Thirteen thousand thirteen

“He said he fell in love with me at first sight, and that he transferred to No. 1 High because of me.” Shen Yi felt as though her temples and her entire head were throbbing painfully. Under Jiang Yue’s relentless questioning, she recounted the whole affair in a half-dead voice.

Jiang Yue raised her hand in protest. “Those were all my lines!”

“It’s not the same.”

Shen Yi shook her head. Irritated, she slumped against the back of her chair, her mind blank as she stared at the ceiling.

It was completely different.

When Xu Qingyi had said those things, he had worn a smile that looked utterly sincere. Yet Shen Yi had been unable to see even the slightest trace of genuine feeling in his eyes.

Perhaps that was an exaggeration.

But her instincts told Shen Yi that Xu Qingyi was lying.

“Maybe that’s just the sort of person he is, and he was only joking with me.” Shen Yi found a reason that allowed her to rationalize the matter.

After all, the entire morning had passed, and ever since his sudden confession, Xu Qingyi had not said another word to her.

Of course, Song Yang’s presence had probably played some part in that as well.

Even so, being inexplicably confessed to by someone she had met for the first time had left Shen Yi deeply uncomfortable.

It was as if she were a slab of fresh meat that had suddenly caught the eye of a starving wolf from nowhere—and the wolf just happened to look exactly like that Xu Qingyi fellow.

This state of mind persisted until school let out that evening. Even when she saw Wen Que waiting by the entrance, Shen Yi could not summon a completely genuine smile.

Wen Que immediately noticed that something was wrong. Once they were in the car, he asked, “Did something unpleasant happen today?”

Shen Yi looked at Wen Que, hesitating. After a moment’s thought, she asked, “What kind of person is Xu Qingzhe from your class?”

Wen Que did not answer at once. Instead, he found the question strange and asked in return, “Why are you bringing him up?”

“A transfer student came to our class today. He’s Xu Qingzhe’s twin brother.” Shen Yi’s expression grew increasingly troubled as she continued. “He’s incredibly outgoing. He hit it off with everyone in our class right away, and he’s very popular.”

“Then he really is quite different from Xu Qingzhe.” Wen Que looked thoughtful as well. “Speaking of which, Xu Qingzhe didn’t come to school today. The teacher said he seemed to have taken a week off.”

Shen Yi had stayed up late reading comics the night before, and her thoughts were unusually scattered now. Suddenly, she came up with a bold conjecture.

“Could it be... that Xu Qingyi is actually Xu Qingzhe?”

Wen Que fell silent.

No, he had only meant that the two brothers probably did not have a very good relationship.

Xu Qingzhe had likely taken leave to avoid his classmates’ questions about Xu Qingyi and escape the attention surrounding his brother’s arrival.

But seeing the adorable expression on Shen Yi’s face, Wen Que could not resist playing along and teasing her.

“That possibility can’t be ruled out.”

Shen Yi did not realize in the slightest that Wen Que was making fun of her. Believing that he agreed with her “deduction,” she immediately became even more serious.

“The difference between them is far too great. Could he have multiple personalities? But whether or not they’re the same person, there’s no reason for him to confess to me.”

The smile faded from Wen Que’s face.

He repeated Shen Yi’s final words, one syllable at a time.

“Con—fess—to—you?”