The day Gu Huai Ci agreed to be with me, his friends pointed at my face and cursed:
“Why would a noble flower stick itself in a pile of buffalo dung? No, dog shit, even!”
But Gu Huai Ci said sternly: “You are not to touch me without permission, you are not to casually tell others that I’ve agreed to be with you, and you are not to arbitrarily interfere in my affairs.”
After these three “don’ts,” his friends no longer had the energy to curse at me. Their trembling fingers, which had been pointing at me, now turned to point at Gu Huai Ci.
“A-Ci, you’re being a bit too…”
“If you can’t do that, we can break up right now.”
The looks directed at me were clearly sarcastic.
I pondered, then shyly nodded and gave an awkward smile: “As long as we don’t break up, whatever A-Ci says is right.”
It was truly the pathetic sight of someone endlessly yielding for love.
So his friends pointed at my face again and continued to curse, heartbroken and exasperated: “Qiao Wen Bai, a shameless clingy person like you is beyond saving!”
Everyone knew that I was the most shameless hanger-on by Gu Huai Ci’s side.
All his friends also knew that Gu Huai Ci had only agreed to be with me because he was fed up with my relentless pursuit.
He merely wanted to find a legitimate reason to limit my access to him.
But my shameless persistence was so profound that even his friends couldn’t stand it anymore and began to advise Gu Huai Ci: “Don’t string her along anymore. If you truly don’t like her, then deal with her. Otherwise, as long as that Qiao Wen Bai is alive, she’ll cling to you like a leech.”
Their tone held a hint of mockery.
Gu Huai Ci was reading a book, his slender, pale hand turning the pages. Next to him was the breakfast I had queued for three hours early that morning to buy. He hadn’t touched it at all.
After hearing those words, he said without looking up, “Then you go tell her.”
Chen Ran was speechless. He turned his head and saw me, holding the freshly bought breakfast, standing outside and glaring at him.
“Fine.” He nervously touched his nose. “Suit yourselves, I’m not playing the villain anymore.”
I ignored him, quickly entered the classroom, and handed Gu Huai Ci the still-hot bowl of congee.
A radiant smile bloomed on my lips: “I just bought the lean pork and preserved egg congee you like!”
Gu Huai Ci said it was too greasy, so I ran to the cafeteria to buy another portion of congee.
But this time, he only looked up at me briefly, then quickly looked away and called out, “Chen Ran.”
“What is it?”
“I’m not eating breakfast.”
Gu Huai Ci looked at Chen Ran and said, “If you don’t want to eat it, throw it away.”
Having said that, he stood up and left.
He Hua, who was always waiting at the classroom door, quickly followed him. She was probably talking about a project. Gu Huai Ci tilted his head to look at her, listening and nodding. I had never seen such a gentle expression on his face before.
Perhaps encouraged by this gentle expression, He Hua gradually closed the distance between herself and Gu Huai Ci, even subtly flirting with him. Gu Huai Ci merely frowned slightly but didn’t say anything to stop her.
Before, if I even got a little close to him, he, who rarely showed emotion, would almost fail to hide the disgust on his face.
I remained in the same posture, holding the food, and couldn’t help but sigh softly, “Today’s lean pork and preserved egg congee is a limited quantity!”
“See? He’s more patient with a dog than with you.” Chen Ran also sighed, taking the bowl of congee from my hand. “If it were me, I would have broken up with him ages ago! Not only do you not break up, but you still want to keep your place? What patience!”
I turned my head, seriously correcting Chen Ran: "Anyway, the breakfasts I gave him before never actually reached him."
But this morning, Gu Huai Ci had accepted one.
Chen Ran was speechless at my words, finally couldn't help but point at my face and scold, "You're a lost cause!"
3
Among Gu Huai Ci's circle of friends, Chen Ran was the one with the sharpest tongue but kindest heart.
So, after hearing that Shen Yu had returned to the country, he was also the first to rush over and advise me, even though his tone was full of schadenfreude.
"A Ci and Shen Yu are childhood sweethearts. That year, their two families almost got engaged. Back then, when Shen Yu went abroad, A Ci even went a bit crazy for a while. Although he was angry at the world, he cherished the gifts Shen Yu gave him and wouldn't let anyone touch them."
"A Ci is someone worth learning from. This morning, after finding out Shen Yu was back, he didn't even ask for leave and rushed off to pick her up."
He even took out his phone: "Look, it's all over the hot searches!"
Gu Huai Ci was the heir of the Gu family, so being on the hot searches was an everyday occurrence.
I stared at the phone screen.
In the photo, Gu Huai Ci was holding a large bouquet of white roses, silently waiting for the girl to walk towards him. The gentle smile on his face was captivating. It was a different side of Gu Huai Ci I had never seen before.
