Could it be…
She slowly raised her hand. After hesitating for a moment, she still reached out and patted Tong Ya on the arm.
“…Ya…”
Tong Ya turned around with a low voice. An aura like a resentful woman from the inner chambers washed over them.
“!!!”
The smile on Luo Yueli’s face froze. Tong Ya looked exactly like those tragic girlfriends in TV dramas whose longtime boyfriend had been stolen away by a scheming woman.
A precise backstab. A silent home invasion.
“Li… Little Ya, did you not sleep well last night?”
“Or… you can go first?”
“Mhm, thank you.” Tong Ya rubbed her eyes hard and walked stiffly toward the bathroom.
Looking at herself in the mirror, she saw her reddened eyes, slightly swollen eye bags, and faint panda-like dark circles.
The girl clenched her small pink fists tightly, her silver teeth grinding audibly.
She recalled what happened last night.
Last night, just when she thought she had gained nothing and was about to sleep, she suddenly received a friend request from Su Yichen.
After only a token moment of inner struggle, Tong Ya accepted.
Yes, a token struggle.
It was merely the girl’s pride acting up. Pride was the kind of thing that only became a stumbling block on the road to love.
‘You want to talk with me?’
‘Of course you can talk. We can even have a deep conversation!’
‘But why would Su Yichen suddenly look for me?’
‘Could it be… he has a change of heart?’
‘Did he finally wake up?’
‘Did that fool finally realize I am not worse than your childhood friend?’
‘That is more like it. Why hang yourself on a single tree?’
‘Let go of that so called infatuation, beautiful boy. You will discover a much bigger world.’
‘Do not miss an entire forest for the sake of one tree.’
‘If you stay too loyal, how am I supposed to steal Luo Yueli away from you?’
‘Adding me this late must mean he wants comfort, right?’
‘I must play the role of the considerate junior sister, the warm little jacket who soothes his wounded heart.’
‘While Luo Yueli does not know, I will close the distance and secretly heat things up.’
‘In the end, I will become the girl he cannot replace in his heart.’
‘What is so good about a cold childhood friend? Since ancient times, childhood sweethearts lose to someone who suddenly appears. That is proven experience.’
‘Boys who have just gone through a breakup are the easiest to take advantage of. No one cares about them, and no one understands them.’
‘They only lick their wounds in secret and reveal their softest side.’
‘Love does not disappear. It only transfers.’
‘As long as I seize the chance to replace Luo Yueli in Su Yichen’s heart…’
‘The beautiful boy will be mine!’
‘Brother Yichen, do not worry. Little Sister Xiaoya is here to comfort you.’
Just while staring blankly at Su Yichen’s avatar on the phone screen, Tong Ya had already planned what they would talk about tonight.
She even jumped out of bed, brewed a cup of coffee, and prepared for an all night conversation by candlelight.
But who would have thought…
After becoming friends, that guy did not say a single word all night.
All night. Not even one word.
And she did not sleep well the entire night.
It was past four before she finally fell asleep.
“Suuuu… Yichen…”
In the bathroom, a hoarse growl came from Tong Ya’s soft pink lips.
As the Eldest Miss of a top prestigious family, the only daughter of the Tong Clan who received endless affection, when had she ever suffered such humiliation?
‘I waited for you all night, and you were sleeping?’
‘Did you sleep comfortably?’
‘If I do not avenge this, I am not a proper lady.’
‘It has always been me standing people up. I never thought someone would stand me up today…’
‘Very good, Su Yichen. As expected of the man I chose. Do you think it is so easy to stand up this young lady?’
‘Just you wait. When you become my boyfriend, I will make you unable to get out of bed for a whole week. You will have to support yourself against the wall just to walk!’
‘This is the price for standing up this young lady!’
Tong Ya affection unlocked.
Tong Ya current love value ten. Current hatred value five.
Su Yichen, who was brushing his teeth in the dormitory, paused slightly.
“Oh? It unlocked already?”
Young people these days really lacked patience. Just being stood up for one night and she was already this angry?
Su Yichen could already imagine Tong Ya standing in front of the mirror, looking at her panda eyes while cursing him with the most vicious curses.
“Maybe I should strike while the iron is hot?”
“Mr. Su…”
Sinful Spark’s sleepy voice sounded. “I think it would be better to comfort her, right?”
“After all… Tong Ya is currently your capture target…”
“Little Spark, you do not understand this. Cat type girls are very complicated, especially if you want to obtain their sincere feelings.”
“They are curious about everything. That makes people feel like it is easy to gain their favor, but that is only on the surface. Once you fall into it, when their curiosity fades, they can quickly pull away.”
“That is the nature of cats.”
“Spark, remember this. If you want to capture the heart of a cat type girl, the first step is to make her sink first. Let me ask you, what do cats like?”
“Cat food? Being petted?”
“No. Cats like to steal something fishy.”
***
Good morning, Tong Ya.
Su Yichen clenched the toothbrush in his mouth while his fingers quickly typed on the phone screen.
Did you sleep well last night?
‘I slept well my head!’
In the bathroom, Tong Ya almost jumped on the spot when she saw the message.
I slept very well, Su Yichen. Thank you for your concern.
By the way, why were you looking for me?
Maintaining the proper distance, Tong Ya sent the reply.
When dealing with boys, one could not appear too intimate, but one could not push them too far away either.
You had to give them a distance they could almost reach.
This was an important point every Tea Art Master had to consider: availability.
Boys cared greatly about availability. When faced with someone completely out of reach, they would not even think about obtaining that person.
Because they knew the distance was too great.
Even if the other party showed affection, they would first grow suspicious.
Therefore, she had to hide her family background.
At least until she captured Su Yichen.
Although she had never been in a relationship before, Tong Ya’s understanding of emotional relationships and men was far beyond that of Luo Yueli, a simple and innocent girl.
After all, she once studied these things with the goal of brainwashing a loyal licking dog.
Tong Ya, could you please help take care of Luo Yueli during military training?
She sometimes has a bit of low blood sugar.
Yesterday I saw that you two had a good relationship. You should be good friends, right? She even told me yesterday that she was happy to have such an outstanding girl like you as a friend in university.
Just consider that I owe you a favor.
Tong Ya almost stumbled and fell to the ground.
Whether Luo Yueli had low blood sugar or not, she did not know.
But Tong Ya knew one thing.
Her own blood pressure was about to rise.
She had thought Su Yichen wanted to confide in her. Instead, he was directly worrying about Luo Yueli.
Even though he was praising her…
It still left a bad taste in her heart.
Did he not know that caring about another girl in front of a girl was a major taboo in male female interactions?
Tong Ya was so angry she did not even want to reply. She simply stuffed the phone back into her pocket.
Time to wash up.
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