Chapter 25: We Won’t Get Caught Up in This Too, Will We?

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At that very moment, what appeared before Tang Yu was a photograph of Qin Luo spreading beauty cream across her face with his finger.

Because of the angle, however, Tang Yu’s hair partially obscured Qin Luo’s hand, making it look as though he were gently caressing the side of her face.

In the photograph, Tang Yu had her eyes closed and remained perfectly still. Through the haze of the image, one could even glimpse a hint of girlish shyness. Qin Luo wore a faint smile, his gentle gaze seeming to rest upon the person he loved most.

Together, the two of them formed an exceptionally beautiful composition, its visual appeal in no way inferior to yesterday’s photograph of Qin Luo and Yao Yanyan smiling at each other on the forum.

Tang Yu could not help glancing at the poster’s ID: Nana Loves Photography.

She had an excellent memory, and if she was not mistaken, the photograph of Qin Luo and Yao Yanyan from the previous day had also been uploaded to the forum by her.

In the past, Tang Yu had never thought much of her classmates’ nosiness and love of gossip. But now, she felt that as the student union’s vice president, she ought to put a stop to it.

Sigh... She had guessed that someone would take a photograph and upload it to the forum, but she had never expected it to be a picture like this...

It was all Qin Luo’s fault. Why had he suddenly decided to apply skincare cream to her face?

That rotten little brother—just look at the mess you’ve made!

Tang Yu could not help complaining inwardly.

When she failed to respond for such a long time, the hostility in Xu Ke’s eyes became increasingly apparent.

She let out a cold laugh. “Would you two act so intimate if you were merely friends? Would you eat together if you were merely friends? Would you let him touch your face if you were merely friends?”

The corner of Tang Yu’s eye twitched, but her expression remained unchanged. “I told you, we’re only friends. In that photograph, he was helping me... helping me remove a grain of rice from my face.”

Xu Ke did not believe her in the slightest. She gave another cold laugh. “You’re still lying to me? Hah. I never thought someone as proper as you would actually lie for another person... Is Qin Luo really that wonderful? Yao Yanyan too, and now you. Both of you betrayed me for him?”

“Like I care,” Yao Yanyan retorted from the bed.

Xu Ke ignored her and kept her eyes fixed on Tang Yu.

Compared with Yao Yanyan, she was far angrier with Tang Yu now.

Yesterday, Qin Luo and Yao Yanyan had done little more than sit together in class. Although the song he had sung was directed at Yao Yanyan, it had been written because of Xu Ke. The worst thing they had done was go out together to have fun. After spending the night processing her feelings, and after Qin Luo had removed her from his blacklist, she no longer cared quite so much about what had happened the day before.

Tang Yu, however, was different. Just yesterday, Tang Yu had kept comforting her, telling her that Qin Luo still liked her. Yet Xu Ke had never imagined that one day later, Tang Yu would already have grown close to Qin Luo—and that he would even be touching her face.

In Xu Ke’s eyes, such an intimate gesture was something only lovers should share. Yet Qin Luo had done it with Tang Yu. How could she possibly accept that?

Tang Yu could tell that Xu Ke was furious. Her agitation was even greater than it had been yesterday when she confronted Yao Yanyan.

By nature, Tang Yu was unwilling to humble herself for anyone. But when she considered that she did bear some responsibility for what had happened, and that she did not want the relationship between her roommates to develop an even deeper rift, she had no choice but to soothe her gently.

“Xu Ke, calm down first. Things aren’t the way you think. I ate with Qin Luo for two reasons. First, he helped me today. Second, I wanted to ask him about his feelings for you—to find out whether he still likes you.”

Xu Ke’s eyes lit up, and she asked somewhat urgently, “And? What did he say?”

Tang Yu hesitated for a moment before finally choosing to tell the truth.

“Yanyan didn’t lie to you yesterday. He really did say that he doesn’t like you anymore.”

The moment those words left her mouth, an eerie silence descended upon the dormitory.

Yao Yanyan cast Xu Ke a mocking glance. Chu Sijin, who had been eating potato chips, unconsciously began chewing faster, as though she had reached the most exciting part of a movie. Chu Liunian, meanwhile, had completely lost interest in anime and video games. Her eyes kept shifting between Tang Yu and Xu Ke, and no one knew what was going through her mind.

After a while, Xu Ke suddenly laughed.

She shook her head and slowly sat back down in her chair. When she looked at Tang Yu again, her eyes were cold to the extreme. The corners of her lips were slightly raised, but there was not the slightest trace of a smile.

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“Tang Yu, I really never expected this. I used to like you so much, yet this is how you treat me now.”

“The things you said to me yesterday were only meant to comfort me, weren’t they? In truth, the moment you lay down, you immediately started chatting with Qin Luo, didn’t you?”

“I was wondering why Qin Luo had suddenly stopped replying to my messages. So it was because of you. You were deliberately interfering between us!”

“You’ve even gone so far as to share intimate gestures with him, yet now you still claim that you’re only friends and that you ate with him to help me? You even joined Yao Yanyan in deceiving me.”

“Tang Yu, don’t you think what you’re saying is incredibly hypocritical?”

Xu Ke poured out a torrent of words. Normally, she was an aloof beauty who rarely spoke more than ten words to strangers and usually responded with nothing more than a quiet “Mm” or a shake of the head. The fact that she had said so much made it clear just how agitated she was.

