Chapter 121

Tang Huaijin left the rooftop in a bit of a mess. Right now, he truly didn’t know what to do about Lin Ruoxi. The most fatal thing was that Tang Huaijin realized he actually didn’t have much resistance to her kiss, which made his mindset start to collapse.

With a gloomy expression, he arrived at his classroom. Tang Huaijin sat in his seat, forced out a smile, and said, “Morning, Yuerou.”

“Morning, Jin.” Bai Yuerou blinked at him and asked softly, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Tang Huaijin shook his head. He couldn’t talk to anyone about this.

Xia Xinya, who had been dozing off, perked up immediately when she saw Tang Huaijin come in. Seeing that he didn’t seem inclined to greet her, she hesitated for a moment, pouted, and said, “Rascal… Tang Huaijin, good morning.”

“Mm…” Tang Huaijin glanced at her and just responded indifferently.

What’s with the attitude? Xia Xinya was unhappy, her lips pouting even higher. She had originally wanted to take the initiative to be friendly with Tang Huaijin, but today this rascal clearly wasn’t buying it.

Seeing Tang Huaijin’s cold demeanor, Xia Xinya snorted as well, turned her little face away, and nudged Tang Huaijin’s arm with her elbow.

Usually, when she did this, Tang Huaijin would tease her with a smile, but this time he ignored her provocation and kept chatting cheerfully with Bai Yuerou.

Xia Xinya knew Tang Huaijin must still be mad about yesterday, but she had her reasons for what she said, didn’t she?

She didn’t even know why, but whenever Tang Huaijin talked about Rou, she just couldn’t help feeling upset-especially when he told her he liked Rou. Her heart felt like a jar of vinegar had been knocked over, all sour and bitter, making her want to lose her temper.

But she was too embarrassed to explain this to Tang Huaijin. She thought he’d spoil her like before, but judging by his attitude, he didn’t seem to plan on forgiving her.

Xia Xinya secretly glanced at the two talking, hesitated for a moment, was about to speak, but suddenly remembered Rou was here too. What happened between her and Tang Huaijin couldn’t be let known to Rou, so she closed her mouth again, feeling wronged.

After morning self-study ended, Tang Huaijin left the classroom and headed to Shen Yiqiu’s office.

After hearing her say “come in,” Tang Huaijin pushed open the door to Shen Yiqiu’s office, looking a bit surprised at Teacher Shen, who was packing up. He asked, “Teacher Shen, what are you doing?”

“Just tidying up a bit.” Shen Yiqiu put a few folders into a packing bag, glanced at him with a complicated expression, pursed her lips, and said softly, “You… never mind, you came for the handout?”

“Yeah.” Tang Huaijin nodded, standing at a not-too-close, not-too-far distance from Shen Yiqiu, keeping a safe space.

“Why are you standing so far away? I’m not going to eat you.” Shen Yiqiu huffed in dissatisfaction, her tone even carrying a hint of grievance.

She was well aware of her own charm, usually quite proud of it, but after going this far, not only did Tang Huaijin not take the bait, he even acted like he wanted to avoid her.

Tang Huaijin gave an awkward laugh and said, “It’s fine, I’m good here. Aren’t you going back to the classroom with me anyway?”

Shen Yiqiu ignored him, took out a sheet of information from her bag, and said calmly, “This is what you need to prepare. I’ve already bought your high-speed rail ticket and booked the hotel. We’ll leave on Wednesday and come back Saturday afternoon.”

Tang Huaijin took the information and glanced at it casually-it was just about his ID card and some paper, ink, brush, and inkstone. He didn’t pay much attention. After hearing her words, he felt a headache coming on. He was already overwhelmed by the Lin Ruoxi and Xia Xinya situation, and now he had to go to Jingdu as well.

But since his sister had spoken, he couldn’t refuse even if he wanted to. He could only nod and say, “Okay, what time on Wednesday?”

“We’ll leave Wednesday afternoon too. I’ll pick you up after lunch.”

