Because of the small episode in the alley, Bo Liye found her lunch tasteless.
It wasn’t because of the romantic history of Qin Mingyan’s elders, rather, the thought that Qin Mingyan had grown up in such an environment from childhood made Bo Liye feel quite uneasy.
Despite having enviable grades at school, she had to endure so many strange looks in this narrow lane.
Yet, Qin Mingyan seemed remarkably self-accepting. After facing such an incident, her appetite was even better than before. Her clean, clear eyes occasionally drifted toward Bo Liye, filled with cautious testing and the anxiety of repeated confirmation.
It wasn’t until they finished a set of papers in the afternoon that Bo Liye finally couldn’t stand Qin Mingyan’s “fledgling like” gaze any longer. She tapped the table twice: “From now on, come back to my house with me every weekend. It’ll save you from seeing those people and ruining your mood.”
Qin Mingyan froze. Her gaze, like a cold mist, dropped back down: “That is the home of you and your parents. It’s not appropriate for me to keep staying there as a guest.”
Why is she acting so formal again?
Bo Liye chuckled: “Are you afraid they’ll find out?”
She spun her pen a couple of times and stood up. The shadow cast by the blocked light fell across the desk. She reached out, using the body of the pen to tilt up Qin Mingyan’s chin: “Then move out and live with me on the weekends. My family has several empty apartments near Haichuan, you can take your pick.”
Qin Mingyan seemed even more confused: “Why?”
Bo Liye retracted the pen, her tone lazy: “Why does there have to be a ‘why’?”
It wasn’t just because of the local gossip, but also because of the last time the Qin family had hired thugs to find her. Lately, Bo Liye had been keeping an eye on the other sons and daughters of the Qin family, trying to guess which one was looking for trouble with Qin Mingyan.
“Your father’s side… the Qins. They haven’t looked for you again, have they?”
Qin Mingyan stared at Bo Liye without speaking.
Gradually, a thought occurred to Bo Liye that she had never asked about before: “Have you ever thought about returning to the Qin family?”
Qin Mingyan’s eyelashes trembled. She stared blankly at the cartoon icon on Bo Liye’s T-shirt, her voice very soft: “Do you think I should go back?”
Of course not.
It wasn’t like the Qin family was short on children. If they truly valued Qin Mingyan’s bloodline, they should have brought her back to raise her over a decade ago. Appearing only now, they undoubtedly saw Qin Mingyan’s excellent grades and wanted to take her back to serve as a free assistant to the children of the legal wife.
What was this? Looking for a bargain?
And they were trying to snatch a bargain right from under her nose?
The moment Bo Liye imagined Qin Mingyan returning to the Qin family, no longer being her tutor, no longer being obedient to her, her eyebrows furrowed involuntarily.
She stood up and sat on the edge of the table next to Qin Mingyan. Qin Mingyan’s gaze followed her upward.
Bo Liye took the opportunity to stroke her cheek: “I think…”
Bo Liye’s face showed no trace of her displeasure regarding the Qin family, she remained smiling: “With your grades being so good now, even if you want to go back, you should wait until after the Gaokao. Let your father hold a high-profile graduation banquet and bring you back with glory.”
“But if you ask me, I can clearly give you much more than that father of yours who has a dozen kids. As long as you can give me a satisfactory Gaokao score, then after graduation, whether you want to go into politics or business, my parents will be very willing to help you achieve your dreams.”
“Compared to the Qin family, what does the Bo family lack? As long as you are obedient and stay by my side, everything I have can be shared with you. In the Qin family, you’d be ranked behind a dozen people, in the Bo family, it’s different.”
Bo Liye smiled slightly, continuously coaxing Qin Mingyan. Her youthful face didn’t make these words sound like an exaggeration, instead, they carried a touch of sincerity unique to her age.
However, Qin Mingyan shook her head.
The smile on Bo Liye’s face froze.
Just as a visible flash of displeasure appeared in her eyes, Qin Mingyan proactively took her hand.
Bo Liye was stunned for a moment, looking down at her palm being held.
“If I choose to go back, you won’t just ignore me, right?” Qin Mingyan’s eyes were fixed on Bo Liye. Her dark pupils didn’t seem fierce at this moment; instead, they held a clear, cold stubbornness.
Bo Liye felt as if she’d been scratched by a kitten, yet she still said: “The Qin family has impure motives toward you.”
Qin Mingyan remained silent for a while, then slowly leaned toward Bo Liye. Her chest pressed against Bo Liye’s hand, rubbing against it twice before being hurriedly pushed away by Bo Liye.
The push happened to land right on her heart, causing a bit of pain. Qin Mingyan ignored the ache and clumsily leaned back in, submissive, like a pet that had finally been tamed. As long as Bo Liye wanted it, Qin Mingyan would expose her softest spots for her to touch.