Compared with her, Tang Yu’s emotions were hardly calm either.

This dignified and striking beauty had never before been cursed at so directly. Her expression shifted repeatedly, her chest rising and falling as she struggled desperately to restrain her temper.

But Xu Ke’s aggressive attitude and hurtful words were simply too much for her to ignore.

I went to find him for your sake, and now you’re blaming me?

The corners of Tang Yu’s lips twitched. She seemed almost to have been angered into laughter. Her previously rigid expression suddenly took on a strange smile, and the calm gentleness in her eyes as she looked at Xu Ke vanished.

In its place was a chill hardly less intense than Xu Ke’s own.

Xu Ke narrowed her eyes. She hated being looked at that way. “What are you laughing at?”

Tang Yu’s smile did not change, but there was an unusual note of mockery in her voice.

“Nothing. I just suddenly realized... you really have terrible judgment.”

Yao Yanyan, who had been watching the spectacle from the side, raised an eyebrow. Xu Ke’s expression immediately darkened.

She had heard those exact words only the night before—and then, they had come from Yao Yanyan.

She understood perfectly what they meant. They were saying that refusing Qin Luo’s confession had been proof of her poor judgment.

Gritting her teeth, she replied, “What does my judgment have to do with either of you? Qin Luo is the one who likes me. What right do you have to criticize me?”

Yao Yanyan finally let out a derisive laugh. “Pathetic.”

For once, Tang Yu joined in smoothly. “Pitiful.”

The fact that both of them had grown close to Qin Luo had already made Xu Ke furious. Now, seeing them join forces and mock her in unison, she felt as though she had been betrayed by the entire world.

This time, however, Tang Yu and Yao Yanyan gave her no opportunity to explode. In perfect默契, they left the dormitory together, no one knowing what they had gone to do.

The small dormitory instantly fell silent, leaving only Xu Ke and the Chu sisters inside.

Xu Ke stared at the tightly closed door, gritted her teeth, and remained silent for a long while. Finally, she lowered herself onto the desk and lay there without making a sound.

The Chu sisters exchanged a glance and began communicating secretly through the unique telepathy shared by twins.

“This is so exciting. I’m eating chips even faster than when I watch horror movies.”

“It’s way too exciting. If we had a show like this every day, why would I bother playing games or following anime?”

“Speaking of which, if they keep arguing like this, won’t something bad happen? We won’t get dragged into it too, will we?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Neither of us has anything to do with Qin Luo. No matter what happens, there’s no way we’ll get dragged into it.”

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“True.”

Thus reassured, Chu Sijin quietly slipped her chubby little hand back into the bag of potato chips.

Suddenly, Xu Ke, who had been lying on the desk, raised her head.

She looked toward the Chu sisters on the bed. The coldness and fury that had previously blazed in her eyes had vanished completely, replaced by glimmering tears and a trace of pleading.

At once, the sisters sensed that something was wrong.

Chu Sijin’s small hand froze among the chips. After a moment’s hesitation, she asked, “Um... Xu Ke, are you all right?”

Chu Liunian hesitated as well. “Would you like me to play a couple of games with you? It might help you relax.”

Xu Ke pressed her lips together and spoke softly. “Sijin, Liunian, could you do me a favor?”

The sisters swallowed and asked in unison, “W-what kind of favor?”

“It’s simple. I want you to find Qin Luo and ask him face-to-face whether he still likes me.”

At once, the sisters’ expressions became utterly miserable and awkward.

Chu Sijin pulled a potato chip from the bag with an aggrieved look and pleaded, “I can’t do that. Why don’t you just have a chip instead? I have other snacks too. You can have whatever you want.”

Chu Liunian was equally helpless. “Xu Ke, you know I’m not interested in real-world men at all. I can’t help you with something like this. Why don’t I play a few games with you instead?”

When the sisters refused, Xu Ke’s voice suddenly became weak and plaintive.

“Please help me. Yao Yanyan and Tang Yu are both scheming behind my back. They don’t want Qin Luo to pursue me anymore. You two are the only ones I can rely on now. Please help me, all right?”

After a pause, she added, “You only need to ask him that one question. Once you’re done, I’ll give Sijin a whole gift box of snacks. And Liunian, I’ll give you a limited-edition figure.”

The sisters were about to refuse again, but the moment they heard the words snacks and figure, they instinctively swallowed.

Although the sisters liked different things, their reactions when faced with something they loved were exactly the same. Faced with Xu Ke’s tempting offer, neither of them could bring herself to say no.

They exchanged a knowing glance.

“We just said this had nothing to do with us. Look what happened. This is all because you took pleasure in our misfortune.”

“How is that my fault? The one who’s wrong isn’t me. It’s the world!”

“So what do we do now? Agree to help her?”

“We have no choice. We’re friends, after all... But how are we supposed to help?”

“I don’t know. Haven’t you played lots of dating games? You have tons of romantic experience. You go.”

“All we have to do is ask whether he still likes Xu Ke. We can ask him directly. What does romantic experience have to do with it? You go.”

“You’re the younger sister, so you go first! I’m the older sister; I should let my little sister go ahead.”

“You’re the older sister, so you go first! I’m the younger sister; you should let me go ahead!”

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