Novel Turned Yuri – Chapter 11

I have always regarded Cong Ye as my son

Cong Ye is currently quite confused.

Without saying a few words, the two people in front of him inexplicably had a conversation, and then the class teacher came in. He could only sit back in his seat and listen to Lu Yao, who hadn’t finished copying the homework yet, wailing.

…So, what’s the deal with Lin Qing’s “bit of anger”? It can’t possibly be his fault.

After all, he’s had such a miserable day today. It can be said that he’s a victim! Thinking of the vague memories from this morning, Cong Ye’s face turned pale. He didn’t expect there to be such a deadly means of transportation. How did Lin Qing manage to endure it all?

Although his relationship with Lin Qing is just average, after experiencing the bus ride, Cong Ye came up with a fair opinion and unintentionally reached a consensus with Qiao Yu: they can’t let Lin Qing continue to suffer, making it seem like they are abusing her from home.

He didn’t understand it himself. He stretched his legs to kick Qiao Yu’s chair and wanted to ask her. As a result, the sense of frustration from this morning hadn’t subsided yet, causing his kicks to be less resounding than before. Qiao Yu sat in front of him, indifferent, infuriating Cong Ye.

Speaking of it, are Qiao Yu and Lin Qing getting too close now? She even sent Lin Qing home yesterday—how come she doesn’t have time to help the old lady cross the street? The old lady wouldn’t harm her by making her take the bus.

Qiao Yu used to be like a school bully. It would be considered good if she didn’t bully people. What could have caused her to change?

“——Is something not right? That’s Qiao Yu we’re talking about.”

At noon, Cong Ye vigorously chewed on lamb chops and passionately expressed his thoughts in the cafeteria partition.

“So, this is your reason for sending Qiao Yu to have a meal with Lin Qing? Just to gossip about her?”

Mi Yi showed little interest, wearing an expression of “Is that it?” on her face as she silently stirred the porridge in her bowl.

“I don’t see a problem with it. After all, Lin Qing is a very nice person.”

Seeing that another traitor like Qiao Yu was about to emerge internally, Cong Ye glared fiercely at Lu Yao, who nonchalantly buried his head and filled his mouth with food.

“It’s definitely not right! Ever since Lin Qing transferred here, Qiao Yu has been picking fights with me almost every day. She never used to be like this!”

“I see you’re quite happy arguing with her too.”

“Who would be happy arguing?!”

Cong Ye glared at Mi Yi with anger in his eyes. Mi Yi recalled the past scenes and felt that he actually seemed to enjoy it. However, she instinctively felt that it would be troublesome to say that, so she decided to quickly end the topic.

“Maybe she has matured and developed a different personality as she grew one year older. Isn’t that a good thing?”

“W-Well, that’s one way to put it…”

It sounds quite reasonable. Cong Ye was somewhat convinced, but he still felt unsettled, furrowing his brow as he entered into deep thought.

Mi Yi and Lu Yao exchanged a glance, and Lu Yao tactfully changed the topic, clearing his throat, “Speaking of which, based on what you guys said this morning, you still have to take the bus for two weeks?”

It was better not to mention it, but as soon as it was brought up, Cong Ye’s face turned gloomy, even losing his appetite as he stared at the lamb chops on his plate, nodding with bitterness.

“…It’s just two weeks. Since Lin Qing can do it, then of course I have no problem.”

He spoke with a tough tone, but his facial expression said otherwise.

Lu Yao’s cheeks puffed up as he encouraged him vaguely, “You can do it.”

The casual tone instantly angered Cong Ye, and he slammed the table, “Qiao Yu can even escort Lin Qing home, can’t you two learn from her?!”

“It’s not impossible,” Mi Yi said calmly, focusing on drinking her porridge without even lifting her eyelids. She said indifferently, “If you’re not afraid of being caught by Auntie Cong, 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, fearing his mother, dragged his heavy feet as he walked outside. He exuded an air of despair, and the few people who walked together with him didn’t dare to strike up a conversation.

When they reached the school gate, Cong Ye glanced and saw that his family car was already waiting on the side, but the person waiting was no longer him. He reluctantly averted his gaze and walked towards the bus stop, consoling himself by thinking that maybe there wouldn’t be as many people on the bus after school as there were in the morning.

