Since meeting the girl who liked her brother, Tang Yuanyuan had a change of heart yet again.
She stared at the photo for a long time, her vision going blurry.
Shortly after, Tang Yuanyuan was afraid that someone might notice that something was not right with her. After all, her brother had brought her to Snow Town for the New Year in an effort to make her feel happy. Hence, she did not want to make him upset, especially now.
As she thought of this, Tang Yuanyuan quickly wiped her tears with the back of her hand.
Don’t cry! Pull yourself together!
It was the New Year. If she was to cry at this time, the trip would surely be a let down to both her brother and Chufeng. She had no choice but to control her emotions.
Moreover, I just met An Qian; who cares about her opinion?
Tang Yuanyuan kept consoling herself. This shall pass. Not long after, Zhong Chufeng knocked on her door.
“Yuanyuan?”
Tang Yuanyuan was startled to hear Zhong Chufeng’s voice. She immediately took off her shoes and tucked herself underneath the quilt.
“Yuanyuan, are you there? An Qian told me that you don’t want to sleep in the same room with her. Is something wrong?”
They had, after all, agreed on this earlier that day. Zhong Chufeng’s first assumption was that Tang Yuanyuan had been wronged in some way, which would explain why she had suddenly changed her mind. There was simply no other logical explanation as to why the soft-spoken Tang Yuanyuan would drive someone out of the room she had agreed to share with earlier on.
Tang Yuanyuan did not reply for fear that she might reveal something. An Qian, who stood next to Zhong Chufeng on the other side of the door, whispered, “Zhong Chufeng, don’t say anything. Do you want her brother to come over? I already said that she brought too many snacks along, so we had a disagreement. I’d rather sleep by myself, and I’m sure she’s afraid that I will eat her snacks. Just let me sleep in your room.”
“Did you think that your every wish is my command?” Zhong Chufeng glanced at her, annoyed. “Did you say something to Yuanyuan?”
“What could I have said?” An Qian avoided his gaze.
“Did you tell her about what we spoke of before…” Zhong Chufeng paused, not daring to say anything.
“Of course not!” An Qian immediately retorted. “How could I just say that casually? Why would I lose the leverage I finally have over you? Of course I have to use it well.”
Upon hearing, Zhong Chufeng contemplated giving her a good beating. He took a deep breath and asked her coldly, “Then what did you tell her? Come clean with me or I will get her brother to come here this instant.”
An Qian thought for a while and felt that it would be okay to tell Zhong Chufeng. If he handled the matter, Yuchi Yishu would not be alarmed. After thinking about it, she opened her mouth and said, “I didn’t say anything, really. I saw that she had too many snacks, so I advised her not to eat too much of it.”
“Is that all?”
An Qian shrugged. “That’s all, but she lost her temper and said that her brother paid for this trip. She went on to point out that since her brother is the one who paid for the transportation and this place, she has the right to not let me stay in the same room as her.”
“An Qian, I know both of you well. If you had merely persuaded her to eat less, she would definitely not have lost her temper this way. In fact, I am positive that she would not have treated you any differently. You must have said something to offend her.”
“Why would I?” An Qian was defensive. “Although I might not like her, it’s not a must for me to like her. This is just the way I speak. Am I supposed to change the way I speak just to please her?”
“And so the black sheep refuses to admit it’s mistake.” Zhong Chufeng decided not to press further, and shifted his focus onto Tang Yuanyuan instead.
Thinking of this, Zhong Chufeng said solemnly, “Wait in my room while I talk to her.”
An Qian harrumphed, then turned around to leave.
After she left, Zhong Chufeng reached out and knocked on the door. “Yuanyuan, An Qian has left. May I come inside?”
Tang Yuanyuan ignored him. The reason being that she just could not talk at that moment, because it would be evident that she had been crying the moment she said anything. She hoped that Zhong Chufeng would leave if she continued to not respond, for it would be better this way.
However, Zhong Chufeng was not one to give in easily, whatmore after knowing that Yuanyuan was angry. No matter what happened, he knew the matter at hand must be resolved.
He knocked on the door for a while, but didn’t get a response, so he could only change his tone.
“If you don’t say anything, I’m going to assume you’re okay with it. I’m opening the door now.”
Even then, Tang Yuanyuan did not respond. Zhong Chufeng couldn’t help but worry and immediately pushed open the door.
The room was quiet, and by the way her shoes were scattered on the floor, it was evident that she had taken them off in a hurry to get into bed.
Tang Yuanyuan was silent; her face could not even be seen.
Zhong Chufeng felt his heart squeeze painfully, and he dared not say anything. He pulled the door shut behind him, taking off his shoes to slowly approach her.
“An Qian has always been bossy since young. She must have said something really bad to upset you this much. No matter what, please don’t take it to heart. I apologize to you on her behalf, alright?”
Tang Yuanyuan still did not respond.
Zhong Chufeng felt very bad, and so he asked her, “How about I treat you to a nice barbecue? I heard that there is a barbecue pit outside in the snow where we can put the meat on. Apparently, meat tastes different when grilled outdoors here.”
He deliberately went on talking about the process in order to attract Tang Yuanyuan’s attention. To his dismay, she did not respond from under the quilt even after he finished talking. Zhong Chufeng was really worried, since all the talk about eating did not even manage to catch her attention. Just how upset is she? Zhong Chufeng thought to himself as he carefully reached out to pull the quilt down, revealing Tang Yuanyuan’s face. Looking at her, he felt a piercing ache in his heart, along with a feeling of helplessness.
Tang Yuanyuan’s eyes were shot red, and she looked back at Zhong Chufeng with watery eyes.
“Y-Yuanyuan, why are you crying?”
Helpless at the sight that met him, Zhong Chufeng scrambled to get some tissues, only to run into the edge of the table. He sucked in a breath in agony and reached for the tissue, but accidentally bumped into the table lamp, almost pushing it off. He quickly reached for the lamp just in time before it hit the floor. “That scared the life out of me.”
After sorting out the mess, he turned around to find Tang Yuanyuan sitting up on the bed, looking at him nervously.
“Chufeng, are you okay?”
Her face was filled with concern. Zhong Chufeng heaved a sigh of relief and said, “You’re finally willing to talk to me.”
Tang Yuanyuan realized that she was still crying when he said this. Had he not interrupted her just now, she would have remained lying under the sheets. She then looked around the room, avoiding his gaze.
“Whatever An Qian said was utter nonsense, so don’t pay attention to anything. However, if it really does bother you, I will send her back this very night, then come over to meet up with you all again.”
Hearing the latter, Tang Yuanyuan suddenly felt that things were getting out of hand and shook her head.
“You don’t need to do that, Chufeng. It’s too troublesome. I’ll just assume that she did not say anything today, but… I really don’t want to talk to her anymore.”
