Yang Wuluo stared at the WeChat message, overwhelmed with mixed emotions, not knowing how to respond.
She sucked on the thick straw, and with the "glug-glug" sound, the viscous white milk tea flowed through the straw, being drawn into her soft pink lips by her suction.
In her mind, she was stuck on the question: "My rich second-gen boyfriend, Lin Can?"
For some reason, she felt a wave of frustration. Her lips, originally pursed around the straw, began to bite it. She pinched the thick straw with her hand. If this straw were Lin Can, she would've bitten down on it—hard.
"Ah~"
Suddenly, her hand crushed the milk tea cup. The white liquid inside spurted out mercilessly, splashing across her face, her white shirt, and the white over-the-knee socks she wore.
She looked like a complete mess.
Other customers turned to look. A JK girl covered in sticky white milk tea was probably the most "dopamine-filled" summer sight imaginable.
The kind-hearted Qiao Meina pulled out some tissues and handed them to her.
Yang Wuluo thanked her, then awkwardly wiped her thighs and the milk tea on her shirt.
Just like after the college entrance exams, when Lin Can took a photo of her in the rain, he'd said, "Your white shirt's all wet. Everything's showing."
Now, Qiao Meina also saw what was starting to "show." She first gave a high compliment to this overly-developed young girl's taste—lace lingerie with front clasps—and then pulled a lightweight sun protection jacket from her bag and draped it over Yang Wuluo.
"No, I don't nee—"
"Put it on, or everyone's gonna see."
"Thanks."
"No problem. We're all girls here…" Qiao Meina helped her wipe the milk tea off her clothes and casually asked, "Why were you so mad you crushed your milk tea?"
"I…"
Thinking about it all, Yang Wuluo wasn't sure if it was "grievance" or just not understanding why Lin Can acted like that. Her voice choked up.
Qiao Meina realized that her offhand comment had touched a soft spot in this girl's heart. She quickly asked, "What's wrong, little sister?"
That "little sister" line established a clear seniority.
Qiao Meina never dared call Chu Qingning, Ayi Re, or Miao Youxi "little sister" to their faces—none of them would accept it. Why should I be your little sister?
"I'm fine." Yang Wuluo lowered her head, wiping the milk tea off her clothes while sniffing back her tears.
Ding ding ding—
Her phone on the table lit up.
Another WeChat from Zhou Xiaoxiao:
[Why aren't you replying? Your Moments are all heartbreak posts. Did you break up?]
Qiao Meina glanced at it and—ohhh, she got it. This girl just had a breakup!
Qiao Meina had never been in love, never had the chance to be heartbroken either, but she knew how devastating heartbreak could be at that age.
She tried to comfort her: "It's not a big deal. If it's over, it's over. Don't get so upset over a guy."
"We didn't break up. We were never even together."
"If you weren't together, then why are you crying over him?"
"I don't know what's wrong with me…"
"What do you mean? You didn't break up, and you weren't dating, but you're crying?"
"I…"
Maybe it was the bottled-up feelings over the past few days, but right now, the concern from this stranger opened the floodgates. She couldn't hold it in anymore.
"I really don't know what kind of relationship I have with him."
Qiao Meina pulled out a few more tissues and handed them over. Her long legs, covered in black stockings, were crossed elegantly. She leaned on the table, resting her chin on one hand. "If you don't mind, tell me about it. I'll help you figure it out."
Girls love hearing about other people's romantic drama.
Anyway, Lin Can was still parking. He hadn't arrived yet.
"Well…" Yang Wuluo bit her lip, then decided to speak. "We went to the same high school."
"High school romance?"
"We weren't in the same class, just schoolmates."
"Mhm~"
Yang Wuluo picked out the key points and gave a brief summary of the whole story.
"Do you get what I'm saying? I'm just so confused."
"You two had no interaction before. Then, after you did poorly on your exams, he comforted you. You ran into him again on the bus, scraped your knee, and he bought medicine for you, helped bandage you up, treated you well, and… hehehe~"
Thinking about it, My dear Canci is so thoughtful. All the boys in Yang'an are amazing. I'll tell my friends: if you want a boyfriend, get one from Yang'an.
