Reluctant departure
It's no wonder that Bai Yixia's first reaction was to look at Zhou Qingchi. Countless people had confessed their feelings to her since she was a child. Influenced by her family, Bai Yixia was always tactful and gentle in her dealings with others, and she mostly rejected them with gentleness.
However, only a small percentage of men are easy to talk to and have good sense of propriety. Some men will get angry and shout when rejected, and might even try to grab or pull you.
During her first year of high school, Zhou Qingchi had bumped into a few times. Whenever Bai Yixia saw a boy who couldn't speak properly, Zhou Qingchi would drive him away with a single word before Bai Yixia could even make a move. After that, no one dared to act foolishly in front of her anymore.
Much later, Bai Yixia learned that it was Zhou Qingchi who had rejected those inexplicable confessions on her behalf.
Bai Yixia's personality, on the one hand, is good; she's popular, and those who like her will praise her to the skies, wanting everyone to know they have such a friend. But on the other hand, she's a pushover, a pushover, and those who dislike her can throw all sorts of blame and criticism at her.
Hypocritical, pretentious... Bai Yixia had heard all sorts of things. She'd heard them from rejected boys, and from girls who smiled to her face and gossiped about her behind her back.
Nie Jiayuan was furious when she found out, and impulsively wanted to go and yell at them one by one. But Bai Yixia felt that she hadn't been greatly affected, and that these were just a few people. Eighty percent of the people in the grade got along with her, so there was no need to strive for one hundred percent.
At this point, Nie Jiayuan would turn around and scold her for being soft-hearted, but Bai Yixia didn't think there was anything wrong with it, so she just endured it.
As soon as Qi Wang opened his mouth, Bai Yixia knew she was in trouble. She glanced at Zhou Qingchi instinctively, just like many times before when someone would stand in front of her and say they had something to say, and Zhou Qingchi would walk up behind her and coldly refuse: "Sorry, Bai Yixia doesn't date early."
So Bai Yixia thought it would be like this this time, but things didn't go as planned. Although Zhou Qingchi also looked at her, he stood still and didn't move, with something in his eyes that he had never seen before.
A few seconds later, Zhou Qingchi was the first to look away, and a strange smile appeared on his lips. "Then we'll go downstairs first and wait for you there."
Bai Yixia's heart skipped a beat. She frowned in confusion, trying to ask Zhou Qingchi to stay, but then remembered that Qi Wang was standing behind her waiting for her answer, so she shut her mouth.
So Bai Yixia could only watch helplessly as Zhou Qingchi closed the door and left. Before leaving, he glanced in this direction with a faint expression, and it was unclear whether he was looking at her or Qi Wang.
More than feeling lost and sad, Bai Yixia was bewildered at this moment.
She nervously clenched her fingers, then slowly turned to face Qi Wang.
The boy smiled at her and patted the stool next to him. "Sit down. You've been standing for a long time, you must be tired."
Bai Yixia responded a beat late, and after considering it for a moment, she pulled up a chair and sat down opposite him.
She looked up at him with a little trepidation. Qi Wang had only removed his colored contact lenses, and his clear black and white eyes were staring intently at her, his expression serious. He took a deep breath and spoke with a smile that eased the atmosphere: "You should be able to guess what I'm going to say. I guess you sensed it pretty early on."
Bai Yixia pursed her lips. Compared to Qi Wang's openness, she seemed a little reserved, which was rare for Bai Yixia.
Qi Wang didn't intend to make her feel tormented, and said directly, "Bai Yixia, I like you. And it's been quite a while."
The words "I like you" suddenly hit Bai Yixia's ears. She was too embarrassed to look at Qi Wang's face, so she lowered her head and studied her camera.
But the person in front of me was still saying, "You might find this a bit strange. We've only known each other for a short time, how could I possibly say I've liked you for a long time?"
Bai Yixia's heart skipped a beat. The words "I've liked you for a long time" were originally meant for Zhou Qingchi. She never expected to use them on herself.
So she looked up with curiosity. After Qi Wang finished confessing his feelings, he seemed to relax a lot. His straight shoulders slumped down, and he sat casually against the back of the chair.
Upon seeing Bai Yixia's gaze, his smile widened. "Actually, I met you back in my freshman year."
He reminisced, "It wasn't at some grade-level meeting, I just happened to meet you."
Bai Yixia had no such memory, and her questioning gaze made the enthusiastic Qi Wang feel discouraged for a moment.
But he quickly recovered. "You probably don't remember very clearly? Back then, there were a lot of stray cats gathered in the small garden on the west side of the school."
That area was known as the "cat park" among the students. Stray cats that had wandered in from outside the school and abandoned cats that students had taken care of but lost interest in gathered there. Qi Wang often went there to feed the cats when he was a freshman, and he happened to run into Bai Yixia on one of his visits.
They were actually separated by a bush. Qi Wang saw Bai Yixia when she walked over. He just thought she was very pretty, and that every aspect of her was to his liking.
