How I Accidentally Bent My Best Friend - Chapter 43

Hearing her speak with such certainty, Chen Yushu paused mid-action, hesitating for a moment as she carefully recalled the bag she had seen.

Had she really seen it wrong? Impossible she couldn’t have been mistaken!

Even now, she’s still being stubborn!

Chen Yushu let out a cold snort and quickly typed out a long paragraph, ready to send it, when several photos suddenly appeared in the chat.

They were front and back shots of the bag.

With just one glance, Chen Yushu fell silent. After a moment of stunned silence, she hurriedly deleted the long message she had just typed, feeling both guilty and awkward as she rubbed her nose.

Lu Wei: Take a look at the color, how is it anything like ours?

But it really looked similar at the time could it have been the lighting?

Chen Yushu’s ears flushed red, and she didn’t dare say another word.

Just then, Lu Wei called.

Startled, Chen Yushu instinctively answered, and Lu Wei’s voice immediately came through the receiver.

“And those two profile pictures tell me, how are they even remotely similar to me?”

“Ahem, who knew it would be such a coincidence?” Chen Yushu shrugged, moving the phone slightly away from her ear, and mumbled, “Who are the people in those pictures anyway?”

Lu Wei’s voice softened slightly as she grumbled, “They’re a CP from a girl group her friends follow, and the bag is from ages ago.”

Hearing this, Chen Yushu swallowed hard and let out a weak “Oh.”

Lu Wei: “Take a closer look, how is this anything like ours? I wouldn’t say they’re identical more like completely unrelated!”

“Alright, alright, stop going on about it. You’re so annoying.” Knowing she was in the wrong, Chen Yushu could only mutter a small complaint, trying to salvage a bit of her pride. “It’s not entirely my fault, you know. You’ve already lost my trust.”

After saying this, Chen Yushu gave herself a little nod of encouragement, mustering a bit of courage for the argument to come.

Unexpectedly, Lu Wei burst out laughing on the other end. “Hahaha, Chen Yushu, how can you be this adorable?”

Feeling exposed, Chen Yushu immediately grew annoyed, the redness spreading to the roots of her ears. “Are you crazy?”

“Hahaha, alright, alright. You’re right it’s my fault for not giving you enough sense of security. I was wrong.”

“I don’t care. From now on, I’m not accepting anything from you!”

“That won’t do. I’m going to keep giving you things.” Lu Wei held the phone, her eyes full of laughter. “Whatever’s good, I’ll give it only to you.”

Chen Yushu really had no comeback for that.

The two had been in the same class since elementary school and middle school. Wang Zhizhi, hoping Lu Wei would make more friends, often had her bring small snacks or toys to share with their classmates. On their way to school together, Lu Wei would always pick out the most special or unique items and give them to Chen Yushu.

Even in high school, this uniqueness never changed. Lu Wei would carefully preserve these treasures during the day, only to present them like prized offerings in the evening sometimes even if it was just an oddly shaped, nameless little flower.

Those warm memories made her heart soften uncontrollably, like a warm current flowing through her entire body.

Just then, the voice of Lu Wei’s roommate suddenly came through the receiver.

Song Xin: “Can I have my bag back now?”

“Mm.” Lu Wei nodded and handed it over.

“What’s the rush? You practically snatched it from me before we even got back to the dorm.”

An Nan chimed in, “I almost thought we were being robbed! I was wondering who would be so bold.”

Lu Wei rubbed her forehead and chuckled, “If I hadn’t hurried, I’d be doomed tonight!”

Chen Yushu listened quietly and muttered under her breath, “Serves you right.”

Song Xin asked, “Is it really that serious? What happened?”

Lu Wei shook her head with an air of secrecy, as if it were classified information. Although the crisis had been averted, she still felt a lingering unease.

Strangely enough, though, seeing Chen Yushu angry and jealous over this matter stirred a peculiar sense of delight in her heart. Unable to hold back, she broke into a radiant smile, her tone noticeably lightening, “Shushu”

“What’s there to be so smug about!” Chen Yushu grumbled irritably, placing her bag on the table and smoothing it out meticulously. “So annoying.”

“I’m not being smug,” Lu Wei said, then couldn’t help but laugh again. “I’m just happy ahem, of course, I’m not laughing at you.”

Chen Yushu clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, “Just shut up. I don’t want to hear you talk.”

Lu Wei leaned forward against the back of her chair, swinging her feet unconsciously. “It was just a misunderstanding, don’t be mad. I was wrongly accused for no reason, and I”

“You’re still going on about it!” The bag she had just smoothed out immediately wrinkled again.

