Chapter 22: Chapter 22 Xu Musen, You Bastard!
"Your darling is amazing, you are such a good person!"
Right now, Yao Mingyue felt as if she were publicly humiliated, on top of being issued a "good person" card.
She appeared calm on the surface, but her fingernails almost dug into the tender flesh of her palms.
She ignored An Nuannuan's words, lifted her head to give Xu Musen a deep look, and then turned and walked away.
The onlookers had yet to react when Xu Musen, too, hurriedly left with An Nuannuan.
"Was she a bit unhappy just now?"
On their way, An Nuannuan still asked, somewhat puzzled.
"No, she just naturally likes to keep a straight face," Xu Musen replied.
"Oh... actually, she's pretty nice."
An Nuannuan muttered to herself, in her mind, anyone who had helped her was a good person.
Xu Musen didn't quite know how to continue the conversation. Indeed, Yao Mingyue wasn't a bad person, but her personality was really too much for anyone to handle.
After school.
Ever since the incident during PE, Yao Mingyue hadn't spoken to him, and she was very well-behaved on the bus ride home.
But the icy gaze she cast on Xu Musen never left for a moment, and an invisible waft of gunpowder lingered around him.
Xu Musen naturally didn't bother to say anything to her. Once they arrived at their neighborhood, he intended to go back to his room first.
But just as he reached the stairwell,
suddenly, a fragrant breeze hit him, and a small hand pushed him against the wall, Yao Mingyue looked at him with a wall-slamming posture, her eyes slightly reddish.
"What's your relationship with that girl?" she asked, her voice cold, a whole day's anger suppressed within.
Xu Musen was all too familiar with that look and tone of voice.
In his past life, if he so much as spoke a word to another girl, she would tie him to the bed when they got home and demand to know what they had discussed.
But in this life, he didn't owe her anything and didn't want to have anything more to do with her.
"My relationship with her is none of your business," Xu Musen said evenly.
"You! Xu Musen, what do you mean by that? Didn't you say you liked me? Why can you turn around and be with another girl..." Yao Mingyue shouted.
"Didn't you reject me already?" Xu Musen asked, laughing lightly in the face of her questioning.
Yao Mingyue's expression froze for a moment.
Xu Musen continued, "Since you've rejected me, it shouldn't matter to you who I associate with anymore, right?"
Every word struck Yao Mingyue, making it hard for her to maintain her composure.
Who I'm with has nothing to do with you anymore...
It was like countless needles stabbing into her chest.
She clenched Xu Musen's collar tightly.
"You said it before, you've said it! You would only like me!" she exclaimed, her emotions getting the better of her, her eyes almost brimming with tears.
Xu Musen looked at her like that, silent for a moment before slowly saying, looking straight into her eyes, "What about you? Do you like me, or do you just enjoy the feeling of me revolving around you every day?"
Yao Mingyue shuddered, as if many broken memories flashed through her mind.
Indeed, what did she really like about Xu Musen?
Or did she merely like the feeling of him always being by her side?
Looking at Yao Mingyue's dazed eyes, Xu Musen gave a self-deprecating smile.
"See, even you don't know whether you like me or not, so you shouldn't interfere with my life anymore. It's better that way for both of us."
Xu Musen gently lifted her hand, but Yao Mingyue grabbed his arm in reflex.
"It's not like that, I... I just haven't decided yet, the college entrance exams are soon, I was thinking after we get to university..." Yao Mingyue tried to explain.
But Xu Musen shook his head, "Saying all this is pointless now. Even if I used to like you, there's no law saying that I must always like you. Can't I just live a quiet life?"
Xu Musen spoke in an indifferent tone, but the more indifferent he was, the more it agitated Yao Mingyue's heart.
"Do you have to be so ruthless?" Yao Mingyue bit her lip tightly.
"It's not me being ruthless; these are just my true feelings now. In fact, you are great, it's not hard for you to find a guy who will be devoted to you..."
Xu Musen didn't finish his sentence when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his arm.
Yao Mingyue's eyes were red as she bit his arm.
"Hiss... are you sick?" Xu Musen withdrew his arm, a clear bite mark on it.
"The sick one is you!" she retorted.
Yao Mingyue gnashed her teeth, pointing at Xu Musen, "Xu Musen, don't regret what you said today!"
With that, she turned around and left in a huff.
Xu Musen watched her retreating figure, choosing not to chase after her.
Regret?
He did feel a bit of regret, regretting why he hadn't spoken more harshly sooner. If he had, he could have been in peace much earlier.
As he watched her disappear around the corner, Xu Musen was silent for a moment.
If he wanted to completely get rid of this 'yandere,' there were only two ways.
Go to a different university or earn more money and move away from this place!
Back at home.
