After Saving My Possessive Best Friend, I Couldn't Escape (GL) - Chapter 32

[laugh]: Sorry about just now, the boss didn’t mean it that way.

Looking through the screen, the image of Fang Zhile, anxious and awkward, trying to explain, appeared before Ye Yu’s eyes.

She had a seemingly innocent face, but her eyes were always mischievous, and with every glance, you could tell she had dozens of little ideas circulating in her mind.

Yet, towards Ye Yu, she was simple: no demands, no greed, no suspicion, only pure and passionate affection and protection.

For some reason, the thought of Fang Zhile made the dark void feel a little brighter, and the viscous, stagnant water seemed to suddenly ripple.

Into the dry, cracked emotional land, a clear spring named “Fang Zhile” suddenly surged in, nurturing a vitality that could not be seen with the naked eye.

Ye Yu’s heart trembled, and she let go of the screen.

Fang Zhile saw that she hadn’t replied, likely worried that Ye Yu was overthinking things, and continued to explain.

[laugh]: The boss has a wife. Her ‘fujoshi eyes’ see a couple everywhere, so she always tries to make jokes about us. She didn’t mean anything by it, so don’t misunderstand.

So she has a wife. Wei Youqing clearly wasn’t straight. If she has a wife, she probably won’t be interested in Fang Zhile, right?

Just as Wei Youqing was worried that Fang Zhile would be deceived by Sun Li’s group, who clearly looked like rich young ladies, Ye Yu was also wary of Wei Youqing, who seemed equally formidable.

The phone in Ye Yu’s hand felt hot again, yet it strangely made her calmer.

How could this be such a coincidence?

While being spied on is terrifying and chilling, most people treat it as a rare, random incident and don’t intentionally check the places they frequent for cameras.

Was Fang Zhile’s heightened sense of security simply an emphasis on privacy, or had she noticed some clue, suffered some form of harassment, and was reminding Ye Yu out of concern that she might suffer the same misfortune?

Ye Yu’s profile picture was a simple, quiet “Ye” in Clerical Script, floating before Fang Zhile.

[Ye]: Why did you suddenly think of installing security software?

In high school, the environment was simple, the life was a busy routine between two points, ordinary and demanding. Yet, Fang Zhile had asked her to install software intended for special purposes. And on the first night after installing it, Ye Yu discovered she was being spied on.

The threadbare events were like a tangled mess, and she desperately needed to find the end of the thread.

The phone screen showed “Typing…” which then disappeared, only to show it again a few seconds later. Two minutes passed before a line of text popped up.

[laugh]: The boss said we’re beta users, helping to test the software’s operation and collect user data for improvement.

Dozens of characters. Ye Yu had seen Fang Zhile’s typing speed; her fingers could blur across the screen. It shouldn’t have taken two minutes to reply.

[Ye]: Could the software be wrong? The software just warned me about a strange signal nearby.

This time, Fang Zhile’s message came back in less than three seconds:

What signal?

What was the warning content?

Take a screenshot for me to see.

The software shouldn’t be wrong.

Make sure you’ve opened all the permissions for the software.

She was nervous. Compared to mere worry, Fang Zhile was distinctly more nervous.

But if Fang Zhile knew there was a camera in her room, given her personality, she wouldn’t have used the roundabout method of installing software to tell her; she would have told her directly.

So what exactly did Fang Zhile…

Ye Yu’s eyes suddenly widened. The thought that she had always ignored, the one that flashed through her mind but she could never quite grasp, finally reappeared.

Fang Zhile might have had a similar experience. The half-heard, incomplete word—photos!

Almost the moment the conjecture appeared, Ye Yu reached a conclusion: this was the truth. Otherwise, Fang Zhile wouldn’t have reacted this way.

The chill that had fallen upon her but lingered outside her skin, unable to permeate her pores, finally invaded her body through a channel named “Fang Zhile.”

Ye Yu retreated three steps, leaning her head against the wall. She needed the support of the wall to stand steady, to keep from collapsing while trembling all over, her limbs weak.

It was as if all the blood had been instantly drained from her body. Ye Yu felt icy cold all over, her teeth chattering, her breathing difficult, her knees so weak she felt she might collapse the next second.

