How I Accidentally Bent My Best Friend - Chapter 38

“Are you insane?” Chen Yushu was startled and reached out to hit her. Lu Wei, as if anticipating this, immediately wrapped her arms around her from behind, pinning her hands against her chest.

“Hey, didn’t expect that, did you? Can’t hit me! This is what they call fighting fire with fire!”

Lu Wei whispered into Chen Yushu’s ear, her warm breath misting over the earlobe. Chen Yushu dodged while cursing, “Fight your head! Let go!”

“Hahaha.” Lu Wei released her and instead draped an arm over her shoulder. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the pale skin on Chen Yushu’s neck, and her mind involuntarily drifted back to the scenes from last night.

“So, you’re really not moving anymore?” Chen Yushu asked. “What did you tell your mom and dad?”

“Huh? That’s right.” Lu Wei snapped back to reality and handed her phone over. “Here, look, Wang Zhizhi sent this.”

Chen Yushu took it, half-skeptical, and opened the message. “Your mom is quite understanding. You cried too early last night.”

Those embarrassing memories were instantly reawakened, and Lu Wei’s face flushed bright red. “You’re bringing that up again!”

“It’s not me who was embarrassed, why would I hesitate to mention it? Hmph.” Chen Yushu stuck out her tongue at her and strode ahead.

Lu Wei watched her retreating figure, gritting her teeth in frustration. Then, as if struck by a sudden thought, she inexplicably reached up and touched her own lips.

The matter of moving was put to rest, and the winter break slipped by in the blink of an eye.

“Let me tell you all a horror story: the CET-4 exam is less than a month away,” Ye Chiwan said in a low, eerie voice.

“What a coincidence, I’m just watching a video on how to pass the CET-4 in one month,” Jiang Yuran said with a friendly smile. “Want to watch it together?”

Ye Chiwan: “Yeah, and next you’ll probably come across videos like ‘How to Pass CET-4 in Half a Month,’ ‘How to Pass CET-4 in Ten Days,’ and ‘How to Pass CET-4 in One Day.’”

“Screw you!” Jiang Yuran took off her headphones. “Does anyone else want to listen?”

“I’ll listen!” Ye Chiwan was the first to raise her hand, her words contradicting her actions. “Yushu and Xia Ke probably don’t need to they started studying even before signing up.”

Chen Yushu asked hesitantly, “You didn’t study at all during the break?”

The two frowned and nodded in unison, then huddled together to watch the video with pained expressions.

Chen Yushu shook her head in amusement, then suddenly asked, “Is this video you’re watching actually helpful?”

Jiang Yuran sighed. “We’re just trying everything we can at this point.”

Chen Yushu: “Can you forward the video to me, then?”

Ye Chiwan let out a surprised “Huh?” “You’re going to watch this too?”

“Silly, of course it’s for someone else,” Jiang Yuran paused the video and forwarded it to Chen Yushu. “Sent it to your WeChat.”

“Oh, no wonder you’re the honorary member of Room 4008,” Ye Chiwan said, suddenly understanding.

“Mm.” Chen Yushu nodded, thanked her, and immediately forwarded it to Lu Wei.

Right at that moment, it was time for dinner, and Lu Wei was already waiting downstairs.

Before six o’clock, the sky had already turned gloomy. Almost everything in sight was barren tree branches, giving off a desolate vibe.

Lu Wei, maintaining her usual composure, shivered in the cold wind. The moment she saw Chen Yushu come down, she immediately clung to her.

“You really.” Chen Yushu gave her a helpless look. “Do you think we’re still in the south? You’ll freeze to death.”

Suddenly, a biting cold wind blew, causing Lu Wei’s teeth to chatter uncontrollably. She hugged Chen Yushu even tighter. “By the way, what did you send me? It’s so cold I haven’t even opened it yet.”

“Move over a bit.” Chen Yushu loosened her scarf and wrapped it around Lu Wei’s neck before replying, “How to pass the CET-4 in one month. Better start cramming now.”

“Hehe, CET-4 is a piece of cake. I could pass it even without studying,” Lu Wei said dismissively, snuggling into the scarf that still carried Chen Yushu’s warmth, her eyes squinting comfortably.

Chen Yushu shot her a cool glance. “You’re quite confident, huh? Have you forgotten what your English level was like in high school?”

“But my English score on the college entrance exam was pretty good,” Lu Wei muttered softly, a hint of pride in her voice. “I got 120.”

“You.” Chen Yushu exhaled heavily in frustration and tugged at the scarf, trying to pull it back.

“What are you doing? Do you really want me to freeze to death?” Lu Wei pressed even closer, their faces almost touching.

