Zhao Shutong interrupted her:
“What do you mean by that right now? Are you playing dumb with me?”
“Cough! Cough cough!”
At that moment, Xiong Yibai, who sat across from her, lowered her voice and coughed forcefully twice, reminding her to honor the bet.
Ren Queyue found herself caught between the two of them, utterly bewildered.
She had no choice but to close her eyes and shout quickly, “Actually, I like you!”
She said this to Zhao Shutong.
However, from Zhao Shutong’s perspective, Ren Queyue couldn’t bear to look at her, so she closed her eyes and confessed to her blind date!
It was in response to her earlier question, “Is this fair to this young lady?”
Time seemed to freeze for a second.
The anger, doubt, and last trace of expectation on Zhao Shutong’s face vanished without a trace, leaving only utter shock and a pale pallor as if she’d been deeply wounded.
She looked at Ren Queyue, who had her eyes tightly shut, waiting for a response, and her heart ached with sourness.
She tugged at the corner of her mouth, trying to force a mocking smile, but found her facial muscles stiff and unresponsive.
“Good… Very good.”
She didn’t glance at Ren Queyue again and turned to rush out of the restaurant.
Ren Queyue only opened her eyes when she heard the footsteps, catching only a glimpse of Zhao Shutong’s retreating figure as it disappeared through the restaurant door. She was completely dumbfounded:
“She… what’s going on with her? Why did she run off?”
Xiong Yibai hurriedly said, “What are you standing around for? Go after her!”
Feng Miwan, who had been hiding behind a potted plant, also jumped out anxiously. From across several tables, she gestured wildly at Ren Queyue:
“Chase her! Go chase her!”
Though Ren Queyue’s mind was full of question marks and she had no idea what was happening, she still chased after her:
“Shu Tong! Zhao Shutong! Wait up!”
Feng Miwan walked over to Xiong Yibai, who had already removed her mask. The two of them gazed at the door where the other pair had vanished one after the other, their expressions somewhat subtle.
“This situation… doesn’t seem right, does it?”
Feng Miwan scratched her head, utterly perplexed.
“According to our plan, shouldn’t those two be together by now? Why did Shu Tong run off looking all broken instead?”
Xiong Yibai furrowed her brows slightly, replaying everything that had just happened.
She thought of Ren Queyue’s earth-shattering yet contextless “Actually, I like you,” and how she had said it with her eyes closed, completely omitting the crucial detail of who exactly that “you” was…
Xiong Yibai said helplessly, “I think the problem lies in Queyue’s overly concise confession.”
“She didn’t specify the person, and she closed her eyes. So Shu Tong most likely misunderstood it as—her confessing to me, her blind date.”
Feng Miwan was dumbfounded: “Huh??? It can be like that?! This misunderstanding is wider than the galaxy!”
Her gaze shifted to Xiong Yibai, taking in her exquisitely dressed appearance that was completely different from her usual style. She had removed her glasses, revealing the elegant lines of her neck.
Feng Miwan’s eyes lit up. She scooted over and sat beside Xiong Yibai:
“But hey, Yibai, you look so good dressed up like this! Totally different from your usual style—who could even recognize you?”
Xiong Yibai smiled: “It was mainly for the mission. But… thanks for the compliment.”
She pulled Feng Miwan into an embrace and planted a kiss on her cheek.
Meanwhile, in the hotel parking garage, Ren Queyue relied on her superior stamina to catch up to Zhao Shutong just a second before she opened her car door. Panting, she grabbed her wrist.
“Shu Tong! Why did you run off like…”
Ren Queyue’s words cut off abruptly because Zhao Shutong turned her head—
Tears streaked her face, and her eyes were red-rimmed.
Ren Queyue panicked instantly, her tone softening: “Shu Tong… why… why are you crying?”
Zhao Shutong tried hard to shake off her hand and turned her face away: “What’s it to you? Why did you chase after me?”
“I…”
Ren Queyue was stunned by the question.
“I don’t get why you ran off?”
Zhao Shutong grew even angrier, more tears welling up: “What else could it mean?”
She had seen it with her own eyes and heard it with her own ears—yet this person still asked what she meant?
Ren Queyue was utterly confused and on the verge of frustration:
“How can I know if you don’t tell me?”
Zhao Shutong: “You should know without me saying!”
Ren Queyue: “If you tell me, then I’ll know!”
Zhao Shutong: “What’s the point of saying it out loud?”
Ren Queyue: “I’m not a fortune teller—how can I figure out what you mean just by looking?”
Zhao Shutong, in her anger, blurted out, “I don’t mean anything!”
Ren Queyue, getting heated herself: “Yeah, exactly, no meaning!”
Zhao Shutong’s eyes widened in disbelief: “So now you think what I say has no meaning, huh?”
Ren Queyue: “Did I say it has no meaning?”
Zhao Shutong: “Does it have no meaning just because I say so?”
Ren Queyue felt her blood pressure rising: “Then why don’t you just tell me what you actually mean?!”
Zhao Shutong was stunned by her shout and cried out with a sob:
“You confessed to her! Why should I tell you what I mean?!”
After shouting, seeing no reaction from Ren Queyue, her tone weakened.
“Didn’t I just snap at you a couple times this morning? Is that enough reason for you to move on so quickly?”
“Wait, wait, hold on—who did I confess to?!”
Ren Queyue was thoroughly baffled.
“To her?”
She pointed toward the hotel.
“Who else?!”
Zhao Shutong thought she was playing dumb.
Ren Queyue nearly laughed in exasperation:
“Do I look crazy enough to confess to Xiong Yibai?! Xiao Wan would chop me into minced meat! I probably wouldn’t even be big enough—she’d have to drive her race car back and forth crushing me to vent!”
Zhao Shutong: “…”
The anger and sadness on her face froze solid, her mind struggling to process.
“What? Xiong Yibai?”
She shook her head fiercely.
“Ren Queyue, you’re still trying to fool me! Isn’t that your blind date?!”
“What blind date?!”
Ren Queyue wanted to bash her head against the wall.
“That was Xiong Yibai! Xiong Yibai invited me out for dinner! The one with the mask was her!”
“Then why…”
Zhao Shutong wanted to ask why Xiong Yibai had said Ren Queyue was on a blind date, but before the words left her mouth, all the previously overlooked details clicked together in her mind like puzzle pieces—
Feng Miwan’s unnatural explanation, Xiong Yibai’s abrupt departure, Ren Queyue’s odd “You actually came”…
She wasn’t stupid; she’d just been blinded by her emotions earlier.
Now that the clues connected, the truth was clear.
A surge of fury at being tricked welled up.
“I get it now.”
Zhao Shutong’s voice turned cold. She wiped the tears from her face forcefully.
“You sneaky Xiong Yibai, you sneaky Feng Miwan… you two teamed up to mess with me, huh?”
She turned and stormed toward the hotel.
“I’m going to settle this with them!”
She had only taken two furious steps when she stopped and looked back at Ren Queyue:
“Oh right, if it wasn’t a confession to her, then who was it to?”
Ren Queyue sighed: “You, obviously. Who else?”
“Or maybe the waitress auntie pushing the food cart who passed by?”
