Chapter 25

But Yun Zhuoqing’s strategy wasn’t working; if anything, Feng Mingxuan looked even more defeated.
Mingxuan mumbled, dazed, “Yeah… I’ll hang in there… sure…”
What did I just say? Mingxuan was about ready to implode. This was not at all how she’d imagined things would go when she’d first opened her mouth.
From the very start, Yun Zhuoqing had managed to throw off her every expectation. And after being misunderstood so thoroughly, Mingxuan realized she didn’t feel humiliated, instead, it was all just pettiness on her side, and Zhuoqing had totally, completely, misinterpreted her motives.
Yun Nianyi watched the whole scene unfold, visibly relieved for them both, as if genuinely happy for Feng Mingxuan and Yun Zhuoqing.
[Host, you really should just tell her that you don’t like the heroine,] the system’s voice suddenly intruded.
[I’ve told you, the protagonist halo is powerful, anyone who gets close to the heroine ends up falling for her, and will bend over backwards to help her. If this keeps up, all your friends will be on her side.]
Yun Nianyi ignored it.
If she actually came right out and told Mingxuan how much she disliked Yun Zhuoqing, then Mingxuan would indeed keep targeting the main girl, just like Nianyi expected. But at that point, how would she be any different from the original, brainless, mean-girl “villainess” who wasted every ounce of goodwill people gave her?
Yun Nianyi would never go down the book’s path of blind arrogance, using what she had to trample others. No, what she wanted was to make people choose her of their own free will.
She’d take everything that belonged to the heroine, and she’d do it openly. Only a fool would just hand over what they possessed for nothing.
The cafeteria at Yuying was genuinely good, so good that even the spoiled rich kids preferred it to eating at home.
In a quiet corner of the dining hall, Song Hanyue was acting all suspicious again, glancing furtively around while her lunch went cold and untouched.
Sitting directly across from her, Yun Nianyi watched every movement with cool detachment before speaking, perfectly casual: “Hanyue, what exactly are you up to?”
Song Hanyue ducked her head like she’d been caught stealing snacks, and hissed urgently, “Wait, don’t move! She’s looking over!”
Yun Nianyi froze on the spot, shooting Hanyue a blank look. After a moment she lifted her head again and let out a barely audible sigh of relief.
Putting her chopsticks down, Nianyi kept her face expressionless. “Hanyue, what’s with you?”
The Song family wasn’t quite as rich as the Yuns, but they were close. Hanyue’s parents had spoiled her rotten, and with Wen Shuran as her patient childhood playmate, she’d never had to worry about what other people thought, if anything, she was the one everyone else tiptoed around.
So naturally, Hanyue totally missed Nianyi’s low-key displeasure, mumbling, “It’s nothing, let’s just eat.”
But she was all talk, barely touched her food before putting her chopsticks down and craning her neck to snoop again. Even Yun Nianyi’s legendary patience was running thin.
Nianyi set her chopsticks beside the tray, dabbed her lips, then drawled lazily, “Hanyue, if you’re in some kind of trouble, you can talk to me. If there’s anything I can do to help, I’d be happy to.”
At first Hanyue hadn’t planned to confess any of this. But seeing Nianyi set aside her meal just to check on her, and remembering that everyone always said Song Hanyue had a way with people, maybe Nianyi really was the person to ask after all. So, after some internal struggle:
“It’s… about your deskmate.”
Nianyi pulled off a perfectly-timed look of surprise. “Zhuoqing? Did something happen between you two?”
“Not exactly. She hasn’t said a thing. That’s the problem, she’s just so hard to read.”
“I think she’s actually kind of interesting, and she never tries to suck up to me like the others do. But, tell me, if I really want to be her friend, does that mean I can’t wear expensive clothes in front of her, or use fancy stuff? And if I give her a nice gift, will she think I’m being patronizing? Am I just causing her trouble?” Hanyue looked truly conflicted. She’d acted tough that day, but after getting home, she’d replayed it all in her mind. Years of social blunders had taught Hanyue: Wen Shuran’s criticism probably wasn’t totally off-base.
She didn’t think Yun Zhuoqing was the kind of person to talk out of both sides of her mouth, but she also knew people could be disappointing, a lesson she’d learned from past so-called friends.
Still, everybody wants to believe a good exception exists. Hanyue was hoping Nianyi, the legendary Miss Yun, could give her some reassurance. The Yun family felt different from every other elite family; if anyone would know, it’d be her.
Plus, if nothing else, Yun Nianyi never left anyone hanging.
And, as expected, after hearing Song Hanyue out, Yun Nianyi delivered the world’s most reassuring answer.
“Hanyue, honestly, when it comes to friendship, family background doesn’t matter. What matters is whether your values match.”
Hanyue’s ears all but perked up at the words “family background doesn’t matter.” If the heiress of the Yun family didn’t care about her friends’ pedigrees, then why should she?
“If you want to be friends with her, that means she must be a decent person. If there were a problem, you’d have picked up on it already.” Nianyi flashed a gentle smile.
Hanyue was about to nod but then froze, mid-epiphany.
She suddenly remembered: every time she’d truly wanted to make a best friend growing up, she’d always hear, “Oh, you’re so close to Wen Shuran? Mind introducing us?”
Nianyi folded her used napkin and placed it on her tray, then stood up to leave. Before walking away, she gave Hanyue a little nudge of encouragement: “Hanyue, trust your gut.”
