Moving On from the Tsundere, I Choose the Perfect Sweetheart

"Alright, it’s getting late. I have to go. You should head upstairs too."

Gu Yifan said, looking at Han Ning with a nod.

"Mm-hmm, okay!"

Though her eyes were full of reluctance, Han Ning still nodded.

"Okay, goodbye!"

Gu Yifan nodded in response.

"Goodbye."

Han Ning waved at Gu Yifan and nodded.

Gu Yifan didn’t say anything more. He turned and walked briskly toward the university...

’That Su Hanhan is all alone at home right now. She’s probably letting her imagination run wild.’

Gu Yifan shook his head with a self-deprecating smile, his steps involuntarily quickening.

Meanwhile, Han Ning, still standing at the hotel entrance, watched Gu Yifan’s back slowly disappear into the distance, the tears she had been holding back finally streaming down her face.

She was suddenly reminded of a passage she had once read in No Longer Human: "Overnight, my heart became a stranger to itself. He came to me from a sea of people, only to give me a fleeting moment of hollow joy. You arrived with wind and rain, leaving me nowhere to hide; you left and threw the seasons into chaos, leaving me with an illness long and hard to cure..."

’There’s nothing wrong with love. Gu Yifan isn’t wrong, and neither am I. But maybe unrequited love is just a normal part of life. Or maybe, this is just what youth is like!’

’I don’t regret that I loved him. It’s just... It’s just a shame that I won’t be able to see him every day anymore, or carefully try to get close to him!’

’Goodbye, and farewell forever.’

Han Ning murmured softly, tears streaming down her face as she gazed in the direction Gu Yifan had gone.

...

In the Qingyun Pavilion Courtyard,

Su Qinghe was sitting alone under the eaves of the small courtyard, staring blankly toward the entrance.

Her stomach ache was gone, but her heart was now fluttering with anxiety.

She knew that Gu Yifan had gone out to see Han Ning, because he had told her beforehand.

She also knew that if she had disagreed, Gu Yifan would not have gone to see Han Ning, but she had agreed anyway.

She knew Gu Yifan and Han Ning had grown up together, and she didn’t want to be the reason he would have regrets later on.

If Gu Yifan knew what she was thinking, he would surely feel a bit helpless.

Yes!

This Su Hanhan was just that silly, always thinking of others and never of herself.

What if he and Han Ning rekindled their old flame? What if Han Ning really did steal him away? What would she do then!?

Fortunately, Gu Yifan did not disappoint her.

He had already returned to the courtyard. Just as he reached the gate, he saw Su Qinghe staring into space.

Seeing how adorable she looked even when she was just spacing out, the corners of Gu Yifan’s mouth lifted slightly. He pushed open the wooden courtyard gate and walked in.

CREAK~!

The sound of the gate opening brought Su Qinghe back to her senses. She looked toward the entrance, and Gu Yifan’s handsome, smiling face came into view.

Her eyes lit up. She quickly stood up from her chair and hurried over to him.

"Su Hanhan, why aren’t you resting on the second floor?"

Gu Yifan asked casually, "Were you waiting for me?"

WHOOSH~

Her thoughts exposed, Su Qinghe’s face flushed a light pink.

But she didn’t admit it, muttering with a red face, "It’s... it’s more comfortable out here in the courtyard."

"Oh."

Gu Yifan could tell at a glance that she wasn’t telling the truth, but he didn’t call her out on it. He handed her the milk tea he was carrying and said casually, "Here, I brought you some milk tea. It’s hot!"

"Ah?"

Su Qinghe froze for a moment, then took the hot milk tea from Gu Yifan and said dazedly, "Th... thank you."

"Come on, let’s go inside."

Seeing her dorky expression, Gu Yifan took her hand.

With that, he led her by the hand, and the two of them walked into the first-floor living room.

...

「A few minutes later.」

On the living room sofa, Su Qinghe was holding the cup of hot milk tea with both hands, taking small sips.

When Gu Yifan saw that she didn’t seem to want to ask what Han Ning wanted with him, he couldn’t help but speak up. "Su Hanhan, aren’t you curious why Han Ning wanted to see me?"

"Hm?"

Su Qinghe paused. She turned to look at Gu Yifan, thought for a moment, then gave a slight nod before shaking her head.

Gu Yifan was speechless.

"So, do you want to know or not?" he asked, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"If you wanted to tell me, you would," Su Qinghe said softly.

After a moment’s thought, as if feeling that wasn’t quite right, she added in a small voice, "I trust you."

𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Alright!"

"You win!"

Gu Yifan said with a look of resignation.

After a moment, he thought about it and continued, "Nothing happened with Han Ning. She just told me she’s going abroad."

"Oh, okay."

Su Qinghe looked at Gu Yifan and nodded, and that was it.

He was utterly exasperated.

Seeing her reaction, Gu Yifan didn’t feel like talking anymore.

’What a silly Hanhan!’

’She’s so clueless, if I sold her off one day, she’d probably be the one happily counting the money for me!’

"Whatever, I’m going to take a shower!"

Gu Yifan said helplessly.

With that, he stood up and headed upstairs.

Watching Gu Yifan’s retreating back, Su Qinghe’s eyes twinkled. The corners of her mouth couldn’t help but curl up into a small smile as she continued to sip her milk tea.

...

DING~

"System has detected that Treasure Girl Su Qinghe’s favorability toward the Host has increased by 1%."

"Current favorability between Host and Treasure Girl Su Qinghe is 200%. This level has reached the limit for lovers. New positions unlocked!"

DING~

"New reward has triggered a system upgrade. The upgrade will take seven days."

"System friendly reminder: The ’Love to Counterattack’ System will be in a dormant state during the upgrade. After the upgrade is complete, the favorability limit reward will be issued along with the upgrade rewards."

Gu Yifan, who was taking a shower in the bathroom, froze when he heard the system’s announcements.

’System upgrade?’

He frowned and muttered to himself, "It can even do that?"

For some reason, he had a feeling this damned system was intentionally delaying his rewards.

Damn it!

Seven days!

It had sounded so awesome before, getting his hopes up for the new reward...

...

RING-RING—RING-RING—

The next day, at 7:00 AM sharp, the alarm clock rang.

Even though it was Sunday, Gu Yifan and Su Qinghe both had classes in the morning, so they had no choice but to get up when the alarm went off.

By the time they finished washing up, it was already 7:30.

The two of them hastily packed their things and drove toward the academic buildings.

As they passed the school cafeteria, Gu Yifan glanced at the time on the car’s clock and saw they still had a little while before their first class.

So he parked the car and bought breakfast from the Jinling University cafeteria—some buns and soy milk. Because of what happened at the university’s anniversary gala, both Gu Yifan and Su Qinghe were now campus celebrities, drawing countless stares wherever they went.

Not wanting to be disturbed, they didn’t eat in the cafeteria but took their food back to the car.

After finishing breakfast, Gu Yifan first dropped Su Qinghe off at Wenhua Building, then drove back to the area where his own department’s building was located.

After finding a parking spot, Gu Yifan ambled leisurely toward his classroom...