Seeing the atmosphere grow increasingly tense, Song Chen naturally sided with his daughter. He picked up a glass of wine, handed it over, and said with a smile, “Children can be quite sensitive. Miss Xiang, perhaps you should humble yourself and apologize?”
Xiang Wanyu accepted the glass, her expression slightly stiff. She had indeed been a bit too blunt, but she hadn’t expected the Song family to take her to task over such an insignificant girl. Thinking of the partnership between the Chi and Song families, Xiang Wanyu slowly forced a smile. “It seems I was inconsiderate with my words.”
Then, she turned her head to Ye Yuhuan and said, “Student Ye, if I’ve offended you in any way, I hope you’ll bear with me.”
But she didn’t take a single sip of the wine.
Song Chen drained his own glass in one go. With his refined and gentle features, he had a natural advantage when it came to mediating such matters.
After setting his glass aside, Song Chen said with a smile, “Miss Xiang is very magnanimous. If you ask me, kids these days are all so delicate. You never know when you might offend them, don’t you think?”
Seeing that Song Chen intended to let the matter drop, Xiang Wanyu’s expression softened. Song Zhiqing, however, was displeased. Although she knew they had to give Xiang Wanyu some face, this wasn’t the way to do it. It made them sound like they were the ones being unreasonable.
Ye Yuhuan saw this and quickly pulled her away, ignoring Song Zhiqing’s struggles. Only when they were far enough from Xiang Wanyu did Ye Yuhuan stop.
Song Zhiqing yanked her hand from Ye Yuhuan’s grasp and said huffily, “What are you doing? You made it look like I was being a busybody.”
Ye Yuhuan looked into her eyes earnestly, her expression as serene as ever, seemingly undisturbed by the earlier slander. “No, you didn’t,” she said softly. “I’m very grateful for what you did, but you don’t need to have a falling out with Auntie Xiang over me.”
Song Zhiqing lifted her chin, perplexed. “But what she said about you was wrong!”
Ye Yuhuan tucked a stray strand of hair that had fallen across Song Zhiqing’s face back behind her ear. “It’s not about right or wrong,” she explained. “Who I actually am doesn’t matter in her eyes. What matters is that the information presented to her could only lead her to that conclusion, and she has no reason to waste her energy finding the truth for someone as irrelevant as me.”
“Besides, there’s no rule that says people aren’t allowed to dislike me. I’m far from a perfect person.”
“But most importantly, I won’t have any dealings with her in the future, so I don’t need to care about her opinion.”
Song Zhiqing snorted, thinking to herself that Ye Yuhuan was putting on a mature act again. “You’re lying. When she was talking just now, your heart rate slowed down. Ye Yuhuan, don’t say all this nonsense to comfort me. Right now, you’re the one who needs comforting.”
She had been holding Ye Yuhuan’s hand the whole time and had clearly felt the sudden change in her pulse and how her entire palm had gone cold.
Ye Yuhuan was at a loss for words for a moment, then gave a helpless smile. “Alright, I did feel uncomfortable, but it was within a tolerable range.”
Song Zhiqing wanted to pinch her cheek, but fearing she’d ruin her makeup, she settled for tapping Ye Yuhuan’s nose instead. In a tone of exasperation, she said, “If you’re uncomfortable, then don’t endure it. I’ve got your back, you know.”
With that incredibly defiant look, she truly seemed like a cosmic beauty, and the entire universe was nothing more than her little garden.
Ye Yuhuan lowered her gaze and chuckled softly. “Mm, got it, boss.”
Worried that Song Zhiqing would go back to settle the score with Xiang Wanyu, Ye Yuhuan pulled her over to the dance floor. The ball hadn’t started yet, but the area was filled with young people milling about, while the older guests were off to the side, discussing business.
However, seeing a young man rushing excitedly toward them, Ye Yuhuan truly felt the urge to cover her face.
Shen Wei asking me to come help was just a pretense. The real reason was to mess with me, wasn’t it!
One Xiang Wanyu was bad enough, but now she’d sent Chi Yuan over too.
Seeing Song Zhiqing already starting to sneer, preparing to unleash her ultimate move, it looked like she was about to vent all the frustration she’d bottled up from the encounter with Xiang Wanyu on Chi Yuan.
Ye Yuhuan didn’t want to make a scene at the Shangguan family’s banquet, so she had no choice but to grab Song Zhiqing and flee once more.
Song Zhiqing was exasperated. “What are you doing? It’s not like I was going to fight him.”
Ye Yuhuan couldn’t help but retort silently, The fact that you even thought of fighting is exactly why I couldn’t let you stay there.
Deciding she might as well go all the way, Ye Yuhuan led her to a small balcony on the second floor. As far as she knew, no one would come to this spot tonight.
