After Saving My Possessive Best Friend, I Couldn't Escape (GL) - Chapter 47

“It’s Friday, and we have two days off! I can’t wait to go out and play!”

“Three days off after the exam is great, but what if the results are bad?”

“Oh, right, the Chunyang High School tradition: they grade papers like crazy. We’ll definitely see the results the day after the exam…”

The classroom was buzzing with discussions about grades and the holiday. Zhou Yunyi gnawed on her pen, anxious and uncertain. She had already estimated her scores for all the questions. One moment she was confident her score was good, the next she was horrified that she might have lost points on a certain problem. Her expressions were so rich that Fang Zhile sighed in admiration.

“Here are your buns. Eat some breakfast before you worry yourself sick.”

She picked up a bag of plastic-wrapped food, dropped two buns for Zhou Yunyi, and headed out. Zhou Yunyi only managed to ask where she was going before Fang Zhile called over her shoulder, “To bring food to my bunny.”

Bunny? A rabbit? When did they start keeping rabbits on campus?

Zhou Yunyi picked up a bun in confusion. One bite revealed a fresh turnip filling. Sure enough, there really is a rabbit.

Ye “Rabbit” Yu and Fang “Cat” Le stood under the big banyan tree, each gnawing on opposite ends of the same corn cob. Ye Yu ate slowly. Fang Zhile finished and stood with her hands in her pockets, waiting for her.

“I went to the teacher’s office this morning to drop something off and saw that most of our grades were already posted.”

When Ye Yu spoke, Fang Zhile seized the opportunity to slip a piece of chocolate into her mouth.

“They just need to fill in the last subject’s grade, and then the Excel sheet calculates the ranking—” Ye Yu licked the chocolate stain from the corner of her mouth, and Fang Zhile popped in another candy. “Mmh.”

“Just focus on eating,” Fang Zhile looked at Ye Yu’s chipmunk-like stuffed cheeks and smiled.

For some reason, the atmosphere between them this morning was even more harmonious. It was as if the distance had instantly shrunk overnight—that intimate, unspoken, subtle shift, like the movement beneath an iceberg or the melting of snow on a mountaintop, silent yet transformative.

Ye Yu swallowed her food, took a step back, and pointed at Fang Zhile. “Stop feeding me! I need to talk.”

Fang Zhile “tsk-ed.” “Talking about grades while eating? Aren’t you tempting fate?”

At this moment, their roles seemed reversed. The art student, who usually didn’t care about grades since four hundred points were more than enough, was now instructing the top-performing academic student about her grades and ranking. This reversal was as rare as if Chunyang High School had suddenly begun strictly enforcing the long-abandoned curfew rules.

“I saw your name hovering in the top ten,” Ye Yu said. “Your name isn’t bad luck. Besides, I’m just worried about you. What if you slip from fifth place to a hundredth place? The teacher will talk to you, and you might be forced to move back to the school dorms.”

Fang Zhile shrugged, stepping forward to shield her from the wind, signaling Ye Yu to finish quickly. “Teacher Yang isn’t like that. Don’t worry, she’s very open-minded. In her eyes, as long as we can go to college and not drop out of high school and become a factor of instability for public safety, she feels she has accomplished her mission.”

Ye Yu had heard Teacher Yang’s reputation and nodded seriously. “They say during the class split in the second year, our two classes actually fought over Teacher Yang.”

“Too bad Teacher Yang is ours,” Fang Zhile made a face and couldn’t help but smile. “Alright, stop talking about grades. How was your extra calligraphy exam? They say you got first place again and your work will be submitted for an award.”

Ye Yu blinked, biting her fried egg without speaking. A bad premonition arose in her heart.

Sure enough, Fang Zhile continued to talk to herself, then suddenly remembered something and turned her head excitedly. “Did you finish writing your Ode to the Luo River Goddess?”

“It’s just okay,” Ye Yu lowered her eyes, quickly tossing the treasured water chestnut cake into her mouth. She mumbled, “I have class now, bye, see you tonight.”

Fang Zhile grabbed her shoulder, looking suspicious. “What’s the rush? Class starts in ten minutes. What do you mean ‘just okay’? Did you finish it? Did you submit it? Did you win an award?”

