Lin Qing, are you angry?
Although she doesn’t quite understand why she had to take the bus, it seems like Cong Ye has already been blamed for it.
Qiao Yu explained the situation to Cong Ye through a message, but received no reply at all. When she tentatively asked Lin Qing, she didn’t get any information either. All she knew was that Mother Cong and Cong Ye had a private conversation for a while, but both of them remained tight-lipped and couldn’t get a word out of them.
… sigh, she doesn’t know what unfounded disaster Cong Ye has gotten her into, making her feel guilty.
Oh well, let her take the bus, it’s not like she hasn’t taken it before. It’s a good opportunity for her to experience what Lin Qing goes through every day.
If taking the bus only once can save her from the provocations and arguments with Cong Ye, who acts like an elementary school kid, then she’s really lucky.
Qiao Yu, who was just an ordinary person in the original world, didn’t have any resistance to taking the bus. On that day, she informed her parents in advance that they didn’t need to arrange a driver to take her to school the next day. As a result, Father Qiao came over with a sad face, looking like he couldn’t accept it.
“Why, Yuyu? Is it uncomfortable to ride in Daddy’s car?”
No, Dad, it’s the daughter who wants to atone for her father’s sins.
Qiao Yu didn’t dare to say that. After a lot of persuasion, she finally reluctantly obtained her parents’ approval by using the excuse of experiencing life.
The next morning, true to her word, Qiao Yu got up twenty minutes early and stood under the bus stop sign when it was just slightly bright outside. She successfully boarded the bus.
She wasn’t a true oblivious rich second generation who knew nothing about the hardships of the world. She was quite familiar with taking the bus, and she knew that at this time in the morning, the bus would definitely be crowded. However, it seemed like her mental preparation was still insufficient.
How… how can it be so crowded…
Qiao Yu was tightly squeezed in the crowd, going with the flow. There was no place for her to hold on to, but even if she fell, she wouldn’t be able to reach the ground anyway. She was being squeezed by the surrounding office workers, elderly people, and students to the point where she felt like a piece of paper. The bus was also packed to the point of bursting, resembling a can of sardines.
Tears of frustration streamed down her face as she sincerely reminisced about the days when she had a private car.
How… how can I let Lin Qing experience this every day!
In that instant, she made up her mind. No matter what the final solution was from her family, she couldn’t let Lin Qing take the bus to school anymore.
The journey was filled with stops and starts, with constant pushing and squeezing. Finally, Qiao Yu managed to squeeze out from the middle of the bus when they reached the school stop. She felt more exhausted than if she had attended a week’s worth of classes.
She remembered that today was Friday, and indeed, it felt like she had already attended a week’s worth of classes.
The double fatigue weighed heavily on Qiao Yu. She silently wiped her face, looked at the time, and realized it was still early. She walked unsteadily to the bench on the platform, intending to rest her feet.
It’s strange how, even though she used to take the bus every day, she now feels so uncomfortable. It’s truly a easy to transition from frugality to luxury, and difficult from luxury to frugality.
Qiao Yu stretched her legs tremblingly, feeling like an old person contemplating life when she saw a bus slowly stopping at the platform across the road, and a person struggling to get out of the vehicle.
The person had messy hair and a sour expression, looking very familiar.
Feeling the other person’s incredulous gaze, they stiffly turned their neck and looked back at her.
Qiao Yu and Cong Ye locked eyes for a long time across the road, and both of them felt like they resembled stray dogs that had been thrown into a washing machine and spun around.
“How does it feel to take the bus?”
The two of them silently met and walked towards the campus. Qiao Yu looked at Cong Ye, who used to always have neatly styled hair and impeccable clothes without a single wrinkle, in such a sorry state now. She made an effort to suppress her schadenfreude and asked him in a calm tone.
“…Damn impressive.”
Qiao Yu almost burst out laughing.
Cong Ye glared at her through gritted teeth. If he had the energy to argue right now, he would have kept going until Qiao Yu stopped laughing.
“I thought you would never take it. I had already prepared the perfect insults for you.”
