As dusk approached, the comforter on the rental bed bulged faintly.
“Xiaoyun, can you come out…?”
Qin Xue stood by the bedside. But no matter how she called, Xiaoyun wouldn’t respond. She didn’t even say a word.
It had already been ten minutes…
Her heart was racing, a storm of fear and panic twisting inside her. She was terrified—terrified of losing Xiaoyun just like this.
(Her imagination had already gone completely overboard.)
And it was all… all because of Zhou Yiyi.
No, that wasn’t right. It was her own fault—she had been too frivolous, just like her mother had warned her...
“I only have you now, Xiaoyun. If you even start ignoring me, then I…”
Qin Xue’s voice sank, heavy with despair. She was about to say something completely self-defeating—
“Don’t!”
A sudden voice broke through the gloom.
“I mean… don’t overthink it. I’m not mad, I’m really not mad…”
A moment later, a pale figure emerged from beneath the comforter. The girl looked flustered and nervous.
Qin Xue, seeing Su Yun’s face again, couldn’t care less about anything else. She lunged forward, wrapping her arms tightly around the smaller girl.
“Xiaoyun, I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have been looking for other little sisters before. If I’d met you earlier, I never would’ve done all that.”
Her tone was rushed, filled with panic and deep unease.
“Ugh…”
Su Yun froze.
She had thought Qin Xue was crying again and even lifted her head to check.
No tears yet… but it was close.
Was it because of her…?
Su Yun didn’t know what to do.
At first, she had really been upset after hearing all that—so upset that she curled up inside the blanket, sulking.
But later, she realized… wasn’t this basically just jealousy?
And they weren’t even in that kind of relationship.
Besides, it was normal for girls to go shopping and hold hands.
The more she thought about it, the more unreasonable her reaction felt. Guilt crept in, and she began to fear that Qin Xue might notice something off about her.
So she’d hidden inside for half a day, too embarrassed to show her tear-stained face.
But now… Qin Xue looked even worse than she did.
“Xiaoyun, look—I really haven’t contacted them anymore.”
Qin Xue released Su Yun and hurriedly grabbed her phone, as if she were afraid one second too late would mean she'd lose everything.
“Here.”
She showed the screen to Su Yun. It was the QQ interface.
She was displaying her friend list. There were only two groups: one called “My Friends,” and another default system group.
Inside “My Friends,” there were only a few entries.
But what really caught Su Yun’s eye was the number under “Special Concern.” It wasn’t zero—it was one. Her heart skipped a beat.
“I added the counselor and a few people I worked with during school events,” Qin Xue said quickly.
“I didn’t think much of it at the time, so I never deleted them.”
Before she even finished her sentence, she had already started deleting and blocking people at lightning speed.
One by one, the total number of friends dropped—from over a hundred, down to a few dozen, and finally… only one remained.
It took nearly five minutes.
Qin Xue had just erased everyone she’d ever known since elementary school—friends, classmates, even her current group chats.
“Now, Xiaoyun… there’s only you.”
“Eh…”
Su Yun stared blankly at the lone remaining contact. She had been watching the “Special Concern” number the whole time, and no matter how many people Qin Xue deleted, that “1” never changed.
And now she understood why.
But her silence only made Qin Xue more anxious—she thought Xiaoyun still hadn’t forgiven her.
“I don’t have many people on WeChat.”
Next, Qin Xue opened her WeChat app. There were quite a few contacts, but not many recent chats.
Su Yun already wanted to stop her at this point, but then she saw it—a single message at the very bottom.
“Sister Xue, Sister Xue, can you take me out like last time?”
The message was dated December 5th of last year—just five days before Su Yun and Qin Xue met on December 10th.
Qin Xue clearly saw it too and quickly explained, “She’s someone I met in the art department. We weren’t that close.”
She opened the chat. The most recent conversation was from one month ago.
As soon as the window loaded, Qin Xue felt a cold sweat trickle down her spine.
She had been the type to deliberately search for people on social media rankings, then approach those girls after gathering information.
After learning which department a girl was in, she’d ask them out to eat (at budget restaurants like Sha County), just like she had with Su Yun.
And there it was—her very first message to this girl:
“Are you free Sunday? Let’s hang out.”
It was shameless, sure, but in reality, Qin Xue had never done anything physical.
Most of the time, it was just one meal. She’d lose interest and ghost them, eventually blocking them completely.
Of course… there were exceptions. Like this girl—still unblocked, with an active chat history.