Ye Yu turned her face and said earnestly, “That’s Regular Script. You keep asking for a three-part answer. Are you going to force me to write Regular Script too?”

A huge black pot clattered down onto Fang Zhile’s head, utterly bewildering her.

“No,” Fang Zhile was genuinely shocked. “Write whatever makes you happy. Didn’t you say a few days ago you couldn’t come out to play until you finished the Ode to the Luo River Goddess? I was just naturally following up on your progress.”

Ye Yu nodded calmly. “You don’t need to follow up anymore. I’ll come out whenever you call. Forget the Ode to the Luo River Goddess; even if the Goddess of the Luo River rose from the dead, it wouldn’t stop me from coming out to relax.”

Fang Zhile opened her mouth, defeated by Ye Yu’s reasonable, impassioned, yet logic-confused statement that successfully changed the subject. She froze for a long time, then raised her hands and applauded. “Fine.”

Ye Yu patted her shoulder and walked away. “I’m going to sneak into the teacher’s office to check your grades for you. Don’t thank me. Hurry back to class, good student.”

Fang Zhile: … So, everything I said was useless and ignored anyway!

More than ten minutes after the class bell rang, the teacher walked in slowly with a stack of test papers. She tossed the papers onto the desk. “Get out your error notebooks. We’re going over the math test this morning.”

The classroom instantly sank into gloom and widespread groaning.

The math teacher was a stern middle-aged woman with metal-rimmed glasses and the cold authority of someone who rarely smiled. “What’s with the noise? This math test is excellent quality. It was a joint exam with all the city high schools and is the best way to show your mathematical literacy.”

At that moment, an art student raised her hand and drawled, “Does that mean our literacy is very good?”

The math teacher adjusted her glasses, her sharp gaze sweeping across the class. “You? You have no literacy.”

Fang Zhile figured the teacher was suppressing a cold laugh, annoyed that the students had embarrassed her in front of the city. The teacher pulled out a test paper and said in a tone of deep disappointment:

“Tell me, how did you build your math foundation in middle school? Where is your basic sensitivity to numbers? For multiple-choice question number nine, even a guess should have been A! For fill-in-the-blank question number three, even random filling should have yielded 1!”

The art student who spoke up immediately cheered, “Hey! I guessed that one right!”

Zhou Yunyi sobbed. She stuttered, “I overthought it… I put 1 and 0…”

Fang Zhile: … She didn’t know what to say.

The math teacher went on, connecting the middle school Pythagorean theorem to the world of derivatives and then subtly hinting at the logic of higher mathematics, all the while taking shots at every student who had disgraced her. She finally concluded with a powerful statement:

“Starting today, you will add one more math test to your daily homework.”

The students were crushed and responded weakly. After her scolding, the math teacher felt refreshed. She finally remembered the students who hadn’t disappointed her, and her tone shifted. “Even so, we have a student in our class who scored full marks in math. This proves that differences in the world always exist. Everyone should look up to the role model and strive to score higher.”

Zhou Yunyi’s intensely inquiring gaze immediately focused on Fang Zhile. She asked succinctly, “You?”

Before Fang Zhile could speak, the math teacher pointed her teaching wand at Fang Zhile, confirming Zhou Yunyi’s suspicion. “Student Fang Zhile, the only student in the entire school with a perfect score in math. You read out the answers.”

Fang Zhile: …

The math teacher’s skill points must have all gone into her intelligence. Her meager emotional intelligence was insufficient to grasp the huge trouble she was causing for the student she intended to praise by singling her out in front of everyone else. At the very least, even Zhou Yunyi was glaring at Fang Zhile.

Fang Zhile stood up, enduring the entire class’s stares—some glaring, some indignant, some indifferent. With the fortitude of Mount Tai remaining unshaken, she read out the answers.

“What was your thought process for this problem?” The math teacher smiled, inviting Fang Zhile to answer.

Fang Zhile was silent for three seconds. “Teacher, I don’t know how to explain the problem.”

The math teacher was gently rebuffed but didn’t get angry. She nodded with a warm smile. “You’re very much like me back then—you can do the problems but can’t explain them.”

“You can sit down. I’ll explain it.”

