Beauty Snake - Chapter 34

Chapter 34: A Love Rival Confesses!? Yin-Yin is in Danger!

“Oooooh—!”

“Do it, do it!” Clap clap clap!

The moment Lin Lin finished speaking, the crowd ignited. Applause and cheers erupted, effectively putting Ji Yunfei and Su Yao on the spot. Ji Yunfei wore a forced smile, but internally, she was screaming.

“No!! The Pocky Game is way too intimate!!”

However, internal screaming couldn’t change the fact that the game had to continue. Amidst the laughter, Lin Lin picked up a Pocky stick and held it horizontally between the two of them.

“Come on, come on, everyone’s waiting to see~”

“Don’t be shy~” Lin Lin winked at them, her eyes sparkling with anticipation and mischief.

Ji Yunfei didn’t say a word. She turned, picked up her glass, drained the remaining alcohol, and then turned back to accept the Pocky stick.

“Fine, I’ll do it! It’s not like I’ve never played before!”

“Let’s go…” Ji Yunfei spoke as she looked up at Su Yao. She looked like a martyr heading for execution, her expression as determined as if she were taking a sacred oath.

Seeing her like this, Su Yao couldn’t help but burst into a giggle, her eyes shimmering with mirth.

“Look at that silly face of yours…”

“It’s just eating Pocky…”

“It’s not like it’s going to eat you…”

“Relax…”

With that, Su Yao took the other end of the Pocky and, without hesitation, popped it into her mouth. She then gazed steadily at Ji Yunfei.

Under the collective gaze of the room, Ji Yunfei’s scalp felt numb. Even the glass of alcohol she’d just downed couldn’t quite drown out her timidity.

“Phew—” Ji Yunfei took a deep breath, quickly bit onto her end of the Pocky, and signaled Su Yao with her eyes to begin.

Su Yao nodded slightly, lowered her eyelids, and began to nibble forward slowly. Ji Yunfei didn’t dare breathe. She could only take tiny nibbles, her eyes fixed on the rapidly shortening stick and the face getting closer and closer to hers.

Ji Yunfei’s eyes began to dart around frantically; her limbs grew stiff as she gradually lost sensation in them. Suddenly, Su Yao looked up and locked eyes with her.

Their gazes met without warning. In that moment, even in the dim light of the bar, Ji Yunfei could clearly see the distinct emotion swirling in Su Yao’s eyes… her own reflection was mirrored in those pupils, and the intensity of the affection there was so scorching it was impossible to ignore.

Ji Yunfei panicked. Her heart skipped beats, and alarm bells rang in her head. She closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and snapped the Pocky between them with a sharp crunch.

Click— The severed Pocky hit the floor, the sound of its impact drowned out by the thumping bar music.

“Sor… sorry…” Ji Yunfei stammered, words tripping over each other as she crouched down to pick up the fallen stick. But before she could reach it, someone else had already snatched it up.

“There’s still such a long piece left—!”

“Everyone, do you think we can let them pass with this?” Li Qi held up the remaining half of the Pocky, showing it to the crowd and riling them up.

“No way—!”

“They need a punishment!”

The crowd, already high on excitement, wouldn’t let them off easily. They echoed Li Qi’s sentiment, demanding an extra round of punishment. The two of them, held hostage by the group’s energy, had no chance to object. They could only raise their hands to quiet the crowd and turn to Li Qi to await their fate.

“I won’t make it too hard on you…”

“One ‘Truth’ question for each of you!”

“If you’re unwilling to answer… you have to take a penalty shot!” Li Qi gave a mischievous grin and stepped aside to helpfully fill two glasses with alcohol, placing them in front of the pair.

“Ji Yunfei goes first!”

“Tell us…”

“What did you eat for breakfast this morning?”

Li Qi spread her hands with an innocent look. Hearing such a low-effort, “no-brainer” question, the crowd groaned and booed, slumping back onto the sofas in boredom.

“Huh?” Wait, I was prepared to “die” for a secret… and that’s it??? Ji Yunfei was flabbergasted, her head filled with question marks. Despite her confusion, she recalled her breakfast and answered honestly: “Fragrant, delicious soy milk and two tea eggs…”

“Great, great! Go back and sit down now…” Li Qi grinned, flashing her white teeth, and waved Ji Yunfei off the “stage” before turning a “predatory” gaze toward Su Yao.

“Yao-Yao… your turn…” Li Qi’s tone became unpredictable as she arched an eyebrow and stepped closer to Su Yao. “Tell us—who is that ‘lucky someone’ in this room who makes your heart flutter?”

“Oooooh—!” As soon as the words left Li Qi’s mouth, the crowd erupted again. Every eye was fervently fixed on Su Yao; she had become the absolute center of attention.