Her mind was filled with the rage of a wildfire roaring under a fierce wind, all reason burned to ashes, and black and white soot swept up, finally covering the sun and silencing all sounds.

Ye Yu exerted the greatest reason she had ever known and typed out a sentence to temporarily soothe Fang Zhile.

[Ye]: Oops, I made a mistake. It connected to a strange Wi-Fi. It’s fine now.

As Ye Yu sent the message, she turned off the room light, took a large coat from the closet, draped it over the clothes rack, and, as if unintentionally, covered the lamp.

“Uncle Xue,” Ye Yu dialed a number in her phonebook that she rarely called. “I need your help.”

When Ye Yu spoke, she could almost smell the dust and smoke in her breath. “Someone came into my dorm and ruined my things.”

Uncle Xue’s deep, low voice came from the other end, asking Ye Yu what was ruined and if it was valuable.

“Very valuable,” Ye Yu walked to the desk without rushing, poured a small amount of clear water into the inkstone, gently shook it, and then tossed it, the soiled ink instantly submerging the Ode to the Luo River Goddess.

“It was a calligraphy piece Mom asked me to write for a competition. Mom takes it very seriously. It was two lines away from being finished,” Ye Yu looked at the unsalvageable calligraphy, seemingly trembling with distress, like a child whose favorite toy had been broken. Her voice was so wronged that she sounded like she was about to cry. “Someone spilled ink on it. It’s ruined.”

“Fang Zhile!” Zhou Yunyi called out several times. “Didn’t you want to find Teacher Yang? She’s finished class!”

Fang Zhile awoke as if from a dream. “Oh, sorry, I was distracted.”

“How many times have you been distracted this morning?” Zhou Yunyi said. “You even asked me to watch if Teacher Yang came out of Class Two. She has to teach the first years next. If you have something to do, you need to hurry.”

Fang Zhile thanked her. “I’m going now. I’ll buy you milk tea next time.”

This was the first time Fang Zhile had entered the office since transmigrating into the book. Teacher Yang was an art teacher. Although she was an art student, she had graduated from a prestigious foreign university. Her overall qualities were high, and she had been a head teacher for quite a few years.

“Teacher,” Fang Zhile knocked on the office door, and upon hearing the reply to enter, she opened the door and walked in. “I need your help with something.”

Teacher Yang pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses and smiled kindly. “What is it?”

“I’d like to move out of the dorm and apply to be a day student,” Fang Zhile said.

Teacher Yang opened her drawer, where files with each student’s information were neatly arranged. She took out a file and flipped through a few pages.

“Your situation certainly allows for being a day student,” Teacher Yang thought for a moment, then looked up and gestured for Fang Zhile to sit on the chair next to her. “I have a few questions for you.”

Fang Zhile sat obediently and listened attentively. “Please, Teacher.”

“Why do you want to be a day student? Is there a problem with the dorm?” Teacher Yang asked. “Although you’re only in the second year of high school and the college entrance exam is more than a year away, frequent changes in environment can significantly affect your studies and life.”

Fang Zhile had anticipated this question and answered with her prepared reason without hesitation. “I want to free up more time for studying. The school has a fixed lights-out time every night, and I have to hide from the dorm supervisor if I want to study a little longer.”

It was quite believable for a straight-A student with top scores in every subject to say she wanted to spend more time studying.

“But didn’t you say before that being a day student wastes time commuting, which affects your study time?” Teacher Yang sounded confused.

Before? Day student? Was she a day student before and only moved into the dorm later? What happened in between?

Fang Zhile was puzzled but maintained a calm demeanor. “My understanding was a bit skewed before. Now I feel that as a day student, I can carve out large blocks of time for review in the morning and evening, which is more efficient.”

Teacher Yang nodded, accepting her reasoning. “Alright, I’ll print out an application form for you. Take it and fill it out, then leave it on my desk, and I’ll take it to get stamped.”

Fang Zhile stood up and thanked the teacher, her mind rapidly turning over what Teacher Yang had just said.

“Don’t thank me,” Teacher Yang smiled. “You were a day student before. I don’t know why you suddenly came to me and said you wanted to move into the dorm because commuting wasted time.”

“Then why did you agree back then?” Fang Zhile smiled. “My home is close; I should be a day student.”

