The cold water slid down her throat, bringing a hint of coolness, but it failed to extinguish the inexplicable irritation and restlessness in Liu Yingqiu’s heart.
The fingers gripping the plastic bottle tightened slightly, producing a faint crack.
Her gaze wandered, no longer daring to look at those clear purple pupils.
She carried the deepest guilt.
“At the end of the day, you still hate me.”
She summarized Cheng Yuexin’s final answer for her.
Cheng Yuexin nodded without hesitation, her lips pressed into a straight line.
“Of course. What you’ve done these past few days is just making up for your mistakes.”
Still, words of thanks had to be said. Cheng Yuexin put on her smile.
“But still, thank you.”
Liu Yingqiu rubbed her head, pursed her lips, and gave an awkward smile.
“It’s fine, it was nothing. If you said you didn’t hate me, I’d find that strange.”
Cheng Yuexin continued lightly.
“Don’t blame me for being heartless.”
“If I really hated you, when I saw you in the hospital room this morning, I wouldn’t have let you in.”
Liu Yingqiu blinked in surprise.
“So that means there’s still room for reconciliation?”
Cheng Yuexin crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes narrowing slightly as if in thought.
“That depends on you.”
Liu Yingqiu felt as if she had been granted amnesty.
Since Cheng Yuexin said that, at least she still had a chance.
Even if they only ended up as friends in the future, that would be enough.
Liu Yingqiu lightly patted her chest and let out a long sigh.
“Got it.”
She didn’t want to say anything else.
Cheng Yuexin smiled without a word, pulled out her phone, and deliberately glanced at WeChat.
Seeing the chat interface Cheng Yuexin had opened, Liu Yingqiu had an even bolder idea.
“Then, can I add you back on WeChat?”
She asked cautiously, her eyes full of sincerity, nothing like that night’s coercion.
Cheng Yuexin wasn’t used to this tone; she just found it awkward.
“Since when did you become so polite?”
Liu Yingqiu already had her phone clutched in her hand.
“Because being too aggressive makes it easy to make mistakes.”
Cheng Yuexin gave a faint smile.
“Is that a lesson you learned from your failures?”
Liu Yingqiu lowered her gaze, shaking her head, her eyes falling on Cheng Yuexin’s phone.
“No, it’s a lesson you taught me.”
Liu Yingqiu was the daughter of a wealthy family, with a rebellious nature.
But with Cheng Yuexin, she kept hitting walls.
Money couldn’t get her everything she wanted.
Just past eighteen years old, she had already figured out that life philosophy.
“Stop spacing out. Scan my code.”
Her focus gradually sharpened on Cheng Yuexin’s cracked phone screen.
Her red pupils suddenly widened, a joyful light flickering without pause.
“Right away!”
Liu Yingqiu quickly entered the unlock password on her phone.
She wasn’t afraid that Cheng Yuexin might see her password—her phone password had always been her birthday.
Beep.
“Done. Hurry up and accept, hurry up.”
Joy was barely contained in her words.
“Don’t rush, I’ll accept it in a second.”
The moment the friend request was accepted, Liu Yingqiu immediately changed the nickname.
From here, Cheng Yuexin couldn’t see Liu Yingqiu’s phone screen.
Liu Yingqiu deliberately raised her phone toward Cheng Yuexin.
“Huh? What nickname did you change? Let me see.”
Liu Yingqiu quickly stood up and stowed her phone away.
“N-nothing special, just something simple.”
Cheng Yuexin stared at her suspiciously, one eye squinting slightly beneath her long lashes.
“If you won’t show me, there’s definitely something wrong.”
Liu Yingqiu shook her head and waved her hand.
“No, no, you’re overthinking it. Want to take a walk by the lake? The scenery’s pretty nice.”
Cheng Yuexin didn’t rush to get up. She looked at Liu Yingqiu’s sparkling eyes, the corners of her lips curling up slightly.
“Okay. By the way, which bottle of water is yours?”
