Chapter 29: There’s nothing between her and me

Eleven at night.

Su Yichen lay on his bed, chatting with someone on his phone.

Jiang Jingjie had also returned. The two of them simply exchanged normal greetings, without any tension.

Even if Jiang Shao was annoyed that his plans had been ruined, he could only swallow it quietly.

Su Yichen didn’t care about that. He was about to move out anyway.

The dorm could do whatever it wanted.

The person he was chatting with now wasn’t Luo Yueli, nor Tong Ya.

It was an online acquaintance.

More precisely, a potential roommate.

Qianxia: [I don’t have time in the morning. Can we meet in the afternoon? I can show you the room.]

While searching for rental listings earlier, Su Yichen had come across a shared housing ad posted by a girl named Qianxia.

She had a vacant room available, essentially a single room with a private bathroom.

The only downside was that it didn’t have an independent balcony.

But that didn’t matter. There was a shared balcony, so it wasn’t like there was nowhere to dry clothes.

The place wasn’t far from Qingyue University, and transportation was convenient. A direct bus route made it easy to get there. Whether it was location or rent, everything was satisfactory to Su Yichen.

However…

When Su Yichen excitedly tried to add her on VX to talk further, he discovered she had requirements for tenants.

She wanted a clean, single girl under twenty.

That requirement was pretty high.

Even so, relying on his eloquence and sincere persuasion, Su Yichen managed to gain some goodwill and successfully crafted the image of an innocent college student.

He even secured an opportunity to view the place.

So, the young man tapped on his screen.

Bujian Xingkong: [Alright, I’ll come find you tomorrow afternoon. What time?]

Qianxia: [Three thirty in the afternoon.]

Bujian Xingkong: [OK, see you then.]

After setting the time, Su Yichen closed the chat window. Tomorrow’s “viewing” was really more like an interview.

He wasn’t worried about failing. When the time came, he would just take off his glasses and meet her with his real appearance.

He would also bring his Qingyue University student ID—a prestigious badge.

No single girl would reject sharing a place with him. Su Yichen was confident of that, unless she was into women.

Even if she was, it didn’t matter. He could just throw on a skirt and win her over anyway.

“Mr. Su, you were seen completely by Luo Yueli again today…”

“What do you mean again? This was the first time.”

“The second time! The first one was Tong Ya!” Sinful Spark argued firmly.

“You win. But… it was a bit unexpected.”

Su Yichen pondered. “I didn’t expect her to take off my glasses. Looks like helping her out today really moved her.”

“If Luo Yueli had a favorability system, she’d get at least twenty love points. For a girl like her and our kind of relationship, that’s not low.”

“Plus, she saw my face—that’s another ten.”

“Because… I attracted her.”

“And… that action shows she’s even more proactive than I thought.”

“She wants to actively improve our relationship.”

“But I’m not interested in Luo Yueli. Whatever she feels about me doesn’t matter, because she’s not my target.”

“All I want is to get rid of this ‘simp’ identity.”

“Then what should we do…” Little Spark sounded confused.

“Not a big problem. As things progress, she would have seen it eventually anyway. It just happened a bit earlier.”

“Everything is under control.” Su Yichen’s tone was casual yet confident.

“Huohua, do you believe… after today, she’ll feel some guilt about how she treated me before? She might even become an Assist King, helping me pursue other targets.”

“So… becoming true friends with Luo Yueli will actually make it easier for me to flirt with other girls in front of her.”

“For example… Tong Ya.”

Before completely shedding the “simp” identity, he absolutely couldn’t flirt in front of Luo Yueli.

That deviation value of plus two was the best proof.

But what if… Luo Yueli actually fell for you…

Little Spark didn’t dare to say it or ask.

If she could think of it, Mr. Su definitely had as well.

“Speaking of which…”

Su Yichen opened VX and focused on Tong Ya’s profile picture.

“Why hasn’t Xiaoya messaged me yet?”

“She saw me eating with Luo Yueli… saw her take off my glasses…”

“Saw us reconcile…”

“My secret doesn’t belong to her alone anymore…”

“Wouldn’t she…”

“Feel heartache?”

Qingyue University, girls’ dormitory, room five hundred two.

Zhao Shubai was on the balcony video calling her boyfriend.

Shen Ran was taking a shower.

Luo Yueli, unusually, wasn’t gaming. She hugged her knees, curled up in a hanging chair, staring blankly at the wall, lost in thought.

Tong Ya glanced sideways at Luo Yueli, her own expression equally troubled.

After a while, she looked away.

Her gaze fell on her phone screen—it was her chat window with Su Yichen.

[ Yichen, did you have dinner with Lizi today? ]

Her fingers quickly tapped out the message.

But she didn’t send it. Instead, she repeatedly hit the delete key, erasing the sentence word by word.

Deleting it didn’t mean forgetting.

Tong Ya still remembered what she saw at the hotpot restaurant.

Su Yichen was adding meat into the pot, and Luo Yueli took off his glasses.

Then, a gentle smile lingered on the girl’s lips as she looked at the boy before her, as if she were gazing at the most beautiful autumn in the world.

Childhood friends, growing up together without suspicion.

And she… was like an outsider.

Had Yichen and Lizi… truly reconciled?

Tong Ya found it hard to believe. But judging from Luo Yueli’s reaction… she tilted her head slightly and glanced again at the dazed Luo Yueli.

It must have been the first time Luo Yueli took off Su Yichen’s glasses.

Absolutely.

Whether it was her mesmerized, lost expression at the restaurant, or her current absent-minded state in the dorm…

Both proved that it was her first time seeing Su Yichen’s face.

His secret no longer belonged to me alone.

Tong Ya couldn’t describe the feeling. She had never possessed it, yet it felt like…

she had already lost it countless times.

Her nails dug deeply into her palm, a faint sting spreading.

Should I ask him?

Maybe not… seeing is believing… she already saw it with her own eyes…

But is seeing really believing?

Tong Ya… are you really willing to accept this?

No…

As she thought, she suddenly understood something.

Su Yichen and Luo Yueli were childhood friends. Even if they reconciled…

it only meant they returned to that relationship.

So what?

Childhood friends were never a match for someone who appeared later.

Luo Yueli… was not a girl who understood love. She didn’t know what love was.

She didn’t know how to love someone, but…

I do.