Xu Zhiyu jerked her head up, the veins on her neck bulging, as if completely surprised.
Yun Mi prepared to stand up, put away the broomstick, and said, "Pull yourself together. I'm going back first."
Yun Mi didn't want to witness anyone's humiliation.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed her.
Xu Zhiyu said, "Don't go."
Yun Mi didn't move, intending to free her hand.
Xu Zhiyu sniffled, her clear, cold eyes already red with tears. She looked up at Yun Mi and said, "That day I went to Chen Yiyang's house, I saw you."
Yun Mi was momentarily surprised, frozen in place.
She didn't know Xu Zhiyu had seen her.
Nor did she know why Xu Zhiyu was saying this, but the next second, she understood.
Xu Zhiyu gritted her teeth and said, "I know you like him, because... I like him too."
In the dim alley, sunlight couldn't reach the dark corners.
It was too narrow here, like a crevice without sunlight or life.
Just standing here made it hard to breathe.
Xu Zhiyu tightened her grip on Yun Mi's hand. She was surprised that Yun Mi had helped her. The cold, damp air seeping from the cracks made her feel like a pathetic clown struggling in the mud.
She said, "But he doesn't like me."
Yun Mi had originally wanted to leave, but now she didn't. She looked down at Xu Zhiyu and asked, "What does this have to do with Chen Yiyang?"
Xu Zhiyu felt the silence around her too loud. She bit her teeth and tried to speak calmly. "I was afraid you'd be troubled."
"Those people came after me because I used to work at the restaurant next door. I'm underage, so I charged less. But I wasn't there to work. My grandmother is sick and needs a lot of money, so... what those people said was true. I went there to extort money."
Yun Mi's eyes widened.
Xu Zhiyu said, "I reported the restaurant. Those people just now aren't really bad people. I was the one in the wrong. That day, I had planned to chop off my little finger with a kitchen knife while working, to extort money under the eyes of the supervisors... But none of that happened. That day, I called Chen Yiyang to the restaurant for a meal. I wanted to see him one last time, but he saw through it and stopped me... Chen Yiyang lent me forty thousand yuan."
The high walls on both sides pressed down, making it hard to breathe. The sky was gray.
Yun Mi saw the fragile, tear-filled eyes of Xu Zhiyu.
Xu Zhiyu knew the chestnut stall idea was Yun Mi's. Yun Mi had helped her too much. Ding Yuan's help could be attributed to their long friendship since elementary school.
But Yun Mi was different.
She had nothing to repay her with.
So Xu Zhiyu could only firmly reciprocate and repeat, "Chen Yiyang doesn't like me."
Those plain words contained countless emotions.
The love that grew in the shadows could never see the light.
Yun Mi crouched there. Perhaps she should have felt some relief that "Chen Yiyang doesn't like Xu Zhiyu," but other feelings had already overwhelmed everything.
The seriousness on her face gradually faded. After a moment, she revealed a helpless smile. Yun Mi looked at the girl with a cool temperament and slowly crouched down. She pulled a corner of her mouth, but it wasn't a smile. She said a very light, shallow word.
Xu Zhiyu thought she had misheard.
Yun Mi thought, for forty thousand yuan to harm herself—it must be because it's really hard.
She fixed her gaze on her. The girl's face showed an expression that was a mix of worry and sympathy. Yun Mi whispered again, reproachfully, "Xu Zhiyu, you really are an idiot."
Author's Note:
None