Fine!
Let her, the one who can speak, do the talking. She cleared her throat and said, “Then let me be the host. Today, it should be considered our four-person late-night discussion, and the reason we called all of you here is somewhat related to each of us. First, Duan Ye…”
She turned her head towards him and said, “I wanted to tell you this over the phone. I already know who my online friend is, and you know him too. It’s Ye Wenxu from First High. I’m surprised. How could it be him? The world is so small.”
Duan Ye was suddenly taken aback.
Zhou Ji, sitting in the driver’s seat, also turned his head, furrowing his brows. “What online friend? Ye Wenxu again?!”
Why won’t this person go away!
Jiang Yumo glanced at Zhou Ji and said, “It’s not your turn to speak yet. Please don’t interrupt me. Thank you for your cooperation.”
Zhou Ji : “…”
“It’s him,” Duan Ye whispered.
“Yes… I didn’t expect it either,” Jiang Yumo continued, “By the way, I learned about this from Zhiyu. She was Ye Wenxu’s middle school classmate. She happened to overhear someone saying that Ye Wenxu came to Fifth High to deliver a crystal ball. Coincidentally, I received a crystal ball as a gift from my online friend. Zhiyu was suspicious and then noticed that Ye Wenxu also started following my Weibo account. I posted some photos today, and he saw them. Perhaps he wanted to confirm something, so he went to find Zhiyu.”
Zhou Ji looked at Ning Zhiyu.
So, when she said she had something to talk about, was it about this?
But what is it that he can’t hear?
“Zhiyu didn’t want to cause me trouble, and, well, some people have big mouths,” Jiang Yumo said. “If he found out at 8 o’clock, by 8:30, the entire Ningcheng would know about it.”
Zhou Ji : “?”
He felt much more relaxed, so he had the mood to banter with Jiang Yumo. “Who are you talking about?”
“Whoever agrees, just say their name,” Jiang Yumo replied. “In short, Zhiyu only separated certain people for my sake, but those people misunderstood on their own.”
The corners of Zhou Ji’s lips lifted, but when he thought about the atmosphere between Ning Zhiyu and Ye Wenxu, as well as the rumors he had heard before, he didn’t feel good inside. He muttered, “Then why protect unrelated people like that?”
Unrelated people?
Ning Zhizhu showed no expression, while Jiang Yumo laughed. “I already told you, Zhiyu and Ye Wenxu were middle school classmates.”
“Is that so?” Zhou Ji asked.
Jiang Yumo said to him, “Don’t you greet your middle school classmates when you see them? Don’t you talk to your middle school classmates?”
Zhou Ji raised his eyelids and looked at her. “Middle school classmates? That’s ridiculous. I don’t even know who’s who anymore.”
“Your memory is bad, and you’re impolite. Do you think everyone is like that?”
Zhou Ji straightened his posture. The car hadn’t started, and the heater wasn’t on, but it was much warmer inside the car than outside. “Ordinary middle school classmates are fine, but I heard…”
He couldn’t continue speaking. It was painful to say another word.
“What did you hear?” Ning Zhiyu, who had been silent all along, spoke up.
Zhou Ji was taken aback, he thought that she would no longer pay attention to him.
“What did you hear?” Ning Zhiyu asked again.
Zhou Ji could only give a vague answer, “They said you like him.”
Jiang Yumo : “…”
Ning Zhiyu looked at him and said, “Oh.”
“?” Zhou Ji became anxious. “Aren’t you going to explain?”
“There’s nothing to explain,” Ning Zhiyu said. “I have already explained it to the person who should be explained to.”
The person who should be explained to, Jiang Yumo proudly said, “That’s right, Zhiyu has already explained it to me. I know everything.”
But in the next second, she changed her tone, “But I won’t tell you.”
Zhou Ji clenched his teeth and turned to look at Duan Ye. “Old Duan1, if we’re brothers, let her tell me.”
Duan Ye responded calmly, “We’re not.”
Jiang Yumo was amused and couldn’t help but smile, and even Zhiyu’s face had a smile.