“I thought so too,” Teacher Yang said. “There are students whose homes are farther away than yours, and as long as they’re not outside the city limits, they generally prefer not to stay in the dorm.”

“Children your age don’t like restrictions, but your attitude was firm back then. Not only did you insist on moving into the dorm, but you also insisted on Room 302,” Teacher Yang shook her head, her tone disapproving. “Those three—Sun Li and the others—don’t like to study. I heard from the dorm supervisor that they often return late. That must have affected your studies, right?”

Fang Zhile ran a hand through her hair. The opening had been handed to her. Would she still be Fang Zhile if she didn’t throw Sun Li’s group under the bus?

“It’s okay,” Fang Zhile smiled gently, her voice soft. “I’m a deep sleeper anyway, and I actually don’t run into them much.”

Deep sleeper meant they came back too late and were too noisy.

Don’t run into them much meant they often didn’t spend the night in the dorm.

When Teacher Yang was an art student, she was a diligent and obedient student who always followed the rules and didn’t cause trouble for others. But Sun Li’s three were the complete opposite of Teacher Yang.

So, Teacher Yang shook her head and sighed, completely helpless. “A hopeless case.”

Fang Zhile hadn’t gotten the answer to why she had moved into the dorm, so she continued to probe. “Then, after I move out, will my bed be empty? Will someone fill it quickly?”

“You think students are lining up to get a bed in our school?” Teacher Yang chuckled and shook her head. “The senior who moved out to make room for you in 302 was as happy as could be and moved out that night. You think living in the dorm is such a great thing?”

The clue came: moved out to make room, senior.

“Speaking of her,” Fang Zhile asked, “that senior, did she take the college entrance exam?”

“I don’t know,” Teacher Yang said. “She wasn’t my student, so I don’t have much of an impression of her.”

“Are you talking about Wang Shan?” Another teacher in the office, who had overheard their conversation and knew about the incident, suddenly interjected.

“Oh, her. She didn’t even take the college entrance exam. She took a leave of absence,” the other teacher said with regret.

Teacher Yang was surprised. “A leave of absence? Why?”

“I’m not sure of the details, but it seemed to be for health reasons,” the teacher said regretfully. “I taught her for a year. She was an honest, good kid with such good grades. She definitely would have gotten into a good university.”

Fang Zhile listened quietly, then suddenly said, “Teacher, do you have her contact information or home address? We talked for a few days when I changed dorms, and now I’d like to visit her and see if there’s anything I can help with.”

The teacher paused, then started searching. “I should. Wait a moment.”

Soon, a slip of paper with a home address and phone number was clutched in Fang Zhile’s palm as she walked out the door. Before she closed the door, the teacher inside reminded her to be sure to let them know if she needed any help once she contacted her; they were all worried about the student who had temporarily given up on the college entrance exam.

Fang Zhile answered quietly, her lowered eyes looking very obedient. She whispered, “Okay.”

Fang Zhile’s decision to move out of the dorm clearly alarmed many people, especially Li Zi’s group of three, who specifically came back to the dorm to mock her with cold sarcasm.

“Fang Zhile, what are you doing?” Li Zi’s tone was full of malice. “If you move out, where will you live? Your little broken house that leaks everywhere?”

Fang Zhile suddenly looked up, her eyes icy. “How do you know where my house is?”

“Why are you so fierce? You were the one who took us there,” Li Zi sneered. “You didn’t think we’d just let you off the hook, did you?”

“I’d like to see how you won’t let me off the hook,” Fang Zhile was truly bewildered. It was as if all of them were mentally ill. “Do we need any contact other than mutual disgust?”

“Are you going to chase me to my house and desperately cling to me?” Fang Zhile felt sick just saying it; she wanted to vomit. “Ugh.”

“Bullshit!” Li Zi pointed at her nose and cursed. “You were the one who personally said you were willing to let Wang Shan move out and you’d move in to keep us entertained! Now you see a chance and you want to run! Don’t think you can be so presumptuous just because Ye Yu is backing you up!”

Fang Zhile put her things into her suitcase and closed it with a loud “snap.” “Entertained? Presumptuous? Are you acting out a palace drama here? Should I kneel and kowtow to you?”

