The end of Chapter 53 is also, in a way, the best, unexpected...
This almost ascetic, pure self-motivation allowed Ye Yuying's entire demeanor to settle down.
She became more silent and more focused, like a sharp blade sheathed, concealing all its edge, only revealing its astonishing power on the track and in the examination room.
It was another weekend dedicated to English learning. Lin Zhiyan was already waiting in the study room by the library window, legs crossed, casually flipping through a copy of The Economist.
Ye Yuying silently pushed open the door and walked in, put down her schoolbag beside him, and took out her English test paper.
Lin Zhiyan took it out with practiced ease and, as always, analyzed where she had made a mistake.
He was always delighted by Ye Yuying's rapid progress, but this time, when he saw this near-perfect English test paper, his expression turned somewhat serious.
"What's wrong? Did you lose a basketball game recently? Why do you look like that?"
Ye Yuying tapped the table lightly with the tip of her pen, her tone carrying a casual teasing that she herself was unaware of, stemming from familiarity.
The past few months of getting to know each other have made her feel much less awkward and guilty when facing Lin Zhiyan.
He was a very good teacher, and also... a very good friend.
Lin Zhiyan heard her joke, but didn't laugh as usual.
He simply raised his eyes, his gaze slowly, inch by inch, moving from the near-perfect English test paper to her face.
The smile on Ye Yuying's lips gradually froze under his overly calm, emotionless gaze.
She keenly sensed something was amiss.
He's acting really strange today.
“You’ve made great progress, Ye Yuying,” Lin Zhiyan finally spoke, his voice lower than usual, “much faster than I expected.”
This was meant to be a compliment, but Ye Yuying sensed something else in it.
She didn't reply, but just looked at him quietly.
Lin Zhiyan's fingers tapped the table unconsciously a few times, and his eyes, which were always so carefree and unrestrained, seemed to be covered with a thin layer of mist at this moment.
Looking at the test paper, he continued, "This paper, apart from the essay section which shows some signs of being templated, is almost flawless in the other basic questions and reading comprehension. If you maintain your current level, you'll be more than capable of handling the high school entrance exam in English."
Ye Yuying's heart sank little by little with his calm, emotionless analysis. She suddenly had a bad feeling.
Sure enough, after a brief pause, Lin Zhiyan raised his head, but his gaze did not meet hers directly. Instead, it drifted towards the sky outside the window, which was dyed red by the setting sun.
“So, I think…” he seemed to be carefully choosing his words, each word sounding somewhat difficult, “our weekly ‘English tutoring’ might… come to an end here.”
When he said those words, his voice was very steady, but Ye Yuying could clearly see that the corners of his mouth, which always carried a hint of lazy smile, were now tightly pursed, forming a cold and angular straight line.
So that's how it is...
Ye Yuying understood everything in an instant.
Their agreement has been fulfilled.
She was no longer the "poor student" who needed his help and whose English was terrible. His mission as a "teacher" had ended.
Therefore, the only, fragile bond between them, formed by "tutoring," naturally came to be severed.
She should have rationally expected this outcome, but when it actually happened, it still felt like something had been suddenly ripped out of her heart.
She once wanted to use tutoring as an excuse to give herself a better chance of falling in love with Lin Zhiyan, so as to completely get rid of those distorted thoughts in her heart.
However, she discovered that she was indeed attracted to Lin Zhiyan's personality during this process, and never skipped the initial attraction, but instead developed a solid friendship.
She hadn't felt so restless in a long time that she felt compelled to write something down. She wrote a few letters, though she couldn't tell if they were for Cheng Mingdu or for herself.
But not a single letter was ever sent.
At this moment, when Lin Zhiyan announced the end of the tutoring, Ye Yuying felt a real emptiness and pain in her heart.
It wasn't just because she had lost a temporary, false harbor, but also because she was about to lose a true, very good friend.
She silently put her test papers and books, one by one, back into her schoolbag. Her movements were much slower than usual.
She stopped halfway through zipping up her backpack, her fingertips turning slightly white.
A silence spread between the two, carrying a slightly chilly awkwardness that came with saying goodbye.
Just as she made up her mind, prepared to zip up her pants, say "goodbye," and turn to leave, a voice, carrying a curiosity that she herself hadn't expected and which almost slipped out, rang out softly.
"Will we be able to see each other again in the future?"
The moment the question left her mouth, Ye Yuying regretted it.
The question seemed so humble, so reluctant, like a child begging for candy. She lowered her head in embarrassment, wishing she could disappear into the ground.
She was worried that the other party might misunderstand something.
Lin Zhiyan seemed stunned as well.
Looking at her, who seemed to want to curl up into a ball, filled with frustration and vulnerability, he felt as if the softest part of his heart had been gently poked.
The slight sense of loss he had felt at the thought of losing this routine of spending time together was completely dispelled by her straightforward yet pitiful question.
The thin mist in his eyes dissipated, restoring his usual clarity and ease.
He chuckled softly, the sound of which was particularly clear in the quiet study room.
"certainly."
Upon hearing this answer, Ye Yuying looked up abruptly, her eyes filled with surprise.