To Ji Yunfei’s surprise, Su Yao didn’t look particularly shocked. Instead, she seemed to let out a breath of relief, her expression turning calm.

“Great… I was just the warm-up act…”

“The main event is here with Su Yao…”

Ji Yunfei felt lines of exasperation on her forehead. She leaned her head on her hand and looked toward Su Yao. Perhaps sensing her gaze, Su Yao turned to meet her eyes. This time, Ji Yunfei was certain—what she saw in Su Yao’s eyes was a thick, inseparable, lingering affection…

Ji Yunfei shuddered. She cursed her own sudden sensitivity; why was she so good at capturing the subtext in Su Yao’s gaze now?

“I’d rather be oblivious!”

“What do I do now!!”

“Waaaa—”

“Can Xie Yin just drop from the sky and take me away…”

From an outsider’s perspective, Ji Yunfei was just sitting there dazed, propping up her forehead. No one knew the battle raging inside her soul except her.

“Hurry up—!” “Everyone’s dying to know!!”

The crowd continued to jeer, urging Su Yao to name her mysterious crush. Ji Yunfei snapped out of her internal void and met Su Yao’s gaze once more. Seeing the affection in Su Yao’s eyes growing more intense by the second, her body moved faster than her thoughts.

She strode forward, picked up the glass, and before Su Yao could move her lips to speak, she drained the alcohol in one gulp.

“I’ll drink this one for Sister Yao—”

“Let’s not make things difficult—”

“Keep playing, keep playing!”

“Booo—!” Interrupted by Ji Yunfei, the crowd lost interest in the investigation. They waved their hands in disappointment and broke off into smaller groups to do their own thing.

“A-Fei… you…” Su Yao was startled by the move. Just as she was about to speak, Ji Yunfei cut her off.

“Sister Yao… I’m going to the restroom.”

“I’m so done with you, Ji Yunfei…”

“Why act tough if you can’t handle it…”

“Now you’ve done it…”

Suppressing the turmoil in her stomach, Ji Yunfei rushed into a stall and leaned against the wall to catch her breath.

“Mm—ugh—”

“Ha… if I touch another drop of alcohol, I’m a dog…”

After another round of torture, the discomfort in her stomach finally subsided. If asked if she regretted it… she could only say she was split down the middle. After all, if she hadn’t jumped in to interrupt Su Yao, things might have become truly impossible to handle.

“A-Fei? Are you okay?” Just as she found a moment of peace, Su Yao’s concerned voice came from outside the door. Ji Yunfei thought, ‘Oh no,’ but she answered obediently: “Sister Yao… I’m fine…”

She slowly shuffled out of the stall and met Su Yao’s gaze. Seeing Ji Yunfei’s cowardly, avoidant behavior, Su Yao understood everything. She decided to stop hiding and spoke softly:

“You saw it, didn’t you?”

“Ah… what?”

“What are you talking about, Sister Yao? Saw what?”

Ji Yunfei felt she couldn’t face this right now, so she looked up at the ceiling, avoiding direct eye contact. Although she masked her tone well, her fingers fidgeting behind her back betrayed her panic.

“Sigh…” Su Yao let out a deep sigh of resignation. “You wooden head… stop playing dumb. I like you. I don’t know why you suddenly became so perceptive, but since you’ve guessed it… I’m not going to hide it anymore.”

“A-Fei…” Su Yao called out softly. After a pause, she reached out and straightened Ji Yunfei’s head, forcing her to look her in the eye. “I really like you. Ever since the first time I saw you in college.”

Being hit with such a direct “straight ball” confession, Ji Yunfei’s brain short-circuited. An explosion of information swirled in her head.

“You… like me? Since college…?”

“Yes… since college.”

Memory fragments began to flash through Ji Yunfei’s mind: Su Yao, the “big sister” who stood up for her; Su Yao, who brought her breakfast every other day for various excuses; Su Yao, who took meticulous care of her when she was sick… The disconnected pieces finally formed a complete line.

But… after those memories faded, the image that remained in Ji Yunfei’s mind… was Xie Yin standing by that bench with tears in her eyes that night.

“A-Fei… I know she’s still in your heart. I can wait. I can wait until the day you completely let her go. I’ve already waited this long; what’s a little longer?”

While Ji Yunfei was still lost in thought, Su Yao took the chance to pull her into a hug, resting her head on Ji Yunfei’s shoulder, her voice slightly choked.

“Sister Yao… actually…”

🎶 Quietly the roses— 🎶

Just as Ji Yunfei was about to speak, a sudden ringtone interrupted her.

“I’m sorry… I need to take this.” Ji Yunfei gently pushed Su Yao away and pulled out her phone. Seeing the caller ID, her heart skipped a beat. She quickly pressed answer.

“Hello?”

Support