MTLY | Chapter 27

◎It really is, very soft.◎

Song Tinghuan looked at Jiang Yu in a daze, when she heard Han Jingjing shout “Get lost” not far away. Li Yiliang fled with his hands over his head, and the people around them burst into laughter.

“Senior Yiliang, he…”

“Song Tingting.” Jiang Yu was sitting on a barstool, his long legs braced on the floor, his fingers idly spinning his phone. “Do you have a few too many seniors?”

Song Tinghuan: “?”

Not only too many, she also treated them differently. She called Li Yiliang, Han Shuming, and Zhou Yize seniors, called the unfamiliar Jiang Yan哥哥, but when it came to him, it was always Jiang Yu, Jiang Yu.

“How come I never see you being this polite to me? You just keep calling me Jiang Yu every time.”

“?” Song Tinghuan was confused. “Isn’t a name meant to be called?”

Jiang Yu: “…”

His fingers paused, and he tightened his grip on the phone.

Jiang Yu felt like he had been sick lately too.

*

This birthday party was a self-serve BBQ, but after one round, these young masters and ladies who had grown up in comfort and privilege simply did not have the ability to grill meat themselves. Setting aside whether it tasted good or not, whether it even got cooked through was a problem. In the end, Li Yiliang still had to negotiate with the restaurant manager to have finished dishes brought over for them.

“This fucking counts as barbecue. What the hell was that thing just now…” Li Yiliang had not even finished his sentence before Jiang Yu shoved a chicken leg into his hand, cutting him off with muffled sounds.

Jiang Yu reminded him in a cool, low voice, “Keep your mouth clean.”

Li Yiliang, after taking the chicken leg away: How was he not clean? He always talked like this.

Damn, there were girls here.

The little incident at the table was brushed aside. A senior in the same third year sighed enviously, “I heard the only one this year who got direct admission to Haida’s physics department is Brother Ming. Damn, that’s amazing.”

“Exactly. Your Brother Han’s got so many certificates from high school he could wallpaper a wall with them.”

Han Shuming had a warm, restrained personality. Even when others teased him, he only smiled. Song Tinghuan could not help looking at him. Top students just seemed to come with a halo. It made sense that Guan Linlin would fall for Han Shuming.

Three years of high school with certificates covering the wall, direct admission to Haida’s best major, a life like that with the cheat codes turned on, Song Tinghuan truly envied it. If she could be even half as capable as Han Shuming, Song Mingcheng would probably have a lot less to worry about.

While Song Tinghuan was looking at Han Shuming, Jiang Yu was looking at her too.

A lazy smile curved the boy’s lips, but it never reached his eyes. Looking that focused, just how much did she like him?

Someone called out to Li Yiliang, “Birthday boy, where are you thinking of applying later, the China Academy of Art or the Central Academy of Fine Arts?”

Li Yiliang had not even swallowed the chicken leg yet. He mumbled, “I’m going to study abroad in Italy, to meet my goddess!”

“Yeah, right.”

Song Tinghuan smiled faintly. She knew Li Yiliang’s goddess, Fala.

Most of the people present were high school students, seventeen or eighteen years old, dressed in bright clothes and riding high, one foot about to step into the adult world. They were always full of all kinds of fantasies about the future.

“I’m planning to take a shot at Nan University. I’ve been craving their space lab for ages.”

“I’m going to study finance. Then I can make black-hearted money off you rich young masters.”

“When I get into Jiangbei Vocational and Technical College, I’ll take the beauty, hairdressing, chef, and pastry route all in one. I just ask the bosses present to take care of my business, no need to send the profits outside the family~”

“What’s the point of staying in China? Since we’re young, isn’t it better to go abroad and take a look? I hear foreign girls are very…”

Jiang Yu shot a look over. The speaker hurriedly changed his words. “Oh, very enthusiastic.”

The group laughed together.

Song Tinghuan laughed along too.

“Junior, did you even understand, and you’re laughing?” Zhou Yize teased.

Song Tinghuan nodded.

Zhou Yize was slightly surprised. “You understand that ‘enthusiastic’?”

Song Tinghuan paused, then said seriously, “Senior Zhou is also very enthusiastic.”

