Chapter 82: The Chips Are Innocent
Chen Qianxi couldn’t believe it. She had only asked her dad to take her to the amusement park, and somehow she ended up witnessing her favorite ship in real life. Talk about fate!
Truly, the heavens were looking out for her—after all, she was the first fan of the Xu Nianshen × Lin Yuejiu ship. God must love her!
If her parents hadn’t been around, Chen Qianxi would have laughed out loud, hands on her hips. If she did, her parents might think she was crazy, maybe even take her to a mental hospital. Better not.
All she wanted now was to get back to her dorm room, so she grabbed her dad’s hand and tugged him forward. “Come on, Dad, let’s go!”
Her dad was pulled along, completely confused.
Xu Nianshen escorted Lin Yuejiu back to school, only leaving after he saw her safely enter.
Lin Yuejiu placed the photos and the keychain in a small bag in her wardrobe but couldn’t resist taking a quick look. She examined them carefully before putting them back.
Just as she tied her hair up to wash her face, there was a knock at the door. She paused, rinsed the foam from her face, and went to open it, still wet. “Who’s there?”
Before she could react, a figure lunged at her with such force that she lost her balance and fell backward, her back hitting the floor with a thud. She groaned, then looked up to see who it was—Chen Qianxi.
Lin Yuejiu’s face showed surprise and a hint of confusion. “Xi Xi, what are you doing in my dorm?”
Chen Qianxi looked down, her eyes catching sight of Lin Yuejiu’s hair spread across the floor, her mouth slightly open, eyes wide with a dazed look that made one’s imagination run wild.
Chen Qianxi immediately shook her head. What am I thinking? Stop it! Focus! This is Xu Nianshen’s story!
She quickly reached out, helped Lin Yuejiu up, and apologized. “Sorry, Jiu Jiu, I got too excited… uh, didn’t mean to knock you over.”
Lin Yuejiu shook her head. “It’s okay. But you have a key, right? Why knock?”
Chen Qianxi slapped her forehead. “Ah, I left the key at home!”
Lin Yuejiu gave her a helpless look.
Blushing, Chen Qianxi scratched her head. “Sorry, Jiu Jiu. I hope I didn’t hurt you.”
“No, it’s fine. By the way, why are you here today?”
Chen Qianxi slapped her forehead again. “Oh, I remembered! I came to ask you something important.”
“Something so important you came today just to ask?” Lin Yuejiu teased.
“Of course it’s important!” Chen Qianxi grabbed her shoulders, making her face hers. “Tell me, did you go out today?”
“How do you know?”
“Did you go out with Study-God Xu?”
“??? You saw?”
“I saw! I saw you coming out of the amusement park with Study-God Xu!”
Lin Yuejiu facepalmed. No way…
Chen Qianxi shook her excitedly. “Did you go on a date with Study-God Xu? Are you two together?”
The more she said it, the more excited she became, shaking Lin Yuejiu until she was dizzy. Lin Yuejiu quickly raised her hand to stop her.
Realizing she overreacted, Chen Qianxi let go. “Sorry, sorry.”
Lin Yuejiu took a moment to steady herself.
“Tell me! Is it real?”
“Real what?” Lin Yuejiu played dumb.
“Are you and Study-God Xu together?”
“We haven’t confessed or anything, so how are we ‘together’?” Lin Yuejiu thought silently. Sorry, Teacher Xu, you’ll have to endure this for now.
“Ah?” Chen Qianxi looked at her in disbelief. “You’re not together?”
Lin Yuejiu lightly tapped her on the head. “Going out together doesn’t automatically mean ‘together,’ you know?”
Chen Qianxi pouted. “But it doesn’t look normal.”
“Why not normal?”
Chen Qianxi pulled up the photos she had taken and showed them to Lin Yuejiu. “Look, this smile, this eye contact—it just doesn’t look normal.”
“???”
Lin Yuejiu leaned closer to look. It was the moment at the entrance of the amusement park, when Xu Nianshen bought her the cotton candy and she was thanking him as she accepted it.
“What’s abnormal about this? It looks completely normal to me.”
Chen Qianxi frowned. “Normal? Everything about it looks off!”
Lin Yuejiu tapped her head lightly. “I think you’re the one seeing things. This is just a normal thank-you. Xu Nianshen gave me cotton candy, I thanked him, and my face shows a grateful smile. That’s all.”
“Really?” Chen Qianxi looked skeptical.
“Look for yourself.”
Chen Qianxi imagined the scene again. The more she looked, the more it seemed like she had mis-shipped the pair—her excitement turned into frustration.
Seeing her expression, Lin Yuejiu said, “See? I told you.”
“But…” Chen Qianxi hesitated, wanting to argue further.
“Alright, fine, it’s just one photo. Don’t overthink it.”
“Okay…” Chen Qianxi pouted.
“Hey, let me see that one photo again.”
“Ah, okay.” Unprepared, Chen Qianxi handed her phone over.
Lin Yuejiu glanced at the photo and casually said, “Your photography skills are pretty good.”
“Of course!” Chen Qianxi puffed up with pride.
“Someone with skills like yours must have lots of nice photos in their album, right?”
“Of course!”
“Mind if I take a look?” Lin Yuejiu asked gently.
“Sure, here you go.”
With her permission, Lin Yuejiu scrolled back and found plenty of photos of her and Xu Nianshen: casual glances, aquarium pictures, and even shots from a picnic.
While Lin Yuejiu flipped through the photos, Chen Qianxi sat on the bed, opened a bag of chips, and started eating piece by piece. Watching Lin Yuejiu browse through the phone, a sudden thought struck her—the photos?… the photos?!
She jumped up, the chip bag falling to the floor. Her eyes widened. Photos?!
Lin Yuejiu had just finished looking at them and looked up with a smile.
Chen Qianxi stammered, “Jiu Jiu, listen to me, no, I mean, let me explain!”
Lin Yuejiu just kept smiling.
Chen Qianxi bent down to pick up the chips and set them aside—after all, the chips were innocent.
Lin Yuejiu remained silent, simply watching her.
Chen Qianxi forced a laugh. “Jiu Jiu, you already saw them all?”
“Yes.”
“And… do you have anything to say?”
“What do you want to say?” Lin Yuejiu asked in return.
“Uh, I’m innocent!”
“???”
“It was my hands, not me. I swear,” she made a swearing gesture, “it was my hands that did it, definitely not me!”
Lin Yuejiu gave her a look that clearly said, Do I look like I believe you? Do I look like a fool?
Chen Qianxi looked devastated, almost about to cry, and slowly moved closer. She pinched Lin Yuejiu’s clothes and said, “Jiu Jiu, listen, I really couldn’t help it. I didn’t mean anything, it’s just…”
“Just what?”
“Just… the scene was too beautiful. I couldn’t help taking the photo. You know, when people see something really beautiful, they just want to capture it.”
Hmm, that must be it. Chen Qianxi told herself, self-hypnotizing to believe it.
