On this side, after Jiang Yumo hung up the phone, she smiled at Ning Zhiyu and said, “Coincidentally, Zhou Ji is also at Duan Ye’s house. The two of them should come over together later, so let’s clarify everything, lest he go crazy on his own due to jealousy.”
Ning Zhiyu said helplessly, “Don’t worry about him.” Just the thought of Zhou Ji gave her a headache. How could there be such a person?
“But this misunderstanding was caused by me after all,” Jiang Yumo looked at Ning Zhiyu. “I might be different. When I read novels, no matter who misunderstands the female lead, even if it’s an unrelated passerby, I would get angry and hope the misunderstanding is cleared up in the next second. Knowing the truth but not saying it, I think I would suffocate.”
Ning Zhiyu laughed. “I’m not the female lead.”
“Yes, you are!” Jiang Yumo looked at her seriously. “You are the female lead, so even if Zhou Ji is not the male leadin your life, I don’t want him to have even a slight misunderstanding. Besides, he has been behaving well recently. We know what’s going on, but keeping it from him and not telling him, making him feel suffocated and miserable, I’ll feel sorry for him.”
Curious for a moment, Jiang Yumo had been fully focused on the provincial art examination during this period and hadn’t paid attention to the progress on this side. She quickly squeezed next to Ning Zhiyu and gently bumped her shoulder, lowering her voice to ask, “I can see that Zhou Ji seems very serious about you. What about you? Do you… have any feelings for him?”
Ning Zhiyu remained silent for a few seconds, wearing a pained expression on her face. However, her tone was helpless. “He’s so annoying!”
Jiang Yumo caught the hint of ‘I have no way to deal with this d*mn man’ in Ning Zhiyu’s tone and burst into laughter. Jiang Yumo truly deserved to be Yan Qing’s best friend; she had clearly been influenced by Yan Qing.
“Why are you laughing?” Ning Zhiyu sighed and asked.
“I’m laughing because…” Jiang Yumo bumped her again. “One salty water can lower the other’s tofu1. He annoys you, but you can’t do anything about it, right? Are you regretting it now? Regretting that you let him be, thinking he would find it boring and give up?”
Ning Zhiyu didn’t know whether she regretted it or not. She could only remain silent, quietly sighing with her head down.
What a sin.
“Well, I have a question to ask you,” Jiang Yumo thought for a moment and added, “If you don’t want to answer, you can just say so.”
“What is it?”
“Do you still like Ye Wenxu?” Jiang Yumo was actually feeling a bit embarrassed. Although she didn’t think Traveler had any romantic intentions towards her, Ning Zhiyu had indeed told her before about having feelings for Ye Wenxu…
Without hesitation, Ning Zhiyu shook her head, “Although it may not make a difference to correct it, I still want to emphasize that I don’t like him, I just had some affection for him.”
“And, that affection has long gone,” Ning Zhiyu continued with a sense of loss, “Once I found out that he was the person ‘she’ liked, the affection disappeared. Now that I think about it, I don’t need to say that other guys are immature and shallow because I am the same.”
Jiang Yumo also breathed a sigh of relief, “It’s good that you don’t like him anymore, oh, right, it’s good that the affection is gone.”
She thought about the original work, about the current Zhou Ji and Ning Zhiyu. In fact, there was a strange feeling she couldn’t quite understand. She used to not understand why Ning Zhiyu would fall in love with someone so different from her. During this period of time, she vaguely and hazily began to understand a bit.
For someone like Ning Zhiyu, who experienced ‘being abandoned’ when her feelings were just blossoming, what ultimately attracted her and made her obsessed was someone who would ‘never give up.’
No matter the circumstances, no matter what happens, the person who will never give up on her is the one who can truly move her.
Whether it’s love or friendship, it is so for her.
“Female lead.” Jiang Yumo playfully pinched Ning Zhiyu’s fingers and said seriously, “I just calculated for you, and in the future, you will definitely have a balance between career, love, and friendship.”
Ning Zhiyu laughed, “You’re talking nonsense. Since when did you become a fortune teller?”
“I’m serious,” Jiang Yumo said sincerely.
Ning Zhiyu blinked, “Then I’ll take your good words.”
It’s easy to catch a taxi in the summer but difficult in the winter.
Zhou Ji silently followed Duan Ye. The two of them braved the cold wind and walked for nearly twenty minutes before finally hailing a taxi.
After they arrived at Jiang Yumo’s place, Duan Ye sent her a text message.
Zhou Ji didn’t care much about his appearance. He put on the hat of his down jacket and zipped it all the way up. But now, when they reached the entrance of the building, he shivered as he unzipped his jacket and unconsciously ran his hand through his hair. Duan Ye glanced at him like that and felt relieved. Sometimes it’s like this, Zhou Ji might have been genuinely hurt and upset, but when Ning Zhiyu called for him, his anger and grievances disappeared. As for explanations… whether there are any or not, it doesn’t matter.
He always finds good reasons for the person he likes, regardless of how ridiculous those reasons may seem to others.
As long as she still cares about him, as long as she calls him, he will put aside everything and come over.
Jiang Yumo and Ning Zhiyu came down secretly.
Both girls were bundled up like balls, and when they appeared in sight, Duan Ye and Zhou Ji’s eyes sparkled at the same time.
“Wow, it’s so cold!” Jiang Yumo reached into her pocket and took out the car keys, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Luckily, I’m clever and smart. I took my dad’s car keys from the shoe cabinet. Let’s go to the car and talk, it won’t be so cold, and we can sit down.”
“Okay.”
Duan Ye naturally took Jiang Yumo’s backpack.
He didn’t even ask why she was still carrying her backpack out, and it was so heavy.
The three of them followed behind Jiang Yumo and went to the parking lot.
Jiang Yumo pressed the unlock button on the car key and took the initiative to open the back seat. “Duan Ye and I will sit in the back. You guys can decide the front seats.”
Ning Zhiyu glanced helplessly at Jiang Yumo and sat in the passenger seat.
Zhou Ji’s face still looked sour as he opened the car door and got into the driver’s seat.
When the car doors were closed, it was still cold, but much better than standing outside in the cold wind. Jiang Yumo gave a light cough, unzipped her backpack, and took out a thermos and four disposable paper cups from inside. “This is hot water. After each of us will have a cup, it won’t be so cold.”
Then she took out two chocolate bars, a bag of melon seeds, and a handful of beef jerky from her backpack.
Jiang Yumo smirked and said, “Today, I’ll risk my life to accompany you gentlemen. It’s late, but we can still have some snacks.”
As she spoke, she opened one of the chocolate bars and neatly broke it into two pieces, handing one piece to Duan Ye. “It must be cold. Have some chocolate and hot water to warm up. It’ll be much more comfortable.”
Duan Ye opened his mouth and bit into the half piece of chocolate.
Unlike the atmosphere behind them, the two people in front remained silent.
Ning Zhiyu was originally quiet, and now she spoke even less. Zhou Ji’s anger had subsided, but he wondered if it would be cowardly and embarrassing for him to speak up at this moment.
Jiang Yumo felt helpless.
What’s wrong with Zhou Ji? Has he lost his voice?
- The phrase “One salty water can lower the other’s tofu” is a Chinese idiom that is used to describe how one person’s flaws, shortcomings, or negative traits can counterbalance or alleviate those of another person. ↩︎