After a day had passed, Lin Qing’s inexplicable emotions from earlier in the morning had already subsided. Now, she couldn’t bear to see Cong Ye in this state, so she called out to him.

“You better take your family’s car back home. I’ll talk to Auntie Cong about it.”

Qiao Yu, who was walking with Lin Qing towards Cong Ye’s car, was momentarily stunned. When she saw Cong Ye turn his face, he also had a bewildered expression.

“Eh, really?” His eyes lit up, but he modestly refused, “Isn’t that not necessary? What will you do if I take the car?”

Lin Qing casually pointed to the bus stop, saying, “I’ll take the bus.”

“”No way!””

Qiao Yu and Cong Ye exclaimed in unison, rushing to stand in front of her.

“This won’t do! If my mom finds out that today I took the car while you took the bus, she’ll skin me alive!”

“Yeah, yeah, Lin Qing, even if you don’t consider Cong Ye’s well-being, you should consider your own. Taking a private car is so comfortable!”

The two of them exchanged words, refusing to let Lin Qing take the bus.

Lin Qing was momentarily at a loss, struggling with the idea of either taking the car back with Cong Ye or riding the bus. Although being alone with him made her feel a bit uncomfortable, it was just a one-time thing anyway.

She was thinking when Cong Ye suddenly turned his head and looked at Qiao Yu, revealing an expression that seemed to suggest a solution right beside me.

“Qiao Yu!”

Cong Ye’s joyful and eager call made Qiao Yu’s heart skip a beat.

She looked over in alarm, and Cong Ye’s eyes lit up, his face radiant as he winked at her.

“Since Lin Qing said she can help me plead with my mom, why don’t you help out today and give me a ride back? I’ll treat you to a drink later!”

…It’s really rare to hear such a soft plea from his mouth. It seems like he really doesn’t want to take the bus.

To be fair, his suggestion this time is quite reasonable. It even shows a bit of thoughtfulness in choosing Qiao Yu instead of sitting with Lin Qing—though it’s also possible that he simply thinks not taking the family car back home would be more acceptable to his mom.

Qiao Yu thought about it and didn’t see any problem with it. After all, she had already given Lin Qing a ride yesterday, so giving Cong Ye a ride again wouldn’t be a big deal. She simply nodded.

“Okay—”

Before the next word could come out, Qiao Yu was pulled to the side by Lin Qing.

She stumbled a few steps and looked at Lin Qing in confusion. To her surprise, Lin Qing seemed even more astonished than she was. She immediately let go of Qiao Yu and looked down at her own hands, as if they had just been out of her control.

Qiao Yu still couldn’t make sense of it, but Lin Qing quickly composed herself, raising her eyes to look at her.

“Then it’s better if you give me a ride instead. After all, I already owe you a favor.”

Implying that an additional favor wouldn’t matter. She said this while looking at Cong Ye, silently asking if he was okay with it. Cong Ye, who not only had a car to ride in but also saved the trouble of treating Qiao Yu to a drink, couldn’t possibly refuse. It was a perfect outcome, so he nodded and agreed.

And so, the three of them reached a consensus. With a grateful gaze, Cong Ye watched them get into the Qiao family’s car, then proceeded towards his own car. As he slumped into the plush backseat, he let out a sigh of relief, his image of Lin Qing soaring in his mind.

Lu Yao was right, Lin Qing really is great! No wonder Qiao Yu has such a good relationship with her!

They not only resolved the confusion from earlier in the day but also avoided taking the bus. Cong Ye felt satisfied, like a well-fed cat.

He thought that in the future, he should treat Lin Qing better and find a way to repay today’s favor. He peacefully fell asleep in the backseat.

Cong Ye slept soundly, while Qiao Yu in the neighboring car was still in a state of confusion.

Today, Father Qiao didn’t come to pick her up. She told the driver Lin Qing’s address, and the driver turned the car and drove in that direction.

After five minutes of driving, Lin Qing remained silent, completely unaware of the situation. Qiao Yu dared not even breathe and could only secretly glance at her.

There seemed to be a layer of worry on Lin Qing’s beautiful face, as if she was contemplating something.

Qiao Yu felt it would be impolite to disturb her, so she could only discuss with the system in her mind, which had acted as a shopkeeper for a while.

“… What do you think is going on? Lin Qing was still cheerful and laughing before we got in the car.”

