After Differentiation, I Marked My Arch-nemesis - Chapter 83

For two full days, Jiang Youli shut herself in her room, cutting off all contact with everyone. She didn’t leave her room except to eat.

This continued until Monday.

She deliberately used the excuse of not feeling well to skip school.

Because… she didn’t know how to face Lu Yaoyi.

Ever since she realized she had fallen for Lu Yaoyi on Friday evening,

Her whole world had been turned upside down.

She buried her face in her blanket, forcing herself not to think about what happened on Friday. She couldn’t accept that she had fallen for Lu Yaoyi, the person she used to dislike so much. She thought that it must have been the sight of Lu Yaoyi’s tears that stirred up her emotions, so she tried desperately to forget the image of Lu Yaoyi crying in front of her.

She constantly tried to convince and deceive herself that she didn’t like Lu Yaoyi.

She thought this would make her forget everything.

But she was too cowardly to face Lu Yaoyi and had to isolate herself.

She truly didn’t know what to do anymore.

After some time,

Jiang Youli sat up from her bed and let out a heavy sigh. She pushed off the blanket and walked to the bathroom. Her steps were slow and heavy, as if her legs were tied with sandbags. She looked listless and sickly, as if she were ill.

She walked into the bathroom.

Jiang Youli turned on the shower and closed her eyes, letting the hot water pour over her head and body.

She really hated herself for being like this.

A moment later,

Jiang Youli finished her shower, turned off the faucet, and turned to get her clothes. After taking two steps, her foot suddenly slipped, and she lost her balance, falling forward. Her right knee hit the edge of the bathtub hard, and the pain felt as if her bone had cracked.

“Hiss—”

She frowned and sucked in a breath of cold air.

It hurts.

She lay in the bathtub, clutching her knee, and it took her a while to recover.

She got up from the bathtub, used a towel to dry herself, and put on her clothes before limping out of the bathroom. She sat down on the edge of the bed, staring at her bruised and swollen knee, and sighed. Then, she walked over to the nightstand, bent down, and opened the drawer to get some medicine.

The drawer slowly opened.

The sight that greeted her made her freeze.

The cat ear headband and the Polaroid photo in the drawer were especially eye-catching.

This was from Valentine’s Day when they went to the beach…

In an instant,

The scenes from Valentine’s Day played like a slideshow in her mind.

It took her a while to come back to her senses.

Then she slowly crouched down and picked up the Polaroid with a trembling hand.

In the photo, she and Lu Yaoyi were standing close together.

She had her arm around Lu Yaoyi’s shoulder, and her expression was faint, not revealing her mood, but she knew that she was very happy at the time. Lu Yaoyi, on the other hand, had a bright and charming smile, and her happiness was visible.

Her gaze was fixed on Lu Yaoyi in the photo and didn’t move away.

Slowly,

All those long-forgotten memories were awakened.

Whether it was Valentine’s Day,

Or all the little moments she and Lu Yaoyi had shared before.

Each intimate scene was like a needle, piercing the softest and most vulnerable part of her heart. Her eyes felt hot, and her vision was gradually blurred by tears. Her shoulders trembled from the heartache, and her whole body was shaking.

She couldn’t hold it in anymore.

She couldn’t deceive herself by running away from reality anymore.

If she didn’t like Lu Yaoyi, she wouldn’t have carefully taken care of her when she was sick with a fever and stayed by her side all night. She wouldn’t have resisted the temptation and done everything to restrain her Alpha instincts to avoid hurting Lu Yaoyi when she was in heat.

If she didn’t like her…

She wouldn’t have agreed to be Lu Yaoyi’s human body pillow.

She wouldn’t have chosen to endure her rut without marking Lu Yaoyi to avoid hurting her. She wouldn’t have been afraid of falling into Jiang Hao’s trap and uncontrollably marking another Omega, thus losing Lu Yaoyi. She wouldn’t have dressed up as Santa Claus to see Lu Yaoyi in the capital. She wouldn’t have agreed to go to the beach with Lu Yaoyi for Valentine’s Day and watch the fireworks. She wouldn’t have made up the excuse of fulfilling her Alpha duty to kiss Lu Yaoyi on the Ferris wheel. She wouldn’t have felt so sad and depressed after ending their partnership.

If she didn’t like Lu Yaoyi,

She wouldn’t have let Lu Yaoyi take advantage of her again and again.

Memories flashed before her eyes.

Jiang Youli finally understood what that fear she couldn’t even understand herself was. She was afraid that her friends would tease and laugh at her if they found out she liked Lu Yaoyi. She was even more afraid that Lu Yaoyi would laugh at her if she knew how she felt.

That’s why she was afraid.

How could she have fallen for her rival she had disliked for so many years?

Lu Yaoyi was so narcissistic and always went against her.

Lu Yaoyi…

Would definitely laugh at her.

When she thought of this, she covered her face and cried uncontrollably.

She also finally knew what the reason was besides not being able to resist Lu Yaoyi’s pheromones. It was all because she liked Lu Yaoyi.

The regret and sadness she felt now showed how foolish she was for saying those things before and for tearing up the pheromone detection report. She had publicly cut all ties, and she always said that she hated Lu Yaoyi and would never like her, but in the end, she had fallen for her.

She… was like a clown…

She thought she must have liked Lu Yaoyi for a very long time.

So long that she didn’t even know when it started.

Otherwise…

She wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to protect Lu Yaoyi, even if it meant risking her own life.