Zhou Yize: “?”

The whole table doubled over in laughter. Someone slapped the table and said, “Fuck, that’s amazing. She actually shut Zhou Yize up.”

Song Tinghuan was a little confused. Were they not talking about being warm and outgoing?

Jiang Yu had originally wanted to tell Zhou Yize to get lost, but seeing that Song Tinghuan had shut him up with just one sentence, he leaned back lazily in his chair instead.

Pretty impressive, a girl who could leave Zhou Yize speechless with one sentence, she was the first.

Someone asked Jiang Yu, “Brother Yu, what about you? You’re probably going abroad too, right?”

“MIT?”

“If it’s aerospace engineering, Caltech is strong too.”

“Brother Yu would definitely study business, right? Ivy League schools, pick whichever you want.”

Everyone chimed in one after another, as if they had already assumed Jiang Yu would go abroad.

Although there were plenty of good universities in China, when someone was that capable themselves and their family was too, they would mostly go abroad. After coming back, they could serve the country, or directly inherit the family business. Their future path was bright and smooth.

Only the few people who were familiar with Jiang Yu said nothing.

Song Tinghuan was one of the people who knew the truth. Jiang Yu would not go abroad. In fact, he probably would not even leave Jiangbei.

He had promised Meng Shutang.

“Stop making random fucking guesses. Brother Yu…” Li Yiliang spoke up first, trying to brush the topic aside, but Jiang Yu lazily replied, “Not going. I’ll stay in Jiangbei.”

“Not going abroad?”

“Mm.”

“Brother Yu, you’re going to attend Jiang University?”

Jiang Yu gave a light hum. His thin lips were tinted glossy by the cold drink. “Practicing the school motto, everyone’s responsibility.”

“Damn…”

Song Tinghuan felt her face growing inexplicably hot as she listened. This time, she really did understand. She knew Deyin’s school motto.

Either go to Jiang University, or go to Jiang Yu.

This person never talked properly.

Heat surged up to her cheeks. Song Tinghuan picked up the chilled juice beside her. Just as she took a sip, she heard someone reply, “That makes sense. After all, you can’t go to yourself.”

“Cough, cough, cough, cough-”

Song Tinghuan choked on the juice and nearly coughed herself red in the face.

“Get lost.” Jiang Yu picked up the apple on the table and threw it into the other person’s arms. He watched Song Tinghuan struggling to catch her breath, her dark eyes shimmering with moisture.

The person across from him clasped their hands together in surrender. “Brother Yu, I was wrong, my mouth ran ahead of my brain.”

After Song Tinghuan finally caught her breath, she met Jiang Yu’s straight, cold gaze, and then she unconsciously thought of that school motto again. Her cheeks burned even more.

She tugged at Guan Linlin beside her. “Come with me to the restroom.”

*

After they came out of the restroom, Guan Linlin was still sighing. “I feel like the distance between him and me is still way too far. Just now at the table, I didn’t even dare look at him. Tell me, am I especially spineless?”

Song Tinghuan said, “But I saw him hand you a drink. It was orange juice, your favorite.”

Guan Linlin’s face warmed a little. “That was just… a coincidence. Hey, can your hand touch water now?”

“Mm, it’s fine now.”

Guan Linlin still got angry when she thought about what happened that day. “Tang Qing and the others were really too much. That was boiling water. Ear, if you run into them alone again next time, just… stay away from them.”

“Mm.”

Guan Linlin was still unhappy. “No! Why should you stay away? Clearly they bullied you first, you need to bully them back!”

Song Tinghuan curved her eyes and obediently agreed, “Okay.”

“Can you bully people?”

“Then teach me?”

The two girls talked more and more out of line. As they turned around a wall, they saw Han Shuming and Jiang Yu standing under a tree. Guan Linlin grabbed Song Tinghuan’s arm immediately. “Sister, save me, heart rate one-eighty, blood pressure two-sixty.”

Song Tinghuan smiled, gently patting the back of her hand. “It’s fine, I’ll take you over to talk to him.”

“What am I supposed to say… I’m nervous.”

“Then just think of him as a cabbage.”

