A Happy Ending with my Fiancée's Arch-enemy - Chapter 3

Sun Yiyi followed Yu Ning’s gaze to a bookstore standing beside the traffic light. Outside the store, a small blackboard was placed with a few crooked, colorful chalk characters: “Buy One, Get One Free.”

“No, this store has been here for a long time. You probably haven’t been around here recently, so you didn’t know?”

This street was in the opposite direction from Yu Ning’s home, so it was normal for her not to have seen it before.

Hearing this, Yu Ning nodded in agreement. “Then let’s go there. Look, they even have a buy one get one free deal.”

“Anyway, you’re the one buying. It’s up to you.”

The bookstore was decorated in black and white, giving it an elegant feel. As soon as they entered, they were greeted by the rich scent of books.

“Welcome,” a crisp voice came from the cashier counter.

Sun Yiyi walked straight ahead as if she hadn’t heard, stopping only when she reached the fiction section. Yu Ning lowered her head at the sound and saw the speaker a little girl around seven or eight years old with lively, bright eyes and two small braids.

“Are you here alone?” Yu Ning glanced around the bookstore, noticing no one else, and asked curiously.

The little girl stared at her without blinking. “Yes, sister. What would you like to buy?”

Yu Ning saw Sun Yiyi already holding a novel in her hand, waving at her.

“I want to buy some reference books.”

“Sister, the reference books are over there.”

The little girl pointed in the direction of the reference books.

Yu Ning took three textbooks and two exercise books from the shelf, flipped through them casually, and placed them on an empty spot nearby.

Seeing her like this, Sun Yiyi knew these were all books Yu Ning intended to buy. Glancing at the novel in her own hand, she swallowed hard, feeling that her reputation as a slacker was well-deserved.

“You… plan to buy all of these?”

Yu Ning looked at the books she had set aside and counted them. She had only picked five so far. Thinking back carefully, she realized there were still three reference books that Lin Yanqing had bought that she hadn’t gotten yet.

“Help me find ‘Three Thousand Math Questions Before Exams’ and the mock test papers.”

Sun Yiyi: “…”

After a while, Sun Yiyi found the materials Yu Ning mentioned and placed them next to the other books before speaking slowly, “Are you going to finish all of these?”

Yu Ning was still trying to remember what other books she needed. Hearing Sun Yiyi’s question, she replied without thinking, “I saw that Yanqing had all of these.”

“…”

Sun Yiyi: “Can I persuade you to buy rationally?”

Yu Ning didn’t even glance at her. “No.”

Sun Yiyi had only said it casually. After all, she knew that when it came to anything related to Lin Yanqing, Yu Ning never listened to her advice.

“Alright, I was just saying.” Sun Yiyi sighed. “Then why don’t you buy another book to read? I remember you used to love reading novels.”

“No.”

She used to read novels to see other people’s happy lives, but now that she was engaged to Lin Yanqing, what was the point of reading novels? To her, this was the happiest thing.

Sun Yiyi pursed her lips, then put the novel in her hand back on the shelf. Feeling that since she had come, she might as well buy a few books, she picked out two reference books with pretty covers.

After paying, just as the two were about to leave, the little girl called out to them.

Under Yu Ning’s puzzled gaze, the little girl pulled out a book with a blue cover from under the cash register and handed it to her. “This is a gift for you a new customer perk.”

“Thank you,” Yu Ning replied, accepting the book. She flipped through a couple of pages casually and realized it was a novel.

Noticing the book’s exquisite cover, Yu Ning muttered to herself, “Buy one, get one free, and they even throw in a book? How do they make any money?”

The little girl looked at Yu Ning and said, “I hope you’ll have a good ending, sister.”

Yu Ning: “?”

The remark struck Yu Ning as odd it sounded like a blessing, yet it carried an unsettling undertone. But seeing that the girl was only about seven or eight years old, she decided to take it as a well-meaning wish.

After leaving the bookstore, Yu Ning still felt something was off. “Don’t you think that little girl was a bit strange?” she asked.

Sun Yiyi, who had bought two lollipops while checking out, was now sucking on one, her words slightly slurred. “Huh? What little girl?”

Thinking Yiyi was teasing her, Yu Ning rolled her eyes internally. “Stop pretending! The little girl in the bookstore just now, the one who said she hoped I’d have a good ending. Don’t you think that’s weird?”

Yiyi bit down on her lollipop, tossed the stick into a trash can, and rolled her eyes back at Yu Ning. “That was an auntie, okay? She was just sitting there and didn’t say a word to you. What are you imagining? Let’s hurry home I’m starving.”

With that, Yiyi quickened her pace, leaving Yu Ning far behind. Her attitude only convinced Yu Ning that she was messing with her. “Keep pretending,” Yu Ning grumbled under her breath.

After returning home and having dinner, Yu Ning went to her room and unpacked the books she had bought, placing them on her bookshelf. She set aside the blue-covered novel the little girl had given her, laying it on her desk and opening it. To her surprise, the book had no title.

“Seriously? I haven’t read such a cliché novel since elementary school,” Yu Ning muttered, closing the book after just the first chapter. “Can’t they come up with something original? Another story about a top student falling for me after I transfer schools?”

After venting her frustration, Yu Ning tossed the novel into a corner of her bookshelf. Not only was the plot uninspired, but the female lead the academic achiever also shared the exact same name as her fiancée, which made her uncomfortable.

Once she’d finished complaining, Yu Ning called Lin Yanqing to ask what she was doing. Unsurprisingly, the answer was “studying.” Lin Yanqing ended the call, citing busyness. Yu Ning glanced at the call log: 23 seconds. Not bad an improvement from the last call, which had lasted only about ten seconds.

As Yu Ning reached for her study materials, she paused and sent Lin Yanqing another message, asking what she was studying. After waiting ten minutes with no reply, she set her phone aside, picked up a textbook, and silently encouraged herself:

“It’s okay. Just keep trying.”

“What were you up to last night? Your dark circles are so heavy!”

Sun Yiyi had noticed as soon as Yu Ning entered the classroom, but the homeroom teacher had been hovering nearby, preventing her from asking. Finally, after class ended, she seized the opportunity.

Yu Ning yawned, squinting as she slumped onto the desk, her voice weak. “Don’t even ask. I had a nightmare last night and couldn’t sleep at all.”

“What kind of dream?” Sun Yiyi asked curiously. After all, in her eyes, Yu Ning was quite brave, so a dream that could scare her must be pretty terrifying.

“I dreamed I fell down the stairs and broke my leg,” Yu Ning yawned again.

“That is pretty scary.”

Sun Yiyi knew Yu Ning loved dancing. Aside from Lin Yanqing, dancing was probably Yu Ning’s greatest passion.

Yu Ning hummed in agreement, lost in thought.