Novel Turned Yuri – Chapter 11
by Little PandaI’ve Always Treated Cong Ye as a Son
Cong Ye was thoroughly bewildered now.
The baffling exchange between the two in front of him had barely gone on for a few lines before the homeroom teacher walked in. He could only sit back down and listen to Lu Yao beside him wailing about not having copied the homework yet.
…So what was that “little bit” of anger Lin Qing had about? Surely it couldn’t be his fault.
After all, he’d been miserable enough today — he could practically be called a victim! Thinking back to that hazy memory of the morning, Cong Ye went pale. He hadn’t known such a lethal mode of transportation existed in this world. How had Lin Qing ever managed to endure it?
Though his relationship with Lin Qing was honestly quite average, after experiencing the bus himself, he’d reached a fair conclusion that happened to align with Qiao Yu’s: they couldn’t let Lin Qing keep taking it — it made it look like the Cong family was abusing her.
Still puzzling over it, he stretched out his leg to kick Qiao Yu’s chair, intending to ask her. But the morning’s lethargy hadn’t worn off yet, so even his chair-kicking lacked its usual force. Qiao Yu sat in front, completely unfazed, leaving Cong Ye glaring at her in frustration.
Come to think of it, wasn’t Qiao Yu getting a little too close with Lin Qing? Yesterday she’d even driven Lin Qing home — if she had that much free time, why not help an old lady cross the street? An old lady wouldn’t make him ride the bus.
Qiao Yu used to be practically a school bully — never mind helping people, it was a miracle she didn’t bully them. What on earth had made her change her ways?
“—Something’s not right. That’s Qiao Yu we’re talking about.”
At lunch, Cong Ye chomped aggressively on a lamb chop as he made his impassioned case in the cafeteria booth.
“…So that’s your excuse for sending Qiao Yu off to eat with Lin Qing? So you could gossip about her?”
Mi Yi was thoroughly uninterested, her face a textbook display of “that’s it?” as she silently stirred the congee in her bowl.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. Lin Qing really is just that nice.”
Watching a second defector in the vein of Qiao Yu about to emerge from within their own ranks, Cong Ye shot Lu Yao a vicious glare. Lu Yao casually ducked his head and stuffed his mouth full of food.
“It’s absolutely not right! Ever since Lin Qing transferred here, Qiao Yu’s been picking fights with me almost every day. She never used to do that before!”
“Looks to me like you’re having plenty of fun arguing yourself.”
“Who has fun arguing?!”
Cong Ye glowered at the sharp-tongued Mi Yi. She thought back over their past scenes and still concluded that he actually rather enjoyed it. But her instinct told her that saying so would only make dealing with him more trouble than it was worth, so she decided to wrap up the topic quickly.
“Probably just grew up a bit after getting a year older. Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Well… that’s true, but…”
It did sound reasonable. Cong Ye was partly convinced, but something still didn’t sit right with him. He frowned and sank into thought.
Mi Yi and Lu Yao exchanged a glance. Lu Yao tactfully cleared his throat and opened a new topic: “By the way, from what you were saying this morning — you still have to take the bus for two weeks?”
If only he hadn’t brought it up. At the mention, Cong Ye’s face crumpled. He even lost his appetite, staring at the lamb chops on his plate and nodding with bitter resentment.
“…Just two weeks. If Lin Qing can do it, then of course I can manage too.”
The words came out tough enough, but his expression told a completely different story.
Lu Yao’s cheeks were bulging with food as he offered muffled encouragement: “Hang in there.”
The cavalier tone instantly enraged Cong Ye. He slammed his hand on the table and stood up: “If Qiao Yu can drive Lin Qing home, can’t the two of you learn from her example?!”
“It’s not impossible.” Mi Yi said flatly, focused on her congee without even lifting her eyes. “If you’re not afraid of Aunt Cong catching you, I can give you a ride.”
“…”
What a joke — if Cong Ye wasn’t afraid, he wouldn’t have obediently taken the bus to school that morning.
After school, Cong Ye — terrified of his mother — dragged his feet toward the exit, radiating an aura of having lost all will to live. The few people walking with him didn’t dare say a word to him.
Outside the school gates, Cong Ye spotted his family’s car already waiting by the curb — but it was no longer waiting for him. He tore his gaze away and headed toward the bus stop, comforting himself with the thought that maybe at this hour the bus wouldn’t be as crowded as in the morning.
The next day, Lin Qing’s inexplicable mood from the previous morning had long since settled. Seeing him like this now, she truly couldn’t stand it and called out to stop him.
