The Chen residence was an old house allocated by the state back in the day. It had some age, was a bit rundown, and if you wanted to talk about ghosts, it kind of did have a spooky vibe.
Someone pushed him from behind. Chen Yiyang steadied himself against the shoe cabinet and lifted his eyes to see the faint silhouette of a girl in the dimness.
Yun Mi had seen Chen Yiyang and the others returning from the window and had come downstairs.
Earlier, Aunt Wen had said so many bad things about Chen Yiyang. Coupled with Ding Yuan's mysterious warning and that "Nope" from the basketball court, Yun Mi couldn't help but overthink. But no matter how she thought about it, she felt she had offended him.
—She couldn't possibly offend her foster home brother on the first day, could she?
—And it seemed this brother had quite a temper.
Anxious to explain, her chaotic thoughts made her dizzy. She said in a small voice, "Um... Brother, I wasn't the one who called you a jerk. I didn't even know you before today. There's no way I would have cursed you for no reason..."
She didn't know how to make him believe her, so she could only mutter pitifully, "If I were going to curse someone, I'd, I'd only do it secretly, where no one would know..."
"...?"
In the darkness, Zhou Shihui took a long moment to process that a girl who looked like a ghost was apologizing to him, calling him "brother." He opened his mouth, glanced at his two friends.
Xie Yue was still clinging to Chen Yiyang, mouth wide open, looking scared out of his wits.
Chen Yiyang, on the other hand, was clearly calmer. He observed the girl not far away, his brows slightly furrowed, then as if he understood something, the corner of his mouth twitched.
Click.
The light was turned on.
A long silence.
Something was off.
Yun Mi belatedly looked up and met Chen Yiyang's dark, narrow eyes. He looked nonchalant, eyebrows raised, with a touch of aloofness and arrogance that kept people at a distance.
Yun Mi had only wanted to blurt out the words and get it over with. Now, her heart jolted, and her face flushed red.
She! Had gotten the wrong person!
Chen Yiyang pushed the person beside him and said flatly, "Zhou Shihui, she's apologizing to you. Will you forgive her?"
His tone was teasing, with a hint of amusement.
Yun Mi's neck turned bright red. She was so embarrassed she could die. Staring at the slippers she had changed into, she still couldn't find the right words.
She stammered an explanation: "Chen, Chen Yiyang... that notice was torn off the school bulletin board by Aunt Wen. That paper already looked like that when I first saw it."
The sound of traffic outside the house was indistinct, but it seemed to make Yun Mi's racing heart less noticeable.
Chen Yiyang stood there. In the dim light, it was hard to tell if he was annoyed or something else.
But his deep, magnetic voice clearly held laughter. Chen Yiyang said, "I know. After all..." He paused, as if teasing, "You even mistook the person. When would you have time to curse someone?"
Yun Mi's chaotic heart felt like a giant rabbit hole, with countless rabbits tap-dancing crazily on the wet soil. Her ears red, she couldn't come up with a retort for a long time. Finally, she could only say, "...Oh."
It was getting late.
Chen Yiyang pressed his hands flatly and calmly onto the shoulders of his two friends who were watching the drama. He applied force with his wrists, his tone losing its playful edge, simply seeing them off. "Let's go."
Yun Mi's heart was still a little unsettled.
Xie Yue, not done watching, said, "Hey—"
Someone beat him to it: "Chen Yiyang... where can I get something to eat nearby?"
Yun Mi was still mulling over Chen Yiyang's words, unable to figure out whether he held a grudge or didn't care.
He was supposed to take her to the classroom tomorrow morning. Would he still take her or not?
Yun Mi thought it over carefully and proactively extended an olive branch: "Let me treat you to a meal."
Chen Yiyang glanced at Yun Mi, who was looking at him expectantly from not far away.
It was already very late. The girl stood there quietly.
She looked obedient and bright, with a slightly sweet smile. But the moment she lifted her eyes, an uncontainable spirit revealed a hint of mischief and liveliness—the likeness of the "Youth Fencing Individual Gold Medalist" that Wen Liangyu's brief words had alluded to.
This statement was both an invitation and a demand. She showed no awkwardness about being a dependent; she simply said it with confidence.
Chen Yiyang said, "No."
Yun Mi was taken aback. She only saw the boy's cool profile, his soft hair slightly sticking up at the ends. His eyelids drooped, but his eyes were dark and sharp, carrying a hint of unruly pride.
He pointed beside a luggage bag left at the entrance—a brand-new takeout bag.
He raised his hand and waved, not looking back, and said, "My treat."
It was already cold.
Seeing the contents of the takeout bag, Yun Mi suddenly looked up.
The visitors had left. Chen Yiyang had already gone upstairs, leaving only a glimpse of gray-black pants at the corner of the L-shaped staircase.
Her flustered, confused heart felt bittersweet, an unidentifiable emotion.
A box of cut pineapple and raspberries.
Stir-fried gai lan stems.
Fish congee.
And an oil-paper packet next to the container, containing a cold, slightly hard, dark little piggy bun.
Delicate, small, ugly—identical to the pig head graffiti on the "Jerk" picture.
A note was pressed under the takeout bag, with sharp, clean handwriting. It was firm, neat, and cold, with undeniable sharpness.
It read:
"From Jerk"
Was this supposed to mean "I know you didn't misunderstand"?
Yun Mi was agitated.
He definitely misunderstood her.
And he held a grudge.
He—
How could he be like this?
The girl lifted her eyes.
Good-looking guys really do have bad tempers.
Stingy.