Chapter 33 Misunderstanding His Feelings for Someone Else + Shen Chaowen and Qi Yanye’s Relationship with Shi Nian

Chapter 33 Misunderstanding His Feelings for Someone Else + Shen Chaowen and Qi Yanye's Relationship with Shi Nian

"Turns out you really do remember..." Shi Nian smiled and shook her head. "Shi Yu liked a girl so much that everyone knew about it."

"..."

Lin Yao couldn't help but feel guilty. In fact, she didn't remember at all, nor did she know that Shi Yu liked Zhou Yanan.

How to explain it—she hadn't even finished the first grade of elementary school when she moved away, so she only had vague memories of their neighbors there.

The deepest impression she had was of the Shi family.

As for who liked whom in the courtyard, at her age, she had no concept of such things.

She only remembered the name Zhou Yanan after seeing the original text in her dreams, described through words, which suddenly jogged her memory.

In Lin Yao's memory, she only recalled that every summer vacation, a little girl named Nan Nan, who always wore blue dresses and dressed very neatly, would join their group of children.

Shi Nian was too aloof, so during the summer holidays, the boys in the courtyard preferred playing with Nan Nan.

Every time Shi Yu held her hand to buy snacks, a blue figure would follow behind them, along with a group of little boys.

Back then, Lin Yao was only focused on listening to Shi Yu talk about what he would buy for her today and where they would go play tomorrow.

Her eyes were fixed on the snacks on the shelves, and her mind was filled with thoughts of where to eat and where to have fun. She had no idea about the long string of people following them.

She also didn't know that the adults in the courtyard said Shi Nian and Zhou Yanan, who came over every summer to visit relatives, were the most suitable match. They joked that the two children looked so delicate and cute that they should be engaged as a couple.

It wasn't until she saw in her dream's original text that Zhou Yanan later reunited with Shi Yu in the capital and frequently appeared at events he attended, with rumors spreading about their engagement. They were clearly one of the official couples in the book.

Lin Yao was shocked. Goodness... these two had feelings for each other so early?

"So I'm really worried."

Shi Nian leaned closely against Lin Yao, revealing a rare look of concern on her face.

"Before our family's debt problem was resolved, I specifically reminded Shi Yu not to delay any other girls because we don't have the right to talk about relationships. Shi Yu seemed to listen, but a few days ago, I saw Zhou Yanan come to find him..."

"Zhou Yanan came to see Shi Yu? They've been in contact all this time?" Lin Yao immediately became interested in the gossip.

According to the book's description, Shi Yu and Zhou Yanan were childhood sweethearts who separated as teenagers and only reunited in the capital.

Lin Yao thought that at this point, Shi Yu just missed Zhou Yanan but hadn't seen her yet. It turned out they had been in contact all along.

Shi Nian sighed: "Originally, they weren't. But when something happened to our family, Aunt Xia helped us argue with the Song family in the capital, and that's how the news spread. Zhou Yanan's family is from the capital, and she probably found out then and came to see Shi Yu, saying that the Zhou family wanted to take us to the capital and support us until graduation."

Lin Yao: "..."

So it was their own Xia Tingnan who changed the timeline.

In the original plot, her mother never went to the capital to confront the Song family, so Zhou Yanan in the capital wouldn't have known about the Shi family's troubles.

Later, it was when Shi Yu went to college in the capital that they reunited.

Thinking about it, it made sense.

But she didn't expect her mother to become the key to bringing Shi Yu and Zhou Yanan together earlier than planned.

Lin Yao, "And you and Shi Yu..."

"We refused." Shi Nian lowered her eyes. "We aren't really familiar with the Zhou family. Besides, both Shi Yu and I are working hard to earn money. We can pay for our tuition and living expenses ourselves."

Ultimately, Shi Yu and Shi Nian's pride wouldn't allow them to accept help from others easily.

They stayed with Xia Tingnan and followed her instructions simply because the Lin family was fundamentally different from others in their hearts.

"If you've already refused, why are you still worried?"

Lin Yao didn't understand.

"Because I'm worried that Shi Yu suppressed his feelings because of what I said."

Shi Nian raised her eyes, a look of guilt in them.

"How to explain it... Youyou, you didn't see how Shi Yu acted when Zhou Yanan came to see him that day. The girl was being kind, and Shi Yu likes her, yet he couldn't even talk nicely to her. He... had a cold face and wouldn't say more than a word. I'm really worried it's because of me..."

Because she told Shi Yu to restrain himself and not easily get involved.

She reminded Shi Yu that he shouldn't fall into an early relationship, so her brother ended up hurting the girl he loved the most.

