“A-Yan!”
“Qingyan, are you… alright?”
As soon as the girl returned to the dormitory, Lin Xinyuan and Li Tang immediately rushed to meet her.
They took hold of her arms, one on each side, shaking them slightly with urgent concern.
Looking at the two of them, Liu Qingyan felt amused, yet a wave of warmth washed over her heart.
She shook her head to indicate that she was fine.
Lin Xinyuan and Li Tang were not about to believe her so easily and started to say more.
However, Liu Qingyan shook her head even more firmly.
She removed her mask, revealing her exquisite face.
It was only then that Lin Xinyuan and Li Tang noticed the tear stains on her cheeks and her reddened eyes.
They had never seen the girl like this before; it was as if she had just experienced a massive emotional upheaval.
“A-Yan, did that Sun Ce guy bully you?”
Li Tang couldn’t help but frown, her voice rising with agitation.
Lin Xinyuan was also full of worry.
“Yeah… Qingyan… you still have us. We are your good friends! Please don’t be sad, okay?”
As Lin Xinyuan spoke, she saw Liu Qingyan gradually lower her head, making her even more frantic.
Suddenly, she seemed to think of something. She bit her lower lip, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke.
“Don’t you like pinching my face the most? If it comes down to it… at most… I’ll let you do it whenever you want from now on… um…”
By the time she reached the end, Lin Xinyuan found it difficult to continue.
Yet, she looked at the other girl with stubborn anticipation, hoping for a response from the “crying” girl whose body was trembling slightly.
Even Li Tang, standing beside them, looked incredibly nervous.
Neither of them dared to look away for even a second.
Right then, the girl slowly raised her head.
To their surprise, what met their eyes was not a pair of tear-filled eyes, but a set of beautiful eyes brimming with uncontrollable laughter.
Seeing her two stunned friends, Liu Qingyan’s body trembled even more violently.
She had to cover her mouth to barely suppress the corners of her lips that kept curling upward.
Finally unable to hold it back any longer, she lowered her hand, her small mouth breaking into a brilliant smile as she laughed silently.
“Qingyan… you?”
Coming back to her senses, Lin Xinyuan’s tone was confused.
She was still a bit worried, fearing that Liu Qingyan might have suffered some kind of mental shock.
[Nothing is wrong, Xiaoyuan… A Tang… thank you…]
At this moment, the gloom had completely vanished from the girl’s eyes.
She blinked her large eyes, which were now filled with a hint of playfulness.
“So, you two… made up?”
Li Tang asked tentatively, her voice half-doubting, but the worry in her eyes slowly faded, replaced by a touch of joy.
Seeing their expectant gazes, Liu Qingyan nodded, but then immediately shook her head. They weren’t sure what she meant.
Lin Xinyuan and Li Tang grew even more anxious.
Li Tang began to shake Liu Qingyan’s arm forcefully, urging her to speak.
“Tell us! Tell us quickly!” Li Tang grumbled, her face scrunched up in dissatisfaction at the suspense.
[Well…]
Liu Qingyan didn’t intend to keep her situation with Sun Ce a secret.
After thinking about it, she chose not to hide anything.
Besides… if it weren’t for these two friends she hadn’t known for very long… perhaps she wouldn’t have dared to take that step.
Perhaps she would have just continued to let the misunderstanding fester.
‘I’m really thankful for you both… Xiaoyuan… A Tang…’
Lin Xinyuan and Li Tang pulled over their chairs and sat beside Liu Qingyan, the three of them huddling together.
The lights in the dormitory had already been turned off.
Only the glow from the desk lamp reflected off the three girls’ fair faces, creating a beautiful ripple of light.
It gave Liu Qingyan the sense that she was telling a story to two small children.
Since she couldn’t speak aloud and sign language was difficult to use for precise details, she simply opened her laptop, planning to type in a document for them to read.
As it turned out, the whole matter was very simple—almost incredibly so.
“Honestly, that guy is such a mute…”
Under the dim yellow light of a streetlamp, a man sat on a stone bench, talking on his phone.
He seemed to be discussing someone with the person on the other end.
His tone was poor, laced with impatience.
“I’m not stupid. We’ve been friends for a year, after all. I definitely wouldn’t say it to his face.”
“Oh, I’ll find a time to explain it. Otherwise, there’ll definitely be a misunderstanding, and people will think I actually have that kind of relationship with him…”
The girl had just arrived and quietly crept up behind the man, intending to give him a fright. Instead, she heard those words.
Her expression shook violently.
