Jiang Yumo actually knew how to handle this kind of situation.
It’s just that the Traveler suddenly broke the rules and surprised her in real life by giving her a gift, leaving her caught off guard. At the same time, as a seventeen-year-old, she also had a faint thought of ‘isn’t this a bad idea?’ because she didn’t know if the other person was male or female1. Although she and Duan Ye are not in that kind of relationship, they have already acknowledged each other… She may not be suitable for getting too deeply involved with an online friend whose gender might be male.
There was no ambiguity in her conversations with the Traveler. Before this person gave her a gift, there was no distinction of gender between them as online friends.
But now this balance has been disrupted, and she begins to reflect on herself. Perhaps she could have handled things better from the beginning. It’s not that she can’t interact with any opposite sex after being with Duan Ye, but she needs to maintain a certain level. Even though they are separated by the internet, even in the virtual world, the person she chats with is always a living individual.
She doesn’t want to make things worse.
Maybe for others, it’s just a trivial matter.
So when she came out of the security room today, the first thought that entered her mind was to tell Duan Ye.
They have known each other for so long, and in terms of their feelings, they understand each other without speaking. Duan Ye knows all about Jiang Yumo’s thoughts. He lowered his gaze, glanced at the crystal ball, and asked her softly, “How do you want to handle it?”
Jiang Yumo looked at him and said, “Do you have any good suggestions? I just don’t want things to be too awkward between me and Traveler. Well, he is actually a very nice person and has indeed helped me a lot. So… it would be best if we can resolve it peacefully.”
“Let’s do it this way.” Duan Ye took the crystal ball from her hands. “If the other person is a girl, accept this gift and send a gift of similar value to the security office of First High School. If you continue to enjoy the conversation, maybe you can become friends in real life.”
Jiang Yumo nodded.
That was what she had in mind too.
“If the other person is a boy,” Duan Ye didn’t notice it. In an instant, he tightly grasped the crystal ball, pressing his index finger forcefully. “You just tell the truth, express your feelings and thoughts honestly. I believe he can accept it, and then we’ll return this crystal ball.”
Jiang Yumo instantly felt relieved.
Because she and Duan Ye were on the same page.
“I think the same way,” Jiang Yumo said. “I find this approach very mature. What do you think?”
Duan Ye smiled, “Hmm.”
Jiang Yumo let out a sigh. “Actually, it was all a misunderstanding. If my cousin had copied the number correctly, none of this would have happened. Duan Ye,” she hesitated and looked up at him, “don’t misunderstand me, I was just… under a lot of pressure before, but I couldn’t tell you guys. I was afraid it would affect you too. Every time I’m unhappy, Yan Qing and Mengting also become unhappy, and so do you. But, there won’t be such things happening in the future.”
Duan Ye’s heart suddenly became soft.
In fact, she didn’t need to explain anything to him. The fact that she could tell him about this was already surprising to him.
But… it didn’t seem that surprising after all.
She has always been this kind of person, unable to bear hurting the people around her. So even though she’s the one deeply troubled, even though she hasn’t done anything wrong, her first concern is whether he will be unhappy.
Duan Ye couldn’t help but reach out and gently smooth her hair that was tousled by the wind. “I know, it’s alright.”
Jiang Yumo looked up at him, and their eyes met. She couldn’t help but be amused, so she tugged at the zipper of his down jacket. “Alright, you should go back now. It’s almost 8 o’clock.”
“Okay.”
Duan Ye watched her go upstairs, and only after the lights in her room turned on did he turn around and leave. He hailed a taxi by the street and went home. As he entered the old residential building and walked towards the second floor, he saw Zhou Ji in the stairwell. Duan Ye wasn’t surprised at all. Today, Zhou Ji escorted Ning Zhiyu home, and he must have said or done something. It sparked Duan Ye’s wild imagination, and he was in such a joyful mood that he couldn’t find a place to settle, so he had to show off a bit before being able to fall asleep at night.
