Chapter 47: Rumors Swirl, Su Qinghe Cried
"Huh?"
Gu Yifan froze for a moment, then smiled. "Because we’re friends, aren’t we?"
"Friends..."
Su Qinghe repeated the word under her breath.
The tears in her eyes finally broke through, streaming down her face uncontrollably!
"Uh... (⊙o⊙)..."
Seeing Su Qinghe suddenly burst into tears, Gu Yifan was at a complete loss!
"Hey, wait, what’s wrong?"
"Please stop crying. Did I say something wrong?"
"If I said something wrong, just tell me and I’ll take it back. Hey, please don’t cry..."
He wanted to reach out and wipe her tears away, but felt it would be inappropriate. For a moment, he was so frantic he didn’t know what to do.
PFFT~
Seeing his flustered, panicked expression, Su Qinghe started laughing through her tears.
"Uh..."
Now Gu Yifan was even more baffled.
’Laughing and crying at the same time, what is happening?’
’Right, tissues!’
Suddenly, Gu Yifan remembered he had tissues in his pocket. He quickly pulled them out and handed them to Su Qinghe.
Speaking of carrying tissues, it was a habit he had developed because of Han Ning.
Whenever he went out with Han Ning in the past, she would always forget to bring tissues. After a while, he made sure to always have a pack in his pocket.
Over time, it simply became a habit.
’I can’t believe it’s coming in handy now!’
’Looks like this simp syndrome isn’t completely useless after all!’
Gu Yifan thought, mocking himself.
Su Qinghe took the tissues and wiped her tears away. A little while later, her emotions gradually stabilized.
Seeing that she had stopped crying, Gu Yifan quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Her eyes were still a little red, but she seemed to have calmed down.
To be honest, he was most afraid of girls crying, especially the type like Han Ning who were impossible to console.
’Ugh... Han Ning...’
’Why am I thinking of her again?’
’Looks like this simp syndrome really runs deep!’
The corner of Gu Yifan’s mouth twitched as he thought with a sense of helplessness.
"I... I’m sorry."
Just then, Su Qinghe, who was sitting across from him, suddenly apologized in a small voice.
"Huh?"
Snapping back to his senses, he saw Su Qinghe looking at him with her head down, a guilty expression on her face.
Her slightly swollen, red eyes were enough to make anyone’s heart ache.
"It’s fine, it’s fine."
Gu Yifan said, waving his hand dismissively.
Gu Yifan didn’t ask why she had suddenly started crying. He was afraid that if he asked, she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from crying again, and that would be a hassle.
Besides, he didn’t need to ask to have a general idea. Something had obviously touched a soft spot in her heart again.
Seeing that Gu Yifan wasn’t angry and that his tone was still so gentle, Su Qinghe felt a warmth spread through her heart, along with a deep sense of guilt.
She hadn’t meant to.
In front of others, she could always act strong.
But for some reason, she could never control her emotions in front of Gu Yifan.
She realized that every single time she embarrassed herself, it was in front of him.
It made her feel both shy and ashamed. If this kept up, she wouldn’t know how to face him anymore.
SIGH~
Su Qinghe sighed quietly to herself, deeply troubled.
What Su Qinghe didn’t realize was that this behavior was called dependence.
Ever since Gu Yifan had taken her hiking in the middle of the night, she had completely opened her heart to him. From that moment on, she had trusted him almost without reservation, and because of that, she had slowly begun to depend on him.
Her actions during the heavy snow yesterday were the best illustration of this dependence.
"Alright, stop overthinking things and eat," Gu Yifan comforted her in a soft voice, seeing Su Qinghe’s deeply ashamed expression. "You need to take a nap after we finish, or you won’t have any energy for class this afternoon."
His voice was soft and gentle, and hearing it filled Su Qinghe’s heart with emotion.
As someone who had lived for several decades across two lifetimes, he wasn’t an idiot. He could more or less sense that Su Qinghe was becoming a little dependent on him.
Honestly, if he were to have any bold ideas at this moment, she might hesitate, but she most likely wouldn’t refuse.
However, while Gu Yifan wasn’t exactly a perfect gentleman, he wouldn’t stoop to taking advantage of someone’s vulnerability.
If you were to ask whether Gu Yifan had any feelings for Su Qinghe...
’Well, duh!’
’It’s human nature to appreciate beauty. A girl this beautiful, with such a gentle and sweet personality... even the Buddha wouldn’t be able to resist!’
’It was just that, with his "simp" experience from his past life, Gu Yifan wouldn’t so easily pour his entire heart into a relationship again.’
’Right!’
Gu Yifan suddenly remembered the System saying that Su Qinghe was a "treasure girl" and his "perfect match."
’So?’
When it came to the two of them, Gu Yifan felt it was best to let things develop naturally.
Especially at this critical juncture with the college entrance exams just around the corner. Whatever he or Su Qinghe might be thinking, it would all have to wait until after the exams in three months.
’After all, whether in this era or in the future, high school romance is always a taboo topic, isn’t it? (sarcastic_face.jpg)’
...
By the time the two of them finished eating, it was already 1:30 in the afternoon.
Gu Yifan first walked Su Qinghe back to the girls’ dormitory before heading to the classroom by himself.
Su Qinghe hadn’t originally wanted to take a nap, but considering she had just been crying and was emotionally unstable, Gu Yifan insisted on taking her back to her dorm to rest.
Seeing Gu Yifan’s firm attitude, Su Qinghe didn’t dare to object. She just stood at the entrance of the girls’ dormitory, pouting at his retreating back.
It was an adorable, coquettish sight, a complete contrast to her usual demeanor. Unfortunately, Gu Yifan didn’t see it.
If he had seen it, he would have been utterly flabbergasted, thinking, ’How can this girl pull off any persona so effortlessly! She really is a treasure girl!’
"The world in the rearview mirror, a farewell that grows more distant..."
Gu Yifan hummed Jay Chou’s "All the Way North" as he walked, clearly in a decent mood.
Of all of Jay Chou’s songs, "All the Way North" had always been his favorite—the kind he would sing without fail every time he went to KTV in his past life.
But compared to Jay Chou’s "All the Way North," Gu Yifan preferred Wang Jing’s *Due West*—especially the girl in it who lived on the great plains and loved to ride horses!
Ahem...
’Getting sidetracked!’
Gu Yifan shook his head, trying to clear out all the strange thoughts.
Then he walked straight into the Year 1, Class 5 classroom, returned to his "King’s Homeland," and plopped his head down on the desk, activating his daydream mode.
Just as he was deep in his slumber,
A piece of gossip titled "SHOCKER! ’Slumdog School Belle—Su Qinghe’ Was Made to Cry on the Spot by a Strange Man in the School Cafeteria!" began to spread like wildfire through the various class group chats...