Moving On from the Tsundere, I Choose the Perfect Sweetheart

"Yes, it’s his business if he likes you, and it’s your right to reject him. There’s nothing wrong with that!"

"But have you ever thought about how he felt when you rejected him and chewed him out in front of all those people?"

Ye Wanqing said, looking at her with a serious expression.

"I... I was just startled by what he did, and I didn’t mean to yell at him..."

Han Ning pouted, her tone defiant.

"’Startled...’ Fine, we’ll say you were startled!"

Ye Wanqing shook her head and continued, "Whether you meant to or not, let me ask you this: weren’t a lot of people laughing at him?"

"Well..."

Han Ning thought back carefully. "I guess there were a few..." she admitted quietly, nodding.

SIGH...

Ye Wanqing let out a soft sigh and said, "Oh, Xiaoning’er. You and Yifan grew up together. You’re even a month older than him. As his good friend, as his big sister! Even if you don’t like him, you could have just not responded then and explained things to him in private later!

But you didn’t. Instead, you chewed him out right then and there!

You didn’t consider his feelings, and you completely humiliated him in front of all those people. That part is your fault!"

Han Ning: "..."

Hearing her mom’s words, Han Ning was at a loss for what to say.

She fell silent.

Seeing that her daughter seemed to be realizing her mistake, Ye Wanqing decided to strike while the iron was hot. "Besides, hasn’t Yifan always taken care of you, ever since you were little? Has he ever publicly embarrassed you?

But you did the exact opposite. You made him lose face in front of so many people!"

"I..."

Han Ning thought carefully about her mom’s words. ’It seems she’s right.’

"Oh, Xiaoning’er!"

"Everyone has their pride, especially boys at this age. Their pride is even stronger and more fragile!"

"So, if you don’t want to lose Yifan, the good friend you’ve had since you were kids, you should go and give him a proper apology!"

"As for your feelings, if you really don’t see him that way, then you need to explain that to him clearly, too."

"From what I know of Yifan, he’s not an unreasonable person!"

While counseling her daughter, Ye Wanqing was also trying to instill in her some principles for how to conduct herself.

She hoped her daughter could change her proud and aloof nature, where she only thought of herself and disregarded the feelings of others.

In truth, it wasn’t that Han Ning had no feelings for Gu Yifan at all. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to stay friends and play together for so many years!

But she had never considered their relationship in a romantic way. She had always thought of Gu Yifan as a good friend, or maybe a big brother!

That’s right!

Even though she was a month older than Gu Yifan, he had always been the one to take care of her and put up with her.

So she had always felt like she was the little sister, and Gu Yifan was the big brother!

But!

For Gu Yifan to suddenly confess to her out of the blue was truly hard for her to accept in the moment. That was why she had reacted that way subconsciously.

After a moment of silence, Han Ning lowered her head and said softly, "Okay... I get it. I’ll apologize to him."

"Good, that’s the right thing to do!"

"As for the matter of your feelings for him, that’s for you to figure out. Mom won’t get involved."

"But one thing is crucial: the college entrance exams are coming up. No matter what you decide, it can’t affect your studies!"

Seeing that her daughter understood her mistake, Ye Wanqing finally nodded.

"Mhm... I understand."

Han Ning glanced at her mom and nodded lightly.

............

Meanwhile, Gu Yifan and Su Qinghe had already eaten their way from one end of the street to the other. Their hands were so full they couldn’t possibly hold anything else.

"Um... Classmate Su, let’s go sit in the plaza over there and eat some of this stuff first!"

Gu Yifan said with a wry smile, looking at the various bags of snacks in his hands.

’As I thought!’

’I really overestimated my appetite!’

Good thing they had come to the food street during the day. If it were nighttime, he doubted they could have even made it halfway down the street, let alone the whole thing!

"Okay!"

Su Qinghe nodded.

The two of them, all four hands full of various snack boxes and bags, headed toward the plaza at the other end of the food street.

"Huh?"

Near the mall, Ye Wanqing was just about to head inside when she suddenly spotted a familiar-looking figure in the distance.

She pointed at the figure and asked her daughter, "Xiaoning’er, look over there. Doesn’t that look like Gu Yifan?"

Han Ning was still feeling a little down, but at her mom’s question, she turned to look where her mother was pointing.

She saw a young man and woman walking toward the benches in the plaza, not far from them.

Even from a distance, she could see their hands were full.

The distance was too great for her to see their faces clearly.

But!

Relying on an instinct born from years of friendship, Han Ning recognized the boy at a glance. It was the same Gu Yifan who had just made her cry in frustration!

’It really is Gu Yifan...’

’What’s he doing here?’

’And who is that girl with him?’

Han Ning furrowed her brow, her mind filled with questions.

"Xiaoning’er, I can’t see clearly. Is that Yifan?"

Noticing her daughter had spaced out, Ye Wanqing asked again.

"It is!"

Snapping out of it, Han Ning turned to her mom and nodded.

"It really is him!"

Ye Wanqing said in surprise, but her expression quickly turned to one of puzzlement. "What’s he doing here? And who’s that girl with him?"

"I don’t know!"

"You’ll have to ask him yourself!"

Han Ning said, feeling an inexplicable wave of irritation.

"Oh?"

Ye Wanqing, standing beside her, noticed something was off about her daughter’s tone. She gave her a long, knowing look and said, "Well, since we’ve run into him, let’s go over and say hello!"

Without waiting for her daughter to reply, she started walking straight toward Gu Yifan and Su Qinghe.

By the time Han Ning realized what was happening, her mom was already heading toward Gu Yifan.

Seeing this, she had no choice but to reluctantly follow her mom.

...

"We... seem to have bought a little too much!"

Gu Yifan said awkwardly, looking at the various snacks spread all over the bench in front of him.

"I think we might have overdone it by just a tiny bit..."

Su Qinghe looked up at him, equally embarrassed.

There was no way the two of them could finish this mountain of food...

Just then, Gu Yifan heard someone call his name from behind:

"Yifan!"

...