My Straight Childhood Friend Successfully Pursued Me After The Breakup - Chapter 31

High school students’ winter break is generally not long, even for…

High school students’ winter break is generally not long; even for high school freshmen, the short dozen or so days quickly passed. Zuo Zhimi brought Zuo Xian back to Lu City.

After the Lu City No. 1 High School started, they didn’t give the students much time to adjust, quickly entering a normal study routine. Teachers and students alike became busy, almost forgetting how pleasant the holiday had been.

Zuo Xian was no exception. She was more adapted this semester; at least she could stay awake in class and understand what the teachers were talking about.

Xue Shuangxi still came looking for her to hang out every now and then, constantly trying to get an update on her and Tao Ran’s situation.

Zuo Xian didn’t know why, but she hadn’t told her about that kiss, or rather, she hid that questioning kiss and hadn’t told anyone.

Even when facing Tao Ran, Zuo Xian hadn’t brought up why she had kissed her that day.

Zuo Xian couldn’t exactly say why, but perhaps it was partly due to fear.

What if she asked, and Tao Ran reacted like she did last Christmas, looking at her in surprise and saying, “We’re both girls. Can’t girls kiss each other?”

Zuo Xian was afraid she would break, shatter into pieces that could never be put back together.

In the blink of an eye, time reached April.

Even Zuo Xian couldn’t help but feel a little lost. Half a year had passed since Tao Ran went abroad, and they hadn’t been able to chat every single day in these six months.

Tao Ran was very busy, and she got even busier as time went on. Often during a phone call, the secretary’s voice would come through on the other end, and the two would have to hang up so Tao Ran could work.

After it happened several times, Zuo Xian also became afraid of disturbing Tao Ran, so she reduced the number of phone calls and mostly sent her messages.

She would send dozens of messages throughout the day, and Tao Ran would reply whenever she had time, answering every single one.

Sometimes Zuo Xian had the illusion that they were in an online relationship.

She would secretly go to various websites to post or submit anonymous questions. After slightly blurring some details, she would ask people online who had rich dating experience or rich experience secretly loving a straight girl:

— Does she like me? I feel like I have a good chance.

Most of the time, the exasperated netizens would beat her up with random sticks, telling her not to self-strategize and get herself trapped.

Straight girls were inherently gentle yet ruthless creatures, and young, naive lesbians were most likely to mistake their innate charm for evidence of love.

To be honest, this hit a nerve with Zuo Xian. In the beginning, she really did rely on self-strategizing to firmly tie herself to Tao Ran, this “crooked neck tree.”

But there were also a small number of netizens who, through careful inference, strongly argued that Tao Ran absolutely liked Zuo Xian.

Otherwise, she was deeply closeted, loving without realizing it herself.

The worst possibility was that although Tao Ran was straight, she was greedy for Zuo Xian’s kindness and was deliberately stringing her along.

Snap. Zuo Xian immediately deleted the last possibility.

She didn’t know much about the dynamic between straight girls and lesbians, but how could she not know Tao Ran? Tao Ran was not the type of person who would play with other people’s feelings.

Picking and choosing to read the comments she wanted to see online, the more she read, the more Zuo Xian felt that she and Tao Ran had a promising future.

However, Xue Shuangxi had changed her usual behavior, advising her not to hold too much hope.

“Generally speaking, if it’s going to happen, the ambiguity should be resolved after three or four months. How long has it been for you and Tao Ran?”

Xue Shuangxi made two clicks of disapproval and shook her head. “I think it’s unlikely. She’s probably genuinely straight. Besides, Tao Ran has been abroad for half a year already, and she might not stay for a defined period in the future. If you two really started dating, a long-distance relationship would be very tough. As your friend, I still want to remind you not to get too deeply involved.”

“Stop reminding me. I don’t want to hear it.” Zuo Xian placed the corrected test paper inside her book, looked up, and stopped Xue Shuangxi from continuing.

“My birthday is in a few days. My treat. Are you coming?”

Xue Shuangxi: “What date is it?”

“April 19th, which is a Saturday.”

“Who else is coming besides me?” Xue Shuangxi was quite interested; if there were more people, she’d be even more interested.

Zuo Xian thought for a moment. “No one else. Just the two of us.”

Xue Shuangxi hesitated, then after a while, she said, “Your birthday, and a double date with me?”

“What do you mean by date?” Zuo Xian shot her a look, correcting her. “It’s a birthday gathering.”

“Do you usually call two people a gathering?” Xue Shuangxi was puzzled. “It’s your birthday once a year. Won’t you invite more people to make it lively?”

“My mom is busy.”

“Who’s talking about your auntie! I mean, invite some friends your age!”

Zuo Xian said lazily, “Invite who? Besides you, I can’t think of anyone I’m close enough with to invite to a birthday celebration.”

