Novel Turned Yuri – Chapter 10
by Little PandaLin Qing, Are You Angry?
Though she didn’t quite understand why she had to take the bus, it looked like Cong Ye had already shouldered the blame.
Qiao Yu sent Cong Ye a message to explain, but received no reply at all. She tentatively asked Lin Qing but didn’t get much either—only that Cong’s Mother had spoken with Cong Ye privately, but both were tight-lipped. Not a single word could be pried from either of them.
…Well, she didn’t know what unprovoked disaster Cong Ye had suffered, but it had left her feeling quite guilty.
Whatever. If she was supposed to take the bus, she’d take the bus. It wasn’t as if she’d never ridden one before, and she could experience what Lin Qing went through every day.
If riding the bus just once would spare her from Cong Ye’s elementary school chicken1-level provocation and bickering tomorrow, she’d be getting a real bargain.
In her original world, Qiao Yu had been an ordinary person with no aversion to buses. That very day, she told her parents ahead of time not to arrange a driver to take her to school tomorrow. Father Qiao came over with a mournful face, looking utterly unable to accept it.
“Why, Yu-Yu? Is Dad’s car not comfortable enough for you?”
No, Dad. Your daughter just needs to atone for her father’s sins.
Qiao Yu didn’t dare say that out loud. It took quite a bit of coaxing before she finally managed to win her parents’ reluctant approval with the excuse of “experiencing life.”
The next morning, true to her word, Qiao Yu got up twenty minutes early. By the time the sky was just beginning to lighten, she was already standing at the bus stop and caught her bus without trouble.
She wasn’t the kind of wealthy second-generation kid who knew nothing of real-world hardships. She was quite familiar with buses and knew that at this hour, the bus would definitely be crowded—but her mental preparation still turned out to be insufficient.
How could it be—this crowded—
Qiao Yu was wedged tight among the crowd, drifting with the tide of bodies. There was nowhere to hold on, but it didn’t matter—even if she fell, she wouldn’t hit the ground. Squeezed by the commuters, elderly folk, and students around her until she was practically paper-thin, the bus itself seemed ready to burst, looking for all the world like a tin of sardines.
She shed two exaggerated streams of tears inwardly, sincerely missing the days of having a private car.
How could she let Lin Qing endure this—this battlefield—every day!
She resolved right then and there: no matter what solution the Cong family came up with, she absolutely could not let Lin Qing take the bus to and from school anymore.
After a stop-and-start, cramped and jostling ride, she barely made it to the school stop. Qiao Yu fought with everything she had to squeeze her way out from the middle of the bus, feeling more haggard than if she’d sat through a whole week of classes.
Then she remembered today was Friday—so she really had sat through a whole week of classes.
Doubly haggard, Qiao Yu silently wiped her face, checked the time—still early—and shuffled over to a bench at the stop to rest her feet.
She used to ride the bus every day herself, yet now she couldn’t adjust at all. Going from frugal to lavish was easy; going back to frugal was hard.
Just as Qiao Yu was stretching her legs like an old woman and lamenting life in general, she saw a bus pull up sluggishly at the stop across the road and laboriously spit out a person.
The person’s hair was a mess, their expression was foul, and they looked awfully familiar.
Sensing her incredulous gaze, that person stiffly turned their neck to look her way.
Qiao Yu and Cong Ye stared at each other across the road for a long moment, both thinking the other looked like a stray dog that had been tossed into a washing machine for a spin cycle.
“The bus. How was it?”
The two of them fell into step and walked silently toward the school gates. Looking at Cong Ye—who always had his hair neatly styled and his clothes spotless without a single wrinkle—now in such a wretched state, Qiao Yu tried hard to suppress her schadenfreude and asked in a casual tone.
“…Fucking hell, it was brutal.”
Qiao Yu almost laughed out loud.
Cong Ye shot her a glare through gritted teeth. If he’d had any energy left to argue, he would have gone all out until Qiao Yu couldn’t laugh anymore.
“I figured you definitely wouldn’t ride it. I already had my insults ready.”
He actually looked a bit disappointed. Qiao Yu gave a dry laugh, having no intention of telling him she’d chosen to take the bus precisely to save herself the argument. She changed the subject.