The line fell silent for a moment before Lu Wei spoke slowly, “Next time something happens, no matter how angry you are, you have to talk to me, okay? I don’t want misunderstandings between us, and I don’t want you to suffer alone.”

Chen Yushu’s heart tightened. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but her mind went blank. After a long pause, a bitter taste rose in her throat, and she couldn’t help but think:

Then the fact that I like you will probably always remain a misunderstanding.

The CET-4 exam arrived swiftly, and as soon as it ended, related topics surged to the top of trending searches.

From the exam hall back to the dorm, everyone was discussing it, though reactions varied some were thrilled, others worried. Chen Yushu felt she had done well and wasn’t overly concerned, but she still hurried back to the dorm to check on Lu Wei.

As soon as she opened the door, the dorm was buzzing with lively conversation, and a familiar figure was already sitting in her chair.

Seeing her, Lu Wei immediately stopped talking, stood up, and walked over, whining, “Shushu, you’re finally back.”

Aside from Xia Ke, everyone else in the dorm had returned. Chen Yushu couldn’t help but wonder, “How did you all get back so fast?”

Ye Chiwan replied, “I finished early and felt confident, so I handed in my paper.”

“Mm,” Jiang Yuran nodded, clapping her hands excitedly. “Shushu, guess what my essay topic was? It was exactly from that video you sent me a few days ago it was spot on! As soon as I saw it.”

Seeing that they had all done well, Chen Yushu turned her gaze to Lu Wei. “Did you hand in your paper early too?”

Lu Wei nodded cautiously, then slowly raised her index finger. “One minute, just one minute early! I finished all the questions!”

“Oh.”

“I was just too hungry. My stomach kept growling during the exam, so I didn’t want to wait. If you don’t believe me, feel it.” With that, she took Chen Yushu’s hand and placed it on her soft abdomen.

Lu Wei’s jacket was unzipped, revealing a white sweater underneath. As Chen Yushu’s hand rested there, all she felt was the soft, fuzzy texture.

“But even if you handed in your paper early, you still didn’t get to eat,” Chen Yushu said, gently patting her stomach, unable to resist teasing her. “You still had to wait for me, after all.”

“It’s nothing.” Lu Wei curled the tip of her tongue at the corner of her mouth, leaning in close to whisper smugly, “I’ve already finished all the snacks in your bag.”

“Lu Wei!”

As if she had been prepared all along, the moment Chen Yushu reached out, Lu Wei immediately covered her ears and dashed outside. “I’ll pay you back later! Let’s go eat I’ll treat you to lunch. No need to get physical!”

After the meal, Chen Yushu returned to her dorm and slept until she naturally woke up. Once up, she gathered her completed assignments and took them to the teacher’s office. When she returned, she found that someone had once again taken over her chair.

“Don’t you have your own dorm? Why do you always come to mine?” Chen Yushu walked over and nudged her foot, signaling for her to move.

Lu Wei lazily shifted her butt to the side and retorted, “Where did you go?”

“None of your business,” Chen Yushu said flatly, then brushed past her and headed toward the balcony. Lu Wei stood up and followed. “What are you going to do now?”

Chen Yushu picked up her towel and shampoo. “Wash my hair. What, do you want to join me?”

“I washed mine yesterday,” Lu Wei replied, completely missing the sarcasm, and added earnestly, “But I could also ”

“Are you my shadow?” Chen Yushu said, both exasperated and amused. “I’m leaving.”

“Okay, then hurry up. I’ll wait for you so we can eat together.” Lu Wei sat back down in the chair, watching Chen Yushu leave before turning her head away.

At first, she just leaned on the desk, scrolling through her phone. Gradually, as Chen Yushu still hadn’t returned, she grew bored and started looking around for something fun to do.

However, the desk was filled only with books and pens. Bored out of her mind, she flipped through Chen Yushu’s completed CET-4 practice tests. Seeing the astonishingly high accuracy rate, she couldn’t help but wonder for the nth time if the world of academic prodigies was truly on another level.

Just then, she caught sight of a small notebook out of the corner of her eye. She looked up wasn’t this the little book Chen Yushu used to jot down vocabulary?

She casually picked it up and flipped through it from the middle toward the front. To her surprise, it looked almost new. She couldn’t help but wonder again: Is this what the world of academic prodigies is like? So few unfamiliar words?

As she reached the front pages, a few words flashed by quickly. Lu Wei stopped abruptly. Seeing that the entire page contained only one word, she couldn’t help but think: What kind of person writes vocabulary like this? Such a waste! Heh, she’d have to tease Chen Yushu about this later.

