Chapter Forty-Two
The phone call ended automatically after a long period of no answer.
You Congxi stared blankly at the blacked-out phone screen.
Qu Qi was a little surprised to hear the noise: "Why aren't you answering the phone?"
You Congxi was still in a daze: "I..."
Before she could organize her thoughts, her phone, which had fallen silent, rang again.
The phone vibrated and bounced on the table like a carp, jumping from one end to the other. You Congxi had a vague premonition. She reached out, picked up the phone, and held it to her ear.
"Hello," You Congxi said.
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, as if she hadn't expected her to answer. You Congxi could only hear soft breathing.
"Hello, what's up?" You Congxi asked again.
There was still no response.
If it weren't for the birdsong in the background and the easily detectable breathing sounds, You Congxi would have almost thought he was playing house with a toy phone.
Neither of them spoke again. It was rare for You Congxi to have the patience to do something so foolish that she would never normally do it. As for the reason...
She didn't know either.
She doesn't know everything either.
The two remained silent, neither speaking first.
She worked up a sweat climbing the artificial hill, so You Congxi took off her coat and wrapped it around her waist. She sat down and ate an ice cream. The sweat cooled her down, and a gust of wind made her shiver.
Her mind cleared a bit, and she cleared her throat, about to say something, when finally there was movement from the other end.
The person on the other end of the line hurriedly said "It's nothing," and before she could fully process the hidden meaning in those words, she heard the dial tone of the disconnection.
It wasn't until Qu Qi couldn't help but whisper "What's wrong?" that You Congxi snapped out of her daze, belatedly feeling her eyes stinging and her hands and feet stiff.
She shook her head, turned off her phone, and put it in her pocket.
"Chen Yue?" Qu Qi asked tentatively.
"Mmm." You Congxi answered a beat late, her mind filled with Shen Yue's nasal words.
Was he crying...?
You Congxi blinked hesitantly. She couldn't deny the inexplicable guilt welling up inside her. She recalled Shen Yue's gaze when she suggested switching groups...
You Congxi exhaled a breath.
She made a mistake.
Start by sending him a message asking him to keep his distance.
However, You Congxi has an uncontrollable fear of establishing intimate relationships. She doesn't know what's wrong with her. When she wants to take a relationship to the next level, she can't help but feel flustered, scared, and anxious. She can't control these emotions.
“Quqi,” You Congxi said.
"Hmm?" Qu Qi listened attentively.
You Congxi took a deep breath: "I think there's something wrong with my brain."
Qu Qi said, "You're only just realizing this now?"
You Congxi waved wearily and briefly told Qu Qi about what had happened these past few days.
"Oh!" Qu Qi raised an eyebrow. "You like Shen Yue!"
Before You Congxi could speak, Qu Qi reacted first, her face filled with disbelief: "You like Shen Yue?!"
"I kept saying that Shen Yue treated you like a best friend and wanted to steal you from me, and now he wants to be your boyfriend?!" Qu Qi was furious. "What an idiot I am!"
You Congxi lowered her noble head.
"Let's go to Congxi!" Qu Qi slammed his hand on the table.
You Congxi suddenly raised his head.
Qu Qi clutched his chest, took a few breaths, and pointed a trembling index finger in the air: "You..."
You Congxi closed her eyes and said, "Yes, I like him."
Now that things have come to this, there's no point in You Congxi trying to fool himself anymore.
Qu Qi took a few exaggerated breaths, startling You Congxi into thinking she was about to faint from shock.
With a loud "bang," Qu Qi slammed his hand on the table again.
"You like him, so why aren't you two together?" Qu Qi said. "Did he reject you because he didn't appreciate it?"
In Qu Qi's view, it would be one thing to accept the imperial decree with great joy if someone could be personally liked by You Congxi, but to refuse it would be simply disrespectful! After all, You Congxi is such a good person that one would be honored to like someone, let alone refuse.
Seeing that You Congxi remained silent, Qu Qi suddenly calmed down.
That's true. Of all people, it's understandable that You Congxi would choose Shen Yue, the arrogant and domineering rich kid, a notorious school bully. It's understandable that he wouldn't accept You Congxi's wrath. However, after being in the same group for so long, she felt that Shen Yue wasn't as difficult to get along with as the rumors suggested; in fact, she had the illusion that he had reformed...
“I… I told him to stay away from me,” You Congxi said.
"Oh, you..." Qu Qi nodded, then suddenly raised her voice after realizing what she meant, "What?? You want him to stay away from you?? Do you like him or are you annoyed by him??"
It was already unusual for You Congxi to confess her feelings just now; she would never reveal her heart a second time. She scratched her hair in frustration: "I don't know. I'm out of my mind."
Qu Qi finally opened the third popsicle and stuffed it into her mouth, trying to cool down her temper with the icy treat.
You Congxi rested her chin on her hand and murmured, "I don't know what I'm thinking. I just... I want to hide when I see him... My heart gets really weird when I'm with him... It's scary."