I frowned, pondering: "Isn't he allergic to pollen?"
A long time ago, I had learned flirting tips from books, and saved money for a very long time to buy Gu Huai Ci a large bouquet of roses.
Gu Huai Ci didn't accept them, only saying: "I'm allergic to pollen."
Afterwards, I saw that bouquet of roses in the trash can.
"Allergic to pollen? Nonsense!"
Chen Ran took back his phone, casually remarking: "That guy has excellent health; I've never seen him allergic to anything."
I paused for a moment, not having the courage to tell Chen Ran that when he was with me, Gu Huai Ci was allergic to almost everything.
"Still not breaking up?" Chen Ran asked me.
Perhaps he was just asking out of habit. After all, he had advised me to break up many times, but none of them had ever succeeded.
And this time, my attitude was no different; I firmly told Chen Ran: "No breaking up! No matter what, I won't break up!"
I thought of the girl who looked so well-matched with Gu Huai Ci in the photo, and suddenly asked Chen Ran: "Should I go with A Ci to pick her up?"
I only wanted to meet the girl Gu Huai Ci had held in his heart for so many years.
But Chen Ran misunderstood, because he scolded me fiercely, almost dying of anger himself.
4
I started not being able to find Gu Huai Ci anymore.
Even on the few occasions I saw him, I always caught Gu Huai Ci with Shen Yu. Someone as busy as him all day long was patiently strolling and shopping with Shen Yu.
Because Gu Huai Ci didn't allow me to casually talk about our relationship with outsiders, everyone felt relieved for Gu Huai Ci. More precisely: he had finally escaped my persistent clinging.
A few people tried to badmouth me in front of Shen Yu to curry favor with her, saying how shamelessly I had clung to Gu Huai Ci while she wasn't around.
"She refuses to look in the mirror and see who she is!"
Gu Huai Ci listened attentively, not saying a word.
After listening, Shen Yu smiled and said to Gu Huai Ci: "I want to meet her."
"There's nothing to meet her for." Gu Huai Ci's tone was cold: "That person is unreasonable. Don't let her cling to you; it'll be less trouble."
These were the words spoken to me by Gu Huai Ci’s former admirers.
They scoffed, “Honestly, Qiao Wen Bai, if I were you, I wouldn’t have the face to show myself to anyone and would have quickly packed my bags and gotten out of here.”
Then I also smiled broadly and nodded, “That’s right, so does Gu Huai Ci even remember who any of you are?”
They were shocked by my audacity.
But before I could even get out, Shen Yu proactively sought me out. She did so behind Gu Huai Ci’s back.
“I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time.”
Her stature was much taller than mine, and her arm span was wider too.
But Shen Yu was very beautiful; besides Gu Huai Ci, she was the most beautiful person I had ever met.
She extended her hand. I hesitated for a moment, but in the end, I still shook it.
The smile on Shen Yu’s face brightened a little more.
“I’m Shen Yu,” she said with a smile.
But her fingers brushed ambiguously across my palm, their intent unclear.
However, before I could react, she quickly withdrew her hand with a calm demeanor.
So I could only suppress the unusual feelings stirring within me.
“You…”
I instinctively took two steps back to widen the distance between myself and Shen Yu, licking my dry lips. “Are you looking for me for something?”
She was much more beautiful than in pictures, truly enough to make others feel self-conscious.
Shen Yu tilted her head and looked around. “Do you work part-time here?”
I reluctantly nodded, not mentioning to Shen Yu that this was just one of my many jobs.
“I heard A Ci say you gave him a lot of gifts.”
Shen Yu noticed my reluctance. She chuckled softly, her fingertips tapping the tabletop before pausing. “All those gifts added up aren’t cheap, are they? Just working at a coffee shop probably isn’t enough to cover those expenses, is it?”
This person seemed merely curious, yet her expression still held the same arrogance as before, a dismissive air identical to Gu Huai Ci’s.
I, however, didn’t feel provoked. After all, having been by Gu Huai Ci’s side for years, I’d grown accustomed to all kinds of taunts.
But the shop manager, overhearing, frowned and said to Shen Yu in a cool tone, “She’s still on duty. Please don’t disturb her work.”
Shen Yu’s expression didn’t change as she said, “My apologies.”
“Later, when I meet A Ci, I want to bring something for the people at his company.” She looked over the menu, then continued, “In that case, I’ll have twenty-eight cups of milk tea.”
Gu Huai Ci had started his own small company, and on weekends, he would be there all day.
Shen Yu looked up at me, a mocking smile playing on her lips, just as before.