Novel Turned Yuri – Chapter 9

After all, the Earth is round

At the beginning, Qiao Yu was a bit confused and didn’t understand why she was different from Cong Ye.

But with her clever mind, she quickly realized: Cong Ye is the male lead, and she’s just a supporting character, so of course they’re different!

Thinking this way, she felt that Lin Qing’s shyness about being alone with Cong Ye was reasonable. Qiao Yu understood and encouraged her, patting Lin Qing’s shoulder.

Lin Qing: I feel like something is off.

Although she understood the reason behind this, Qiao Yu still hesitated. Mainly because she didn’t feel like making Lin Qing squeeze on the crowded bus for a long time.

Lin Qing is so thin and small, how could she possibly squeeze past others? What if she gets bullied?

Qiao Yu imagined Lin Qing surviving in the midst of the crowd, frowning with frustration, but not giving up: “Can’t you just endure the awkwardness? If you take a car in the morning, you can sleep a little longer than rushing for the bus.”

The idea of getting a little more sleep seemed very tempting to Qiao Yu.

Lin Qing looked at her with amusement. She knew that Qiao Yu was thinking about her own well-being and didn’t want to reject her directly, so she just looked at her without saying anything.

She had known Cong Ye since childhood, but when they met again, he had completely forgotten about her. Lin Qing was a tactful person and could sense Cong Ye’s discomfort, so she kept her distance from him as well.

This arrangement would be more comfortable for both of them, but unexpectedly, Qiao Yu appeared out of nowhere, causing Lin Qing to feel a great deal of frustration and injustice. It hadn’t even been two weeks since the start of the school year, and she was already having a direct conflict with Cong Ye because of Qiao Yu. And that cold and unfamiliar Cong Ye surprisingly showed glimpses of his childishness and authenticity when they were together, finally revealing traces of his former self.

Qiao Yu, as a person, is truly incredible.

“How about this?” Seeing her remain silent for a long time, Qiao Yu’s mind raced and came up with a brilliant idea. She eagerly approached Lin Qing and said, “From now on, I’ll pick you up and drop you off every day. That way, you can avoid the awkwardness and using public transportation.”

…Huh? What does that have to do with improving the relationship between the male and female leads?

The system felt a bit confused. It seemed like its host’s intention had unknowingly shifted from “getting them to ride in the same vehicle” to “getting Lin Qing to ride in a private car.” It wasn’t sure if it should remind her about this.

Lin Qing’s current thoughts were quite similar to the system’s.

She had vaguely felt that Qiao Yu was making efforts to improve her relationship with Cong Ye, but after Qiao Yu’s recent statement, she began to doubt her own thoughts—this seemed to have no connection to Cong Ye at all.

She opened her mouth, ready to reflexively reject the suggestion, but when she saw Qiao Yu’s expression, as if she had come up with a great idea, she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

Lin Qing always believed that there were no unprovoked acts of kindness in the world; those who do good deeds will inevitably seek something in return.

However, Qiao Yu’s abundant and obvious goodwill made it impossible to ignore.

She suddenly didn’t know what to say.

Just then, the car came to a stop. Lin Qing looked out the window and realized they had already arrived at the entrance of her villa.

She quickly suppressed that feeling of unfamiliarity, politely thanked Father Qiao, and opened the door. After hesitating for a moment, she turned back to look at Qiao Yu, who was eagerly waiting for her. With a gentle yet firm tone, she spoke up.

“It really isn’t necessary, Qiao Yu. It would be too much trouble for you.”

The hopeful light in Qiao Yu’s big eyes dimmed in an instant, and Lin Qing inexplicably felt a pang of sympathy. She continued, “Besides, Cong Ye doesn’t know about this yet, so if you were to encounter—”

Her sentence was drowned out by the roar of a car engine. Another car had stopped behind them, flashing its lights. A woman in her thirties stepped out of the car and walked towards their vehicle with measured steps.

Her face bore some resemblance to Cong Ye, and even Qiao Yu, who was seeing her for the first time, quickly understood her identity.

Before Lin Qing and the woman could exchange any words, Father Qiao enthusiastically greeted her through the rolled-down window, “President Cong, you’re back quite early today, huh?”

Indeed, she was President Cong.

Mother Cong nodded expressionlessly at Father Qiao and caught a glimpse of Lin Qing, who had yet to get out of the car, her face devoid of any emotion but showing a hint of surprise.

“Qingqing?”

…Do all parents in the world like to call their children with these repetitive names? Fortunately, her own father knows how to cover it up when they’re in public. Qiao Yu looked sympathetically at Lin Qing, whose face had turned red and reached her neck, understanding her embarrassment without saying a word.

“Hey, President Cong, I have something to talk to you about.”

A reproachful voice sounded from the front, and Qiao Yu’s heart skipped a beat, sensing that something was amiss.

“You’re such a big CEO, and you let your classmate live in your house, but you still let her daughter take public transportation to school.”

“Your son must have been picked up by a driver, right? This doesn’t seem fair to your classmate. The neighbors might say you favor sons over daughters. There’s no need for that, President Cong.”

Father Qiao, who cherished his daughter dearly, felt a surge of anger and launched into a rapid-fire tirade. Qiao Yu, sitting in the back, couldn’t even intervene in time, helplessly watching Father Qiao unwittingly expose Cong Ye’s secret.

She glanced at Mother Cong, whose face was growing darker, and guiltily exchanged a look with Lin Qing. By some strange coincidence, she understood what the unfinished second half of Lin Qing’s sentence meant.

