Chapter 50: Messages

Xu Yannuo finished the homework assigned by her teachers for the morning. Class wasn’t over yet, and no one had returned to the classroom. She took out her phone and opened the campus forum. Lately, no girls had been coming to bother her anymore. Although she occasionally encountered girls from other classes pointing and whispering about her in the hallway or restroom during breaks, she could sense that none of it was meant maliciously. In fact, she noticed that when she looked over, those girls would even smile at her shyly and friendly.

In the past, her presence was so low-key that, apart from being deliberately targeted, people basically treated her like thin air.

So after Chen Ciyi posted that explanatory message, what did everyone think, and what comments were left under the post?

Xu Yannuo opened the forum, logged into her account, and clicked in.

A week had already passed. Given the gossip-loving, idle nature of the students at No. 8 High School and their habit of posting frequently out of boredom, that clarification post was probably buried who knows how many pages deep. Just as she was about to flip to the next page, she saw the top three posts, which were super popular and had been pinned by some school administrator.

One was the recently released grade ranking list for the first-year students. Chen Ciyi’s name, at the very top, was circled and marked with a heart. The comments underneath had already surpassed a thousand—pretty much the entire school population. Xu Yannuo clicked her tongue in her mind but didn’t open it. There was nothing worth seeing anyway—either people praising his academic performance or his looks, or even boldly confessing their love online. The second post was a promotional poster for the upcoming sports meet. Although it was also trending—after all, it was an event the whole school looked forward to as a day off from studying—the number of comments couldn’t compare to Chen Ciyi’s unbelievable report card.

The third item is the declaration post that Chen Ciyi made that day, which also received quite a number of comments.

Xu Yannuo immediately clicked on it and scrolled directly to the comments section below.

First comment:

Ciyi is my boyfriend: It’s official, it’s official! So they’re just brothers. I always saw them together before and even waited outside their classroom door. They’re even desk mates. My poor heart was so jealous, but it’s alright, Chen Ciyi still belongs to everyone. But you can also be this older sister’s, just mine alone. Chen Ciyi, this older sister likes you.

Xu Yannuo pursed her lips. This was clearly someone in their second or third year of high school—posting a declaration thread just to confess their feelings outright. She glanced sideways at Chen Ciyi, who was currently slumped over the desk, sleeping like the dead, and couldn’t help but sigh at his charisma. Good thing she’d made Chen Ciyi explain the situation—otherwise, she might’ve died countless times without even realizing it.

Second floor:

Chen Ciyi’s girlfriend: Hey, upstairs, don’t flirt shamelessly from a distance. Is it really okay to blatantly hit on my boyfriend like this? His bro is right here, you know.

Third floor:

Midnight Dream: Stop talking nonsense upstairs, it’s not even dark yet. I’m clearly the official girlfriend, and his brother Xu Yannuo can vouch for me.

Fourth floor

It hurts, little bro: Chen Ciyi, you’ve really hit the jackpot this year—with a brother at your desk, a sister at the door, fangirls on the playground, and me waiting at home.

Fifth Floor

A Little Fan of Ci Yi: So he’s unwilling to go out, even more unwilling to go home, hahaha.

Sixth Floor

Chen Ci Yi I Like You: Chen Ci Yi, I’m from Class 8, Grade 11. All the girls who pursued you have been rejected. Do you like guys? Look at me, I like you, this is my confession!

??

Xu Yannuo clicked on the profile picture of the sixth floor and saw the information—the gender was indeed male. She immediately turned her head to glance at Chen Ciyi, who had somehow shifted his position and was now sleeping facing her. Looking at his handsome face, even the red mark left by the school uniform on his cheek did nothing to diminish his good looks. With his eyes closed, the usual aloofness that kept others at a distance was gone, replaced by a quiet, attractive charm that seemed even more appealing. His pale complexion even carried a hint of lazy sensuality.

Truly irresistible, even crossing gender boundaries. Tsk tsk, Xu Yannuo stopped looking at him and continued reading the comments.

The following comments were relatively normal, either discussing Chen Ciyi’s daily life or continuing with confessions. Xu Yannuo scrolled down one by one.

…..

…..

Floor 237

Cream Puff: I’ve given Chen Ciyi two love letters before, but he didn’t accept them. Maybe I could trouble Xu Yannuo in the future? She seems so cute and easy to talk to!

Floor 238

Peerless Beauty: “Upstairs makes a good point. So should we try to win over Xu Yannuo first? Wow, did I just discover a new way to crack Chen Ciyi’s defenses? Xu Yannuo is mine—don’t anyone dare compete with me.”

…..

…..

Xu Yannuo was speechless. She had been flipping through pages for ages only to get stuck on this part. Why did the tone of this confession suddenly shift onto her? This was even more absurd than when guys confessed to her. Why did she feel like she was about to unwittingly take on a huge task—helping pursue Chen Ciyi, managing Chen Ciyi’s love letters, Chen Ciyi’s gifts, Chen Ciyi’s dating schedule… What the hell?

Xu Yannuo decided not to continue scrolling down anymore. She had no idea what other mind-boggling, outrageous comments might be lurking below. Out of sight, out of mind—as long as she was sure there were no negative remarks targeting her or discussions about that night’s conflict, she felt relieved.

She turned off her phone and tucked it back into her bag. Just then, the class dismissal bell rang. Next to her, Chen Ciyi barely reacted until the bell stopped, slowly shifting before changing positions and slumping back down.

Classmates began trickling back into the room. Seizing the moment when the hallway was still relatively empty and the restroom wasn’t yet crowded enough to form a line, Xu Yannuo got up to use the bathroom. The trip there was uneventful, but on her way back, she encountered the first person who asked her to deliver a love letter.

There were three girls in total. They walked up to her excitedly at first, giving her a friendly smile. Then, encouraged by the two girls behind her, the one at the front shyly held out a pink envelope and asked Xu Yannuo somewhat awkwardly, “Um, you’re Xu Yannuo, right? Could you give this to Chen Ciyi for me? I… don’t really dare to hand it to him directly. He always seems so cold and indifferent to people.”

Xu Yannuo looked at the girl across from her. She really didn’t want to get involved in such trivial matters—it was troublesome. But to be fair, this was the first time a girl had proactively spoken to her with such a kind attitude, making her somewhat reluctant to refuse.

She looked at the girl and nodded, “Sure.”

Afterwards, the girl immediately flashed a radiant smile, “Thank you then.” She then stuffed the envelope into Xu Yannuo’s hands before turning to leave with her companions. After taking a few steps, she turned back and nodded at Xu Yannuo once more to express her gratitude again.