A smile spread across her face as she thought about it. But wait, how was this word pronounced? It looked unfamiliar. Was it even a CET-4 word?

Lu Wei scratched her head and continued flipping page by page. “Double standard? What’s there to memorize about that? It’s so simple.”

She didn’t get it, but something felt off about the whole thing. When she reached the last word, Lu Wei carefully lifted the page. The handwriting was so forceful it had nearly torn through the paper, with ink bleeding onto the next page.

A chill ran down Lu Wei’s spine, and she muttered under her breath, “Tsk, what kind of grudge is this? Even if the word has a negative meaning, there’s no need to.” Her voice suddenly trailed off as she hurriedly flipped back through the pages. Every single word was derogatory!

Having discovered this commonality, Lu Wei let out a triumphant “Yes!” and a wide grin spread across her face.

But in the very next second, her smile froze. Staring in disbelief at the densely packed handwriting on the last page, she read, “Lu Wei, scumbag?”

What in the world is this?

Lu Wei blinked hard and brought the notebook closer. “Scumbag woman”? Referring to her? Written by Chen Yushu?

No matter how much she didn’t want to believe it, the words were right there in black and white. Lu Wei couldn’t even deceive herself. She stared fixedly at the page, her lips trembling slightly as she muttered in a dazed whisper, “Fickle? Frivolous? Cold-hearted? Hypocritical? She’s just a scumbag woman. A scumbag woman?”

The more she read, the more familiar it felt. Suddenly, a flash of insight struck her. She hurriedly flipped to the front of the notebook, her eyes darting back and forth.

It was confirmed this was about her.

Lu Wei clutched the small notebook, her gaze drifting, her entire body freezing stiffly in the chair.

So, in Chen Yushu’s eyes, she was this kind of person?

Countless adjectives flooded her mind one after another. Lu Wei suddenly felt it hard to breathe. Anxiously, she stood up and glanced around, unsure of what to do.

No! She had to ask Chen Yushu what this meant!

Where exactly was she fickle or frivolous.

Impatiently, Lu Wei pulled out her phone, ready to call Chen Yushu and demand an explanation, but then she remembered Chen Yushu was still washing her hair. Reluctantly, she put her phone down, her anxiety growing even more intense, as if ten thousand ants were crawling on a hot pan.

A misunderstanding! There must be some misunderstanding! She had to talk to Chen Yushu and clear things up!

Impossible! She absolutely couldn’t be that kind of person!

Lu Wei couldn’t stand it for another second. She set the notebook down and rushed toward the bathroom.

Feeling a cold gust of wind from behind, Jiang Yuran turned around in confusion, only catching a glimpse of Lu Wei’s swiftly disappearing figure. “What’s going on?”

However, a few seconds later, Lu Wei returned. She walked straight to Chen Yushu’s desk, carefully placed the small notebook back in its original spot, and then, unable to hold back any longer, strode out.

Seeing this, Jiang Yuran couldn’t help but call out in bewilderment, “What’s wrong? Didn’t you say you were waiting for Shushu to eat together?”

“Ah, I… I have something to do,” Lu Wei said, tilting her head slightly as she opened the door and spoke quickly. “I won’t be eating with her. Can you tell her for me? Thanks.”

Jiang Yuran: “Oh, sure.”

She rushed down four flights of stairs in one breath. The cold wind hit her face, and whether from the chill or something else, Lu Wei couldn’t stop trembling all over, her hands shaking violently. She had to clench her fists, then unbuttoned her coat, letting the cold wind sober her up.

Calm down! Calm down! She couldn’t go find Chen Yushu now, not yet! What if everything written in that notebook was true? What if Chen Yushu admitted it outright, decided to throw caution to the wind, and cut ties with her immediately?

No! That couldn’t happen! Absolutely not!

At the thought of that possibility, Lu Wei’s lips trembled too. Just then, a fierce wind picked up, and a light drizzle began to fall. Panicked and flustered, she glanced back, then charged into the rain, sprinting forward.

She ran all the way back to her dorm, panting and still shaken, as if slowing down for even a second would allow Chen Yushu to catch up and coldly end their friendship.

“What were you doing? You look terrible,” Jiang Yunxi asked with concern as she came in from the balcony.

“Ah?” Lu Wei snapped out of her daze as if startled, wiping the rain from her face. “It’s nothing. I just ran too fast. I’ll be fine after sitting for a bit.”

Jiang Yunxi: “Go take a shower. Don’t catch a cold.”

Lu Wei forced a faint smile and nodded. “Okay.”

Suddenly, the phone rang, and the caller ID showed Chen Yushu.