NOVEL NEXT Chapter 23
Chapter 23: A Strange and Tense Situation:
Jia Ting was feeling extremely frustrated.
Not long ago, Hao Meng and Shi Yulu had come to the infirmary to ask her how she managed to get from the playground after spraining her ankle.
Jia Ting, being a close friend of Ji Yan who had a subtle relationship with Qin Luo, instinctively didn’t want to mention Qin Luo, fearing misunderstandings from her roommates. So, she casually said that a friend had brought her.
Hao Meng and Shi Yulu didn’t think much of it and didn’t ask further, helping her leave the infirmary.
However, Jia Ting hadn’t anticipated running into Qin Luo midway. The moment he spoke, she saw the misunderstanding in Ji Yan’s eyes.
Looking back, it would have been better to explain everything from the start. After all, she and Qin Luo had nothing between them…
Sighing inwardly at her lack of cleverness, Jia Ting maintained a facade of calm and said, “I happened to run into him during the morning jog. He was right beside me at the time.”
Hao Meng and Shi Yulu nodded, finding the explanation reasonable. However, Ji Yan frowned slightly and asked Qin Luo, “Do you have a habit of morning jogging?”
This question was understandable because everyone knew about Qin Luo’s past interest in Ji Yan. Sometimes, when she ran into Qin Luo at school, she would tell Ji Yan: “I ran into Qin Luo today, and he was doing such and such.”
If Qin Luo had a jogging habit, Jia Ting would have mentioned it long ago. But the fact was, he didn’t, making this coincidence worth pondering for Ji Yan.
“Starting from today.” Qin Luo replied casually.
Ji Yan then looked back at Jia Ting, and asked, “You said a friend took you to the infirmary… when did you and Qin Luo become friends?”
Her slightly accusatory tone instinctively irked Jia Ting. She felt she had done nothing wrong, had kept silent to avoid misunderstandings, and there was nothing between her and Qin Luo. Even if they were friends, wasn’t it natural among good sisters? Why look at me like I’m a thief?
She got hurt trying to help her!
When people were upset, they express it in various ways. Some get angry, some curse. Jia Ting was more cautious. Her expressionless face matched Ji Yan’s, and her tone turned colder.
“I just said that casually. We know each other, so if not friends, should I say strangers?”
“You could have directly said it was Qin Luo. Why hide it?”
“I didn’t hide it on purpose. I was just afraid you’d misunderstand.”
“If there’s nothing between you and Qin Luo, why fear a misunderstanding?”
“No misunderstanding is best. This is just a coincidence. Don’t overthink it.”
“I’m not overthinking. I just want you to be clear.”
“Haven’t I been clear enough? I said it was just a coincidence.”
Their back-and-forth was fast and cold, like a confrontation, tinged with a bit of hostility.
Hao Meng and Shi Yulu felt confused, sensing something was off. Qin Luo, more so, felt trapped in a bizarre tense situation.
As a single guy, why was he caught in such a strange situation?
…
On the basketball court, many were watching the scene unfold.
Qin Luo stood surrounded by four beauties from dorm 606. Aside from school beauty Ji Yan, Jia Ting, Hao Meng, and Shi Yulu were also top-tier beauties, the dream girls of many male students.
Yet now, they surrounded a single man, and Ji Yan seemed to be in a standoff with Jia Ting. The scene naturally evoked thoughts of two women fighting over a man.
A tall, muscular, crew-cut guy caught the basketball off the backboard, swearing, “Brother Chuan, this guy is getting way too much attention. Ji Yan is one thing, but now even Jia Ting and the others are crowding around him. Does he plan to take the whole dorm?”
“If you confessed over ninety times, you might get this treatment too,” replied a fair-skinned, handsome man named Wang Chuan.
Qin Luo being surrounded by beauties was just enviable to others, who would feel a bit jealous but then move on. But these two felt a stronger bitterness, as they had both been rejected by Ji Yan and Jia Ting.
Wang Chuan, a campus celebrity, was wealthy, having arrived on the first day in a Porsche. He liked attention, was smart, good-looking, and rich, admired by many girls, once even considered the school sweetheart. Naturally, he set his sights on Ji Yan, making a grand confession with a car full of roses, only to fail.
Despite persistently pursuing her for days, he never got Ji Yan’s favor and eventually gave up. Later, hearing about someone confessing to Ji Yan dozens of times, he mocked the person, only to find Ji Yan now actively engaging with that person, silencing him for days.
The crew-cut guy, a minor lackey on the school basketball team, had also been rejected by Jia Ting. Watching their former pursuits now cluster around the same guy, they felt a sting of resentment, especially since Qin Luo’s recent popularity overshadowed their own.
The crew-cut guy, growing angrier, said, “I can’t stand it anymore. The more I see that guy, the more I dislike him.”
“What are you planning?” Wang Chuan frowned.
“Relax, I won’t cause trouble. I just want to embarrass him a bit,” the crew-cut guy grinned, showing his white teeth, and threw the ball, shouting, “Qiang Zi, catch!”