“…”

The usually chatty Guan Linlin was actually nervous for once. Song Tinghuan curved her eyes. So this was what it looked like to like someone, nervous enough not to dare speak to him, not even daring to make eye contact.

The two of them walked forward. Song Tinghuan looked up at Jiang Yu, and just so happened that Jiang Yu was also looking her way. Their gazes met unexpectedly. Song Tinghuan opened her mouth, then suddenly did not know what to say.

But for her best friend’s romance, she was all in…

“Senior Han…”

“Song Tingting, come here with me.”

“?”

Song Tinghuan was forced to follow Jiang Yu away under his cool expression. She worried about Guan Linlin, who had been left alone with Han Shuming, and kept looking back every three steps. When she turned again, she almost ran straight into Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu grabbed her arm and steadied her. “It’s broad daylight. Don’t try to take advantage like that.”

Song Tinghuan: “.”

Jiang Yu glanced at Han Shuming not far away again. “Is he really that good-looking?”

“Huh?”

“Stop thinking about him. The two of you aren’t suitable.”

“?”

Seeing her blank little face, Jiang Yu cut cleanly through the matter, with no awareness at all that he was sprinkling salt on a girl’s heart. “Han Shuming’s family is very strict. He wouldn’t date a kid like you early.”

Song Tinghuan: “…?”

“You should give up on this idea as soon as possible.”

“Jiang Yu.” Song Tinghuan’s soft voice cut off Jiang Yu’s poisonous remarks. “What did you just say? Me and… Senior Han?”

Jiang Yu glanced at her, his brows knitting together. “What, still not giving up?”

“No.” Song Tinghuan shook her head quickly. “I… don’t like Senior Han.”

Jiang Yu: “…?”

This time, it was Jiang Yu’s turn to fall silent.

Song Tinghuan realized it a beat later. “Did I… say something that made you misunderstand?”

“What do you think?”

“…”

Song Tinghuan looked back and saw Han Shuming and Guan Linlin walking back. She suddenly grabbed Jiang Yu’s wrist and pulled him into a quiet corner, then poked her head out to look again.

Arm against arm, skin touching skin, Jiang Yu lowered his eyes and looked at their hands, nearly stacked on top of each other. The girl’s palm was soft, tightly wrapped against his skin, with a delicate feel like being covered in silk.

It really was, very soft.

His throat bobbed lightly. Jiang Yu wanted to pull his wrist free, but it was suddenly gripped even tighter.

Seeing how sneaky she looked, craning her neck and peeking around, Jiang Yu lowered his voice. “Song Tingting, what are you sneaking around for?”

“Shh-” Song Tinghuan tiptoed, released Jiang Yu’s wrist, and covered his mouth directly with her hand. “Keep your voice down.”

Jiang Yu went completely silent.

The boy’s lips were soft, and pressing against her palm tickled a little. Song Tinghuan quickly withdrew her hand. Her palm felt strangely warm, and she tried to conceal it by tucking both hands behind her back.

Jiang Yu lowered his gaze to her, to her long eyelashes, her reddened ear tips, and the hands hidden behind her back.

He had already heard her conversation with Guan Linlin just now. He had called her over alone because of that too.

“You’ve learned to lie.”

“.”

“Hold out your hand.”

“…”

Her palm itched faintly. Song Tinghuan felt strange about the sensation in her hand, and also strange about herself right now.

But Jiang Yu was clearly running out of patience. His black eyes were dimmed with a dark light. Song Tinghuan could not withstand that kind of gaze and silently extended her right hand, which she had been hiding behind her back. Her left hand, however, was suddenly caught.

On the back of her pale hand was still a thin flush of red, from the burn earlier. The little girl had lied to him before and said it was just an accident, but he had heard everything clearly just now.

“You got bullied?” Jiang Yu asked.

Song Tinghuan tried to pull her hand back, but Jiang Yu held it so tightly she could not move. She frowned. “Let go.”

“Acting tough at home?”

Song Tinghuan: “…”

Author’s note:
Song Xiaohuan: A home tiger (*^▽^*)

Jiang Yu: ?

Second update in the afternoon~