It Seems Like My Senior Seems to Like Me - Chapter 40

Under Building 12 of Xue Mei Dormitory, Pei Suye, president of the Veterinary Hospital Student Council, was delivering the first gift she had prepared for Ye Wanjia.

“Senior, I can’t take this! It’s too expensive!”

Ye Wanjia waved her hands like a rattle.

“Take it. It’s not expensive,” Pei Suye said, holding her hand to secure the string of the gift bag before letting go. “Try it on when you get home—it should look great.”

Ye Wanjia was unsure what this dress meant and felt even more incapable of accepting such a high-priced gift. “But this is really too expensive.”

“Do you know how much it costs?”

“I didn’t check. But things at the mall aren’t cheap.”

Pei Suye smiled helplessly and took a step closer. “Xiao Yezi, gifts shouldn’t be measured by price.”

“But I shouldn’t accept a gift I haven’t earned.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course!”

Pei Suye paused for a moment, a look of certainty flashing in her eyes, and slowly said, “You took the TOEFL—first, I’m not your teacher, second, I’m not your superior. After the exam, you shared 500 in prize money with me—I haven’t earned that, so I shouldn’t accept it. Today, for lunch, I neither did you a favor nor helped you—again, I haven’t earned anything. How about we tally up the costs from those two times and go fifty-fifty?”

Ye Wanjia panicked. “No, you can’t do that! I didn’t even…”

The 500 in prize money had been the agreed-upon share. Lunch today was to thank Pei Suye for encouraging her to take the TOEFL. Both were acts of kindness! Yet facing Pei Suye’s calm and gentle demeanor, Ye Wanjia’s flustered brain could only manage to say:

“Th-thank you, Senior.”

Back in the dormitory, Ye Wanjia, holding the dress, was still lost in thought when her roommate Wei Xiaoxiao startled her.

“Wanjia, what are you doing? Feverish?”

Ye Wanjia, still caught up in her own mental world, snapped back to reality at the sound of her voice and looked at Wei Xiaoxiao, who was livestreaming makeup tutorials at her desk.

“No, why?”

Wei Xiaoxiao mercilessly held up a mirror, showing Ye Wanjia her flushed face.

“Ah!” Ye Wanjia placed the dress bag on the table and hastily grabbed the mirror. “Why is my face so red?!”

Disaster her face was as red as a cooked lobster. Pei Suye must have seen it. Remembering how Pei Suye had smiled differently than usual, gentle like spring breezes yet harboring a layer of indulgence, as if watching her little kitten mess with a ball of yarn and letting it happen, made her even more flustered.

Seeing Ye Wanjia flustered, Wei Xiaoxiao, a top level yuri novel enthusiast, narrowed her eyes dramatically and declared:

“The president gave this back to you, didn’t she?”

Ye Wanjia, clutching the mirror, felt helpless, her grape-like eyes blinking once as she nodded.

Under Wei Xiaoxiao’s insistent questioning, she recounted the whole story. By the time she mentioned the dress, she had lost her confidence.

“She was afraid I wouldn’t accept it, so when we tried it on, she said it was like she was accompanying me to buy it.”

Wei Xiaoxiao went into deep thought. She turned off her livestream of the gift-laden “rocket party,” suddenly reverting to the tearful, snotty-eyed girl who had read her first romance novel.

“The president is really thoughtful! I’m dying of cuteness! Wanjia, do you still think she sees you as just a regular junior?”

Ye Wanjia couldn’t understand, as if standing on a narrow bridge. She dared not move forward, unable to fathom why the school-famous Pei Suye would look at her differently. She dared not step back either, because maybe—just maybe—Pei Suye did see her as someone special.

“I don’t know. I’m really confused right now.”

Seeing her friend’s distress, Wei Xiaoxiao softened her tone. “So, what are you feeling right now?”

Ye Wanjia’s eyes trembled helplessly as she grabbed the sleeve of her jacket. “I’m really happy, but I’m also afraid that my happiness is too much, that I’m imagining things, and it will turn out to be empty joy.”

The chandelier’s glow reflected in her eyes, illuminating her fragile, precarious heart, like a pearl frozen in a shell, wanting to see its reflection in the sea but afraid it would be revealed as merely a drop of water.

In youth, the word most associated with liking someone was timidity. Afraid she wouldn’t like me, afraid she would like me but I wouldn’t get a response, and even more afraid that my feelings were nothing more than common courtesy.

Wei Xiaoxiao, a year older than Ye Wanjia, knew that feelings couldn’t be persuaded—only experienced and understood by the one who felt them.

“Wanjia, I won’t try to convince you. Everyone handles emotions differently. Some like secretly; some like openly. Just be yourself.”

She gently hugged Ye Wanjia, speaking softly:

“My birthday is on the 30th. I’m inviting the Student Council. President will come too. Then, Wanjia, just follow your heart. Whatever you want to do—or not do—I’ll support you.”

The orange-yellow light of the streetlamp shone through the wooden lattice window, casting the shadow of their embrace.

Before long, the 30th arrived—Wei Xiaoxiao’s birthday.

Though her family lived in a neighboring provincial capital, to take care of Wei Xiaoxiao, they had bought a villa in Nanzhou City. Wei Xiaoxiao invited friends to her villa for a party.

Many people came: most of the Student Council, some classmates from Class 3, and Wei Xiaoxiao’s high school friends. Her parents reserved a hotel for extra play space and left servants to help clean up.

Wei Xiaoxiao, cheerful and smiling by nature, got along well with everyone, and the guests split into groups. There was barbecue in the yard, Werewolf in the living room, and Blind Elephant on the balcony—everyone joined the games they liked.

Around 9 PM, Wei Xiaoxiao came down from the second floor. “Wanjia, we’re out of drinks. Could you run and get some?”

Ye Wanjia had just been voted out of Werewolf. “Sure. What do you want?”

“Anything. Get what you like.”

As they spoke, Pei Suye, acting as the game master for Werewolf, noticed their conversation and paused the game. Across the long table, she asked:

“Going alone, can you carry it all?”

Ye Wanjia looked at Wei Xiaoxiao. For a moment, it seemed like an unspoken understanding between a son-in-law and mother-in-law had formed. Wei Xiaoxiao quickly jumped down the last stair:

“Then, President, you’ll have to go too!”

The players at the table had no sense of tact. “Huh? Two of you leaving at once? How can we play?”

Wei Xiaoxiao quickly took over. “I can play! I’m really good at this!”

“But we still need one more!”

Wei Xiaoxiao yelled upstairs, “Xiaoyu Jiang Shiyu stop reading and come play Werewolf!”

Whether intentionally or not, Ye Wanjia ended up walking with Pei Suye, buying drinks together along the night street. Watching their backs, Wei Xiaoxiao, already knowing what would happen, opened her phone to place an online order.

Next to her, Jiang Shiyu glanced at the screen and whispered, “Weren’t they supposed to go? Why are you ordering again?”

Wei Xiaoxiao gave her a determined look:

“They won’t be back that fast.”

She knew Ye Wanjia cautious but not rigid, introverted but not timid. Though she didn’t yet know Pei Suye’s feelings, tonight, Wei Xiaoxiao was certain there would be action.

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