Sun Li, who had been silent, suddenly interjected with a meaningful smile. “Didn’t you ever kneel? It’s so soon, you don’t even remember?”

Fang Zhile’s movements stiffened.

These days, she had received a lot of unexpected information.

For example, first, Ye Yu was not the cold-hearted, distant person described in the book; instead, she resembled the person Fang Zhile knew.

Second, the world consciousness in the book would change because of her and Ye Yu’s entry.

Third, the character Fang Zhile was inhabiting had likely suffered a very unfair, very unacceptable ordeal before she transmigrated. As a result, even the slightest hints and traces that were exposed after she arrived were shocking. The scariest part was that this experience might form a template on her, and one day soon, it might be applied to Ye Yu, which was what Fang Zhile absolutely could not tolerate.

“If I were Wang Shan,” Fang Zhile slowly turned her head, looking at each face. Her pale red lips met and parted, speaking with pure malice. “Since things are already that way, I’d just poison you, or wait until you’re all asleep in the middle of the night, and we’d all die together.”

Fang Zhile actually had a face that lacked any aggression, but her eyes were too bright. When she contained all her emotions, those bright eyes became incredibly deep, like a bottomless abyss.

Her harmless face, a pair of unfathomable eyes, coupled with her calm, steady tone, made Li Zi and Liu Mei shiver simultaneously.

After a few seconds, Sun Li was the first to react, responding with a business acumen worthy of one of the book’s deepest hidden villains. “That’s well said, but Wang Shan isn’t you. She doesn’t have the guts to die, hahaha! Even after we messed her up like that, if you gave her a knife, she wouldn’t dare hold it, hahahaha…”

Compared to Fang Zhile’s words, Sun Li’s laughter was more chilling.

“I’ll give you a word of advice,” Fang Zhile seemed to smile, with an untraceable sense of pity. “Sun Li, if you don’t stop now, your fate will be miserable.”

Sun Li sneered. “You, dare to threaten me?”

Fang Zhile looked at her calmly, picked up her suitcase, and walked out. “I’m stating a fact that will happen sooner or later, not a threat… Besides, a threat? You don’t need one for people like you.”

The insight in Fang Zhile’s words and the contempt, though not overtly displayed, contained a hidden sharpness that felt like a bucket of icy water poured over Sun Li’s head.

Sun Li was almost hysterically angry. She gritted her teeth and said, “Fang Zhile, I will definitely not let you off.”

Fang Zhile ignored her. The dorm was small; it only took a few steps to reach the door.

Liu Mei had been quieter these past few days and hadn’t said a word the entire time. Fang Zhile paused when she passed Liu Mei. She dug up Liu Mei’s ending from the dusty corners of her memory: a villainous cannon fodder, always serving as background scenery. When the villains caused trouble, she was silent; when the villains were wiped out, she was collateral damage.

Not exactly pitiful, but certainly a person with loathsome qualities.

“Liu Mei,” Fang Zhile said coolly. “The Liu family mainly produces tires and has a few core technologies that, while not extremely profitable, are stable and won’t be replaced in the short term. You’re in a traditional industry. Wouldn’t it be better to quietly protect your company, get into a good university, and have a reasonably bright future?”

Liu Mei was completely caught off guard. She never expected Fang Zhile to be able to accurately state her family’s company’s core business the moment she opened her mouth, and she didn’t dare to dwell on the meaning of her later words.

Fang Zhile didn’t say more. She walked past Liu Mei sideways, the cheap wheels of her suitcase scraping an ear-splitting sound across the floor.

Liu Mei, however, heard Fang Zhile’s barely audible sigh, as if she were talking to herself. “You make your own bed and lie in it. Wouldn’t it be better to just be a good person?”

Li Zi frowned and walked over, putting a hand on Liu Mei’s shoulder. “What did she just jabber to you about?”

“It’s normal for her to know that Liu Mei’s family makes car tires, given her closeness to Ye Yu,” Sun Li also walked over and intimately put her arm around Liu Mei’s shoulder. They had all heard the first part, but Fang Zhile’s admonition was deliberately lowered and they hadn’t heard it clearly. “Xiaomei, we’re on Sister Meize’s side, right?”

