Chapter 31

Idling in the store and feeling bored, Lin Zimo started playing with a Rubik's cube. For a beginner like her, this was nothing short of torture. No matter how she tried to solve the cube, she could only ever manage to complete a single face, which is the typical experience for most novices. Completing one face is normal, but just then, someone snatched the cube right out of her hands.

Lin Zimo clenched her fists and said in an imposing tone, "Zhang Yi, are you asking for a beating lately? Why do you always make a habit of grabbing other people's stuff? I finally managed to get one side of this cube solved!" What she was really complaining about wasn't just the interruption, but the cube itself—the single side she had painstakingly solved had been completely messed up by Zhang Yi. Anyone in her position would have been furious.

Zhang Yi smiled and said, "Well, then you should ask a genius like me to play with this. By the way, your temper has been acting up a lot lately and you can't seem to control it. Is getting your cube grabbed really enough reason to fly into such a huge rage? Could it be that you've hit early menopause?" As soon as those words left his mouth, Zhang Yi instantly clamped his lips shut. That was the absolute last word any young woman wanted to hear; everyone knew what menopause implied.

"Who are you calling menopausal?!" Lin Zimo growled slightly, grabbing Zhang Yi by the collar. Faced with Lin Zimo's fierce momentum, Zhang Yi didn't show a shred of fear—this was far scarier than Huang Feifan losing his temper. Lin Zimo merely gave Zhang Yi's arm a hard slap before letting go and sitting back down in her chair. "So, did you come here to drink coffee or to ask for a scolding? Pick one."

"I choose neither of those options. It's just that lately, I think I've fallen for someone, but I don't know how to express it. The best option is definitely not confessing over instant messaging." Lin Zimo immediately turned serious and said, "Then why are you coming to me? I have zero experience in this area. You'd better go find someone else."

Zhang Yi retorted impatiently, "Stop pretending. I heard all about you and Yu Xingyue from Xiao Jian. Don't think you can just play dumb and brush past it. You've been through this yourself, so why are you afraid of me confessing to Yu Xingyue?" Zhang Yi challenged.

Lin Zimo muttered inwardly, "That Xiao Jian is utterly incapable of keeping a secret. I'll settle accounts with him later. But since he says he likes someone, I suppose I can help him out so he gains some experience in this department; the rest is none of my business."

Lin Zimo then said, "Sit down and listen up." Hearing this, Zhang Yi sat down opposite her. Lin Zimo continued, "Actually, the process isn't all that complicated, but you need to have enough courage. In Yu Xingyue's case, he had the courage to call me out that night, and before I was even prepared, he confessed to me."

"Isn't that process a bit too smooth? Didn't any unexpected hitches pop up?" Zhang Yi asked.

Lin Zimo said indifferently, "Actually, I already held those feelings for him, I just hadn't expressed them yet. His confession allowed all those feelings I'd bottled up inside for so long to finally pour out at once. Perhaps that's why I agreed to be with him. Unless the other person is already harboring a secret crush on you, a confession is never that smooth."

"I certainly hope things are as straightforward as you say, but today's society is treacherous. You make friends only to find out you've ended up with a bunch of fair-weather friends—toxic companions who won't lend a hand when you're in trouble, and instead toss you aside like a used tissue. Who on earth is going to pick up a discarded, used tissue?" Zhang Yi lamented with a sigh.

Lin Zimo shook her head and said, "Aren't we getting a bit off topic? Still, what you said isn't entirely wrong; you still need to be cautious when making friends. I just hope the person you're confessing to isn't a manipulative green tea bitch. Nowadays, people always seem to have metaphorical green meadows growing on top of their heads—so green it makes your head spin."

"She's not a green tea bitch. Oh, actually, she's someone both you and I know. There are many things about this person that she's been hiding from me, and I only recently found them out." At this point, Zhang Yi looked out the window and smiled. How should he put it? There was just too much mystery left to fully understand, and if he wanted to know more, he had to take the initiative. In the process of this exploration, he had gradually developed a fondness for her.

A thought occurred to Lin Zimo, and she wanted to ask Zhang Yi about it. "对了, I heard you were dragged away to some place by a woman. Huang Feifan told me about this. Could that woman possibly be your crush?" Lin Zimo's gossipy side flared up, but Zhang Yi immediately denied it. "It's not her. That's a long story."

