Chapter 125

The girl's fingers flew across the keyboard. "Just a little less... it'll be a waste if we can't finish it." Okay, it wasn't because she was worried about spending too much money. With a soft sigh, Hua Xin got up and walked out of the convenience store, amidst the clerk's subtle suspicion. As soon as she stepped out, a gust of cold wind swept over her... The girl shivered, put her hands in her pockets, and slowly walked out of the corner. She missed summer. ————————A few minutes later. Walking a few hundred meters against the evening breeze, Hua Xin pushed open the door of "Old Soldier Barbecue" and smelled an unparalleled aroma... this smell... is it meat?! Swallowing hard, she walked towards the private room inside. Number six. Xia Yan told her this was the place, right? She didn't want to push open the door to see a bunch of shirtless, muscular men shouting and drinking. What if they got drunk and hit her with a stick?... Never mess with a drunk man. This was a brief memory in the girl's mind, yet it was exceptionally vivid. "You're here? See if you want anything else to eat?" Xia Yan looked up at her. However, his usual gentle smile was gone; a faint weariness made him look somewhat haggard. "Luckily, I didn't make a mistake." Hua Xin silently complained to herself, then closed the door and sat opposite him. Her gaze paused, landing on Xia Yan's features. Hadn't they met four days ago? Back then, Xia Yan full of energy... How could he look so drained after only a few days? Could it be...? The girl's hand, which was in her pocket, bent slightly under the table, moving up and down slowly as if holding something. "I know, I know, buddy, I know what you're doing!" "I'm not eating, I'm not very hungry." "Okay." Xia Yan nodded succinctly, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes to rest. Hua Xin became even more certain of her suspicions. Sigh. After all, Xia Yan is a man too... The thought of Xia Yan solving things this way made the girl suppress a laugh. As a pure and honest man who doesn't mess around... this is probably the only way he can satisfy his desires (suppressing laughter)? Besides, they met a couple of days ago... it's normal that she couldn't help but laugh. (As of today, Xia Yan's day 982.) "Lao Hua... I went to see her a couple of days ago." "Who?" The girl rubbed her frozen hands and replied in a boyish voice, knowing full well what was going on. "Who else could it be... I..." "My girlfriend?" Xia Yan hesitated slightly, then still addressed the girl as "girlfriend." "Ah, you two finally met? How did it go?" Hua Xin deliberately feigned curiosity. In reality, she was completely unmoved. If she didn't know anything, it might be interesting to gossip about Xia Yan ... but she was a "person in the thick of it." The girl relaxed and leaned back in her chair, looking somewhat listless. Uh, now she couldn't even laugh anymore? Xia Yan continued, his eyes still closed, softly recounting, "She's even prettier than in the photos." (Yes, yes, that's right.) "Her voice is lovely too." (Sigh, so modest.) "She was wearing a JK uniform that day, and my heart skipped a beat when I saw her." (Was it really that exaggerated? What a jerk.) A faint smile appeared on Xia Yan's face, but it was quickly replaced by a look of disappointment. "But she..." "She doesn't seem to like me very much." Hua Xin's smug little face froze instantly. Xia Yan's dejected voice made her involuntarily turn her gaze to the man in front of her. The happiness she had felt from the compliments vanished instantly. "I think I did something to upset her, but don't laugh at me..." Xia Yan rubbed his face. "We were shopping when she left without even saying goodbye." He continued, "Although we've been chatting and playing games as usual these past two days, I feel a growing sense of distance between us." "Otherwise, she wouldn't have come to ask you out for drinks in the middle of the night." "I guess... I did something wrong, didn't I?" He gave a bitter laugh and, before the barbecue even arrived, opened a bottle of beer and took a swig. "You... like her that much?" Hua Xin clenched her fists, her voice slightly tense. She didn't know why she was so nervous. "I do." Xia Yan nodded, replying instantly. He stared at the bottle in his hand, his eyes slightly dazed. He wasn't drunk, but a feeling of dizziness lingered in his mind. "I like her a lot." "But she doesn't seem to like you that much, otherwise she wouldn't have... just left without saying goodbye." Although that wasn't the real issue, Hua Xin had no choice but to go along with it. After all, she wasn't Gu Xin Hua anymore! How could she explain to Xia Yan that she had misunderstood and run away halfway through?! "Yes." "She really doesn't like me very much..." Xia Yan remembered what the girl had said at the noodle shop that day. Hua Xin suppressed her guilt and pretended to be calm again, saying, "But you don't lack other girls, do you? Lin Qingyu? Liu Ruoyun? There are other girls, they all like you... Why hang yourself on this one tree?" "Although Lin Liu have a bit of a strange personality... there must be other girls who are more normal, you'll eventually meet someone better." She was the one who made Xia Yan so heartbroken. But there was no other way. She had to make Xia Yan give up on her. Why did it turn out like this? Perhaps the plan to meet Xia Yan using her current female identity to make Lin Qingyu and Liu Ruoyun give up should never have existed. She only needed to harden her heart and simply delete Xia Yan's QQ, wouldn't that have been enough? Was she really helping Xia Yan instead of making things worse? But Lin Qingyu still knew her secret. She still wanted to remain friends with Xia Yan, but did being friends mean hurting Xia Yan?... No, this was also to help him get rid of other bad women... Hua Xin looked at Xia Yan's furrowed brows, and her heart was filled with sadness. Sad? But why did it ache? "Lao Hua, you'll know when you fall in love with someone." "Hmm..." "Perhaps Xiang Guan is a good example?" "Although he's a bit of a simp, his persistence in love is admirable. Uh, don't be like him." He rarely joked, but the bottle in his hand was almost empty. "Then why don't you like other girls?" "Aren't there tons of pretty girls for you? She's not that pretty, is she?" "Many girls have given you love letters, and you never rejected them, and you're quite good-looking too." Xia Yan had shown the girl his picture before. Usually, girls from other colleges and majors would come to him after class. "Love letters" seemed to leave an impression on Xia Yan more easily than directly adding him as a WeChat friend. Because Xia Yan's personality wouldn't allow him to simply reject someone; he would carefully consider the situation before refusing. Ha, his interpersonal relationships. "It's different." "Considering their feelings is respecting their intentions; refusing means I don't accept it..."