Lin Yao muttered softly, "No wonder he randomly told me the story of the green rose and the gardener. It was because of this..."

Shi Nian tilted her head, "What green rose?"

"Nothing."

Lin Yao shook her head.

"Don't worry. Shi Yu must have figured it out by now. Being too cold to a girl he likes will only push her away. He'll start making amends."

Lin Yao didn't betray Shi Yu but still comforted Shi Nian.

Shi Yu was so anxious that he sought her advice on love issues.

He must be the one most worried, fearing the girl wouldn't like him.

Shi Nian doesn't need to worry.

Lin Yao turned over and lay down. "Let's not talk about Shi Yu anymore... let's talk about Qi Yanye. What's going on between you two?"

The main plot twist was what Lin Yao had been eagerly anticipating.

Although her eyelids were heavy and she was starting to feel sleepy.

So she didn't notice the complex emotions that flashed across Shi Nian's face.

"It's my fault."

Shi Nian lay down next to Lin Yao, opened her eyes, and stared at the ceiling.

"But... I can only let him down."

It turned out that not long after the Lin family moved away, their house was bought by someone else, and a grandmother and grandson moved in.

It was Grandma Qi with little Qi Yanye, who was about seven years old at the time.

Qi Yanye was very thin and quiet as a child, never fitting in, completely different from how he is now.

Because they lived in the Lin family's house, both Shi Nian and Shi Yu paid more attention to Qi Yanye after they moved in.

Over time, Shi Nian discovered that Grandma Qi had no job and survived by collecting and selling scrap paper and trash. Qi Yanye could only attend a nearby primary school with a poor environment.

Perhaps because Qi Yanye was small and thin, he often faced harassment from some local troublemakers. He would come home every day with bruises, silently cleaning himself up downstairs before going upstairs.

Everything seemed normal, but there were things that weren't.

Their neighborhood wasn't cheap back then, yet Grandma Qi managed to support her grandson by collecting cardboard and bottles, and they could afford to live in such a neighborhood.

Moreover, every once in a while, a particularly luxurious car would appear downstairs in their neighborhood.

This was a car with a license plate from the capital, which was rare in Jincheng at that time.

One day, by chance, Shi Nian encountered Qi Yanye, who had been beaten almost to death.

She couldn't bear it and took Qi Yanye back to the Qi family.

That was when she learned everything from Grandma Qi.

It turned out that the Qi family had always been involved in education. Grandma Qi's grandfather was the former principal of No. 3 High School. Their class teacher, Stephen, had once been his student.

Qi Yanye's father followed in his father's footsteps and became a middle school teacher. He met Qi Yanye's mother, and they had a good relationship, eventually having Qi Yanye.

But when Qi Yanye was two, his father died of cancer.

At five, Qi Yanye's mother suddenly said she was going to remarry, moving to the capital.

Initially, Grandma Qi didn't want to burden her daughter-in-law after her son's death. In modern society, women don't need to remain widows, so she supported her daughter-in-law finding happiness again.

However, Qi Yanye's mother's new husband was reportedly from a wealthy and influential family in the capital.

Not only did she refuse to take Qi Yanye with her, but she also told Grandma Qi that her new husband didn't know she had a child, believing she had been married for a short time before her husband died.

If anyone came asking, she instructed Grandma Qi to say that Qi Yanye was a relative's child, her nephew.

She must not reveal any information about their relationship.

It happened to be just before Qingming Festival. Little Qi Yanye had returned from kindergarten, holding rice balls made by his teacher, which he hadn't eaten, intending to give them to his grandmother and mother.

When he heard those words at the door, the two rice balls fell to the ground.

Little Qi Yanye's first reaction was to turn and leave.

But his mother pulled him back, stepping on the rice balls with her high heels, crushing them.

That night, the five-year-old Qi Yanye, with red eyes, refused to call the woman "Aunt" no matter how many times he was hit, stubbornly refusing to comply.

He didn't have to call her "Mom."

His beloved mother was already dead.

He just didn't want to make things easy for her.

Later, Grandma Qi moved out with Qi Yanye.

She didn't spend a single penny of the money Qi Yanye's mother left behind.

She sold their old house and bought a new one in the new neighborhood, hoping to give Qi Yanye a fresh start.

But the elderly woman had no other means of making a living, so she could only collect cardboard and earn a little money.

Lin Yao, who was nearly asleep, listened and her eyes involuntarily welled up with tears.

"Grandma Qi has had it so hard... And Qi Yanye too, how pitiful he was as a child."

