Ten Years of Warm Words

Chapter 9

I must say, her voice is quite gentle.

You Ran was thrilled; she had finally managed to elicit the man's true feelings.

She turned her head expectantly and said softly, "What?"

If Qu Yun asked her to stay right now, You Ran thought she would absolutely agree.

However, Qu Yun smiled, smiled, and smiled again: "Remember, the social practice assignment must be submitted when school starts."

You Ran: "..."

Bai Ling was not lying to You Ran; Cheng Yuan had indeed left.

Bai Ling didn't ask You Ran too many questions about her departure, but simply told her to go inside and rest.

I lay leisurely in bed, looking at the ceiling. Without the light from the star projector, it felt quite strange.

Thinking of this, You Ran couldn't help but call Qu Yun: "Guess who I am?"

Unfortunately, Qu Yun had no interest in such childish games and simply said, "I don't know it."

You Ran wasn't angry and continued to ask, "What are you doing right now?"

Qu Yun said, "I'll answer your call."

"Did you miss me?" You Ran pressed on relentlessly.

Qu Yun said, "You've only been gone for two hours."

After failing to get satisfactory answers or even a satisfactory attitude for three consecutive questions, my leisurely enthusiasm vanished almost entirely.

"Qu Yun".

"Um?"

"Are we boyfriend and girlfriend?" You Ran asked softly.

"What do you think?" Qu Yun retorted.

This answer left You Ran speechless.

The leisurely conversation was no longer coming through the microphone; only the hissing and crackling sound of air moving was left, which was rather unpleasant to listen to.

"What's wrong?" Qu Yun sensed that You Ran was acting strangely.

"No, I was too tired just now and dozed off. I'll call you another day." You Ran ended the conversation with this sentence.

After hanging up the phone, You Ran kept rolling around on the bed. She accidentally rolled onto the floor, and the pain was so bad that she almost cried.

Just then, Ye Xiaomi called: "Honey, have you missed me?"

Look at Xiao Mi, that's what a real boyfriend should be like. You Ran can only blame herself for meeting the wrong person, or for having the wrong lover.

"Your voice sounds strange," Xiaomi sensed something was amiss.

"Someone wants me," You Ran confessed.

"Who is it? How dare they have such courage? Let me admire them first." Ye Xiaomi was very interested in You Ran's boyfriend.

"A friend introduced us, you don't know him." Afraid that her mistress would blab, You Ran felt she couldn't tell him yet.

“It’s a good thing that someone wants you, but your voice sounds off. You must be having some troubles. Come on, tell me what happened, so I, as an outsider, can analyze it properly.” Ye Xiaomi’s interests are first, gossip, and a combination of the first and second.

You Ran sighed: "This time, I was the one who confessed my feelings to him."

Ye Xiaomi shook her head: "A big no-no."

"Don't make it sound so serious." You Ran's heart skipped a beat.

"I'm asking you, during your relationship, were you the one who talked more?" Ye Xiaomi asked.

"Yes." You Ran nodded.

"Is he indifferent to you?" Ye Xiaomi asked again.

"Yes." You Ran nodded again.

"Has he ever said 'I love you'?" Ye Xiaomi finally asked.

“…Yes.” You Ran’s heart trembled at these questions: “What does this mean?”

"This shows that you are completely dispensable to him. He doesn't care if you're around or not. Since you've already confessed your feelings, he's definitely not going to pass up the opportunity. He'll just pick up a free girlfriend to cook and do laundry first." Ye Xiaomi never holds back when she speaks.

Upon hearing this, You Ran's heart sank. After a long silence, she asked, "Then... what should I do?"

"Break up, break up. A boyfriend like that is useless." Ye Xiaomi, always eager to stir up trouble, said, "July is the season for breakups anyway."

"Wait a minute," You Ran sensed something was wrong: "Have you recently broken up with your boyfriend, so you want me to keep you company?"

Ye Xiaomi started laughing it off: "How could that be? Hehehehehe."

You Ran knew that although Xiao Mi's motives were impure, his words were not without reason. In her relationship with Qu Yun, she had indeed been the one who invested more emotion.

"Life is too short. For the sake of our friendship, come travel with me to relax," the mistress said.

You Ran believed that the problem between herself and Qu Yun needed time to be carefully considered and how to resolve it, so she immediately agreed to the suggestion.

Since You Ran figured Qu Yun wouldn't contact her, she didn't tell him, grabbed her luggage, and headed out.

But You Ran never expected that the place her mistress wanted to take her to was Mount Hua.

You Ran was not like Linghu Chong; just looking at the mountain made her legs tremble, and she dared not climb it no matter what.