“I won’t stay in the Qin family for long. I just want to fulfill my mother’s wish.”
The shift in Qin Mingyan’s attitude felt somewhat surreal to Bo Liye. Was it because she hadn’t discriminated against Qin Mingyan after learning about the scandalous affairs of her female elder, causing Qin Mingyan to completely open her heart?
Was it… really this easy?
Bo Liye didn’t believe it immediately, but she thoroughly enjoyed Qin Mingyan’s submissiveness in this moment. She decided to go with the flow and take advantage of the situation while observing whether Qin Mingyan was truly becoming dependent on her.
Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but squeeze Qin Mingyan firmly. As expected, she saw Qin Mingyan hunch over and lean against her lap, yet she didn’t dare move away.
A pleasant smile hung on Bo Liye’s face as she said insincerely: “I seem to have used a bit too much force. Are you okay? Does it hurt? I’ll blow on it and it won’t hurt anymore.”
After saying that, she pulled Qin Mingyan up to sit together on the table. She blew on the spot she had pinched while gently rubbing it with light pressure, as if comforting a beloved pet: “It doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t hurt. I’ll definitely be more careful next time.”
Then, she suddenly used a bit of force to pinch again before letting go, apologizing once more without much sincerity: “See, I’ve written too many assignments today, my hand can’t control the strength well. I’m truly sorry.”
Having said that, she leaned against Qin Mingyan’s face and asked leisurely: “Why are you so obedient today?”
Qin Mingyan’s body trembled.
“Why are you so nervous?” Bo Liye kissed Qin Mingyan’s lips, but did not go deep, just a shallow graze.
Her fingernails lightly scratched the delicate skin several times. Qin Mingyan bit her lip tightly, but mist gradually rose in her eyes, pooling at the corners as if she might burst into tears at any moment.
But Bo Liye would not be soft-hearted.
She had originally thought she liked Qin Mingyan’s aloofness that kept people at a distance, she wanted to break Qin Mingyan’s backbone. But at this moment, she realized she also liked the way Qin Mingyan bowed her head to her. For a lofty, straight-A student to surrender only to her and voluntarily at that, wasn’t that also quite enjoyable?
Finally, as if unable to take the interrogation any longer, Qin Mingyan spoke: “…Only you treat me like a normal person.”
Her breathing was somewhat unsteady, but her voice carried a restrained calmness, making the authenticity of this answer feel absolute.
Just a normal person…
This answer made Bo Liye feel a pang of pity.
She stared intently at Qin Mingyan.
They locked eyes for an unknown amount of time before Qin Mingyan asked softly: “Will you… like me?”
Bo Liye looked down.
Qin Mingyan was leaning against her, her breathing becoming very, very light.
She looked so pitiful.
Bo Liye had emphasized their relationship to Qin Mingyan many times, but in this moment, she felt she could indulge her a little.
Her thumb gently rubbed Qin Mingyan’s right ear. Only when Qin Mingyan’s breathing grew tighter did she say unhurriedly: “Yes, I have always liked you.”
Once a certain kind of indulgence is granted, it tends to escalate. In the days that followed, to prove that she indeed treated Qin Mingyan as a normal person, Bo Liye took her along for almost everything.
At school, the two became increasingly close, and Bo Liye became more permissive toward her.
This intimacy wasn’t just superficial, it was an atmosphere between them that even Bo Liye’s friends noticed.
Xia Yiwen sat by the window, watching Bo Liye from afar as she scribbled furiously at her desk even after class ended. Having chewed through half a bag of potato chips, she finally couldn’t help but pat Gu Baifan: “Don’t you think Xiao Ye has been a bit weird lately?”
Gu Baifan snatched the remaining half-bag of chips, tossed some into his mouth, and looked toward Bo Liye: “Not really. Isn’t the first mock exam coming up? Her mom is strict, she probably wants her to go into politics, so she has to get into a top domestic university, right?”
Xia Yiwen thought that made sense, but it still felt off: “But she rarely eats with us lately, and she doesn’t order takeout with us anymore. Oh, and during last night’s self-study, she asked me to get an extra cake, specifically a low-sugar one. I’d already finished shopping but had to wait in line for an extra half-hour.”
The more she thought about it, the more suspicious she became. She pushed Gu Baifan aside and walked toward Bo Liye.
Gu Baifan was busy looking for a napkin to wipe his hands, by the time he tried to stop her, Xia Yiwen was already in front of Bo Liye: “Who was that cake for that I bought you last night? Was it for that sophomore junior from last time? I waited an extra half-hour for it. I didn’t realize she was so picky and difficult to please?”
