Let Me Go, My Childhood Sweetheart [Rebirth] - Chapter 16

“Hey, what are you looking at?”

“Who’s there?!”

Qu Yin had been watching with great interest just as Jin Yi was about to pick Chu Weiran up. Suddenly, someone tapped her from behind, giving her a fright and causing her to miss out on the best part of the show.

“Are you that underclassman who said she liked Weiran?”

“I never said that. And besides, who are you calling ‘underclassman’?”

Qu Yin sized up the person in front of her. The girl looked even younger than her, wearing a light pink JK school uniform.

She looked so childish, how dare she call Qu Yin “underclassman”?

When Jing Miaomiao went out to have fun, she looked a bit different than usual. Normally, she wore simple colors and looked rather strict, her hair often loose and covering half her face. Now, however, she had her hair styled in two braided pigtails.

Qu Yin was face-blind; she felt like she had seen this person before but couldn’t quite place her.

Since Qu Yin couldn’t recognize her, Jing Miaomiao didn’t bother explaining. Instead, she asked again, “What were you looking at just now?”

“Oh, right, I was looking at…”

Qu Yin almost answered instinctively, but then caught herself. She didn’t even know this person, so why tell her?

I might as well go back to watching it myself, she thought. But when she turned around, she was dumbfounded.

The people were gone.

She turned back and said angrily, “It’s all your fault! Why did you have to call out to me just then?”

“Oh. My bad.” Jing Miaomiao tossed her braid and walked away without looking back.

Jin Yi tightened her grip, her head turned to the side in an unnatural way.

“Watch the road,” Chu Weiran reminded her from her arms. Jin Yi gave a quick response and straightened her gaze.

She could look anywhere, anywhere except at Chu Weiran in her arms.

I am never letting Chu Weiran wear high heels again! she thought. Or skirts!

She could have easily carried her on her back without all this awkwardness. But because Chu Weiran was wearing a skirt, a piggyback ride was inconvenient, so it had turned into a bridal carry.

“Xiao Yi, am I heavy?”

“No.”

“But you look like you’re struggling.”

“I’m not. Your weight is just right. If you were any…”

Jin Yi stopped mid-sentence. She thought back to how thin Chu Weiran had been in her past life—nothing more than a bag of bones.

Current Chu Weiran was perfect. She was wonderful.

With that thought, Jin Yi finally looked down at her. The girl in her arms had fair skin, and her large eyes were fixed on Jin Yi, unblinking.

“You should stay like this from now on.”

Chu Weiran didn’t quite catch her meaning. “What?”

“Your weight.”

Because of the topic of weight, both of them began to have stray thoughts. Jin Yi was thinking that Chu Weiran must never get that thin again.

Meanwhile, Chu Weiran was thinking… about the joke Jin Yi had made with Qu Yin… about being “delicate, soft, and easy to handle.”

Even if Jin Yi wanted to “handle” her right now, Chu Weiran felt she wouldn’t be able to refuse.

Still, she felt a bit shy. The more she thought about it, the hotter her face became.

If it weren’t dark out, Jin Yi would have definitely seen her blushing, a sight that would have shattered Jin Yi’s worldview. To see the bossy, willful older girl shrinking into her arms with a bright red face? Jin Yi wouldn’t have even dared to imagine it.

There was a shortcut from the artificial lake back to the Business School dorms that passed through a small grove of trees. Because Jin Yi was terrified of being seen carrying Chu Weiran, she took this path. Halfway through, they heard a rustling sound. Chu Weiran reflexively tightened her arms around Jin Yi’s neck, and Jin Yi pulled her closer by the waist.

“Don’t be afraid.” Jin Yi’s voice was usually crisp, but because she was whispering, it sounded slightly raspy. It sent a tingling sensation through Chu Weiran, who let out a soft “mm-hmm” and boldly snuggled deeper into Jin Yi’s chest.

As they continued, the rustling grew louder, and other sounds began to emerge.

“Ah, faster…”

The words that followed weren’t clear, but it didn’t take much for either of them to realize what was happening.

Someone was doing that in the woods. How awkward.

Jin Yi looked down; Chu Weiran was buried so deep in her arms that her face wasn’t even visible. Jin Yi assumed she was just embarrassed.

While it was awkward, Chu Weiran was actually embarrassed for herself. She had just been thinking about being “easy to handle,” and now she had stumbled upon this. Her thoughts were becoming even more scandalous.

She wanted to “handle” Jin Yi, too.

In the face of such an awkward situation, Jin Yi hurried her pace. By the time she reached the dormitory and set Chu Weiran down, she was breathing unevenly.

“Go on up. I’m heading back.”

Chu Weiran’s face was still flushed partly from her own thoughts, and partly because of Jin Yi’s heavy breathing.

She actually wanted to invite Jin Yi to stay the night in her dorm, but the words stayed tucked away. She was afraid of scaring Jin Yi off. Their relationship had only just started to improve; she couldn’t afford to be impulsive.

“I might not be able to make it up. Can you walk me to my room?”

“Me going inside… wouldn’t that be inappropriate?”

Inappropriate? What’s inappropriate about it? She practically wanted Jin Yi to come up and sleep with her. She had already compromised by just asking for an escort, yet Jin Yi was still hesitating. She felt dejected.

Her expression softened involuntarily, looking a bit aggrieved.

Jin Yi couldn’t stand seeing her like that. She cleared her throat and said, “Well… okay then.”

Having received a satisfactory answer, Chu Weiran’s eyes crinkled into a smile. She naturally took Jin Yi’s arm and prepared to walk upstairs.

Jin Yi didn’t think much of it at first, but after two steps, she realized something was wrong.

“I thought your feet hurt too much to walk?”

“…Uh, I forgot.” Chu Weiran stuck her tongue out. She really had forgotten she was faking the pain.

Now she had to commit to the act.

Chu Weiran crouched down, clutching her ankle. She looked up at Jin Yi piteously and said, “I tried to walk too hard just now, and now it hurts even more.”

To make sure Jin Yi believed her, she even forced out two tears.

“Sigh~ I guess I’ll just keep carrying you.”

“Okay!” Chu Weiran replied softly. Just as she stood up to fall into Jin Yi’s arms, a scream erupted from the nearby woods. Both of them turned around at once.

The area was already becoming noisy. The once-quiet grove was now surrounded by people drawn in by the scream.

Since Jin Yi and Chu Weiran weren’t standing far away, Chu Weiran immediately recognized the two people emerging from the trees.

It was Ye Yuan and Qin Chaomu.

Jin Yi, however, was nearsighted and didn’t like wearing glasses, so she could only make out their general outlines.

She felt the woman’s figure looked familiar. Just as she was about to ask Chu Weiran who they were, someone in the crowd shouted: “Ye Yuan, Qin Chaomu! Do you two have no shame?!”

In front of them, Qin Chaomu was forced to the ground, her clothes disheveled as she was dragged out. Ye Yuan crouched to the side, covering his face. Many people were holding up their phones to record videos. Qin Chaomu lunged at them like she’d gone mad, but she was quickly restrained by the sheer number of people.

Jin Yi and Chu Weiran glanced at each other, both thinking the same thing: Karma truly is a bitch.