The Complete Guide to the Use and Care of a Personal a.s.sistant
Translator: Jury
Editor: NomNom
First Published on Chaleuria
Chapter Seventy-two
Su Yuyang froze. His gaze drifted towards Ling Miao, who stared out the window with his cheek in his hand. His eyes were half-closed and Su Yuyang couldn"t tell if he knew Su Yuyang was looking at him. Su Yuyang"s motions hadn"t been abrupt, so it wasn"t especially easy to tell.
A moment"s effort later, Su Yuyang returned his gaze to his phone.
Su Yuyang: From where exactly do you get that I like Ling Miao?
Yan Li: Old Su, do you think I didn"t see you getting jealous in front of the stage?
Yan Li hadn"t seen Su Yuyang"s jealousy firsthand, but Ji Linxi had. In order not to arouse Su Yuyang"s suspicions, Ji Linxi and Yan Li talked it overand agreed to take advantage of both Ji Linxi"s firsthand experience and the fact that Su Yuyang couldn"t be sure whether Yan Li had seen what happened. Yan Li would probe Su Yuyang, and they would use his response to verify Yan Li"s conjecture that Su Yuyang liked Ling Miao.
Su Yuyang: What did you see?
Yan Li: You and Ji Linxi were fighting over water. I recall that the concert doesn"t allow you to bring drinks in, but you had a bottle of water, which the three of you must have brought in to share. After Ji Linxi sang on stage, his throat would of course be dry and it"s natural that he would want to drink water. He got the water from Ling Miao and only took a sip before you s.n.a.t.c.hed it. You even put your mouth to the bottle. Your relations.h.i.+p with Ji Linxi isn"t so good that you"d indirectly kiss him, right? And then you had this expression as you looked at Ling Miao. That made me even more sure you have feelings for him.
Su Yuyang: My expression as I looked at Ling Miao? What expression?
Su Yuyang hadn"t seen his own expression, but he also doubted that Yan Li had clearly seen it. Yan Li stared at Su Yuyang, and as he turned his head to look at her, he met her eyes which were full of certainty.
She really saw it? Su Yuyang"s suspicion lessened a fraction. As his self-doubt grew, so did his certainty that Yan Li had indeed seen his expression. But it also wasn"t very reliable to conclude from his expression that he liked Ling Miao, right?
Su Yuyang"s thoughts drifted a little. Suddenly, his phone buzzed.
Yan Li: What expression? You couldn"t wait to kill Ji Linxi with a slash of a knife, and you couldn"t wait to announce to Ji Linxi that Ling Miao was yours. At this point I started to feel bad for Feng Ji. Think of him—he spent a herculean amount of effort to pursue you, but you were only together a short while before amicably breaking up. Not only did you not try to hold on to him, the impression I got was that you couldn"t wait for him to go find someone new. But Ling Miao—you two haven"t even had any real relations.h.i.+p progress, but already you want to eliminate anyone around him who might become your compet.i.tion. It"s actually the first time I"ve seen possessiveness that strong. Hey, Su Yuyang, I think you"re very childish.
Su Yuyang: What kind of h.e.l.lish logic is this?
Yan Li: Not h.e.l.lish logic. You want to keep hiding it, but you also can"t find a way to refute me. It"s your helplessness showing, that"s all. Give me a solid answer. Do you like him?
Su Yuyang gave a mocking laugh, successfully drawing Yan Li"s attention. Yan Li metSu Yuyang"s eyes confidently and Su Yuyang"s eyes grew darker. Yan Li kept watching him to see him turn toward Ling Miao, then despondently turn back to face her.
"Mm." Su Yuyang closed his eyes and his chin dipped.
"I knew it!" Yan Li patted Su Yuyang"s shoulder, her smile more crafty than ever. Su Yuyang suspected that Yan Li had played him—thinking more deeply about it, Yan Li had been absolutely certain from the start. Maybe she really was leading him. But even if she was, so what? Now that Su Yuyang had told his secret to someone, his heart felt much lighter.
But Su Yuyang didn"t enjoy his relaxation for very long before he saw Yan Li excitedly tapping her phone screen. He moved over to take a look: Yan Li was chatting on QQ with an ID he didn"t know. As for the contents of their conversation… eh, the font size was a little small and Yan Li"s hand was blocking part of it. Su Yuyang only caught sight of a few words, not even enough to form a sentence.
Yan Li was currently sending Ji Linxi screenshots of her chat with Su Yuyang and discussing with Ji Linxi how to make one of them confess their feelings to the other.
Ji Linxi: Let"s go for Su Yuyang.
Yan Li: Why? I think Old Su"s about to give up on Ling Miao. On the other hand, Ling Miao looks like he won"t let go so easily.
Ji Linxi: You"ve known Ling Miao for a while now, so surely you understand him a little. Ling Miao"s relations.h.i.+p with Su Yuyang was ruined by Su Yuyang himself. Ling Miao can pick up the pieces, but it will be different this time around. Before, Ling Miao didn"t understand his own heart and he thought that Su Yuyang disliked him. If Su Yuyang disliked him and he didn"t like Su Yuyang either, out of sight, out of mind was the best way to go. But now Ling Miao knows he likes Su Yuyang. When you"re hated by the person you like… everyone reacts differently. The feeling Ling Miao gives me is that, although he won"t give up, he won"t say anything either.
Yan Li: Old Su doesn"t look like he"ll say anything, either. Then what do we do now?
