Chapter 32: Thirty-Two p1
Yu Jiang and Chi Jing were both from B City.
The two met in their first year of high school, were roommates for three years, and only separated for university.
Chi Jing had a good personality, the kind of optimistic, happy puppy type. Yu Jiang’s personality was relatively introverted, like a lily delicately raised in a greenhouse. In terms of personality, the two complemented each other.
Chi Jing had many friends, and knew people from every grade.
So the day after the college entrance exam, she, on the recommendation of a senior, dragged Yu Jiang to sign up for driving school.
Before they had even started practicing, Chi Jing’s parents had already taken her to a dealership to pick out a car as one of her college entrance exam gifts.
After Yu Mianying found out, she also planned to get one for Yu Jiang.
At that time, Yu Jiang was eating at the dining table. When she heard her say this, she directly sprayed her food onto Jiang Chengzhi’s face across from her.
Yu Jiang didn’t have time to apologize to the man and repeatedly refused Ms. Yu’s suggestion.
Although her family’s financial situation was not bad, it was still a bit worse than Chi Jing’s.
A car was not a necessity for Yu Jiang at the moment. If she really had to buy one, it would be better to wait until she had graduated from university and was preparing for work.
Two days later, it was time for driving lessons.
When Yu Jiang saw Chi Jing, she mentioned this to her in passing.
After hearing it, Chi Jing gave her a thumbs up in agreement.
“Yu Xiaojiang, your ideological awareness is very high.
“A car is indeed not very important to you right now. You’re such a homebody. If I didn’t ask you out on weekends, I don’t know how long it would be before you’d go out.
“Anyway, I already have a car. When we report in September, I’ll just drive you there. No need to trouble Auntie Yu.
“I just don’t know which school starts first this year. According to past years, it should still be University A that starts earlier.
“If it’s only a day or two earlier, I’ll bring my luggage too and find a hotel near our school to stay for a couple of days.
“If it’s more than three days, then forget it. I’ll just take you there and come back the same day. Then I’ll drive to school myself. Isn’t my arrangement very reasonable?”
Yu Jiang didn’t answer whether it was reasonable or not. After hearing it, she quickly asked her to take back what she had just said.
Chi Jing: …
Yu Jiang’s face was serious.
“The scores aren’t even out yet. How can you be so sure we’ll definitely get into these two schools? So let’s not say that for now.”
Chi Jing felt she was worrying for nothing. They had both performed very steadily on the college entrance exam, so getting into these two universities was a sure thing.
Although she thought so, she didn’t dare to actually say it.
In the end, under Yu Jiang’s supervision, she said “pei pei pei,” which counted as a successful retraction.
The day the college entrance exam results came out, Yu Jiang and Chi Jing had a video call.
After they had reported their scores to each other and confirmed that such scores could indeed get them into University A and University C, Yu Jiang was extremely excited.
She looked at the phone camera, her triumphant expression like that of a smug little cat that had just caught a mouse for its owner.
“See, see! I told you it was useful for me to make you say ‘pei pei pei’!”
Chi Jing looked at her steadily and didn’t reply.
Yu Jiang thought her internet was lagging and waved at her. “Chi Xiaojing? Is your internet bad at home?”
Chi Jing came back to her senses and said to her very seriously.
“Yu Xiaojiang! Promise me, if you want to date in university, don’t find a guy. In this world, there is absolutely no guy who is worthy of you!”
She and Yu Jiang had been good friends for a full three years.
Facing her familiar face all day long, she had long since become immune to her cuteness.
Therefore, she had also forgotten that in the past three years of high school, Yu Jiang had been confessed to every once in a while.
Yu Jiang on the other end looked puzzled. She blinked and started to joke softly, “Okay then. I’ll look at the young ladies in university more then. Dating a girl*, is that okay, Chi Xiaojing?”
Chi Jing had been dazed by her incredibly cute smile just now and was still immersed in the unknown emotion of “willingly becoming a mother without pain.” Hearing this, she said without thinking.
“No, neither guys nor girls are okay. Just be single. Be single for a lifetime. When I successfully pursue my senior, I’ll raise you with her.”
She said it so confidently at that time, but on the day of the freshman registration at University A, she slapped her own face.
Chi Jing had never expected that one of Yu Jiang’s roommates would be such a beautiful person.
So, almost the first time she saw her, she “defected.”
She secretly told Yu Jiang.
“This one is really dateable. She looks like a big star. Nuwa is a bit too biased. See if you can get the moon first since you’re close to the water tower. A great beauty like her, we definitely won’t lose out if we date her. Look at her long legs, they’re almost taller than you.”
Yu Jiang: ??