Shi Nian nodded silently.

Yes.

Back then, due to Lin Yao's situation, she felt guilty for being too slow to react and not protecting Youyou properly.

So when she learned about the Qi family's plight and that they lived in the Lin family's house, she naturally felt a sense of wanting to compensate.

Afterward, Shi Nian visited the Qi family frequently.

The Qis were educators, and Qi Yanye had a strong aptitude for learning, so his grades should have been good.

But he refused any compensation from that woman, even rejecting the private school she arranged for him.

As if in retaliation, he allowed himself to deteriorate.

Grandma Qi was very worried, but there was a generational gap. Little Qi Yanye was quiet and stubborn, having suffered his mother's betrayal at such a young age, which could have left him with psychological issues.

Later, it was Shi Nian who tutored him.

She became his little teacher.

The girl who seemed cold and distant would gently explain problems to him.

Driven by a sense of guilt, Shi Nian tolerated all of Qi Yanye's bad temper and deliberate provocations.

Over time, the stubborn and silent boy gradually became more cheerful.

He started to speak to Shi Nian on his own initiative.

Occasionally, he would even go out to play with his sister and brother.

By middle school, he worked hard to get into the same school as Shi Nian and made his own friends and social circle there.

Until the third year of middle school, an accident happened.

A rich second-generation kid hit Grandma Qi on the road, and she passed away that night.

Qi Yanye changed back into the quiet and sullen boy he used to be.

The parents of the rich kid brought their son to apologize.

In cases like this, only money could settle things; no one would be jailed.

But they probably thought their wealth could easily silence Qi Yanye. When they came to the hospital, they showed no intention of apologizing, instead boasting about how they had plenty of money to compensate, and that Grandma Qi deserved what happened because she was old and slow.

Qi Yanye, who had been silent for so long, suddenly lashed out like a fierce beast, pinning the unrepentant rich kid to the ground and punching him repeatedly in the face.

The relentless punches from the young boy were too much for the other person to bear.

By the time everyone pulled them apart, the other person was severely injured and rushed to the ICU.

"That's... the reason behind the rumor that Qi Yanye beat someone into the ICU."

Lin Yao sighed softly, never expecting the legend to be this.

"Mm." Shi Nian also sighed, "And that's how Qi Yanye and Shen Chaowen became enemies."

Lin Yao turned her head curiously, looking at Shi Nian beside her, blinking.

Shi Nian continued, "Actually, Shen Chaowen was Qi Yanye's best friend in middle school. On that day, Shen Chaowen was at the scene. He was worried that if Qi Yanye really killed someone, his life would be ruined, so he tried to stop the fight. But Qi Yanye ended up beating Shen Chaowen too."

Lin Yao: "..."

Shi Nian added, "He knocked out one of Shen Chaowen's teeth."

Lin Yao: "What?"

She was shocked awake.

Shi Nian looked at her, somewhat helplessly, "Luckily, it was a wisdom tooth... but Shen Chaowen lost all his face. From then on, he and Qi Yanye became mortal enemies."

Lin Yao: "..."

Such an unexpected outcome.

Lin Yao asked, "So... what happened after that?"

"After that?"

Shi Nian looked away, gazing at the ceiling above, her expression indescribable.

"After that... I lied to Qi Yanye."

At first, Shi Nian didn't notice anything different about Qi Yanye's feelings toward her.

Not until their third year of middle school did she realize that Qi Yanye was becoming increasingly attached to her.

His feelings weren't those of an ordinary friend.

It was a deep reliance, a lack of security when she wasn't around, and he would do anything she asked.

It made her feel as if she was raising a big loyal dog.

After reading a few books on relationships, Shi Nian understood that this was what people called a devoted companion.

Qi Yanye seemed to have developed feelings for her.

Given Shi Nian's personality, since she didn't reciprocate, she didn't respond.

Her kindness toward Qi Yanye initially stemmed from her guilt over Lin Yao, and later from sympathy.

So Shi Nian continued to interact with Qi Yanye as a normal friend.

Until two months before the high school entrance exam, Grandma Qi passed away.

Before she died, Grandma Qi was most worried about Qi Yanye.

She knew her grandson only listened to Shi Nian. Holding Shi Nian's hand, she begged her to look after Qi Yanye.

To keep him on the right path and prevent him from making mistakes.

But after the funeral for Grandma Qi,

Qi Yanye disappeared completely from school.

I couldn't find him again.

Later, Shi Nian found Qi Yanye in the old Lin family house.

He was leaning against the sofa, his dark eyes hollowly staring at Grandma Qi's portrait on the stand, not knowing how long he had been looking.