Ji Linxi: Provoke Su Yuyang. Ling Miao hid his feelings very well, but Su Yuyang didn"t! The moment Ling Miao gets close to me, Su Yuyang gets fl.u.s.tered. Once he can"t take it anymore, I believe he"ll tell Ling Miao everything.
Yan Li: You sure? How do you understand Old Su better than me?
Ji Linxi: He and I are both men. Our thought processes are more similar.
Yan Li was just about to refute Ji Linxi when her phone buzzed. Su Yuyang had sent a text.
Su Yuyang: Please keep it a secret that I like Ling Miao. You can"t even tell Feng-zi.
Yan Li: Why? Why don"t you confess to Ling Miao?
Su Yuyang: He… seems to already have someone he likes. I suspect it"s Ji Linxi.
"Pfffff—" Yan Li exhaled the breath she"d been holding. She clutched the seat and couldn"t stop laughing. Su Yuyang saw her laugh until her stomach hurt; he knew she had started laughing after seeing his text, which made him uneasy. He asked worriedly: "What are you laughing about?"
"I"m laughing because you"re silly." Yan Li clutched her stomach—she really had laughed so much it started hurting. Su Yuyang was even more confused and was about to ask further when Yan Li stopped laughing. She waved her phone and tapped at the screen. After a while, Su Yuyang"s phone vibrated.
Yan Li: Old Su, you"re so silly it hurts.
Su Yuyang: Could it be that the person Xiao Miao likes is not Ji Linxi?
Yan Li realized she"d said too much and had almost let the cat out of the bag. She quickly tried to salvage the situation.
Yan Li: As for who Ling Miao likes, ask him yourself. Old Su, I remember you"re not so thin-skinned. Take out your real thick skin and let Ling Miao see your talented side. Maybe he"ll fall to his knees at your feet.
Su Yuyang: You"re being evil.
Yan Li: You"re thinking too much XD
Su Yuyang didn"t continue the pointless argument with Yan Li, but her words had shocked him. If he were to ask Ling Miao who he liked, he might actually get an answer. Whether that person was Ji Linxi or not, Su Yuyang wanted to keep Ling Miao by his side. He believed that love would grow with time.
Su Yuyang didn"t reply to Yan Li, who didn"t continue to send Su Yuyang messages either. She and Ji Linxi were currently chatting up a storm, but what made Yan Li unhappy was that their topic of conversation was the matter between Ling Miao and Su Yuyang!
Heaven and earth, I want to talk to Ji Linxi about the two of us!
Yan Li wanted to cry as she unlocked her screen. They briefly discussed the plan to agitate Su Yuyang, then the conversation stopped. Yan Li glanced outside the window but couldn"t clearly see the street signs. She asked Feng Ji how long it"d take to get there. Feng Ji did some mental calculation and said, "Half an hour."
Half an hour! That"s a long time. I can"t waste it, can I?
Yan Li leaned to one side, which made it convenient to glance at Ji Linxi. His hands were folded on his stomach, his head tilted slightly upward and resting on the back of the seat. He looked as if he were sleeping.
Yan Li wasn"t sure how to strike up a conversation. Then she glanced at the flower behind the seat and had an idea.
Ji Linxi"s phone buzzed. He dismally sat up straight, yawned, and opened bleary eyes to read the text.
Yan Li: Thank you for the flower.
Ji Linxi: You sent it, anyway.
Yan Li: I sent it?
Ji Linxi stared at Yan Li"s text, then looked at the one he had just sent. Several fireworks seemed to be going off in his head. Yan Li"s performance on stage had infected Ji Linxi so he had taken off the card attached to the flower, hoping Yan Li wouldn"t recognize the true origin of the flower, but now he"d let the cat out of the bag himself.
Ji Linxi: Sorry,
He didn"t give a reason.
From the beginning Yan Li had been aware of Ji Linxi"s att.i.tude toward her, but now this flower delivery showed Ji Linxi"s… loathing… for her?
Yan Li really couldn"t find the words to describe the situation, and the word "loathing" slid quietly into her mind.
"Not loathing, surely?" Yan Li"s mood dropped into an abyss. Ji Linxi saw that Yan Li hadn"t replied and deleted his own half-written message.
Now the car had really gone silent. The rain grew heavier, pelting the windows as if trying to break the gla.s.s.
Feng Ji exited the highway and drove to Su Yuyang"s apartment.
Su Yuyang woke Ling Miao, who might or might not have been sleeping, and they left the car first. They confirmed that no one was following them, then called Yan Li to come out.
Feng Ji watched the three go into the building, then drove the car to the next stop.
"Your relations.h.i.+p with Yan Li has improved a lot," Feng Ji murmured.
Ji Linxi picked up his phone and waved it at Feng Ji, grimacing. "Now I know what it"s like to lie in the bed I made myself. My relations.h.i.+p with Yan Li will drop to freezing point from here."
"What happened?" Feng Ji"s curiosity was awakened and he even slowed down the car.
Ji Linxi gave a brief account of what had happened between him and Yan Li. Before he even finished, Feng Ji started laughing: "You underestimate Yan Li. She"s a stubborn personality you can"t beat down. The more you treat her like this, the stronger her fighting spirit gets. Either way, your life from now on won"t be very calm."
"As long as I don"t make entertainment mag headlines, that"s fine." Ji Linxi smiled helplessly.
"Ah, I"m the only single man left!" Feng Ji exclaimed.
(Actually, Feng Ji, it"d be strange if you ended up the only single man left!)