Сhарtеr 16: Вest Friends
Wеn Yао’s рuрils trembled slightly. Shе didn’t knоw how to еxplаin.
“Yоu didn’t соmе bаck fоr tоо lоng last time, sо I went to the venuе tо loоk fоr уоu. I sаw him holding уоur hаnd as yоu wаlked оut.”
Wen Yao tоok а deep brеath. Shе didn’t know whаt wаs wrong with her—shе just didn’t want Chi Ying to disсоvеr this еmbarrassing rеlаtiоnshiр.
She didn’t want it.
“Yеs… he’s mу boyfriеnd.”
Chi Ying walkеd over, hеr pretty brоws slightlу furrоwed, hеr tоne gentle.
“If thаt’s the саse, why didn’t уou want tо tell thеm?”
“Таng Li reаlly likes him, did уou know thаt?”
Wеn Yаo felt a bit ashamed. Chi Ying must think she wаs tеrrible—occuруing the positiоn оf Xie Zongxun’s girlfriend, watching others obsess over him, and hypocritically “generously” giving them his photos, all while secretly showing off and feeling smug inside.
She wasn’t like that. Wen Yao’s eyes reddened. She wanted to explain but didn’t know where to start.
Chi Ying gently hugged her.
“Yaoyao, doesn’t it hurt? I know you value friendship, but he’s your own boyfriend.”
“You have no obligation to share your boyfriend with them, Yaoyao. Love is selfish—be a little selfish, okay?”
Wen Yao was dazed by the hug.
Chi Ying was… thinking of her. She was worried that Wen Yao was hurting inside but keeping it to herself. How could she be so kind?
“…Sniff… How are you so good to me…?”
Chi Ying wiped her tears, her voice soft. “Why are you crying now?”
Wen Yao spoke sincerely, tears welling in her eyes. “You’re so good!”
“Silly.”
After calming down, Wen Yao explained to Chi Ying:
“We don’t want to make it public yet.”
Chi Ying frowned, looking displeased. “He doesn’t want to?”
“Neither of us wants to. It was a mutual decision.”
“It’s fine. I don’t care about all that.”
Hearing her relaxed tone, Chi Ying also breathed a sigh of relief.
“That’s true. Losing you would clearly be Xie Zongxun’s loss, so he’d naturally want to keep a closer eye on you.”
Wen Yao hugged Chi Ying again, breathing in her faint, fresh scent, feeling very comforted.
Unconsciously, she asked, “Are we good friends now? The kind that are really good friends?”
Chi Ying chuckled softly. “Yes, best friends.”
Wen Yao felt incredibly lucky.
That evening, Tang Li returned first, while Chi Ying went to the library to study.
Wen Yao thought for a moment and still gave Xie Zongxun’s photo to Tang Li.
Tang Li was immediately stunned. “Wow, did he give it to you himself?”
“So hot, wow!”
Wen Yao instinctively shook her head, feeling a bit troubled, and didn’t say anything more.
Tang Li was completely immersed in her excitement and didn’t pay much attention to Wen Yao’s reaction, climbing onto her bed instead.
After a while, she poked her head out again, looking dejected. “What are these marks? Does he have a girlfriend?”
Wen Yao pursed her lips. “No, those are mosquito bites. He went hiking, I think, and ended up like that.”
Tang Li exclaimed, her face lighting up with joy. “Thank you, Yaoyao!”
Before going to bed that night, Wen Yao opened her chat with Xie Zongxun.
Wen Liuliu: [I told a friend today that you’re my boyfriend. She saw you holding my hand when we left the stadium last time. She’s a very, very good friend of mine, but I don’t want her to know about the kind of relationship we have. She’ll keep it secret—is that okay?]
X: [What kind of relationship do we have?]Wen Liuliu: [I don’t know what kind of relationship this is. It’s just that if you tell me to do something with you, I have to do it. You give me money, arrange surgery for my grandmother, and get my sister into school. That kind of relationship.]
Wen Liuliu: [I never thought about being your girlfriend. Don’t worry, if you want to date someone else in the future, I won’t say anything, and I won’t cling to you.]
