A Happy Ending with my Fiancée's Arch-enemy - Chapter 20

Yu Ning remembered she hadn’t repaid Su Yien yet, so she sent her a red packet.

She thought Su Yien would already be asleep, but surprisingly, she replied instantly:

[No need, that was your birthday gift.]

Yu Ning wanted to decline further after all, the expenses today amounted to a few hundred, which wasn’t a huge sum, but given their relationship, it didn’t feel right for the other to spend money on her.

[I’m tired, going to sleep now. Don’t reply. Good night.]

Yu Ning stared at the message interface, silent for a long while, before eventually replying with a “Good night.”

She had expected to lie awake all night, upset over not receiving a birthday wish from Lin Yanqing, but to her surprise, she slept soundly through the night without any dreams.

Jiang Shuangshuang arrived at the classroom unusually early today. As soon as Yu Ning entered, she spotted Jiang Shuangshuang hunched over the desk, though she couldn’t tell what she was doing.

Not that it concerned her anyway.

When Jiang Shuangshuang saw Yu Ning come in, she waited until Yu Ning had sat down and was putting away her backpack before suddenly speaking up: “Sister Yu Ning, do you like this flower?”

Without even looking up, Yu Ning replied, “No.”

“This flower is called the Listening Cause Flower; it has a very beautiful meaning,” Jiang Shuangshuang said, her big eyes wide open as she smiled at Yu Ning.

Yu Ning didn’t understand what she was trying to do. She pulled a book out from her desk and then heard Jiang Shuangshuang’s cheerful voice: “Lin Yanqing gave this to me, but I think you might need this flower more.”

At the mention that the flower was from Lin Yanqing, Yu Ning’s hand, which was flipping through the book, paused for a moment before she let out an indifferent “Oh.”

“Sister Yu Ning, I’ll give this flower to you. I have more at home,” Jiang Shuangshuang said with an innocent smile, as if she genuinely just wanted to gift her the flower.

For a split second, Yu Ning felt an impulse to stand up and slap her.

Pursing her lips, Yu Ning ignored her and prepared to head to the office. Unexpectedly, Jiang Shuangshuang suddenly grabbed her sleeve. Without a second thought, Yu Ning shook her hand off.

“Ah!”

Yu Ning heard Jiang Shuangshuang’s cry of pain and turned to see her clutching her hand, looking pitifully at Yu Ning: “Sister Yu Ning, I’m sorry. I thought you would like the flower. I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

She looked utterly vulnerable, enough to evoke sympathy.

Yu Ning sneered coldly. Who was she putting on this act for? But just as she turned around, she saw Lin Yanqing standing at the classroom door, staring at her with a look of disgust.

A flicker of panic flashed through Yu Ning’s heart, but it vanished as quickly as it came. She realized, why should she panic? She wasn’t the one in the wrong.

She watched as Lin Yanqing approached her, stopping beside her in front of Jiang Shuangshuang, and asked, “Are you okay?”

Yu Ning heard Jiang Shuangshuang’s fragile voice: “I’m sorry, I didn’t know Sister Yu Ning doesn’t like the Listening Cause Flower. I’m sorry…”

Lin Yanqing looked at Yu Ning, her gaze filled with disgust and disdain, but not a trace of doubt about what had happened or any curiosity to understand the reason.

“Apologize. She knew you liked flowers, so she specially went to Huichun Street to buy this for you.”

“Quite impressive,” Yu Ning let out a meaningful laugh. “That one sentence contained more words than you’d usually say in a whole week.”

Lin Yanqing clearly sensed that Yu Ning’s attitude toward her had changed a lot recently.

“You did something wrong; you should apologize,” Lin Yanqing repeated, her tone making it clear she was determined to see justice done for Jiang Shuangshuang.

Apologize? Why should she apologize?

There was no way Yu Ning would ever apologize to Jiang Shuangshuang, who was full of lies.

Ignoring Lin Yanqing’s words, Yu Ning glanced at her briefly before walking out of the classroom.

Lin Yanqing looked at Jiang Shuangshuang, who was hanging her head as if sobbing, and comforted her softly, “It’s alright.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it’s all my fault. Will Sister Yu Ning break off the engagement with you because of this? I’m sorry, it’s all my fault.”

Seeing Jiang Shuangshuang’s self-blaming expression, Lin Yanqing reassured her, “She won’t, don’t worry.”

She was absolutely certain that Yu Ning’s anger would only be temporary. Once she cooled down, she would come back to her.

This was the first time Yu Ning had been so upset she felt like crying. She had never felt so wronged before.

“Are you standing here as punishment?”

Su Yien suddenly appeared from behind and tapped her on the shoulder.

Yu Ning had originally intended to go to the office and ask the homeroom teacher to change her seat. Now, standing in the hallway and letting the cold wind blow on her, she hoped to calm herself down a bit before going.

She hadn’t expected to run into Su Yien.

Yu Ning took a deep breath and turned around to answer, “Just cooling off in the wind.”

She thought that would be the end of Su Yien’s questions.

But Su Yien let out a long “oh,” then tilted her head and looked at Yu Ning. After staring for two seconds, she asked, “Did you not sleep well? Your eyes are all red.”

Yu Ning hummed in agreement. It was better to say she hadn’t slept well than to admit she had been crying.

“Here, for you.” Su Yien rummaged through her shoulder bag and pulled out an eye mask, handing it to her. “I just bought it on the way. This brand works really well guaranteed to help you sleep better tonight.”

Yu Ning hesitantly took the eye mask from her.

“Where are you going?”

“The office.”

“What a coincidence, I’m heading there too. Let’s go together.” With that, Su Yien walked off toward the office alone.

