Novel Turned Yuri – Chapter 7

Why is Qiao Yu like this!

Four people walked along the corridor, attracting curious gazes from the crowd, and made their way to the rooftop. Just as they entered, the class bell rang, and Qiao Yu silently pondered that if she were to be punished again, she would have Cong Ye write the self-reflection for her. Carefully, she closed the door to the rooftop.

The rooftop was merely a place for students to catch their breath, with nothing but a railing. Qiao Yu stood face to face with Cong Ye. The September breeze blew past, creating a sense of a decisive battle atop Huashan.

To be honest, Qiao Yu still couldn’t quite understand why Cong Ye was reacting so strongly. She couldn’t discuss it with Lin Qing, so she could only ask the system. The not-so-intelligent system clearly couldn’t fully comprehend the complexities of human emotions. Two clueless people brainstorming together couldn’t come up with a sensible explanation.

Finally, she could ask the person at the center of it all today. Qiao Yu took the initiative and spoke first, “Why do you dislike Lin Qing so much?”

“I’d like to ask you why you can tolerate Lin Qing so easily?” Cong Ye raised an eyebrow, his gaze icy, arms crossed as he huffed, “Has she drugged you or something? You’ve never been like this before.”

“…Like what?”

“Fighting me over a woman.”

…She had already sensed it when she was in class earlier. Cong Ye had some serious issues with his perception.

Qiao Yu gritted her teeth, trying to correct his peculiar choice of words, “I didn’t fight you… In the end, it’s only you who can’t stand my good relationship with Lin Qing, right? My opinion of you has nothing to do with my relationship with Lin Qing.”

“There’s a problem if she has a good relationship with you!” If Cong Ye were an animal, he would surely have exploded in anger. “She quietly bewitched you. That woman definitely has ulterior motives!”

“No, she enchanted me—how can her good relationship with me have malicious intentions?”

“She—” Cong Ye paused, his face turning red as he blurted out, “She just wants to flaunt her presence in front of me!”

…What kind of nonsensical logic is that!

Qiao Yu was on the verge of bursting into laughter from his absurdity. So, in his eyes, Lin Qing having a good relationship with his friends meant it was all for him. When will he ever fix this excessive self-consciousness problem of his?

“On the first day of school, you caused such a scene and she’s still being talked about because of it. It’s already good enough that Lin Qing isn’t causing trouble for you. What kind of dream are you living in?”

Qiao Yu brought up that incident, and it made her angry. She spoke with sarcasm, and Cong Ye’s face went through various changes, slowly turning into a bewildered expression.

“What scene are you talking about?”

He actually had no idea!

Qiao Yu was shocked, but quickly understood that, of course, nobody would dare to do such things in front of Cong Ye. He didn’t pay any attention to Lin Qing, so he didn’t experience the consequences of his actions throughout the week—this is just outrageous!

“That day, how did Mi Yi initially perceive it?” Qiao Yu rolled up her sleeves in anger and looked fiercely at Mi Yi, who was standing on the side. After thinking for a moment, Mi Yi honestly replied, “I thought Lin Qing stole Cong Ye’s boyfriend.”

“That’s it!” Qiao Yu snapped her fingers and pointed at Cong Ye. “Lin Qing has been gossiped about all week because of you! Are your eyes and ears just decorations?”

Cong Ye’s face immediately turned dark. “Who the hell said I have a boy—”

“It’s just about the same thing!”

It felt like talking to a brick wall. Qiao Yu shouted at the top of her lungs, her head spinning. She rubbed her temples and glared angrily at Cong Ye. “Cong Ye, get it straight. It’s not Lin Qing trying to provoke you, it’s you who provoked her first! My good relationship with her has nothing to do with you. It’s because she’s intelligent, beautiful, and likable. There’s absolutely no connection between you and that!”

At least he was the male lead in a romance novel. Cong Ye’s brain wasn’t completely hopeless, and he quickly understood the underlying meaning. But he still refused to admit defeat, saying, “She, she was elected as the class representative…”

“So you think everyone elected her as the class representative because they like her? Cong Ye, you really know how to joke.”

“…”

Cong Ye fell silent, feeling defeated. Qiao Yu, who had gained the upper hand, raised her eyebrows triumphantly. But before she could fully revel in her victory, she heard him speak again in a muffled voice, “…Then why didn’t you tell me? Qiao Yu, you’ve really changed a lot.”

Oh, this tone sounded just like accusing someone of being unfaithful.

Qiao Yu’s temples throbbed. She tried to remain calm and explain to him, “You were deaf and blind, not paying attention. And now you’ve forgotten that all week, whenever you saw me, it was as if you saw an enemy. Cong Ye, are these symptoms a sign that you’re entering old age prematurely?”

Rarely feeling in the wrong, Cong Ye swallowed his pride and remained silent. Lu Yao, who was always ready to mediate, glanced at the situation and saw that a fight was unlikely to break out. He finally let out a sigh of relief, looking pitiful.

