Chapter 52

When Li Xiang came back, Yu Nian was peacefully lying on her desk during the lunch break.

The gentle afternoon breeze swept through, lifting the light blue curtains, and a strand of golden sunlight fell on the side of her face, making her fair complexion even more radiant.

Perhaps the sunlight was too dazzling, the long, dense eyelashes of the person gently trembled. Subconsciously, she buried her face a bit more into her arms, attempting to avoid the brightness.

Li Xiang chuckled silently, shifting his gaze from Yu Nian to the leather-bound notebook spread open on her desk.

Ink almost occupied half of the paper, and despite the lack of any coherent explanation, Li Xiang could vaguely see his own name buried within the chaotic lines, leaving him in a somewhat bemused state.

This person was always so cute in her childishness, yet the two characters “Chi Yao” written with the brush were elegant and far from reflecting her personality.

As the lingering frustration from yesterday dispersed, Li Xiang found himself reflecting on whether his actions were right.

In fact, seeing Yu Nian being reprimanded with her head bowed early in the morning had softened Li Xiang’s heart. Especially when Yu Nian returned to her seat, pouting and asking why he didn’t wait for her, Li Xiang exercised great restraint and didn’t turn around to look at her.

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Li Xiang had explained many topics to her before. When he spoke, his gaze was gentle, his voice low and magnetic. The distinct joints of his fingers held the pen, effortlessly captivating anyone watching.

Even Yu Nian was attracted several times and lost focus on her studies, not to mention that Liu Manman admired this person.

Now that the male lead and female lead had clearly crossed paths as she had envisioned, shouldn’t she be happy?

But she couldn’t be happy at all.

Staring at Li Xiang’s back, Yu Nian ate her sandwich resentfully, unable to stop speculating in her mind: Are those two together? Did they get together the day after receiving a love letter? No wonder he didn’t come to find me this morning.

Yu Nian, who had always believed she would find the root cause, found herself filled with frustration after much contemplation.

Normally, Yu Nian would have softened and reconciled with Li Xiang. However, after careful consideration, she somehow concluded that Li Xiang prioritized romance over friendship. With great determination, she ignored him.

The cold war persisted for several days. Li Xiang no longer went to Yu Nian’s house every morning, and she set her alarm ten minutes earlier.

With this back-and-forth, the parents of both families naturally noticed something was amiss.

“Nian Nian ah, why hasn’t Yao Yao visited recently?” Shi Zhengqing asked.

Yu Nian toyed with the food in her bowl, hesitated for a moment, and then said, “Probably doesn’t have the time.”

“That’s right, the academic pressure is indeed intense in the second year of high school.”

After Shi Zhengqing spoke, he exchanged a glance with Ling Ya. Ling Ya then spoke gently, “Nian Nian, I made quite a few pastries today. Later, help Mom deliver some to Yao Yao, alright?”

Upon hearing this, Yu Nian said awkwardly, “I’m not going.”

“Why not?” Shi Zhengqing asked.

Yu Nian casually said, “I have to do my homework.”

“It won’t take you more than a few minutes to deliver pastries. Hurry up and go, don’t waste your mom’s efforts.”

Yu Nian wanted to argue back but was silenced by a stern look from Shi Zhengqing.

Yu Nian felt that Chi Yao had definitely cast a spell on her parents, siding with him like this!

Why should I give in ah? It’s clearly not my fault.

Feeling aggrieved, Yu Nian reluctantly carried the box of pastries and left. Every step seemed exceptionally difficult, and she felt more stifled than she had in her over twenty years of life.

Not only forced into a silent conflict but also not understood by her own parents. In their eyes, Chi Yao was a mature adult, and she was just an unreasonable child making trouble for no reason.

Yu Nian had been gone for almost half an hour delivering pastries. Ling Ya felt a bit uneasy and decided to call Li Xiang to ask about the situation.

The call was quickly answered.

Li Xiang: “Good evening, Auntie.”

Ling Ya: “Good evening, Yao Yao. Is Nian Nian at your house?”

Upon hearing this, Li Xiang’s hand which was turning a pen, paused. He immediately got up and rushed downstairs, spinning the chair along the way.

“Auntie, wait for me. I’ll go check.” Afraid he might not have heard the doorbell upstairs, Li Xiang opened the door, only to find no one outside.

After Ling Ya explained the situation, Li Xiang remained silent for a while on the phone.

“Yao Yao, Auntie doesn’t know what happened between you and Nian Nian, but if there’s any misunderstanding, make sure to clarify it as soon as possible.”

“I understand, Auntie. Nian Nian should still be in the neighborhood. I’ll go find her, so please don’t worry.”

Li Xiang hung up the phone, didn’t even bother putting on his coat, and hastily went out to search for Yu Nian.

At this moment, Yu Nian sat on a chair along the small pathway near Li Xiang’s house, lost in thought.

The autumn evening breeze had set in, and Yu Nian shivered unexpectedly as the cold wind brushed against her. Unable to hold back, she sneezed.

She rubbed her nose as she held the box of pastries in her arms. Yu Nian contemplated that Li Xiang probably disliked her. She felt going there would only be asking for trouble. If Li Xiang just softened a bit, given her nature, they would have reconciled long ago.

As soon as Li Xiang stepped out, he followed the familiar path that Yu Nian often took to find her. It didn’t take long before he saw her sitting on a bench not far away, holding a box with her head down.

The dim lighting enveloped her, giving her an air of vulnerability.

After witnessing this scene, all of Li Xiang’s previous insistence was shattered. He felt that he must have become too slow after spending too much time with Yu Nian.

If Yu Nian didn’t understand, why couldn’t he just straightforwardly explain things to her instead of forcing her to ponder right from wrong?

His actions not only hurt Yu Nian but also backfired on himself in the end.

He was too anxious, too anxious to see if Yu Nian would feel even a slight unhappiness because he had gotten close to Liu Manman, or if she would be a bit jealous.

However, their relationship was nowhere near that point. Yu Nian had no idea about his feelings toward her, and it seemed she had never considered it.

Li Xiang took slow steps, afraid of disturbing her. It wasn’t until he reached her that he dared to speak.

Fearful of startling Yu Nian, he softly called, “Shi Nian Nian.”

The sound from above suddenly reached her ears, and instinctively, Yu Nian looked up. When she met Li Xiang’s gentle gaze, her eyes instantly reddened.

It had been several days since she last heard Li Xiang call her like that.

Yu Nian remained silent, tilting her head and staring straight at the person in front. Teardrops, the size of golden beans, fell one by one.

Each tear seemed to fall on the tip of Li Xiang’s heart, causing his heart to ache.

Li Xiang was initially startled, and when he realized what was happening, a sense of panic overwhelmed him.

He immediately crouched down, unsure where to place his hands, only able to look up at Yu Nian. He softly asked, “Why are you crying?”

Yu Nian didn’t know why she was crying. It was as if that simple “Shi Nian Nian” had brought forth all the grievances of the past few days. She couldn’t hold back the tears, and now, thinking about it, she felt a bit embarrassed.

Yu Nian lowered her head, and blinked her teary eyes, looking unusually well-behaved.

She handed the box of pastries to Li Xiang and muttered, “For you.”

Li Xiang took it and said, “Thank you.”

“I’m going back.”

Yu Nian stood up to leave, but Li Xiang stopped her.

“Nian Nian, let’s talk.” He said.

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Author’s Note:

It’s time to lay all the cards on the table la.