“What about the girl in front of you, Lin Ya? I see you two sometimes chat. Won’t you invite her?”

“We only exchange a few words occasionally after class. I don’t even have her contact information.”

“Well, what about the girl who asked for your contact information at the party I hosted last time?”

“Not close. Never chatted with her.”

Zuo Xian was inherently someone with few friends. After leaving school, her sense of boundaries was extremely strong. Xue Shuangxi being able to become her friend had to be credited to her own active enthusiasm and thick skin, and also her good luck in happening to get involved with the pink box incident.

Otherwise, for someone as seemingly warm yet inwardly reserved as Zuo Xian, it would not be an easy task to get close to her.

Xue Shuangxi felt quite complicated. On one hand, she was touched that she held such high regard in Zuo Xian’s eyes, and on the other hand, she couldn’t help but complain about a birthday gathering with only two people.

“So, are you coming?” Zuo Xian turned to look at Xue Shuangxi, smiling with narrowed eyes. “Come on, or I’ll be very lonely celebrating my birthday alone.”

Her smile was brilliant, like a rose that hadn’t fully bloomed yet, still glistening with the morning dew—vibrant and lovely.

Xue Shuangxi: “Of course, I’ll go, since it’s your birthday. But what about your previous birthdays? Did you always celebrate them alone?”

“Before…” Zuo Xian pressed her lips together, her smile fading as she looked away, pretending to be indifferent.

“Before, Tao Ran always celebrated with me, but she’s abroad now. If she were here, my birthday gathering could have three people.”

Xue Shuangxi knew she had said the wrong thing, bringing up a painful subject.

But seeing Zuo Xian’s sad look, she couldn’t stand it and deliberately joked to lighten the mood.

“If she comes back, you two will go on a date, and I won’t go.”

“Why won’t you go?” Zuo Xian was stunned.

Xue Shuangxi waved her hand. “Should I go be a third wheel?”

She touched her chin, intentionally acting very lewdly, “But since Tao Ran isn’t here this time, I get to monopolize you! Wahahaha!”

“Pfft, you’re crazy, Xue Shuangxi!”

The two girls started to playfully wrestle again, temporarily pushing their worries to the back of their minds and enjoying the sunshine and laughter.

Simultaneously in Country D, it was two o’clock in the morning.

The fluorescent lights on the top floor of the office building had been on for half the night. The coffee on the desk had long been finished, and the sound of paper rustling in the office hadn’t stopped.

Tao Ran frowned tightly, staring at the contract in her hand. She reached for the coffee cup, but only realized it was empty when it reached her lips.

The secretary had gone home hours ago, so Tao Ran could only get up and walk to the pantry to brew herself a cup of coffee.

The hot water steamed with the aroma of coffee, and just smelling it reflexively woke her up. Tao Ran closed her dry eyes.

A hard object suddenly pressed against her lower back, and a low female voice full of resentment spoke.

“Give me your wallet. Give me back my freedom.”

The hot water was done. Tao Ran picked up the cup, turned to glance at Tao Ningxue, whose face was completely black, and took a sip of coffee.

Then she said lightly, “Did you finish what I asked you to do? You have time to put on a show here.”

Tao Ningxue’s mouth twitched. She withdrew the steel pen she was holding. She looked at Tao Ran in front of her with eyes that seemed to be looking at a pervert.

“It’s just the two of us on this whole floor. Do you know what that means?”

Tao Ran didn’t pay attention to her, lifting her foot to walk towards the office. Tao Ningxue followed behind her like a ghost, saying mournfully, “It means everyone else has gone home, and I still have to work overtime with you.”

“Tao Ningxue, get this straight. You’re not working overtime with me; you’re working overtime for yourself.”

Tao Ran sat back down at her desk, looking at her indifferently without an ounce of pity. “Did you forget the agreement you reached with me yourself?”

“If I had known you were this crazy, I would definitely have considered it for a while longer.”

Hearing this, Tao Ran chuckled lightly. “In that case, perhaps my partner would have been someone else. You should know you’re not the only one who needs something from me.”

Tao Ningxue wasn’t so easily gaslit. She retorted, “But you still chose me, which means my ability is the strongest among everyone who came to you, and I am the most cost-effective.”

Tao Ran: “If you keep talking nonsense and not working, you won’t be the most cost-effective anymore.”

Tao Ningxue clenched her back teeth, glaring at Tao Ran.

“You’re a complete lunatic! Not human!”

“Are you done cursing?” Tao Ran lowered her head and flipped through the contract. “If you’re done, go back to work.”

“Aaaah!” Tao Ningxue shouted loudly and stormed out of Tao Ran’s office. Her continued insults about Tao Ran’s lack of humanity could still be heard from afar.

Humanity?

Tao Ran couldn’t help but smile. A child of Tao Yizhang still talks about humanity.

Besides, what’s humanity compared to going back home?