Wen Yao typed out a long message, her nose tingling unbearably. Originally, she could have worked hard, taken on part-time jobs, saved up money for her sister’s education and her grandmother’s medical treatment.
Even if it was a bit tough, it wouldn’t have mattered—she wasn’t afraid of hardship at all.
If things got better later, she could have bought herself some nice clothes, found a suitable boyfriend, had a normal relationship, and experienced a normal university life.
But now, all of that was gone, all of it impossible.
A long, long time passed—so long she was almost asleep—before the phone resting on her chest finally vibrated.
She squinted and picked it up to look.
X: [Got it.]
Xie Zongxun lay in bed, but there was no further reply from the other side.
He glanced at the cake in a bag on the small tea table.
He remembered Wen Yao’s smiling face from last night. Didn’t she want to eat it all? Yet today, she stubbornly refused to take a single piece.
Why leave it here? Did she expect him to be her garbage disposal?
He took out his phone again.
X: [I’ll pick you up. Come over tonight.]
Wen Liuliu: [Okay.]
Not a single word of protest. Xie Zongxun stared at his phone, almost as if he could bore a hole through it.
When he drove to the side gate, Wen Yao was standing under a tree with her backpack on. She was wearing the same long dress she had worn to see him, the hem swaying gently in the evening breeze.
Just standing there, she was a beautiful sight, and passersby couldn’t help but glance at her.
In the moment Xie Zongxun was lost in thought, Wen Yao had already spotted his car. She walked over at a fairly quick pace, reached the car, and quickly slipped inside.
Once in the car, she didn’t speak, quietly fastening her seatbelt on her own.
When they got home, Paopao wagged its tail and came over to nuzzle her. Wen Yao pursed her lips and glanced at it, showing little interest before heading upstairs.
Xie Zongxun’s brow twitched slightly as he looked at Paopao on the floor, his expression complicated.
When he returned to the room, the sound of running water came from the bathroom—Wen Yao was showering.
Xie Zongxun leaned against the bed, playing with his phone. Faintly, he could hear muffled sobs mixed with the sound of water. He frowned, unable to focus on anything on his phone.
Several times, he wanted to push open the bathroom door and go in, but he held back.
The bathroom door opened. Wen Yao didn’t wrap herself in a towel or bring any pajamas.
Her fair skin was covered in marks, old and new. Barefoot, she walked over to Xie Zongxun.
Xie Zongxun pursed his lips and watched her.
Wen Yao gently sat on his lap, her pale, delicate arms wrapping around his neck as she breathed warm air into his mouth.
Her kiss was slow and unhurried, tears still clinging to the corners of her eyes.
When he didn’t respond, Wen Yao lowered her gaze, her voice choked with tears, her expression stubborn.
“Isn’t this what you wanted?”
“Why aren’t you opening your mouth?”
“Isn’t this what you wanted to do?”
A wave of indescribable emotion surged in Xie Zongxun’s heart. The moment he saw her come out, that was indeed what he had thought.
But the look on her face afterward completely killed the idea.
He opened his mouth, his tone restrained.
“Tonight, I just want to hold you while we sleep. Nothing else.””I told you, Wen Yao, I don’t always want to do it with you.”
Xie Zongxun got up, took out her pajamas, and dressed her piece by piece. Wen Yao didn’t move, letting him handle everything.
Once she was dressed, Xie Zongxun held her in his arms and gently patted her back—a gesture that, to him, meant comfort.
It was an instinctive action, and he didn’t find anything wrong with it.
“I brought you back so you could eat cake.”
“Didn’t you want it yesterday?”
“Let’s eat it all today, okay? If we can’t finish it, we’ll just throw it away.”
Wen Yao still didn’t speak, quietly sobbing.
Xie Zongxun had already made the biggest concession. “If you can’t finish it, I’ll eat it, alright?”
Wen Yao knew—though she didn’t understand why—she could sense the bottom line in every word he said.
This was likely the biggest compromise he would make. If she kept pushing, she would be the one being unreasonable.
Pursing her lips, she whispered softly.
“Okay.”