Chapter 316: Something Came Up

And so, something that defied all logic happened.

Like the sun rising from the west one day. Like your pet at home propping its legs up and telling you to go cook it a couple of dishes.

Or like how, when playing games with the bros, your ears and eyes suddenly become sharp and clear—even when there are four female players on the team, and the first time they open their mouths to call out “mom,” it’s actually the opening move of a string of curses.

Among all these unbelievable things that could possibly happen, this one included: Liu Anran did not come to pick up Liu Xie after the last class on Friday.

It wasn’t just Liu Xie either. Students like Ye Qingchang, who had grown used to this phenomenon, turned their heads to look at the door, at the figure that should have been standing there.

But they didn’t see him.

Ye Qingchang frowned, rubbed her eyes, took off her glasses and wiped them, then put them back on and looked at the door once more.

Still nothing, as if nothing had ever happened.

No, it was as if nothing had happened at all.

Ye Qingchang glanced at Liu Xie beside her, feeling that something was off.

Technically, she’d already guessed as much earlier—wondering whether their dorm’s Second Boss was having some kind of spat with her brother, whether something had actually happened that was serious enough to disrupt their daily routine.

But honestly, she was more inclined to believe it was just Liu Xie overthinking things.

After all, this girl’s wild imagination wasn’t exactly a first-time occurrence.

She never expected to see Liu Anran’s absence with her own eyes, practically slapping that conclusion right in front of her.

Still, she wasn’t the type to break people up instead of patching things up.

So she said lightly, with a relaxed expression: “Your brother must be getting impatient. He’s already waiting for you in the car.”

Meanwhile, she was praying internally—praying that Liu Xie’s good little brother Liu Anran really was standing outside by that familiar Maybach, waiting for Liu Xie to get in, so they could spend a weekend that was peaceful and no different from any other.

After all, she’d completely forgiven Liu Xie for ditching them, leaving just the two of them to spend a lonely weekend alone in the dorm.

She even wished Liu Anran would just show up right now and drag Liu Xie away.

You know how it is—when someone who’s always laughing and joking around without a shred of decency suddenly wears that complex expression of a scholar brooding over the past and mourning the present, it’s terrifying.

She even had a sudden moment of doubt about whether she could still keep this friend.

Well, maybe it wasn’t that dramatic, but the situation really was grim.

It seemed the other students had noticed too, casting glances toward Liu Xie with a mix of curiosity and whispers.

After all, Liu Xie used to be like the most dazzling star after class, climbing into that symbol of wealth—the Maybach—under the gaze of the crowd.

And now Liu Xie seemed to have suddenly lost that privilege, which inevitably invited gossip.

Even if everyone knew the two had a somewhat chaotic sibling relationship, even if they knew a single no-show might just mean something urgent had come up, or it was only a one-time accident—

That didn’t stop the whispers, or the somewhat wild speculation.

And then, those whispers spread toward Liu Xie like heavy storm clouds laden with rain.

Even Ye Qingchang could tell that Liu Xie’s expression was growing darker with each word of gossip.

Like a bundle of sharp swords, all pointed at Liu Xie at once.

Ye Qingchang couldn’t exactly say those whispers were wrong.

She understood. Even if she put herself in their shoes, she’d probably say something like, “Ha, the show-off finally messed up.”

But right now, she just watched Liu Xie’s expression, watching the complexity play across her face.

Yang Shuli had been taken away by Xu Nian as usual, while Zhu Shang and Gou Yao—those two—were still curled up together sleeping as if they’d never heard the class bell ring, with no signs of waking up.

In other words, right now, she was the only one who could take care of her dear girlfriend Liu Xie.

Ye Qingchang felt inexplicably nervous.

She was afraid that if she handled this wrong, she’d mess everything up, and she couldn’t bear that kind of guilt.

And of all times, it had to be just her.

But then, when she caught sight of something, her eyes lit up.

She reached out and grabbed Xiao Yi’an, who was pointing at the classroom of Class 8 where Liu Yao was, and forced him to slowly follow behind Liu Xie with her as they walked out of the classroom.

Xiao Yi’an lowered his posture and tilted his head toward Ye Qingchang.

Then Ye Qingchang jutted her chin toward Liu Xie, who was walking ahead with a somewhat dejected look.

“Honestly, I’m glad you consider me a good friend like this, but my personal definition of a good friend prioritizes sharing in good fortune over voluntarily sharing in misfortune.” Xiao Yi’an’s expression also carried a hint of fear at the trouble ahead.

Then Ye Qingchang pressed her palms together: “Please, please.”

Xiao Yi’an fell in step behind Liu Xie, walking alongside Ye Qingchang.

The three of them walked out of the classroom door, and then the two behind Liu Xie looked toward the parking spots in front of the teaching building before Liu Xie even did.

Even if there were all kinds of different cars filling the spots, Ye Qingchang could have said Liu Anran just couldn’t find parking—maybe that would buy a little more time.

But the spots right next to the teaching building were empty. All of them were empty.

Ye Qingchang opened her mouth, but even making something up was hard now.

And Liu Xie’s gaze grew dimmer.

“You should just call him directly. That’s way better than standing here guessing.” Xiao Yi’an spoke up from beside her. “Wasting your emotions for nothing like this—if the whole thing turns out to be a misunderstanding, then you’d have put him through an undeserved ordeal too.”

Ye Qingchang froze slightly, turning to look at Xiao Yi’an beside her.

Strange. That kind of line should have come from her—the so-called relationship expert.

She had actually thought of it, but she’d already assumed something had happened between Liu Xie and Liu Anran, and in that case, making a call might just escalate the conflict.

So she hadn’t said anything.

Actually, thinking about it, it was easy to figure out. Liu Xie was still trying to maintain her authority as the older sibling, while Liu Anran’s mind was full of not-so-good thoughts about Liu Xie.

With that kind of divide, problems were bound to surface sooner or later.

“Mm…” The key thing was, after hearing that, Liu Xie actually nodded and started calling Liu Anran.

The phone rang twice before it was picked up—or rather, Liu Anran would never make Liu Xie’s call wait long.

“Hello?” Liu Anran’s voice was, unusually, a bit rushed.

“Uh… hello?” Liu Xie, not knowing what to say, echoed back.

Liu Anran on the other end understood immediately.

“Hm? Oh, I forgot to mention—something came up and I can’t pick you up today. Why don’t you just…”