Chapter 14: The decline in grades wasn't as minor as he had imagined...
Tao Jiang was stunned, not expecting Yu Kui to say such a thing.
She looked quietly at the girl in front of her, recalling how caring the girl had been to her in the past. It was hard to imagine that she would become like this.
"Yu Kui, have you misunderstood something? I can explain..."
“No need to explain,” the girl shook her head, her clear eyes gazing at her quietly. “It’s my own fault. I’m sorry. Go find a friend who is more suitable for you.”
“I…” Tao Jiang slowly clenched her fingers, took a deep breath and said, “But I have always regarded you as my friend, my only friend.”
"Is it because other people aren't as stupid as me?" Yu Kui looked into her eyes.
Tao Jiang stiffened. "You know perfectly well that's not what I meant."
“But I’m very tired,” Yu Kui smiled. “Being friends with you has always been tiring.”
She didn't explain why she was tired, nor did she want to investigate why the other woman had approached her in the first place. "That's it, we'll still be classmates," she said, but no longer friends.
Tao Jiang couldn't describe her feelings at that moment; the pleasure of taking Qin You away seemed insignificant.
Yu Kui seemed too calm, which made her feel very uncomfortable.
She kept her relationship with Qin You a secret, so why was Yu Kui taking her anger out on her?
Between the two of them, she had always been in control. What right did Yu Kui have to trample on her dignity?
“I can change what I did wrong, but you can’t stop being my friend,” Tao Jiang said stubbornly, looking into Yu Kui’s eyes. “You can’t abandon me. You said you would always be my friend.”
Hearing her say this, Yu Kui felt a pang of pain in her heart. After all, she had once truly regarded Tao Jiang as a good friend, but she couldn't feel any sincerity from Tao Jiang.
At this moment, the things she had said before seemed somewhat ironic.
“People change,” Yu Kui said, not avoiding her gaze. “I’m very tired right now, can you please stop bothering me?”
A hint of resentment flashed in Tao Jiang's eyes, but she didn't react immediately. Her eyes reddened first, and then she nodded with great restraint, "I'll wait for you to get better."
Yu Kui didn't say anything more and continued eating with her head down.
Sun Shuya stared at Tao Jiang with a half-smile, as if wanting to see what she was going to do next.
Qin You walked into the cafeteria and saw Tao Jiang's disappointed expression. He paused for a moment, but ultimately did not go over.
Yu Kui noticed his gaze and looked up. The moment she met his slightly worried eyes, she felt as if she had been stabbed by a sharp thorn and quickly looked away.
Although she tried her best to tell herself that she would never be friends with Qin You again.
But she wasn't a robot, and her feelings for him over the past decade weren't fake; she couldn't completely ignore him.
Qin You lowered his eyes, wanting to go forward and ask Yu Kui about her illness, but remembering their falling out that day, he held back.
That's it, she'll forget about me soon enough.
After school in the afternoon, after Yu Kui left, Qin You went to the classroom to find Tao Jiang, wanting to take her out for dinner.
“That Cantonese restaurant is my favorite,” Tao Jiang said, taking Qin You’s arm as there were fewer people left at school. “You have to take me there often in the future.”
"good."
The meal cost Qin You half a month's living expenses, and he would have to live frugally from now on. But he didn't regret taking her out to eat at all. Seeing the satisfied look on her face made him feel very happy.
"By the way, my birthday is coming up soon. What gift are you planning to give me?" As they parted, Tao Jiang said meaningfully, "A perfunctory gift won't do."
Tao Jiang's birthday is in early January, and Qin You had already decided what to give her, but he didn't plan to tell her yet.
"I'll be ready." Qin You looked at her fair face, lowered his head and slowly approached her. Tao Jiang met his deep eyes and did not avoid his movements.
The two entwined tightly in the chilly winter night...
Qin You's grades have dropped significantly. When her homeroom teacher called Qin's mother, she told her not to neglect her child's studies because of work, since Qin You is now in her second year of high school and her studies cannot be neglected.
Qin's mother made a point of leaving get off work early to have a heart-to-heart talk with Qin You, wanting to ask her son if something was on his mind.
Qin You didn't tell Tao Jiang about his relationship with her, only saying that he was under a lot of academic pressure and was adjusting his state of mind.
Qin's mother was very busy with work and didn't have much time to spend with him each day. Seeing that she couldn't get any information out of him, she went upstairs to find Yu Kui, hoping to ask her about Qin You's situation at school.
After all, the two were childhood sweethearts, and Yu Kui knew best what Qin You had done.
It was Yu's mother who opened the door. When she saw Qin's mother dressed in a business suit, she was not as warm as usual. After welcoming her in, she went to the bedroom and called Yu Kui out.
"A-Kui," Qin's mother said with some surprise when she saw that Yu Kui had lost a lot of weight, "How could you have lost so much weight..."
