āWeāre here. This is fine!ā
Ning Dongli forced a smile. Her beautiful eyes stayed fixed on An Yu, thoughts unknown.
āYou donāt need me to come with you?ā
An Yu tilted her head and asked softly.
āMmā¦ no need. Iāll be out in a bit!ā
Ning Dongliās cheeks flushed slightly as she firmly refused An Yuās offer to follow her into the bathroom.
If An Yu went in with her, it would not count as being alone.
In that case she would never be able to calm down.
āReally?ā
This time An Yu did not agree right away. Instead she asked again in her cool, clear voice.
āO-of course!ā
Ning Dongliās face reddened further as she spoke with determination.
She felt like her credibility with An Yu was about to hit rock bottom!
No, no. She had to prove herself!
āAn Yu, just wait for me. Once Iām out we can go check out the other exhibits over there!ā
Ning Dongli puffed her cheeks and pointed energetically toward the distance, where many stalls and displays they had not yet visited were located.
An Yu followed the direction she pointed, then nodded blankly.
āOh.ā
That only made Ning Dongli feel even more embarrassed.
āAnyway, Iāll be quick!ā
At the same time, Ning Dongli cheered herself on internally.
Just ten minutes! She only needed a little time alone. Just tenā¦ no, five minutes would be enough!
She would adjust herself quickly and then happily continue playing with An Yu.
Just wait and see!
Ning Dongli puffed out her cheeks and entered the bathroom right in front of An Yu.
Watching her back, An Yu tilted her head in slight confusion.
Hm?
She had a feeling Ning Dongli had misunderstood something.
Mmā¦ what was it?
An Yu did not quite understand. She would ask someone else.
āSystem, whatās wrong with Ning Dongli?ā
āAh, huh?!ā
The System lady, who had been watching the show, was caught completely off guard by An Yuās sudden question. She had not expected An Yu to ask her this.
She did understandā¦ but how was she supposed to explain it?
āSystem?ā
Seeing the System remain silent, An Yu prompted her again.
This was bad.
She really could not say anything!
Meanwhile, Ning Dongli successfully entered one of the bathroom stalls since there were available ones.
Returning to the small, enclosed space helped ease the girlās tightly wound nerves.
āWhewāā
Ning Dongli let out a long breath and slowly closed her eyes.
Coming to an event like this was still too much of a test for her mentally.
There wereā¦ simply too many people.
Although she had always wanted to visit a place like this, she hated crowded spaces and despised socializing even more.
An Yu seemed different.
While it was hard to tell if she liked or disliked it, at least she handled the situation quite smoothly.
She was completely different from her.
Originally, Ning Dongli had wanted to bring An Yu here to make her happyāthat was the most important thing.
But now, wasnāt she the one being taken care of instead?
What should she doā¦
Not only had she failed to fulfill her duty of taking care of someone, Ning Dongli even felt she was sinking deeper and deeper.
She even thought that as long as she could stay with An Yu, crowds would not be scary at all.
What should I doā¦
The girl parted her cherry lips and let out a soft sigh.
Besides Ning Wanciu, only An Yu treated her as someone very important.
In such a short time, she already felt like she could not leave An Yu.
If this continued, she was really going to become a bad woman.
An Yu would unhesitatingly say things like āstay by my sideā whenever she looked lost.
Even though Ning Dongli knew there was no special meaning behind it, her heart still fluttered.
Ning Dongli slowly lowered her head. Her pretty eyes dimmed.
Sheā¦ really stillā¦
āHm?ā
Ning Dongliās eyes widened. She shook her head hard.
No, no. She was not supposed to sink deeper.
She had only come here to be alone for a moment and calm herself down.
Her goal was to return to An Yuās side normally and enjoy the rest of the day with her!
How could she think about all these messy things?
She could think about those mattersā¦ later.
It was about time now. Ning Dongli did not want to be the person hogging the stall.
Although she had not fully recovered, she needed to leave.
Thinking this, Ning Dongli reached for the door handle, intending to unlock the stall and exit.
But at that moment, a voice suddenly came from outside, causing her to freeze.
āTsk, that bitch actually dared to show up?ā
In an instant, Ning Dongliās eyes widened and her pupils contracted slightly.
That voiceā¦ sounded so familiarā¦
No wayā¦
She jerked her hand back as if electrocuted, instinctively took two steps backward, and covered her mouth tightly, afraid to make any sound.
Then another voice spoke.
āYeah, Brother Hao just casually invited her and she actually took it seriously.ā
Another person chimed in:
āItās because Brother Hao is too kind. He always runs into these shameless women. Doesnāt she know about Brother Hao and Sister Youyouās relationship? Seriously!ā
Her voice sounded indignant, but Ning Dongli only sensed flattery in it.
āEnough. Just hearing about it pisses me off. You two better put on a good show later and make her understand reality, got it?!ā
The girlās voice sounded soft and delicate, yet it came across as extremely artificial.
It was the type Ning Dongli hated the most!
But she said nothing. She simply hid inside the stall, trembling.
For some reason, the girlās slender body kept shaking uncontrollably.
Only after the voices outside gradually faded into the distance did Ning Dongli finally react.
She lowered her head. Her colored pupils were filled with fear.
Those voices were all too familiar to Ning Dongli.
She pressed her hands tightly over her mouth and stayed silent.
Even after they had walked away, she continued trembling with uncontrollable terror.
Just hearing those three voices brought back memories of her past experiences.
It was because of āBrother Haoā they mentioned that Ning Dongli had been bullied and isolated by them.
And those three girls were practically at the top of the schoolās little clique.
No one dared to do anything to them.
That was how Ning Dongli had ended up like this.
And now, from their conversation, Ning Dongli understood that the same thing was happening again.
Someone was being targeted by them for the exact same reason she had been.
Only this time, the victim was not herāyet they would suffer the same fate.
All because of the āHaoā they kept mentioning.
The girl leaned against the wall, her body shaking nonstop.
Why did it have to be such a coincidence?
Why today of all days?
No matter how hard Ning Dongli thought, she could not understand.
Butā¦ Iām sorryā¦
She was scared.
So, until she calmed down, she would stay here a little longer.