Xu Musen went straight into his room and started furiously coding at his computer.
The game's user base had already surpassed ten thousand, and in these few days, fifty users had cashed out.
Five thousand bucks gone just like that.
Now that he had a foundational user base, Xu Musen immediately upped the difficulty to get a red packet.
Aside from inviting a hundred people, there would have to be points for drawing cash withdrawal coupons. This way, to cash out, users would have to pull in at least two or three hundred new users.
Chives, after all, need to be harvested continuously, crop after crop.
Dinnertime.
Xu Musen was still wondering if Yao Mingyue would come over for dinner.
But the moment he entered the living room, he saw his mother packing a meal box.
"Son, Ming Yue just sent me a message saying she's feeling a bit unwell and won't come for dinner, so I made some porridge. Take it to her and see if she's sick," his mother said.
His mother handed him the meal box.
"What could happen to her? Missing one meal won't starve her."
"How can you talk like that, you rascal? Ming Yue is a girl who usually stays at home alone. We definitely need to take extra care of her. Hurry up and go!"
His mother pushed Xu Musen out the door.
Xu Musen was a bit helpless, but he had his orders, so he had to go.
At the villa, Xu Musen pressed the doorbell.
With the camera at the door, she would definitely see him.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before Yao Mingyue opened the door.
She had changed into a pink pajama set and stood at the entrance, looking at him, silent.
Xu Musen couldn't be bothered with her, so he simply held up the meal box, "It's porridge my mom made for you."
Yao Mingyue crossed her arms and began to glare at him, teeth clenched, without saying a word.
Xu Musen directly placed the meal box on the wall of the villa and turned to leave.
I'm not putting up with this!
"Bastard!"
In the end, Yao Mingyue couldn't hold back.
"It's not a bastard; it's century egg congee."
"Xu Musen, you're a bastard!"
Yao Mingyue was so angry her face turned red.
Xu Musen shook his head. Coming to deliver food and getting scolded for it, what a world.
"Eat up. Bring the meal box back yourself tomorrow."
After saying that, Xu Musen turned and left.
...
In the middle of the night, the vast and empty villa room echoed with silence, and in Yao Mingyue's room, although she had already fallen asleep, her brows were still tightly furrowed.
Ever since that year, she had been plagued by nightmares.
A thunderous, lightning-filled rainy night, a truck crashed head-on, shattering the car, blood spilled all over the ground...
"Xiaoyue, daddy promises you, when I come back tonight, I will definitely celebrate your birthday with you, okay?
You must wait for daddy."
"Bang!..."
"Daddy! Daddy, wake up, you promised to celebrate my birthday, I don't want my birthday anymore, I want daddy..."
"Xiaoyue, daddy is gone…"
"No, don't leave!"
In her dream, Yao Mingyue was not her usual aloof self. Her stunning face was filled with panic and even showed traces of tears at the corners of her eyes.
As if an endless nightmare was about to drown her, suddenly another voice appeared.
"Ming Yue, I will always be with you, from now on, I will protect you forever in place of Uncle Yao."
"Ming Yue, don't be afraid... I'm here, I will always be by your side. I'll write you a guarantee!"
"Musen, you're with me every day, no other girl will like you."
"It doesn't matter. After all, I only need you."
"Musen, you're always busy with my matters, your studies will suffer, what if you don't get a good job later?"
"It's okay. Ming Yue, you're so smart. When you become a big boss, I'll just work for you..."
"Musen..."
Words murmured from Yao Mingyue's lips in her sleep, and a night breeze caused the window to make a noise.
"Yao Mingyue, we have nothing to do with each other anymore..."
"No, don't!"
Yao Mingyue woke up with a start from the dream!
In the empty bedroom, Yao Mingyue touched the tear trails at the corner of her eyes.
This dream, she hadn't had it in a long time.
Was it because she was scared again?
Yao Mingyue silently turned on the bedside lamp.
She picked up a thick photo album from the nightstand.
From her earliest childhood, the album contained group photos of two families.
In the pictures, the two tiny figures were always holding hands, smiling and making peace signs at the camera.
From childhood, to kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, high school...
Only, after middle school, the group photos became fewer, and they always lacked one person.
She looked at all the photos of Xu Musen in the album, from childhood to adulthood. His gaze was always so tender, always so doting and loving.
But why... it all changed in just one day.
In the depths of her eyes, there was a rare sight of confusion and depth of feeling.
What exactly were her feelings for him?
At that moment, Yao Mingyue truly didn't know.
But looking at Xu Musen in the photo album, all she knew was that she couldn't afford to lose him in this lifetime.
In the spacious room.
Yao Mingyue slowly embraced the photo album filled with Xu Musen's pictures.
Anyway, I can't let you go.