Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Lin Xunche was getting married to Zhou Mian.

Our high school group chat exploded.

I took a bite of my apple. “Getting married right after graduation, huh.”

That meant I had to give a wedding gift.

For my already-not-wealthy household, this was adding frost to snow.

I called Jiang Li.

“Hello?”

“Talk.”

…

“Did you know about Lin Xunche getting married?”

“I’m a groomsman.”

I nearly burst into tears. “Then does that mean you don’t have to give a wedding gift?”

“Yeah.”

Maybe he heard the sob in my voice, because his tone turned impatient.

“Cheng Cha, don’t tell me you’re still hung up on Lin Xunche.”

“Huh… huh?”

I was dumbfounded.

“The man’s getting married. Don’t be a scumbag!”

Jiang Li sounded irritated. Through the phone came the patter of water from the bathroom, trickling on and on.

I was just about to speak when he hung up on me.

I clenched my fist and bared my teeth at the phone.

Then I called him again.

“What?”

Had the water stopped?

Why did he still sound so annoyed?

“Lend me five hundred. For the wedding gift.”

…

Sure enough, he got even more annoyed.

Speaking of which, I did have a crush on Lin Xunche once.

In middle school, he transferred to No. 1 Middle School and happened to sit beside Jiang Li.

Two gorgeous guys sitting together.

Every day, there were endless love letters.

Pink, fragrant, and overflowing with sincerity.

Don’t ask. If you ask, yes, I wrote one.

But it was for Lin Xunche.

In the end, Jiang Li helped throw it away along with the rest.

I… thank you so much.

So I adopted an indirect strategy.

After school, on the way home, I spent a fortune buying Jiang Li a Qiaolezi.

He looked at me suspiciously. “What are you doing?”

I smiled like a total suck-up. “Hehe. Building harmonious neighborly relations.”

“Spill it. What do you want from me?”

I pouted, acting all bashful as I stood on tiptoe.

“Um… your deskmate seems pretty handsome, huh?”

He smiled. “Did your eyeballs fall out? Can’t you look for yourself?”

How did such a perfectly handsome guy end up with a mouth like that?

If you don’t want it, give it to me.

All defects, bargain price.

I continued being shy, rising onto my toes and bringing my lips close to his ear.

In an extremely embarrassed voice, I said, “I’ve fallen for Lin Xunche. But don’t tell him, okay?”

Then I shyly ran away.

Do you know how lizards run?

My bashful sprint was pretty much on par with that.

Just watch. Lin Xunche would know by tomorrow.

Based on my experience, Jiang Li would definitely tell Lin Xunche.

After all, my elementary school bestie had tattled to the class monitor the very next day.

And yet.

I waited one day.

Two days.

Three days.

All the way until Lin Xunche was getting married today.

Jiang Li still hadn’t said a word.

Truly tight-lipped.