Liu Mei’s eyes wavered slightly. The Zhou family had offered help when the Liu family was facing financial difficulties, and her parents had always taught her to be grateful.

“Mhm,” Liu Mei’s gaze flickered. “We only listen to Sister Meize.”

Fang Zhile came out of the dorm, pulling her large suitcase. Students she met along the way glanced at her curiously. Moving house in the middle of the day was truly bizarre.

In truth, Fang Zhile had to move at noon because packing in the morning would disturb the sleeping students in the nearby dorms, and she had to work in the evening, so she could only pack at midday.

Although her home wasn’t far from the school, it was a forty-minute walk. It was faster by bike; ten minutes on a bicycle.

Apart from the necessities, Fang Zhile’s home only had one second-hand bicycle. It hadn’t been used for years and was completely broken after she used it to carry Ye Yu last time.

Without transportation, she had to leave her suitcase at the milk tea shop first and then buy a bicycle.

“The key you mentioned, is it under the flowerpot by the door?” Fang Zhile had the phone wedged between her shoulder and ear. Wei Youqing on the other end must have been eating. Her voice was muffled, and she sounded like she wanted to get off the phone quickly. “I left it outside before I left last night. It’s either under the flowerpot or somewhere on the flower stand. You look for it yourself. I’m busy. I’m hanging up now.”

Fang Zhile stared at the abruptly ended call, puzzled. “In the middle of the day, why is she in such a rush to eat? You’d think she was the one working.”

The real worker, Fang Zhile, had no choice but to feel around the flower stand by the door again. When she reached into an unseen corner, her finger suddenly felt a sharp pain. She pulled it out and saw a wooden splinter embedded in her fingertip.

“Damn capitalist,” Fang Zhile cursed. “She earns so much money but only buys a cheap rack that isn’t even properly sanded!”

After all that fuss, she found nothing.

“Could someone have stolen it?” Fang Zhile peered through the window, carefully checking the inside of the shop. “It doesn’t look like it’s been rummaged through, and no one broke in.”

Fang Zhile lit up her phone. It had been over ten minutes; surely she had finished eating. So, she called Wei Youqing again.

This time, the call was outright rejected.

“What kind of person is that!” Fang Zhile was furious. Even if she was the boss, how could she promise to let her leave her suitcase at the milk tea shop and then just forget about it!? She should at least help her find the key!

Fang Zhile, the little person with big anger, immediately dragged her suitcase away. “I’m not leaving it! I’m never coming to this milk tea shop again! Hire whoever you want!”

She hadn’t walked more than a few steps when her phone rang. The call that had just been hung up on came back.

Fang Zhile seethed for a few seconds, then answered the phone, waiting for the other party to speak first.

Unexpectedly, it wasn’t Wei Youqing who spoke. A pleasant female voice answered, apologizing with a laugh. “You must be Xiaole. I’m Zhi Shu, Wei Youqing’s wife. She wasn’t feeling well just now and couldn’t answer the phone. She also can’t remember where the key is. I’ll transfer you some money. Take a taxi home.”

This female voice was different from any she had heard before—a purely feminine tenderness that instantly diffused any anger.

Fang Zhile quickly refused. “I can’t possibly accept that. It’s okay if I can’t find it. I’ll find another way.”

“What way can a student like you find? Please don’t refuse us on this. Just listen,” Zhi Shu finished and laughed. Her voice coming through the phone was beautiful.

Fang Zhile was still a little embarrassed, but since she had put it that way, refusing again would be awkward, so she had to agree.

“Let’s leave it at that for now. We’ll find a time to have a meal together later.”

“Sounds good.”

Zhi Shu hung up the phone.

However, before she hung up, Fang Zhile faintly heard Wei Youqing’s voice. A soft, cat-like “woo” sound, like she was enduring something, sounding a bit painful.

Was she really not feeling well?

Fang Zhile hesitated for three seconds. If she wasn’t feeling well, then she forgave Wei Youqing! She’d continue to work at her shop for now!

After accepting the money, Fang Zhile put her suitcase in her bedroom during the swift taxi ride.

With an hour left before class, Fang Zhile quickly opened her computer, subtracting the principal from the money she had made in stocks and putting the rest into a fund. Then, she logged into a hidden website and left a message for an all-black avatar on a private communication board:

“Add another fifty thousand. Speed up the investigation into the Sun family.”

