I Fell In Love With My Rival (GL) - Chapter 13

With less than a week to go before final exams, the atmosphere at No. 1 High School was saturated with academic intensity. Teachers spoke with passionate fervor at the front of the classroom, while students eagerly worked through piles of practice problems. Even habitual slackers like Xu Chang and Yang Yuxia were swept up in the momentum, clutching their workbooks and diving into exercises.

After class, a few of them gathered at McDonald’s. Yang Yuxia, flipping through the answer key for a math problem, scratched her head in frustration. “Why does x equal y? And why is z suddenly involved again?”

Song Rao glanced at the page, tore off a piece of scrap paper, and began explaining. “The problem states the relationship between x and y. Once you convert it to z, you’ll see…”

Yang Yuxia listened, dazed and confused. Xu Chang was tearing her hair out over her English composition, while Su Chunyin sat there idly tapping away at her phone, clearly bored as she played a game.

When Song Rao finished her explanation, she nudged Su Chunyin. “Finals are coming up. Aren’t you going to review at all? I just organized all my notes by subject—want a copy?”

Su Chunyin nonchalantly tapped at her screen. “Forget it. I wouldn’t understand your notes even if you threw the whole notebook at me. My parents don’t care about my grades anyway.”

Yang Yuxia looked up from her scratch paper. “Damn, I’m jealous! If I do badly on finals, I’ll definitely get a beating. It’s bad enough that training every day is exhausting, but my parents still expect me to keep up with my studies? It’s so unfair!”

Su Chunyin didn’t respond, absorbed in her game.

Song Rao sipped her Coke and peered toward the front counter. Su Chunyin kept playing. “What are you looking at? You’ve been glancing that way ever since we came in.”

Song Rao grinned. “Didn’t I hear your rival in love works here? Why else would I drag us so far out of the way to this McDonald’s?”

The term “rival in love” was like a trigger. Su Chunyin blinked, and her character on-screen got a game over as she lost focus. She shut off her phone and casually glanced toward the register. “Really? I don’t see her here.”

Song Rao chuckled. “That’s where you’re wrong. I asked when I picked up our food—turns out she took a week off to study for finals. But she’ll be back during summer vacation.”

Su Chunyin stayed quiet. Song Rao nudged her. “What’s going on? Why am I more interested in your love rival than you are?”

“She’s not worth my attention,” Su Chunyin scoffed.

Yang Yuxia finally cracked the infuriating math problem and lifted her head. “Yeah, sure, you don’t care. Meanwhile, Lu Fang is studying Olympiad math with her by day, discussing chemistry with her by night.

Today he brings her breakfast, tomorrow it’s a homemade bento—sparks flying left and right.”

Song Rao joined in dramatically, nodding her head. “They talk about the stars, the moon, flowers, snow… By the time you realize what’s happening, it’s too late! That’s when you start plotting to tear them apart, relying on your childhood engagement, using your family’s power to force Fu Erqiu to go abroad.

Ten years later, the separated lovers reunite at a company meeting—cue dramatic stormy skies and suppressed emotions. What a tale of reunion and passion!”

“Alright, alright! One more word and I’m throwing out your novels,” Su Chunyin finally interrupted, recognizing they were parroting the plot from The Campus Prince and the Ashen Girl, the drama they’d both been binge-watching.

She said she didn’t care, but Su Chunyin had become more aware of Fu Erqiu than ever. During Monday flag-raising ceremonies, she paid closer attention when Fu Erqiu was on stage. She even started glancing at the ranking boards she used to ignore.

But to Song Rao, that wasn’t enough. She waggled her finger. “Tsk, tsk. Do you know her birthday? Where she lives? What she likes to eat or do for fun? Why Lu Fang even likes her?”

“Most importantly—do you know how far they’ve gone? Does she even know Lu Fang likes her? Has he confessed? Did she accept? These are the questions you should be asking!”

Su Chunyin fidgeted with her fingers. “How would I know that? You want me to hire a private detective or something?” Though half-joking, the idea sparked a real thought—how could she secretly contact one without her parents finding out?

Song Rao sighed. “See, this is why you’ve liked Lu Fang for years and still haven’t gotten anywhere.”

Su Chunyin bristled. “Well, what do you want me to do? I can’t read minds!”

Leaning closer, Song Rao whispered in her ear, “You want answers? Let her tell you herself.” As Su Chunyin flared again, Song Rao quickly added, “It’s easy. Just become friends with her.”

“Friends?” Su Chunyin blinked. “But we…”

“Past is past,” Song Rao cut her off. “Time to move forward. That whole freckle misunderstanding from before? Perfect excuse. Just say you realized it was all a misunderstanding, and you feel bad. Now you want to make amends and be friends.”