Lin Zhiyan looked at her eyes, which lit up instantly, and his smile deepened.
He leaned back slightly in his chair and said in a matter-of-fact, slightly teasing tone:
"The English tutoring is over, but that doesn't mean we can't be friends anymore, right? Ye Yuying, you're not thinking of burning bridges after you've finished learning from me, are you? You've finished learning from me, so you're not going to acknowledge me as your teacher and friend anymore?"
His words were like a warm breeze, instantly dispelling all the awkwardness and heaviness in the air.
Looking into the sincere, pure smile in his eyes, Ye Yuying knew he wasn't just saying that for show. The disappointment in her heart was quickly filled with the joy of something lost and then regained.
“Besides,” Lin Zhiyan drawled, looking at her leisurely, “what if you really become an Olympic champion one day? I’ll have to maintain a good relationship with you.”
Ye Yuying finally couldn't help but laugh along. It was the most genuine and relaxed smile she had that afternoon.
"So... will the love letter I gave you before affect our friendship?" she asked.
Lin Zhiyan spread his hands noncommittally, "The whole world is saying that you like me, but all I see in your eyes is ambition and drive, not a trace of love. Are you deliberately hiding it?"
He looked at her, and she looked at him.
Lin Zhiyan's gaze was clear, open, and yet held a hint of all-knowing insight.
Ye Yuying's heart almost stopped for a moment.
He saw through her.
This realization terrified her more than any accusation. All her awkwardness, all her motives, all her clumsy attempts to get closer to him—in his eyes, it had all been a flawed one-woman show all along.
Yes, how could she possibly fool Lin Zhiyan? He's so smart and insightful, how could he not see whether there was that unique, girlish love in her eyes?
She opened her mouth, wanting to explain, but her vocal cords seemed frozen, and she couldn't utter a single lie.
Seeing her expression shift from shock to panic and then to complete surrender, Lin Zhiyan sighed softly. The sharpness and teasing in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by a more complex emotion, akin to helplessness and desolation.
“So,” he said slowly, breaking the suffocating silence, calmly rescuing her from the predicament, “those love letters, and those rumors of ‘puppy love,’ were all false, right?”
He offered her a way out. A way out that would allow her to retain the last shred of dignity and avoid an embarrassing situation.
Finally, she gave up all struggle, raised her head, and met his gaze with an almost resigned honesty.
"At first, I thought you were making such a big fuss about liking me to embarrass Ge Jie, but... how come you can't even pretend? Is it that hard to write a decent love letter? Does it have to be so self-loathing and dark?"
He seemed to have seen through everything, but instead of stating it, he asked in a very casual tone:
"So, the person you love so much really exists, right? It's just not me."
These words, like a final, settled judgment, echoed softly yet with unparalleled clarity in Ye Yuying's ears.
All her defenses, all her pretenses, all the excuses she used to numb herself crumbled before his calm question, leaving her nowhere to hide.
Ye Yuying sat there quietly, her eyes lowered, her long eyelashes casting a small, fragile shadow beneath her eyelids. The library study room was extremely quiet; she could even hear the faint sound of the setting sun rubbing against the air outside the window.
She neither nodded nor shook her head.
Lin Zhiyan witnessed the car model, and his last guess was finally confirmed.
The sense of loneliness in his eyes deepened.
It turns out he was right. This girl, who always stood up like a hedgehog with all her sharp quills, truly harbored a secret deep inside that caused her so much pain, a secret she was willing to conceal by hurting herself and manipulating others.
“Alright,” he said, his voice softer and gentler than ever before, “I won’t ask anymore.”
Ye Yuying raised her head, her red eyes glistening with tears, looking at him in disbelief.
She thought that after her despicable "exploitation" was exposed, he would laugh at her or distance himself from her.
But he didn't.
“I don’t know who that person is,” Lin Zhiyan looked at her, his eyes no longer teasing or probing, but only a clear seriousness tinged with helplessness and heartache. “But it seems you really like him a lot.”
"If you really can't get over your emotions in the future, you can talk to me about it. After all... I'm very tight-lipped."
Ye Yuying suddenly raised her head, her bloodshot eyes fixed on him. There were no tears in them, only a violent storm stirred up by extreme shock.
Calmly and gently, he dispelled all her lies and illusions, revealing the real her, struggling alone behind the lies.
Then, he offered her a haven where she could temporarily stop, catch her breath, and find refuge.
This sudden, unexpected understanding and kindness made her feel more exposed than any sharp accusation.
Looking at her stubborn and heartbreaking appearance, he finally smiled helplessly and softly, breaking the suffocating silence.
"Alright, stop looking at me like that," he leaned back slightly in his chair, regaining his carefree and relaxed demeanor, and his tone became more relaxed. "In the end, it's just friends venting their frustrations to each other."
He proactively and casually defined the heavy conversation he had just had as "a common occurrence between friends."
This step is presented with both dignity and gentleness.
Ye Yuying's tense shoulders finally relaxed almost imperceptibly at this moment. She took a deep breath, as if using all her strength, to squeeze out two hoarse words from her throat: "...Thank you."