Yu Ning glanced at the eye mask in her hand. Did she really look like she hadn’t slept well? Would the homeroom teacher notice anything?

But as soon as Yu Ning stepped into the office, she heard the homeroom teacher ask, “Yu Ning, have you been crying? Your eyes are so red.”

“I… didn’t sleep well last night. My eyes hurt.” Yu Ning glanced at Su Yien, who was standing two spots away from her, and saw her looking back with a smile, raising an eyebrow as if to say, “Aren’t you grateful?”

“Oh, I see. Make sure to rest well. What did you need?”

Yu Ning explained her desire to change seats. The homeroom teacher, hearing that she was having trouble seeing the blackboard clearly from her current spot, agreed to her request.

As she was about to leave, the teacher asked why she had skipped self-study the day before. Although Yu Ning was known as a mischievous troublemaker in the teacher’s eyes, skipping class was a first for her.

Yu Ning froze for a moment, surprised that Lin Yanqing had actually reported it.

Just then, she overheard the homeroom teacher of Class Two talking to Su Yien: “I heard from your parents that you’re going abroad to study next month?”

“Yu Ning?!”

“Ah.”

Yu Ning didn’t catch Su Yien’s reply. Turning back, she saw the homeroom teacher’s disapproving gaze and quickly bowed her head to apologize. “I’m sorry, teacher. I was feeling a bit down yesterday, so I skipped self-study.”

Hearing this, the teacher understood. After all, it was their final year of high school, and it was normal for students to have emotional ups and downs. Besides, Yu Ning’s grades were decent, so she likely just hit a rough patch with her studies. After giving her a few words of advice and assigning her two weeks of cleaning duty, the teacher let her go.

As Yu Ning stepped out of the office, Su Yien was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. Seeing Yu Ning come out, she grinned and asked, “With the eye mask, you shouldn’t have trouble sleeping anymore, right?”

“Who knows,” Yu Ning passed by her and suddenly remembered what she had overheard in the office earlier. She asked, “Are you going abroad to study?”

Su Yien chuckled lightly, “What, can’t bear to see me go?”

Yu Ning snorted coldly, “I’m just curious which school would accept a student with such poor grades.”

Ignoring the provocation in her words, Su Yien answered the previous question, “Don’t worry, I won’t be going this time.”

Not going this time? What does that mean?

Is she planning to go next time?

Yu Ning didn’t understand her meaning, but since Su Yien showed no intention of explaining further, she suppressed her confusion.

As soon as Sun Yiyi entered the classroom, she heard about the incident. Initially, she only thought Jiang Shuangshuang was fake, but she hadn’t expected her to be so malicious. Although she hadn’t heard the full story from Yu Ning, having known Yu Ning for so many years, she was well aware of her character—it was clear Jiang Shuangshuang had done it on purpose.

She had wanted to help Yu Ning vent her anger but was stopped by Yu Ning herself.

“I heard she signed up for the dance competition too. Do your best and show her what real skill looks like.”

Sun Yiyi stepped back and decided to win through ability. She believed in Yu Ning’s talent ten Jiang Shuangshuangs couldn’t compare to her.

Under Sun Yiyi’s encouragement, Yu Ning began a routine of finishing her homework after class and practicing dance after school.

When life gets busy, some people and matters can be temporarily forgotten more easily.

For example, Lin Yanqing.

Su Yien still occasionally sought out Yu Ning, bringing her small trinkets or snacks from time to time.

Days passed as usual. Although Yu Ning sometimes felt sad when thoughts of Lin Yanqing crossed her mind, she suppressed the urge to reach out to her.

Dancing was her passion, her way of releasing emotions.

Half a month flew by, and Yu Ning had already mastered the dance for the competition. But she didn’t want to stop, so she continued practicing other dances repeatedly in the studio.

Sun Yiyi often appeared at the studio after Yu Ning finished dancing, accompanying her part of the way home.

Today, due to an urgent matter, Sun Yiyi couldn’t make it in time to accompany Yu Ning. After thinking over all the people she knew, she finally called Su Yien.

When Su Yien received Sun Yiyi’s call, she was at a supermarket near the school, planning to buy a few things before heading home.

Sun Yiyi had hesitated before calling Su Yien. A long time ago, she had made a similar call to Lin Yanqing, asking her to accompany Yu Ning to the supermarket, only to be met with the retort, “Is she a child?”

That had been at night.

Sun Yiyi reflected on why she had grown to dislike Lin Yanqing more and more it probably started from that moment.

But Sun Yiyi hadn’t expected Su Yien to agree without any questions after she called.

Yu Ning wasn’t a child anymore, but her recent behavior had been so unusual that Sun Yiyi worried about her emotional state. That’s why she had been accompanying her after school these past few days.

When Su Yien arrived outside the dance studio, Yu Ning was still dancing.

Her disheveled hair was tied into a bun, adorned with a strawberry hairpin. Her fair and delicate face wore a confident smile, and her graceful posture resembled that of an elegant swan.

This was the Yu Ning she had seen many years ago.

Five or six years earlier, the Yu Ning she had encountered was a proud swan on stage, surrounded by flowers and applause, her face always radiating confidence as she gently expressed gratitude to everyone who showed her admiration.

I saw Yu Ning again four years later outside the library. She was circling around a girl, playfully begging for her attention.

But the girl just said coldly, “Could you please stop making noise?”

At those words, she stopped, looking somewhat wronged but not daring to speak again.

It was her, yet it didn’t seem like her.

“That’s Yu Ning from Class One,” I heard a friend beside me answer.

Yu Ning.