Be friends…?

Su Chunyin still hesitated, so Song Rao kept going. “I did some digging. Fu Erqiu’s actually pretty popular at school, but she doesn’t have many close friends—only Lin Zhizhi, really. And you’ve seen it—Lin Zhizhi’s always with her, and Lu Fang treats Lin Zhizhi well too. If you befriend Fu Erqiu, you’ll naturally have more chances to be around Lu Fang.”

Su Chunyin thought of the ever-present class rep Lin Zhizhi and made up her mind. “Alright.”

But when she tried, it didn’t go well. For several days, she went to Class One’s room only to find Fu Erqiu already gone. Furious, she muttered, Damn Fu Erqiu—if you’re not working, why leave so early? Are you avoiding me on purpose?

Meanwhile, in a small laundry shop, Fu Erqiu sneezed. Her mother, Fu Ying, paused her ironing and draped a shirt over her daughter’s shoulders. “Sneezing in this heat? What’s gotten into you?”

Fu Erqiu handed the shirt back. “I’m fine, Mom. Just an itchy nose. Go rest. I’ve got this.” Even in the sweltering heat, Fu Ying’s hands were still cold.

With finals approaching, most part-time jobs had temporarily let students off. Their family’s laundry shop had gotten busier instead. Fu Erqiu had been heading straight home after school to help. Fu Ying never said anything, but she worried deep down.

Fu Erqiu carefully tested the iron’s heat before pressing a shirt. As she worked, her phone buzzed.

[Ahhh I missed her again I can’t take this anymore! Screw being friends with her!!!]

It was a message from her “little boss.”

She wiped her hands and replied:

[Missed her again?]

Messages flooded back like popcorn:

[That damn F-genius is so ANNOYING! Once I’m done becoming her friend, I’m totally going to dump her—let her know the pain of waiting day after day and never seeing someone!]

Ever since Fu Erqiu sent her that meteor photo, the little boss had become much chattier. At first, they talked about meteors. Then gradually, she started venting about her daily life, big and small.

From those conversations, Fu Erqiu pieced together an image: a pampered, impulsive young lady, heavily protected by her family. Recently, the little boss had suddenly decided to befriend her former rival, but every attempt had failed—leaving her fuming.

Just some childish middle-school “let’s be friends” drama. Fu Erqiu grabbed a new shirt and, while waiting for the iron to reheat, replied:

[Then go to where she usually is.]

So Su Chunyin did.

She reasoned: Fu Erqiu leaves school early, isn’t working—where else would she go? Then she remembered the rundown little laundry shop Fu Erqiu once took her to.

Could she be there?

She hadn’t intended much—just to try her luck. She’d only been to the shop once, and at night. Finding it again, and actually finding Fu Erqiu there, was a long shot.

Yet somehow, she did.

When she walked in, Fu Erqiu was just coming out from loading clothes into the dryer. Inside, Fu Ying was chatting happily with a customer—laughter Su Erqiu hadn’t heard in a long time.

Hearing her daughter come out, Fu Ying beamed. “Erqiu, look who’s here!”

She stepped aside, revealing a girl in a pinafore and beret—none other than Su Chunyin.

Fu Erqiu raised an eyebrow, surprised to see her here.

Fu Ying waved them together. “Go chat with your classmate! We old folks are boring. I’ll get you girls some tea.”

Fu Erqiu stepped forward and gave a polite greeting. “Su classmate.”

Su Chunyin was busy eyeing the place. When Fu Ying was there, she didn’t dare inspect too closely, but now she openly looked around.

Back when Fu Erqiu dragged her here at night, she’d only noted how cramped it was. Now in daylight, it looked even worse: small, old, messy—how could they even dry-clean here?

In truth, the shop wasn’t that tiny compared to nearby ones. But it was filled with clothes, making it feel packed. It wasn’t dirty—Fu Erqiu cleaned it every night—but it was old, with stained walls that made it look unclean. Still, her complaints came off more like disdain than intended—and she didn’t even realize it.

Fu Ying returned with tea and snacks. She set them on the counter and went back to finish what Fu Erqiu had started.

Su Chunyin took a sip and winced. “Ugh, so bitter.” She nibbled a cookie and nearly choked. “So dry.”

Fu Erqiu calmly sipped her tea. Watching Su Chunyin grumble yet keep eating and drinking, she finally asked, “So… why did you come?”

Su Chunyin’s eyes darted. “Can’t I come without a reason?” She looked around again, avoiding the question. “Your mom and I had a great chat just now. She told me you’ve been leaving school early every night lately…”