Chapter 24: I Also Want Cake (24)
Liang Xi’s feelings towards Yan Yanzhuo were very strange now.
She felt like she “should” like him, but it was difficult for her to conjure up any “liking” for him. She had genuinely liked him before, so she knew what it felt like to like someone.
This current feeling made her uncomfortable, even giving rise to a sense of “absurdity.”
She didn’t know where this “absurdity” came from, but the only word to describe it was “absurd.”
Liang Xi looked at Jiang Zhiyan. She found herself uncontrollably drawn to Jiang Zhiyan, like an instinct from the depths of her soul. It was strange, different from the feeling of “liking Yan Yanzhuo.” She didn’t resist it.
Although Wei Ting and Lin Shenyu weren’t punished for their fight, their parents were notified and they were reprimanded. But this had even less to do with Jiang Zhiyan.
When Lin Shenyu initially received the one-word reply from Jiang Zhiyan, he was a bit confused, and the impact wasn’t that profound. After a few days, however, he felt extremely uncomfortable.
A teenage boy, at the age when face was most important, witnessed his girlfriend break up with him without any hesitation, and the other party was his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend. It was incredibly suffocating. But perhaps because both of them had lost face because of Jiang Zhiyan, they felt a sense of camaraderie.
Jiang Zhiyan didn’t know their exact thoughts, but the progress bar had definitely advanced considerably.
“As expected, a common enemy helps deepen their bond.” The system sighed.
“It’s purely because they had the same embarrassing experience.” Jiang Zhiyan didn’t have any particular feelings towards them. Currently, it seemed like they wouldn’t seek revenge on her, after all, they cared too much about face. “Teenagers have a strong imagination, they can conjure up a whole story from just a small action…”
“By the way, Host, I forgot to remind you of something. The second male lead is about to appear.”
“Oh.” Jiang Zhiyan didn’t care, remembering Liang Xi’s attitude when she saw the male lead that day. It shouldn’t be a big problem. “He’s early.”
It was still the same old cliché. When Xu Yi was sick as a child, Liang Xi encouraged him. He felt that his current optimism was all thanks to Liang Xi’s help.
“Yeah, the small world is automatically advancing the plot since you’re not doing your job.”
“Why do they need me if they can advance the plot themselves? They should learn to be self-reliant, always relying on others isn’t sustainable.” Jiang Zhiyan said nonchalantly.
“Haha, the small world doesn’t understand.”
“As long as you understand.”
Xu Yi arrived, transferred to the female lead’s class, and showed great interest in her from their first meeting. He was a positive, lively person, with a good family background, similar to Yan Yanzhuo’s, but his personality was completely opposite to Yan Yanzhuo’s. He was much more popular than Yan Yanzhuo, and generally speaking, not unlikeable.
Jiang Zhiyan intentionally or unintentionally used the performance as an excuse to visit Liang Xi’s class several times. Xu Yi was always by Liang Xi’s side, but Liang Xi’s attitude clearly showed that they weren’t close. But this second male lead was really good at making himself at home. It wasn’t easy to reject someone who was always smiling, especially a new classmate, so Liang Xi couldn’t be too harsh.
“That Xu Yi, that guy, confront him, confront him.” Yang Xiao took the initiative to walk up to Jiang Zhiyan for the first time. She lowered her voice. “This guy claims to have known Liang Xi before. I think he’s a bit of a tea-green, the innocent puppy-dog type.”
Jiang Zhiyan looked at Yang Xiao: “Are you trying to sow discord and borrow my hand to get rid of him?”
Yang Xiao: ?
“I’m just informing you, after all, your possessiveness is so obvious that even I can see it. What, do you want another person tagging along with us three?” Yang Xiao said, trying to negotiate.
“I’m not afraid of playing the bad guy.” Jiang Zhiyan glanced at Xu Yi. He was very talkative, with many people surrounding him, the topic must be interesting. “Let’s go, Liang Xi doesn’t like him.”