However, there would be one small flaw.
They had just come to a stop, and Song Zhiqing was about to scold her for dragging her away, when she suddenly saw a pair of familiar figures in the moonlight. She leaned closer, puzzled.
Was that Shen Wei and Shangguan Xianxian? They were hugging? No, wait, now they were kissing!
Ye Yuhuan stood opposite Song Zhiqing. From her position, she couldn’t see the couple kissing under the moon, but from Song Zhiqing’s expression, she knew they had run into that flaw.
This is killing me. Aside from the very first time, she had never brought Song Zhiqing to “witness love” only to see a kissing scene. Of course, part of that was because Shen Wei hadn’t managed to kiss Shangguan Xianxian again. But now, after more than a month, they had stumbled upon the second kiss in the main characters’ plotline.
Did she, Ye Yuhuan, have the fate of a voyeur? Heaven have mercy, she was just trying to find a place to hide.
In the original plot, Guo Siwan was the one who witnessed this scene. But judging by the fading footsteps, it was impossible for Guo Siwan to see it now. The main characters’ angst-filled plot point would likely be delayed.
Before, Ye Yuhuan had thought she might have screwed Shen Wei over and considered helping her. But at most, she had only envisioned getting Guo Siwan out of the way. She had hesitated, worried she might accidentally see something cringeworthy. After all, as the female lead, Shen Wei was bound to suffer sooner or later, so there was no need for her to pay the price of seeing something so awkward.
Well, this was just great. A double blessing. Ye Yuhuan closed her eyes in anguish. She had both brought Song Zhiqing to witness love and helped Shen Wei protect her love. The only thing that had suffered a major loss was her own moral integrity.
It was all the plot’s fault for being so vague. Guo Siwan was supposed to see the end of the kiss, but they had arrived right at the beginning. To think she had believed she could take advantage of the time difference, hide here for a bit, and then leave with Song Zhiqing right after Guo Siwan arrived. But as things stood, it seemed she had actively pushed herself into a hopeless situation.
Song Zhiqing looked down at the couple by the flowerbed, then back at Ye Yuhuan’s regretful face. She opened her mouth, then closed it again as an incredible possibility occurred to her.
After a long moment, she asked, “Did you and Shen Wei plan this?”
“Is this the secret you two have?”
Ye Yuhuan frantically shook her head. Down below, Shen Wei was already swearing eternal vows of love, while up here, she was so embarrassed her toes were curling. Ye Yuhuan couldn’t help but hold another grudge against Shen Wei in her heart.
“It was an accident!” Ye Yuhuan said firmly. “I can swear it.”
Song Zhiqing’s expression was mocking. “Is this your first time at the Shangguan residence?”
Ye Yuhuan sensed the loophole, her expression stiffening as she replied, “Yes.”
Song Zhiqing pressed on relentlessly. “Then how did you manage to find this exact spot so precisely? We took several turns to get here. And this position just so happens to be the perfect place to see them both clearly?”
Ye Yuhuan was speechless. Logically, it all did seem very intentional, but she couldn’t reveal her cheat ability. At least, not yet.
All Ye Yuhuan could do was offer a weak defense. “I can only say it was truly an accident. I had no subjective intention of doing this, and my relationship with Shen Wei isn’t good enough for us to plan something like this. Besides, if Shen Wei knew we saw this, she would be even angrier than you.”
Ye Yuhuan knew these words explained nothing; they could even be considered a lame excuse.
Look, the girl who had just been fighting an injustice on her behalf was now standing coldly before her, her lovely face filled with suspicion. The distance between them wasn’t great, yet Ye Yuhuan felt as if she were in another world.
See? You’ve ended up like this again.
You can’t get close to people. Even with the best intentions, you’ll still mess it up.
Her mother’s words echoed in her ears, ethereal and mad. Ye Yuhuan couldn’t help but scrunch her brow in pain.
“That’s not true. Song Zhiqing isn’t,” Ye Yuhuan whispered silently.
But… was that really true?
It seemed Song Zhiqing was already starting to hate her.
Song Zhiqing, who had been waiting for Ye Yuhuan to explain further, noticed the solid armor around the person before her suddenly fall away. Ye Yuhuan’s slender frame seemed unable to bear its own weight, giving the impression that she was about to escape from the material world.
In the moonlight, she looked more fragile than the light itself.
But it was precisely because of this armor that she could endure Xiang Wanyu’s ridicule without batting an eye. It was because of this armor that she could remain calm and even make excuses for Xiang Wanyu after being ridiculed.
What should I do? Ye Yuhuan looks so fragile right now. Was my questioning too harsh? But I didn’t want this to happen, Ye Yuhuan!