Nearby, Qin Mingyan, who was working on a set of corrections, paused her pen. She looked up and glanced at Xia Yiwen.
Xia Yiwen immediately felt a bit embarrassed: “Class Monitor, keep doing your homework. I’ll try to keep my voice down.”
Then she pestered Bo Liye again about the cake. Bo Liye, annoyed by the questioning, said coldly: “You’re disturbing my studying too.”
Xia Yiwen was stunned.
“No, I’m just asking about the cake. What’s wrong with you? Grinding through papers all day without a break, did you make these test scores your girlfriend?”
Gu Baifan hurried over to pull Xia Yiwen away, signaling her frantically with his eyes.
Xia Yiwen finally shut up: “Ah, I just remembered I have homework I haven’t written yet. Yeah, I’m going, I’m going.”
After the two left, Bo Liye glanced at Qin Mingyan. As expected, Qin Mingyan had already resumed her train of thought and was writing the solution to a large problem, needing no time to recalibrate.
No wonder Qin Mingyan took first place in Haichuan every time.
Watching Qin Mingyan’s focused expression, Bo Liye involuntarily recalled the contrast of Qin Mingyan proactively offering her chest to her hand that day. She was lost in thought for a long while.
She was snapped out of it when the tail of Qin Mingyan’s pen tapped her forehead. Bo Liye’s face immediately darkened: “What are you doing?”
Qin Mingyan pointed at the podium and said calmly: “The English teacher is here.”
Annoyed, Bo Liye snatched the test paper and exercise book out of Qin Mingyan’s hands, throwing her words back at her: “The English teacher is here, so why are you doing Physics?”
The English teacher called a few students to the office to help carry new review materials. Qin Mingyan was one of them.
Bo Liye waved gloatingly at Qin Mingyan as she left. Once she was gone, Bo Liye flipped open that Physics exercise book. The very first page featured a complex problem that Qin Mingyan had explained to her three times, nearly driving her crazy.
Bo Liye acted as if she’d picked up a fireball and quickly threw the “hot” book back.
At noon, Bo Liye had lunch with Gu Baifan and the others. The entire meal was dominated by Xia Yiwen’s voice, complaining incessantly about Bo Liye’s unusual behavior and demanding an explanation.
“Was that cake for our straight-A student? You spend every day with her lately and ignore me. You aren’t… actually getting serious about her, are you?”
Serious?
Bo Liye thought to herself that she’d already given Qin Mingyan so much money, if she wasn’t “serious” about managing her investment, wouldn’t that be a loss?
However, the palms holding her chopsticks began to sweat slightly, and a feeling she couldn’t quite describe spread through her heart.
“The cake was for my mom. She called last minute saying she wasn’t coming back. You waited in line so long, I couldn’t just throw it away, right? So I just gave it to her.”
Xia Yiwen hadn’t expected that answer and immediately brightened up: “I thought you were for real with her, staying together every day. Scared me to death.”
Bo Liye was getting irritated: “I stay with her because we’re seatmates. Can’t you see I’m grinding through papers every day?”
Xia Yiwen leaned on Bo Liye’s shoulder, patting her to apologize: “My bad, my bad, okay?”
Bo Liye found it funny and moved her shoulder: “What’s wrong with you today, constantly bringing up Qin Mingyan?”
“Count for yourself how many weekends you haven’t come out with us. Can’t I express a little dissatisfaction?” Xia Yiwen’s voice turned piteous. “The Saturday after the first mock exam is my birthday. You have to come, and you have to get me an expensive gift.”
“So you’re just robbing me now?” Bo Liye laughed, waving her hand like a generous heiress. “Fine, I’ll send it. Something expensive. I’ll definitely be there for your birthday.”
Xia Yiwen leaned back in with a grin: “Then can I invite that sophomore junior? And my relative Xia Lin, and Zhao Qin…”
Hearing this, Bo Liye felt something was off: “Are you picking a harem for me?”
Why were they all people who had confessed to her before?
Xia Yiwen rubbed her nose: “Well, everyone in my circle of friends, guys and girls alike, has liked you at some point. I asked because I thought you and the straight-A student really had something going on, and I didn’t want their presence to affect your relationship.”
“What relationship could it affect…”
Just then, as luck would have it, Qin Mingyan was walking out of the cafeteria. Bo Liye’s gaze followed her back until she completely disappeared.
Qin Mingyan’s question, “Will you… like me?”, popped up at an inopportune moment.
Mixed with Xia Yiwen’s phrase: “Afraid it would affect your relationship.”
Her heart felt swollen, as if something were pressing against it.
Xia Yiwen asked again: “So, can I invite them all together?”
Bo Liye retracted her gaze. After a moment of silence, she said: “It’s your birthday, so of course you’re the boss.”