novelnext Chapter 579 - 567: Keep an Eye on Yinuo!
Chapter 579 - 567: Keep an Eye on Yinuo!
*Du Ruanqing?*
Qin Fan paused for a moment, the tense, cold look on his face softening slightly.
Forcing a smile, he said into the phone, "Sorry, I hadn’t saved your number! Ruanqin, is there a reason you’re calling?"
Wandering the streets of Jinling with one hand in his pocket and the other holding his phone, Qin Fan wore a bitter smile. Although Du Ruanqing hadn’t gotten to the point yet, how could he not guess the reason for her call?
It has to be about Jiang Yino. There’s no other possibility!
Sure enough, hearing Qin Fan’s softened tone, Du Ruanqing secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She quickly asked, "Um, Qin Fan, what on earth happened to Yinuo? Why has she been so distraught ever since she got back? Just a little while ago, she said she was going to buy us breakfast. Then she said she was going to lie down and rest for a bit, but guess what? She got into bed without even taking off her coat or her shoes!"
As soon as Du Ruanqing finished speaking, Qin Fan clutched his chest. His heart twisted as if pierced by a knife. He didn’t answer her, falling silent for a moment.
After several seconds of silence, Du Ruanqing asked again, "Hello? Qin Fan, are you listening to me?"
"Yes, I’m listening," Qin Fan said through clenched teeth, suppressing the surge of emotion welling up inside him.
"What exactly happened between you and Yinuo? Did you do something to hurt her? Seeing her like this is worrying, really worrying. Do you understand?" Du Ruanqing forced herself to push past her own anxiety, biting her lip as she pressed for a clear answer.
Hearing Du Ruanqing’s twisting-the-knife questions, Qin Fan took a deep breath. "Nothing happened! Don’t worry, Yinuo will be fine after some rest. I, Qin Fan, would never do anything to wrong her. Not now, and not ever!"
Having said his piece, Qin Fan couldn’t let the call go on. He didn’t know how to answer the questions Du Ruanqing was bound to ask next. He pulled the phone from his ear and slid his finger across the screen to end the call.
"Hello? Hello? Qin Fan! Hello, hello!"
On the other end, Du Ruanqing was stunned when Qin Fan suddenly hung up on her. After calling his name a few more times, she just stared blankly at her phone.
Why did he just hang up? And he claims nothing happened? Damn it, are all men such bastards? It’s so easy for him to say he’d never wrong her, but has he even seen the state Yinuo is in? I guess all men really are cut from the same cloth!
"What’s wrong, Ruanqin?" Ou Mingsi asked quickly from the side.
"He hung up," Du Ruanqing said.
"What? He hung up? What did he say? Did something happen between him and Yinuo?"
"I don’t know! He basically said nothing! That bastard. He must have done or said something to hurt Yinuo; there’s no other explanation! Hanging up on me like that... he’s definitely got a guilty conscience!"
"So what should we do?" Ou Mingsi asked with a frown.
"Let’s focus on comforting Yinuo and trying to cheer her up first. As for everything else, we’ll just have to take it one step at a time." With that, Du Ruanqing pursed her lips and turned to walk back to their dorm room.
「Meanwhile, in the campus supermarket.」
Amber was arranging goods on the shelves when her phone rang, and she was instantly on alert. The only person who ever contacted her on this phone was Qin Fan. Glancing at the students crowding the aisles to pick out items, she wore a grave expression as she walked quickly into the storage room.
She pulled out her phone, answered the call, and said respectfully, "Master!"
Qin Fan’s cold voice came through with a single command: "Watch over Yinuo."
"Yes, sir!" Amber didn’t question the sudden order, replying with a solemn voice.
And with that brief exchange, the call ended.
Putting her phone away, Amber walked out of the storage room. Ignoring the ogling gazes from the male students, she strode haughtily out of the supermarket. She looked up in the direction of the women’s dormitory, then pressed a button on her watch.
BEEP!
An image immediately appeared on the watch face: the surveillance feed for Dorm 306.
"My lady, you have to be alright," Amber murmured as if in a dream. Knowing that Qin Fan’s sudden call must be serious, she started walking toward the women’s dormitory.
Inside the dorm room, Du Ruanqing sat by Jiang Yino’s bed and asked softly, "Yinuo, are you asleep?"
There was no response. Curled up under the blankets, Jiang Yino had a tormented expression on her face.
"I know you’re not asleep. Is there something bothering you that you can talk to us about? We can help you figure it out. Please don’t be like this. We’re worried about you," Du Ruanqing continued, gently trying to coax her into speaking.
"That’s right, Yinuo! It’s just some scumbag, right? What woman doesn’t run into a few of those in her life? You have to move on! Men are all bastards. They say all sorts of nice things, like ’I’ll cherish you and our youth together,’ but in the end, they’re all the same! So if you’re like this because of some boy, it’s not worth it. It’s really not worth it!" Ou Mingsi chimed in, also trying to console her.
Her words, however, earned her a fierce glare from Du Ruanqing. Annoyed, she shot Ou Mingsi a look before turning back to Jiang Yino. "Yinuo, I know everyone has their own secrets and things that are hard to talk about. Fine, we won’t force you to say anything. But just think, is there any point to this? What can you possibly change besides adding to your own misery?
"They say that from the moment we’re born, our lives are predestined by a Sovereign fate. When you think about it, it makes sense. A person’s path of growth, their life experiences, the various people who come and go... you could call it karma, opportunity, or destiny, and it wouldn’t be a stretch. So, you need to look at it from a different perspective and not put so much pressure on yourself. Some paths are simply carved by the hand of fate. What’s meant to be yours will be yours, and what isn’t can’t be forced. Yinuo, you—"
Before Du Ruanqing could finish, Jiang Yino threw off her blanket. Strands of her messy hair fell across her face as she forced a painful smile. She looked at her two friends and said softly, "I’m fine, I’m really fine. Please, stop talking, okay? Just let me be. It’s not what you think. Qin Fan didn’t do anything to wrong me, and he didn’t hurt me. There was no conflict or friction between us, I swear. I’m not lying to you. It’s my own problem. Please just let me be alone for a bit, can you?"
"Is that really true? Qin Fan didn’t wrong you?" Ou Mingsi asked naively.
"Yes, really," Jiang Yino replied with a bitter smile.
My mind is a complete mess! Far from wronging me, Qin Fan treasures me like a precious gem. It’s just... I’m having a hard time accepting his way of caring for me. But how could I possibly explain any of this to them?
Seeing the bitterness on Jiang Yino’s face, Du Ruanqing’s expression grew complicated. Faced with this response, she suddenly didn’t know what more to say. "Okay, then. We won’t bother you. We’ll leave you in peace."
"Thank you." Jiang Yino nodded with a faint smile. She didn’t pull the blanket back over her head, but she did turn on her side to face away from them.