On a Stormy Night, the Campus Belle Knocked on My Door Seeking Shelter
Chapter 39: I Hear You Guys Were Very Sweet Yesterday

Chapter 39: Chapter 39: I Hear You Guys Were Very Sweet Yesterday

Su Yuqing didn’t know how to escape and save herself from that desperate family environment.

So she didn’t dare to face it, nor did she want to.

But since the words came from the boy before her, she trusted him unconditionally. When she asked, "Really?" she wasn’t seeking confirmation, but rather bolstering her own inner resolve.

"Trust me, I won’t let you go back," Chen Mo said with a smile. "You owe me a debt now, you know. You think I’d let you slip away before you’ve paid it off?"

Su Yuqing smiled and nodded. The smile on the boy’s face calmed her heart considerably.

Before, her sole goal in life had been to be accepted and tolerated by either of her two families.

But that was purely a form of self-gaslighting born from her desperation, making her believe that her family’s inability to accept her was simply because she wasn’t good enough.

So she tried her best to change herself, to become better, so they would accept her.

However, the people who truly accepted her didn’t actually need her to be perfect.

And for those who didn’t accept her, it wouldn’t matter how well she did.

Now, after seeing the truth of it all, escaping those two families—which, to her, had long since fallen apart—was what her heart truly desired.

If she had never seen the light, perhaps she could have continued to endure the darkness.

But now, she had seen the brightest light of her life!

The darkness of her past was now a world she could no longer touch or bear.

...

「Senior Class 3-2.」

Early in the morning, the classroom was already filled with diligent students doing their morning reading.

When Chen Mo and Su Yuqing walked in side by side, the other students didn’t pay them much mind at first, just assuming they happened to arrive at the same time.

Everyone went about their business as usual.

Chen Mo and Su Yuqing sat in the second and third rows by the window, one right behind the other.

After taking their seats, Su Yuqing took out her English textbook, as she always did, and began her morning reading.

Chen Mo, on the other hand, felt like throwing up just looking at the books in front of him.

In his past life, he had studied so crazily that his entire youth was spent with only the contents of these books for company.

It gave him a bit of PTSD seeing them now.

Just as they were settling in, Su Yuqing’s deskmate suddenly turned to them with a gossipy look on her face.

"Hey, hey, you two."

Hearing her voice, Chen Mo and Su Yuqing subconsciously looked at her at the same time.

"I heard you two went to the night market together yesterday, and that it was super sweet. Is it true?" The girl covered her mouth, a shipper’s smile playing on her lips as she looked at them.

The fact that her classmate knew she’d gone out with Chen Mo made Su Yuqing very shy. Her face flushed, and for a moment, she was too embarrassed to speak.

Chen Mo, however, looked at the girl in surprise. "Little Yueyue, who’d you hear that from?"

Zhao Yuanyuan giggled. "It’s a secret."

The drawn-out note of her voice hadn’t even faded when her sun-kissed, chubby cheeks were caught between Chen Mo’s fingers.

"Chen Mo, you sneak—OW!" The girl’s muffled cry, mixed with laughter, escaped her squished lips. As she struggled, her ponytail swung through the morning sunbeams, scattering flecks of light.

"Ow, ow, ow... Let go."

Chen Mo stretched her chubby cheeks a little more. "Are you going to behave now? Hurry up and confess."

Amid the stifled coughs and chuckles from the boys in the back, she suddenly pointed a finger at Su Yuqing. "Yuqing, get your... MMPH! Okay, okay! I’ll talk, I’ll talk..."

Only then did Chen Mo let go.

Zhao Yuanyuan was on very good terms with both Chen Mo and Su Yuqing. She had a quirky, mischievous personality, and even though they were all the same age, she always seemed like everyone’s little sister.

Both Chen Mo and Su Yuqing doted on her.

"Spill it." Seeing Zhao Yuanyuan rubbing her chubby face instead of confessing, Chen Mo raised his hand again.

"It was Lin Yu’an..."

"Yu’an!?" Chen Mo turned in shock to look at Lin Yu’an, who was sitting in the last row and watching them.

This startled Lin Yu’an, who immediately began waving his hands in denial.

"Yu’an is such a quiet guy. How could he be such a blabbermouth? Don’t you go falsely accusing him," Chen Mo said, giving Zhao Yuanyuan a speechless look.

Hearing Chen Mo’s vote of confidence, Lin Yu’an remained expressionless, but he was happy inside.

"I wasn’t finished! It was Lin Yu’an’s little brother, Yuxi, who told me. I ran into them yesterday, and Yuxi said you were on a date with a really pretty girl," Zhao Yuanyuan said with a smile.

"Then how did you know that pretty girl was Yuqing?"

"Oho, so it’s ’Yuqing’ now, is it? That means I guessed right! It’s not like we don’t have other pretty girls in our class, but who else would that little rascal describe as a ’really pretty girl’ besides Yuqing?" Zhao Yuanyuan said, chuckling.

"Couldn’t it have been someone from another class?" Chen Mo said, exasperated.

"I was just fishing for information," Zhao Yuanyuan said with a sly grin. "Who knew you’d confess without any prompting?"

"You dare trick me." Chen Mo finally realized what happened and raised his hand again.

"No more bullying! Mama Yuqing, save me!" Zhao Yuanyuan immediately dove into Su Yuqing’s arms for protection. She even shot a sneaky glance at Chen Mo before giving Su Yuqing’s full chest a contented nuzzle.

"She doesn’t have a daughter as scheming as you," Chen Mo couldn’t help but retort.

Su Yuqing smiled indulgently and gently patted Zhao Yuanyuan’s back.

Chen Mo also gave Zhao Yuanyuan a helpless smile.

He recalled coming to school back then and learning of Su Yuqing’s death. Zhao Yuanyuan had immediately burst into tears.

She had been heartbroken for a long time.

She really treasured her friendship with Su Yuqing.

"Holy crap, Old Mo, you move fast! When did this happen? How did you two suddenly get together?"

Chen Mo’s deskmate asked, quite surprised after hearing the news.

"You two, stop spreading embarrassing rumors. We’re just good friends, so don’t go around making things up all day." Chen Mo glanced at Su Yuqing’s shy and awkward appearance after hearing all this. Worried she would feel uncomfortable in the school environment where gossip could be brutal, he immediately warned his deskmate and Zhao Yuanyuan.

Seeing Chen Mo’s serious expression, the two of them obediently stopped talking.

Soon, more students filed into the classroom, and for the time being, the gossip died down.

During the morning reading session, the homeroom teacher would still pop in to supervise, preventing unmotivated students from disturbing the diligent ones.

Just as the homeroom teacher was sitting at the podium watching the students, a still-charming middle-aged woman suddenly appeared at the classroom door.

Chen Mo glanced over and saw that it was Su Yuqing’s biological mother.

The moment she appeared, Su Yuqing’s body visibly stiffened. She instinctively turned her head to look at Chen Mo.

At that moment, the homeroom teacher walked to the door and was saying something to Yuqing’s Mother. Soon, the teacher turned to Su Yuqing. "Yuqing, your mother is here to see you."