“I’m trying to make you see sense. How long has it been since you last studied English? English requires accumulation it’s a gradual process.”

Lu Wei blinked, puffing out her cheeks as she quietly listened to Chen Yushu, feeling as if she had been transported back to their senior year of high school.

It was the final sprint before the college entrance exam. While her other subjects had improved significantly through cramming, her English scores remained stagnant. Lacking patience, she had considered giving up altogether.

But Chen Yushu wouldn’t allow it. She relentlessly drilled problem-solving techniques and scoring strategies into Lu Wei’s head, and on top of that, supervised her daily vocabulary and essay memorization. The slightest sign of slacking would earn Lu Wei a stern lecture.

Those were the most exhausting days asleep by 1 a.m., up by 6 a.m., both physically and mentally drained. As she listened, Lu Wei couldn’t help but feel wronged, tears beginning to fall. Chen Yushu would then coax her gently until she calmed down, only to remind her once again to keep memorizing vocabulary.

“Are you even listening?”

Chen Yushu’s slightly stern voice snapped her back to the present, followed by a sharp pinch on her ear where Chen Yushu’s fingers still lingered.

“Cold, cold! The scarf quick, cover me up!” The knife-like wind was far more punishing than Chen Yushu’s pinching. Lu Wei hissed in pain, pressing her ear and burying her face against Chen Yushu’s neck.

Chen Yushu released her ear and snorted. “Overconfidence will only lead to tears later.”

“Why would I cry?” Lu Wei whined, her voice sticky and sweet. “With Yushu by my side, I’m sure my CET-4 score will miraculously recover. Right, Yushu?”

“Don’t call me that.” Chen Yushu dodged away in disgust. “I’ve been urging you to study since you signed up, and you haven’t even done two sets of practice tests. Don’t even get me started on vocabulary.”

“Alright, alright, stop nagging,” Lu Wei pleaded softly. “Even my mom isn’t as long-winded as you. If you’re like this now, I’m in for it when we’re old.”

“Lu Wei!”

“Wait, wait, I’m sorry! Even if you’re a nagging little old lady, I’ll still like you. Hehe.”

Chen Yushu was so irritated her body temperature seemed to rise. She yanked off the scarf and tossed it at Lu Wei. “After dinner, come to my dorm. I’ll give you my notes on high-frequency vocabulary, phrases, and essay templates for CET-4. Study them properly, and make sure to practice listening comprehension too. No more slacking off, understand?”

“Mmhmm!” Lu Wei nodded repeatedly in assurance. “Yushu, you’re the best. I knew you wouldn’t abandon me.”

“I’m really stuck with you,” Chen Yushu couldn’t help muttering under her breath.

“What are you mumbling about?”

Chen Yushu: “By the way, how’s the renovation of your new home going?”

“If all goes well, we can move in next week. Oh, and they adopted two puppies too. When we go home for the holidays, I’ll take you to see them,” Lu Wei leaned in close to her ear and said, then winked. “But don’t worry, my whole family will be back for the summer vacation, and Bread and I will keep you company.”

“Who needs you?” Chen Yushu scoffed. “But your mom and dad are really great they care a lot about you.”

“Not bad,” Lu Wei said, though her tone couldn’t hide her pride. “After all, she knows I can’t do without you. She even said, if it weren’t too presumptuous, she’d want to adopt you as her goddaughter.”

Chen Yushu: “Really?”

“Yeah, she said it herself.” Lu Wei pouted slightly. “But I don’t think it’s necessary.”

Chen Yushu grew intrigued and asked curiously, “Why not? Then we’d be sisters in name, wouldn’t that be better?”

“Maybe,” Lu Wei frowned lightly, dragging out her words a bit. “I don’t think it makes much difference. It’d just be redundant.”

Chen Yushu didn’t press further and casually asked, “So what else did your mom say?”

“Just the usual adult stuff, like ‘even the grandest feast must come to an end.” Lu Wei recalled what Wang Zhizhi had said that day when suddenly, she paused mid-sentence.

Are you sure Xiaoshu is just your friend?

The words flashed through her mind abruptly, and Lu Wei froze, her eyes gradually filling with confusion.

Chen Yushu: “What were you saying about being sure? What about me?”

“Huh? What? Maybe I remembered wrong.” Lu Wei snapped back to reality, instinctively denying it, her heart starting to beat irregularly and rapidly. She quickly changed the subject: “Anyway, she agreed in the end.”

Chen Yushu: “Oh, that’s good then.”

Lu Wei swallowed hard, and for some reason, she suddenly felt the part of her body touching Chen Yushu stiffen, the skin-to-skin contact growing warmer and warmer.

She glanced cautiously at Chen Yushu. Strange somehow, she felt like what she was seeing was different from before.