Ye Yu learned Fang Zhile had moved out of the dorm, and coincidentally infuriated Sun Li, from the gossip of the students next to her during lunch in the cafeteria.

Now, she stood outside the school gate, feeling lost. For some reason, when she walked to the dorm building, she suddenly didn’t want to go back there or return to the classroom. Her family had called several times, urging her to come home to cooperate with the investigation regarding the Ode to the Luo River Goddess.

But she didn’t want to go anywhere or return anywhere.

Unconsciously, Ye Yu walked toward the milk tea shop.

The milk tea shop was exquisitely decorated. The storefront was small, but the back was spacious. The owner was a tasteful, wealthy, and idle boss who often closed the shop because the employees she interviewed weren’t attractive enough for her liking. Recently, she finally hired an employee, but because the employee was a high school student who had to attend school, the business hours became just three hours after six in the evening.

It was only a little before two now. The short-haired girl in a uniform apron wouldn’t stand behind the 1.3-meter-high counter for another four hours. The pattern on the apron changed almost weekly, catering to the owner’s various whims, and the short-haired girl would also wear various hair clips that matched the apron design, at the owner’s request. But no matter how much it changed, the hair clip near her ear was never taken off.

“Ye Yu, it really is you!” Fang Zhile’s voice suddenly appeared like an illusion.

Ye Yu thought she was hallucinating. The person she had been thinking about suddenly appeared. Ye Yu was slow to react and only then remembered to greet her.

“What a coincidence. I ran into you while out for a walk,” Ye Yu smiled.

Fang Zhile squeezed the brake, slowing down and stopping in front of Ye Yu. “This is fate!”

Ye Yu noticed that her bicycle was different from the previous one. She asked curiously, “Does your family have a second bike?”

Fang Zhile got off the bike and happily patted the seat. “I just bought this at the second-hand market!”

“The owner wouldn’t even give me a discount, saying it was a famous brand and they bought it at a high price, so they weren’t making money,” Fang Zhile chuckled, not caring to share the story of buying a second-hand bike and trying hard to haggle. “I knew he was bluffing. This bike is clearly a no-name brand and it’s so ugly. I wouldn’t have bought it if I didn’t think the quality was good.”

Ye Yu pursed her lips and gave a faint “Mm.”

Fang Zhile blinked. “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Ye Yu looked up, not answering the question with a question. “Why did you buy a bicycle?”

Fang Zhile didn’t notice anything. “Because the last one broke!”

Ye Yu asked again, “When did it break?”

“Last weekend,” Fang Zhile gestured a few times. “Several days ago. The last time you came to my house, it was raining, and I took you out. It broke when we came back.”

Ye Yu didn’t speak, just looked at her quietly.

Fang Zhile was stunned, thinking Ye Yu was upset about the broken bike. She quickly explained, “You didn’t break it. The bike was already seven or eight years old, almost completely broken down. It just suddenly fell apart, like a pancake flattening out, bang, hahahahaha.”

Ye Yu still didn’t speak and was unmoved by her joke.

“What’s wrong?” Fang Zhile lowered her voice. “I feel like you’re a bit unhappy today.”

Ye Yu certainly wouldn’t explain directly. She enunciated slowly, “It broke days ago. Why did you only buy one today?”

“Because I need to use it today,” Fang Zhile suddenly remembered when she mentioned this. “If I didn’t buy a bike, I’d have to walk home tonight, which takes forty minutes.”

“Oh,” Ye Yu immediately followed up, her voice dramatic and uneven. “You’re going home today.”

Fang Zhile was startled by Ye Yu’s tone. Then, her stalled brain slowly started working, and she suddenly had an epiphany—

“No, I forgot to tell you,” Fang Zhile tended to stutter when she was nervous. “That, I, I didn’t mean, you should understand, I had to move out of the dorm. I had to move out.”

Ye Yu’s gaze was calm. “Yes, you definitely should move out. I didn’t say you shouldn’t.”

“Never mind,” Ye Yu found it tiresome to press her. “I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s getting late. Let’s go to school.”

When she was forcing the question, Ye Yu felt an unspeakable frustration. Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you move out without saying a word?