But today… it seemed different.
Duan Ye was about to bypass Zhou Ji, but Zhou Ji hadn’t reacted yet. He hung his head down, and the voice-activated light turned on. Only then did Duan Ye see the expression on Zhou Ji’s face.
Zhou Ji looked hurt, sad, and wronged, but also angry.
He looked just like a dog that had been abandoned by its owner, appearing incredibly pitiful.
What happened?
Duan Ye intentionally slowed down his pace, waiting for Zhou Ji to speak first. But even when he reached his own apartment door and took out the keys, Zhou Ji was still sitting on the stairs like a statue. If it weren’t for him noticing Zhou Ji’s eyelids twitching as he passed by, he would have doubted whether Zhou Ji had entered a state of deep meditation.
There is no way. It’s so cold now, he can’t let Zhou Ji sit alone in the stairwell.
When Duan Ye turned the doorknob, he called out to Zhou Ji, “Not coming in?”
Zhou Ji seemed to just realize, turned his head, and his face looked even more aggrieved. He remained silent for a few seconds, stood up, patted his pants, and walked upstairs in big strides, following behind Duan Ye into the house.
Zhou Ji was unusually silent today.
In the past, whether he was happy or unhappy, he would babble about it nonstop.
But once inside the house, even after sitting down on the sofa, he didn’t say a word.
Duan Ye guessed that he was probably hurt by Ning Zhiyu again. However, this time the situation seemed more serious. Despite Duan Ye always appearing indifferent to anything and anyone other than Jiang Yumo, he was exceptionally good to his friends. Liu Zhi, the barber at the hair salon, was someone he had taken care of since elementary school. He even went to the provincial capital overnight to bring Liu Zhi back when he left. Even the current job was something he found for Liu Zhi. And his elementary school classmate, Zhang Chao, whenever there was a need, big or small, as long as he was needed, he would never refuse.
Not to mention Guo Shichao and Zhao Zheng, Duan Ye was the kind of person who would go to great lengths for his friends.
Many people talk about being willing to go to great lengths for their friends, but there are not many who can actually do it.
At first, Duan Ye couldn’t stand Zhou Ji very much, but after spending some time together, they actually became friends.
Now that Zhou Ji looked like he was on the verge of death, Duan Ye couldn’t really not care. However, his way of caring for a friend was completely different from how he cared about Jiang Yumo.
“Do you watch sports matches?” It took Duan Ye half a day to open his mouth and ask him.
Zhou Ji was slow to react, but then he snapped back to reality and responded with an “Oh.”
Duan Ye took the remote control and turned on the TV, tuning it to the sports channel. At that moment, a replay of a basketball game was just starting.
Zhou Ji had his eyes fixed on the TV, but his mind was not really focused on it.
Even when a basketball team he disliked scored, he didn’t curse and complain as he used to.
Everything was unusually quiet.
Duan Ye had no choice but to search around the house again, hoping to find some snacks they had left behind last time.
Meanwhile, Ning Zhiyu couldn’t concentrate on reading at home.
The hour hand on the alarm clock on her desk was about to reach nine.
Everything was in order and within her control, so why was her heart racing and feeling so unsettled? Had she done something wrong? She couldn’t sit still, so she got up and wandered around the room like a headless fly. Finally, she pushed open the window, took a deep breath of cold air, and her mind cleared up.
She didn’t think about anything. Following her instincts, she packed her backpack and briskly walked to the bus stop, taking the last bus of the route… and arrived near Jiang Yumo’s house. The moment she got off the bus, she suddenly understood why she had been so uneasy.
Because she began to feel afraid, afraid that any decision she made would cause her to lose this friend, lose this period of happiness.
Fortunately, there was a shop that hadn’t closed here. Ning Zhiyu borrowed the landline and dialed Jiang Yumo’s number.
The hand holding the receiver was frozen stiff.
