As Song Yi watched Jiang Yiheng and Shen Yujing staring at each other intently over the metal pole, she covered her face with one hand, preparing for her flimsy lie to be exposed.
But Shen Yujing wasn't concerned about pole dancing anymore. Instead, he asked Jiang Yiheng again, "You still haven't answered me. Why are you here?"
Jiang Yiheng explained, "The security guard checked the school's surveillance cameras before leaving and noticed the light on in this room. I remembered you two were supposed to be cleaning tonight, so I came to check."
Shen Yujing let out a cold snort, reluctantly accepting this explanation.
Meanwhile, the system told Song Yi:
[Kicking down the door? I can't believe you actually did that! What kind of romantic drama cliché is this? It's painful to watch! Absolutely painful! I can't take it anymore! I really can't take it anymore!!!]
Song Yi: "..."
Oh well, it's all the same.
Jiang Yiheng left first, while Song Yi and Shen Yujing walked to the school gate one after another.
No matter how fast or slow Song Yi walked, Shen Yujing always followed about two meters behind her, neither too close nor too far.
Song Yi stopped and turned to look at him, "Why are you following me?"
"What can I do? Does your family own this road?" Shen Yujing asked, then suddenly smiled annoyingly with a look of sudden realization, "I almost forgot, my family paid to build this road too."
Song Yi: "Oh, I'll leave quickly then."
Seeing Song Yi's indifference towards him, Shen Yujing caught up with her this time, walking alongside her, and said, "It's so dark. If you're scared, I can consider having my driver take you home."
Song Yi didn't say anything, just gave Shen Yujing a complex look, her face clearly saying —
What's wrong with you?
It was the first time in Shen Yujing's life that he had been rejected by a girl. Even as he sat in the back seat of the car, he was still pondering why this had happened.
Uncle Chen, who had been working for the Shen family for ten years, asked with concern, "Young Master, what happened today? Why are you coming back so late?"
Mentioning this made Shen Yujing's head hurt. He rubbed his temples and said, "I just broke a desk and was punished with cleaning duty."
"What?" Uncle Chen was shocked, then said seriously, "How could they make the Young Master do such a thing? I'll contact Director Li tomorrow."
Shen Yujing closed his eyes in irritation, "Forget it, don't bother. It won't happen again."
Seeing the fatigue on Shen Yujing's face, Uncle Chen immediately understood that he needed rest. He adjusted the car's air conditioning to a comfortable temperature and played a soft piano piece.
Meanwhile, Song Yi caught the last bus and returned home.
Song Yi used the excuse of extra classes at school, and Song's Father didn't suspect anything. He just kept putting meat in her bowl, reminding her to take care of her health even when busy with studies.
Just when Song Yi thought the matter was over, a photo posted on the school forum the next morning stirred up quite a commotion.
[Shocking! Are Song Yi and Jiang Yiheng dating? (Just kidding, don't come for me)]
It was clearly taken from a hidden angle. In the photo, Song Yi and Jiang Yiheng were standing face to face at a classroom door on the third-floor corridor.
In the dim yellow light, Jiang Yiheng was bending down as if saying something to Song Yi. The scene even had a strangely compatible feel to it.
Lu Qingqing sent this post to Song Yi, also informing her with concern:
[Yi Yi, Murong Huan is waiting for you in Class A. Maybe you should avoid her for now. I'm afraid she might do something bad to you]
Song Yi let out a sigh, feeling exhausted.
Coming to school every day felt like opening a mystery box, always having to face different "surprises" at the center of gossip. Why was this happening?
As soon as Song Yi reached the second floor, she saw Murong Huan's dazzling pink hair in the sunlight.
She stood at the door of Class A with her arms crossed, her expression serious and hard to read.
Some students lingered in the corridor, pretending to get water, while others from other classes poked their heads out of windows, clearly wanting to see the drama unfold.
Murong Huan put her hand directly on Song Yi's shoulder, then looked coldly at the heads poking out from nearby classrooms, "What's there to see? If you want to drop out, just say so."
This threat immediately cowed many people, who sheepishly withdrew their gazes.
Murong Huan led Song Yi downstairs, only letting go of her hand when they reached the first-floor corridor.
The two stood facing each other.
Murong Huan looked at her with cold eyes.
"It's not like that, I can explain," Song Yi said as she lowered her head to open the photo on her phone, then zoomed in until the image showed... a metal pole sticking out from the doorway.
Song Yi pointed at it and said to Murong Huan, "Look, this metal pole is Shen Yujing... I mean, Shen Yujing was holding the pole."
Murong Huan continued to stare silently at Song Yi for a few seconds before she couldn't help but burst out laughing, "Alright, I was just teasing you. You're so serious."
"Huh?"
Now it was Song Yi's turn to be confused.
"I received this photo last night, and I was indeed very angry at first," Murong Huan said as she took out her own phone, opened a WeChat conversation, and handed it to Song Yi.
It was clearly a WeChat account without a profile picture. After sending Murong Huan this photo, it had also said many things to stir up trouble, such as claiming that Song Yi and Jiang Yiheng were very close on a daily basis.
Song Yi looked up at Murong Huan, seeing her current attitude, she had an answer in her heart, but was still a bit surprised, "You believe me?"
"It's not that I believe you, it's mainly that I look down on them," Murong Huan said, her eyes filled with undisguised contempt as she continued, "Someone hiding behind the internet, not even daring to reveal their own name, how can I judge what their purpose is in telling me these things? Want to use me as a pawn? Maybe in the next life."
Song Yi was very moved and agreed with Murong Huan's words, nodding her head like a pecking chicken.
Murong Huan continued, "Besides, Xu Che already told me that the person you like is Shen Yujing. To be honest, although Shen Yujing is not as good as Jiang Yiheng, he's not bad either."
Song Yi, who had been nodding frantically, suddenly froze: "???"
No, no! Everything before was fine, but what was that last part?
Xu Che said that? Just because Shen Yujing asked her to beat him up, his revenge was so strong that he spread rumors about her???
Just as Song Yi wanted to explain, the system spoke up softly.
[Murong Huan trusts you now because she thinks you like Shen Yujing. It's suggested that the host just go along with this misunderstanding~]
Seeing Song Yi's face turning almost green, Murong Huan thought she was just embarrassed and said, "Don't worry, I'll keep it a secret for you."
Song Yi: "..."
This wasn't about keeping secrets or not.
But the system had a point. Rather than having Murong Huan misunderstand her relationship with Jiang Yiheng, it might be better to let her think she had a secret crush on Shen Yujing.
Deviating from the original plot = moving away from the original ending = survival.
After an internal struggle, Song Yi looked up at Murong Huan with a resigned expression, "You must, absolutely must, keep this a secret for me."
This is really ridiculous.
Song Yi thought to herself, her expression becoming increasingly numb.
Murong Huan, on the other hand, excitedly winked at her, as if they had just made some kind of pact.
At that moment, on the other side of the wall.
The sound of a heartbeat became uncontrollably faster, as if about to burst through the chest.
The blonde boy stood stiffly in place, his blood almost frozen, only his heart beating vigorously and excitedly, as if frantically declaring some subtle emotion to him.
Shen Yujing could hardly believe what he had just heard. Song Yi actually liked him?
Shen Yujing thought back to the first day he met Song Yi, and all the little moments between them over the past few days.
Although he sometimes couldn't understand many of Song Yi's actions, once he thought that all of these were because she liked him, it somehow became acceptable.
So these were all expressions of her liking him.
Suddenly, everything seemed to make sense...
No, it still didn't make sense!
How did any of her actions indicate liking him? What had he overlooked?!