Yu Kui sat beside her mother, listening to Qin's mother's caring words, her feelings were complicated.
From a very young age, she knew that Qin's mother was a very busy person. Because she didn't have time to take care of Qin You, she often sent him to the Yu family. In order to repay the Yu family, she would buy Yu Kui beautiful clothes and toys from time to time, dressing her up like a little princess.
Yu Kui liked her very much and thought that if she got together with Qin You in the future, she would definitely take good care of her.
But now, seeing her only makes her sad.
After chatting with Yu's mother for a while, Qin's mother quickly asked about Qin You, "A-Kui, has something happened to Qin You at school recently? The teacher called me today and said..."
When she heard that Qin You's grades had dropped, Yu Kui's heart skipped a beat.
Qin You's grades have always been excellent; there's never been a case of a teacher contacting her parents. Logically, since Qin You refused tutoring and spent most of her time studying, her grades should have been even better. How could they have dropped...?
"I'm so worried right now," Qin's mother sighed. "He's so introverted, I can't get anything out of him no matter what I ask, and I don't know what to do."
She looked at Yu Kui and said, "You went to the same school as him, do you know what he's doing now?"
"How would Yu Kui know?" Before her daughter could speak, Yu's mother said with a smile, "They are not on the same floor, and they study different things. You can only ask him about his grades."
Qin's mother was taken aback, seemingly not expecting Yu's mother to say such a thing. In the past, Yu's mother had always been very warm and welcoming to her when she came, but this time she was much colder, making Qin feel a clear sense of disappointment.
"Is that so?" Qin's mother gave a wry smile. "A-Kui goes to school with Qin You every day, I thought..."
“Without Auntie,” Yu Kui looked up at the woman’s slightly haggard face and said softly, “Qin You and I rarely go to school together anymore.”
"How could this be?" Qin's mother's expression changed slightly. "Aren't you in the same school?"
“We wake up at different times,” Yu Kui gave a simple reason. “He leaves very early, so we don’t get to be together anymore.”
Upon hearing this, Qin's mother felt a little uneasy, but she didn't show it. She just smiled and said, "Oh, I'm so careless as your aunt. I didn't notice at all."
“Why don’t you ask Qin You?” Yu’s mother said. “The pace of learning in high school is very important. If you fall behind, it will be troublesome later.”
"good."
Qin's mother glanced at the time, said the same thing to Yu's mother, and then hurriedly returned home.
After the living room quieted down, Yu's mother looked at her lost daughter, raised her hand and pinched her cheek, "What are you thinking about? Go back and do your homework."
"Mom," Yu Kui blinked and whispered, "Why aren't you surprised that I'm not going to school with Qin You?"
“What’s so surprising?” Mrs. Yu glanced at her. “Isn’t this normal?”
"What's normal about it?" Yu Kui's eyes widened. "We used to be together..."
“Your schedules are different,” Yu’s mother said slowly, looking into her daughter’s eyes. “He gets up so early. Don’t you know how hard it is for you to get up every day in order to keep up with him?”
Yu Kui: "..." Indeed, she always had to compromise herself in order to accommodate Qin You's schedule.
“It’s good as it is now,” said Yu’s mother. “You can sleep an extra half hour every day, and I don’t have to worry about you so much.”
Yu Kui: "..." She pursed her lips, but still didn't tell her mother about her falling out with Qin You.
She lacked the resolve to speak up, fearing both that her mother would be upset and that she would lose her best friend.
In the end, Qin's mother didn't know the real reason for Qin You's declining grades, and could only attribute it all to the heavy workload in his second year of high school, which affected his learning progress.
Therefore, she also plans to hire a tutor for her son.
"No need." Qin You immediately rejected her suggestion. The reason his grades had dropped was that he had spent most of his time on Tao Jiang. If he wanted to, he could catch up quickly.
"Then what's going on between you and Yu Kui?" Qin's mother looked at her son and said seriously, "Did you make her angry?"
Qin You paused slightly, then shook his head. "I have nothing to do with her."
"Then why doesn't she go to school with you anymore?" Qin's mother found it puzzling. "You two used to have such a good relationship."
"I don't know," Qin You said after a brief internal struggle, but still didn't confess what she had done. She only said, "It's okay if we don't go to school together."
"It's nothing, but the Yu family has been kind to us, so you can't hurt her."
Qin You lowered her eyes, not looking at her mother's slightly tired eyes, and said, "I understand."
"Alright," Qin's mother stood up and instructed, "Focus on your studies recently. I'll call your homeroom teacher again next month."
Qin You only relaxed when his mother entered the bedroom. He looked at the dim night outside the window, but the expression in his eyes was not as cheerful as he had imagined.
He opened his phone and looked at the balance; he was still far from enough to buy the crystal bracelet.
As the date drew closer, a hint of anxiety appeared on his face.
A note from the author:
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