Jiang Yumo had just finished taking a shower and returned to her room, ready to finish the cloze test on her English exam paper before going to sleep. Unexpectedly, the phone placed on the desk vibrated. She picked it up and looked at it. It was a call from an unfamiliar landline. She hesitated for a moment and answered, “Hello.”
A trembling female voice came from the other end in the cold wind, “Yumo, it’s me.”
“? Zhiyu?” Jiang Yumo thought she misheard or wondered why Zhiyu would call so late. “What’s the matter?”
“I’m outside your residential area,” Ning Zhiyu mustered up her courage and said, “Can I come to your place? There’s something I must tell you now, I can’t wait until tomorrow.”
She was afraid that something might happen in just one night… something that she would regret.
Actually, it could be said over the phone, but she really, really wanted to say it face to face with Jiang Yumo.
Although Jiang Yumo felt strange, she still agreed, “Okay, I’ll come downstairs to pick you up.”
After hanging up the phone, Jiang Yumo put on a thick cotton coat and walked out of the room.
She happened to run into her Mom, who was preparing hot milk for her.
Mother Jiang frowned at her daughter’s intention to go out at such a late hour and asked, “It’s past nine, why are you going out? Aren’t you afraid of catching a cold? Who’s looking for you?”
Mother Jiang’s first suspicion fell on Duan Ye.
As Jiang Yumo changed her shoes at the entrance, she explained, “It’s Ning Zhiyu. It seems like she encountered something, so I’m going to pick her up and bring her here.”
Regarding Ning Zhiyu, Mother Jiang certainly had a deep impression. She never interfered with her daughter’s friendships and never instilled the idea of ‘play with the students with good scores and avoid the ones with bad scores.’ However, in her private thoughts, like most parents, she was happy to know that her daughter was friends with Ning Zhiyu, who ranked first in their grade.
“Ning Zhiyu?” Mother Jiang glanced at the time and said, “It’s already this late, let her sleep at our home.”
Jiang Yumo still seemed burdened and nodded. Then, she thought of something and shook her head, saying, “Let’s see what she says.”
In her impression, Ning Zhiyu had always been attentive and composed, as if nothing could affect her.
To have such a person come looking for her on a winter night like this, Jiang Yumo couldn’t help but feel anxious.
Did Zhiyu encounter something very bad?
As Jiang Yumo descended the stairs, she tried to chase away all the negative speculations running through her mind. Her footsteps quickened, and she even sprinted all the way to the entrance of the residential area, afraid of being late.
Ning Zhiyu was waiting at the entrance of the community.
As she watched Jiang Yumo running towards her, she wondered if it was because of the cold wind blowing, but she felt a tingling sensation in her nose and a tightness in her throat.
She had failed too badly in terms of friendship, to the point where she didn’t want to enter into another friendship. But she couldn’t continue like this; she had to learn from the failures of her previous friendship.
She needed to learn to be honest with her friends!
Because… that was how Yumo treated her, wasn’t it?
- I’ve been using ‘he’ when Yumo is referring to Traveler, because I was under impression that she knew… sorry. I’ll continue just using ‘he’ though ↩︎
Why would Zhiyu meddle in other people’s business if she didn’t even ask Yumo for permission? Who is she to say something like, “She can’t handle this kind of thing,” and dare to interfere without Yumo’s input? And after doing so, all she cares about is “her friendship with Yumo”? Girl, not everything revolves around you. If you were going to be so scared, why on earth would you meddle in Yumo’s affairs, acting as her spokesperson, without even asking for her opinion on how to handle the matter? She even speculated on Yumo’s Weibo! Why is she so calculating about something that’s none of her business? Hell, not even Duan Ye or Yumo’s closest friends would act like this, but are we supposed to tolerate Zhiyu, who just entered Yumo’s life five minutes ago, acting like this? Yumo should set boundaries with her.
I understand why shes so tense and scared but im proud that she wants to tell yumo herself. I like that zhiyu is not a green tea bitch like many other ogFLs in these kind of stories. Im so happy.