"He really was good to me. That day, we had a lot of fun. He took such good care of me."
As Yang Wuluo kept talking, she only brought up Lin Can's sweet side.
None of the bitter parts.
And that's the thing—sweetness is the most bitter.
Because once you get used to sweet, the absence of it is devastating.
But she was still so mad.
"You fell for him that day?"
"I…" Yang Wuluo shyly lowered her head and whispered, "Mm~."
Qiao Meina got it. It was a one-sided crush.
"And then?"
"Then he took me back to my neighborhood entrance, and was about to leave."
"You just let him leave like that?"
"No!"
"Tell me, what did you do to him?"
Qiao Meina was loving the drama more and more.
Curious what kind of bold move this soft-looking girl might have made.
Ding ding ding—
Qiao Meina's phone lit up. Caller ID: [Canci]
"Hang on a sec." She answered right in front of Yang Wuluo. "Hey, Canci, what kind of flowers are you getting me? Alright, I'm at the milk tea shop. Come over. Mua~"
She hung up and turned back to Yang Wuluo. "So, what did you do next?"
Yang Wuluo clutched the tissues, heart pounding fast.
"I don't know what I was thinking at the time. After spending the whole day together, he was about to leave, and I panicked. At the crosswalk, I called out to him, ran over, leaned into the driver's side window, and kissed him. In front of all those people."
Even though it had been a while since it happened, just thinking about it now made Yang Wuluo's face flush and her heart race all over again.
Damn~
That's bold!
Qiao Meina was hyped.
She hadn't expected this girl to be so gutsy!
"Wait a second…" Qiao Meina suddenly caught something. "You kissed him through the driver's window? Didn't you say you met on a bus? How was he driving?"
"He went to buy a car that day—he said it was a graduation gift for himself."
"…"
People from little towns like Yang'an are really something. Graduation gifts… are cars?
Even a girl from the big city like Qiao Meina felt outclassed.
"What kind of car?"
"A Bentley."
Damn~
No wonder she can't get over him—turns out her crush is a rich second-gen!
Yang'an may be a small town, but there are lots of rich kids—and they love Bentleys.
"He's a rich second-gen?"
"Mm."
"From what you're saying, he was really good to you. He healed your pain, warmed your heart—then how did you end up depressed again?"
"Sigh~"
After bombing the college entrance exams, Lin Can healed her sense of failure—and then personally "wounded" her heart.
Ah, teenage girl troubles.
She'd given her first kiss to Lin Can at that crosswalk.
For the next few days, Yang Wuluo was scared. She didn't dare reach out, wanting to take time to calm down.
But the funniest part?
Lin Can was even calmer than her.
So calm that even now—right before school was about to start—he hadn't contacted her at all.
He… ghosted her. Wuwuwu…
"Then he went to Shanghai for vacation."
"It's normal to travel during break. But didn't he come back to see you?"
"He didn't come back. He went to Chengdu next."
"…He went to Chengdu and still didn't come back?"
"He didn't. He went to Dali after that."
"…"
Qiao Meina couldn't understand this guy's behavior.
Wait a minute…
Why did that travel route sound so familiar?
"Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"Not really."
Qiao Meina leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, studying the JK girl in front of her. Especially those long legs in the white over-the-knee socks. Really pretty.
Exactly the type someone liked.
Then she thought about it again—rich second-gen, Bentley for a graduation gift, local to Yang'an, just graduated high school…
Heh.
No way… right?
I just came to get milk tea, and now I'm sitting on a huge secret.
Ding ding ding—
Her phone lit up again.
Canci: [I'm here.]
Qiao Meina turned and looked through the glass wall—across the street, Lin Can was walking over, holding a bouquet of flowers.
Then she turned back, eyes landing on the JK girl sitting across from her, who was just beginning to experience her first love.
Still smiling, Qiao Meina asked calmly, "What's the name of that rich second-gen you were talking about?"
Yang Wuluo looked at Qiao Meina, hesitated for a second, then bravely said the name.
"His name is… Lin Can."