The system carefully recalled and pointed out the flaw in her words with sharpness, “The female lead hasn’t been cheerful and laughing with you since she started talking to the male lead. It must be something you said that caused the problem.”

“I meant before that! Your timing is too rigid!”

After complaining about the system for a few moments, Qiao Yu tried to replay the situation in her mind, “Why did Lin Qing pull me at that moment? It was when I was about to agree to take Cong Ye home—”

All the clues are coming together!

Qiao Yu suddenly realized it, her mind as clear as a mirror!

“Lin Qing didn’t want me to give Cong Ye a ride home!”

“She must think that there’s something inappropriate between Cong Ye and me!”

The wording is quite precise. The system said in confusion, “If the female lead didn’t want the male lead to sit with you, why did she get into the host’s car herself?”

Qiao Yu pondered for a while and said, “To… to keep a tiger as a pet?”

… Although she didn’t know what the female lead was really thinking, the system felt that this idiom didn’t quite fit in this context.

“She’s probably thinking about how to politely discourage me from having any thoughts about Cong Ye. She doesn’t want to directly say it to me, considering that our relationship, um, is pretty good—though I don’t have any feelings for him at all!”

The more Qiao Yu thought about it, the more she felt this was the case. She furrowed her brow with worry and went to discuss it with the system again.

“So, what should I do now? Does it seem unconvincing if I directly tell her that I have no feelings for him?”

“…But if I don’t clarify this quickly, it’ll be so awkward. I don’t want to be a roadblock on someone else’s path to love!”

She was basically answering her own questions, as if she had already reached a conclusion. The system felt that she didn’t need its opinion, so it straightforwardly chimed in, “Just say it.”

Qiao Yu felt that the system’s idea really resonated with her. She courageously cleared her throat twice to break the silence and looked at Lin Qing with an incredibly sincere expression.

“Between Cong Ye and me…”

As soon as she spoke, she noticed a slight change in Lin Qing’s expression, affirming that she was heading in the right direction. Suddenly, she felt that directly saying she had no feelings was too abrupt. She needed to say it tactfully, with both determination and persuasiveness.

Qiao Yu racked her brains, and a spark of inspiration burst forth from her.

“I’ve always treated Cong Ye as my son!”

Lin Qing:…

Seeing her looking confused, Qiao Yu quickly seized the opportunity to strike while the iron was hot. “Look, he’s always babbling on and on. I’ve been accommodating him with the deep love of a father. Otherwise, I would have scolded him a long time ago!”

“Earlier as well, when he asked me to give him a ride, it was purely a father sending his son. There’s only a tiny, tiny bit…” She extended her hand, bringing her index finger and thumb almost together, illustrating a very obvious tiny bit. “…a tiny bit of fatherly affection.”

“I won’t lie to you! Everything I say is the truth!”

Lin Qing was completely bewildered by her words, setting aside her own reflections on Qiao Yu’s swift mental processing. She blinked in confusion. “I-Is that so?”

So, taking the bus in the morning was also an act of… affection toward Cong Ye?

Qiao Yu nodded vigorously like a sewing machine.

With this explanation, when Lin Qing thought back on her interactions with Cong Ye, she couldn’t help but find it a bit comical… Lin Qing smiled, and that heavy weight in her heart suddenly lightened in an unexpected and relaxed manner.

Seeing her smile, both Qiao Yu and the system breathed a sigh of relief, congratulating each other for overcoming another obstacle. From now on, they no longer feared encountering roadblocks.

Although she didn’t know why she suddenly brought it up, she could guess that Qiao Yu had been scared by her silence earlier.

Lin Qing felt guilty in her heart, thinking that her own troubled mind had disturbed Qiao Yu. She bit her lip, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Meanwhile, Qiao Yu was simply happy that the misunderstanding had been cleared. Seeing Lin Qing’s improved expression, she relaxed and scooted closer to her. “It’s much better to accompany you than to accompany Cong Ye.”

Does that mean her position is higher than that of Cong Ye, her son? Lin Qing became curious and tilted her head, asking, “Why?”

Without thinking much, Qiao Yu casually spoke up.

“It’s like the saying goes, ‘Raise sons in poverty and daughters in wealth.'”

The smile on Lin Qing’s face froze in an instant.

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