After the Maniacal Alpha Settled Down, She Had a Wife and Daughter - Chapter 19

Chu Jiayun also used to constantly drink this type of sickly sweet drink when she was younger, but suddenly, that preference quickly faded away like a tide. She didn’t think much of it, but she observed that people of similar age around her were also like her.

Perhaps it was because they had reached an age where they knew their bodies could no longer be recklessly spent like before.

She paused for a moment. Yu Sui hadn’t walked ahead and was waiting beside her.

“If you don’t want milk tea, I remember there’s a teahouse nearby.”

Chu Jiayun continued to walk forward, heading straight for the milk tea shop Yu Sui had just pointed to.

There were quite a few people queuing in front of the milk tea shop, but it was within the normal range. After all, it wasn’t an internet-famous brand, and the owner didn’t seem to have any intention of competing with the other shop across the street that always had a long line.

Yu Sui looked at the long queue across the road and explained with a smile: “One time, Ren Xuran and I found the queue too troublesome, so we came to buy from this one. Who knew, after drinking it, we found the taste to be better.”

Chu Jiayun smiled faintly. Compared to milk tea, she actually enjoyed the rare good weather today more.

On such a spring day, the gentle breeze brushed against her face, penetrating through her clothes, warming her entire body and mind—that was what was truly enjoyable.

Yu Sui had been cooped up at home for so long, and her mood was soaring. She didn’t stay idle while queuing and recommended a few of the shop’s signature drinks to Chu Jiayun.

When it was their turn, Yu Sui had already taken out her phone first: “Please don’t fight with me. This cup of milk tea is my treat no matter what.”

Chu Jiayun glanced at the handwritten board and chose a rose black tea.

“Huh, so health-conscious.” Yu Sui muttered under her breath but didn’t try to persuade her to change her mind.

After placing her order, she stepped aside and waited patiently, and couldn’t help but look at the young girl at the cash register again.

The employees in the drink shop were all wearing masks. Yu Sui couldn’t tell who the girl was right away, but she felt that the other person’s attitude when taking her order was very “ordinary.”

Chu Jiayun noticed her action and followed her gaze: “Do you know her?”

Yu Sui hesitated: “She looks familiar. I think I’ve seen her somewhere.”

“That line isn’t very popular now. If you’re trying to flirt with her, the success rate is very low.”

Yu Sui turned her head to look at the person teasing her and said helplessly: “Do I look like someone who flirts casually? I really do think she looks familiar, and the main thing is, I think she has a problem with me.”

Yu Sui went to place the order alone, so Chu Jiayun didn’t see the whole process. But seeing her explain so seriously, she was a little curious.

“How does she have a problem with you?”

Yu Sui pointed at her face and whispered: “If she wasn’t wearing a mask, I think she’d want to spit at me. Also, before she turned around, I saw her roll her eyes at me.”

Chu Jiayun frowned: “Are you sure?”

“When it was my turn, the light in her eyes was cold.”

Chu Jiayun looked at the cash register for a while: “If it’s really as you described, then she does have a problem with you.”

The young girl looked about the same age as Yu Sui. Although she was wearing a mask, her eyes were smiling, and her tone was lively. Chu Jiayun hadn’t seen her give any other customer a cold shoulder.

Chu Jiayun remembered the stories she had heard about Yu Sui. Fearing that “Princess Yu” would insist on retaliating, she pondered how to counsel her.

It wasn’t good that the other person’s service attitude was poor, but it would be even worse if Yu Sui insisted on making a scene.

Just then, Yu Sui suddenly cried out: “I remember now! She was my high school classmate.” After saying that, she looked at the person a few more times and nodded repeatedly, “Xie Xiaoyun, it must be her.”

A high school classmate? It took her this long to recognize her?

Chu Jiayun was quite confused. Yu Sui smiled awkwardly: “I haven’t seen her much since graduation, and everyone has changed.”

She kept searching through the original owner’s memory and barely managed to recall this person. Of course, she also remembered the “good deeds” the original owner had done back then.

It was nothing more than her and Ren Xuran bullying diligent students from ordinary families, relying on their good family conditions. Especially when their grades were suppressed by others, they would go home, get scolded, and then take their anger out on the “top student.”

Yu Sui stammered for a while but couldn’t clearly explain the rift between her and Xie Xiaoyun. Just then, their drinks were ready. Yu Sui quickly ran over and stood by the counter, seizing the opportunity to call out to her in a low voice.

“Xie Xiaoyun, is that you?”

The other person was startled, looked at her, and ignored her.

The drinks in Yu Sui’s hands were one cold and one hot, making her sway back and forth.

She lingered for a while and called out again: “I’m Yu Sui. You still remember me, right?”

With no customers at the moment, Xie Xiaoyun finally walked over. Behind the mask, her eyes were still cold.