He seemed a little regretful. Qiao Yu forced a laugh and had no intention of telling him that she chose to take the bus simply to avoid unnecessary arguments, changing the subject instead.
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“So, your mom’s solution is for you to start taking the bus?”
Recalling the chaotic experience from the morning, Cong Ye, as a completely inexperienced young master, had undoubtedly suffered more hardships than her. Qiao Yu looked at Cong Ye with a sympathetic expression, and he appeared exhausted and irritable, squeezing out a response from between his teeth.
Although she felt sorry for him, Qiao Yu couldn’t help but feel happy at the thought that Lin Qing would be able to take a private car and no longer have to endure the absurdity of the crowded bus.
When people are happy, their minds become sharp. Qiao Yu kindly suggested to Cong Ye, “Your family is so wealthy, can’t they arrange separate cars for the two of you?”
Cong Ye’s heavy footsteps came to a halt. He looked at Lin Qing with an expression that said, “Why didn’t I think of that?” but it quickly faded away.
“…After these two weeks, I’ll bring it up with my mom.”
“…”
Ah, it seemed that because Lin Qing had taken the bus for two weeks, they were now required to endure the same long commute.
It was truly treating everyone equally. Qiao Yu decided to tell Father Qiao that Mother Cong never favored boys over girls when she got back home.
The two of them dragged their feet and entered the classroom, and the voices in the class suddenly became much quieter, probably because Cong Ye’s expression was so poor.
“Cong Ye, you finally brought that math homework—”
Lu Yao’s cheerful call was cut off halfway, and he looked at Cong Ye and Qiao Yu with confusion. Seeing both of them slumped in their seats, looking completely drained, he couldn’t help but speak up, “Did you guys get robbed or something?”
“It looks like they stole food and were punished,” Mi Yi turned around with interest. “My cat does that all the time, and they look pretty similar.”
…It wasn’t that bad, not even as pitiful as a stray dog that had been through a washing machine.
Lin Qing, who was experiencing the luxury of being picked up by a private car for the first time, arrived at school early. Although no one told her, she could guess the situation when she saw Cong Ye leaving home so early.
But what about Qiao Yu?
She frowned and turned to look at Qiao Yu, who was slumped on the desk with a sullen expression. She touched her hair, which seemed even more unruly today than usual.
“What’s wrong?”
Speaking of which, Lin Qing had been taking the bus since the start of the school year, yet she always looked neat and tidy. On the other hand, Qiao Yu only took it once, and now she was showing such an embarrassing appearance!
Qiao Yu struggled to sit up and comfortingly rubbed Lin Qing’s palm. “It’s nothing, really.”
She instinctively wanted to cover it up, but when she saw Lin Qing’s increasingly serious expression, she suddenly remembered that she had just promised she wouldn’t lie anymore!
“I just took a bus this morning.”
Qiao Yu admitted her mistake, confessing everything to Lin Qing right away, including Cong Ye’s involvement.
“He asked me to take it.”
“There were so many people, Lin Qing, you really shouldn’t take it anymore. It’s so uncomfortable being squeezed.”
Lin Qing fell silent for a moment, then suddenly stood up.
“Why did Qiao Yu have to take the bus this morning?”
Although she was referring to Qiao Yu, her eyes were fixed on Cong Ye behind her, and her attitude was unusually impolite.
Cong Ye looked bewildered. Although he hadn’t planned to hide anything, he felt a bit guilty under Lin Qing’s direct and probing question.
…But isn’t it just making Qiao Yu take a bus? He came this way in the morning too, didn’t he?
Cong Ye felt justified as he thought about it, but he felt a bit uncomfortable under Lin Qing’s gaze. He also stood up, hands in his pockets, and sternly looked down—looking down at Qiao Yu.
After all, the incident from yesterday when his mom scolded him was still fresh in his mind. Having learned from experience, Cong Ye didn’t want to provoke Lin Qing anymore, so he could only target the softer target, Qiao Yu.
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“Since I have to take the bus in the morning, she naturally has to share the hardship with me.”
Qiao Yu: …Where were you when you had good fortune?
While glaring at her, Cong Ye continued speaking to Lin Qing. Qiao Yu, feeling inexplicably puzzled, couldn’t help but interject.
