“Can you do that, Yichen?”
Su Yichen’s eyes suddenly darkened, but he wasn’t an ordinary person either. Almost in the next instant, he responded to Luo Yueli with an equally brilliant smile:
“Mm, okay.”
There wasn’t a single trace of any extra expression.
His gentle voice drifted into Luo Yueli’s ears with the breeze, causing her heart to tremble abruptly.
The girl recalled what she had seen that day at the hot pot restaurant—Su Yichen’s world-shattering beauty after taking off his glasses, enough to captivate any woman.
“See you later, Shen Ran.”
“Okay, wait for my message.”
“Yichen~”
The girl’s pink tongue slowly traced the corner of her lips. After leaving Su Yichen with an exquisite profile, Luo Yueli quietly turned and stepped into the stairwell, leaving.
“Yichen, you can help her, but the one who gets to have you… can only be me.”
“Because we are childhood friends.”
“I’m sorry, Su Yichen.”
After Luo Yueli left, Shen Ran kept apologizing to Su Yichen: “I actually wanted to explain to her…”
“Saying I borrowed you to be a boyfriend for a day… that would just cause trouble for you…”
Su Yichen gently patted Shen Ran’s shoulder: “Luo Yueli and I are childhood friends. She’s always been like this, and it annoys me too.”
“That’s what I say, but only Su Yichen knows he really has no choice but to answer Luo Yueli that way. Because it fits his persona.”
If Shen Ran told Luo Yueli he was helping her by pretending to be her boyfriend, in Luo Yueli’s mind, that would simply be impossible.
He wasn’t very good at dealing with girls. Even if there had been some improvement recently, learning a bit about how to talk to them, he was still far from capable of acting as a fake boyfriend. That would create a discrepancy.
The time was still too short, and also…
How could Luo Yueli possibly appear here?
Su Yichen thought for a long time but couldn’t figure out any reason for Luo Yueli to be on the rooftop.
The void realm wasn’t a novel; each one was a real world. If this were a novel, it might make sense, as the character scripts in a novel’s world can be known in advance. Of course, void realms where the script is known beforehand do exist, but they are rare.
Having experienced so many void realms, Su Yichen had only encountered one like that, and it was a relatively simple A-grade one. Perhaps such realms were too easy for him; he could basically handle them effortlessly upon entering.
So, Luo Yueli appearing on the rooftop at this exact moment, catching him and Shen Ran red-handed, was something Su Yichen hadn’t anticipated.
This woman… and… this method… it’s hard to put into words.
So troublesome… I’m just helping Shen Ran, but now I have to be her boyfriend. Isn’t this a form of NTR?
“Won’t this cause you trouble, Su Yichen?” Shen Ran was still somewhat worried.
“It’s fine. We’re friends; a small matter like this won’t trouble me.”
“If it’s fine, then that’s good. I was just afraid of causing you trouble…”
“Actually, for you, if you want to pursue Jiang Jingjie, this might not be a bad opportunity.”
Su Yichen knew this was just how she was and didn’t find her annoying. “For now, let’s just get through dealing with Luo Yueli. I’ll teach you when the time comes…”
Shen Ran shook her head and said, “After yesterday, I realized. It’s okay, I don’t really like being with him.”
“I… probably don’t get along with him. Even though I’m not as smart or mature as you, I know myself. I’m not someone who likes to compromise.”
“Mutual affection should be about liking each other. Trying to accommodate the other person like this… I don’t think I can do it.”
“Alright, it’s your decision to make.” Su Yichen didn’t try to persuade her. “You’re on the 27th, right? I’ll talk to Yueli these next few days and make sure my day doesn’t conflict with yours.”
“Mhmm, today’s the 24th.” Shen Ran took out her phone to check and said.
“Mm.”
“What about that special training Yueli mentioned just now? Are you going?”
Shen Ran actually had another question in her mind. Su Yichen was clearly very good at dealing with girls, so why did Luo Yueli say he wasn’t? Was she saying it for my benefit?
Thinking about it carefully, Shen Ran felt that might indeed be the case. She thought Luo Yueli seemed to want her to stay away from Su Yichen. But… if that was her intention, there was no reason for her to act this way.
Shen Ran couldn’t figure it out. The more she thought, the more confused she became. Especially Luo Yueli’s behavior last night of wanting to introduce Su Yichen to Tong Ya—Shen Ran felt this would become a puzzle that would trouble her for a lifetime.
Su Yichen said, “I’ll go.”
This was a good opportunity to change Luo Yueli’s preconceived notions. He just wouldn’t tell Shen Ran about it.
“Can I go watch then?” Shen Ran asked softly.
“That’s up to you. I don’t know what the situation will be either.” After saying this, Su Yichen took out his phone to check the time. “I need to go back and rest for a bit. Let’s part ways here, Shen Ran. See you another day.”
“Mm, then…”
Shen Ran’s voice grew softer and softer as she watched Su Yichen walk further and further away until he disappeared into the stairwell. She didn’t know if he had heard her.
The girl thought this to herself.
Slowly walking down the stairwell, Shen Ran soon reached the first floor.
What should I do now?
Shen Ran suddenly felt a bit lost.
Go to the library to read?
Or…
Bored, she fiddled with her phone. At that moment, Shen Ran received a message from Jiang Jingjie asking if she wanted to play games together.
Shen Ran remembered what Su Yichen had said: this is a sign that a boy is interested in you. Just agree and then humor him a bit. Most boys actually have a little boy living inside them; they’re really easy to please.
If it were before, Shen Ran would have considered trying. But now…
She wouldn’t.
After interacting with Su Yichen, Shen Ran could now feel a clear gap when dealing with other boys. No one could make her feel as comfortable as Su Yichen did during interactions. No one.
Then… should I quit the Literary and Artistic Union? As for the music club…
Since I don’t plan to interact with Jiang Jingjie anymore, there’s no real need to stay in the music club either…
Shen Ran took out her phone. After politely declining Jiang Jingjie’s invitation with an excuse, she composed a message to Mo Qingqiu.
[Qingqiu, about that… something came up. I think I probably don’t need to join the music club anymore.]