Chu Jiayun was standing not far behind Yu Sui, and she naturally saw the change in Xie Xiaoyun’s eyes.

Yu Sui proactively started a topic: “Long time no see. I didn’t expect to run into you here.”

Xie Xiaoyun ignored her attempt at small talk and said coldly: “I’m working part-time here on weekends. It’s not strange to run into me.”

“Part-time? That’s hard work, but very impressive.”

Yu Sui had also survived college by working part-time. She knew the hardship very well. She occasionally envied classmates with better family backgrounds, but she admired herself even more for enduring through adversity.

Seeing her give a thumbs-up, the disgust in Xie Xiaoyun’s eyes deepened. She then pulled down her mask, and her suppressed anger was clearly visible.

Yu Sui was startled. Chu Jiayun was also surprised and prepared to step forward.

Xie Xiaoyun said coldly: “So now you’re planning to continue using your praise and admiration to make me lose my job?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Don’t play innocent. The excellent student representative selection in the third year of high school, wasn’t it you guys who secretly sabotaged me and made me lose my eligibility?”

She didn’t dare to speak up back then. Four years later, Xie Xiaoyun still couldn’t let it go.

Yu Sui knew that this had no direct relation to the original owner, but she was indeed used as a pawn. However, it was difficult to explain clearly in just a few words.

“Actually, that was a misunderstanding. How about you leave me your contact information? We can go out for a meal another day, and I can explain slowly?”

“Miss Yu, besides going to school and looking for a job, all the rest of my time is spent on part-time work. I really don’t have the extra energy for socializing. As for the explanation you mentioned, there’s no need. It’s been so long, I don’t need it anymore.”

Just then, another customer came to place an order. Xie Xiaoyun quickly put on her mask, smiled brightly, and walked back to the counter with a very good attitude.

Yu Sui stood there in a daze until Chu Jiayun took the drinks from her hand.

“Let’s go. Let’s walk outside.”

After leaving the milk tea shop, Yu Sui was depressed, and her previous good mood seemed to have vanished instantly. Chu Jiayun knew she was still thinking about what just happened and didn’t rush to counsel her.

“Let’s go to the pier. I never have time to go to this pier every year I come to Jingcheng. Would you like to go for a walk with me?”

Yu Sui nodded blankly. The two walked for about ten minutes and sat down on a wooden bench.

There were quite a few tourists near the viewing pier. They didn’t bother joining the crowd and chose to admire the view from afar.

Chu Jiayun took a sip of the rose tea. It was warm and soothing, and the taste was indeed good.

Seeing that Yu Sui was holding the milk tea but hadn’t taken many sips, she deliberately asked: “Did you choose a flavor you don’t like?”

“A belated apology doesn’t mean much to Xie Xiaoyun. That makes me feel sad.”

Chu Jiayun was surprised that she would think this way, and she had to admit that Yu Sui’s thought touched her: “That incident in the third year of high school, was it really because of you?”

Yu Sui looked at her glumly: “No. The matter of the excellent student representative really wasn’t my doing.”

“Then find an opportunity to explain clearly. Whether the other party accepts or forgives you, at least you’ve proven yourself.”

Yu Sui was still serious: “But the harm we inflicted on Xie Xiaoyun during the three years of high school was probably not much better than this incident. Our verbal ridicule, our dismissive attitude, and even going home to ask our parents to pressure the school—these actions all seem hateful now.”

She spoke as if she was stating a fact, or perhaps confessing. At the end, she even showed a hint of disgust, and Chu Jiayun’s eyes also darkened.

“If you realize that you made mistakes in the past, you might not be able to fully compensate for the harm you caused, but timely correction can at least prevent the next harm from happening.”

“Instructor Chu, do you think I was very hateful before? That’s why everyone actually disliked me but couldn’t do anything about me.”

The competition at the base had always been intense, but everyone got along well on the surface and helped each other. But everyone understood that being selected for this training was already an affirmation, and being able to stay at the base until the end was a rare honor.

Yu Sui was a notorious figure in college. Those who couldn’t afford to provoke her automatically avoided her. Most of those who were equally matched with her were hidden in the dark, either as enemies or friends. The original owner might not have been able to fully distinguish how many of the people around her genuinely considered her a friend and how many were secretly targeting her.

The wind at the pier was different from the city, and even the scent was unique. Chu Jiayun felt the gradually intensifying warm wind, walking closer to Yu Sui’s heart from her melancholy, wanting to see her more clearly.

“The person you were in the past was indeed not good enough. But that shouldn’t be a reason for you to deny your present or refuse to move towards the future. Breaking away from the bad parts of the past is the meaning of growth.”

Yu Sui was just sighing. She also had an imperfect past, though not as mischievous as the original owner’s. Perhaps it was the environment that catalyzed it, but she was suddenly more curious about Chu Jiayun.

“Instructor Chu, can you tell me what it felt like before your differentiation?”