Let Me Go, My Childhood Sweetheart [Rebirth] - Chapter 21

About a week had passed since they watched the movie.

Chu Weiran was focused on two things. First, Ye Yuan and Qin Chaomu had received disciplinary action; they would be lucky to even graduate, and their internships were definitely a lost cause. However, she was more concerned about the second matter: Qu Yin’s supposed “injury” and “allergies.”

The reason was that Jin Yi had used caring for Qu Yin as an excuse to stop eating dinner with her. How could Qu Yin possibly have so many problems at once? Moreover, Qu Yin shared a dorm with Jing Miaomiao, and since those two were hitting it off lately, a little bit of digging was all it took for Chu Weiran to realize Jin Yi was making excuses.

Initially, Chu Weiran just tested the waters. “I heard Qu Yin took a fall?”

Jing Miaomiao was doing her makeup at the time. She turned around in surprise. “No way. I’m going out to dinner with Qu Yin tonight.”

Perfect. Jin Yi was indeed lying to her.

On another evening, Jin Yi brought up Qu Yin again, claiming her allergies hadn’t cleared up. She dropped Chu Weiran off at the dorm and turned to leave immediately. Thinking it over, Chu Weiran felt a pang of sadness. Jin Yi’s lies were incredibly clumsy. Miaomiao was busy dating Qu Yin, so why was Jin Yi still using this excuse to brush her off? There was only one answer: Jin Yi wasn’t putting any heart into their relationship and was desperate to get away from her.

But she wasn’t going to let Jin Yi have her way. She was going to corner her.

“Jin Yi, Miaomiao asked me yesterday why Senior Chu was suddenly so concerned about me. Don’t you think you’re taking this a bit too far?”

Jin Yi was currently playing dead on her bed. she looked at Qu Yin and guiltily averted her gaze. She knew she was being excessive. This excuse was essentially a blatant lie. But what could she do? She was terrified. This was nothing like what she had originally planned. She only wanted Chu Weiran to stay away from that scumbag; she didn’t expect to get herself entangled in the process.

She had a lot on her mind, but Qu Yin didn’t know that and couldn’t understand Jin Yi’s logic at all. Since Qu Yin wasn’t on a date today, she finally had time to interrogate Jin Yi.

“What exactly is wrong with Chu Weiran? Why are you hiding from her?”

Jin Yi looked up at her, suddenly finding it hard to speak. The last time she planned to tell Qu Yin about her relationship with Chu Weiran, they ran into Ye Yuan. Since then, she had been busy picking up and dropping off Chu Weiran every day and hadn’t had the chance. Then came the scandal involving Ye Yuan and Qin Chaomu, and Qu Yin was too busy enjoying the gossip. It wasn’t until they bumped into each other at the theater that Qu Yin finally cornered her that night.

Jin Yi had told Qu Yin about them being childhood friends. Qu Yin immediately imagined a grand drama starring the two of them. The stories Qu Yin made up sounded exactly like the things Chu Weiran usually said, giving Jin Yi a massive headache.

“A beautiful childhood friend with fair skin. You grew up together as sweethearts. Why can’t you just fall in love?”

Under Qu Yin’s persistent questioning, Jin Yi finally told the truth. “I’m afraid of her. I’ve been afraid of her since I was little.”

Qu Yin thought she had lost her mind. What was so scary about a beautiful, lovely girl? She couldn’t understand Jin Yi’s pain at all. Jin Yi didn’t even dare to tell Qu Yin that when Chu Weiran insisted on eating spicy noodles until she cried just because Jin Yi liked them, her heart had actually skipped a beat.

And that made her even more afraid. She was afraid Qu Yin would look down on her even more. Of course, Qu Yin already did.

Jing Miaomiao had gone home for the day and was currently flirting with Qu Yin on WeChat. “Sweetie, come back soon, I miss you so much!” Qu Yin used a high-pitched, cutesy voice to send a voice message back. Jin Yi was so cringed out that she buried her ears under a pillow and closed her eyes, refusing to look.

When Qu Yin finished chatting and tried to talk to Jin Yi, she saw her buried under the covers with the pillow over her face. “What are you doing?”

Jin Yi didn’t answer.

“If you keep ignoring me, I’m going to tell Senior Chu that I’m perfectly healthy and nothing is wrong with me!”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Jin Yi poked her head out, glaring fiercely at Qu Yin.

Qu Yin was startled at first, patting her racing heart, but then she realized she had nothing to fear from Jin Yi. “I have you right where I want you now. Don’t get too ahead of yourself.”

She sounded confident for the first half of the sentence, but as Jin Yi’s glare intensified, her voice weakened. It was hard to say which of these two was actually the bigger coward.

Seeing Qu Yin intimidated, Jin Yi stopped hiding. She crawled out from the blankets and snorted. “You’re such a weak sub!”

“Who’s weak?!”

“You are.”

Knock, knock. Before Jin Yi could finish, there was a knock at the door. Both of them looked toward the entrance and then at each other, wondering who it could be. Then, a soft, delicate voice came through. “Xiao Yi, are you there?”

It was Chu Weiran.

Jin Yi panicked instantly. Qu Yin saw her reaction, gave a mischievous smirk, and ran to open the door. Jin Yi tried to stop her but failed. The door opened, and Qu Yin greeted the smiling Chu Weiran. “Senior Chu, what brings you here? Please, come in.”

Jin Yi slumped on her bed, completely at a loss. She didn’t expect Chu Weiran to come here directly.

“Junior Qu, is your allergy better?”

