Chapter 38

Chapter 38

The bathroom was not very quiet. One could clearly hear the noisy music and fast-paced drum beats downstairs, which made Shu Yao's heart beat violently.

Her eyes widened in surprise. She usually spoke softly, but now she couldn't help but raise her voice: "You said, he... likes me?"

"Huh?" Jiang Yayun was even more surprised. "You don't know?"

Shu Yao gradually calmed down and smiled: "You may have misunderstood. We didn't have much contact at that time."

She took a tissue from the side to wipe her hands and was about to leave when she heard Jiang Yayun hesitate and say, "But, he admitted it to me himself at that time."

The tissue in Shu Yao's hand was crumpled into a ball. She turned around abruptly: "When did he admit it to you?"

"After the college entrance examination."

Jiang Yayun fell in love with Chen Ye at first sight, starting from the time she entered high school. However, there were many girls who had a crush on Chen Ye, and she was the completely inconspicuous one.

Because she knew herself well, she had never thought of confessing her feelings until she was about to graduate from her senior year of high school. Thinking that they would most likely go their separate ways and never see each other again, she decided to be brave and put an end to her secret love for the past three years.

After the last exam, singing, cheering and chatting could be heard in the teaching building. Fragments of test papers floated down from upstairs like snowflakes. The serious dean rarely refrained from yelling in anger. He stood with his hands on his hips and helplessly let everyone vent their anger.

It was in such a lively atmosphere that Jiang Yayun saw Chen Ye leaning against a tree and smoking alone behind the teaching building.

She walked over hesitantly, wanting to remind him that the dean of studies was not far away. Although the college entrance examination was over, he would probably still scold students if they saw them smoking openly on campus.

But when she got closer, she realized that what he had in his mouth was not a cigarette, but a lollipop.

Jiang Yayun was stunned for a moment, and the words she had prepared were suddenly useless.

The setting sun in front of him was blocked, Shen Ye lifted his eyelids and looked at her coldly: "What's the matter?"

Jiang Yayun clenched his hands, his palms full of sweat from nervousness, and asked stumblingly: "Chen Ye, do you... have a girlfriend?"

"No."

Jiang Yayun just breathed a sigh of relief and was about to ask if he could consider her, but then he heard Shen Ye add: "But I already have someone I like."

Jiang Yayun was stunned for a long time because she had never heard of this. There were very few girls who had any contact with Chen Ye. She had only seen Chen Ye go out with Zhao Tiantian and Shu Yao from Class 5. But everyone knew that Zhao Tiantian and Xu Zhaoli were a couple, so she only had one name in her mind.

"Yes, Shu Yao?"

Shen Ye hummed without any emotion.

"But she already has a boyfriend."

"I know." Chen Ye shrugged and said nonchalantly, "Isn't there a queue here?"

Chen Ye's frankness and directness made Jiang Yayun feel that the failure of the confession was not a big deal. She smiled and let out a long sigh: "Okay, anyway, I am satisfied with it. It is better than ending it in vain."

Shen Ye took the lollipop in his hand, looked down at it, and didn't know what he was thinking. He repeated in a low voice: "It's better than nothing."

"Yeah." Jiang Yayun waved at him, "Then I'll go first. Although my secret love was unsuccessful, I hope that you can get what you want."

That sentence earned Shen Ye a rare smile.

He said, "Thank you."

At that time, Jiang Yayun really hoped that he could get what he wanted. Although Shu Yao had a well-known boyfriend at that time, she did not think that Zhou Beichuan was a person worthy of trust. She always believed that the two of them would break up one day.

So later, when she heard that Shu Yao and Zhou Beichuan had broken up, Zhou Beichuan went to Luobei, and Shu Yao stayed in Fuchuan, she was glad that her love brain had finally sobered up and Chen Ye had a chance.

I didn't expect that after a few years, everything has changed.

Occasionally, people came in and out of the bathroom. After listening to Jiang Yayun's story about the college entrance examination, Shu Yao's paper ball in his hand was already half wet with sweat. His mind was in a mess as if ten thousand people were speaking, each talking about a different topic.

Jiang Yayun smiled awkwardly: "When I saw him like that, I thought he would confess to you, so I told you. He didn't say it? If I had known, I wouldn't have mentioned it."

"It's okay." Shu Yao smiled and shook his head. "It's been so many years anyway, but thank you for telling me this."

"That's right. He's married now. You should work hard too. Don't marry someone worse than him." Jiang Yayun patted her shoulder and glanced at the message on his phone. "Then I'll go out first. They're rushing me. I guess they're waiting to have a drinking contest with me."

"Yeah." Seeing Jiang Yayun's figure disappear at the door, Shu Yao threw the paper ball in his hand into the trash can and turned to leave the bathroom.

Did Shen Ye like her when he was in high school?

But how could that be?

The number of times they met could clearly be counted on two hands.

Because he was so shocked, Shu Yao even forgot to ask Jiang Yayun about the raw materials.

She walked slowly and passed an empty box not far away. Suddenly, someone grabbed her wrist and the careless tune in her memory rang in her ears.

"Let's chat."

*

From the moment Chen Ye said the meaningful words "Luobei University" just now, Shu Yao knew that sooner or later he would bring up the past.

I just didn't expect it to come so soon.

The lights in the stairwell were dim.

