After Confessing To My Childhood Friend - Chapter 50
Chapter 50: Kidnapped?
◎Worried Sick◎
After dinner that night, just as she promised, Xie Zhirou started coming over to Chen Mengyin’s house every day to help her eat up the endless leftovers from the New Year’s feast.
Sometimes, when Chen Mengyin couldn’t take it anymore, she’d use the excuse that she was going out with Zhirou and wouldn’t be home for dinner, narrowly escaping the leftover torture.
As for the jade bracelet her grandmother had given her, Xie Zhirou didn’t wear it on her wrist but instead carefully stored it away. Until she told her parents the truth, the bracelet would have to stay hidden in the drawer.
After the New Year, time flew by. With Mengyin’s frequent wails of despair, winter break came to an end.
On a cold morning, senior students trudged back onto campus, huddled in their coats, puffing out clouds of white breath and laughing as they greeted classmates they hadn’t seen in a while.
After just ten days, Ye Siying’s face had noticeably rounded out.
She looked at Chen Mengyin and Xie Zhirou, who hadn’t changed much since before the break, and asked, “Why didn’t you two gain any weight?” Then she got verbally KO’d by Mengyin’s “We’re just built like this,” and “It’s genetic.”
The best news at the start of the new semester was that she and Xie Zhirou were still deskmates.
Upon returning, the experimental class gave a pop quiz to see who had actually reviewed over the break.
Chen Mengyin had no idea about the others, but she knew that over the holidays, even after finishing her homework, she had to endure Zhirou’s surprise inspections and practice problems. If she made too many mistakes, she’d get punished.
The punishment? Mengyin pouted so much her lips nearly reached the ceiling.
What kind of punishment bans her from kissing? A whole day without kisses? That’s pure torture!
No kisses and homework? That’s basically a murder attempt on her girlfriend! She had to protest Zhirou’s cruelty and demand she initiate kisses every day to compensate.
Unfortunately, when it came to academics, Zhirou had absolute authority.
No kisses meant no kisses.
But if she scored full marks on a paper, she could earn bonus kisses. So every time that happened, Mengyin would pull Zhirou into her lap and find all sorts of excuses to kiss her more—“recharging,” she called it.
“No energy, no skills. How else am I supposed to defeat the final boss—exams?”
Under Zhirou’s mix of sugar and whip, Mengyin passed the quiz with flying colors, even moving up two spots in the rankings.
Zhirou was very pleased with her progress, so that weekend, she gave Mengyin a very… thorough reward.
Too bad Mengyin was afraid of being found out by Li Ran, so she tried to keep quiet the whole night. Even when things got intense, she only dared to let out a few muffled whimpers, eyes glazed over as she stared at the ceiling.
It was amazing, sure, but she was so exhausted she couldn’t get out of bed the next morning.
Eventually, spring’s chill swept away winter’s cold, buds peeked out under the sun, and the countdown on the blackboard dropped from triple digits to double. The classroom was filled with an inescapable tension and pressure.
Even Chen Mengyin, usually carefree, started feeling it. After a big exam for the entire grade, she discovered her results had dropped instead of improved. She was devastated.
There were fewer than 60 days left until the gaokao.
“I bombed the exam,” she said, sitting cross-legged on the bed, the marked-up paper in front of her, the score stabbing at her eyes.
Zhirou sat across from her, watching her spiral.
She had looked over Mengyin’s paper. Honestly, considering the difficulty, Mengyin’s score was already quite good. But Mengyin didn’t think so.
“Do you think Ms. Zhu will separate us?” Mengyin had a vision of their teacher violently tearing them apart. She clutched her head and screamed silently.
“Mengyin.” Zhirou couldn’t bear to watch her tear at her own hair. She reached out and held her hands to stop the self-abuse. “This exam was the hardest so far. Not just for you—everyone’s scores dropped.”
“I know, but I still wanted to do better,” Mengyin muttered, looking dejected. “Why couldn’t I have gotten a few more points? Why do I keep tripping over the same spots?”
Zhirou sighed. Only in moments like this did she think her girlfriend was a stubborn little fool.
“I can’t slack off anymore!” Mengyin suddenly declared, springing to her feet. “From today on, I’m going to study harder than ever!”
“I’ll beat this result next time!”
Before Zhirou could comfort her, Mengyin had already revived herself with full battle spirit and asked Zhirou to strictly monitor her—no zoning out in class allowed.