"You...cough...just cough cough cough..." Qu Qi choked on a mouthful of ice cream, coughing for a long time before finally managing to utter a complete sentence, "Cough cough cough, it's choking me to death, ouch...You just like him, you know, because you like him!"
You Congxi was even more annoyed. She grabbed her hair and buried it in her arms, then decided to give up and say, "But I'm scared."
Qu Qi asked helplessly, "What are you afraid of? Are you afraid he'll lie to you? Or are you afraid he'll hurt you?"
You Congxi lay silently in his arms.
What is she afraid of?
She didn't know.
She had stayed in the safe membrane she had woven for herself for too long, so long that she dared not peek out from inside the membrane, dared not touch the world on the other side of the membrane.
There were too many things she couldn't understand over the years, so she simply threw them all to the other side of the membrane, which made her feel safe.
Qu Qi had grown up alongside You Congxi since childhood and had a vague idea of what she was thinking.
Qu Qi felt a pang of sympathy. She gently patted the girl's back and softened her voice, "Are you afraid he'll leave?"
Like everyone she has given her heart to.
Qu Qi sighed as he looked at You Congxi, who was hunched over the table arranging mushrooms.
For the first seventeen years of her life in You Congxi, apart from her friends, even her closest relatives gradually drifted away from her. Slowly, her world was left with only a few scattered friends and her own loneliness.
When asked about friends, Qu Qi laughed and said, "I haven't left, have I?"
You Congxi's round head moved slightly, and a muffled voice came from inside his arm: "Because we're friends."
Because we are friends, we will not leave.
But family members will, and so will lovers.
So she only wanted to be friends with Shen Yue.
Even if she likes him.
"You..." Qu Qi was completely helpless. She flicked You Congxi on the forehead, with a hint of disappointment. "You should have told him yourself."
You Congxi started playing dead again.
Seeing this, Qu Qi took out his phone, which was constantly on a call, from his pocket, held it to his ear, and said, "Did you hear that? She doesn't want to talk to you."
You Congxi froze, then suddenly looked up, staring in disbelief at Qu Qi, who was talking on the phone with someone.
Qu Qi raised an eyebrow at her and said, "Shen Yue asked if you want to come to his birthday party tonight."
You Congxi's face remained stiff: "No."
Qu Qi said to the person on the other end of the phone, "She said she's not going. Okay, hang up."
You Congxi was still unable to accept that Shen Yue had heard her entire performance of feigning weakness, which seemed almost like she was possessed.
Her lips trembled slightly: "How much did he hear?"
Qu Qi thought for a moment: "Let's start from when you said you liked him."
You Congxi slammed his head on the table, barely breathing.
Her dignity... the respectability she had maintained her entire life... all gone...
To make matters worse, Qu Qi, oblivious to everyone else, taunted, "Hey, it's Shen Yue's birthday, why aren't you going?"
You Congxi threatened softly, "Say one more word and I'll push you off the mountain."
"Oh," Qu Qi replied dismissively, playing on her phone.
If Shen Yue hadn't begged her so hard with tears streaming down his face, and if she hadn't been unable to bear seeing You Congxi looking like a lost soul, she wouldn't have gotten involved in the young couple's affairs.
Well, let's just consider it doing a good deed for the day.
......
In the end, Liang Jing's team won, and Shen Yue actually apologized honestly. According to those present, Shen Yue even had a smile on his face when he apologized, which made them think that Shen Yue had some other tricks up his sleeve, such as pushing Liang Jing off the mountain while he was apologizing.
But no, Liang Jing was still alive, Shen Yue didn't explode, and the whole group came down the mountain unharmed, boarded buses and went home.
Several of Shen Yue's close friends went to celebrate his birthday, including the members of the Chinese language group, except for You Congxi.
Knock knock.
"They're here—"
The heavy door opened, and You Congxi sighed inwardly but put on a smile and called out, "Aunt Yu."
Yu Congxi didn't go to Shen Yue's birthday party because tonight was another damn family gathering arranged by Yu Yuanming.
She walked into the house. This time, there was no cannonball-like welcoming ceremony from You Youyi. Clear piano music came from the open room next door. You Congxi subconsciously turned her head to look. Yu Junya took out disposable slippers for her and smiled apologetically.
"Xiaoxi, please make do with these for now. We threw away all the extra slippers when we were cleaning the house the other day, and the new ones are still on their way. I'm sorry to trouble you, child."
You Congxi smiled slightly: "It's nothing, Aunt Yu, it's just a pair of slippers."
She was very self-aware of her place in the family, probably similar to those extra slippers that were thrown away.
After washing her hands in the bathroom, Yu Junya went to the kitchen and busied herself with You Yuanming, who was suddenly eager to show off his skills. You Youyi was practicing the piano in her room. The three of them were all busy with their own things. You Congxi didn't know whether to stand or sit, so she simply leaned against the door of You Youyi's room and watched her practice the piano.
"Don't let your fingers collapse," You Congxi reminded him gently, arms crossed.
"Sister?!" You Youyi was annoyed by her practice when she heard You Congxi's voice and turned around abruptly. "Why are you here?"
You Congxi raised an eyebrow: "I can't come?"
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