She wiped her tears and looked at Lu Yaoyi in the photo. For the sake of her so-called pride, she had pushed Lu Yaoyi away again and again. She even said such cold and heartless words when Lu Yaoyi came to her and asked if it was true that she liked Pei Jingning.

She was wrong.

Pride was nothing compared to Lu Yaoyi.

Liking someone is liking someone.

She finally gathered the courage to break through that invisible wall in front of her and reconcile with her past self. Even if Lu Yaoyi laughed at her, she still liked her.

It was only now that she belatedly remembered the questions Lu Yaoyi asked her last Friday. The excuse she used to end their partnership was that she had an Omega she liked. Lu Yaoyi must have come to her because she misunderstood that she liked Pei Jingning.

So that was it.

She wiped away the tears on her face, got up, endured the pain in her knee, and ran toward the door.

She had to go and explain everything to Lu Yaoyi in person.

She had to tell Lu Yaoyi.

That she liked her.

Jiangcheng No. 1 High School.

The third period of the morning had just ended.

Jiang Youli hurried through the hallway and ran into Class 1 of Grade 1, heading straight for Lu Yaoyi’s seat. She saw that Lu Yaoyi’s seat was empty and had nothing on it. She paused, looked down at Jin Rubing in the seat next to her, and asked slowly.

“Where’s Lu Yaoyi?”

Jin Rubing gave Jiang Youli a cold side-eye and scoffed. “I don’t know.”

The thought of Jiang Youli being the one who made Lu Yaoyi cry that day made her furious. She really didn’t know why Lu Yaoyi liked Jiang Youli.

And now Jiang Youli had the nerve to come and ask.

It made her so angry.

Jiang Youli didn’t quite understand. “How could you not know?”

Jin Rubing didn’t want to see Jiang Youli for another second, so she picked up the English book on her desk, opened it, and laid it on the desk. “I don’t know means I don’t know. Don’t ask me.”

“Boss.”

Chen Huaian suddenly ran to Jiang Youli’s side. “You disappeared without a trace for two days. I thought something had happened to you. I’m so glad you’re okay.”

Jiang Youli looked at Chen Huaian. “Quick, tell me, where did Lu Yaoyi go?”

Chen Huaian: “Lu Yaoyi transferred to Capital High School.”

Jiang Youli froze.

Chen Huaian: “Boss, you didn’t know?”

Jiang Youli asked incredulously, “Lu Yaoyi went to Capital High School?”

“Yeah,” Chen Huaian nodded seriously. “We just found out recently that Lu Yaoyi transferred. Boss, you really didn’t know?”

Jiang Youli slowly turned her head to look at Lu Yaoyi’s empty seat.

Why did Lu Yaoyi suddenly transfer to the capital?

Why didn’t she tell her?

She immediately took out her phone from her pocket and called Lu Yaoyi’s number, but she couldn’t get through. Left with no choice, she opened WeChat and sent a message to Lu Yaoyi.

—Lu Yaoyi, did you transfer to Capital High School?

Just as she finished sending the message, she stopped typing.

The red exclamation mark on the phone screen was especially glaring.

She stared blankly at the red exclamation mark.

Lu Yaoyi…

Had blocked her.

Chen Huaian looked at the pale and strange-looking Jiang Youli and asked in a low voice.

“Boss… what’s wrong…”

Jiang Youli didn’t answer and just ran out of the classroom.

“Boss!”

Chen Huaian scratched his head in confusion. “That’s weird…”

Jiang Youli left the classroom and ran to the office. She got a confirmation from Tan Yushan that Lu Yaoyi had already transferred to Capital High School. Then she left the office and ran toward the school gate. She was running and calling Li Henian at the same time.

“Hello, Little Dad.”

Li Henian quickly answered Jiang Youli’s call. “Mhm? Dingding?”

Jiang Youli: “Do you know that Lu Yaoyi transferred to the capital?”

Li Henian: “I do.”

Jiang Youli: “Then why didn’t you tell me?”

Li Henian was silent for a few seconds.

Then he replied to Jiang Youli, “Yaoyao told me not to tell you.”

Before, Jiang Youli had locked herself in her room and wouldn’t come out. He didn’t know what was wrong with Jiang Youli or why she was acting so strange. It wasn’t until Lu Yaoyi called him and said she was transferring to the capital and repeatedly told him not to tell Jiang Youli that he found out.

He guessed that the reason might be that the two girls had a fight.

But…

The reason Lu Yaoyi gave him for not telling Jiang Youli was that she couldn’t bear to leave Jiang Youli.

He respected Lu Yaoyi’s decision and didn’t tell Jiang Youli.

“Little Dad, how could you not tell me about something as big as Lu Yaoyi transferring to Capital High School just because she told you not to?” Jiang Youli asked Li Henian anxiously and excitedly. “She must be angry with me, that’s why she didn’t want you to tell me.”

“I’m going to the capital to find her right now.”

She hung up after she finished speaking.

“…”

Li Henian looked down and let out a long sigh.

Jiang Youli ignored the guard, Li Xianrong, who tried to stop her and ran out of the school gate. She thought that Lu Yaoyi must be angry with her, otherwise, she wouldn’t have blocked all her contact information. The panic of losing Lu Yaoyi swept through her heart like a storm.

She didn’t want to lose Lu Yaoyi.

She was going to the capital.

She ran to the side of the road like a madwoman and hailed a taxi, telling the driver,

“To the airport.”