Chapter 18: A Blindingly Obvious Crush part 1

The air crackled with tension between them, and Lin Yuran worried the two might come to blows. She hurriedly reached out and grabbed Chi Ye’s arm. “You’re classmates. Don’t talk like that.”

Chi Ye immediately fell silent.

The back-and-forth had been obvious all night. Xu Jianwei had long known the two didn’t get along, but she hadn’t realized it was this bad, so bad that they wouldn’t even pretend to be civil. For a moment, she didn’t know how to smooth things over.

Just then, her car pulled up. Lin Yuran quickly tugged at Ye Hui’s sleeve and said goodbye to Chi Ye and Lin Yuran. “We’re heading out.”

Lin Yuran waved. “Drive safe.”

Ye Hui looked back. “Yuran, we spent the whole night gaming and barely talked. Let’s meet up another day and catch up properly.”

Lin Yuran smiled. “Sure.”

Ye Hui glanced at Chi Ye before getting in the car and driving off.

As Xu Jianwei’s car disappeared into the distance, Lin Yuran suddenly realized she was still holding onto Chi Ye’s arm. His warmth lingered in her palm, solid and strong. Lin Yuran quickly let go.

Chi Ye looked down at her. His voice was low and hoarse. “I speak that harshly?”

Lin Yuran met his gaze. “Not really. It’s just… we’re all classmates. If you could be a little more polite, it wouldn’t make things so awkward.”

Chi Ye gave a short, bitter laugh. “So you feel bad for him?”

“I…” Lin Yuran sighed, searching for the right words. “I already feel guilty that Ye Hui was insulted because of me. I’m really sorry about that, and when you went after him like that, it just made me feel worse.”

Chi Ye gave a sharp laugh, then stared at her for a few seconds. His voice was resigned. “Fine, it’s my fault.”

Soon after, his car pulled up. Chi Ye walked over and opened the rear door, tilting his head to gesture for her to get in. Once inside, they sat in silence for a while.

Eventually, Chi Ye reached over and took the reusable bag from her hands. He pulled out the hot milk, unscrewed the cap, and held it out to her. “You drank, and then stood out in the cold wind. Have something warm.”

His voice was unusually soft, catching Lin Yuran off guard. The gentleness of it made her pause.

Lin Yuran took the bottle and quietly sipped.

For a moment, neither spoke.

Then Chi Ye suddenly asked, his voice tinged with disappointment, “So you like guys like Ye Hui, quiet and refined? I’m too aggressive for your taste, huh?”

Lin Yuran snapped her head up and looked at him in surprise. “No.”

Lin Yuran wasn’t sure why he’d ask that, but refined types like Ye Hui really weren’t her thing. If anything, she preferred someone like Chi Ye, bold and protective, someone who made her feel safe. But all she managed to say was a vague “No.”

Chi Ye stared at her. His eyes seemed to ask, “No what?”

But Lin Yuran couldn’t bring herself to say it aloud, not that she didn’t like Ye Hui, but that she liked him. Liked how he was.

Lin Yuran bit her lip and leaned back in her seat, quietly sipping the milk. Chi Ye’s lips curved into a bitter smile. He leaned back in his seat, closed his eyes, and said nothing more.

The silence inside the car felt almost stifling.

Lin Yuran finished the milk and turned her eyes toward the window. Outside, the wind howled, flinging raindrops against the glass in harsh slaps. Water streaked down in long trails.

That summer in North City, it had rained far more than usual, every few days, another storm rolled in. Cars sped past one after another, headlights slicing through sheets of rain, illuminating them briefly before darkness swallowed them again, over and over.

Lin Yuran propped her elbow on the armrest, resting her temple on her hand, and quietly watched the storm cleanse the city’s noise. Her mind slowly drifted, overtaken by scattered memories. She thought of what they’d just talked about, of what kind of person she liked.

In truth, she hadn’t really known before. The first time she ever seriously thought about it was during that summer after freshman year.

Back then, Lin Yuran had refused the art classes her stepfather tried to enroll her in. After her father passed, her mother, Yao A-ping, worked as a regular hospital nurse. Money was tight. Lin Yuran persuaded her not to waste more on classes. Senior year’s intensive training would already cost a lot, they should save for that.

Yao A-ping, never very assertive, agreed. But Lin Yuran had been carrying a fire inside. She studied hard to win scholarships, took on tutoring gigs during holidays, and told her mom to save money, not because she wanted to suffer, but because she wanted her mother to see that she wasn’t a burden. That they didn’t need to rely on men. That just the two of them could live well on their own.

Ever since Yao A-ping married Hao Qinghe, Lin Yuran hadn’t seen her smile the way she used to. She wanted to earn more, to show her mother they didn’t need to care about false reputations. That she could leave Hao Qinghe and be free.

That summer, Lin Yuran decided to take a part-time job in Beicheng. She ended up working as an assistant coach at a billiards club called Second Coordinate.

Back then, Lin Yuran was fearless, like a newborn calf unafraid of tigers. She jumped at the job just because the pay was high, without giving a second thought to why they were hiring an underage girl who didn’t know the first thing about billiards. They offered room and board, plus a generous salary. What was there to lose?

It wasn’t until she arrived that she realized the club wasn’t exactly legitimate. The place reeked of smoke and disorder, shady characters came and went, and there were even whispers of illegal dealings behind closed doors.

In theory, Lin Yuran should have quit on the spot. But she’d signed a contract at the start, and breaking it early meant paying a penalty of 1,000 yuan, a fortune for Lin Yuran at the time. Besides, she was a bit headstrong back then. She wasn’t about to pay money just to quit. As far as Lin Yuran was concerned, as long as she held her own boundaries while they ran wild, she’d be fine. So Lin Yuran gritted her teeth and stayed.

Most of the other female assistants dressed in revealing, sexy outfits. Only Lin Yuran showed up fully covered. Still, the boss insisted she wear a pleated skirt and a white blouse. He said they were going for the ‘innocent yet alluring’ look.

At first, Lin Yuran didn’t know anything just how to rack the balls, pass a cue, maybe serve a drink. But surprisingly, quite a few customers still asked for her. Sometimes she’d run into men who didn’t know how to keep their hands to themselves. Lin Yuran, quick on her feet, always dodged out of reach, rolling her eyes at them.

Those men would laugh and say, “Even rolling her eyes, this little fox looks like she’s trying to seduce someone.”

Lin Yuran would shoot back, “If you keep this up, I won’t serve you anymore.”

And they’d tease, “You try refusing and we’ll report you to your boss.”

But Lin Yuran didn’t back down. She tossed the cue aside and said flatly, “Go ahead. I’d love for you to complain.”

In truth, Lin Yuran was hoping they would get her fired. But those men only ever joked around. No one actually filed a complaint.

On her fourth night working there, just before bed, Chi Ye texted her, asking what she was doing over the summer.

Lin Yuran didn’t hide anything. She told him the truth about her part-time job in Beicheng.

The next day, the moment the club opened, Chi Ye walked in. He smiled when he saw her. “Had nothing to do over break, so I came to Beicheng for a few days. Thought I’d drop by and see you.”