“So your mom’s solution was to make you take the bus instead?”
Recalling her own chaotic experience that morning, Cong Ye—a young master with zero experience—had surely suffered even more than she had. Qiao Yu looked at him with sympathy, but his face was exhausted and irritable as he squeezed out a “yeah” through gritted teeth.
Though she felt bad for him, the thought that Lin Qing could now ride in a private car and never have to squeeze into that absurd bus again filled her with a distinctly disloyal sort of happiness.
A happy mind is a sharp one. She helpfully suggested to Cong Ye, “Your family’s so rich—can’t you just arrange a car for each of you?”
Cong Ye’s heavy footsteps stopped. He looked toward Lin Qing with an expression that said Why didn’t I think of that? but quickly deflated.
“…After these two weeks are up, I’ll mention it to my mom.”
“…”
Ah, so because Lin Qing had taken the bus for two weeks, he was being made to ride it for just as long.
Talk about equal treatment. She’d have to tell Father Qiao that Cong’s Mother was absolutely not guilty of favoring sons over daughters.
The two of them dragged their feet into the classroom, and the chatter in the class immediately dropped noticeably—probably because Cong Ye’s expression was so dreadful.
“Cong Ye, you’re finally here—about the math homew—”
Lu Yao’s cheerful greeting died halfway. He looked in confusion at Cong Ye, then at Qiao Yu. Seeing them both slumped in their seats looking utterly drained, he finally couldn’t help asking, “…Did you two get robbed?”
“I’d say it looks more like they got caught stealing food and got a beating,” Mi Yi said, turning around with interest. “My cat does that all the time. They look just like him.”
…They weren’t quite that pathetic. That’d be worse than the stray dog from the washing machine.
Lin Qing, enjoying the privilege of a private car drop-off for the first time, had arrived at school early. Though no one had told her, she’d seen Cong Ye leave so early that morning and could roughly guess the situation.
But what had happened to Qiao Yu?
She frowned and looked back at Qiao Yu, who was slumped over her desk looking listless. She touched Qiao Yu’s hair, which seemed even more unruly than usual today.
“What’s wrong?”
Come to think of it, Lin Qing had been taking the bus since the start of school, and she was always neat and composed. Qiao Yu had only done it once—how could she end up looking this embarrassing!
Thinking this, Qiao Yu struggled to sit up and nuzzled against Lin Qing’s palm reassuringly. “It’s nothing.”
She instinctively tried to brush it off, but seeing Lin Qing’s expression grow increasingly serious, she suddenly remembered that she’d just promised yesterday not to lie to her anymore!
“I took the bus this morning.”
Knowing she was in the wrong, Qiao Yu came clean—and immediately threw Cong Ye under the bus too.
“He made me do it.”
“There were so many people. Lin Qing, you really shouldn’t take the bus anymore—it’s so cramped and uncomfortable.”
Lin Qing was silent for a moment, then suddenly stood up.
“Why did Qiao Yu have to take the bus this morning?”
She directed the question at Qiao Yu, but her eyes were fixed solely on Cong Ye in the back. Her attitude was uncharacteristically hostile.
Cong Ye looked bewildered. He hadn’t planned on hiding anything, but Lin Qing coming at him so directly somehow made him feel guilty.
…But wasn’t it just making Qiao Yu take the bus? He’d come the same way that morning, hadn’t he?
With that thought, he felt justified. Uncomfortable being looked down at by Lin Qing, he also stood up, hands in pockets, coldly looking down at—looking down at Qiao Yu.
After all, yesterday’s lecture from his mother was still fresh in his mind. Having learned his lesson the hard way, Cong Ye had no desire to provoke Lin Qing again, so he picked the soft target—Qiao Yu.
“Since I have to take the bus in the morning, she naturally has to share hardships with me.”
Qiao Yu: …Funny how when it’s time to share blessings, you never call me.
Cong Ye glared at Qiao Yu while talking to Lin Qing. Baffled, Qiao Yu couldn’t help wanting to interject.
“Besides, if she hadn’t gone complaining to my mom—”
“That was my dad.”
“…If she hadn’t brought her dad to go complaining to my mom—”
Fine, fine. It was all her fault anyway.