The atmosphere in the car instantly lightened up a lot.
Jiang Yumo unscrewed the lid of the thermos and poured out four cups of hot water, one for each person. In the silent night, this car was their little world.
“By the way,” Jiang Yumo held the disposable paper cup and turned to look at Duan Ye, lowering her voice, “I really didn’t expect it to be him. He knows it’s me now. So should we still give the crystal ball back to him, as we discussed before?”
Duan Ye didn’t make the decision for her, but said, “What do you think?”
Jiang Yumo fell into contemplation.
Zhiyu said that Ye Wenxu wouldn’t look for her anymore, and she wouldn’t look for him either. The two of them wouldn’t chat anymore.
Returning this crystal ball or not, it didn’t really matter.
“Let’s give it back,” Jiang Yumo had already made up her mind, “Because I don’t know how to handle this either.”
Keep it at home?
It doesn’t seem appropriate.
Throw it away? That’s even worse!
Duan Ye nodded, “Okay, I’ll give it back for you.”
“Deal!”
Duan Ye took out his phone from his pocket, pressed the screen to brighten it, and whispered, “It’s late, you should go back and sleep first. We still have to go to school tomorrow.”
“Yeah, it’s getting late. I’m tired too.”
A few minutes later, four people got out of the car and were greeted by the chilly outside air.
Jiang Yumo held Ning Zhiyu’s hand and said to Duan Ye, “We’ll go up now, but it’s so late. Can you still get a taxi?”
Duan Ye replied, “I talked to the driver. The driver who brought us here is waiting outside.”
“Oh, that’s good then.”
Zhou Ji saw that they were about to leave, but he hadn’t had a serious conversation with Ning Zhiyu yet, so he became anxious. He caught up with them, bent down, and leaned closer, afraid that she wouldn’t hear him. “Today, I was angry. I was angry that you treated me like a dog and drove me away. But you’ve misunderstood. As long as you don’t let me talk about it, even if it’s my brother, Duan Ye, I won’t say a word. I’m really good at keeping secrets…”
This person liked to say nonsensical things in private.
Ning Zhiyu’s alarm bells went off in her mind. She watched as he was about to say those words in front of Jiang Yumo and Duan Ye, so she quickly interrupted him, “Don’t say it. I don’t want to hear it. I’m going upstairs to rest!”
After saying that, she dragged Jiang Yumo and rushed into the residential building as if being chased by a mad dog.
Zhou Ji looked up at the lights in the corridor, floor by floor, illuminating. He felt so relieved in his heart.
So, that’s how it is.
Originally, the intention wasn’t to drive him away to be together with Ye Wenxu.
As long as it’s not like that, it’s fine.
He was in a good mood, standing in the cold wind without feeling cold. He stood still for a while, then turned his head and saw that Duan Ye was already walking towards the outside of the residential area. He quickly caught up with him, reaching out to put his hand on Duan Ye’s shoulder, and said, “So, it turns out that the person Ye Wenxu was chatting with online was her. How long did they chat? And Ye Wenxu even gave her a crystal ball. Tsk… Old Duan, let me tell you, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. We have a common enemy…”
Our relationship is closer than brothers!
Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Ji covered his mouth.
Because Duan Ye looked at him, that gaze could even be described as a gaze of death.
Zhou Ji was at a loss for words. It could be said that from the time they met until now, it was the first time he had seen such an expression on Duan Ye’s face and eyes.
As cold as ice.
To be precise, it was the kind of cold ice made from aged vinegar.
Zhou Ji : …D*mn.
If Duan Ye had even half of his current expression and demeanor, wouldn’t Ye Wenxu be so scared that he would buy a ticket and run away overnight?
- 老 (Lǎo) means old/respected, but it is also common nickname between friends, especially between men, regardless of age. Kinda like Xiong/Ge (Big Bro), but Xiong/Ge showed a clearer hierarchy while Lao was used to treat each other as equals. By the way, the other friends usually use Ge when referring to Duan Ye. ↩︎