His entire being was disheveled and pitiful, as if he hadn't moved for a long time.

At that moment, Shi Nian finally tasted the pain of heartache for the first time.

She couldn't tell if she was heartbroken for Qi Yanye or for his state, like a pitiful stray dog that had been abandoned.

"I lied to him, toyed with his feelings."

"I knew he liked me, so I gave him false hope."

Shi Nian's voice was soft.

"I told Qi Yanye that if he could pull himself together and get into No. 3 Middle School, I would date him. In the future, I would even marry him and start a family with him."

"He would have a new home."

Lin Yao looked at her in surprise: "..."

"I'm really bad."

A desolate expression flashed across Shi Nian's eyes, and they seemed a bit moist.

"Not liking him but giving him hope. Qi Yanye finally pulled himself together, taking my words seriously and getting into No. 3 Middle School, but I had already prepared to go to No. 5 Middle School next door."

"After enrolling in high school, he found out I wasn't there. He came to No. 3 Middle School several times and fought with Shen Chaowen each time. Later, he realized I had no reason and was just lying to him, so he hated me thoroughly."

Lin Yao remembered what Huang Mao said: without Shi Nian, Qi Yanye was like a dead dog.

That must be referring to what happened after they started high school.

Shi Nian sighed softly.

"Yoyo, I'm a bad person."

Tears rolled down from the corner of Lin Yao's eyes without her noticing.

She wanted to say no, no.

Shi Nian shouldn't have such lonely and sad eyes.

"Wah wah, you're not bad, not at all... You were just trying to help him..."

Lin Yao suddenly cried and hugged Shi Nian's arm.

Her face rubbed against her arm, trying to give her warmth.

"You're the best, you're the best Shi Nian..."

Shi Nian's brow twitched slightly, and she couldn't help but look down at Lin Yao, who was crying for her.

No, she wasn't the best.

The best was the little sun that appeared in her life.

*

The next morning, Lin Yao unsurprisingly showed up in class with slightly swollen eyes.

Lin Jingtao: "Little Class Leader, what did you do last night? Binge-watch a drama, crying like that?"

Lin Yao shook her head; she couldn't say it was because of Qi Yanye and Shi Nian.

Lin Jingtao wanted to chat more but suddenly felt two sharp gazes behind Lin Yao.

He lifted his eyes and met the cold stares of Shi Yu and Shi Nian at the classroom door.

"That... I remembered I haven't copied my homework yet." Lin Jingtao shrank his neck and turned back.

What was going on today?

Even if Brother Yu's gaze was sharp, why was Sister Nian's also sharp, as if he would bully Lin Yao?

Here, Lin Yao had just sat down.

She glanced at Qi Yanye, who had come early and was sleeping.

Not looking was fine, but this glance made her eyes sting again.

Lin Yao gently called him: "Qi Yanye, Qi Yanye..."

"What, you're really noisy, you know."

The boy irritably raised his head, his black hair messy, and his brows filled with defiance.

His handsome face with drooping single eyelids had dark circles under his eyes, indicating he hadn't slept much last night. His whole demeanor exuded impatience and hostility.

If it were before, Lin Yao would probably have been trembling with fear, unable to speak.

But today...

Lin Yao only felt that Qi Yanye was extremely pitiful.

As the school bully protagonist, he was even worse off than her, the supporting character. He must be using his tough exterior to hide his vulnerability.

"Sorry, I just wanted to ask if you did your homework."

Lin Yao asked softly, as if she couldn't see the displeasure on Qi Yanye's face.

"I'm your tutor now. If you have any questions, you can tell me..."

Before she could finish, a shadow appeared beside Qi Yanye's seat.

Lin Yao lifted her gaze and met Shi Yu's seemingly casual but somewhat cold eyes.

Shi Yu... What is he doing here?

Qi Yanye, who was propping his cheek with one hand, also sensed someone behind him. He turned around and saw Shi Yu with an inscrutable expression, grinding his teeth slightly.

Qi Yanye: "What do you want?"

Shi Yu didn't look at Qi Yanye; his gaze remained fixed on Lin Yao.

Shi Yu's voice was slightly lower than usual. "Lin Yao, your mom called Aunt Da Shi this morning. To make it more convenient for your studies, they agreed that from now on, I will be your desk partner, Qi Yanye..."

Only then did he lower his gaze, his eyes cooling considerably as he looked at Qi Yanye.

Shi Yu: "Switch seats."

Lin Yao: "..."

Qi Yanye raised an eyebrow.

Tch, playing the parent card.