“To put it bluntly, buddy, you shouldn’t be worrying about this kind of thing. You have a great future ahead of you, a bright tomorrow.”
Zhu Niao stood on her tiptoes, almost jumping as she wrapped her arm around the neck of the hunched-over Gou Yu, her words sounding like a mentor’s guidance.
The posture of the two looked incredibly awkward; judging by their height difference, they almost looked like a father and daughter. But the one with the sad, dejected expression was Gou Yu, while the one with the comforting, earnest look on her face was Zhu Niao.
Maybe they were more like a mother and son.
“But my future is already pitch-black. Not a single ray of light can shine in. It’s like finding out the car in front of you got caught for drunk driving but was let go anyway. The whole sky has turned dark.”
“That really is a bit dark,” Zhu Niao agreed, feeling his pain.
Normally, it was quite difficult to see Gou Yu in such a dispirited state. For a guy like him, it was as if even if the world were truly ending, he would still grin and tell Zhu Niao that he would reincarnate faster in his next life just so he could be her father.
Up until now, he had always seemed like someone who took hardships lightly—optimistic and cheerful, as if no difficulty could ever dampen his sunny disposition.
But this time was different.
“Oh, come on, it’s just being banned from taking orders for two days. What’s the big deal?” Zhu Niao continued to comfort Gou Yu. “At most, we just won’t deliver food today. Don’t let it get to you.”
Zhu Niao spoke again, “How about this? Aren’t those clubs recruiting new members? Old Third is over there too. Let’s go have some fun and treat it like a way to relax, okay?”
“But she was the one who filled in the wrong address herself, yet she blamed me for not delivering it. She reported me and caused me to be banned for two days. How can someone be so evil?” Gou Yu was still acting incredibly aggrieved.
Zhu Niao patted Gou Yu on the back. “It’s fine, it’s fine. Even if others don’t like you, plenty of people do.”
“Do you like me too?”
“I’m trying to comfort you right now. Don’t return kindness with enmity.”
Then, Zhu Niao saw a cruel smile curl at the corner of Gou Yu’s mouth.
At the same time, knowing Gou Yu’s nature all too well, Zhu Niao thought to herself that things were about to go south.
‘This is bad!’
Before she could even stop him, Gou Yu had already dropped to the ground and begun crawling forward.
He moved like a swift hound.
The kicker was that every two steps, he would turn his head back to look at her.
“What the hell are you doing! Get the hell up right now!” Zhu Niao could already feel the surrounding gazes gathering toward them.
“I won’t—you’re still being mean to me, waah…”
Gou Yu crawled forward again.
Now it was even worse. Not only were people watching, but Zhu Niao could even hear fragments of idle gossip.
She desperately wanted to flee at that moment, but she couldn’t just leave Gou Yu to keep crawling forward like that. Otherwise, who knew how many rumors about her she’d hear later that she hadn’t even heard of before.
So, she followed him.
“I wasn’t being mean to you. Please get up, okay?” Zhu Niao’s tone was gentle.
This was the gentlest voice she could muster in her entire life.
She realized that four legs were indeed faster than two; she was actually struggling to keep up with the crawling Gou Yu.
But she couldn’t just let him continue crawling and ruin her reputation.
“You were mean to me. I’m not getting up.”
A tone like a sulking child actually came out of the mouth of a large man like Gou Yu.
Though, he only said it to disgust Zhu Niao.
“How could I possibly be mean to you?” Zhu Niao’s tone was like a spring breeze, which, combined with her ethereal voice, could probably soothe any teenage boy into a stupor.
Unfortunately, Gou Yu, who spent every day and night with Zhu Niao, had already built up an immunity to it.
“Then say you like me.” Gou Yu stopped his four-legged movement.
“Don’t push your luck.” Zhu Niao’s gentle expression turned cold instantly.
“Waah, you really don’t like me—”
Gou Yu started crawling forward again.
Zhu Niao was stunned and hurriedly chased after him.
“Stop crawling, Brother! I’ll call you Dad, okay? Dad! I’m begging you, stop crawling!” Zhu Niao screamed from behind.
She almost felt like she was doing a drill in PE class.
But wasn’t it supposed to be the dog chasing and the human running? Why was it the human chasing the dog now?
“It doesn’t matter what you call me, unless you say you like me.”
Gou Yu was still crawling ahead, nearly bumping into one or two students.
Naturally, the gazes and attention he attracted were countless.
As Zhu Niao ran, she bit her lower lip, her eyes darting around as if she were hesitating over something.
But eventually, she spoke up. “Of course I like you!”
“What did you just say? I couldn’t hear you.” The sound coming from Gou Yu up ahead made her blood boil even more.
“You damn well heard me!”
“Waah, you’re being mean to me—”
Gou Yu started crawling again.
Zhu Niao decided that once she caught this guy, she would definitely skin him alive.
“I like you! I really like you!”
Niao chased him, out of breath, while shouting at the top of her lungs.
Every student passing by couldn’t help but be amazed, marveling at the beauty of youth and the wonder of love.
“What’s wrong with those two?” Yang Shuli raised an eyebrow as she watched Gou Yu and Zhu Niao run past her one after the other. “Is this some kind of performance art?”
She looked at Xu Nian, who only shook his head in confusion.
Meanwhile, the chase between Gou Yu and Zhu Niao continued.
“I didn’t record it just now. Say it one more time?” The crawling Gou Yu even managed to free up a hand to play with his phone.
One could only say he truly lived up to being a sports student.
“You even want to record it?”
“You’re being mean to me again—”
“Fine, fine, fine! I get it!” Zhu Niao grit her teeth. “I like you!”
“All right.” Gou Yu stopped crawling and stood up.
Behind him was Zhu Niao, who finally saw a ray of hope but was walking toward him with intense murderous intent.
“Wait, hold on.” Gou Yu held out a palm. “Actually, I’ve already prepared an apology gift. You’ll definitely be satisfied.”
“What?”
Zhu Niao’s raised fist paused slightly, as if waiting for Gou Yu to give her a good answer.
“Before I ran off, I secretly opened your fitness tracker. Now you can use this to pretend you’ve been exercising.”
“I really should kill you!”
“Wait, hold on!” Gou Yu called out to Zhu Niao again.
Then, under Zhu Niao’s bewildered gaze, he wiped his dirty palms—which had been supporting him on the ground—clean on Zhu Niao’s clothes.
“Look down. I’ve already been so cringey that your toes must have curled enough to excavate a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment. You’re a real estate tycoon now.”
***
“Hey, buddy, what happened to your face?” Gou Yu pointed at Xiao Yi’an’s left cheek, which was being covered with an ice pack.
“I accidentally got shoulder-thrown by a fly on the way here.” Xiao Yi’an pointed at Gou Yu’s swollen right cheek. “What about you?”
“Me? I just got hit with a Wing Chun combo by a bee while walking down the street.”
Yall deserve it.