“Besides, if it weren’t for her going to my mom to complain—”
“It was my dad.”
“…If it weren’t for her and her dad going to my mom to complain—”
Alright, alright, it’s all her fault anyway.
Ignoring Cong Ye, Qiao Yu had given up on engaging with him. If she had responded to every word he said, she would have been exhausted long ago.
Qiao Yu turned her head uninterestedly and saw a dark cloud covering Lin Qing’s usually gentle and smiling eyes. Her soft lips were tightly pursed.
…Why does it seem like she’s not very happy?
Qiao Yu suddenly became nervous.
Over there, Cong Ye was babbling and complaining about Qiao Yu’s wrongful actions—describing them in vivid detail, making anyone who listened feel that Qiao Yu should be begging for forgiveness with her head on the ground. Lin Qing patiently listened to him, sighed, and lowered her eyelashes.
“If you didn’t want to take the bus, you should have told me yesterday. I would have gone to Auntie on your behalf and pleaded for mercy.”
“Why did you have to involve Qiao Yu? You clearly knew she’s not used to it.”
Her aura was heavy, and Cong Ye stiffened, unable to speak.
…But his point was, it’s just taking a bus, right?
Qiao Yu can’t get used to it, and he can’t either, right? Why doesn’t anyone sympathize with him?
Lin Qing is still technically his younger sister, but isn’t she leaning too much towards the other side?
“Lin Qing?”
Just as Cong Ye was falling into confusion, feeling that the atmosphere between the two was off, Qiao Yu, in a soft and timid voice, came out to save the situation, carefully calling Lin Qing’s name.
“Are you angry?”
That oppressive atmosphere suddenly dissipated, and Lin Qing, as if awakening from a dream, looked at Qiao Yu. Qiao Yu’s eyes always revealed her emotions, and it was easy to see her current concern and confusion.
Angry…is she angry?
Lin Qing herself became a bit perplexed.
She has always been gentle by nature, and her emotions rarely show on her face. Everyone praises her for being easy to get along with. She couldn’t even remember the last time she got angry.
The sudden and inexplicable surge of emotions just now, Lin Qing slowly recollected what had happened, trying to find the source.
It probably started when Qiao Yu mentioned that she took the bus to school. Lin Qing felt something was off from that moment.
At first, it was just confusion. Qiao Yu comes from a good family and doesn’t seem to be in an awkward situation like her own, so there’s no need for her to take the bus at all.
But then she heard Qiao Yu say that Cong Ye asked her to take the bus.
This is truly strange. Clearly, she and Cong Ye had already explained what happened yesterday. Qiao Yu could have refused—
Lin Qing’s breath hitched, and her pupils contracted.
Qiao Yu in front of her looked increasingly worried, but Lin Qing couldn’t find the words to comfort her. If she opened her mouth, the gradually forming words in her throat would uncontrollably come out.
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—Are you so considerate to everyone?
To her, Qiao Yu wholeheartedly offered assistance. When she was troubled by rumors, Qiao Yu stepped forward to stop them. When she was alone after school, Qiao Yu walked her home. They even came up with a convenient excuse together with her dad, just to make it easier for her to accept.
But for Cong Ye, she would also do things she didn’t want to do without asking for reasons when she received a message from him. Even if Cong Ye had such a high and mighty attitude, she… didn’t argue back.
But so what? What does this have to do with her, Lin Qing? Why is she redirecting her anger towards Cong Ye because of this?
She didn’t understand.
Lin Qing’s hidden panic began to rise, and she quickly dismissed these unfamiliar emotions. She smiled gently at Qiao Yu, who had already started to feel uneasy.
Seeing Lin Qing finally returning to her usual self, Qiao Yu breathed a sigh of relief, unaware of the dim and unclear gaze hidden beneath her eyelashes.
Are you angry?
Lin Qing suppressed the unknown turmoil in her heart and smiled flawlessly, though her voice was slightly hoarse.
“Well, just a little.”
The author has someting to say:
Qiao Yu: I really just couldn’t be bothered to deal with him! (Loudly)