“O-Okay, enough. It’s all just a misunderstanding. Cong Ye, why don’t you help explain things to everyone on behalf of Lin Qing?”

Among the four-member squad, Lu Yao was the oldest and most innocent. He timidly offered his advice, but little did he know that it would backfire.

“…The more we talk about it, the worse it gets. I feel like it’s better to just leave it alone.”

Qiao Yu felt like she couldn’t hold back her frustration any longer.

“C-Calm down, host. It won’t benefit you to fight with the male protagnist right now…”

The weak voice of the system managed to slightly calm Qiao Yu down. She knew that Cong Ye was the type of person who wouldn’t budge unless you used a soft approach. If she actually beat him up now, their relationship would never be the same.

But his remarks really deserved a good beating!

Even Lu Yao and Mi Yi’s expressions changed. Mi Yi distanced herself from Cong Ye with disgust, while Lu Yao stared at Cong Ye disapprovingly, but Cong Ye remained stiff and refused to meet his gaze.

In the end, Cong Ye was saying, “I understand the logic, but I can’t bring myself to admit that I was wrong.” Calming down, Qiao Yu analyzed the situation rationally. To break this deadlock, she needed a more powerful bargaining chip than Cong Ye’s pride.

She carefully recalled and realized that she might actually have a bargaining chip like that.

“Cong Ye.”

Qiao Yu’s voice was calm and composed. Cong Ye looked at her skeptically, but when he saw her smiling warmly and radiating a pleasing aura, he couldn’t help but be intrigued.

“If you don’t explain, I’ll go tell your mom.”

The four of them spent a full forty minutes on the rooftop, until they heard the second period’s dismissal bell and hurriedly ran back, pushing open the classroom door only to find the entire class waiting inside.

Cong Ye took the lead and walked to the front of the classroom, picked up the board eraser, and banged it on the blackboard a few times to attract everyone’s attention. However, he ended up coughing repeatedly as the chalk dust flew up. Unable to bear the sight, Qiao Yu averted her gaze and happily blinked at Lin Qing, who was sitting at her seat and casting curious glances.

The students in the class were already extremely curious about what had happened after they left. Lin Qing calmly told the teacher that Cong Ye had a stomachache, and the other three sent him to the school clinic. Everyone tacitly displayed expressions that confirmed her words. Now, Mi Yi and Lu Yao stood like door gods on either side of the door, and no one was in a rush to go to the playground. They all obediently turned their gaze toward Cong Ye.

Finally escaping the chalk dust, Cong Ye’s complexion was worse than ever. His mind was in turmoil, but after pondering for a long time, he couldn’t utter a single word. Hesitant, he glanced at Qiao Yu, who boldly took out a prohibited item, her mobile phone, and nonchalantly raised her chin at him.

…This was an obvious threat! Why was Qiao Yu like this!

Well, that’s just how Qiao Yu is. Leaning against the side of the podium, she innocently started playing with her phone. Only Cong Ye could see her happily accessing a contact interface, with the name “Auntie” clearly noted.

Cong Ye clenched his teeth so hard they felt like they would shatter. He forcefully slapped the podium, directing his anger at everyone else. “Listen to me!”

Everyone stared at him eagerly.

“Earlier, on the first day of school,” Cong Ye’s confidence gradually diminished as he got to the main point. He stumbled over his words, “It wasn’t… it wasn’t like what you all thought!”

Finally, he inexplicably became irritable, and no one in the audience understood what he was saying. Qiao Yu sighed inwardly, rolled her eyes silently, and glanced at Cong Ye. He trembled all over, then lowered his voice and spoke with a mix of sorrow and indignation, “…Everything I said that day… it was… it was just me talking nonsense. It had nothing to do with Lin Qing…”

Even saying those words seemed to torment him.

“Anyway, it’s just a private matter between her and me! Don’t spread rumors anymore! Got it?”

…Although it could be reluctantly considered correct to twist it that way, honestly, couldn’t Cong Ye find better wording?

Qiao Yu’s ears rang from the deafening two words, “private matter.” She glanced at the expressions of the people in the audience, each one more amusing than the last. The bold ones even started winking and making faces at their friends right in front of Cong Ye. Meanwhile, Lin Qing was already massaging her temples, clearly getting a headache.

Cong Ye could see more clearly from the stage, and he immediately realized he was misunderstood once again. Frustrated, he raised his voice and blurted out, “I’m her brother!”

Qiao Yu: …?

How could Cong Ye utter such outrageous words? This isn’t a brother-sister story at all!

Qiao Yu’s mind raced as she frantically flipped through the book, quickly finding the reason behind Cong Ye’s statement.

“I found it! Let me read it to you, host!”

【”…It’s like this, my high school classmate and her daughter will be moving in tomorrow.”