“You should still take the family car home. I’ll talk to Aunt Cong when we get back.”
Qiao Yu, who had been leading her toward the Cong family car, paused. She saw that Cong Ye, who had turned around, wore the same dumbfounded expression.
“Huh—huh? Really?” His eyes lit up, but he still demurred with restraint. “I couldn’t. If I take the car, what about you?”
Lin Qing pointed matter-of-factly toward the bus stop. “I’ll take the bus.”
“No way!”
Qiao Yu and Cong Ye said in unison, scrambling to get in front of her.
“That won’t do! If my mom finds out I took the car while you rode the bus today, she’ll skin me alive!”
“Yeah, yeah, exactly! Lin Qing, even if you don’t care about Cong Ye’s skin, at least think about yourself — a private car is so much more comfortable!”
The two of them went back and forth, but the gist was clear: neither would let Lin Qing take the bus.
Lin Qing was at a loss for a moment. She thought awkwardly that maybe she should just ride back with Cong Ye. Though being alone together would make her a bit uncomfortable, it was just this once.
As she was thinking this, Cong Ye turned his head toward Qiao Yu, wearing an expression that said the solution was right beside him.
“Qiao Yu!”
He called her name with such delight and eagerness that Qiao Yu’s heart dropped.
She looked over in alarm. Cong Ye’s eyes were bright, his whole face beaming, as he kept wiggling his eyebrows at her.
“Since Lin Qing already said she’d help talk to my mom, how about you do me a favor and drive me home today! I’ll buy you a drink sometime!”
…It was truly rare to hear such yielding words from his mouth. He must really, really not want to take the bus.
Fair enough, his proposal this time was actually quite reasonable. He’d even shown a hint of consideration by choosing Qiao Yu rather than riding with Lin Qing — though it was also possible he simply thought not taking the family car would be more acceptable to his mother.
Qiao Yu thought it over and decided there was no issue. She’d already driven Lin Qing home yesterday, so driving Cong Ye once more wasn’t a big deal. She gave a crisp nod.
“Sure—”
Before the second syllable could leave her mouth, Lin Qing seized Qiao Yu and pulled her to her side.
She stumbled a couple of steps and looked at Lin Qing in confusion — only to find that Lin Qing seemed even more surprised than she was. Lin Qing immediately released her and looked down at her own hand in bewilderment, as if it hadn’t been under her control just now.
Before Qiao Yu could make sense of it, Lin Qing quickly composed herself and looked up at her.
“Then how about you still drive me home instead. I already owe you a favor anyway.”
The implication was that one more wouldn’t make a difference. She then looked at Cong Ye, silently asking if that was okay. How could Cong Ye possibly say no? Not only did he get a ride, he also saved himself the cost of buying Qiao Yu a drink. It was the perfect outcome — he nodded eagerly in agreement.
And so the three reached an agreement. Cong Ye watched with gratitude as the two of them boarded the Qiao family car before heading toward his own. He flopped into the plush back seat with an undignified sigh, and Lin Qing’s image rose ever higher in his heart.
Lu Yao was right — Lin Qing really was wonderful! No wonder Qiao Yu got along so well with her!
Having resolved the day’s confusion and escaped the bus, Cong Ye was as contented as a sated cat. He resolved to treat Lin Qing better from now on and find a way to repay today’s favor, then drifted peacefully to sleep in the back seat.
Cong Ye slept soundly, while in the car next door, Qiao Yu was still lost in confusion.
Father Qiao hadn’t come to pick her up today. She gave the chauffeur Lin Qing’s address, and the driver made a U-turn and headed that way.
For five minutes, Lin Qing didn’t say a word. Qiao Yu, who had no idea what was going on, barely dared to breathe, only stealing furtive glances at her.
It seemed as though a layer of worry had settled over Lin Qing’s lovely face, as if she were deep in thought.
Qiao Yu didn’t want to disturb her, so she could only consult the System in her head — the System that had been slacking off for quite some time now.
“…What do you think is going on? Lin Qing was all smiles and laughs before we got in the car.”
The System thought back carefully and pointed out the flaw in her reasoning with surgical precision: “The female lead stopped smiling and laughing when you and the male lead were talking. It must have been something you said.”
“I mean before that! You’re splitting hairs way too precisely!”
After grumbling about the System’s pedantry, Qiao Yu tried to reconstruct the scene: “Why did Lin Qing pull me? I was just about to agree to drive Cong Ye home—”
All the clues clicked into place!
