Chapter 10: Who doesn’t have their own little schemes?

Su Wan’er’s face was as red as a ripe apple.

She clutched a 2D anime girl body pillow to her chest, rolling back and forth on her bed.

Finally, she shyly buried her entire face into the pillow, her two fair, slender legs kicking twice before she went completely still.

Right now, Su Wan’er hoped that Gu Bai hadn’t seen the message she sent, yet for some reason, she also felt a flicker of longing to receive a response.

After all, this empty, blank chat window looked far too lonely.

*

“Ping, ping, ping…”

While Su Wan’er was struggling with her thoughts, her phone rang.

A line of text appeared in that empty chat window.

“Is something the matter?”

“Oh!!!”

Upon seeing this response, Su Wan’er let out a cute, mournful cry.

‘He must think I’m a strange person now! I don’t want this!’

At that moment, Su Wan’er was like a shrimp on land, twisting and turning, unable to settle down at all.

As her trembling hands hovered over the phone, wondering what to type, a confused voice came from behind her.

“Wan’er, who are you chatting with?”

“Waa!”

Startled by the sudden sound behind her, Su Wan’er hastily turned off her phone screen and looked back.

Standing by her bed was a tomboyish girl who adjusted the brim of her baseball cap and teased, “Are you messaging your boyfriend?”

“No… it’s not a boyfriend.”

Su Wan’er responded with a red face, but the other girl just laughed out loud and said, “So you’re not denying he’s a man, then?”

“Ugh!”

Only then did Su Wan’er realize she had been tricked by her own best friend.

Blushing with embarrassment and annoyance, she exclaimed, “Lai Weiyi, I… I don’t have that kind of relationship with him.”

“I know, I know, hahaha! I was just teasing you because your blushing face is so cute.”

Lai Weiyi tossed her baseball cap aside, her cropped hair exposed to the air.

She brushed her bangs and asked, “So? What are you doing?”

Lai Weiyi was one of the few friends who had remained by Su Wan’er’s side after the incident in high school.

Her carefree, tomboyish personality didn’t care about those rumors, and she trusted Su Wan’er’s account, even defending her reputation many times.

“I found the person who saved me back in high school.”

Lai Weiyi sat on the edge of the bed, surprised, and said, “That quickly?”

“Yeah, I never dared to imagine I’d find him again so soon…”

“I mean, you added him on WeChat so quickly.”

“…”

Su Wan’er felt a bit exhausted.

Her best friend was a good person, but her personality was so erratic that Su Wan’er often struggled to keep up with her train of thought.

Helpless, Su Wan’er forced the topic back.

“I want to repay him, but I honestly don’t know how to bring it up.”

As she spoke, Su Wan’er handed over her phone.

Lai Weiyi looked at the blank chat window, the notice that said “You retracted a message,” and Gu Bai’s sentence, feeling a bit speechless for a moment.

“Uh… your benefactor seems quite cold, doesn’t he?”

“He wasn’t like this before.”

Su Wan’er recalled the first time she met Gu Bai.

When she was in despair, this boy had stood up for her and saved her.

At that time, standing before her, he felt like a reassuring, towering mountain.

When he finished settling everything and pulled her up, he was like a spring breeze, providing her with the greatest comfort.

Regrettably, before she could say anything, a blood-covered Gu Bai hurried away.

It had been 1 year since they parted ways.

When she saw him again, he had changed significantly, but she was certain that he was the person who had saved her.

‘Maybe he became like this because of my sister?’

Su Wan’er couldn’t help but think to herself.

“I see…”

Lai Weiyi clapped her hand against her palm and asked, “So how do you plan to repay him? Ask him out for a meal?”

“I… I don’t have the courage for that.”

Compared to her sister, Su Wan’er was relatively timid and shy.

Asking Gu Bai out on her own was difficult—truly, extremely difficult.

Lai Weiyi scratched her head and said, “That’s a headache… after all, looking at you, you silly girl, it seems you really like him.”

“N-no, I don’t!”

As Su Wan’er refuted Lai Weiyi, her phone rang again with a “ping, ping, ping.”

On the screen, a contact named “Sister” had sent a message.

“Tomorrow is the weekend. My friend said Gu Bai usually goes for a morning jog at the park outside the school around this time. Please go and see him for me.”

She didn’t let Lai Weiyi see this message.

But as Su Wan’er read it, she developed some small private thoughts.

Although this was her sister’s task…

Couldn’t she have some other intentions of her own?

—

By the next day, Gu Bai still didn’t understand what Su Wan’er had been thinking when she sent “Good evening” and then retracted it.

Still, the feeling was quite surreal.

After all, in the past, he was usually the one sending those kinds of things to others.

Although he couldn’t figure it out, Gu Bai’s plans for today remained unchanged.

He intended to go for a morning jog, then resign from all those messy, miscellaneous part-time jobs in the afternoon to give those bosses a proper notice.

“Hubby~ Take care~”

Before he left, Gu Mixue, slurring the words “Brother” and “Hubby” together, waved a white handkerchief with tears in her eyes.

It left Gu Bai speechless as he responded, “Are you doing this on purpose, or was it an accident?”

“Hehe~”

Gu Mixue winked playfully and slammed the door shut, leaving Gu Bai to sigh in place.

Following his plans for the day, Gu Bai started from his home and jogged forward along the street.

The elderly people around the park were already quite familiar with this young man who frequented the area.

After exchanging greetings, Gu Bai began his morning run.

However, he hadn’t gone more than a few steps before he spotted a familiar figure standing at the intersection.

“Su Shuhao?”

Gu Bai glanced at the person and frowned.

Just as he was about to take a detour, he realized “Su Shuhao” had already reached him.

She handed him the breakfast and bottled water she was holding and said, “G-good morning, Gu Bai.”

For some reason, the usually haughty Su Shuhao felt completely different now.

Gu Bai could tell that she was nervous, which would have been impossible in the past.

“Sorry, I’ve already eaten.”

Just as Gu Bai was about to decline her kindness, he saw Su Shuhao stand right in front of him, holding the water out toward him.

Her eyes, which should have been arrogant, were very gentle and timid at this moment.

“It’s normal to let you have some water, right? As friends…”