“Ha, who knows for sure? I thought you… and look at you now.” Yang Xiao was annoyed, still puzzled about how these two suddenly became so close.
“Because I’m special.”
Yang Xiao, looking at Jiang Zhiyan’s smug expression, gritted her teeth. If Jiang Zhiyan was truly scheming, she really wanted to see these two fight. Many people liked Liang Xi, but in these past few months, two people had forced themselves on her, shamelessly clinging to her.
Xu Yi was indeed very good at making himself at home. He even tried to have lunch with Liang Xi, and when he saw Jiang Zhiyan approaching, he looked her over a few times.
“Xi Xi!” Jiang Zhiyan rushed over. Seeing Xu Yi, her expression instantly turned gloomy, her eyes reddening. “Xi Xi, is there no seat for me?”
“You should eat by yourself, it’s not convenient for us three girls to bring you along.” Liang Xi smiled apologetically at Xu Yi, then took Jiang Zhiyan’s wrist and pulled her closer. Xu Yi could only back away.
Yang Xiao gave Jiang Zhiyan a thumbs-up. As expected, they needed Jiang Zhiyan to step in. Glancing at Xu Yi’s shocked and deflated expression, she felt inexplicably pleased. Another victim.
“Why are you crying?” Liang Xi frowned at Jiang Zhiyan, took out a small pack of tissues, and wiped her tears.
“I, I thought, you wouldn’t eat with me anymore, after all, he seems more likeable than me, and he’s so good with words.” Jiang Zhiyan bit her lip. “I finally have a good friend, so, I’m a bit nervous, I don’t want to be alone again…”
Yang Xiao felt extremely uncomfortable listening to Jiang Zhiyan’s dramatic speech. She felt like if she jumped on the spot, her goosebumps could cover the entire area.
“I like you very much, I’m not close to him, he just inserted himself here.” Liang Xi lowered her voice, then shook Jiang Zhiyan’s arm.
Jiang Zhiyan immediately smiled, tears still in the corners of her eyes: “That’s good.”
“What about me, what about me!” Yang Xiao raised her hand.
“Of course you’re included, really. Let’s go, hurry up, I’m starving.” Liang Xi grabbed their hands and jogged towards the cafeteria.
Xu Yi frowned, watching their retreating figures. He remembered that the cafeteria tables were all for four people. Bringing him along wouldn’t have been a problem. He sighed.
“She wasn’t like this before.” Rejected by Liang Xi, he went to find Wei Ting and the others, complaining about the incident. “Jiang Zhiyan? Is that her name? She actually cried. I don’t understand, why cry? Just because I wanted to have lunch with them?”
“Cried?” Wei Ting froze for a second, then gloated at Lin Shenyu, who was picking at his food with his chopsticks.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, when someone cough suggested breaking up, Jiang Zhiyan immediately agreed, without shedding a single tear.”
“Sorry, I forgot she’s your ex-girlfriend.” Xu Yi’s eyes widened in sudden realization, putting his hands together apologetically.
The smile froze on Wei Ting’s lips as he glared at Xu Yi. He suspected Xu Yi was doing this on purpose.
…
New Year’s Day was approaching. Because of rehearsals, the three of them stayed at school for an extra hour after school.
The performance costumes also arrived. After trying them on, the three found that they fit perfectly. Although Jiang Zhiyan and Liang Xi were both wearing white, they gave off completely different vibes.
“Liang Xi looks like an angel, you look like a villain in angel’s clothing.” Yang Xiao commented.
“What are you? A skinned angel?” Jiang Zhiyan said casually as she watched Liang Xi go get something else.
Yang Xiao frowned in disgust.
Jiang Zhiyan glanced at Yang Xiao, then turned and walked over to Liang Xi: “Didn’t you buy the black one?”
Liang Xi’s hand tightened around the item she was holding: “I did, but I didn’t bring it.”
It was just a dress, but she felt inexplicably embarrassed.
“Then when can I see you wear it? Don’t bring Yang Xiao.” Jiang Zhiyan leaned against Liang Xi and lowered her voice.
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