The moment Fang Zhile sat down, her side was attacked by the person next to her. Zhou Yunyi was staring intently at the score on the paper, her furious gaze making it seem like she wanted to swallow the paper whole. Her hands were busy, hitting Fang Zhile ruthlessly. Fang Zhile could only hold in her resentment.

“Hey, you got 148 points. Why are you hating me so much?” Fang Zhile rubbed her waist, which was probably bruised. The pain made her exasperated. “Two points! Is our friendship only worth two points?”

Zhou Yunyi looked indifferent. She held up two fingers and shook them in front of Fang Zhile. “First, when I complained that I might have bombed the exam, you tried to console me by saying you did worse, and now the truth is you scored the highest in the entire school, a perfect score.”

Fang Zhile genuinely wanted to walk around the classroom with a sign that read, “I AM INNOCENT.” When did all-subject grades become equivalent to math? She just wasn’t familiar with these test papers when she first transmigrated! She couldn’t recite those difficult classical Chinese texts now! Math was the only subject she could quickly pick up after being away from high school for nearly a decade because it didn’t require memorization.

Zhou Yunyi ignored her despair and continued her accusation. “Second, you are a pervert! The last part of the final question was clearly an over-the-syllabus question! How on earth did you answer those two points?”

Fang Zhile tried to stop Zhou Yunyi with a look, but Zhou Yunyi couldn’t read and didn’t care to read any of Fang Zhile’s expressions. She continued to express her indignation over losing two points and missing a perfect score.

“Zhou Yunyi! If you want to talk so badly, come up to the stage and explain the problem!”

Fang Zhile nodded repeatedly. She’s right. We should listen in class.

The math teacher pushed up her glasses, her gaze sharp. “Did you score a perfect score that you can ignore the class!”

Fang Zhile: What does that have to do with a perfect score? Does having a perfect score mean you don’t have to listen…?

This weird atmosphere of being under attack only improved at lunch break. Zhou Yunyi decided not to go home and stayed in the classroom to correct her mistakes.

“How are you going to correct these two points?” Fang Zhile couldn’t resist asking. “The teacher said it was an over-the-syllabus question. Are you seriously competing with me? There’s absolutely no need to study this.”

Zhou Yunyi looked calm and composed. “You don’t understand. The person who set this test was a former college entrance exam question setter. I must discover the mathematical logic behind these problems and then defeat all the test questions from a superior, comprehensive perspective.”

Fang Zhile nodded, realizing, “Right. You’re competing.”

Fang Zhile felt no sense of urgency from being watched and chased so closely. She turned and strolled toward the cafeteria with her lunch box.

“Auntie, I’ll take a duck leg, a serving of green vegetables, and one tael of rice.” Fang Zhile carried her mixed meal to a seat and took out her phone.

The sounds of people watching videos were everywhere. Another great tradition of Chunyang High School: they didn’t confiscate phones. Although there was a clear rule against using phones in class, they simply didn’t take them away. This rule—which didn’t solve the problem at the root and instead indulged the wrongdoers—had one common term in Fang Zhile’s eyes: useless effort.

Fang Zhile spread her phone on the table and, with an exaggerated gesture, scrolled through her messages. She found that Wei Youqing was truly committed to the war; she hadn’t opened the shop for days and hadn’t posted on her Moments. Fang Zhile decided to send a message to Sister Zhishu, maintaining contact and reminding her about the matter. At the same time, with the attitude of Buddhist compassion toward Wei Youqing, that “evil spirit,” she advised Zhishu to calm down, subtly putting in many good words for Wei Youqing.

Scrolling up, she saw the pinned contact “Ye*. Fang Zhile had very few contacts on her phone. She could reach the bottom by scrolling only halfway, so there was no need to pin anyone. This behavior was a habit she brought from outside the book: whenever she got a new phone, she would immediately back up and transfer all data related to Ye Yu and pin Ye Yu’s contact.

“Pin you high up, okay?”

“Always asking for trouble.”

“I don’t want you to be so fierce.”

“Come on, you do it. Pin it now. Let’s see who pins whom…”

The chat usually devolved into mutual teasing here. They would wrestle from the sofa to the carpet and then move to the balcony, a scene of chaos that even children would find immature. Ye Yu didn’t have ticklish spots, but Fang Zhile was entirely vulnerable. Even poking her cheek could stun her. So, she always initiated the challenge, and she was always the first to concede defeat. Undeterred by setbacks, she never learned her lesson.