Lin Zhiyan raised an eyebrow, took out his phone, unlocked it, opened the WeChat QR code interface, and pushed it in front of her: "Let's exchange contact information, who knows if we'll ever run into each other again."
At this moment, Ye Yuying's heart finally settled completely back to reality.
She took out her phone and, somewhat awkwardly, added him as a friend.
A stronger thread called friendship was confirmed by the two of them at this moment and firmly tied them together.
Ye Yuying slung her schoolbag over her shoulder, and this time, her steps were no longer hesitant or heavy.
"Well... I'll be going now."
"Um."
In the end, they walked out of that small study room together and parted ways at the library entrance.
She turned around, waved, and felt a sense of ease and clarity she had never experienced before.
She thought that perhaps her plan to use Lin Zhiyan to save herself, although it failed to make her fall in love, unexpectedly won her an equally precious and genuine friendship.
This is also an unexpected and best outcome.
*
Since then, Ye Yuying has not appeared at the municipal library on Sunday afternoons.
That corner by the window returned to tranquility once more.
This change quickly sparked a new round of discussion on campus, where people are good at making wild guesses.
The most prevalent version of the rumor is that Lin Zhiyan, the "prodigy," finally managed to leave Ye Yuying behind, who barely managed to keep up with him thanks to her athleticism and a bit of cleverness.
"I knew it, they're from completely different worlds."
"Lin Zhiyan must have thought she was too much trouble. What good would it do if her grades improved? She'd still be far from Rongcheng No. 1 High School, so there was no need to contact her anymore."
"Ye Yuying must be crying her eyes out this time, right? She finally managed to get on Lin Zhiyan's boat."
Rumors spread like an invisible wind, reaching every corner of the school. Everyone was waiting to see Ye Yuying make a fool of herself, especially Ge Jie and her friends. They were almost gloating as they secretly observed Ye Yuying, hoping to catch even the slightest trace of heartbreak and distress on her face.
However, they were disappointed.
Ye Yuying's life did not become despondent because of the "heartbreak," but instead entered a purer and more terrifying state of focus.
She focused on going between the stadium and the classroom.
During the ten-minute break between classes, she would take out her vocabulary book and silently memorize words, oblivious to everyone else. During lunch break, she would wear headphones and sit alone on the steps by the playground, eating bread while reading English model essays.
The complex emotions of inferiority and expectation that had unconsciously surfaced in her eyes during her last encounter with Lin Zhiyan were gone. Only a deep, calm stillness, unmoved by external circumstances, remained.
She learned the art of concealing her true intentions, deepening her thoughts and goals, and suppressing all unnecessary emotional sharpness.
This nonchalant attitude made those waiting to see him make a fool of himself feel like they'd punched a cotton ball—utterly boring.
Ge Jie felt an unprecedented sense of defeat. All her attacks, whether physical or mental, were like stones sinking into the sea, unable to even cause a ripple in the face of Ye Yuying now.
She was unwilling to accept it.
One afternoon, Ge Jie, accompanied by several followers, stopped Ye Yuying in the corridor as she was about to go to training.
"Oh dear, isn't this our double champion? Why are you in such a hurry to train?" Ge Jie's tone was her usual venomous, feigned concern. "I heard you haven't been in contact with Lin Zhiyan lately? What, you got dumped, so you can only vent by running?"
The girls behind her also giggled, their laughter filled with malice.
The students passing by all subconsciously slowed down, preparing to watch a good show.
Ye Yuying didn't pause for a moment, but instead walked past Ge Jie directly towards the stadium without even glancing at her, as if all her words were less than a leaf in the wind.
This extreme, complete disregard is more lethal than any fierce retort.
Behind them, the crowd whispered among themselves.
"Strange, was she really dumped? Why doesn't she seem sad at all?"
"Look at the look in her eyes just now, it was terrifyingly calm... she didn't look like someone who had just broken up at all."
"Could it be... that she doesn't like Lin Zhiyan at all?" one girl boldly guessed.
"So all that fanfare before... was it just to deliberately provoke Ge Jie? My God, this is a huge scheme..."
"Hiss... It's terrifying to think about. If that's the case, then Ge Jie has been made a fool of from the very beginning, hasn't she?"
Every single word of these words reached Ge Jie's ears.
It was like a loud, invisible slap that landed hard on her face, leaving a burning pain.
She felt that all her dignity and self-respect had been trampled into pieces at this moment by Ye Yuying's nonchalant disregard and the presumptuous speculations of passersby.
She's the one being laughed at!
A huge, uncontrollable surge of shame and anger instantly rushed to the top of her head.
"What are you looking at!" She turned around abruptly and shouted at the whispering classmates, "Get out of here!"
Her voice was sharp with extreme anger, which frightened the surrounding classmates into scattering like birds. Even her few followers fell silent, not daring to utter another sound.
Ge Jie stood in the empty corridor, her chest heaving violently, her fingernails digging deep into her palms.
"I don't believe she's invulnerable to swords and spears."
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Author's note: 50~
Am I fat? I'm going to work now~
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