A flustered expression crossed Song Zhiqing’s face. She rushed forward and hugged Ye Yuhuan. The fiery red fabric of her dress pressed against Ye Yuhuan’s pure white one, the fine fibers seeming to generate warmth that soothed Ye Yuhuan.
This is it. This feeling of being a madman. I said I wouldn’t become a Cassandra, but perhaps I spoke too soon.
Will I go mad like my mother?
Or have I already gone mad?
That dream was just my own hallucination. Maybe everything I’m seeing now is a hallucination too.
Maybe I died with my mother a long time ago.
It wasn’t until she felt the warmth of another person that Ye Yuhuan slowly began to relax.
Song Zhiqing’s gentle voice was in her ear, repeating over and over, “You don’t have to explain. I believe you.”
Ye Yuhuan managed to lift her arms and pull the embrace even tighter.
Guo Siwan, who had come back, stared in astonishment at the two girls hugging tightly on the balcony. What the hell? She was just looking for a place to smoke. Couldn’t these people have some public decency and not be romantic all over the place!
Besides, didn’t Song Zhiqing like Shangguan Xianxian? Hah. A cold sneer appeared on Guo Siwan’s lips. Falling for someone else so quickly. It seems Shangguan Xianxian isn’t all that special after all.
Song Chen had been smiling so long his face was stiff by the time his daughter finally returned. It seemed Student Ye had done a good job comforting her; his daughter was much calmer now.
But when Song Chen squinted, he saw that it now looked like his daughter was the one comforting Student Ye.
Song Zhiqing held Ye Yuhuan’s hand, turning her head from time to time to speak to her. Ye Yuhuan would occasionally reply with a word or two, but for the most part, she looked dazed.
Song Zhiqing was secretly annoyed with herself for having pushed her too hard. The string of events tonight had indeed made her emotional.
Still, she couldn’t let Ye Yuhuan stay like this. An idea came to Song Zhiqing. She squeezed Ye Yuhuan’s hand and said in a deliberately cheerful tone, “Ye Yuhuan, let’s go dance!”
Ye Yuhuan had completely forgotten that the dance floor wasn’t open yet. She just answered uneasily, “I don’t know how to dance.”
“I’ll teach you.”
“But I don’t want to dance.”
“But I want you to dance with me!”
“…”
“Then… only you can see. No one else is allowed to.”
Song Zhiqing broke into a wide smile. “Okay, then let’s go to a place where only we can see.”
“But,” Ye Yuhuan frowned, troubled, “I promised Shen Wei I’d watch over Shangguan Xianxian for her here.”
Whatever Shen Wei’s intentions were, since she had given her word, she couldn’t go back on it.
Song Zhiqing frowned. Shen Wei again. She was really starting to get PTSD from her. But looking at the person before her who still hadn’t fully recovered, she suppressed her dissatisfaction and coaxed in a softer voice, “Shangguan Xianxian will be fine. I’ll have my dad watch her. Just come with me, okay?”
Ah, Shangguan Xianxian really will be fine. Realizing this, Ye Yuhuan nodded at Song Zhiqing.
Five minutes later, Song Chen watched his daughter walk away from him again, an old father’s heart turning cold. You were the one who insisted on coming, and now you’re the one leaving after barely any time. You just love tormenting your dad, don’t you.
Still, Song Chen stroked his chin. Who exactly did his daughter like?
On one hand, she was telling him to look after Shangguan Xianxian, and on the other, she was dragging little Student Ye away.
He was starting to get a little confused.
Song Zhiqing led Ye Yuhuan into the car. The driver was the same Uncle Yu from last time. After fastening Ye Yuhuan’s seatbelt, Song Zhiqing turned to him and said, “Take us to the seaside.”
A-City wasn’t on the coast, but the neighboring T-City was, though it was over a three-hour drive away.
Uncle Yu looked at Song Zhiqing hesitantly and confirmed, “Are we going to T-City?”
Song Zhiqing nodded. “I remember my mom has a house by the sea in T-City. Let’s go there.”
At this, Ye Yuhuan caught a few words and asked in confusion, “We’re going all the way to T-City?”
Song Zhiqing smiled as she straightened her hair, correcting her, “No, we’re going to the seaside.”
“What are we going to do at the seaside? Didn’t we say we were going to dance?”
“We’re going to dance at the seaside. There’s no one there, so we can dance all night.”
“But we have school tomorrow.”
“We can just take the day off.”
“Then let’s take the day off.”
“What reason should we give?”
“Sickness?”
“Mm, no, we can’t lie to the teacher.”
“Then let’s just say we couldn’t get out of bed, so we can’t go to school.”
“The teacher would be furious.”
“Ah, well, I hope the teacher is in good health tomorrow.”
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