Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I had been desk-mates with Jiang Yilin for half a year.

Inevitably, we began to interact.

He wasn’t as cold as he had been when we first sat together, treating me as if I didn’t exist.

However, he still wasn’t warm.

Since I needed something from him, it was usually me who took the initiative to show goodwill.

A cup of hot milk during morning study.

A high-quality fountain pen during breaks.

Even handing him an umbrella on a rainy day.

Jiang Yilin never accepted any of it.

And I never stopped offering.

The surrounding classmates all shared a silent understanding, some even praising my diligence in pursuing him.

The bullet comments were also used to mocking me daily, throwing cold water on my efforts-

[Stop trying to please him.]

[Do you see the male lead paying any attention to you?]

[Isn’t this embarrassing?]

[She really has thick skin.]

[I already told you, the male lead is a lone wolf before he meets the female lead.]

[The male lead is destined to only love and be attracted to the female lead.]

[Let her chase him if she wants; she won’t catch him anyway.]

[Just like her brother, she loves coveting things that don’t belong to her.]

Those bullet comments were an eyesore.

The hushed discussions from the students around me were grating.

But I remained unmoved.

I still held out the cup of hot milk tea in my hand to Jiang Yilin.

“A new milk tea shop opened at the school gate. It’s really good.”

I asked Jiang Yilin softly, “Do you want to try some?”

Jiang Yilin lifted his eyelids slightly and glanced at me.

“No need.” He rejected me with those two concise words.

I withdrew my hand.

My phone vibrated slightly, and a familiar tall, thin figure appeared at the back door of the classroom.

I turned to look.

As expected, my brother had come to pick me up from school.

Perhaps he suspected I was under too much pressure at school.

Whenever my brother wasn’t away on business trips, he would find time to come to the school and personally pick me up.

I usually didn’t let him show up outside the classroom-especially not within Jiang Yilin’s line of sight.

Today, perhaps because I hadn’t replied to his messages for a while, he had come upstairs to find me.

I quickly packed my schoolbag and looked at Jiang Yilin. “…Then I’m going home now. See you tomorrow.”

I stood beside Jiang Yilin for ten seconds.

As usual, he gave no response.

I turned around and left with impatient haste.

I was anxious to lead my brother away from Jiang Yilin’s field of vision.

Consequently, I didn’t notice that as I turned my back,

Jiang Yilin had already looked up at me.

He stared at the backs of me and my brother for a long time.

He even narrowed his eyes slightly.

I had been Jiang Yilin’s desk-mate for nearly a year.

We had already moved up to our senior year.

With the college entrance exams approaching, my relationship with Jiang Yilin finally softened a bit.

It was a unilateral softening from his side toward me.

-As for me, I was as enthusiastic toward him as ever.

I had to be enthusiastic; the time for the female lead’s appearance was drawing closer and closer.

The bullet comments were full of anticipation.

Watching their excitement, I only grew more nervous.

According to the plotline,

My brother would be the first to encounter the female lead.

At the end of this month, he would represent his company at a university event and meet the female lead, who was currently a junior in college.

The female lead would find a fountain pen my brother had dropped backstage.

My brother would fall in love with the female lead at first sight.

I was three years old when I first saw the bullet comments; it has been over a decade since then.

I have been working hard to subvert the plotline.

In the original plotline, my brother was lonely and unloved.

Therefore, the moment he encountered the slightest bit of tenderness from the female lead, he became hopelessly submerged in it.

All these years, I have done my utmost to express my love for my brother.

I didn’t want him to be that pitiful, begging so hopelessly for scraps of affection from others.

But after ten years of effort,

The only difference between reality and the plotline was-

In the plot, my brother took over our father’s company.

In reality, my brother started from scratch, building his own company from the ground up.

I listened to my brother’s secretary report his itinerary.

They were still scheduled to attend the event at his alma mater at the end of the month.

The deterrent power of the plot was too great.

Great enough to make me feel despair.

But I didn’t give up; I was even looking for the right opportunity.

An opportunity to make my brother miss that fated first meeting with the female lead.

That opportunity arrived at just the right time-it was practically delivered to my doorstep.