PDLP Chapter 34 You're still feeling wronged?
Chapter 34 You're still feeling wronged?
After dinner, Lu Yuan made an excuse to send everyone away and took Ye Yixian home by himself.
Along the way, the ninety-nine roses in Ye Yixian's arms were particularly eye-catching, their delicate petals swaying all the way, attracting frequent glances from passersby.
Fortunately, everyone knows that there is a 100-day countdown rally for senior high school students today, and there are quite a few students holding flowers on the street.
So no one thought her gift was too outrageous; at most, they would glance at it a couple more times and laugh that the person who sent the flowers was being a little too romantic.
The two walked side by side down the road, at a pace that was neither too fast nor too slow, just right.
Lu Yuan spoke first, his tone carrying an air of strategic command: "Starting next week, you'll also be living at the school dormitory."
He made his father pay an extra accommodation fee, which was for Ye Yixian.
Ye Yixian was startled, tightened her grip on the bouquet of flowers, and asked in confusion, "Why do you want me to live at school?"
Others commute to school because they find it restrictive, but she does it to save on room and board.
This sudden attention felt like a hot potato, making her both uneasy and resistant.
"I don't need to live at school, and besides, I'm afraid I can't afford the fees."
Her pride wouldn't allow her to accept charity for no reason. She wanted to refuse, but Lu Yuan's father had already nodded, and it seemed there was no turning back.
Lu Yuan stopped and turned to look at her, a gentle smile in his eyes, but his tone carried a hint of domineering entitlement: "I want to live here, so you have to live with me."
These words sound particularly ambiguous when heard on the street.
Ye Yixian's cheeks flushed instantly, her heart raced, and fearing that passersby might misunderstand that the two of them were going to a hotel together, she quickly and awkwardly lowered her head.
Lu Yuan, however, didn't seem to notice her shyness and explained casually, "Don't forget, you're my follower, so naturally you have to do things for me. I live on campus, you live off campus. When I really need you to do something, where am I supposed to find you?"
"But..." Ye Yixian bit her lip, her eyes darting away, "I really don't have the money, I can't pay it back."
"If you can't pay it back now, then you can pay it back later." Lu Yuan's tone was gentle, but it carried an undeniable force. "Anyway, there's plenty of time, and you'll pay it back eventually."
"The future..." Ye Yixian murmured to himself, feeling that the future was as distant as a bubble.
Lu Yuan noticed the confusion and inferiority in her eyes and teased her with a smile, "What, you think there's no future for us? Do you mean we'll completely lose contact after high school graduation?"
"I didn't!" Ye Yixian suddenly looked up, her eyes urgent, as if afraid of being misunderstood. She then hurriedly lowered her head, her voice becoming softer, "I just... don't know when I'll be able to earn the money to pay you back."
"Then let's take it slow." Lu Yuan looked at her reddened ears and felt a softening in his heart. "Ten years, twenty years, I can wait."
"Twenty...twenty years?" Ye Yixian's heart skipped a beat.
The long timeframe made her anxious, but then she thought that if she could spend these twenty years with Lu Yuan, it might not be such a bad thing.
"Anyway, you'll be going back to boarding school next week." Lu Yuan withdrew his gaze and continued walking. "I'll assign you tasks then."
"What mission?"
"I can't say right now." Lu Yuan didn't stop walking and quickly escorted her to the familiar banyan tree at the school gate. "Alright, I'll stop here."
Ye Yixian lived at the west end of this road, but she didn't dare to invite Lu Yuan to stay as a guest.
Curious about what the so-called "mission" was, but seeing that Lu Yuan didn't seem inclined to tell her, she could only bite her lip and whisper goodbye.
Lu Yuan stood there, watching her slender figure disappear into the distance, the smile on his lips lingering for a long time.
Lu Yuan had already planned to arrange for her to live on campus:
Firstly, although the school cafeteria is not fancy, it can provide enough food and warmth, so there is no need to worry about how to protect her self-esteem.
Secondly, there have always been some shady characters loitering around the school gate over the years, and living on campus can provide her with the most secure protection.
Thirdly, he could legitimately stay by her side and incidentally help his good friend Gao Zhe improve his grades.
Learning makes people progress, and reading makes people wise.
This is something that must be faced squarely.
Lost in thought, he suddenly slapped his forehead, realizing he'd forgotten to ask Ye Yixian for her QQ number.
Very well, I'll ask again tomorrow.
Just as I was about to turn and leave, a familiar figure suddenly came into view.
It's Xu Lingjing.
She had been hiding in the classroom for who knows how long; her eyes were red and swollen, and her face was still wet with tears. She looked disheveled and vulnerable.
I don't know how long she's been there, or how much she's seen.
Anyone else would have been heartbroken to see her like this, but Lu Yuan only glanced at her indifferently and nothing more.
"Lu Yuan."
He had only taken two steps when he heard Xu Lingjing calling out to him from behind, her voice trembling with tears.
Lu Yuan could have pretended not to hear and left, but he stopped, turned around, and looked at her calmly.
A guilty conscience leads to avoidance, while facing things openly is letting go. He felt completely at ease at that moment.
Therefore, they don't care whether they face Xu Lingjing directly.
"What are you doing?"
"What do you mean?"
Xu Lingjing walked quickly to him, but the three-step distance felt like an invisible wall between them.
Her eyes were filled with confusion and resentment. She couldn't understand why Lu Yuan, who had been so attentive to her just last week, had suddenly turned on her.
She was still trying to comfort herself, thinking that this might be a ploy to get him, but what happened today made her realize that Lu Yuan had really changed his mind.
"What do you mean?" Lu Yuan looked bewildered, playing along with her performance.
Xu Lingjing was both angry and anxious, even with a hint of despair and sarcasm: "Heh, pretending to be stupid, huh?"
"You bought such a huge bouquet of flowers for Ye Yixian in front of the whole school. Do you know how much face that made me lose?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled softly, his tone tinged with helplessness: "Are these two things necessarily related?"
"What do you mean, 'not'?" Xu Lingjing retorted sharply, her eyes welling up with tears again. In her mind, Lu Yuan did all this to deliberately embarrass her. "You bought flowers for her, not to spite me, but for what?"
"I don't think I ever said that the bouquet was for you," Lu Yuan said in a very calm tone.
These words left Xu Lingjing speechless.
Why do you assume that just because I bought flowers, they're necessarily for you?
Lu Yuan's gaze calmly fell on her face, with a hint of scrutiny. "Is it because I gave it to you before? Or is it because you subconsciously feel that I should revolve around you?"
Xu Lingjing opened her mouth, but couldn't say a word.
What she said made no problem, but the resentment and bitterness in her heart were growing wildly.
It was clearly just her wishful thinking, but in the end she felt she had suffered a great injustice.
The smile on Lu Yuan's face gradually faded, replaced by a serious expression, and his tone turned colder: "Xu Lingjing, when are you going to stop being so arrogant and conceited? What makes you think that everyone should revolve around you?"
"You feel humiliated today simply because you've become accustomed to taking other people's kindness for granted. But you've forgotten that I have never been obligated to be kind to you."
These words struck Xu Lingjing's heart like a heavy hammer.
She stood there, speechless, her face alternating between pale and red, looking extremely unwell.