Fang Zhile’s eyes curved as she stared at the screen, a nostalgic fondness in her expression. She sighed lightly. “Those were the good old days.”

“What ‘days’?” Someone walked up behind her, a familiar, smiling voice asking, “Good older sister?”

Fang Zhile was startled. Her finger trembled, nearly dropping the duck leg onto the screen. But her lips quickly stretched into a huge smile, as if her body had already memorized the posture to greet Ye Yu. “Ye Yu! You came to eat too!”

Fang Zhile quickly moved the seat next to her, inviting Ye Yu to sit down.

“I wasn’t planning on coming,” Ye Yu didn’t sit. She winked playfully at Fang Zhile and gestured behind her. “But it’s a group activity, you know.”

Fang Zhile raised her hand, but stopped before touching her hair, realizing her hand was greasy. She awkwardly lowered it and drawled, “I don’t know.”

Ye Yu was a lone wolf, accustomed to doing things by herself. She looked like a quiet, rule-abiding good girl, but she actually had no concept of organizational discipline; she only followed rules to avoid trouble. Fang Zhile knew her little secrets well. She immediately stopped trying to turn around and waved her hand. “Go with your fiancée. I’m going to mourn alone with my duck leg.”

“Mourn what?”

“Mourning the past that I miss even before it’s gone.”

Ye Yu: …

The footsteps behind her gradually receded and then disappeared. Fang Zhile sighed, using the self-control of a mature woman to tell herself not to rush. She would take things slowly. Eventually, the rabbit would be hers.

At the same time, Fang Zhile recalled their high school days many years ago. Ye Yu was the school beauty, widely popular among men, women, young, and old. From the crepe auntie outside the school to the cafeteria uncle inside, from the fierce, roaring grade director to the new, gentle teaching intern, from the wealthy school bully to the talented top student—all types were available for selection. Fang Zhile had to guard against not only men but also women, constantly on guard against whose dog was going to steal their white cabbage. Every day was a chaotic but mentally exhilarating experience.

Although Ye Yu never admitted these romantic pursuits had anything to do with her, she would tease Fang Zhile after a fight. “Oh, our great hero is back all bruised.” Ye Yu applied iodine to the bruises on her arm, not commenting on the actions of some blind fool who couldn’t have the “Ye Swan” and resorted to slander.

“Aren’t you angry?”

“People have their own mouths. If I got angry every time they said something, I’d die of rage.”

“I can’t do that. I’m not as forgiving as you.”

“Forgiving? Heh. I simply disdain them.”

The two bantered back and forth. Ye Yu cleaned the wounds, grew distressed, and angrily tossed the gauze. “Are the bodyguards at home just for show? Can’t you find someone to deal with them? Why do you have to do it yourself? Are you made of iron or a Shaolin nun?”

Fang Zhile saw her anger and, adhering to the principle that everything was her fault, immediately bowed her head and sincerely apologized. “There are no nuns at Shaolin Temple, and Fang Zhile shouldn’t hit people. Miss Ye, please forgive the crime committed by this ignorant girl!”

Ye Yu snorted, her expression unchanged, but her voice involuntarily softened. After a few seconds, she picked up the anti-inflammatory ointment and continued to apply it. “Always quick to apologize, but you never change.”

Fang Zhile smiled, tugging on Ye Yu’s sleeve with her free hand. She said awkwardly, “Those bodyguards are retired soldiers who weigh 200 pounds. We’re high school students. They could throw someone over their shoulder and tear them into a dozen pieces. Then you’d have an arm here and a leg there…”

The sound of their laughter and teasing in her mind was like a silent film with the sound turned off, skipping frames with static, repeating in an old projector. Then, a clear, complete sentence seemed to break Fang Zhile’s memory, quickly pulling her back to reality.

“All these legs are for you.”

A platter of duck legs was pushed in front of her—braised, sweet and sour, steamed. They were neatly piled up. Ye Yu had probably bought all the leftover duck legs in the cafeteria. Before Fang Zhile could say anything, Ye Yu leaned over, supporting herself next to Fang Zhile. A stream of warm air, heated by her body temperature, brushed against Fang Zhile’s ear. “Don’t be jealous. Big Sister will help you move tonight.”

