Ning Wanciu’s home fell into complete silence for a moment.
Only An Yu continued as if nothing had happened, gently stroking Ning Wanciu’s head.
Ning Wanciu’s eyes widened, her pupils contracting slightly as she stared in disbelief at the girl touching her.
For an instant, even her relieved tears stopped.
She… what had she just heard?
The girl’s heartbeat quickened, a blush slowly creeping across her face.
She opened her mouth, but in the end no words came out.
Like…
An Yu had just said she liked her.
What did that mean?
Ning Wanciu stared blankly at the girl before her, as if searching for some hint in her expression.
But unfortunately, An Yu looked exactly the same as always.
She simply stared back with that expressionless face.
Ning Wanciu pressed her lips together and forced a somewhat helpless smile.
“Is that so? Then thank you, An Yu.”
In the end, she casually brushed it off.
Because she knew An Yu’s words never carried any strange meaning or special implication.
It couldn’t possibly be what she was thinking…
“Let’s eat. The food’s really going to get cold this time.”
She reminded the two of them softly.
It was truly time to eat now.
An Yu gave a light nod, showing no sign of anything unusual.
“Okay.”
Just as Ning Wanciu had expected, An Yu had simply spoken a plain truth with no deeper meaning.
An Yu quietly took her seat at the table and began dinner.
Even though she understood exactly what kind of person An Yu was, seeing her act so casually made Ning Wanciu realize it really was just as she thought.
And somehow that left her feeling… disappointed?
Ning Wanciu sat dazed in her own chair, suddenly losing her appetite as she looked at the dishes on the table.
Disappointed?
Why would she feel disappointed…?
Because An Yu’s “like” wasn’t the kind she had secretly hoped for?
Ning Wanciu raised a hand and slowly covered her mouth, keeping her expression hidden from the other two.
She seemed to hold some strange expectations toward An Yu.
The kind that went far beyond ordinary friendship.
No wonder she had been so nervous just from inviting her over.
She subconsciously glanced at An Yu, who was eating obediently, and pressed her lips tighter.
She knew An Yu wasn’t like her.
An Yu didn’t have those kinds of expectations toward her.
…Probably.
Yet when facing An Yu, the one acting strangely wasn’t just her—there was also her little sister… Ning Dongli.
Ning Wanciu could see that Ning Dongli, seated nearby, kept stealing glances at An Yu every so often.
Just like she herself had done earlier.
Ning Wanciu frowned, but eventually let it smooth out.
She picked up her bowl and chopsticks and began eating in silence.
Since An Yu saw her as a friend, that was all she could do. She mustn’t let any strange thoughts take root.
An Yu’s intuition was sharp.
If she accidentally sensed something, she might start keeping her distance, and that would be bad.
For Ning Wanciu, An Yu pulling away from her would be painful, but it wasn’t the most devastating possibility.
It would also mean An Yu might distance herself from Ning Dongli.
And if that happened, the psychological shadow Ning Dongli had only just begun to lighten would grow even heavier.
At the dinner table, Ning Dongli was indeed stealing glances at An Yu every so often, exactly as Ning Wanciu had thought.
But that wasn’t all she was doing.
She was actually observing.
Observing what was going on between An Yu and her big sister.
When An Yu had said “I like you” to her sister earlier, Ning Wanciu hadn’t reacted much, but Ning Dongli herself had blushed first.
She couldn’t be blamed for it.
As a shut-in, she had seen far more of that kind of thing online than Ning Wanciu ever had.
When it came to matters like this, Ning Dongli didn’t even have any barriers left.
After all, even if she hadn’t eaten the pork, she had definitely seen the pig run.
Ning Dongli silently forked a small piece of cake into her mouth.
The sweet, rich flavor stimulated her taste buds.
But her mind was elsewhere.
Honestly, Ning Dongli had been genuinely startled.
She had known her big sister and An Yu would get along well, but she hadn’t expected it to be this well.
Ning Dongli had actually noticed how her sister’s pretty face had instantly flushed when she heard those words.
It might be too soon to conclude that her sister had issues, but as her little sister, Ning Dongli had still picked up on it.
Big Sis definitely had a problem!
She had never seen Ning Wanciu blush or act shy before.
And the one who had said “I like you” was An Yu, of all people.
Ning Dongli couldn’t imagine An Yu lying, so no matter what, those words had been sincere.
But regardless of how Ning Wanciu felt, the real issue actually came from An Yu!
When she said it, her tone hadn’t changed at all. It had been far too calm to guess what she was actually thinking.
Still, the possibility that An Yu liked Ning Wanciu wasn’t zero!
Although Ning Dongli had grown used to being cared for by her sister and felt no ripples in her own heart, she knew very well that a gentle girl like this was like a soft, warm haven to outsiders. Maybe An Yu had already fallen into it!
Maybe they both had feelings for each other…
Ning Dongli bit down on her fork, completely lost in her fantasies.
She subconsciously glanced at the two girls on either side of her.
Both were silently eating their food without saying a word.
This left Ning Dongli in a bind.
A single casual “I like you” had sent the girl spiraling into a full-blown brainstorm.
She was genuinely curious about what kind of relationship An Yu and her big sister actually had.
Yet no one was talking.
It looked like she would have to take the initiative herself!
Ning Dongli narrowed her eyes. Perhaps the experiences of the afternoon had made her a little more comfortable around An Yu and stripped away some of her usual timidity.
An idea suddenly struck her, and she forked a small piece of cake, holding it up to An Yu’s mouth.
“An Yu, An Yu, try this~”
An Yu lifted her head expressionlessly, looked at the fork in front of her, slowly opened her mouth, and bit down without hesitation.
“Mmm~”
If it was already being fed to her, of course she would eat it.
“How is it?”
Ning Dongli asked expectantly, blinking.
“Tasty.”
An Yu nodded, her voice flat.
“Hehe, that’s good~”
Ning Dongli’s voice carried a hint of pride.
Even though she hadn’t made the cake, she had been the one who bought it!
And yes, she really had bought it—she had pulled out her phone and scanned the code to pay right before dragging An Yu away.
When it came to making a quick escape, Ning Dongli was a professional and wasted no time.
“Mm.”
An Yu nodded calmly, then lowered her head and resumed eating.
Ning Dongli blinked, a little helpless.
She hadn’t expected the conversation to end so abruptly.
She was the one with social anxiety, yet here she was forcing herself to take the lead!
But… if it was An Yu, she could do it.