Chapter 72

Hua Xin, a socially awkward and withdrawn girl terrified of everything outside... actually managed to face the person she liked directly. Although their... progress only reached the level of friends before abruptly ending, it was still a historic step! A glint flashed in Xia Yan's eyes. This was a crucial step that ignited Hua Xin's passion for something in life, leading her to ditch her mask and hood! ———————— The two sat facing each other, neither speaking after Xia Yan left. Lin Qingyu gently stirred the meticulously crafted latte art on her latte with a small spoon, seemingly treating Hua Xin sitting opposite her like a pitiful piece of art, letting her torment her. "We meet again. I said goodbye last time." "Looks like it worked?" Lin Qingyu put down the spoon, placed her hands on her lap, leaned back on the soft sofa, and smiled at the girl before her, speaking in a very elegant tone. Hua Xin: "..." The atmosphere was clearly very different from what they had at the sports meet, and she hadn't even exchanged a few words with this wicked woman. Besides, she had been cheated on without even knowing it, so what was she gloating about?! "Heh heh (mockingly)." The girl turned her head away, ignoring Lin Qingyu. Seeing Lin Qingyu Hua Xin didn't want to talk to her, Lin Qingyu wasn't angry. She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and continued softly, "I know everyone around Xia Yan." "Mu Feng? Xiang Guan? Including a few classmates in your class who are close to him." "But you're not included." "That's why I wanted to get to know you." She picked up her cup and took a sip of coffee, her tone devoid of any boasting, seemingly waiting for Hua Xin's reply. "Oh." The girl uttered a single syllable without any emotional fluctuation, quite aloof, before silently taking out her phone and sending a message to Xia Yan under the table. (Trying to get close to me?) (Don't you know I'm different from others!) (Don't think anyone will be fooled by your bad woman's appearance!) Lin Qingyu raised an eyebrow, crossed her legs under the table, moved the coffee aside, leaned forward, and rested her arms on the table, her aggressive eyes fixed on the girl in the black hoodie. Her tone remained calm and gentle as before. "Hmm... since Xia Yan asked me to chat with you... I can't let the atmosphere stay cold, can I?" "I might as well tell you a story I saw recently." "How about it?" Hua Xin lowered her head slightly and quickly sent a message from her phone. Xia Yan: "I understand you." "Just do it." "..." The girl twitched her lips, momentarily confused about what Xia Yan had misunderstood. She just wanted to get away from this woman! If Liu Ruoyun could do something as heinous as drugging someone, who knows if Lin Qingyu might also be a hidden yandere! (Please save the prison flower...) (Where's my flower guard...) "Whatever." She still pretended to be indifferent, but in reality, she was panicking. However, her "boyish voice" made it seem harmless. Lin Qingyu placed one hand on the table, her fingers tapping rhythmically, while the other hand moved the coffee cup back, slowly stirring the now cloudy latte art with a small spoon. "I didn't like exercise before, I even hated it—it only added to the pain and made me sweat, until the day I signed up for the sports meet." (Wait... I remember you saying you were going for a run during the National Day holiday...) The girl suspiciously recalled a chance encounter from a certain night. [What a coincidence, I was going for a run.] Women are so scary... So those weren't marks from exercise, but marks from not exercising for a long time, right?! "I thought I'd be nervous standing on the track, afraid of making a fool of myself, afraid I wouldn't be able to keep going..." "But all those emotions vanished after running one lap." "All that was left in my mind was..." "The finish line." "As long as I cross the finish line, I'll have achieved a breakthrough for myself." "But strangely, another strange thought popped into my head." She stopped what she was doing, her eyes sharply fixed on Hua Xin, as if trying to see right through the face hidden behind the mask. (Fear.) The girl involuntarily shrank back against the sofa behind her. Lin Qingyu said softly, "I want to be number one." "Even in a field where I have no talent, I want to be number one." "No matter how strong my competitors are." "Whether they openly display their strength or hide their hidden talents, I will step over them all." "On the field, there can only be one winner." "Don't you agree, Hua Xin?" The girl hesitated for a moment, then nodded. (No problem, there's only ever been one champion, otherwise how could the world's number one center not even understand such a simple question?) (No wonder Xia Yan ran off with someone else and didn't even know?...) "Right? You think so too." "So..." Lin Qingyu changed, that gentle aura instantly disappeared: "The winner beside Xia Yan can only be me." "And you, how long are you going to hide it?" Hua Xin's heart trembled, looking at Lin Qingyu, who was smiling brightly in front of her, with some disbelief. "Me?..." "Senior Lin, what are you talking about?" "I, I'm a little socially awkward, and I'm not good-looking, so that's why I wear a mask and hood... "I'm not hiding anything..." The girl was no longer silent, but explained in a flustered manner. (It's okay, how could she possibly know?...) (It must be Xia Yan who told her about my social anxiety... It's okay...) Lin Qingyu still looked at her with a light smile, her lips slightly moving as she uttered a few words, ruthlessly digging out the biggest secret deep in her heart. The voice kept echoing in her ears. "I'm saying, why did you hide the fact that you're a girl?" "Miss Hua Xin." 70. You'll understand when you're my age? 4k4 " Senior Lin... this joke isn't funny..." "I'm a boy... please, please respect me?" After a long while, Hua Xin clenched her small fists tightly, her heart pounding so hard that it sounded like a drumbeat in the otherwise silent scene. I have no connection with her. We've only exchanged ten sentences, she couldn't possibly know, she must be asking me why I hid myself with my clothes, right? It must be, right? It must be... The girl comforted herself, her face pale, but her trembling hands betrayed her current feelings. Ding! Please select your future life. 1. Sliced. 2. Captured for research on supernatural powers. 3. Imprisoned and raised as a velvet ball that only knows how to be trained and reproduce. 4. Spend the rest of your life lying on the operating table, all your organs are priced. 5. Arrested as a mental patient. 6. Captured and studied by a mad scientist, transforming into Oregano Hero. 7. "... Your hands are women's hands, slender and fair." "A man's hands would obviously..."