The air clinging to her ear, the low, almost seductive tone at the end of the sentence, combined with the ambiguously intimate content that was said in a deliberately improper way—it was like a butterfly flapping its wings on the ocean, causing a massive tidal wave far away, or a meteor shower falling from the sky. Fang Zhile felt like she was trapped in an earth-shattering natural disaster, experiencing firsthand what it meant for her “ears to melt.” Ye Yu was seriously cheating. Fang Zhile stared at the plate of legs in front of her, all her anger dissipating.

Ye Yu fled after the tease. She hadn’t missed the momentary change in Fang Zhile’s body. Walking ten steps away, a mischievous smile still lingered on her face.

Zhou Meize, seeing her so happy, couldn’t help but ask, “Did something funny happen?”

Ye Yu smiled and shook her head. “No, nothing major.” Just a very interesting person. “It’s Thursday tomorrow, and then we have the holiday. Have you decided where to go for the three-day break?” Ye Yu naturally shifted the topic.

“Didn’t we say we’d go camping last time? A friend of mine owns a resort on a nearby mountain outside the city. It’s surrounded by villas, the environment is nice, and the safety is high.” Zhou Meize was always well-versed in leisure activities and had a wide network. “Don’t worry, I’ve arranged everything for you. We can have fun for a few days.”

Ye Yu poked the rice in her bowl with her chopsticks, not eating it. “How many people are going?”

“I don’t have to bring anyone,” Zhou Meize said. Since her parents’ stern warning and Uncle Xue’s subtle threats, she was genuinely trying to treat her fiancée properly. “Just the two of us is fine too.”

“Wouldn’t that be too deserted?” Ye Yu seemed to miss the implication in her words and said considerately, “When we go out, the more people, the merrier. Otherwise, we can’t play many games if it’s just the two of us camping and picnicking.”

Old habits are hard to break. Stubborn tea stains are difficult to remove over time. Zhou Meize had been a pleasure-seeker for over a decade. The sense of responsibility forced upon her by others was like sea foam fighting against instinct—it dissolved before it could even touch the sunlight.

Zhou Meize nodded seriously. “Then let’s invite a few more people. We can always ditch them if we want to go off by ourselves.”

Ye Yu whispered, “Alright. But are you going to invite Sun Li?”

“Isn’t she going to see Li Zi? We agreed before that she wouldn’t come out with us,” Zhou Meize said.

Ye Yu thought for a moment and suggested, “It’s been a week. Maybe the situation has changed. You should ask her. After all, Sun Yangyang is coming too, and they’re sisters. It might be more convenient if they’re together.”

Zhou Meize thought seriously for a few seconds. “You’re right. I’ll ask her later.”

Hearing this, Ye Yu’s eyes, like a lake into which a stone had been thrown, rippled. She smiled brightly, as if she had just thought of something fun that was about to happen.

Zhou Meize looked up inadvertently and was stunned by the sight.

Ye Yu recovered, seeing Zhou Meize staring at her. She smiled and asked, “Why are you looking at me?”

Zhou Meize stammered. “Nothing, I just think you… you look extremely beautiful all of a sudden.”

Ye Yu slowly let the smile fade from her lips, replying casually, “Is that so?”

Zhou Meize nodded frantically, still staring.

Ye Yu knew she possessed an excellent appearance. Even though she rarely smiled not long ago, that expressionless face had attracted many admirers since she was a child. However, no matter who complimented her appearance, Ye Yu felt no inner ripple, only a faint disgust at being judged. Except for… Ye Yu suddenly remembered Fang Zhile, who had stared at her foolishly the first time they met. Clumsy and adorable, her round eyes held only pure surprise and admiration.

Such pure eyes would not make her feel offended by her own beauty reflected in them. So, Ye Yu thought of her, smiled softly, and said, “Thank you.”

The afternoon consisted of reviewing the Liberal Arts and Chinese exams. Fang Zhile finally got a breather. She had made many mistakes in these two subjects. Many knowledge points were incomplete. Losing two points here and three points there added up quickly.

After school, Fang Zhile slapped her test papers on Zhou Yunyi’s desk and said exasperatedly, “Fine, I got a perfect score in math this morning. But I’m not lying this afternoon; my Liberal Arts and Chinese were terrible. Why are you still frowning?”

