NOVPUBThe groceries in Liu Zhiyue’s hands nearly fell to the ground as he instinctively pulled Zhang Yunjing toward him with force. He was about to yell at her when he caught sight of her face—completely drenched in tears, snot running down her nose, looking far from pleasant.
In fact… it was kind of funny.
It was hard to imagine such an expression on this always-so-self-righteous girl. Looking at that face… for a second, Liu Zhiyue had no idea what to say.
Zhang Yunjing sniffled, staring at Liu Zhiyue for about five full seconds. Then she raised her free arm and wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
She looked again.
Now that she could clearly see it was indeed Liu Zhiyue, her face showed clear surprise.
The whole situation was way too embarrassing. Realizing who it was, Zhang Yunjing quickly lowered her head, letting the brim of her baseball cap cover most of her face.
That also made it impossible for Liu Zhiyue to see her expression clearly anymore.
He slowly let go of her hand, pulling his wrist back and wiping his palm on his pants.
It was… awkward.
To be honest, their relationship wasn’t good—in fact, this semester Zhang Yunjing had randomly shown hostility toward him more than once.
Just yesterday, during Friday’s class, Liu Zhiyue had only given her a hint while she was reading aloud because he’d wrongly accused her during recess, and that was his way of making it up to her.
They usually kept out of each other’s way. This kind of situation was absolutely unexpected for him. Sure, he’d seen her cry and run off, but he hadn’t planned to get involved at all.
If it hadn’t been for this nutcase walking into the street while the light was still red...
“Sigh…”
He let out a breath, looked at the girl who was still staring down at the ground, then glanced at the light—which had already turned green and was counting down.
After a moment of thought—
“Later.”
Those two words slipped out casually, and Liu Zhiyue had no plans to continue the conversation. He turned to leave the intersection.
But the moment he took his first step, he felt someone grab his wrist.
He stopped and turned around, surprised to see Zhang Yunjing—still in her baseball cap, skinny jeans that showed a bit of her ankle, a white shirt underneath a denim jacket.
She was tall, and the outfit suited her well. But what Liu Zhiyue was more puzzled by was: why was she holding onto him?
“You—”
“Can you stay with me for a while… please?”
Her words cut him off. From her voice, it was clear she was feeling really down.
She looked pitiful, but Liu Zhiyue still refused.
“My dad’s waiting for me at home…”
“Then take me with you…”
“……”
When she said that, her head slowly lifted, and her eyes locked onto Liu Zhiyue.
Dead serious. She didn’t look like she was joking at all.
Liu Zhiyue was caught off guard by the unexpected request. For a second, he just stood there, staring at her weirdly.
He shook his arm to break her grip.
“Stop messing around. I’ve got to hurry back.”
“I’m not messing around!”
Sensing that he was trying to shake her off, Zhang Yunjing gripped even harder. One hand wasn’t enough—she grabbed him with both.
People walking by started looking at them curiously—two young teens caught in a strange moment. Feeling the stares, Liu Zhiyue started to feel embarrassed.
“Let go.”
“I won’t. I… I don’t have anywhere else to go. I don’t have a home…”
“No home?”
Hearing that made Liu Zhiyue pause. He stopped struggling and looked at her in surprise.
His brows furrowed slightly.
“You ran away from home?”
“Mm…”
“Why?”
“……”
Zhang Yunjing didn’t answer. Instead, she fell silent. Maybe she’d been crying too long, but her face looked swollen and red, the kind of red that comes from sobbing hard.
After a brief silence, she mumbled:
“Take me to your place. I can wash clothes for you…”
“I swear… you really might be mentally unstable.”
He said it like a sigh. Then Liu Zhiyue forcefully shook off her grip and looked at his arm—she’d been holding so tight there were faint red marks.
He glanced back at her.
“Running away from home like you’re a toddler… What are you, three?”
“I’m not going back to that house!”
“Then squat here all you want. I’m not stopping you again.”
Liu Zhiyue didn’t bother sugarcoating his words.
He didn’t want to get too involved with someone like her. After giving her one last glance, he turned and waited silently. When the light turned green again, he walked across the road.
He could hear footsteps behind him.
At the other side, he paused and turned around—Zhang Yunjing had followed him and also stopped when he did. She kept her head down, like there was something on the sidewalk that needed inspecting. n𝚘𝚟𝚙u𝚋.co𝚖
Anyone could see she was tailing him, but Liu Zhiyue didn’t say a word. Dealing with someone this strange…
He just kept walking.
She kept following.
Even when he took detours, Zhang Yunjing stayed behind him. When Liu Zhiyue started running, she would start running too.
It wasn’t until they reached the building where he lived that he suddenly dashed into the stairwell with his groceries, charging up the stairs like a rocket.
Zhang Yunjing didn’t fall behind either.
The scene looked straight out of a movie—a chase scene between a boy and a girl. But because of the difference in physical ability between the genders, Liu Zhiyue—who trained regularly—had much better endurance.
He stayed a full floor ahead of her the whole time. Once he reached his own door, he quickly pulled out his keys.
Insert, turn, unlock, pull out the key, step inside, close the door.
Bang!
The door slammed shut.
The sound caught the attention of everyone in the living room.
Panting a little, Liu Zhiyue stood by the entrance, looking toward the four people sitting in front of the TV.
An Yuanyao and Lan Yixian, who had just come out of the bedroom, along with Zhou Shiyan, who had paused tutoring, and his own little sister—Liu Xiazhi—were all squeezed together on the not-so-big couch, sitting side by side.