Shu Yao leaned against the door, staring at the shadow on the ground. It was nothing at first, but after listening to what Jiang Yayun said, he became inexplicably nervous: "What are you going to say?"

“Luobei University—” Chen Ye supported his hands on his knees, leaned over to look at her at eye level, and his lips curled up slightly.

"Shu Yao, back then, were you the only one who lied to me, or the only one you didn't lie to me?"

Their eyes met, and Shen Ye's gaze was gentle.

Exactly the same as before.

On the last day of the college entrance examination, which was also the night Jiang Yayun confessed his love, Zhao Tiantian invited them to have a barbecue together.

Shu Yao and Chen Ye were used to it and consciously gave space to Zhao Tiantian and Xu Zhaoli. They even forgot that the college entrance examination was over. Even if they kissed openly on the table, no one would say anything.

There were many people in the barbecue restaurant, and the sound of conversations came one after another. Shu Yao and Chen Ye were sitting across the table, each drinking their drinks, and the barbecue on the table was not touched much.

She didn't like him very much, but she didn't know why.

Fortunately, after a few experiences, the two of them were able to chat with each other.

Halfway through, Shen Ye asked her which university she was going to apply to.

Shu Yao and everyone else were talking about Luobei University, so when Chen Ye asked, her first reaction was also this answer, but when she met Chen Ye's gaze, she suddenly couldn't speak.

She hesitated to speak, and finally her eyes fell on the barbecue in front of her. She told him that she would apply to Fuchuan University.

The distant memories were gradually pulled away. In the stairwell, Shu Yao looked at Chen Ye in front of him and replied gently: "I didn't lie to you."

Because he knew that Shu Yao and Zhou Beichuan had never been together, Chen Ye naturally knew that their claim that Shu Yao changed her major because of her breakup with Zhou Beichuan was totally untrue.

From the very beginning, she had never thought about going to Luobei University.

However, Shen Ye didn't know that she and everyone else had lied to each other at that time.

"Why lie to them?"

"Because I want Zhou Beichuan to believe that I will go with him. Only when everyone believes it is true will there be no mistakes."

If it was before, Shen Ye might not understand, but now, he can understand it to some extent.

Zhou Beichuan must have used that favor to hold her hostage countless times. If she had said from the beginning that she had applied to other schools, Zhou Beichuan would have tried every possible way, using both soft and hard tactics and moral blackmail, to force her to go with him.

Therefore, the best option was to hide it from everyone and change the choice at the last minute. By the time Zhou Beichuan found out, it was already a done deal.

Shen Ye raised his hand and gently pinched her face. He said nothing, but it seemed like he had said everything.

"Since you intend to deceive everyone, then—" Chen Ye's thumb gently rubbed the place where he had just pinched, "Why don't you deceive me too? Aren't you afraid that I will become the ant that breaks the dam a thousand miles away?"

Shu Yao couldn't explain why. In fact, she actually regretted it a few minutes after she told him the truth.

This behavior was completely beyond her reason.

But later she began to understand a little, perhaps because he was the most free and open-minded person Shu Yao had ever met.

When she was wet all over, he would hand her a piece of clothing without any colored filter.

When she was at a loss, he would walk into the store with sanitary napkins in his hand, as if to tell her that this was an extremely normal thing and there was nothing to be embarrassed about.

Even when he looked at her with an open gaze, Shu Yao would feel that deceiving him was an extremely shameful act.

Just like then, just like now.

The difference was that this time, Shu Yao met his gaze calmly and answered softly but firmly: "Because I felt at that time that you were an eagle that could soar, not an ant that lived in a small house."

Shen Ye chuckled, "Why, you don't want to call me a puppy anymore?"

Shu Yao blurted out: "When did I say you were little..."

Halfway through her words, a fragmented memory suddenly flashed through her mind. She hugged his neck and called out in a daze: Go to sleep, my little dog.

Shu Yao's breathing stagnated for a few seconds, but his expression was as calm as a pool of spring water. "You, a dog and an eagle, do you have an English name? Otherwise, just go."

Puns are not funny.

But it's really funny to see her talking nonsense seriously.

Chen Ye also responded seriously: "Well, then you ing."

The two looked at each other and saw in each other's eyes the disdain for the two English names.

Shu Yao couldn't help laughing. After a while, she scratched the wall behind her with her index finger and whispered, "You asked me several questions, so can I ask you one too?"

Shen Ye said as a matter of course: “Ask.”

Shu Yao opened his mouth, wanting to ask if what Jiang Yayun said was true, and whether he really liked him at that time.

But just before I opened my mouth, I suddenly felt that it had been so long, what was the point in bringing it up again? Instead, it would only add a burden to the normal relationship between the two of us.

She knew very well that she was not very good at maintaining close relationships. The reason she was able to keep Zhao Tiantian as a good friend in the past few years was simply because Zhao Tiantian was kind, generous and unconcerned.

Now, with great difficulty, the relationship between her and Chen Ye has remained stable. She is afraid that any change will disrupt this balance again, putting the two of them in a dilemma.

"Is it so difficult to ask?" Shen Ye's eyes fell directly on her face.

"A little bit." Shu Yao paused and whispered, "Can Tiantian and I get a discount on our 50% share of the bill tonight?"

Shen Ye: "..."