Zhou Yunyi packed her school bag without lifting her eyelids, slinging it over her shoulder as she walked away. “We top students don’t like to hang out with you low-achievers.”

Fang Zhile: …

She was being looked down on again! Because of her bad grades!

Fang Zhile felt a mouthful of old blood clog her chest. Her fingers trembled as she pointed at Zhou Yunyi’s retreating back. Getting angrier and angrier, she decided to chase after her.

“Zhou Yunyi, you just wait,” Fang Zhile folded a scrap paper into a small boat and smacked it hard against Zhou Yunyi’s back. The force was lighter than a piece of tofu hitting a person and didn’t slow Zhou Yunyi’s scornful stride one bit. “Don’t even think about eating the breakfast I bring tomorrow!”

Just as she finished, an elegant figure appeared. Ye Yu bent down, picked up the paper boat, and gently blew on it in her palm.

Fang Zhile and Zhou Yunyi both stopped.

“The way this boat is folded is very complicated,” Ye Yu’s gaze was fixed on the small boat in her palm, as if it weren’t a tiny paper boat folded from a test scrap that was almost in the trash, but a precious porcelain piece meticulously crafted with gold and silver. After staring at it for several seconds, Ye Yu acted as if she hadn’t noticed the argument between Fang Zhile and Zhou Yunyi at all. She said to Fang Zhile, “Can you teach me?”

Zhou Yunyi was an advanced master of avoiding strangers and an ultimate social phobe. The moment she saw Ye Yu, she shrank back, becoming a meek little quail.

Fang Zhile was oblivious to the current atmosphere. She blew a puff of air at the paper boat in Ye Yu’s hand, saying dismissively, “It’s dirty. You should throw it away. I can teach you to fold a nice paper boat out of construction paper if you like. This is just a waste paper; it’s ugly.”

Ye Yu pinched the sail of the paper boat and smiled, tilting her head. “Okay.”

Ye Yu naturally inserted herself between Fang Zhile and Zhou Yunyi. Walking out of the school gate with them, she casually brought up the topic from earlier. “Do you usually eat breakfast together?”

“Yes. Since I became a day student, I usually arrive just in time. You know, compared to the five-star hotel standards of our school’s lunch and dinner, the breakfast is worse than a roadside stall—all steamed buns, pork buns, and millet porridge. No one likes it. So, I bring my own food. Yesterday, I brought you food from a Cantonese restaurant I’ve eaten at before. They have dim sum. That red rice roll was super delicious, right?”

Ye Yu nodded noncommittally. Her eyes narrowed into slits. How many people’s breakfast does this person bring along the way? She feigned realization and agreed. “I see.”

At this point, Fang Zhile became even more indignant. She turned and accused Zhou Yunyi. “The friendship of bringing you food! Yet, for the sake of two miserable points, you attacked me so viciously! And you looked down on me for my bad grades! I’ve never met such a shameless person!”

Zhou Yunyi’s face turned white. She didn’t snap back as she usually did. Instead, she quickly looked up at Ye Yu. Ye Yu’s expression was unchanged. She looked at Zhou Yunyi along with Fang Zhile, the curve of her eyes still holding a hint of a smile. But for some reason, the more Zhou Yunyi looked at that smile, the more unsettling she found it.

She quickly hailed a taxi, grabbed her backpack straps, and apologized while bowing. “I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault. I won’t ever say anything bad about you again or ask you to bring me food. I have something to do tonight, so I’ll be going now.”

Fang Zhile tried to grab her arm, but Zhou Yunyi was too fast, and she missed.

“Hey, this person,” Fang Zhile ran a hand through her hair, then pointed at her own head toward Ye Yu. “Do you think there’s something wrong with her here?”

Ye Yu mused seriously for three seconds. “Could it be because the breakfast you brought was too terrible?”

Fang Zhile opened her mouth. What did the breakfast have to do with being attacked? Did she put laxatives in the breakfast, or did she bring Zhou Yunyi cilantro buns? Why was she being attacked? She wanted to ask, Why is Fang Zhile the only one who gets hurt in this world?

The words didn’t come out quickly enough due to her extensive internal complaining. Ye Yu spoke instead.