“Besides, Cong Ye doesn’t know about this yet, so if you were to encounter Aunt Cong, it would be hard to explain.”

…Life is truly ironic. Aunt Cong really can’t stand being nagged.

It was clearly understood that they would go to school separately, but now it seemed like Cong Ye was going to take all the blame. Qiao Yu’s face fell, and she anxiously asked Lin Qing in a low voice, “If I tell Cong Ye that it wasn’t me this time, that it was your dad and his mom who exposed it, do you think he’ll believe me?”

“I… I’ll help explain to him…”

Even Lin Qing’s voice lacked confidence. Qiao Yu inwardly lamented, feeling that tomorrow’s school day might not go so smoothly.

After Father Qiao drove away, Lin Qing followed behind the furious Mother Cong and walked inside.

She had only recently met Mother Cong, who happened to be her mother’s high school classmate. They hadn’t communicated much, and their interactions were still somewhat reserved.

However, Lin Qing knew that if things continued like this, Cong Ye would definitely suffer, and as a result, Qiao Yu would suffer alongside him. In order to prevent such a tragedy from happening, Lin Qing decided to make an effort to clear up the misunderstanding.

“Aunt Cong,” she carefully chose her words, “I’m not used to going to school together with Cong Ye, so I took the bus.”

The woman with a stern expression stopped in her tracks, her face softened slightly, but she still didn’t relent. “Then Cong Ye should also take the bus.”

…It seemed that Father Qiao’s words had deeply hurt her. Lin Qing didn’t know how to salvage the situation for a moment, but she heard Mother Cong continue, “You have a good relationship with Qiao Zheng’s daughter?”

Lin Qing paused for a moment, realizing that Qiao Zheng was Father Qiao’s name, and nodded, “Qiao Yu is a very kind person. She said it was convenient for her to give me a ride on her way.”

After hearing her words, Mother Cong raised an eyebrow without showing any emotion and slowly spoke with a look of confusion.

“On the way?”

“Qiao Zheng’s house is not on the way to here at all. If you depart from your school, it’s completely in the opposite direction.”

On the way back home, Father Qiao was in high spirits, eagerly recounting his heroic act, compared to his daughter who had a gloomy expression.

“I never expected that Old Cong would also have a day of being scolded by me. Her flaw is really significant. I hope this wake-up call from me can make her change her ways.”

Feeling satisfied with his righteous action, Father Qiao was in a good mood. After all, Mother Cong didn’t say a word and left with Lin Qing. It was clear that she was in the wrong.

Qiao Yu, who was not in a pleasant mood, took out her phone and considered sending a message to Cong Ye to explain in advance. However, after struggling for a while, no matter how she wrote it, it felt like she was mocking him in advance. She deeply hated her inability to express herself adequately.

“Yuyu, are you on good terms with Lin Qing?” Oblivious to his daughter’s complex emotions, Father Qiao hummed a tune and chatted with her.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen you helping someone and needing to conspire with Dad to tell a lie to make her accept it.” Father Qiao turned his head to look at her during a red light and teasingly winked at her. “Yuyu seems to really like her.”

At that time, what Qiao Yu asked of her father was to accompany Lin Qing home and make it seem like it was on the way. Father Qiao, surprised yet feeling that his child was unexpectedly thoughtful, readily agreed.

Being teased like that, Qiao Yu didn’t argue back. She continued to furrow her brow and tapped on her phone, trying to write clearly, muttering to herself, “Because Lin Qing is really nice. Everyone likes her.”

It wasn’t about whether Lin Qing was likable or not, but it was rare for Qiao Yu to be so concerned about someone.

Considering her child’s sensitivity, Father Qiao tactfully didn’t elaborate and continued driving forward.

Not long after, Qiao Yu suddenly received a message on her phone. She switched out of the conversation with Cong Ye and saw that it was from Lin Qing.

Lin Qing: Actually, going to my house isn’t on your way.

Lin Qing: Am I right?

…Was the truth revealed too quickly?

It hadn’t been even five minutes since they left, and it was already exposed. Qiao Yu quickly suspected Mother Cong, unable to help but silently criticize parents for being such bigmouths.

Qiao Yu: Well… it’s not completely out of the way…

Even the text itself revealed a guilty conscience.

When Lin Qing, back in her room, looked at the reply, she could imagine Qiao Yu’s current expression. She quickly put on a serious face before her heart softened and waited to see what excuses she would come up with.

Qiao Yu: After all, the Earth is round, so taking a detour in the car can always lead to my house!

That’s certainly a large-scale detour.

Lin Qing burst into laughter. She should have been angry after being deceived, but now she couldn’t summon any anger at all.

After all, as soon as she thought about why Qiao Yu told this lie, her heart couldn’t help but soften into a puddle.

She sighed and looked at the “the other person is typing” constantly flashing at the top of the screen. Before Qiao Yu could apologize and beg for forgiveness in a fluster, she forgave her.

Lin Qing: Don’t lie to me again.

Lin Qing: This is an exception.

Qiao Yu suddenly became happy, her eyes brightened. She quickly sent several enthusiastic nodding emojis and repeatedly assured Lin Qing that she would never do it again. Seeing that Lin Qing had truly forgiven her and returned to her usual state, Qiao Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At that moment, she received a new message, and Qiao Yu, feeling happy, casually tapped to see who it was from.

Cong Ye: Qiao Yu.

Qiao Yu’s face drastically changed.

She held her phone nervously, waiting for Cong Ye’s next words as if awaiting a verdict.

Cong Ye: Tomorrow,

Cong Ye: Take the bus to school.

…

Huh?

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