It’s one thing to praise others, but it’s going too far to bring me into it!
If I stand on my tiptoes, my height can also exceed 1.6 meters, okay!
Later, when she learned that Yu Jiang had really fallen for Chu Qingzi, before Chi Jing could even teach her how to pursue someone, she was calmly told by Yu Jiang that her unrequited love was destined to have no response.
Seeing her so certain, Chi Jing felt heartbroken and, at the same time, couldn’t help but regret.
“Do you think that if, after I had said that, you had also made me say ‘pei pei pei,’ you wouldn’t have fallen for her?”
Yu Jiang laughed and called her a fool.
If feelings were something that could be controlled, then the word “heartbreak” probably wouldn’t exist in the dictionary.
Chi Jing, who had been called a fool, was now on the phone with Yu Jiang.
When she heard Yu Jiang say that she couldn’t take her car back to B City tomorrow, she let out a sharp shriek on the other end.
“Yu Xiaojiang, for these few hours in the car tomorrow, I specially took the time to go to the supermarket last week and buy snacks for two! And now you’re telling me this at the last minute! Where is your conscience!!! Wait, you’re not planning to go home for the National Day holiday?”
The two of them had long since formed a tacit understanding on this matter that didn’t require them to contact each other in advance.
—Every holiday, Yu Jiang would take Chi Jing’s car back.
It was precisely because of this that Yu Jiang had only remembered her long-time travel companion when it was really time for the holiday.
She was the one who had stood the other up. Faced with Chi Jing’s heartbroken questioning, besides feeling guilty, she still felt guilty.
“I am going home. I’m sorry. I actually should have told you last night.”
Chu Qingzi had just bought the car yesterday afternoon.
Last night, before she went to bed, she had come over and said that in the future, during the holidays, she would drive Yu Jiang back to B City.
Yu Jiang had refused on the spot—she was also afraid of forming a habit in this matter.
But soon, Yu Jiang had taken the initiative to go find her again.
It wasn’t that she had gone back on her word, but that the nameless pervert had threatened her to do so—
She also knew that Chu Qingzi had just bought a car, so she made this request.
After making plans with Chu Qingzi, Yu Jiang went to sleep. A whole day passed, and she hadn’t thought to tell Chi Jing.
It wasn’t until she was preparing to pack her luggage just now that she suddenly remembered her. She quickly dropped her suitcase and called Chi Jing.
Hearing Yu Jiang say that she should have called her last night, Chi Jing was both angry and amused.
“Why don’t you just say you should have called me when Nuwa was mending the sky? Is there a difference between last night and tonight? Yu Xiaojiang!”
Yu Jiang said softly, “There is. Qingzi just bought the car yesterday, and I only decided to go back with her last night.”
“Huh? Why did she suddenly buy a car?” Gossip is human nature, and Chi Jing’s attention was instantly diverted. “So why didn’t she buy a car before? It shouldn’t have anything to do with a driver’s license, right?”
Hearing her ask, Yu Jiang felt her lips go a little numb again.
She skipped this topic a little unnaturally. “I didn’t ask. Then I’ll go back with her tomorrow, okay?”
“Of course you can. I’m familiar with this kind of thing, choosing romance over friendship. Anyway, I’ve also stood you up for my senior, so now it’s very fair for you to stand me up for her.” Chi Jing hadn’t been angry at all in the beginning. Now that she knew the reason, she was actually happy.
“If I remember correctly, you told me before that she’s from C City, right? Yo yo yo, she’s not afraid of the trouble? She’s specially taking you home first, and then going back to her own home? Why is she so nice?”
The school was located in A City, which was right between B and C cities.
This meant that if Chu Qingzi were to take Yu Jiang home, she would have to first drive from A City to B City, then from B City back to A City, and finally back to C City.
“And she should also know you don’t have a driver’s license, right? For more than ten hours, she’s driving the whole way by herself. Are you sure she won’t be driving tired?”
Yes, Yu Jiang did not have a driver’s license.
Chi Jing, who had started at the same starting line as her, had passed every subject test on the first try.
Yu Jiang seemed destined to have no fate with driving. Let alone the third subject, she couldn’t even pass the second. In the end, she wisely chose to give up.
The day she decided not to take the driver’s license test, the only thing she was glad about was that she hadn’t, in a moment of impulse, really gone to the dealership with Ms. Yu to look at cars.
“You two know what you’re doing, so I won’t meddle. Yu Xiaojiang, let me ask you one more time. Are you sure she’s really just managing you as a friend?”
Yu Jiang didn’t answer, but asked in return.
“Then if your home was in B City and my home was in C City, would you still take me home first during the holidays like before?”