The joy in her heart vanished instantly, replaced by a sudden, icy chill that swept through her body. Her eyes slowly grew dim.
Her small mouth opened slightly, but in the end, she couldn’t make a sound.
A moment later, she quietly slipped away, as if she had never been there at all.
[Xiao Yan, why aren’t you here yet? Are you still drying your hair?]
[I’m sorry… I don’t feel well. I won’t be going tonight…]
[…]
[Xiao Yan, should we go mountain climbing again?]
[No… I’d rather stay in the dormitory…]
[…]
[Xiao Yan, let me tell you, this Cantonese restaurant is delicious! Let’s go together?]
[My stomach hurts. Never mind, maybe some other time…]
[…]
[Xiao Yan…]
[I’m sorry…]
[…]
[The whole thing… was that simple…]
Returning from her memories, Liu Qingyan glanced at their stunned expressions and couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed.
She had originally thought Sun Ce was talking about her.
Back then, she felt terrible, yet she didn’t dare ask or even explain herself.
She had been terrified that the day Sun Ce mentioned—the one where he would “explain” things to her—would come too soon.
It wasn’t until today’s opportunity that she learned from him that he hadn’t been talking about her being a mute, but rather a “mute.”
That “mute” wasn’t her; it was a friend Sun Ce had met through playing basketball who usually didn’t talk much.
During that period, that guy had been begging Sun Ce to lend him money almost every day.
He borrowed more and more but never paid it back.
Eventually, Sun Ce couldn’t take it anymore and felt he had to make things clear.
But since they had been friends for over a year, he didn’t want to say it in front of the guy’s girlfriend and make him lose face.
At that time, Sun Ce happened to be complaining about the situation to Zeng Yan over the phone and couldn’t help using the guy’s nickname.
He never imagined that Liu Qingyan would overhear him.
Adding to that, because of Liu Qingyan’s own background, she was actually quite sensitive.
She never asked Sun Ce about it or responded to him, which resulted in the misunderstanding and the rift between them.
This misunderstanding… had lasted for six months.
“A-Yan, you really are…”
After reading the final line Liu Qingyan typed, Li Tang finally reacted.
She turned her head toward her friend, speechless and not knowing whether to laugh or cry, though she was relieved.
Beside her, Lin Xinyuan couldn’t help but fall into deep thought.
‘Come to think of it, I’m a bit similar to Liu Qingyan…’
‘Except, the person I met was Brother Feng…’
‘If it were that guy, he wouldn’t let me overthink things like that…’
‘There wouldn’t even be room for so many misunderstandings…’
‘If I started overthinking…’
For a moment, all sorts of messy “punishment” scenes flashed through the girl’s mind, and her small face immediately turned a shade of crimson.
She gently bit her pink lip, the slight sting helping her chase those thoughts away.
‘Honestly, he’s haunting my mind…’
Lin Xinyuan felt shy and resentful, but she finally managed to peel the memories of a certain guy away from her brain.
Once she regained her composure after reading Liu Qingyan’s story, she looked at the girl silently, feeling quite moved. “Qingyan…”
Liu Qingyan chuckled. Seeing their different expressions, her eyes curved into crescent moons.
[So, now you know why I wanted to thank you both?]
[I’m really happy that I got to know you.]
Looking at Liu Qingyan’s sincere expression and seeing that she had completely stepped out of the gloom, both Lin Xinyuan and Li Tang felt very happy.
“I’m happy to know you too, A-Yan.”
“I’m happy to know you, Qingyan…”
The words had just left their mouths when the three girls looked at each other and smiled, their expressions free of any pretense.
The story of Liu Qingyan and Sun Ce had been told, and it was getting late.
Logically, they should have gone to wash up and prepare for bed.
However, just as the girl was about to stand up, Liu Qingyan quickly grabbed her hand.
[Xiaoyuan, wait…]
Lin Xinyuan was confused, but she didn’t think too much of it and obediently sat back down.
[Did Xiaoyuan forget something?]
“Huh? What?” Lin Xinyuan sat there blankly, asking foolishly.
[Xiaoyuan once said that I could pinch her face as much as I wanted~]
As Liu Qingyan’s hands moved to sign, she smiled, her eyes suddenly lighting up.
She abruptly reached out her “devilish claws,” her target being the girl’s fair and tender face.
“Ah! I… I was just talking nonsense!”
[No going back on your word!]
Seeing this, Li Tang, who was about to go wash up, also became excited. Looking for a bit of fun, she joined the fray.
“I’m joining in too, hehe~”
“Waaaaah…”
“You two…”
Thanks for the chapters!