Chapter 4

Tian Qinghe blinked: “Really?”

Watching Sister Cheng Yan’s beautiful face draw close, smelling the nice fragrance on her, Tian Qinghe belatedly scratched her hands, a little apologetic: “Should I not have said that just now?”

Cheng Yan rubbed her hair, unconcerned: “Doesn’t matter. Will you tell anyone?”

Tian Qinghe obediently shook her head.

Cheng Yan’s smile deepened: “Then it’s fine. But if you do tell someone, I will beat you up.”

“…”

Tian Qinghe’s face scrunched up: “I promise.”

Sister Cheng Yan hits really hard.

Telling Tian Qinghe to wait a moment, Cheng Yan turned back into the coffee shop she’d just left. After gathering her things, she took the obediently waiting Tian Qinghe’s hand and walked towards the pet hospital.

“What are you doing here alone? Shouldn’t you be in school right now?”

Tian Qinghe said, “The teacher took me to a math competition. On the way back, we passed by here. I saw you, so I told the teacher I was going to find you.”

Cheng Yan understood.

“So, what did you want to tell me?”

Tian Qinghe hesitated. Only after a good while did she awkwardly begin: “I don’t know who else to tell about this.”

Cheng Yan glanced down at her. She looked very troubled.

Tian Qinghe was a clever little genius; Cheng Yan, having known her for a long time, had no doubt about that.

But being smart didn’t mean being skilled at everything.

She heard Tian Qinghe finally make up her mind after all that fidgeting: “Sister Cheng Yan, I really want to be in a puppy love relationship.”

Cheng Yan’s tone was flat, a cool warning: “Careful, you’ll get beat up.”

Tian Qinghe subconsciously clenched her fist nervously.

But quickly, she stated with certainty: “No, I won’t.”

Cheng Yan’s interest was piqued.

She stopped walking, let go of her hand, and looked at her face with keen interest.

Tian Qinghe was a pretty little girl.

A bit short, but very smart.

A bit shy around strangers, obedient even with people she knew well.

Facing such a little girl, her family naturally set strict boundaries.

Tian Qinghe said, “My mom won’t let me get too close to boys. I know she’s worried I’ll start dating early.”

Cheng Yan raised an eyebrow slightly, sensing something.

Tian Qinghe pursed her lips, a shallow dimple appearing on her cheek. “So if I date a girl, they definitely won’t beat me up!”

Cheng Yan knocked her on the head: “Nice play on semantics.”

Tian Qinghe was unhappy with her dismissive attitude: “What do you know, Sister Cheng Yan? Love is just super sudden and unreasonable, okay? The moment I first saw her, I thought she was so beautiful!”

Cheng Yan sneered: “Superficial lust.”

Tian Qinghe retorted: “That’s destiny!”

She wouldn’t allow someone to describe her feelings that way! Even if it was her especially beloved sister!

Cheng Yan watched her fuming, showing no restraint, continuing bluntly: “Really? If it’s destiny, why are you still hesitating? Could it be your destiny doesn’t like you back?”

Her words were sharp. Hearing them, Tian Qinghe’s eyes reddened with anger.

“She does!” she shouted. “She! Likes! Me! Super much!”

If she didn’t like her, why would she kiss her?

Tian Qinghe’s cheeks flushed deeply, whether from anger or from embarrassment at the memory.

Passing pedestrians looked strangely at the pair, one big and one small.

Sensing those suspicious gazes settling on her, Cheng Yan felt a tiny bit embarrassed.

Yet the usually shy Tian Qinghe was, at this moment, obliviously cheerful, ignoring everyone’s stares, focused solely on glaring at Cheng Yan.

Cheng Yan’s eyelids drooped. She said blandly, “The more people lack something, the more desperately they try to prove they have it.”

Tian Qinghe was furious hearing this: “Sister Cheng Yan, you’re really annoying today!”

Huffing angrily, she stomped past Cheng Yan, striding ahead with large steps.