After overhearing Bai Yixia's conversation with her friend, I felt my heart pounding.
Actually, there was nothing wrong with those conversations. Bai Yixia and her friends didn't even realize that there was another person on the other side, talking around the kittens and saying that they would soon have enough money to send all the kittens that were old enough to be spayed or neutered.
The girl deliberately lowered her voice, making it sound like she was threatening the cats. Qi Wang found it cute and momentarily lost in thought, his hands becoming too rough as he petted the cats. One of the cats immediately got angry and slapped him.
Qi Wang was already unsteady on his feet, and being distracted and startled like this, he fell flat on his backside and awkwardly shook his hands.
A rustling sound came from the low bushes. Qi Wang followed her heart and looked up. The girl was peering at her from the branches, her brow furrowed slightly. She asked with concern, "Are you...are you alright?"
Qi Wang felt his face must be as red as a monkey's bottom, so he quickly stood up and said, "It's okay, it's okay."
Bai Yixia nodded, looked down, and then looked at him with a knowing expression. She smiled and said, "This cat has the worst temper. You have to be careful if you play with it."
Qi Wang couldn't remember what he replied, and even after Bai Yixia left, he was still standing there, not having recovered his senses.
His roommate, who had come with him to feed the cats, tilted his head and thought for a moment, then calmly patted his shoulder, "You've got your eye on her?"
Qi Wang was a little embarrassed, but nodded honestly.
Roommate: "That's normal, that's Bai Yixia."
Qi Wang was taken aback: "You know her?"
My roommate nodded: "We went to the same high school. She was very famous in our school. She's good-looking, has a good personality, and has a lot of friends. Most people like to associate with her."
"Later, I would often run into you there, but I was always too shy to say hello, and you were always on the phone." Qi Wang smiled slightly. He used to wonder why you had so many phone calls to talk to, but now he understood.
Bai Yixia looked at him apologetically, "I don't seem to remember it. I'm sorry."
Qi Wang looked at her in surprise, then smiled helplessly, "What do you have to apologize for? It was my own fault for not taking the initiative. Besides, I used to dye my hair a lot back then, so it's normal that you didn't recognize me."
As they talked about the past, Bai Yixia relaxed. Qi Wang sighed, seemingly with some resentment, but it was directed at himself. "Sometimes I would follow you from a distance, to see what class you were going to, hoping to bump into you. But I never dared to make a move, afraid you would think I was crazy, a stalker."
After saying that, his expression twisted for a moment, "Wait, it really does look like it."
Bai Yixia was both amused and exasperated. She sat up straight, looked at Qi Wang earnestly, and spoke gently as always, "Thank you for liking me. But I..."
Qi Wang waved his hand to interrupt her, his shoulders slumping in disappointment. "Actually, I knew you would reject me." His voice trembled slightly. "In my plan, I shouldn't have told you I liked you so early. I should have used this opportunity to get to know you and let you understand me."
His eyes gleamed, and his voice was soft and gentle, "But you have someone you like, don't you?"
Bai Yixia stared at him in surprise. Qi Wang raised an eyebrow. "It's not hard to see that your eyes have been on him the whole time."
His voice was strained. "And I know that you realized I liked you, but you didn't say it because of Bai Yi'an."
Qi Wang's expression suddenly turned sad. "I just realized that my crush might be a problem for you, and make you uncomfortable."
Bai Yixia felt as if those words had pierced the thin membrane she had erected in front of Zhou Qingchi. She had no time to think about what Qi Wang would say to her later; the word "trouble" had been like a thorn in her heart not only today, but also sometime before.
She wondered blankly, "Is my affection a trouble for Zhou Qingchi? Does it make him uncomfortable? Did he realize I like him, which is why he didn't help me this time?"
"Xia Xia?" Qi Wang's voice pulled her out of her reverie.
The boy seemed to have composed himself and jokingly said to her, "Having a crush is a dead end."
Another heavy blow struck Bai Yixia's heart. She forced a smile, hesitated, and still didn't say anything.
Qi Wang stood up, took two deep breaths, and began to shoo people away, "Alright. I've said what I needed to say, you should go now."
Bai Yixia looked at him in disbelief, noticing that his eyes were still a little red, and then changed the subject, "How heartless, is it because I didn't agree to your request?"
Qi Wang said matter-of-factly, "That's right! You go away, let me heal myself."
Bai Yixia obediently walked to the door, and just as she opened it, she heard Qi Wang call out to her. She turned around and saw Qi Wang with the same smile he had when they first met, "Will we still be friends?"
Bai Yixia raised her eyebrows. "Of course."
Qi Wang burst out laughing. "Alright, friend, good luck!"
Bai Yixia waved her hand, sighing inwardly, "Maybe next time I can hold you and cry together, because I might also be heartbroken."
As soon as she stepped out of the office building, she saw Zhou Qingchi. Bai Yixia instinctively wanted to run towards him, but Qi Wang's two sentences kept running through her mind. She suddenly stopped, unsure of how to approach Zhou Qingchi.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
