Chapter 148: Gu Yifan’s Secret

Chapter 148: Chapter 148: Gu Yifan’s Secret

"Wipe that cheeky grin off your face!"

Chen Dongmei shot him a glare and snapped, "Hurry up and deal with this Su Qinghe situation properly. If you don’t, you’ll have me to answer to!"

"Uh..."

Gu Yifan said with a helpless look, "I never said I didn’t like her, did I?"

"You like her?"

The moment he said that, Chen Dongmei’s brow twitched in displeasure. "You like her? If you like her, then why are you still hung up on Han Jianzhang’s daughter? If you like her, why haven’t you confessed your feelings? If you like her, why aren’t you together with her after all this time?!"

"..."

Gu Yifan was completely floored by his mom’s rapid-fire barrage of questions.

"That’s not it, Mom. Who told you I’m still hung up on Han Ning?!" he asked, exasperated.

"You’re not?" Chen Dongmei asked doubtfully.

"I’m not!" Gu Yifan said firmly.

"Pfft."

"As if I don’t know my own son? Don’t bother putting on an act for me!"

Chen Dongmei scoffed.

Gu Yifan insisted, "I’m serious, Mom! I’m really not!"

Seeing him stubbornly refuse to admit it, Chen Dongmei waved a dismissive hand. "Alright, alright! I’ve seen how you’ve treated that Han Ning girl all these years. Your mother isn’t blind, you know!"

"..."

’Great.’

’Looks like nothing I say is going to make a difference!’

he thought with a sense of helplessness.

’Forget it.’

’He couldn’t be bothered to explain. He’d just let his mom believe whatever she wanted.’

’After all, he knew the truth.’

Seeing him fall silent again, Chen Dongmei grew even more furious.

She said coldly, "In any case, I don’t care whether you’re still thinking about that Han Ning girl or not. But when it comes to Qinghe, you absolutely cannot let her get hurt! Otherwise, don’t blame me for disowning you as my son!"

"Uh..."

Gu Yifan said helplessly, "Mom, isn’t that a bit much?"

"It is!"

Chen Dongmei bit out each word.

Seeing his mother’s firm stance, Gu Yifan couldn’t be bothered to argue any further.

He shook his head in resignation. "Alright, Mom, don’t be angry. I know what I’m doing. I won’t let her get hurt, okay?"

Hearing him say that, Chen Dongmei’s expression finally softened a little.

She frowned and warned, "You’d better remember what you said today!"

...

「3:30 in the afternoon.」

「Inside the Mountain City Flower Language Milk Tea Shop.」

"Brother Fan, are you really not planning to go to Qingbei?"

Wang Zibo took a sip of his milk tea before asking Gu Yifan, who was sitting across from him.

"That’s right."

"But why?"

Wang Zibo asked, confused.

’He could almost understand why Gu Yifan had turned down the early admission from Qingbei before. You could say it was because he wanted to take the college entrance exam to show off... scratch that, it was to prove his own abilities and give his high school years a perfect send-off, leaving him with no regrets. As weird as that reasoning was, Wang Zibo could reluctantly accept it.’

’But!’

’The problem was, the college entrance exam was over now. The results were out. He’d had his moment to show off as the top scorer... uh, he’d had his time in the limelight!’

’Now, Qingbei and several other top universities had once again extended him offers!’

’And man, the terms they were offering were way more extravagant than the ones for early admission!’

’Logically, he should have just quietly taken the scholarship money and gladly accepted an offer from Qingbei or one of the others!’

’But!’

’He never in a million years imagined that Gu Yifan would reject Qingbei yet again!’

’The top scorer in the college entrance exam, getting scouted by Qingbei!’

’If this had happened to anyone else, they’d probably be so happy they’d wet themselves laughing in their sleep!’

’Was this just how top students thought, so different from regular people?’

’Yeah!’

’That had to be it.’

’Otherwise, he really couldn’t find any other explanation for Gu Yifan’s baffling behavior...’

In response to his friend’s confused question, Gu Yifan picked up his milk tea, took a sip, then looked up at him and said nonchalantly, "There’s no reason. I just don’t feel like going."

"..."

’He... He was speechless.’

’All he could think was, ’What a legend!’’

"What about Sister-in-law, then?"

"Didn’t she get the second-highest score in the whole province?"

"If she goes to Qingbei, won’t you two have to do long-distance for all four years of university?"

Wang Zibo asked curiously.

Hearing him call her "Sister-in-law," a faint blush crept onto Su Qinghe’s cheeks. She said softly, "I’m not going to Qingbei, either."

"Huh?"

Wang Zibo could hardly believe his ears. He glanced at Su Qinghe, then whipped his head back to Gu Yifan.

Seeing his utterly bewildered expression, Gu Yifan added, "She’s coming with me. She turned down Qingbei, too."

"..."

’This time he was well and truly speechless.’

’It was one thing for one of them to refuse, but for both of them to refuse together!’

’Is there something wrong with this couple!?’

"Hey! What’s with that look?"

Gu Yifan snapped, seeing the weird look he was giving him and Su Qinghe.

"Huh?"

Snapping out of it, Wang Zibo quickly waved his hands. "Nothing, nothing!"

He immediately changed the subject. "By the way, Brother Fan, where are you and Sister-in-law Qinghe planning to go, then?"

Gu Yifan could easily see what he was thinking. He rolled his eyes at him in resignation and said, "We’re going to Jinling."

"Jinling?"

Wang Zibo froze for a second.

"Wait, Brother Fan, are there any top universities in Jinling?" he asked, puzzled.

"..."

Gu Yifan was speechless.

"You’d better hope no one from Jinling University ever hears you say that. If they do, not even Jesus will be able to save you," Gu Yifan said, his lip twitching in annoyance.

"Uh..."

Wang Zibo then remembered that Jinling University was, in fact, one of the top ten universities in the country.

"Ahem."

He asked awkwardly, "So... Brother Fan, Sister-in-law Qinghe, does that mean you’re both going to Jinling University?"

"That’s right."

Gu Yifan confirmed it without hesitation.

But Wang Zibo was still confused. "But why, Brother Fan? Why are you so set on going to Jinling?"

In truth, he wasn’t the only one. Su Qinghe didn’t really understand why Gu Yifan was so insistent on going to university in Jinling either. But since he hadn’t brought it up, she hadn’t asked.

For a sweet, simple girl like Su Qinghe, it didn’t matter. Wherever Gu Yifan went, she would go. As long as she was with him, that was all that mattered.

At this question, Gu Yifan’s movements faltered.

He lowered his head, staring at the milk tea in his hand. His gaze grew distant, as if he were lost in a memory...

Seeing that he was lost in thought, Wang Zibo didn’t disturb him. He just watched him quietly, waiting for an answer.

But after a long moment, when Gu Yifan came back to his senses, he acted as if nothing had happened.

Noticing Wang Zibo staring at him, Gu Yifan said casually, "There’s no reason. I just like Jinling."

"..."

He felt completely exasperated by that answer.

’That’s the same as saying nothing at all! You might as well have not said anything!’

he complained silently in his head.

’But he could tell one thing: Gu Yifan was hiding a secret.’

「Meanwhile, at Cuihu District, the mother-daughter pair of Ye Wanqing and Han Ning appeared at Gu Yifan’s front door, carrying a fruit basket...」