Chapter 5
Chapter 5
“Don’t talk nonsense,” I said, glancing at Pei Yu as I explained, “This is my upperclassman, Pei Yu. We came here to do some field research.”
“Senior, this is my friend Qin Yuehe.”
Pei Yu seemed to be good-natured with everyone. Smiling, he said, “Nice to meet you.”
For the rest of the walk, Qin Yuehe looped her arm through mine and whispered in my ear:
“Girl, are you trying to kill me? Since when is your love interest this insanely handsome?”
Love interest?
Pei Yu thoughtfully hung a few steps behind us. At that distance, he probably couldn’t hear what we were saying.
“He’s not my love interest,” I said.
“Really? I think this senior of yours is definitely into you.”
“…”
Whenever high school classmates run into each other, it turns into a gossip session.
“By the way, didn’t you end up at the same university as Zhou Tingshen? Then how come he’s with someone else now?”
“Hm?”
“You didn’t see the post Zhou Tingshen made? I don’t know what competition he was at, but in the group photo with his teammates, he was standing in the center position next to a girl. The two of them were really close.”
Ever since we deleted each other, I hadn’t looked at Zhou Tingshen’s social media in a long time.
Actually, he hadn’t posted much even before that.
“Really? Good for him, then.”
Qin Yuehe looked at me suspiciously. “Didn’t you used to like Zhou Tingshen? I always thought he liked you too. How did you two never end up together?”
I smiled. “I was young and didn’t know any better. I mistook admiration for love. I won’t do that now.”
No matter what, that brief relationship had already been deleted from my life with a single click.
My old classmate glanced back at Pei Yu and immediately understood:
“Oh, well, if I had a senior in front of me who was this skilled at modeling and this gentle, I’d probably have a change of heart too.”
“…”
Qin Yuehe and I said our goodbyes at the next intersection. She was still looking at me with that “you’re seriously living the dream” smile, which made me too embarrassed to look at Pei Yu.
To be honest, Pei Yu had helped me a lot lately. He answered every question I had about the literature one by one, without the slightest trace of impatience.
“Senior, my friend was just joking. Don’t take it seriously.”
“If I took it seriously, would that make it real?”
“Hm?”
“Just kidding.”
“…”
This senior really was lively and humorous by nature. No wonder he got along so well with all the girls in class.
As the New Year drew closer, our field research also came to a temporary stop. We’d gathered almost all the materials we needed, so Pei Yu and I switched to communicating online.
That was until my unruly childhood friends sent me a message:
[Comrade Xiaochun, we plan to meet with you on the fifth day of the New Year. Please be ready, and tell your handsome genius boyfriend to be ready too.]
My vision went black.