She gave up on engaging with Cong Ye—if she properly responded to every sentence he said, she’d have been exhausted ages ago.
Qiao Yu turned back around, bored with the whole thing, and saw that Lin Qing’s usually gentle, smiling eyes were now dark and heavy, her soft lips pressed tightly together.
…Why did it seem like she wasn’t very happy?
Qiao Yu tensed up immediately.
Over there, Cong Ye finished his rambling indictment of Qiao Yu’s criminal deeds—delivered so vividly that anyone listening would think Qiao Yu ought to bash her head against the floor in apology. Lin Qing listened patiently until he finished, then sighed and lowered her lashes.
“If you didn’t want to take the bus, you should have told me yesterday. I could have pleaded with Aunt Cong for you.”
“Why drag Qiao Yu into it? You know perfectly well she’s not used to riding the bus.”
The air around her was heavy and solemn. Cong Ye stiffened, not daring to speak.
…But he still thought: wasn’t it just taking the bus?
Qiao Yu couldn’t handle it, but neither could he! Where was the sympathy for him?
Lin Qing was nominally his sister—wasn’t she siding with an outsider a bit too readily?
“Lin Qing?”
Just as Cong Ye was sinking into confusion, Qiao Yu—sandwiched between the two of them and sensing the atmosphere was decidedly off—came to the rescue in a soft, careful voice, tentatively calling Lin Qing’s name.
“Are you angry?”
The oppressive atmosphere dissipated at once. Lin Qing looked at Qiao Yu as if waking from a dream. Qiao Yu’s eyes never could hide her emotions—one could easily read the concern and confusion in them right now.
Angry… was she?
Lin Qing wasn’t entirely sure herself.
She’d been gentle-natured since childhood, never letting emotions show on her face. Everyone praised her as easy to get along with. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d been angry.
The feelings that had just surged through her were overwhelming and inexplicable. Lin Qing slowly retraced what had happened, trying to find the source.
It had probably started when Qiao Yu said she’d taken the bus to school. Something in Lin Qing had seemed off from that point.
At first, it was just puzzlement. Qiao Yu came from a good family and, unlike Lin Qing, wasn’t in an awkward living situation—there was absolutely no need for her to take the bus.
Then she heard that Cong Ye had told her to.
That was strange. She’d already explained everything to Cong Ye about yesterday, and Qiao Yu could have simply refused—
Lin Qing’s breath caught. Her pupils shrank.
Qiao Yu was looking more and more worried, but Lin Qing couldn’t bring herself to say a word of comfort. The moment she opened her mouth, the sentence taking shape in her throat would come rushing out.
—Are you this considerate to everyone?
To her, Qiao Yu had given her full-hearted help. When rumors plagued her, Qiao Yu had stepped forward to put a stop to them. When she saw Lin Qing going home alone, she’d offered her a ride and even teamed up with her father to spin a lie about it being “on the way,” all so Lin Qing could accept without feeling burdened.
But toward Cong Ye, she’d also complied without question upon receiving his message, doing something she didn’t want to do. Even when Cong Ye’s attitude was so high-handed and entitled, she… hadn’t pushed back.
But so what? What did that have to do with Lin Qing? Why would she take it out on Cong Ye?
She didn’t understand.
A faint panic rose in Lin Qing. She quickly pushed away these unfamiliar feelings and gave Qiao Yu—who was growing increasingly anxious—a gentle smile.
Seeing Lin Qing apparently return to her usual self, Qiao Yu breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t notice the troubled, murky look hidden beneath Lin Qing’s lashes.
Was she angry?
Lin Qing suppressed the inexplicable undercurrent surging in her heart and smiled without a single crack—only her voice was a little husky.
“Yes. A little.”
The author has something to say:
Qiao Yu: I really was just too lazy to deal with him! (loudly)
Ahhhh they’re progressing 😆
Hi I thought I’d let you know that new chapters don’t seem to be showing up on novelupdates
Beside that love the new novel keep up the good work!
I noticed hours ago and have reported it! Thank you :)
Hi I thought I’d let you know that new chapters don’t seem to be showing up on novelupdates
Beside that love the new novel keep up the good work!
I noticed hours ago and have reported it! Thank you :)