Chapter 26

Yun Zhuoqing simply let her hand drop, her eyes clouded with confusion.
“Are you… messing with me?” Her tone was uncertain, wasn’t this the kind of prank little kids pulled? Chen Huo was built like a linebacker; no way he was a grade-schooler.
Still, Yun Zhuoqing couldn’t help but wonder after that display.
Chen Huo jolted back to attention. “Of course not! Why would I mess with you?” This time, at least, he didn’t stutter.
Judging from his expression, Yun Zhuoqing decided he was telling the truth. She beckoned him over: “Didn’t you want to give it to me? Come on, hand it over.”
Chen Huo immediately lost his cool again.
“You, you mean you’ll accept it?” Chen Huo felt like his mind was short-circuiting.
Yun Zhuoqing neither accepted nor refused, just stated plainly: “I haven’t even read it yet, it’s way too soon to talk about that.”
So, would she consider agreeing to Yue Hao if she read it?
“Actually, this letter’s from Yue Hao. He’s the one who likes you, he just didn’t have the guts to hand it over himself, so I’m doing it for him.” As he revealed Yue Hao’s cowardice, Chen Huo unconsciously straightened his back, radiating a weirdly smug pride.
Too bad he was basically winking at a blind woman; Yun Zhuoqing didn’t pick up on any hidden subtext at all.
After hearing it was from Yue Hao, Yun Zhuoqing just kept her hand out. “Alright, give it here.”
Chen Huo’s smile froze. His fingers tightened on the letter. Shouldn’t she be saying no? Did she seriously… did she…?
But in the end, Chen Huo could only stiffly mumble, “Okay.”
Honestly, Yun Zhuoqing wasn’t remotely surprised by the situation. Even after hearing it was from Yue Hao, she just calmly extended her hand.
This wasn’t her first time dealing with this sort of thing.
She’d gotten confessions before, a guy would hand her a letter, ask her to meet, and she, totally clueless, would show up. But then he’d appear with a whole gang, threatening that if she didn’t agree to be his girlfriend, she’d never have a place at school again.
After that, Yun Zhuoqing realized that a love letter wasn’t so different from a challenge to a duel.
With that in mind, Yun Zhuoqing immediately tore open the slightly wrinkled letter right in front of Chen Huo. He hadn’t expected her to do it on the spot, his breathing stopped, eyes locked on Yun Zhuoqing’s face, desperate for any flicker of emotion.
But after she finished reading, Yun Zhuoqing’s face didn't change at all. Chen Huo tried to guess what she was thinking, but her expression gave away nothing.
When she finally asked, “Anything else?” all Chen Huo could do was blankly reply, “No… nothing else.”
And with that, Yun Zhuoqing walked away.
Chen Huo just stood there, staring at her retreating back until she vanished from view, his own face finally crumpling with frustration he couldn’t hide.
So what the hell was she really thinking? Was she actually considering Yue Hao’s confession or not?
Chen Huo was going mad, but there was no one he could turn to. The only person he could really talk to was Yue Hao, but obviously he couldn’t say a word of this to him. In total desperation, Chen Huo racked his brain for someone else, finally, he found the perfect candidate.
Huo Jing opened the door, face blank as Chen Huo hammered away from the other side. “What do you want?”
Lately, Huo Jing had been in a terrible mood, zero interest in chatting with girls, let alone dealing with Chen Huo’s drama. No idea why Chen Huo was at his place, and frankly, he couldn’t care less. Huo Jing just wanted to slam the door in his face and go back to brooding.
“Huo Jing, let me tell you something.” Only now did Chen Huo realize how monumentally stupid his actions had been.
“I gave Yun Zhuoqing Yue Hao’s love letter.” Chen Huo looked dazed, like he wasn’t fully there.
Huo Jing’s face didn’t budge an inch, but his eyes turned even frostier, his tone pure mockery: “Yeah? So? Want a gold star or something?”
Even Huo Jing couldn’t believe Chen Huo had actually gone through with it. He’d thought Chen Huo lost his nerve last time, yet here the guy was, playing wingman and literally passing a confession to the very girl he liked. Idiot.
At this point, he honestly wondered if, when his cousin gave birth to Chen Huo, she’d left his brain in the hospital and just brought home the placenta.
Chen Huo ignored the sneer and relayed Yun Zhuoqing’s reaction, “Do you think she’ll say yes to Yue Hao?”
That was what he really wanted to know.
Chen Huo could never figure out the logic behind romance, but Huo Jing, well, he’d dumped enough girls to be a total pro at this stuff, right?
Even if, truth be told, Huo Jing had never actually dated anyone for real. “……”
Even with zero dating experience, Huo Jing could answer Chen Huo’s question without a hitch.
“Relax. She’d never go for Yue Hao.” Huo Jing tossed it off, smooth as ever.
There was a hint of disdain for Yue Hao in those words. Chen Huo, loyal bro that he was, didn’t exactly appreciate it, his face faltered with annoyance.
When Huo Jing spotted that, he let out a quiet laugh. “I’m not saying Yue Hao’s a bad guy, I just mean he’s not right for her.”
Maybe Chen Huo was blind to it, but Huo Jing saw it clearly: Yun Zhuoqing was nothing like she seemed on the surface.
At the very least, she was definitely no ordinary special-admission student. You could tell from the way she’d managed to switch into Class A midway through junior year.
