Chapter 25

After Senior Year 3, Class 1 let out, Zhang Ru went off to play badminton with the girls from their class. Yu Ting was a little thirsty, so she planned to buy a bottle of water from the supermarket and bring one back for Zhang Ru too. Unexpectedly, when she returned, she saw Yan Can standing alone in the sunlight, looking dazed.

She had just been discharged from the hospital. In weather this hot, wasn’t she afraid of heatstroke?

Tucking the water bottle under her arm, Yu Ting walked over and tapped her on the shoulder. She had no idea how long Yan Can had been standing there; even the fabric against her body felt hot to the touch. Yu Ting pulled her hand back slightly and saw that Yan Can’s eyes and the tip of her nose were both red, obviously from crying.

It startled her. Before she could ask what had happened, the girl wiped at her tears, flopped down in the grass, and buried her face in her knees.

Just how wronged had she been? Had her family gone bankrupt? Had her parents divorced? Or was she actually not her parents’ biological child, some fake rich heiress...

In an instant, ten thousand possibilities flashed through Yu Ting’s mind...

“Yan Can?” she called softly.

The only answer she got was the girl’s trembling shoulders and the muffled sound of her crying.

Yu Ting had never seen this side of Yan Can before.

She was startled, and a little at a loss.

She had originally wanted to call Zhang Ru over to help comfort her, but thinking of that girl’s blunt, careless personality, she was afraid it would backfire, so she simply gave up on the idea.

The sunlight was fierce; after staying under it for too long, even bare skin felt hot.

Yan Can was already in poor health, and on top of that she’d been having such bad luck lately that she was running to the hospital every few days. She got winded just climbing stairs, so Yu Ting was afraid she’d overheat and end up back in the hospital again. Very lightly, she put an arm around Yan Can’s shoulder and coaxed her ear,

“Yan Can, let’s move somewhere else first, okay? If we stay here much longer, you’ll get heatstroke.”

The person buried in her knees didn’t make a sound; only her shoulders kept shaking, and faint, uncontrollable sobs slipped out.

Yu Ting’s heart clenched.

From the first day she’d met her, Yan Can had always seemed cold and distant; her joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness were never written plainly on her face.

Though she had changed during this period and would laugh and talk with them when she was with them, crying this miserably was still a first.

Seeing her like this, Yu Ting felt terrible.

The sun was too harsh right now; they couldn’t keep baking out here like this, but Yan Can also didn’t look like someone who could be talked out of it in a hurry. Luckily, afraid the gym’s air conditioning would be too cold and make her catch a chill, she had tied an autumn-winter school uniform jacket around her waist. It was perfect for this moment.

She casually tossed the water bottle onto the lawn; it rolled a few circles across the grass from the force and stopped farther away. Sitting down beside Yan Can, Yu Ting draped the jacket over both of their heads.

Their vision suddenly went dim. The fabric blocked most of the heat, and the two fluffy heads leaned close together.

No one knew how long had passed before Yu Ting, unable to stand the stuffiness anymore, was about to lift the jacket when Yan Can’s hoarse, tear-streaked voice suddenly sounded:

“Have you ever had a falling-out with someone where they cut you off so suddenly?”

Yu Ting’s hand paused where it was lifting the jacket. So that was the reason: “Is that why you’re upset?”

Yan Can gave a muffled hmm. “She won’t talk to me. She’s mad at me. Even though it was my fault, I already apologized. But apologizing didn’t work. She won’t talk to me. She hates me now. She doesn’t want me anymore. Have you ever been through this? When someone hates you...”

“Yes.”

Thinking of her own family, Yu Ting said, “My dad doesn’t like me. He hates that I’m a girl. After all the effort he put into building the company from the ground up, he couldn’t possibly hand it over to a woman.”

“As for my mom, she always says she likes me, loves me, but I know she doesn’t. Because I’m a girl, I can’t hold onto my dad’s heart, and she always feels like I’m useless... because Dad likes boys, likes the son that mistress gave birth to outside... Whenever they fight, my mom scolds me, questions me, asks why I wasn’t born a boy..."

Yan Can hadn’t expected her to tell such a family secret so casually, and for a moment she even forgot to be sad. She said blankly, “I’m sorry.”

Yu Ting smiled. “It’s nothing.”

Then she asked, “Who’s the friend you were talking about? Who cut you off so suddenly?”

