It Seems Like My Senior Seems to Like Me - Chapter 18

[Su Ye: Hello, little Leaf]

Yes!

Ye Wanjia shouted excitedly in her heart, sitting up like a startled rabbit. She carefully chose her words—

[Jiajia Charge Ahead: Hello, Senior]

After sending it, she felt it was a bit bland, so she plucked up her courage to start a topic—

[Jiajia Charge Ahead: That magnolia hairpin is so pretty, could you share a link?]

[Su Ye: I bought it when I traveled to Guilin. They don’t seem to have an online shop, but I have a friend studying there. I could ask her to help buy one.]

At their very first meeting, the two still didn’t know each other well. For instance, Su Ye’s reply might look ordinary, but her longtime roommate Xu Qian could immediately see the difference. If it were anyone else, Su Ye’s response would’ve been just: “I bought it at a store.” She would never have gone into such specifics as “Guilin,” much less offered “I have a friend who can help buy it.”

But Ye Wanjia, unfamiliar with her habits, didn’t notice the deeper meaning. She only thought of Su Ye as a gentle senior who was warm-hearted toward juniors.

[Jiajia Charge Ahead: Oh no, that’s too much trouble haha, I just thought it looked nice. By the way, you’ve been to Guilin before, Senior?]

Look at that—she had managed to keep the conversation going. Wasn’t she amazing?

[Su Ye: Mm, I went after graduating high school. The scenery was beautiful.]

Ye Wanjia was deeply touched—Su Ye was so kind to underclassmen. Who on earth was so mean as to give her the nickname “Gentle Blade”? Clearly, she was just gentle!

[Jiajia Charge Ahead: “Guilin’s landscapes are the finest under heaven”—it must’ve been stunning. Too bad I’ve never been. Growing up, the first time I ever traveled far was just to attend university.]

She longed to travel like others did, but her family’s financial situation was really difficult. Her father had remarried her mother, who suffered from uremia. They had never had children of their own, treating Ye Wanjia as their real daughter all these years. She had always lived by the principle of saving whenever possible, and had never gone traveling.

One’s financial situation could be seen at a glance. Wanjia always wore cheap T-shirts and jeans washed to the point of fading. Her very first cup of milk tea had only been because Wei Xiaoxiao bought one and treated her.

Su Ye would never forget how Wanjia had secretly asked the price of milk tea, and when told it was 14 yuan, the shock and unease in her expression.

Her slender fingers hesitated over the keyboard for a moment, then typed—

[Su Ye: Life is long, you’ll get your chance someday.]

Yes. She was only 18, just stepping through the gates of the ivory tower. From her humble beginnings, she was setting out toward a brighter future. She still had decades ahead of her.

Those simple words poured warmth into her self-conscious heart, like rain soaking a dried-up riverbed.

[Jiajia Charge Ahead: Right, once I start working, I’ll definitely go boating in Guilin.]

[Su Ye: The wind on the river is strong—remember to wear more layers then.]

[Jiajia Charge Ahead: Got it!]

Years later, when the two of them finally did travel to Guilin, Wanjia wore a backless dress and had Su Ye take countless photos of her hair flying in the wind, spinning around 39 times before she finally caught a cold.

But that was another story.

For that night, for the girl who had just added Su Ye on WeChat, their short, plain, five-minute conversation was enough to keep her in high spirits for the next five days.

When she closed her eyes, she still saw the scene under the dim streetlight—the moment she clipped the hairpin onto Su Ye’s hair. That lowered head, those smooth locks—every inch of the air had lit up her heart.

Heart fluttering, she tucked in the edge of her bed curtain, secretly turned on her desk lamp, and unfolded the small desk board propped at the foot of her bed. On the diary page for November 7, she carefully wrote in graceful strokes—

[Some remember the champion, some remember the dare, but I remember your hair slipping gently through my fingertips.]

She blew lightly on the ink, turned off the light, and went to sleep.

On the other side, Su Ye was brushing her teeth on the balcony when Xu Qian tapped her shoulder.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Hm?” Su Ye stopped her electric toothbrush and turned.

Xu Qian’s eyes were still wide, clearly in shock: “You were just brushing your teeth, grinning at your phone like you won the lottery.”

Su Ye didn’t bother answering, only let the smile at her lips grow brighter.

Nanzhou University had no autumn. Once summer ended, winter came fast. After only two days in long pants, students were already adding thermal layers underneath.

Earlier, Su Ye had promised that if Wanjia placed in the top three in the high jump competition, she’d treat her to a week’s worth of drinks. And so, in this week after adding WeChat, every day before class Wanjia would bump into Su Ye and receive her favorite peach sparkling water.

On the last day, it happened to rain and turn cold. Since Su Ye hadn’t brought her bike, the two walked together for a while.

Wanjia held the sparkling water in her left hand and the umbrella in her right, listening to raindrops pattering on the umbrella and the light steps of Su Ye beside her. In that moment, it felt as though they were treading across piano keys together, composing an autumn melody.

They had grown a little closer, but Wanjia’s tongue-tied nature meant she often teetered on the edge of awkward silence, never sure how to find the right topic. Fortunately, Su Ye was quick-witted—sometimes talking about studies, sometimes about campus life—keeping the atmosphere from turning stiff.

“At the end of this month, there’ll be a cheerleading competition on campus. Are you interested?” Su Ye asked.

“Cheerleading?” Wanjia’s interest was piqued. She tilted the umbrella slightly toward Su Ye’s side, stealing a glance at her beautiful profile.

“Mm.”

Su Ye’s tone was steady and unhurried. “Every year around this time, the school holds a cheerleading competition between departments. Our department’s results haven’t been great, so this year the counselor asked me to take charge.”

She glanced at Wanjia, slowing her words. “During military training, I saw you doing flips—you’ve got a solid foundation. So I wanted to ask, would you like to join?”

Her slender hand tightened on the umbrella handle. Nervous yet trying to appear casual, she said, “It does sound kind of fun.”

Su Ye continued, “This is a school-level competition. If you place well, it can count as extra points for postgraduate recommendation later. But it’ll be tough—there’s daily training. I’ll try to come every day and practice with you all.”

That last sentence made Wanjia’s head spin. “Yes, I’ll sign up!”

A day earlier, at the student union’s weekly meeting, the counselor had asked for this year’s cheerleading project lead. Normally, it went to the dance troupe captain. But this time, someone volunteered.

“I could do it,” Su Ye said, breaking the silence.

The counselor hesitated. “Su Ye, you’re already in charge of coordinating the veterinary competition. Wouldn’t cheerleading be too much on top of that? Maybe it’s better to leave it with the dance troupe as usual.”

But Su Ye was prepared: “The dance troupe can still handle choreography, but cheerleading isn’t just about dance. There’s scheduling practice space, handling costumes, picking participants—lots of logistics. In past years, leaving it all to the troupe was overwhelming. This year, they can do choreography, and I’ll handle the rest. Here’s a proposal I drafted—please have a look.”

Seeing how thoroughly she had planned it, even drafting a detailed proposal, the counselor had no objections and entrusted the project to her.

“Well, I didn’t expect you to be not only good at high jump but also so passionate about cheerleading. Alright then, I’ll look forward to seeing the results at the end of the month.”

Buzz!

Her phone vibrated. A message popped up from her roommate, the ever-observant head of Student Life, Xu Qian:

“You’re not interested in cheerleading—you’re interested in the people doing the cheerleading!”

Support It Seems Like My Senior Seems to Like Me