But after Fang Zhile explained, she felt there was no need to question her to this extent. She knew Fang Zhile’s situation, and she had long thought about having her move out to get away from those three. She should have gone over to help the moment she heard the news, instead of coming to pry and ask, Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you tell me? Do you not consider me a friend? That was too petty and out of proportion.

Ye Yu turned and walked forward, but after several steps, there was still no movement behind her. She turned her head and met Fang Zhile’s fixed gaze.

At first glance, she was startled.

Fang Zhile’s eyes were slightly red, and her gaze was stubborn. Seeing Ye Yu look at her, she walked over recklessly and said sullenly, “I forgot to tell you. You can’t not be angry.”

“I can’t not be angry?” Ye Yu couldn’t help but smile. “What kind of logic is that? Besides, I really don’t blame you.”

“You do blame me!” Fang Zhile glared at her, her eyes wide. “I blame myself too…”

“I was thinking, I was thinking of telling you before I moved out,” Fang Zhile lowered her head, staring at her toes. “But I was afraid that if I looked for you, I wouldn’t be able to move out.”

Ye Yu swallowed a few times, her voice unconsciously low. “Why?”

Fang Zhile was silent for a few seconds, then whispered, “I was afraid that if I looked for you, moving out would turn into a room swap… I don’t want to live with those three, but I want to live with you.”

“Then move over.” Ye Yu said calmly.

Fang Zhile looked up in alarm. “What?”

“I said,” Ye Yu looked down at her, a smile gradually spreading across her lips until her eyes curved. “You move out, and I’ll move out too. We should live closer.”

“Closer? Be neighbors?” Fang Zhile didn’t catch the deeper meaning in Ye Yu’s words. All she wanted to do now was to appease the person in front of her and stop her from being angry, so she didn’t think much about it. “That’s possible, but…”

Fang Zhile warned cautiously, “Zhou Meize will mind.”

Ye Yu frowned for a few seconds. “Don’t let her know.”

“She’ll definitely find out,” Fang Zhile’s momentary rush of blood had cooled down. “They’re all in the same dorm building. Li Zi and the others will definitely know, and if they know, Zhou Meize will know too.”

Ye Yu thought for a moment, then repeated Fang Zhile’s words, murmuring, “They’re all in the same dorm building… That’s right. Why should I live in the same dorm building as them?”

She had never thought about this before. It was as if she implicitly agreed to keep all the things she disliked nearby. It was as if she had never thought about changing anything around her.

But she could clearly just move away. In fact, moving out herself wasn’t the simplest solution; she could just say one word and Sun Li’s group of three would be forced to move out.

Following this train of thought, Ye Yu suddenly felt her world become vast. In that case, she just needed to make a slight move to make Sun Li’s group, plus Sun Yangyang… transfer schools. No, transferring schools wasn’t enough. She didn’t want to see these people. It would be better to send them abroad and never allow them to return…

Wait, what was she just thinking? She was actually thinking of “exiling” those people.

Ye Yu frowned, not understanding why such a surge of malice had suddenly arisen in her heart. But Fang Zhile spoke up at this moment, as if she were talking to herself, “Let’s forget it. I can’t cause you trouble.”

So that was it. All the emotions that had been sealed off were pried open by Fang Zhile, and instantly surged out, unstoppable.

Ye Yu’s expression didn’t change, but her smile gradually spread until her eyes curved. “I have a way.”

Fang Zhile somehow heard a strange message in Ye Yu’s tone, and she said in horror, “You’re not going to make the Ye family donate a separate dorm building to the school just for you to live in, are you?”

Although that was entirely possible.

Ye Yu shook her head. “No special privileges.” No special privileges that are so high-profile as to be foolish.

“Oh…” Fang Zhile placed a hand on her chest. Ye Yu was still her Ye Yu.

“Let’s move out together,” Ye Yu decided. “We’ll rent an apartment near the school. It’s no different from living in a dorm.”

Fang Zhile was very willing. “But will your parents agree?”

Ye Yu’s face held a faint, meaningful smile, and she said calmly, “They definitely wouldn’t have before. Now, that might not be the case.”

“Alright,” Ye Yu glanced at the time, her tone one of necessary urging. “We really need to hurry to school. The warning bell will ring in four minutes.”