“I arranged for her daughter to transfer to your class. She’s younger than you, so as her older brother, take good care of her.”

Rather than seeking his opinion, his mother seemed to be informing him. Cong Ye half-heartedly listened, responding with a few nonchalant murmurs.】

…What on earth is this! So in this passage, the only thing he heard from “half-heartedly” was “as her older brother”? He didn’t catch the first sentence, but he managed to pick up on the second half, asking him to take care of her?

Qiao Yu grimaced in pain at Cong Ye’s stupidity. She grabbed his school uniform under the podium and through gritted teeth said, “What kind of fabricated relationship is this…”

You two are the main characters in a romance story! You can’t just go around saying whatever!

But Cong Ye completely failed to understand her well-intentioned words. He felt that he couldn’t explain or not explain, and he couldn’t fathom why Qiao Yu was like this. Frustrated and not knowing how to direct his anger, he glared at her and yelled even louder, “I’m her brother!!”

Okay, okay, okay, big brother, big brother. She’s truly scared of Cong Ye now.

Qiao Yu’s mentality collapsed as she stood by, watching the classmates in the class suddenly understand and whisper to each other. Several classmates who hadn’t really talked to Lin Qing before quickly surrounded her, displaying an impressive grasp of the situation. Qiao Yu was speechless.

He really lives up to being a second-generation rich kid, quite skilled at this.

The situation was explained thoroughly—although Qiao Yu didn’t fully understand it, the outcome was acceptable. Cong Ye huffed and walked off the stage, heading back to his seat with confident strides. Qiao Yu leisurely followed behind him, receiving a look that said, “Are you satisfied now?”

…Looking at him, he seemed quite aggrieved. It was hard for her to say out loud that she wasn’t entirely satisfied with him forcefully creating this situation for himself.

Qiao Yu sighed and quickly locked her phone, waving her hand to signal that they should move on from this. Mi Yi, who was beside her, heaved a long sigh of relief, muttering about finally finishing this and how from tomorrow, Qiao Yu should continue copying Cong Ye’s homework. Lu Yao let out a pitiful cry and asked if it was okay to copy from Cong Ye. Cong Ye’s face turned irritable, saying, “Copy, copy, copy. What are you copying? I won’t let you leave school until you finish your homework today. Take out your test papers now.”

There was noise and commotion behind them and liveliness in front. Class 10 of the second grade completely forgot about going out for the break and the majority of those who didn’t dare to approach Cong Ye came to Lin Qing instead, bombarding her with questions. Qiao Yu leaned on her desk and watched Lin Qing calmly explaining in the midst of the crowd, suddenly feeling satisfied.

During this period of time she spent with Lin Qing, she had witnessed many instances where Lin Qing was avoided and whispered about by others. Even though others were somewhat restrained around her when Qiao Yu was by Lin Qing’s side, she couldn’t imagine how much worse it must have been when she wasn’t there.

Now, these matters were finally coming to an end.

“…Did I go too far?”

She buried her face in her arms and murmured to the system. After thinking for a moment, the system earnestly replied, “I think the host simply accelerated the reconciliation process between the male and female leads, and the outcome is good, so there shouldn’t be a problem.”

Qiao Yu’s heart was partially relieved, but she still had some lingering worries.

This time was different from the beginning of the school year. Previously, she had just gone with the flow, but this time, she was completely driving the whole situation.

Her role in this story was becoming more and more prominent, and Qiao Yu wasn’t sure if she should continue like this.

Suddenly, a slightly cool hand touched her forehead. Qiao Yu looked up and saw Lin Qing’s concerned face. Lin Qing touched Qiao Yu’s forehead, then her face, and spoke gently, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Qiao Yu quickly shook her head and smiled foolishly at her. “No, no, I just talked too much and got a bit dizzy.”

From behind, Cong Ye’s snort could be heard, but Qiao Yu remained unfazed. She leaned closer to Lin Qing before she furrowed her brows and softly said, “He didn’t know about people gossiping about you before. I simply had a good talk with him, and he decided to explain things himself. He’s not a bad person.”

The system was truly moved by the host’s dedication, always trying to improve the female lead’s favorability towards the male lead.

Before Lin Qing could speak, the classroom door was forcefully pushed open by the teacher, who shouted at the class, “What’s going on? The whole school is waiting for our class to do the break exercises. Do you all want to write self-reflections?”

Everyone in the class was startled and rushed outside. Qiao Yu, who really didn’t want to write a reflection again, acted faster than anyone else. Fortunately, she didn’t forget to pull Lin Qing along. She anxiously urged, “Hurry, we need to get out. Cong Ye, what are you doing?” But then Cong Ye, clearly doing it on purpose, grabbed her by the collar and dragged her away.

She couldn’t even say a word before Lin Qing watched helplessly as Qiao Yu was taken out of the classroom.

…At least from what she had just witnessed, Cong Ye didn’t seem like a bad person as Qiao Yu said.