novelraw Chapter 282: Bonus -
Chapter 282: Bonus -
Xu Su was too cowardly to meet his gaze. She bent down, picked up the sodas from the ground, and handed them out one by one to her classmates who had won the match.
A familiar hand opened in front of her. Xu Su paused for a moment before placing a soda in it.
No one noticed the subtle tension between them. Everyone was busy celebrating the victory.
This was their first interaction all semester—secretive and suppressed.
Xu Su felt guilty toward Xi Zirong, but she knew there was no way for her to make up for that guilt.
As the college entrance exams drew near, Sika began her daily panic in the elite group chat. She was terrified she’d never see her dreamboat again after graduation. For the past year, everyone in the group had witnessed her hopeless crush. Actually, it could hardly be called a secret crush anymore—it was now an openly unrequited love.
When she was once again lamenting how difficult her love life was, someone finally couldn’t help but advise her to give up.
Nanyang: [Honestly, I’ve been wanting to say this for a while. If a guy doesn’t like you, he really doesn’t like you. If he liked you even a little, you wouldn’t have to chase him for so long. You get it, Little Xikai?]
Why force things with someone who has no interest in you...
Nanyang’s statement received unanimous agreement from the group.
Liu Yun: [Nanyang can be a real jackass most of the time, but he’s right today. Sika, I think you’re completely obsessed. You’re a senior and you’re still not studying hard. All you think about day in and day out is romance. How is that fair to your future?]
Feifei: [That’s right. I don’t think you just like this person anymore. You’ve been pursuing him for so long it’s become an obsession. You should calm down and really think about whether you want to continue chasing him.]
You Shan: [Maybe if your dreamboat actually agreed to be with you, you’d find it boring. I have experience with this. I chased a girl for over half a year in my freshman year of college. I really liked her at the time, but after we got together, it was just... meh. I was actually relieved when we broke up.]
What a scumbag thing to say. His comment sparked condemnation from the girls in the group, who never expected to have such a hidden scumbag in their midst.
[That’s not it. I know the difference between an obsession and actually liking someone. You guys don’t understand how I feel, so don’t invalidate my feelings. I don’t think I’ll ever like anyone in my entire life the way I like him. I’ve known him since seventh grade, started liking him in ninth grade, and this is now the fourth year. How could I confuse liking him with an obsession?]
Sika’s tone was usually lighthearted. Even when she complained about her dreamboat being cold and distant, she would use all sorts of emojis to express her mood. This was the first time she had ever spoken so seriously.
The group chat fell silent for a moment.
Sika sent an emoji of a cat squinting: [If I can’t win him over, so be it. My grades aren’t good enough for a top university in the country, so my dad’s sending me abroad. Who knows if we’ll ever see each other again in this lifetime. Our school’s campus belle chased him openly for two years and still couldn’t get him. So I guess I have nothing to feel bad about.]
Beiyue sent a voice message: "Wait until you get to college, see more of the world, and meet more people. When you look back on how you feel today, you might not even understand your own thoughts right now."
Few people would believe in a "lifetime" so easily promised at the age of eighteen.
Xu Su couldn’t help but type: [I believe Sika’s feelings aren’t just an obsession that would turn boring the moment they got together.]
Nanyang: [Silly apprentice, what are you chiming in for? How old are you kids? How many people have you even met that you dare to talk about a lifetime?]
Xu Su: [I used to think the same way you all do—that a boy’s feelings are just a fleeting, illusory crush during puberty. I rejected him many times back then. Eventually, I got tired of it and just hoped that after spending more time with me, he’d see I wasn’t that great and leave on his own.]
Sika: [Is this person your boyfriend? What happened next?]
[What happened next proved my thinking was wrong. That’s why I regret it so much now. If only I had rejected him a few more times back then, maybe he would have given up.]
Thinking of Xi Zirong, Xu Su sighed. It was hard to talk about these things with anyone in real life, but she could say a few words to her friends from the game.
If she had rejected him more harshly back then, maybe the Xi Zirong of today wouldn’t have had to go through a failed relationship.
The pain from their relationship, which had ended without a resolution, might stay with Xi Zirong for the rest of his life.
Xu Su didn’t dare to think too deeply about how much the breakup had devastated Xi Zirong.
They spoke with such genuine emotion, but most people in the group just thought it was like kids playing house... They just couldn’t bring themselves to say it out loud.
Xu Su didn’t mind. She tagged Sika: [Actually, it might be for the best that you didn’t win him over. Sooner or later, you’ll be able to let it go.]
’The worst-case scenario is someone like Xi Zirong: you succeed in your pursuit, you get together, and just as you’re falling deeper and deeper, you get broken up with.’
’Then you have to watch helplessly as the girl you love gets another boyfriend. They have a sweet, loving relationship, and they’re always seen together.’
’Just thinking about it felt cruel.’
After Xu Su sent that message, the class bell rang. She put her phone away and focused on her studies.
The conversation in the group continued. People who are good at games tend to have sharp minds, and they understood the meaning behind Xu Su’s words in an instant.
Liu Yun: [Does what Susu said mean she has an ex-boyfriend?]
Feifei: [Her current boyfriend is older than her, not a ’boy’ from her youth. So that means she had another boyfriend before. I’m so jealous. I’m a sophomore in college and I still don’t have a partner, but Susu has already had two relationships in high school.]
You Shan: [I told you Susu must be a total knockout, and you guys didn’t believe me. Look how in-demand she is.]
[Speaking of beauties, I was just blown away by a photo!]
Mountain Tiger Hunting: [Have you guys seen the hot post on the campus section of the Haijiao Forum? The one about the most beautiful high school girl. Now that’s what I call beautiful. She’s gorgeous. I used to think the phrase ’breathtakingly beautiful’ was just an exaggeration from ancient people who hadn’t seen the world, but after seeing that photo, I know that people who look like that really exist.]
Mountain Tiger Hunting was an Outer Elder of the Qingxuan Sect. He was usually quite active in the group chat, and upon seeing his comment, many people rushed off to take a look.
Even more people just asked him to post the photo in the group chat so everyone could see just how beautiful she was to deserve such high praise from him.
So, that afternoon after school, Xu Su ate dinner at the cafeteria with Huang Feng, Qian Jia, and the others. When she returned to the classroom, ready for her daily ritual of checking the group chat, she opened it to find that several thousand new messages had accumulated over the course of a few classes. A quick scroll up, and she saw her own photo in the chat window.
It was like a bolt from the blue.
Xu Su scrolled for a while with a stiff hand. It seemed like almost every online member of the group had a copy.
New messages were still popping up.
You Shan: [Found it, found it! The photo originated from a QQ Space. A high school student from Chang City posted it on their QQ Space the day before yesterday, and within two days, it was wildly reposted tens of thousands of times by netizens. It’s gone mini-viral. Now someone has shared it on the Haijiao Forum. Is this the power of beauty? If that photo isn’t photoshopped, then she’s a hundred times more beautiful than any movie star.]