“Tell you what, I’ll bring breakfast from home next time,” Ye Yu’s eyes lit up. “The housekeeper at home can make lots of delicious food. You can order whatever you like.”

The housekeeper at the Ye family knew Ye Yu’s preferences well. Fang Zhile looked suspicious for a few seconds and asked the crucial question. “Do you eat breakfast in the morning?”

“I occasionally do,” Ye Yu smiled mischievously. “For example, when you brought me food today, I ate it.”

Fang Zhile thought that if this was an opportunity to cultivate Ye Yu’s good habit of eating breakfast, it might not be a bad idea, but something felt odd. “Will it be too much trouble for the housekeeper?”

A bright smile appeared on Ye Yu’s face, like a sudden spring breeze. Fang Zhile looked up at the sky. It’s autumn. Could something good be happening?

“Let’s go help you move first.” Ye Yu snapped her fingers. Two cars, which had been waiting outside the gate, pulled up, and a person got out of each.

Fang Zhile was good at recognizing faces. She immediately recognized one of them as Ye Yu’s bodyguard. Although he had been unilaterally sent home by Ye Yu to guard the house after she started high school, he occasionally served as a runner to deliver homework. Now, to make moving easier, he seemed to have been recalled to her side. The other person she didn’t know was likely from an outside moving company.

“Let’s take the car in front. Are your things all packed?” Ye Yu asked.

Fang Zhile measured the length, width, and height of the truck with her eyes, then took a few steps back to gauge the truck’s height off the ground. It was a large cargo truck. More precisely, it was a truck capable of scooping up Fang Zhile’s house and driving away. Furthermore, it had reinforced off-road tires that were thick enough to be bulletproof. This truck could move an entire house into the deep mountains without flipping over.

The small alley where she lived was only two meters wide. A five-seater sedan needed to honk constantly to get through, forcing all the aunties and uncles on the street to come out, curse, and push away the tricycles blocking the path. This truck appearing would escalate the situation from mere verbal fighting to a serious matter of people versus house—it looked like it was coming to forcibly demolish the house.

“I only have two bags. My entire house wouldn’t even fill that truck,” Fang Zhile raised her hand to rub her hair, then let it drop, sighing. “Using a sledgehammer to crack a nut is a personal choice, but brandishing a hammer this big in front of ordinary citizens like us is a bit inappropriate.”

As intelligent as Ye Yu was, she understood what Fang Zhile meant from her expression and felt a little annoyed. She asked the bodyguard, “Why did you rent this truck?”

The bodyguard didn’t know that Fang Zhile’s house was barely better than a shanty. He said stiffly, “Following Miss’s instructions, I picked the most expensive one.” The bodyguard stepped forward, gesturing with his hands. “This truck is two thousand a day, oil costs extra.”

“And this person,” the two-meter-tall bodyguard pointed to the moving assistant’s biceps. “He has the best muscles and the highest reviews. Of course, his strongest asset is his professional skill. Any house he moves is guaranteed to be restored to its original state, not one meter off. The moving company flew him in from Sichuan overnight. The flight cost is extra… ten thousand.”

Ye Yu propped her chin on her hand, frowning before he even finished.

Fang Zhile’s vision went black. She grabbed Ye Yu’s arm, pinching her own philtrum. Why did her small broken house need to be restored 100%?

“Ye Yu, let’s cancel this,” Fang Zhile said faintly. “I only have two bags. If you let go of me now, I can scan a bicycle, go home, and carry them back myself in less than half an hour.”

Ye Yu was clearly also dissatisfied. “This company is terrible. That’s all the money the most expensive one costs?”

Fang Zhile: …?

Fang Zhile gave Ye Yu an indescribable look. She felt like Ye Yu’s style had changed significantly lately. The previously mature, reserved, and aloof Ye Yu had suddenly transformed into a flamboyant, exaggerated show-off. She used to refuse to spend more than a hundred yuan on an ink stick! Her clothes were either school uniforms or casual wear! She ate at the cafeteria and lived at school, never being extravagant!

