Meng Jiao had fought a brilliant counterattack and was feeling quite pleased with herself.
Sun Xiaofeng had been put in her place and definitely wouldn’t dare bother her again anytime soon. The village gossip had also died down.
She felt the sky was bluer, the grass greener, and even manual labor became more energizing.
She thought about how Gu Yan had contributed significantly to her recent success. Not to mention how he had carried her home and saved her from drowning – he had been a great help time and again.
Both emotionally and logically, she ought to properly thank him.
After work that day, Meng Jiao deliberately pocketed two pieces of fruit hard candy she had been saving and waited by the path where Gu Yan often went to gather firewood.
Spotting Gu Yan approaching from afar with a bundle of firewood on his back, Meng Jiao brightened her face and quickly went to meet him. “Gu Yan!”
Gu Yan paused his steps and glanced up at her.
Just one glance.
But his eyes were dark and devoid of warmth, even colder than when they first didn’t know each other.
Then, as if he hadn’t seen her at all, he walked straight past her without even slowing his pace.
Meng Jiao’s smile froze on her face, her candy-offering hand awkwardly suspended in mid-air.
Huh? What was going on?
She stood rooted to the spot, watching Gu Yan’s retreating back grow increasingly distant, feeling utterly bewildered.
“Gu Yan?” she tentatively called out again.
The figure ahead showed no reaction whatsoever and soon disappeared around the bend.
Withdrawing her hand, Meng Jiao looked at the two pieces of fruit candy in her palm and furrowed her delicate eyebrows.
What was wrong with this guy? Had he taken the wrong medicine, or had someone upset him? Why was he suddenly giving her the cold shoulder?
She thought back – she hadn’t offended him recently. No, actually, ever since dealing with Sun Xiaofeng last time, something had felt off.
Before, they would occasionally cross paths, and he would glance at her, or when she thanked him, he would at least grunt in acknowledgment.
But these past few days, he had been completely treating her like air.
Meng Jiao couldn’t understand it.
She had spoken that way to clarify the rumors and for his own good!
Wouldn’t it be more troublesome for him if such gossip spread about him?
Clearing their relationship was the best choice for both of them.
Why couldn’t he appreciate her intentions?
“Hmph! Fine if you don’t want to talk! Who cares anyway!”
Meng Jiao was getting angry too. She stuffed the candy back into her pocket and stormed home in a huff.
It was like the dog that bit Lü Dongbin – unable to recognize a good-hearted person. She couldn’t be bothered to warm up to his cold reception anymore!
And so, a baffling cold war quietly began.
Gu Yan remained his usual unapproachable self. When he encountered Meng Jiao on the road, he would look straight ahead without glancing sideways. During group work, he absolutely refused to be assigned to the same team as Meng Jiao. Even when Meng Jiao deliberately spoke loudly to Xiao Cao near him, he acted as if he heard nothing.
At first, Meng Jiao tried to convey her dissatisfaction and confusion through meaningful looks, but later realized it was like casting pearls before swine. She grew furious too.
So what if he helped a few times? She wasn’t going to put up with this!
She began following his example – whenever she saw Gu Yan, she would lift her small chin and pretend not to see him.
Though they lived in adjacent areas and moved in the same work circles, they managed to create an atmosphere where “kings avoid meeting each other.”
Xiao Cao, caught between them, felt the chill.
“Jiaojiao sister, what’s going on between you and Gu Yan…? Did you have a fight?”
“Who’s fighting with him? I don’t even know him!” Meng Jiao stubbornly insisted.
Xiao Cao: “…”
But just recently you had him carry you and hid in his embrace.
Oh well, she didn’t know what to say either. Probably the two were having some kind of disagreement.
That day while fetching water, Meng Jiao swayed unsteadily as she carried a half-filled bucket, walking with some difficulty.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Gu Yan approaching from the other side. She immediately straightened her back, pretending it was effortless, and quickened her pace.
Gu Yan’s footsteps seemed to slow slightly. His gaze lingered on her slightly trembling hand for a moment, his lips twitched as if to speak, but in the end he did nothing and walked away even faster.
Watching his almost fleeing figure, that inexplicable anger surged up in Meng Jiao again.
Though she didn’t know why, there was a trace of grievance mixed in that even she hadn’t noticed.
She slammed the bucket down, splashing water everywhere.
“Unreasonable! Moody! Weirdo!”
She decided then – unless he spoke first, she absolutely, absolutely wouldn’t be the first to say another word to him!
This friendship wasn’t worth keeping anyway! They were just ordinary acquaintances!
Meanwhile, Gu Yan, who had walked away quickly, pressed his lips tightly together, also feeling stifled.
So in her heart, they were just ordinary acquaintances, not even friends…
Then what about all those times she smiled at him, thanked him, leaned on his back…
He had thought they were at least friends.
An indescribable sense of loss and irritation wrapped around his youthful heart like vines.
Not knowing how to express himself, he could only use the most clumsy silence and distance to hide those awkward feelings he didn’t even understand himself.
Two young teenagers – one thinking the other ungrateful, the other feeling boundaries had been drawn – each stubbornly determined to see this inexplicable cold war through to the end.
But since distancing herself from Gu Yan, Meng Jiao felt like life had lost some of its flavor.
Though she told herself she didn’t care, every time she saw Gu Yan treating her like air, little sparks of anger would still ignite in her heart.
That evening, the sunset dyed the horizon orange-red.
Meng Jiao was hanging laundry in her small yard. Her home and Gu Yan’s were separated only by a fence – if she stood on her toes, she could see the general situation in the opposite yard.
As she stood on tiptoe, struggling to hang a slightly thicker jacket on the clothesline, her eyes unconsciously drifted toward the neighboring yard.
And what she saw made her freeze.
Peeking out from behind a tree in the neighboring yard was half a head – none other than Gu Yan’s.
He clearly hadn’t expected Meng Jiao to suddenly look over. Their eyes met unexpectedly across the fence.
Gu Yan froze completely, as if struck by a paralysis spell.
His usually expressionless face showed obvious panic for the first time, his eyes widening suddenly, the roots of his ears turning bright red at visible speed – even more vivid than the sunset.
He probably wanted to duck back immediately, but his body wouldn’t obey, leaving him stupidly maintaining his peeking posture, staring wide-eyed at Meng Jiao.
Meng Jiao was also stunned.
She even forgot to lower the clothes she was holding.
He… was he peeking at her?
That look just now was clearly directed at her – not an accidental glance, but that kind of focused, stealthy watching.
In that instant, Meng Jiao’s inexplicable anger and grievance seemed to vanish all at once.
So this guy didn’t really want to treat her like air? Then why had he been putting on that stern face before?
Meng Jiao suddenly felt like laughing.
She deliberately put on a stern face, hung the clothes in her hands properly, then placed her hands on her hips, striking a spoiled and willful pose. Raising her voice toward the other side, she called out, “Hey! Gu Yan! What are you looking at? Do I have flowers on my face? Or is my yard prettier than yours?”