Liu Yingqiu glanced at the two identical bottles; the water levels were about the same, hard to tell apart.
“This one? I don’t know either. Just take one.”
“Huh? Then how do we drink?”
“Between you and me, are you really that particular about it?”
Cheng Yuexin pouted and casually picked up a bottle.
“Of course. Now they’re all mixed up, no way around it.”
She unscrewed the cap, feeling a bit thirsty, and downed two big gulps of cold water.
The icy sensation reached deep into her heart, and on the back of her tongue, the aftertaste carried a hint of her flavor.
Her purple pupils widened briefly, then quickly returned to normal.
“Phew, that’s better.”
Liu Yingqiu also took a couple of drinks from her bottle. After drinking, she stood in front of Cheng Yuexin with a sweet smile.
Cheng Yuexin stood up, holding the water bottle with both hands behind her back.
“Let’s go. Let’s take a stroll.”
Liu Yingqiu looked at her occupied hands, a trace of disappointment flickering in her eyes.
But she quickly perked up again.
“Let’s go.”
…
They walked along the lakeside embankment, the sunlight losing a bit of its scorching heat.
The wind blowing off the lake carried away much of the heat, along with the subtle fragrance of the girl.
The scent of lavender shower gel wafted over.
Comparing it in her mind to the smell from two days ago, Liu Yingqiu frowned.
It wasn’t the scent she had smelled that day.
“Did you change your shower gel?”
“Huh?”
Cheng Yuexin swallowed, gripped the bottle nervously, and made no sound.
“Y-yes. I ran out of mine, so I used my roommate’s.”
Liu Yingqiu nodded slightly, the empty water bottle clutched tightly in her hand.
“You should know I transferred to the same major as you.”
Cheng Yuexin nodded at first, then shook her head.
“So that transfer student really was you.”
Liu Yingqiu pressed her lips together and nodded, her eyes lacking the relaxed color they had before.
“I also know that Gu Linxue came.”
“…”
At the mention of that name, the air around them seemed to freeze for a moment.
Liu Yingqiu keenly caught the fleeting shadow that crossed Cheng Yuexin’s brow, and her heart tightened.
She stopped walking, turned to face Cheng Yuexin, and her tone turned unusually serious, even with a hint of urgency.
“Yuexin, I know you don’t want to see her. Neither do I.”
“But since we’re in the same school, we’re bound to run into each other. I’m afraid she might…”
“Don’t be.”
Cheng Yuexin cut her off, her voice calm but carrying hidden emotion.
She lowered her eyes, looking at the slightly deformed plastic bottle in her hand.
Liu Yingqiu pressed her lips together, quietly watching her.
Seeing Cheng Yuexin looking so troubled, she felt uneasy.
She reached out her hand, intending to take Cheng Yuexin’s hand like before, but stopped midair, and instead gently tidied the stray hair blown by the wind.
“No matter what, if something happens, you have to tell me.”
Liu Yingqiu’s voice was soft, yet forceful.
Cheng Yuexin was startled for a moment, then turned her head away.
She tried to lighten the tone, to keep Liu Yingqiu from overthinking.
“What will come will come. Besides, I can’t run away anymore.”
She sighed in resignation, leaning on the railing. The lake’s surface rippled in the wind.
Just like the waves in her heart right now, rising and falling without pause.
Liu Yingqiu comfortingly patted her shoulder.
Cheng Yuexin stared blankly at her reflection on the lake’s surface, distorted by the ripples.
“I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. Let’s just take it one step at a time.”
Cheng Yuexin had already imagined the worst outcome. Besides, that person already had her by the scruff of the neck.
Liu Yingqiu gently took her hand, for no other reason than to let her feel that she was there.
“I’ll help you too. What happened in high school won’t happen again.”
Her red eyes were earnest, fixed on Cheng Yuexin’s profile.
There was no trace of ease to be seen.
Cheng Yuexin suddenly curled her lips, sighing at how bitter life always was.
She turned her head, her eyes still carrying a hint of dejection.
“Yingqiu, I want to eat candy.”