Chapter 169: Smart People Learn to Play Dumb
The next day at noon.
Ye Zhen hadn't even gotten out of bed yet when she heard her roommates' excited chatter.
"Wow, 999 roses!"
"They really delivered them!"
"They're piled up all the way downstairs! Wang Xiaoya, you really outdid yourself!"
Frowning, she pulled back the curtain beside her bed and looked at her noisy roommates.
Still groggy, Wang Xiaoya appeared before Ye Zhen in a white lace dress, kneeling on one knee and extending her hand. "Your Highness, please~"
Ye Zhen stared blankly at her. "What are you doing?"
Seeing Ye Zhen didn't take her hand, Wang Xiaoya sighed regretfully and stood up. "Oh well! I just wanted a little ceremony."
Qiao Xin wore an expression that said, "I knew it." "I told you, this is putting a lot of pressure on Zhenzhen."
Wang Xiaoya chuckled softly.
"Come on, let's go downstairs to collect the roses! Then, I'm treating you to a feast today~"
Under their enthusiastic invitation, Ye Zhen reluctantly got out of bed, changed clothes, and left the dorm.
All the way, she couldn't escape the curious, probing stares of everyone around her.
This truly put Ye Zhen under a lot of pressure.
Wang Xiaoya was a very high-profile person. Her way of expressing affection was always so grand and reckless, without regard for the consequences.
Not only did she send a huge bouquet of roses, but she also had a banner hung in front of the dorm building, declaring things like "I love Zhenzhen for ten thousand years."
Ye Zhen felt completely overwhelmed.
How many people in this world could accept such a love?
So many people were giving them strange looks!
For a moment, Ye Zhen felt like she'd been swept into a whirlpool of gossip, her mind buzzing with disbelief.
She couldn't accept Wang Xiaoya's advances.
These public declarations had already caused significant disruption to her campus life.
So when Wang Xiaoya thrust flowers into her arms, she instinctively took a step back.
"I… I can't accept them."
Wang Xiaoya's hand remained suspended mid-air, her expression troubled. "It's just a bouquet, Zhenzhen."
"I don't need them. Please don't ever give them to me again."
Ye Zhen's expression was more serious than ever.
"Please take down those banners as soon as possible. Thank you."
This sent a sudden chill through Wang Xiaoya's heart, making her panic slightly. "Zhenzhen, I'm sorry… I… I guess I didn't think this through."
"No need to apologize. It's my fault. I'm truly sorry."
Ye Zhen continued backing away until she was out of sight behind the door.
The campus bustled with people coming and going.
In this age of rapid information dissemination, such a high-profile declaration of love from the girls' dormitory quickly became the top trending news on campus.
Wherever Ye Zhen went, she faced suggestive stares and whispered conversations.
She thought she wouldn't care.
But after stepping out of Mondstadt campus, Ye Zhen's legs gave way. She slowly slid down the wall and crouched.
"She did something you disliked, and you just ran away in defeat?"
Ye Fuli's voice rang out from behind her.
Ye Zhen froze.
She turned to see Ye Fuli standing beneath the shade of a tree, fiddling with her phone.
Within minutes, the trending campus topic vanished without a trace.
The messy banners scattered across campus were quickly torn down.
This wasn't the first time Ye Fuli had handled such matters for her. Last time, Ye Zhen had nearly become the campus beauty queen; this time, she had nearly become the laughingstock of Mond.
Ye Zhen's eyes stung slightly, but she forced a light tone.
"Ye Fuli, when did you get here?"
Ye Fuli sighed. "Just now."
She clearly hadn't just arrived; she'd been watching for a while.
Meeting Ye Zhen's vulnerable gaze, Ye Fuli said nothing. She simply took the new milk tea from the insulated bag and placed it beside the flower bed.
She dared not approach Ye Zhen rashly, even though her heart was filled with worry.
"I brought you the new drink. If there's nothing else, I'll be going."
Watching Ye Fuli's retreating figure, Ye Zhen let out a soft snort: "I do have something to say."
"…Something?"
Though several steps away, Ye Fuli had keen hearing.
She turned back, her gaze fixed on Ye Zhen crouched on the floor.
Her eyes held all her concern and anticipation, yet her expression and tone remained flat.
"If you have something to say, just say it."
……
A few minutes later.
Ye Fuli followed Ye Zhen into a small accessory shop.
Ye Zhen calculated the cost of the two bubble teas from yesterday and today, then gave Ye Fuli a gift in return.
"Here, this is for you—consider it a return gift."
Holding the pink Barbie doll in her hands, Ye Fuli wore an awkward expression.
She desperately wanted to criticize it, but remembering this was a rare gift from Ye Zhen, she forced herself to put on a pleased expression.
"How did you know I'd like this? I'm so happy to receive it," Ye Fuli said.
"You don't like it, do you?" Ye Zhen saw right through her.
Ye Fuli fell silent.
Was her acting really that bad?
It shouldn't be.
"If you don't like it, we can exchange it." Ye Zhen took the Barbie doll from her hands, glanced left and right, picked out a huge Ultraman toy, and placed it in Ye Fuli's arms. "How about this one?"
Ye Fuli’s mouth twitched visibly.
"You don't like this one either?" Ye Zhen murmured softly. "But when you bought a gift for your dad that day, you picked out so many Ultraman toys…"
Ye Fuli sighed.
She felt Ye Zhen was doing this on purpose.
The Ye Zhen of before had known her preferences inside out, and every gift she gave had been perfectly suited to her tastes.
"Fine, then this one it is."
Ye Zhen grabbed a pumpkin-shaped pillow and shoved it into her arms.
Ye Fuli's expression visibly shifted when she saw the pumpkin pillow.
When she was little, she had a pumpkin pillow that looked almost identical, though it was poorly made. It was the first prize she ever won at a school competition.
Later, her adoptive mother had stuffed it into a trash bag and thrown it away. She had argued with her adoptive mother over it and ended up getting beaten.
The pillow in her arms was displayed near the glass window in the shop.
Ye Zhen must have seen it from outside the door.
Perhaps it was precisely for this pillow that she had brought her into the shop.
"Ye Zhen, thank you for your gift."
Ye Fuli stroked the pumpkin pillow in her arms, a pang of sadness welling up inside her.
She couldn't fathom how Ye Zhen knew her tastes so well, as if Ye Zhen had been by her side since childhood.
Come to think of it, Ye Zhen could have been there with her since childhood.
Ye Zhen had once said she was merely a wandering spirit, free to go wherever she pleased.
This strange thought made Ye Fuli's eyes sting with tears.
"No need to thank me so much. It's just reciprocating the favor."
Ye Zhen kept a straight face, pretending nothing had happened, refusing to meet her wounded, doe-like gaze.
"I've had enough bubble tea. No need to bring any more."
"…Alright."
Stepping out of the jewelry shop, the sunlight was blinding, making her dizzy.
A shrill beep startled Ye Zhen, and her arm was yanked abruptly.
When her eyes adjusted to the glare, she saw the fleeting shadow of the Ghostfire Youth speeding past, and Ye Fuli's face mere inches from her own.
Ye Zhen's breath caught.
Her mind went blank.
"There was a car just now. It almost hit you," Ye Fuli quickly released her grip, restoring the distance between them. "It's fine now. I'll be going."
Ye Fuli clutched that silly pumpkin pillow and hurried away.
Only then did Ye Zhen notice the new milk tea flavor Ye Fuli had brought today—its name was "Lucky."
Ah, this damnable coincidence…