But the more Nianyi said it, the less Hanyue believed in herself.
After Nianyi left, Hanyue stole another glance at Yun Zhuoqing, eating alone, not daring to go over and speak to her.
And for several days after that, Song Hanyue avoided talking to Yun Zhuoqing at all. Even if they ran into each other in the halls, Hanyue would duck away, stiff as a board.
At first, Yun Zhuoqing didn’t notice anything was off. It wasn’t until she was helping the teacher hand out homework, and as she tried to pass a sheet to Song Hanyue, Hanyue snatched it and stuffed it into her desk without even glancing at her, that Yun Zhuoqing finally realized something was up.
She was a little puzzled, sensing that Song Hanyue seemed to be avoiding her. Yun Zhuoqing had no idea why, but she didn’t dwell on it either. Later, since Bai Jiajia wasn’t around, she got roped in to hand out homework again, this time, she went around the other side, toward Song Hanyue’s deskmate instead. That way, Song Hanyue wouldn’t even have to look at her.
Song Hanyue took the homework from her deskmate, her heart unexpectedly skipping a beat.
Why did she suddenly come around the other side? She always walked past me before, what changed? Could she have realized I’m trying to avoid her?
Song Hanyue found herself in a state of panic she’d never felt before. She just wanted to keep her distance, that’s all. But what if the other person wanted to keep their distance too?
Meanwhile, someone else in the class was stuck in their own impossible dilemma.
“Bro, when are you actually going to give her the love letter? I wrote it days ago.” Yue Hao groaned loud enough for the whole classroom.
Chen Huo was never the type to drag things out, so Yue Hao never expected that something as simple as passing on a note would get delayed for so long.
“Don’t keep putting it off, man. What if some other guy sweeps in there first? I heard Young Master Huo’s been making moves lately. Crap, what if he’s already acted?”
Chen Huo, who’d looked half-asleep a moment ago, instantly snapped awake, eyes wide: “No way!” Yue Hao had just been making conversation, but it was true, he’d heard Huo Jing was up to some secret shenanigans. Yeah, it probably wasn’t done yet, but if Chen Huo kept stalling like this, you never knew.
“C’mon, just give me a straight answer! When are you handing it over? Or maybe I should just do it myself?” Not that he expected her to say yes anyway…
The moment those words left his mouth, Chen Huo reacted like he’d had his tail stepped on, voice frazzled: “You, you, you, what’s your rush? I, I literally went to a temple and got your fortune read, okay? The master said now’s a terrible time to confess or you’ll get rejected. I’m doing this for you!”
Chen Huo turned away as he spoke, desperate to hide the guilty look in his eyes.
Yue Hao saw none of it. He stared at Chen Huo’s back, deeply moved: “Bro, I can’t believe you care this much about me. Here I was thinking you just didn’t want to help pass the letter, I’ve been judging a gentleman with a villain’s heart.”
Chen Huo’s guilt doubled; he didn’t dare glance at Yue Hao, just kept his back to him and grunted, “As long as you get it.”
“Bro, but when I got home, I realized, it’d mean more if I handed it to her myself.” Yue Hao’s face suddenly turned serious. He knew he avoided seeing her because he was a coward, afraid to face rejection. But thanks to Chen Huo’s endless procrastination, he’d actually had time to process how he really felt.
“Just give me the letter…” , the words were barely out before Chen Huo cut him off.
“Yue Hao, I’ll help you out today. I’ll deliver the letter, promise. I swear she’ll get it!” Chen Huo’s face twisted with determination and dread.
Yue Hao didn’t really understand the sudden change, but he’d always seen Chen Huo as one of life’s true big brothers. He hesitated, but in the end, nodded anyway.
“Fine…”
After school, Chen Huo had run out of time, and excuses. He finally kept his promise, intercepting Yun Zhuoqing right as she was about to leave.
Chen Huo’s hands and feet were shaking so badly you’d think it was his own confession, not Yue Hao’s. What was he getting so nervous about? Was he just panicking on Yue Hao’s behalf?
Yun Zhuoqing eyed Chen Huo blocking her path, looking like trouble incarnate. She took two steps back before asking, “Is there something you need?”
When she spoke, her words seemed to strip his brain of language. All the things Chen Huo had rehearsed tumbled out as a stammering mess: “Uh, I, um, I have… a thing… the thing is, uh…”
Chen Huo thought he’d never been this embarrassing in his life. Why was he falling apart? Especially in front of her, of all people. If this kept up she’d think he was mentally deficient.
Yun Zhuoqing was frowning already. Chen Huo felt the situation slipping, so he gritted his teeth and finally pulled out the slightly crumpled envelope he’d been clutching:
“Th-this is… it’s a love letter. For you. Please accept it!”
Yun Zhuoqing eyed the letter, clearly mashed and creased from the force of his grip. How much pressure had he been under, exactly?
The moment he said it, Chen Huo realized something was off and hastily corrected himself: “Wait, I mean, maybe you should really think about whether you want to accept it or not.”
Yun Zhuoqing reached out to take a look, but her fingers met empty air, because Chen Huo, acting on pure instinct, snatched the letter right back. Now it looked like Yun Zhuoqing was the one desperately grabbing after something from Chen Huo.
Yun Zhuoqing: ?