But as she walked, her silhouette suddenly stopped.

Cheng Yan strolled unhurriedly behind her, carrying her things, and stopped when she saw this.

Standing behind her, Cheng Yan looked down at Tian Qinghe, who reached just to her chest. She saw her eyes wide, her face flushed even redder than the angry blush from earlier, looking utterly shocked.

Following her gaze, two pretty, delicate girls were walking hand-in-hand, looking very close.

“Your destiny?” She understood, but asked deliberately.

Tears were already welling up in Tian Qinghe’s eyes, looking very pitiful.

She ignored the amused Cheng Yan, clenched her fists, and hurtled forward like a cannonball, roughly pulling the two girls apart.

Cheng Yan watched as she furiously questioned the girl in the pink dress—

“Why did you kiss her? What relationship do you two have?!”

Juicy drama.

Cheng Yan thought with schadenfreude.

Then she looked left and right, found a public bench to sit on, propped her chin in her hands, and watched the show unfold before her.

A while later, the commotion finally ended.

The other two girls walked away together, while Tian Qinghe returned like a frosted, wilted leaf, utterly dejected.

Cheng Yan said nothing, leading her onward to the pet hospital, looking as if she was very respectful of Tian Qinghe’s privacy.

Eventually, Tian Qinghe couldn’t hold it in anymore. She desperately wanted to confide in someone and unload her sorrow.

“Sister Cheng Yan.” As soon as she opened her mouth, her voice choked up.

“Hm?”

“How can someone’s heart be split into so many pieces? How can someone like anyone just because they’re good-looking?”

From the fragments she let slip, Cheng Yan had pretty much pieced together the entire sequence of the drama in her mind.

She opened her mouth, utterly devoid of comforting spirit: “It’s totally normal, you know.”

Tian Qinghe raised her head, her eyes blurry from crying, filled with shock: “How is that normal?!”

She wiped her tears, sobbing: “I’m not that kind of person.”

When she liked someone, she liked them with complete and utter devotion.

Cheng Yan saw through her thoughts. Although she found it absurdly childish to debate matters of love and romance with an eleven or twelve-year-old whose mental and emotional development wasn’t yet mature, seeing her cry so pitifully, she tempered the smile on her face a bit. She patted Tian Qinghe’s head, her voice softening, as if trying to comfort her: “But being too fixated on one person can be super tiring.”

Tian Qinghe stood firm in her conviction: “That’s how it should be!”

The amber-colored pupils flickered. Cheng Yan withdrew her hand, her voice smiling, gently asking, “Even if it costs you your life?”

“…?”

A tremor ran through Tian Qinghe’s heart. It felt very strange.

But she quickly pushed aside this odd feeling and, mimicking the adults in her mind, asserted her conviction: “Of course!”

She thought her steadfastness would earn Cheng Yan’s regard, and validation of her persistence.

In fact, Cheng Yan just scoffed: “Still just a little brat.”

Tian Qinghe’s sadness grew even greater.

When she came out carrying Sunset Glow, Cheng Yan had two low-pressure creatures orbiting around her. She had Tian Qinghe help carry her laptop while she lowered her head to reply to Chen Shuhua’s messages.

Senior: 【My business is done. Should I come pick you guys up? Any plans tonight? Let’s have dinner together. Sorry for troubling you all day with Sunset Glow.】

Cheng Yan declined: 【Just come take Sunset Glow home. I need to go home today. We can have that meal another time when there’s a chance.】

When Chen Shuhua drove over later, Cheng Yan handed the listless Sunset Glow to her. After going over the post-op care instructions the vet had given, under Chen Shuhua’s gaze, she took Tian Qinghe’s hand and smiled, “I’ll be off then.”

Chen Shuhua’s eyes were very gentle when she looked at her: “When are you coming back to school? I’ll come pick you up then, okay?”