“Alright.” Tang Huaijin agreed. Wednesday to Saturday… maybe he could use this opportunity to resolve things with Xia Xinya.

……

After school in the morning, Tang Huaijin glanced at Xia Xinya, who looked a bit down, then turned and smiled at Bai Yuerou, taking the initiative to hold her hand and said softly, “Let’s go eat.”

Bai Yuerou was slightly stunned, then quickly reacted, holding Tang Huaijin’s hand tightly in return. She gave him a gentle smile and said softly, “Okay.”

Xia Xinya glanced jealously at their joined hands, pressed her lips together, and followed behind them in silence.

She had originally wanted to apologize to Tang Huaijin after class, but seeing that he gave her no chance-not just at lunch, but for the rest of the day-Tang Huaijin barely paid her any attention. Even when she tried to provoke him, he just looked at her calmly, as if he couldn’t even be bothered to talk.

After school, Tang Huaijin left with the two girls. Normally, he would take the Xia Family’s car, letting Xia Xinya give him a ride home, but this time he didn’t go to Xia Xinya’s car. Instead, he turned to Bai Yuerou and smiled, saying, “Yuerou, could I trouble you to give me a ride home?”

Xia Xinya was walking toward her family’s car, thinking about how to apologize to Tang Huaijin, but stopped in her tracks when she heard this, looking at Tang Huaijin standing behind her with a face full of grievance.

Bai Yuerou first gave her best friend a complicated look, then smiled and said, “I can, but why aren’t you taking Xinya’s car? She’s on the way, right?”

“No need, you take me. It’s not good to always trouble Xia Xinya.” Tang Huaijin smiled, walked over, gently took Bai Yuerou’s hand, and said, “Can’t I even ride in my girlfriend’s car?”

Although she knew he was probably doing it for Xia Xinya to see, Bai Yuerou still couldn’t help feeling sweet inside. The corners of her mouth lifted in satisfaction as she said softly, “Of course you can. Shall we go then?”

As she spoke, she turned to Xia Xinya and smiled, “Xinya, we-”

Halfway through her sentence, she was interrupted by Xia Xinya.

Hearing him call her by name and seeing him holding Bai Yuerou’s hand, Xia Xinya suddenly felt a surge of anger for no reason. She couldn’t hold it in anymore and said, half aggrieved, half annoyed, “Sit wherever you want, I don’t care to give you a ride anyway!”

After speaking, her eyes turned slightly red. Not wanting to see the two of them being close anymore, she turned and ran back to her own car.

“Xinya…” Bai Yuerou was stunned, apparently not expecting this reaction, and turned to look at Tang Huaijin.

Tang Huaijin sighed softly, said nothing, and led Bai Yuerou to get in the car.

Xia Xinya clearly regarded him as one of her most important friends, just like Bai Yuerou, but because of her personality, she refused to admit it. And Tang Huaijin had figured it out: with her temperament, words alone wouldn’t work-he had to give her a sense of crisis.

After getting in the car, Bai Yuerou hesitated for a moment and said softly, “Jin, is there anything I can help with? You and Xinya…?”

“It’s nothing, you don’t have to worry. I’m not mad at Xinya anymore.” Tang Huaijin smiled reassuringly and said, “I just want to fix her attitude.”

“Oh, okay.” Bai Yuerou didn’t press further. She tightened her small hand in Tang Huaijin’s, feeling the warmth of his palm, her face showing a gentle smile as she leaned her head lightly on his shoulder.

Tang Huaijin watched her squint her eyes in happiness, sighed silently in his heart, and didn’t stop her. For a girl like Bai Yuerou, he really couldn’t bear to hurt her, not even with a harsh word.

Fortunately, Bai Yuerou never asked anything of him, never made things difficult for him, always went along with him, only occasionally acting a little spoiled, and being close like this for a while, never fighting or competing.

Bai Yuerou was like a gentle moon in the sky. Even if you looked straight at her, she wouldn’t dazzle you. Whether Tang Huaijin needed her or not, she was always there, quietly bathing him in moonlight.