“Of course I would. What kind of stupid question is that? Yu Xiaojiang, are you questioning our friendship?!”
Yu Jiang: “So you can understand, right? The reason she’s willing to do this is the same as you, just because she sees me as a very good friend.”
Chi Jing was silent for a long time, then let out a deep sigh.
She said with a world-weary tone, “Sigh, why is she so nice? So nice that people can’t even tell if she’s raising a girlfriend or just managing a friend. If she really gets into a relationship in the future, her partner will probably be jealous all the time.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because her partner will ask, ‘If I and Yu Jiang fell into the water, who would you save?'”
Yu Jiang: “…”
Chi Jing secretly still hoped that Yu Jiang could be with the person she liked.
After speaking, she added, “Of course, what I just said is not absolute. There’s another situation.”
Yu Jiang understood her. “I know. That is, she stays single for the rest of her life, right?”
Chi Jing: “What do you mean, stay single? I mean, if she’s dating you later, then this problem won’t exist, because you won’t need to ask her, ‘If I and Yu Jiang fell into the water, who would you save?’, hahahaha, that sounds so funny.”
Yu Jiang didn’t laugh with her.
Although she was in the middle of an emotional vortex, she saw things more clearly than a bystander.
Her tone was very calm. “I’ve said it before. After we graduate, she and I will go our separate ways, so there’s really no possibility between us.”
Chi Jing huffed twice. “You say what you want, and I’ll ship what I want. It doesn’t affect each other. There’s no rule that says if the main couple isn’t together, others can’t secretly ship them, right? Am I not making a lot of sense?”
Yu Jiang: “…”
“Alright, I’m not going to talk to you anymore. I’m going to go find my senior for a late-night snack. We’ll talk about other things tomorrow. Bye-bye.”
Yu Jiang didn’t let her go and asked in passing, “We’ve been talking about me all this time. What about you? You and your senior, is there still no constructive progress?”
Every time she asked this, Chi Jing’s reply was more or less the same.
In pursuit.
Currently in pursuit.
I’m still in pursuit.
Like Kuafu chasing the sun, constantly running forward, but never able to touch that dazzling sun.
As Chi Jing’s friend, Yu Jiang admired her persistence and, at the same time, secretly worried for her.
She had always firmly believed that she and her senior would have a good result. What if, in the end, she was just paving the way for someone else? At that time, would the always confident Chi Jing, because of the great blow, become dejected and never recover?
She had thought that Chi Jing’s answer this time would be the same as before, but she never expected a slight difference.
“Didn’t I tell you? My senior is shy and very pure. It took me half a year to successfully hold her hand as a suitor.
“I don’t think I’ve told you, but last week I took her to a haunted house. The staff member who was dressed as a ghost scared her to tears, and she jumped right into my arms. After that day, our relationship got a little closer. Besides being able to hold her hand, I can also hug her as a suitor.
“Haunted houses are a good thing. Aren’t you a little coward who’s afraid of ghosts? Find some time and go with Chu Qingzi one day. Then you can just jump into her arms, and the rest is up to you~
“Back to me. Isn’t my senior’s home in A City? Her parents are abroad, so she usually lives alone. I’ve made plans with her to go back a few days early and stay at her place for a few days.
“You know about a sixth sense, right? I have a feeling something is going to happen this National Day. I’ll tell you when there’s real progress.
“Oh right, I haven’t asked you yet. Since Chu Qingzi is taking you back tomorrow, will she also come to your house to pick you up and go back to school together after the National Day holiday is over?”
The nameless pervert had only asked Chu Qingzi to take her home. As for how to come back, she hadn’t made any requests yet.
Yu Jiang didn’t say anything too definite. “I don’t know. The holiday has just started, and we haven’t talked about our plans for later yet. What’s wrong?”
“If she’s not coming, then I’ll come back and pick you up.”
“Aren’t you going back to A City early? It’ll be too much trouble to drive back again. I’ll just have my mom take me then.”
“What trouble? What nonsense are you talking about? It’s decided then. Whatever you two arrange, just let me know the night before. Don’t forget again this time! Forget it, I don’t trust you. I’ll just come and ask you directly then. I’m not talking anymore. Bye-bye.”
With Chi Jing’s matter settled, Yu Jiang continued to pack her luggage.
Just as she had opened her suitcase, there was a knock on the door.
Yu Jiang looked at Chu Qingzi, who had come in, and asked, “Why haven’t you showered?”
“I was just on the phone with my mom. I just finished, so I came over to see if you were done.”
“Alright. Are you going to wash up now?”
“You can go first. I’m used to washing up after you.”
“Okay.”