Qiao Yu had a sudden epiphany, her mind clear as a mirror!
“Lin Qing didn’t want me to drive Cong Ye home!”
“She must think Cong Ye and I have some kind of improper relationship!”
That was a rather precise choice of words. The System said, bewildered: “Then wouldn’t it be simpler for the female lead to just not let the male lead take the car? Why did she get in the host’s car herself?”
Qiao Yu pondered for a long moment: “M-maybe she’s… feeding herself to the tiger1?”
…Though it didn’t know what the female lead was actually thinking, the System felt that this idiom didn’t quite fit the situation.
“She must be trying to figure out how to tactfully discourage any interest I have in Cong Ye. She’s too embarrassed to say it directly — after all, we’re on… uh, pretty good terms — even though I don’t have any interest in him at all!”
The more Qiao Yu thought about it, the more convinced she became. She frowned with worry and consulted the System again.
“So what do I do now? If I just tell her outright I’m not interested, wouldn’t that seem a bit unconvincing?”
“…But if I don’t clear it up soon, this is going to be so awkward! I don’t want to be a roadblock on their path to romance!”
She was essentially asking and answering her own questions, seemingly having already reached a conclusion. The System decided she probably didn’t need its input and simply delivered the verdict for her: “Just tell her.”
Qiao Yu felt the System’s idea aligned perfectly with her own. She courageously coughed twice to break the silence, and when Lin Qing looked her way, she spoke with utmost sincerity.
“Cong Ye and I…”
The moment the words left her mouth, she saw Lin Qing’s expression shift slightly — all the more confirmation she was on the right track. But then she felt that saying she wasn’t interested would be too abrupt. She needed to be tactful yet firm and convincing.
Qiao Yu racked her brains, and then a flash of inspiration struck — she blurted it out.
“I’ve always treated Cong Ye as a son!”
Lin Qing: …
Seeing her eyes full of bewilderment, Qiao Yu quickly pressed her advantage: “Look at how he runs his mouth all day — I’ve been putting up with him with a deep, paternal love. Otherwise I’d have smacked him ages ago!”
“Just now too — him asking me for a ride was purely a dad driving his son. There was only the tiniest little bit—” She held up her hand, index finger and thumb nearly touching to illustrate an infinitesimal amount, “—the tiniest bit of fatherly affection in it.”
“I wouldn’t lie to you! I’m telling the truth!”
Lin Qing was so disarmed by this entire speech that she set aside her own reflections on having pulled Qiao Yu before her brain could catch up. She blinked in a daze: “Is… is that so?”
So the bus ride this morning was also… fatherly affection toward Cong Ye?
Qiao Yu nodded like a sewing machine.
With this new explanation layered on top, whenever Lin Qing recalled Qiao Yu and Cong Ye’s interactions, she couldn’t help finding them a bit comical… The thought made her smile, and the heavy weight in her heart unexpectedly lightened.
Seeing her smile, both Qiao Yu and the System let out a long breath of relief. They mentally congratulated each other on surviving yet another crisis — and on never again having to fear becoming a roadblock.
Though she didn’t know why Qiao Yu had suddenly brought this up, seeing how Qiao Yu was acting, she could guess that her own prolonged silence had frightened her. Lin Qing felt guilty. She’d upset Qiao Yu because of her own inner turmoil, and she bit her lip, feeling bad about it.
Qiao Yu, meanwhile, was simply happy to have cleared up the misunderstanding. Seeing Lin Qing’s complexion improve, she relaxed and scooted closer to her side. “Driving you home is way better than driving Cong Ye.”
Meaning her status was higher than Cong Ye’s as a son? Lin Qing grew curious and tilted her head: “Why?”
Qiao Yu didn’t even think about it. She answered casually:
“Raise sons poor, raise daughters rich2.”
The smile on Lin Qing’s face froze.
Footnotes
- 'Feeding oneself to the tiger' originates from a Buddhist jataka tale in which the Buddha, in a past life as a prince, sacrificed his body to nourish a starving tigress and her cubs. Used here humorously to suggest self-sacrifice.
- A Chinese parenting philosophy suggesting boys should be raised with hardship to build character, while girls should be raised with abundance to cultivate confidence and self-worth.
the way she quickly fumbled at the last minute HAHAHA
Qiao Yu’s logic is really creative. Like father (QY), like son (CY). 🤣
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wheezing!! HAHAHAHA
wheezing!! HAHAHAHA
Buddy. …..
Buddy. …..