Qu Yin blinked. She remembered Jin Yi’s excuse was that she had fallen. Since when did it change to an allergy? She had even planned to pretend her leg was hurting. But now what? She had just washed her face and used a mask; her skin looked perfect.

“Uh, yes. It’s better.” Qu Yin felt awkward. She glanced at Jin Yi on the bed, who had curled back into a ball.

Chu Weiran smiled at Qu Yin and walked over to Jin Yi’s bed, saying in a gentle voice, “Xiao Yi, get up. Will you go to dinner with me?”

Jin Yi shrank back under the covers and said nothing. She couldn’t bring herself to use another excuse.

Watching Jin Yi refuse to come out, Chu Weiran felt her heart aching. She hadn’t wanted to believe Jin Yi was just brushing her off, but now she had to admit it. Telling her to stay away from Ye Yuan, picking her up, pretending to be her girlfriend, it was all a lie. Jin Yi still disliked her.

“Then… I’ll leave.” Chu Weiran’s voice cracked with a hint of a sob, sounding incredibly pitiful.

Hearing Chu Weiran leave, Jin Yi’s heart began to waver. What was the use of running away? A momentary heartbeat didn’t mean they had to be together. It’s fine, Jin Yi!

Jin Yi jumped up from the bed and shouted, “I’ll go to dinner with you!”

Qu Yin watched as Chu Weiran, who was almost at the door, let out a smirk. The sob in her voice vanished instantly; in fact, she looked quite pleased. Meanwhile, Jin Yi was hurriedly putting on her shoes, looking flustered.

Qu Yin realized she had been overthinking things. She had thought it was a pity Jin Yi was so dense, but now she saw that Chu Weiran simply had no intention of letting her go. Jin Yi was destined to end up in Chu Weiran’s hands sooner or later.

It was 8:00 PM.

Jin Yi and Chu Weiran left the school and headed straight for a hot pot restaurant. Since they couldn’t get back after 10:30 PM, Jin Yi was in a hurry, but Chu Weiran was unbothered. She leaned her head on Jin Yi’s shoulder while clinging to her arm.

“Xiao Yi, I’m so hungry I have no strength. I can’t walk.”

“Then what should we do?”

“Carry me on your back!” The answer came in a crisp voice that didn’t sound weak at all. Her eyes were bright, and before Jin Yi could react, Chu Weiran had already climbed onto her back. Jin Yi had no choice but to carry her.

As they neared the restaurant, Chu Weiran felt shy and wanted to be let down, but Jin Yi was feeling stubborn and insisted on carrying her inside.

“I thought you had no strength?”

She was reaping what she sowed. The waiters at the restaurant watched them with amusement. Chu Weiran’s boldness only applied to Jin Yi. Conversely, Jin Yi was only shy and thin-skinned in front of Chu Weiran.

“Spicy and tomato broth, beef, lamb, and tripe. What do you want?” Jin Yi handed the menu to Chu Weiran.

After looking for a long time, Chu Weiran only ordered some baby cabbage.

“That’s it?”

“Yes.” Chu Weiran’s face was still red. The waiter standing in front of them was the one who had been laughing the loudest earlier, and she felt embarrassed.

Jin Yi took the menu back and muttered, “You said you were hungry, but you only ordered one vegetable?”

Chu Weiran lowered her head even further and stayed silent. She rarely ate hot pot at restaurants; usually, she ate at home where her family prepared everything. She usually preferred vegetarian options anyway.

“Then I’ll just order for us?”

“I want this, this, and this!” After ordering a large amount of food, Jin Yi handed the menu back and waited for the dishes to arrive.

When the food came, Chu Weiran noticed that Jin Yi had ordered all the vegetables she liked. Her heart warmed, and her shyness vanished as she gave Jin Yi a sweet smile.

Jin Yi thought Chu Weiran’s brain must be broken, and her own heart was malfunctioning too. Otherwise, how could Chu Weiran demand a piggyback ride at the door but act so shy once they were inside? And as for herself, she didn’t know why her heart was racing again.

So annoying. Chu Weiran was so annoying!

Frustrated, Jin Yi put the beef and meatballs into the tomato broth and the vegetables into the spicy broth. She knew Chu Weiran didn’t like spicy food, so she figured she wouldn’t touch the vegetables in the spicy side.

Her confidence was shattered when she watched Chu Weiran fish the cabbage out of the spicy broth and eat it. In her past life, Chu Weiran had always been quite cold toward her, so Jin Yi never realized Chu Weiran had feelings for her. If it hadn’t been for that email, Qin Chaomu’s words, and the wedding, she wouldn’t have believed it.

Thinking of the wedding made her heart ache, so she moved the cabbage into the tomato broth.

“Eat this instead, or you’ll be crying from the spice again.”

“It’s fine. Xiao Yi likes it, so I want to try it too.” Even though she was happy Jin Yi remembered her preferences, she wanted to experience the things Jin Yi enjoyed.

Jin Yi felt like she was being flirted with again. Her heart was beating far too fast.

On the way back to the dorm after dinner, Jin Yi felt like Chu Weiran had something to say. To prevent Chu Weiran from speaking first, Jin Yi decided to strike.

“The girlfriend thing is just an act! Don’t take it seriously!”

Chu Weiran didn’t take the bait. Instead, she looked at her tenderly.

“I wasn’t going to talk about that.”

“I wanted to say that for the National Day holiday, Uncle Jin invited my parents on a trip. They’ve left me in your care.”

Jin Yi’s face went from red to white as she stared at her in silence.