never, ever.”
oohhhhh boy
Really phrased it ambiguously so it would sound like the was threatening to hurt himself