Three seconds later, Fang Zhile pedaled the ridiculously ugly second-hand bike like a maniac, carrying Ye Yu. She sped through the school gate the moment the warning bell stopped ringing.

The gate guard only managed to see two blurs: …

Fang Zhile stopped in front of the teaching building, told Ye Yu to go upstairs, and went to park the bike. The moment Ye Yu’s figure disappeared around the corner, Fang Zhile quickly ditched the bike, ran up the stairs on the other side, and rushed into the art room on the fifth floor.

Zhou Meize was a typical art student. Her drawing skills were about on par with her academic performance—a mediocre student propped up by countless high-quality educational resources. In short, a classic example of wasted resources.

At this moment, the mediocre student, with dark circles under her eyes, was staring blankly at the canvas. A small stone hit her head, and she snapped back to attention, looking behind her.

Fang Zhile poked her head out and quickly withdrew it. She knew Zhou Meize had seen her.

Not long after, Zhou Meize came out, rubbing her forehead, clearly unhappy. “What are you doing?”

Fang Zhile stared at her and cut straight to the chase. “I know where you went the day before yesterday, oh no, after midnight it was yesterday. You’d better be careful, or I’ll definitely tell Ye Yu!”

“No!” Zhou Meize instinctively retorted, realizing she had been tricked the moment she spoke. “What do you mean ‘last night’? I don’t know!”

“Smell yourself. The awful, cheap perfume smell hasn’t been washed off,” Fang Zhile lowered her voice, her eyes burning with fury. “You are not to go near Ye Yu these next few days! If she finds out you ran out in the middle of the night to hang out with girls, I’m not done with you!”

The implication in Fang Zhile’s words was a threat to not tell Ye Yu.

Zhou Meize narrowed her eyes, suspicious. “Would you be that kind?”

“Wait, how do you know?” Zhou Meize’s expression worsened.

“Look at yourself, looking all hungover. And you thought you were being discreet about where you went?” Fang Zhile couldn’t be bothered to say more. “I have quite a few friends who work there, and a friend of a friend even sat on your lap. Do I need to provide more proof?”

Recalling the identity of those dancers, it made perfect sense that Fang Zhile would be acquainted with them.

Zhou Meize’s eyes became increasingly disdainful, and she took a large step back. “Sure enough, you’re all lowlifes. Shut up! What I do is none of your business.”

“If you disgust Ye Yu, then it is my business!” Fang Zhile threw down her last sentence. “If you don’t clean yourself up and let Ye Yu find even the slightest anomaly, I’ll post the photos of you grabbing someone’s thigh online!”

“Posting someone’s photo is an invasion of privacy,” Zhou Meize ground her teeth. “A despicable tactic!”

Fang Zhile shot back, “Someone with an engagement who goes out to cheat is even more despicable!”

Zhou Meize glared at her a few times, repeatedly saying, “Fine, fine, you’re so great. I won’t look for her these few days. Just you wait. Don’t you dare fall into my hands!”

Zhou Meize’s retreating figure, full of indignation, was a little frail. This scene hadn’t occurred in the original book. As a yuri novel that hadn’t been blocked by the site, the female protagonist could have three, four, or five lovers, but she wouldn’t constantly run out to deal with people involved in the illegal trade of human rights.

This night of staying up late had taken a toll on Zhou Meize. She probably wouldn’t appear for the next few days.

Fang Zhile went down the stairs and returned to her classroom. Class had already been in session for ten minutes. Fang Zhile took advantage of the teacher turning to write on the blackboard, bent down, and slipped in through the back door.

Then, “Hiss—”

Fang Zhile’s knee was harshly jabbed by something. She turned to see Li Zi twirling a carbon pen, smiling at her.

“Fang Zhile, why are you standing there!” The teacher turned around and pointed a teaching stick at her. “What are you doing!”

Li Zi gave a strange smile. “Teacher, the good student is late.”

“Good students can’t be late either,” the teacher pushed up his glasses and changed the direction of the teaching stick. “Take your book and listen to the class at the back.”

Fang Zhile took her book and walked away without a word. Her knee hurt when she walked. It was probably punctured.

Very well. She remembered that.