Flashback to the day Zhang Yi was dragged away by Li Li: that day, Li Li had forcibly abducted Zhang Yi without his consent, hauling him straight to the church where she hung out. At the time, Zhang Yi was extremely depressed. Upon being dragged into the church, numerous gazes fell upon this strange male. The church was packed almost entirely with women with not a single other man in sight, making Zhang Yi stand out glaringly.

"I'm saying, Li Li, isn't this a bit too weird?" Zhang Yi whispered into Lin Ling's ear. "With all these women around, is it appropriate for me to be the only guy? I honestly feel like these people are going to eat me alive."

Li Li patted Zhang Yi on the shoulder and said, "When I first came here, they treated me as a guy too. Later on, once they found out I was a girl, they treated me wonderfully. I'm just trying to prove whether this constitutes gender discrimination against men."

"So you're using me as a guinea pig? You really are..." Zhang Yi wanted to keep going, but the surrounding gazes made him too embarrassed to continue. He had no choice but to swallow his words and wait until they got outside.

"There's no help for it, this is something I've always wanted to verify. Once it's over, you can punish me however you want. How about I offer you my body—" Before Li Li could finish, Zhang Yi slapped a hand over her mouth. Zhang Yi stared at her with wide eyes and hissed, "You really have the guts to say anything. This is a church, Big Sis!"

Pulling his hand away, Li Li made Zhang Yi sit down in the very front row. "Just sit right here for now, I'm going to check things out upstairs." With that, Li Li walked away. Left completely at a loss, Zhang Yi felt the eyes of all the women behind him boring into his back. Suddenly, his vision went black, and he lost consciousness entirely.

Back in the present, Zhang Yi said flatly, "I have no idea why I passed out, but when I woke up, I was already at home. Huang Feifan was so relieved when he saw me wake up that he cried; I knew he was just worried about me."

Lin Zimo smiled faintly and said, "It seems your relationship with him really is that good. It's just a pity that homosexuality isn't protected by the state. If Huang Feifan has even a little bit of a crush on you, you might as well just yield to him."

Zhang Yi gave Lin Zimo a sideways glance and replied, "Well, that outcome isn't completely out of the question. We'll cross that bridge when we actually get there. Our idle chatter ends here." With those words, Zhang Yi set the Rubik's cube down and walked away. Lin Zimo glanced after him, then looked down at the cube—all six sides were now completely solved. Lin Zimo stared incredulously at Zhang Yi's retreating back, wondering how anyone could solve a cube while chatting away without even looking at it.

As soon as Zhang Yi left, Chen Siyu arrived. Lin Zimo sighed and said, "You aren't here to casually shoot the breeze with me like Zhang Yi, are you? The amount of information in Zhang Yi's stories was a bit overwhelming."

"Leave his matters aside for now; listen to mine first," Chen Siyu said.

"Spit it out, and keep it simple enough for me to understand," Lin Zimo instructed.

"Alright, here goes." Chen Siyu turned serious. "Actually, I have a secret crush, but this person has always been right by my side and I've never had the courage to speak up. I heard you got confessed to by Yu Xingyue—since you have experience with this, could you share some tips with me?"

Hearing that the topic was once again about romantic confessions, Lin Zimo was rendered utterly speechless. Still, she forced herself to patiently talk to Chen Siyu. "Zhang Yi asked me almost the exact same question just moments ago. What is going on today? Why is everyone jumping on the bandwagon and looking for a romantic partner just because they heard I got confessed to? Are you absolutely sure your brain isn't fried?"

Chen Siyu shook her head and said, "Back then, I always thought that as long as I studied hard, people would pay attention to me and become my friends. But Yu Xingyue once told me that single-minded thinking like mine wouldn't attract anyone's attention. Just look at the people who don't study well—they're the ones who get adored because they possess actual talent. Over time, you realize that someone who only knows how to study gets ignored."

Lin Zimo remarked, "I never would've guessed Yu Xingyue would actually counsel you. Did he give you any suggestions on how to change?"

Chen Siyu nodded. "He did offer suggestions. Changing takes a long time to adapt to, but once you adapt and transform yourself, you can let more people notice the radiance blooming within you. I truly envy how Yu Xingyue managed to change himself. Every time I see him smile, though, it never feels like a genuine smile—it always looks completely fake."

"You noticed that too? Yu Xingyue's usual act is just a way to protect himself; there's nothing wrong with it. It's also a way to avoid treacherous friendships where you might get stabbed in the back. He simply refuses to grow up and keeps pretending to be childish, but when he acts childish, he genuinely acts like a kid. No one really pays attention to him, yet that's the exact lifestyle he wants," Lin Zimo said.