Fang Zhile suddenly recalled Ye Yu’s earlier questioning of the breakfast she brought her. She came to the absurd conclusion that the red rice roll this morning must have been fake. Was she hallucinating, or did Ye Yu take the wrong medicine? Fang Zhile went through an extremely complex thought process in a few seconds, eventually spitting out, “You’re right. The red rice roll this morning must have been expired. I shouldn’t have brought food.”

Ye Yu asked, “What?”

Fang Zhile took a deep breath. “I mean, it’s my fault for bringing the wrong food and making you think straight.”

“Are you talking about me?” Ye Yu pointed to herself, her beautiful eyes showing clear confusion, her tone soft. “There’s nothing wrong with my brain.”

Fang Zhile questioned her. “Are we not going to live our lives properly? You can’t spend money like this! Not only do I not need a moving company, but even if you hired a bodyguard to carry my bags, that truck is completely unnecessary.” Ye Yu’s eyes flickered. Just as she was about to speak, Fang Zhile raised her hand to stop her. “Besides, you told the bodyguard to choose the most expensive option without considering practicality. Are we on some mandatory mission where we have to spend money? This hasn’t made things easier for me; it’s just created more problems.”

It was the end of the school day. A huge truck and a luxury car parked outside the school gate were already conspicuous enough, not to mention the two large men and two beautiful girls.

Fang Zhile pulled her hair in frustration, frowning deeply. “Forget it. I won’t move to your place for now. Our spending habits seem too different. Let me go home and think about it.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Ye Yu’s voice faltered when she met Fang Zhile’s sharp, rejecting gaze. “I’ll listen to you. I’ll tell him to go back to the company right now.”

The bodyguard, who had been standing there for a long time, didn’t understand why Fang Zhile was being so difficult. Seeing his Miss’s eyes redden, he immediately jumped to her defense, cutting in coldly, “Miss, we still have to pay the full amount if we breach the contract.”

Ye Yu glared at him furiously. “Shut up!”

She turned back to talk to Fang Zhile, only to see that Fang Zhile had already slung her backpack over her shoulder and walked away.

“How long will you take to think!” Ye Yu only managed to shout that much.

Fang Zhile didn’t respond. Her home was in the opposite direction from Ye Yu’s apartment. She walked quickly, without looking back, soon blending into the stream of students and disappearing after turning the corner.

The bodyguard had restrained himself for a long time. “Which young lady is this? How can she get angry so easily and give you the cold shoulder? Our Ye family doesn’t tolerate that…”

“It’s all your fault!” Before he could finish, a backpack hit him.

“It’s all your fault! I clearly said to find the best one, no matter the cost, and you said the most expensive is the best, the more expensive the better! And look what happened!” Ye Yu’s eyes were red with anger, and the arm holding her backpack trembled slightly. “I finally got a little money and wanted to give her the best. I’ve never spent money before, and I don’t know how to spend it. I asked you to handle it, and this is how you handle it! Now, get out of my sight! I don’t want to see you again!”

The six-foot-three bodyguard immediately panicked. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, trembling as he tried to offer it to Ye Yu, only to have it slapped to the ground.

Ye Yu got into the car and told the driver to go. “Let’s go.”

The bodyguard clung to the window, pleading. “Miss, I was wrong! I thought she was moving a villa! It’s my fault for not checking properly, for being negligent! Please don’t cry…”

“Drive!” Ye Yu yelled.

The car drove away smoothly. Ye Yu stared fiercely into the rear-view mirror, feeling both angry and anxious. Tears almost burst forth. The moment she remembered Fang Zhile’s last words, she was too upset to speak.

Why won’t she live with me? What did she mean by needing to “reconsider”? What did she mean their spending habits were too different to live together? Couldn’t she just follow Fang Zhile’s habits?

She had never had much disposable income. She hadn’t spent much money and had no concept of finance. She had only managed to extract a small private fund from her father recently because she had something important to do. She had wanted to spend it all on Fang Zhile, but the attempt had been unsuccessful. She hadn’t accomplished the task and had even made Fang Zhile angry enough to leave. Since meeting Fang Zhile, she had never turned away from her or left her alone somewhere. Her current treatment was worlds apart from before.

Thinking about it, regret and self-blame, confusion and grievance, all overwhelmed her like an earthquake. It felt like collapsing rubble was pressing down on her chest, suffocating her. Her hands and feet were cold, and her eyes, once again, misted up against her will.