Su Yun’s eyes scanned the conversation several times. Even though Qin Xue had initiated things, the fact that it had been over a month since they talked made it seem harmless.
It should have been harmless.
But…
Why had Qin Xue deleted all those other people without a second thought, but hesitated for so long with this one?
Su Yun couldn’t help herself. She tapped the girl’s profile picture.
“Ah—Xiaoyun…”
Qin Xue’s voice trembled with panic, but she didn’t stop her.
Su Yun opened the girl’s Moments.
She really was cute—fair skin, petite build, a sweet little face.
So this was the type Sister Xue liked?
“Ah…”
As she scrolled, her eyes landed on a photo that nearly took her breath away.
The tightness in her chest surged again—she was gasping now.
It was a photo of that girl… with Qin Xue.
Together.
“I did think she was cute at first. But she has a boyfriend,” Qin Xue quickly explained.
Before she met Su Yun, she had met a girl who seemed pure and innocent. She thought she liked her, wanted to hang out…
Until she saw that girl texting her boyfriend on her phone.
After that, she lost interest. But she hadn’t deleted her—just didn’t have the heart to.
But now—
Qin Xue snatched the phone from Su Yun’s hands.
“Ugh—”
Su Yun flinched in surprise, about to start sobbing when she saw what Qin Xue was doing.
[Delete the photo you took with me. Thanks.]
[I took that picture with you, not so you could post it.]
A typing indicator appeared on the other end—the girl was online.
[You’re disgusting.]
Qin Xue didn’t give her the chance to reply. She blocked her on the spot.
Ding—
A phone call came in.
Qin Xue calmly blocked the number as well.
She knew that innocent little girl was probably freaking out—maybe even crying over what she just said.
But so what?
If Xiaoyun got upset over that photo, then it deserved to be deleted.
Let her boyfriend comfort her.
“They were just ordinary friends. If you don’t like them, I’ll delete them.”
Qin Xue opened her WeChat friends list again. She was about to start purging.
But unlike QQ, WeChat contained real contacts—family, teachers, close friends.
Her contacts included her parents, her counselor, and Zhou Yiyi from the club.
“No!”
Su Yun quickly snatched the phone away.
“You don’t have to delete anything else. I… I believe you now.”
“Really?” Hope flickered in Qin Xue’s tired eyes. She stared intently at Su Yun.
“Mhm. I was just overthinking.”
Su Yun set the phone down and leaned forward to hug her.
“Xiaoyun believes in me… she’s not leaving… hahaha.”
“Hehe—”
Qin Xue looked utterly lovestruck as she held Su Yun tightly in her arms.
So tightly that Su Yun, who had been the one comforting her, was now being smothered.
“Ugh! So soft… but comfy…”
…
They stayed like that—hugging—for a solid five minutes.
Su Yun, afraid she’d suffocate, eventually had to push her away.
“Hey, Xiaoyun, do you want money? I can give you all I have.”
“Hmm?” Su Yun turned, confused, and saw Qin Xue trying to send her a massive WeChat transfer.
“No!”
She stopped her just in time—the transfer didn’t go through because it exceeded the limit.
Saved.
If that much money had actually been sent… she probably wouldn’t have been able to repay it in a lifetime.
“I’m not short on money. Besides, like I said… the room might be small, but it’s cozy. I really like it.”
Su Yun quickly stopped her from doing anything else reckless.
“Okay, I understand.”
“Then how about I transfer it for you to hold on to?”
“No way!”
…
By the time 6 or 7 p.m. rolled around, this whole "jealousy incident" had finally come to an end.
Su Yun fled the bedroom under the excuse of cooking and refused to let Qin Xue help.
The problem had been solved… yet somehow, she felt even more nervous now.
Because of a “good friend,” she’d gotten upset over other girls and gone silent.
Then Qin Xue actually deleted all her friends, tried to give her all her money, and wanted her to manage it too.
This… this felt way too much like an actual couple.
“Ugh.”
Su Yun’s cheeks were burning bright red like an apple. That was why she had to run away.
She still didn’t quite understand what had just happened.
Why had Qin Xue felt the need to explain everything…?
Su Yun stepped onto a small stool, ready to make dinner for her.
(ps: Compared to that other girl, Su Yun is much more innocent—dumber, too. If Su Yun had never appeared, Qin Xue wouldn’t have liked that girl either. Between her and that girl, Qin Xue actually preferred Zhou Yiyi more… it’s just unfortunate she’s a psycho little sister freak.)
(End of Chapter)