Yan Can didn’t say who it was; she only let out another muffled sob. “I... feel so miserable. I don’t know what... to do anymore.”

Even she hadn’t expected that Su Ci not talking to her, not wanting her, and refusing to have anything to do with her anymore would hit her this hard.

“You don’t understand. I feel even worse than if I’d been dumped.”

Yu Ting was puzzled. “A guy?”

Yan Can: “What?”

“You said dumped...”

Realizing she had misunderstood, Yan Can said, “No, a girl friend.”

“Oh, that.” Yu Ting said, “You said dumped, so I thought you were dating someone. But sometimes it really is hard when friends cut each other off too.”

“I’m in so much pain. It hurts too much. My heart feels like it’s spasming..."

“You’re this upset because she doesn’t care about the relationship between you two. She doesn’t plan to keep being your friend, but you still care about her and can’t bear to give up on this relationship.”

Yan Can gave a hum and hugged her knees tighter with one arm. “Then what should I do now? How do I win her back?”

Yu Ting sighed. “You still want to be friends with her?”

Yan Can said without the slightest hesitation, “Of course.”

Yu Ting: “Then think of a way to hold onto her. Don’t care about face; follow your heart.”

Just then, the class bell rang. In the dimness, Yu Ting looked toward her face and said, “Are you going to cry a little longer?”

Yan Can shook her head. Yu Ting lifted the uniform jacket covering their heads, and the blinding sunlight poured over them again. They both squinted for a moment before their eyes adjusted.

Yu Ting stood up and took a deep breath of the fresh air, faintly scented with grass, then turned to help Yan Can up.

“I won’t tell anyone about what happened today,” Yu Ting said with a smile. “Not even Zhang Ru. You handle things with that friend properly. If she’s really important to you, then work hard to win her back. Don’t give up.”

.

That night, Yan Can tossed and turned in bed, thinking: wasn’t the current situation exactly what she had wanted when she first transmigrated into this book? Stay out of the male and female leads’ way, be a background prop, and live the life of a rich young lady properly.

That was what reason told her. Even if Su Ci truly hated her, was angry with her, and refused to contact her, it shouldn’t affect her at all.

Who couldn’t live without whom?

But no matter how much she tried to talk herself through it at night, when she woke the next day, she still felt a hollow ache in her chest, and then emotion once again took the upper hand.

Like right now, for example; when she ran into Su Ci in the cafeteria and their eyes accidentally met, Su Ci’s cold, distant gaze landed on her...

All reason was overturned. Just seeing her made Yan Can unable to move.

She wanted to talk to her, wanted to be on good terms with her, wanted her to be closer to her, wanted her not to look at her with that kind of unfamiliar expression...

Holding her tray, her feet followed after her without her permission.

Su Ci kept her head down as she ate. She showed no reaction to Yan Can’s uninvited company, not even sparing her a glance.

Yan Can’s eyes started stinging and swelling again; even though she was hungry, she couldn’t eat.

“Hey, Su Ci, what a coincidence!” Zhao Panpan came over with her tray and sat down. Seeing Yan Can across from her, she greeted her too. “Senior.”

Yan Can forced out a smile.

Zhao Panpan could tell she didn’t seem very happy, then looked at Su Ci and felt like she had probably arrived at a bad time.

Were these two fighting?

Zhao Panpan wasn’t trying to gossip, but a while ago Senior Yan Can had often come to their class to look for Su Ci; recently, though, she seemed to have rarely seen the two of them together.

“Um, senior, when will the cast on your arm come off?” The atmosphere was too oppressive, so Zhao Panpan tried to find a topic with Senior Yan Can.

Yan Can glanced at Su Ci and said, “It can come off in another two weeks. After that, I just need to wear a wrist brace, but it’ll still take a long time to fully recover.”

Zhao Panpan’s face showed sympathy. “That must be really inconvenient in daily life.”

Yan Can said nothing. Her gaze fell on the person opposite her; Su Ci was lowering her head to eat a piece of greens. She ate very gracefully, very properly, and it was pleasant to look at.

As if sensing something, Su Ci suddenly lifted her head and caught Yan Can’s gaze before she could look away, her brow faintly knitting.

Caught red-handed, Yan Can gave her a somewhat ingratiating smile.

The chopsticks landed very lightly in the groove in the middle of the tray. Su Ci stood up and said expressionlessly, “I’m done eating. I’m leaving first.”