The thought of it set Huo Jing’s blood racing, like he was dying to peel back every layer of Yun Zhuoqing until there was nothing left to hide, he wanted to see what was really going on in her head.
But just then, his own words from the other day echoed back at him. Huo Jing’s mood instantly plummeted, not even bothering to waste more breath on Chen Huo. With a resounding bang, he shut the door right in Chen Huo’s face.
As ruthless as the eviction was, Chen Huo reluctantly forgave him, if only because Huo Jing insisted Yun Zhuoqing would never say yes to Yue Hao.
But that good mood didn’t last. The very next morning, as soon as Chen Huo and Yue Hao got to their seats, who should they see but Yun Zhuoqing, the same Yun Zhuoqing who never so much as glanced their way, rising from her desk and walking straight over to them.
The second Yun Zhuoqing stood up, Chen Huo’s eyes locked onto her. When she actually headed their way, his heart started pounding so hard it felt like it was going to leap out of his chest. Meanwhile, with his back to Yun Zhuoqing, Yue Hao noticed nothing and whispered, “Bro, did you give her the stuff ye, ”
“Yue Hao?” Speak of the devil, here she was.
Yue Hao spun around, startled, and locked eyes with Yun Zhuoqing.
He was instantly tongue-tied, stammering so badly he could’ve been Chen Huo’s twin from yesterday. “W-what?”
“I have something to discuss. Come with me.”
Half-dazed, Yue Hao shuffled after Yun Zhuoqing, not noticing Chen Huo behind him glaring daggers into his back, practically burning a hole with his stare.
Chen Huo whipped around to look at Huo Jing, ready to demand how this squared with his assurance that Yun Zhuoqing would never say yes to Yue Hao, only to find Huo Jing gazing at the two retreating figures with a look that was no happier than his own.
When Chen Huo glanced instinctively at Huo Jing, Huo Jing met his eyes, and mouthed, “What are you, an idiot?”
For once, Chen Huo agreed with him.
Yeah, he really was an idiot.
Time crawled by; every second felt eternal as Chen Huo and Huo Jing kept glancing at the clock every few moments. Never in his life had Chen Huo wanted so badly to see Yue Hao’s face, even after knowing him for over a decade, this had to be a first.
Finally, Yue Hao reappeared at the door, arms full of worksheets.
Sure, sometimes teachers roped random students into carrying homework to class, but Yue Hao, Chen Huo’s ride-or-die, had never been one of them.
But now Yue Hao was even sort of smiling. And behind him, carrying another stack of books, was Yun Zhuoqing.
The joy on Yue Hao’s face was impossible to miss. But for the other two, it was as if their hearts had plunged into an ice bath.
Yue Hao and Yun Zhuoqing slipped into the classroom without a word. As Yue Hao set the papers down, he caught Yun Zhuoqing’s eye. Right as she looked up he was already staring, so she gave him a little nod. Yue Hao grinned even brighter, the smile didn’t fade, even as he sat back down.
“…” Chen Huo’s eyes were bloodshot, practically torturing himself by watching the two of them exchange looks.
Moments ago, he’d been desperate for Yue Hao to come back, but now, Chen Huo just wanted to kick him out.
All the accusations Chen Huo had rehearsed to throw at Yue Hao were wiped from his mind. He said nothing, didn’t even spare Yue Hao a look. But Yue Hao, lost in his own shining thoughts, didn’t notice a thing.
Back in her seat, Yun Zhuoqing found Yun Nianyi peering at her curiously. “Zhuoqing, are you and Yue Hao that close?”
“Not really.” Yun Zhuoqing was crisp and blunt, not an ounce of pretense.
“Ah, I see. I just saw you pull him out to talk and thought maybe you two were close.” Yun Nianyi smiled. “But Yue Hao’s actually a decent guy. If you’re looking for a friend, you could do worse.”
Yun Nianyi, of course, knew exactly what had gone down between Yun Zhuoqing and Yue Hao, thanks to her system, and that Yun Zhuoqing had in fact turned him down flat.
But that didn’t matter. Since nobody else knew, she’d act just as clueless.
Say it enough times, and it becomes reality.
Head down over her homework, Yun Nianyi’s eyes flashed with something wild.
Someone with Yue Hao’s background barely registered for her, a total side character, the same worthless tier as Feng Mingxuan. If Yun Zhuoqing started seeing guys like that, maybe she could drag her down from her pedestal. At least to someone self-important like Chen Huo, Yun Zhuoqing would no longer be that untouchable dream girl.
But since Chen Huo was too chicken to ask, no one actually knew how Yun Zhuoqing had replied to Yue Hao that day.
After class, Yun Zhuoqing shouldered her bag and started for the dorm as usual. But on the deserted stairwell, a familiar voice echoed down from the shadows.
“So you said yes to Yue Hao. You’re really together now.”
The speaker’s unsettled emotions reverberated off the empty walls, making him sound almost… creepy. Like some monster barely holding itself together, trying, and failing, to sound normal.
Yun Zhuoqing paused on the stairs, unmoving. Silent.
She coldly watched the figure step into the light, Huo Jing, the very same guy who’d called her “greedy” in front of the whole class a few days ago.
Half hidden in shadow, Huo Jing’s expression was unclear, but there was a feverish intensity in his eyes, like he might burn through her.
His voice softened unconsciously, which only made his words feel more chilling.
“Don’t date him. Be with me instead, okay?”