“Okay, we’ll watch each other,” Zhirou said warmly.
Mengyin gave her a big smile.
And true to her word, Mengyin became laser-focused. In class, she listened intently. After school, she made Zhirou explain every little thing she didn’t fully understand.
Before, she’d need Zhirou to drag her to do extra assignments on weekends.
Now she got up early on her own, working nonstop from morning to night.
Wang Xueling and Xu Qingqing jokingly called her a modern-day “hang-by-the-hair and stab-the-thigh” scholar. Her determination was admirable.
But today, they weren’t here to praise her.
They were here to kidnap her.
Don’t worry—they were good people. Just a little kidnapping. No ransom, no harm.
“What are you two doing? If you come any closer, I’m going to yell!” Mengyin eyed the two girls approaching her, both grinning mischievously.
She even spotted a rope in Xu Qingqing’s hands—thick and long—like she was going to tie her up and roast her like a pig.
Xu Qingqing blinked innocently. “We’re not doing anything. Just came to hang out.”
Wang Xueling slipped around to block the door. “Yeah, it’s our day off! Don’t be so cold.”
Danger! Red alert!
Mengyin gulped and stepped back.
“I—I’m busy today. Maybe another time?” she tried to dodge.
Xu Qingqing dropped the act and held up the rope, pulling it tight.
She narrowed her eyes. “Another time? Nope. It has to be today.”
Wang Xueling: “Exactly. No better time than the present.”
“Haha… no need to be so passionate. I’m not used to it,” Mengyin said, forcing a laugh and inching toward the door to run downstairs and beg her mom for help.
Ms. Li! Your daughter’s getting kidnapped!!
But her two assailants caught on and pressed closer. The rope was just inches away. Mengyin nervously licked her lips. She couldn’t keep stalling—if she didn’t run now, she really would be tied up.
“MOM! ASSASSINS!” she yelled, shoving Wang Xueling aside and reaching for the door.
Before she could grab the handle, the door swung open on its own.
She thought it was Li Ran coming to save her and her eyes lit up.
But no—it was Xie Zhirou standing there.
“Zhirou, save me!” she cried, diving behind her. “They’re bullying me. Hit them for me!”
But then, something unexpected happened.
Zhirou refused.
“Nope,” she said sweetly. “I’m with them today.”
Suddenly: 3 vs. 1.
Mengyin’s eyes widened. She realized now—this was all a setup. Xu Qingqing and Wang Xueling were Zhirou’s accomplices. Her own mother downstairs was probably an accomplice too. They were all in on it!
She tried to run, but she had lost the initiative. She didn’t get two steps before she was caught and flanked on both sides.
Zhirou circled around in front of her, patted her pale cheek, and said, “Take her away.”
So the four of them descended the stairs in this ridiculous formation. Li Ran glanced over from the TV, saw them coming down “affectionately,” and called out, “Have fun!” before returning to her drama, ignoring all of Mengyin’s silent pleas for help.
Zhirou crouched down to help Mengyin put on her shoes. While tying her laces, she said gently, “There’s no point struggling. You’re going out today no matter what.”
Ever since that failed exam, Mengyin had thrown herself into studying like a maniac, glued to her chair all day, stuck at her desk at night.
In just two weeks, she’d grown visibly thinner. Her previously rosy cheeks were pale. Her already slim waist had lost even more mass. Her uniform now hung on her like a potato sack—loose and baggy.
Zhirou had tried to talk her into taking breaks, but Mengyin had nodded and then gone back to her same obsessive routine. It made Zhirou so angry she wanted to drag her over and spank her. What’s the point of good grades if you ruin your health?
Even Li Ran noticed the change. She tried to step in but quickly gave up—Mengyin was stubborn as a mule. Eventually she just fed her soup every night and figured as long as she didn’t collapse, it was fine.
But Zhirou couldn’t just leave her alone. Out of options, she enlisted Xu Qingqing and Wang Xueling and planned this “kidnapping.”
After tying her shoes, Zhirou stood up. The “kidnapped” girl’s face turned a little red, toes curling slightly.
It was the first time someone had helped her put on shoes—especially Zhirou.
Which only made her more flustered.
Zhirou opened the door. “Let’s go, Missy.”
Mengyin blinked. “Where are we going?”
Xu Qingqing and Wang Xueling chimed in: “Picnic!”
Mengyin: “Huh?!”