Zhao Panpan looked at the food on her tray, which had barely been touched, and said, “You ate so little.”

Su Ci said nothing. A faint, cool fragrance brushed past, and she was already far away.

“I’m done too.” Yan Can picked up her tray and immediately followed after her.

Zhao Panpan...

.

The next day was the first day of the National Day holiday.

Yan Can hadn’t slept well the night before. In the morning, her body clock woke her up, but she still couldn’t fall back asleep, so she opened her phone to take a look. Immediately, she sat straight up. Although Su Ci had unilaterally cut her off, she was still carrying around the stuffed toy Su Ci had given her.

The location showed Su Ci at that trendy internet-famous restaurant.

She sprang up and quickly changed into something suitable for going out. After thinking it over, she bought a bouquet of tulips online. By the time she finished tidying herself up, the flowers had also been delivered.

.

The restaurant was busy during the National Day holiday, but the part-time pay was also high. Su Ci had been on morning shifts these past few days; she arrived at the shop at nine, and after the routine staff meeting, she started getting ready for work.

Several servers worked together to prepare the condiments and utensils.

There weren’t many people at the bar in the morning, so A Wen ran over to help her with the cleaning.

“A Ci, your friend came again, and she brought a huge bouquet of tulips for you. She said to let me pass them on to you, so I had someone put them in your locker.”

The restaurant hadn’t officially opened yet, so Yan Can hadn’t been able to come in. She sat on the chair outside and waited. When she saw him, she directly shoved the flowers into his arms, telling him to hand them over to Su Ci, not even giving him a chance to refuse.

He didn’t know exactly what those two were fighting about, but he still helped take the flowers inside and asked a female coworker to put them in Su Ci’s locker.

“That girl has been squatting outside waiting for you for several days now. A Ci, what exactly happened between you two?”

Su Ci kept her head down, grinding garlic paste, and didn’t make a sound. When she didn’t answer, he went on, “A Ci, this really doesn’t seem like you. I’ve never seen you this cold before. That little girl chased you all the way here; what kind of conflict can’t be resolved?”

“You’re very free?” Su Ci lifted her eyes to glance at him, then turned and left.

.

Yan Can ordered a drink and sat at the bar. Later, when she got hungry, she ate a few bites of cake, then kept sitting there waiting.

That guy with the silver earrings had said Su Ci got off work at three in the afternoon; then she would wait until Su Ci finished.

She was the kind of person who couldn’t keep things bottled up. She had to clear up the misunderstanding between her and Su Ci, or she wouldn’t be able to eat or sleep in peace.

……

When things got busy, time passed very quickly. After the shift handover, Su Ci and her coworkers went one after another into the changing room to change clothes.

As soon as she opened her locker, the rich fragrance of flowers rushed out.

A coworker looked at the flowers in her locker and teased, “From your boyfriend?”

“No.” Su Ci changed her clothes, closed the door, and politely said goodbye to the coworker. Taking the flowers and making sure the door was shut, she turned around and saw Yan Can walking toward her from that direction.

As if afraid she would run away, Yan Can hurried over in just a few steps.

“Su Ci, I have something to tell you.” Her tone was serious and earnest.

“Perfect. I have something to tell you too.” Su Ci glanced at her. Seeing a coworker come out of the changing room and that there was no one else around at the moment, the two of them went into the changing room one after the other.

She handed over the flowers in her hand and said flatly, “Let’s not have any more contact between us from now on.”

Yan Can didn’t take them. Frowning, she looked into Su Ci’s eyes. “Why? I don’t understand.”

“We’re not the same kind of people.” Su Ci looked at her with her light brown eyes and said calmly, “Besides, you have a lot of friends. You don’t lack me as one, do you? Yan Can, I really appreciate your help during this period, but we’re not suitable to be friends.”

“I didn’t come here today to listen to you say these things.”

For Su Ci’s heart-cutting words, Yan Can chose to let them go in one ear and out the other.

She moved a few steps closer, narrowing the distance between them. “I’ve never understood why you keep avoiding me.”

“Is it because of that kiss?”

She took a few more steps toward her. “Do you think I hurt your pride?”

Another half step closer, and the two of them were now so near they could feel each other’s breath.

“If that’s the case—”

She unconsciously licked her lips.

“Then you can reject me too, and we’ll be even.”

The words had barely fallen when a hand caught her collar and tugged her closer; lips pressed down onto hers.