Cheng Yan paused, hmmed, thought for a moment while blinking, then somewhat regretfully refused: “Better not. Haven’t you been busy lately preparing for your summer stint at the company? It’s a familiar route I’ve traveled so many times. Going back to school alone isn’t a big deal.”

Disappointment welled up in her heart.

But facing the softness on Cheng Yan’s face, she felt an irrepressible joy knowing the other had kept her matters in mind.

“Okay,” she said. “But if you need anything, definitely contact me.”

I’ll always be here.

Cheng Yan inexplicably read that sentence in her eyes.

She nodded casually, but felt a slight stir in her heart.

The amplitude was just too small, disappearing without a trace very quickly.

“She likes you,” Tian Qinghe’s gossipy voice piped up. Her voice was a bit hoarse, and there were still dried tear tracks on her face, but luckily she wasn’t still wallowing in the sorrow of being “let down.”

Cheng Yan looked down: “Done crying?”

Clenching her fist, Tian Qinghe said indignantly: “If she doesn’t like me, then I won’t like her anymore!”

“I’m going to stick to my views on love. I absolutely won’t change them for her!”

She didn’t say she didn’t like you, just that she likes more than just you.

Cheng Yan wisely didn’t voice that thought.

She ruffled Tian Qinghe’s hair again, scoffing: “Such a little kid, talking about views on love.”

Tian Qinghe pushed her hand away, stubbornly: “Mind your own business. You’re a playgirl too!”

“?”

Perhaps it was a heightened sensitivity after heartbreak, but Tian Qinghe condemned her with a look that said ‘I see right through you’: “You clearly know that sister likes you, but you neither accept nor reject.”

“Irresponsible!”

“Playgirl!”

“Hmph!”

Cheng Yan put away the smile on her face, her expression going stern: “What do you know.”

Tian Qinghe instinctively wanted to retort, but upon seeing Cheng Yan’s expression, an inexplicable feeling made her swallow the words before they could leave her mouth.

Cheng Yan curved her lips, smiling satisfactorily: “Being obedient is what makes you adorable.”

…

The two took the subway, then walked about ten minutes before finally returning to Gentle Wind Alley.

As soon as they reached the alley entrance, they saw that the usually quiet alleyway was exceptionally noisy today.

“They still won’t agree?”

“Ah, we can understand the Old Li family’s situation, but with things the way they are now, it’s the general trend. How much longer can they stubbornly hold out?”

“What if we anger the people from Shihong Company and they decide they don’t want our Gentle Wind Alley anymore?”

“It’s been how many years? If they wanted to cry over graves, they’d have finished long ago. How come we don’t see that girl Cheng Yan crying over graves? I say Old Li and his wife are just putting on an act to get a higher price. Just you watch, maybe in the end they’ll get more than us, proving we’re not as clever as them.”

A middle-aged man in an old undershirt, a cigarette dangling from his lips, was puffing away smoke. Quite a few people were gathered around him. His words made some frown in discomfort.

“Enough, say less. Show some basic decency.”

Hearing her own name, Cheng Yan’s face remained impassive, her expression normal as she continued walking inside.

Someone spotted the two of them and immediately called out with exaggerated surprise, “Cheng Yan is back? Something up?”

Mingjiang University was in the west of the city, Gentle Wind Alley in the east. Although in the same city, traveling back and forth took quite some time.

So seeing Cheng Yan back on a weekend when she usually wouldn’t return, everyone was rather surprised.

Seeing Cheng Yan, the smoking middle-aged man stubbed out his cigarette, showing a rather awkward smile and greeting, “Back, huh? Had dinner yet? Want to grab a bite at your uncle’s place?”

Cheng Yan shook her head, refusing. A faint smile on her face, she said, “No, no. Uncle Tian and Aunt Tian are still waiting for me to bring Little He back.”

Watching the two walk away hand-in-hand, the man nodded, saying, “Alright, then I won’t keep you.”

Skirting around the group gathered at the alley entrance chatting idly, the two walked for a while and finally got home.