NOVPUBThat is to say, they all like Yue Ran right now, and some are even close to loving her, though they may not realize it themselves. But this is a crude fact.
...
"Yue Ran, I've thought about it. I like you, so can we start dating?"
Fool.
Yue Ran smiled in her heart.
In front of her was Jin Yao. He asked for a moment to talk to her, and so here she was, talking to him after her last class of the day—their first conversation since their last encounter.
Yue Ran actually didn't expect him to find her this quickly. But everyone has their own miscalculations.
"Jin Yao, have you fallen in love with me? Or are you trying to kid me?"
Yue Ran looked indifferent as she uttered those words. She had not given Jin Yao a straight look all throughout, for she was busy admiring her fuchsia-colored nails of perfectly streamlined shape.
Jin Yao was the second person to recognize his feelings for Yue Ran. The first one was still waiting for her at the northern gate of the university.
"Yue Ran, can you be serious about this?" His voice was raised.
Jin Yao was somewhat powerless in the face of Yue Ran's response.
How did things turn out like this?
Now, there was no longer Rui Qin in his dreams; only Yue Ran, of whom he at first only had a vague impression, appeared more and more frequently in his dreams.
At first, he was only vaguely aware that he liked Yue Ran, unlike now.
He was sure that he liked her. Very much.
He could clearly recall the face of Yue Ran from the past, relentlessly chasing after him time and time again.
A loving breakfast would always be delivered to him in the morning; her presence would always greet him at noon; and her text messages would fill up his evening.
And her most vivid image would be the time when she rescued him in his most vulnerable moment.
Was it at that point in time that he was moved but didn't realize it himself?
He never knew that someone could fill up his life with so much love and liveliness that he would feel empty without them.
He never knew that it would taste so sweet and yet so bitter at the same time.
He never knew her weight in his heart until he lost her.
How could she so casually declare that she no longer likes him and thus had truly lost interest in him?
He didn't believe it.
He didn't want to believe it!
But what saddens him the most is Yue Ran's attitude.
Why was she so indifferent all throughout their conversation?
"I'm very serious about our conversation." Yue Ran curved her lips slightly; it was a smile that wasn't quite a smile, making it difficult for Jin Yao to understand her true emotions. "Since you like me, I can try dating you."
Jin Yao's heart skipped a beat at her latter sentence but plummeted when he heard her tone change again.
"Oh, I forgot, Senior Jin Yao is not a person who is interested in dating or interested in me in any way, so how could you willingly want to date someone like me?"
What Yue Ran said was no exaggeration. She was only returning his words.
Even a cold-hearted person like Jin Yao felt extremely embarrassed at this moment.
Moisture filled her eyes as she said the next sentences.
"And did you not think that I would realize that you had never touched any of the food that I've given you before? How many of them have you discarded into the trash? Do you know that I have spent the entire dawn every weekday just learning to make them so that you could have the best one of all?"
She blinked, and a solitary, salt-laced tear slid down her cheek, which she rudely wiped away, leaving a red mark on her tender skin.
"I…" Jin Yao opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.
Silence meant acknowledgement.
What she said was all true.
There were just no words to refute those statements.
Jin Yao was just like a kite drifting with the wind, flying high or low with the clouds, depending on how Yue Ran manipulated his string.
His heart was rising and falling with her very words.
He no longer had any say in it when he handed over the reins to her himself.
Silence descended upon them. It lasted until Jin Yao started speaking.
"Do... do you truly like me when you started pursuing me?"
Jin Yao has his head lowered, his expression is unclear under the shadows, and his voice is hoarse as he speaks.
The look of utter shock and disbelief on Yue Ran's face was blatant.
"Jin Yao, just who do you think I am?"
Her eyes hardened, and so did her words.
"Do you think that I'm someone who plays with other people's feelings so casually?"
Her beautiful face turned into a cold sneer.
"Have I never been sincere when I'm pursuing you?"
"Yue Ran…" Jin Yao's heart tightened as he stepped closer to the frail figure trembling like a leaf on a tree.
"Have you never felt me being sincere to you before?"
Yue Ran forced a smile as she wiped a tear that trickled down her cheek.
Once that first tear broke free, the rest followed in an unbroken stream. There was a lump in her throat, and she was blinking away the tears.
It was painful to see her like this.
When he reached out a hand to her, she instantly slapped it away.
"Don't touch me!"
Jin Yao could see her clench her fists, not knowing whether to be mad or to give up hope all together.
He could hear her suffocating with each breath she took, holding onto her pride.
"Yue Ran…" Jin Yao's voice went in and out of her ears.
Yue Ran swallowed back her sob, wiped away her tears, slid the sunglasses over her eyes, and left without speaking.
A perfect smile took over her features as soon as she turned her back to him.
With several clicks of her heels, she was gone from Jin Yao's sight, leaving Jin Yao himself in infinite reverie.
If Yue Ran was sincere, then why was she acting like this?
Did something happen that he wasn't aware of himself?
He staggered for a few steps, as if pondering something, before sprinting back home. There was something he needed to do.
Meanwhile, as soon as Yue Ran came out of the northern gate of the university, she saw a familiar sports car that belonged to Mu Chen.
"Is the little princess done with her classes?"
Mu Chen got up from lying on his back in the car, slid his phone into his pocket, and wore a pair of sunglasses and a smile on his face.
Yue Ran admired him in the brilliance of the sunlight as he slipped his sunglasses into the pocket of his coat, revealing a pair of foxy eyes that set off a joint commotion amongst the ladies around.
Mu Chen plucked the pink leather backpack out of Yue Ran's arms and slung it over his shoulder before opening the door as a gesture for her to get in.
