My Crush Also Has a Crush on Me!
Chapter 62: A Dream of Tender Entanglement

Chapter 62: Chapter 62: A Dream of Tender Entanglement

Outside the school, Shen Liguang stared at the school entrance. It was almost time for evening study, and sometimes he would see her and a few classmates heading to the nearby snack street for dinner. This time, he didn’t spot her.

Wu Xiaowu brought the car to a stop in front of him and urged, "Boss, what are you looking at?"

Shen Liguang pocketed the hairpin and got into the car.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Qian Zheng casually asked, "Boss, you’ve been acting weird lately, always staring at that hairpin. Is it a treasure?"

"Right, you’re also staring at the high school. Boss, is that hairpin from a female student?"

Shen Liguang didn’t respond, ignoring the two.

Qian Zheng persisted, "I think the boss took a fancy to some little sister during the fire drill at the school last time, huh? Tsk tsk tsk, that’s really beastly."

"Just last time we said, it might have been some female teacher he’s taken a liking to." Wu Xiaowu continued, "I hope the boss gets involved with a political science teacher, to give Qian Zheng a lesson in politics."

"Go play on the side. How can you talk about me when your online girlfriend—what happened to her?"

Wu Xiaowu’s face turned unnatural, "What, can’t people break up normally?"

Qian Zheng scoffed, "A normal breakup? I’d say it was one-sided fantasizing on your part."

Shen Liguang frowned and lifted his leg to kick the front seat, "Drive properly."

Qian Zheng and Wu Xiaowu fell silent, disgruntled.

...

Starting from senior year, honking was banned during the college entrance examination, and quiet travel was required. They happened to have a day off that day.

Fu Ying was planning to look for Wen Tian for a tutoring session, but instead, he came to her house.

When Fu Ying came downstairs, Wen Tian was sitting there very properly, while the two parents were chatting over tea.

Wen Qing saw her and with a cheerful smile, waved her over, "Little cutie, come here."

Although Fu Ying hadn’t had many encounters with Wen Tian’s mother, she felt the aunt was too enthusiastic, so much so that she couldn’t cope.

Fu Ying knew too well that going over would end in being manhandled, so her steps were sluggish.

Wen Qing pulled her over to sit down, hugged her, and kneaded her face with delight, "So soft, just like Xiu Xiu, ridiculously soft."

Fu Ying was helplessly tormented and could not utter a word, only able to cast a pleading glance at Fu Mingchuan.

Fu Mingchuan indicated his helplessness, avoiding eye contact and sipping his tea.

Beside them, Wen Tian was awkwardly uncomfortable with Wen Qing’s enthusiasm, "Mom, why are you pinching her face again?"

Wen Qing ignored Wen Tian, cupping Fu Ying’s cheeks with both hands and kissing them on each side, "When you were young, I used to knead your mother’s face like this."

Fu Ying finally escaped from the tormenting grasp, her little face red from the kneading.

Wen Tian frowned, "Mom, can you refrain a bit in the future?"

Fu Ying didn’t feel repelled, it was just the aunt’s warmth she couldn’t withstand.

"Auntie, hello." Fu Ying greeted politely and then sat down next to Fu Mingchuan.

Wen Qing loved girls; if she had a daughter, she would dress her up beautifully every day.

Unfortunately, she had given birth to a boy.

"Yingying, your mother and I knew each other when we were young, back then your mother was also like this, looking incredibly soft."

Fu Ying had little impression of her mother and hesitantly nodded.

Wen Qing could tell Fu Ying didn’t really remember her mother and sighed, "You probably have already forgotten what your mom looked like."

Fu Mingchuan’s face showed a faint sadness, "Yingying was little when Xiu Xiu passed away."

"She’s a pitiful child."

"Thankfully, Yingying herself is not weak."

Fu Mingchuan and Wen Qing talked a lot, reminiscing about the past.

The two children studied in the upstairs study room.

In the evening, as the sunset faded, Wen Qing took Wen Tian and left.

All of a sudden, Fu Mingchuan felt a wave of melancholy and locked himself in the study to browse through photos left by his late wife.

Fu Ying, carrying pastries that Nanny Wu had just made, stood at the door, hesitating whether to disturb him or not.

"What are you standing there for?"

Fu Yan arrived home, whistling as he climbed the stairs.

She stood at the doorway of the study, staring blankly like a penguin.

Before Yingying could speak, he approached nonchalantly, pinched a piece of pastry from the plate in her hand, and blurted out a heart-wrenching statement.

"Borrow some money."

"..."

"Bro, talking about money damages relationships."

"Talking about relationships costs money."

Yingying frowned, her small face resolute, determined not to bow to nefarious forces: "I don’t have money."

"Dad gives you several times more pocket money than me every day, how can you say you don’t have any?!"

Yingying sniffled: "I’ve spent it all."

"Then give me tomorrow’s pocket money."

Her eyes reddened: "I won’t give it, I need it."

"Just lend it to me first, and when you need it, I’ll pay you back."

"Can I trust your word?"

Fu Yan frowned: "What? Don’t you trust your brother?"

Yingying shook her head honestly: "No."

"I’m a man of my word, if you lend it to me, I’ll make sure to return it."

Yingying blinked, asking earnestly: "Bro, do you believe your own words?"

"..." Fu Yan tsks, "What kind of sister are you? Can’t you lend your brother some money when he’s in need? It’s not like I won’t pay you back, stingy."

"No way." Yingying bypassed Fu Yan and entered the bedroom.

Fu Yan scowled: "Alright, tough one, Yingying."

She locked herself in the room, sat at the desk, popped a piece of pastry into her mouth, and pulled out her cellphone from her backpack.

She logged into her secondary account to try and start a conversation with Shen Liguang on QQ, hovered over the send button for a long time, finally mustered up the courage to message him, only to discover she had been blocked, as indicated by a prompt.

Yingying stared at the red exclamation mark, taking a while to register what had happened.

She never chatted with this QQ friend after adding them, and yet she had been blocked.

Feeling dejected, Yingying lay listlessly on the bed.

Qibao rubbed against her, its fluffy fur tickling and reigniting her unyielding spirit.

She picked up her phone again to check his WeChat moments and saw that he had posted one – just a picture, with no text.

Yingying looked at it from all angles, zooming in and out, trying to discern something as significant as a flower within the image.

After exiting the photo, she saw that her elder brother had left a comment below: Can’t sleep through this long night?

Shen Liguang: A little.

Fu Yi: I’m downstairs, brought some barbecue and beer.

Shen Liguang: Going back to the base tomorrow, not drinking.

Fu Yi: How about some barbecue?

Shen Liguang: Sure.

Fu Yi: Then open the damn door for me!

Shen Liguang: ...

Yingying found herself with a low threshold for amusement; just seeing him chat with her brother had her laughing nonstop, as if he had once again left a vivid mark in her life.

Yingying lay on her bed, caressing Qibao.

Qibao meowed.

That night, the girl whispered words that stirred her heart to Qibao.

"I’ll tell you something shy – I... I really want to be his cat, to snuggle into his arms."

Through the endless night, the girl fell asleep with her heart full of thoughts, dreaming a tender dream.

Only the stars and the moon knew.