With no other option, Ye Xiaomi could only take her to stay at a hotel at the foot of the mountain for two days, making do with the leisurely atmosphere to cultivate their emotions.

After two days of trying to train her, You Ran either spent her time online or staring blankly at the screen with her phone.

Ye Xiaomi decided to use poison: "Are we waiting for him to call?"

"No." You Ran said something she didn't mean. For the past two days, she had been hoping that Qu Yun would call her, but he hadn't paid any attention to her at all.

"You're starting to hate him, aren't you?" Ye Xiaomi asked.

"Yes." You Ran spoke the truth; this time, it was love turned to hate.

“I have a way to make him care about you,” Ye Xiaomi said.

"What?" You Ran raised her eyelids slightly.

“Shout his name loudly halfway up Mount Hua, and then jump down.”

"And then what?"

"I'll film the whole thing and show it to him, so he'll always remember that a woman died because of him... How about that?"

Knowing all along that the people around her were bad friends, You Ran wasn't really angry. However, a thought couldn't help but pop into her mind: if she really fell, she wondered if Qu Yun would be sad.

"Let's go, let's go. We'll discuss where to go after we finish climbing the mountain." Ye Xiaomi handed the backpack to You Ran and pulled her up the mountain.

You Ran walked listlessly with her head down. After walking a few steps on the mountain path, Ye Xiaomi in front of her suddenly stopped. You Ran couldn't stop in time and her face bumped straight into his butt.

"Do you believe I'll just bite off a piece of flesh for you?" You Ran rubbed her nose.

"Do you believe I saw someone who's worse than a nightmare for you?" Ye Xiaomi shrank her buttocks.

You Ran, puzzled, stretched her neck over Xiaomi's body and looked ahead.

Oh no! There's a man standing on the mountain path ahead.

It was You Ran's current boyfriend—Counselor Qu Yun.

You Ran pulled her head back behind Xiaomi's butt and rubbed her eyes vigorously.

It must be a hallucination.

Ye Xiaomi spoke up: "You Ran, just a heads up, I feel like I need to fart."

The world is vast, but nothing compares to the power of the stench. You Ran immediately jumped out from behind Xiao Mi.

With that jump, the target was completely exposed, and You Ran was able to see Qu Yun more clearly.

Qu Yun was dressed in sportswear, without her glasses, and carrying a large bag—typical hiking gear. Against the backdrop of the green mountains, her face looked even younger.

You Ran was a flirtatious woman. One glance was enough for her to completely forgive Qu Yun's previous indifference. Without thinking much, she hurried over to his side, panting, and asked, "What a coincidence, what brings you here too?"

Qu Yun's eyes, filled with green and white clouds, evoked a sense of leisurely landscapes, but the way he looked at You Ran was too calm, making You Ran feel like she was nailed to the spot.

Unable to bear it any longer, You Ran couldn't help but ask, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Have you done your social practice assignment?" In such a beautiful and fertile place, this was the first question Qu Yun asked.

"Not yet." You Ran was a little taken aback.

"Then why do you still have the leisure to travel around here with other people?" Qu Yun thrust his knife in.

You Ran noticed that Qu Yun's tone seemed to have a subtle barb compared to usual, but she was still a little confused about what was wrong. So, she could only continue with the first question: "Um, why did you come here?"

Qu Yun raised her eyelids and looked at her mistress behind her: "So, why did you come here with him?"

You Ran wasn't completely stupid; she could smell the aroma of her favorite hot and sour noodles in those words.

Qu Yun seems to be jealous.

Ouyang, You Ran stretched out two fingers behind her back.

You Ran was about to open her mouth to say "I", but Qu Yun immediately asked, "Also, why is your phone off?"

"No?" To prove her innocence, You Ran handed over her phone.

Qu Yun fiddled with it for a moment and immediately found out the truth: "You didn't even know your phone was suspended due to unpaid bills?"

No wonder I haven't received a single call or text message these past few days; it turns out my phone was disconnected.

As for why she didn't receive a notification text message about the phone being disconnected, You Ran wasn't interested in finding out. What interested her was this: "How did you know I was here?"

"I found your home number in the parents' contact book, and your mother told me after I called," Qu Yun replied.

"How did you introduce yourself?" You Ran asked curiously.

"To tell you the truth," Qu Yun said.

You Ran started tugging at her clothes, her face flushed: "What was my mom's reaction after she found out you were my boyfriend?"

“I didn’t tell your aunt that I’m your boyfriend,” Qu Yun said.

"So what did you say?" You Ran had a bad feeling.

"I told you I was your advisor and wanted to inform you about the courses you failed last semester and the make-up exams next semester. Oh, and by the way, it's best to stay here a little longer and wait until your mother calms down before going back... What are you thinking?"