Pursuing Her Best Friend after Confession Failed-Chapter 145 - 103: The First Love’s Counter-chase? Accept or Refuse_2

But could he really make a choice? It seemed so difficult.

Before long, Wang Shuai, Wang Yuchen, and Bai Weixi returned, bringing a table overflowing with seafood. King Crab, Australian lobster, salmon, tuna, and more filled the table.

"Wow, don’t start eating yet! I want to take a picture to commemorate this and post it on QQ Moments," Wang Yuchen said, excitedly pulling out her phone and snapping photos of the various delicacies.

This scene reminded Li Yuan of the unspoken rule from his future: "The social media feed eats first." It turned out it had started as early as 2008.

Wang Shuai also snapped a couple of photos, grinning. "Thanks to Director Li for the treat. I’m posting this in the high school group chat to make them jealous."

Xu Zhi laughed heartily. "Zhongding and Zhen will die of jealousy when they see this amazing seafood feast you’ve posted."

Li Yuan smiled and added, "Right now, Zhongding is probably still in his cram school class. He likely won’t see it."

Xu Zhi smirked mischievously. "Yuan, talk about twisting the knife. If Zhongding knew about this, he’d definitely come after you." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Of their five close high school buddies—the starting five of Class 22’s basketball team—only Zhang Zhongding was repeating the year, while Yang Zhen had gone to university in Jinling.

Bai Weixi also sneakily took out her phone. While the others weren’t looking, she snapped a picture of a smiling Li Yuan.

After she was done, Wang Yuchen grinned and announced, "Alright, I’m done taking pictures. Let’s dig in! We have to help our great tyrant Li get his money’s worth."

Xu Zhi nudged Li Yuan’s arm. "Yuan, Shuai, want to have a drink? The alcohol here is pretty good."

Li Yuan looked at the feast on the table and nodded. "Let’s have some beer, then. I don’t like hard liquor."

Wang Shuai asked, "Yuan, you’re driving. How can you drink?"

Li Yuan smiled, glancing at Bai Weixi out of the corner of his eye, and said deliberately, "It’s fine. We can take a taxi home. If it gets too late, we can just stay here. There’s a hotel upstairs, so we don’t have to go back tonight."

He wanted to test Bai Weixi’s reaction, to see if his comment in the cinema about "waiting for tonight" hinted at any exciting activities to come.

Unfortunately, Bai Weixi showed no reaction, as if she hadn’t understood at all.

Since Li Yuan had put it that way, Wang Shuai and Xu Zhi had no reason to object. The two went to get beer while Li Yuan turned to Bai Weixi and Wang Yuchen.

"Bai, Yuchen, would you two like something to drink as well?"

Before Bai Weixi could answer, Wang Yuchen shot Li Yuan a wary look. "Li Yuan, what are you plotting? Are you trying to get us drunk so you can do something bad?"

Having his thoughts exposed so bluntly, Li Yuan was left speechless. Why did this high school classmate seem more and more like a green-tea bitch?

Seeing Li Yuan’s embarrassed expression, Wang Yuchen looked triumphant. "Hehe, I saw right through you, didn’t I? Bai, we’re not drinking. We’ll let these three smelly men drink by themselves. Come on, try the King Crab here! Buying one outside would cost dozens of bucks."

Bai Weixi suddenly gave Li Yuan a playful wink. Her face beamed with a happy smile, and she wore a helpless but endearing expression.

Seeing this, Li Yuan froze.

A flood of complex memories washed over him. They were often like this during their three years of high school and the first two years of university. Bai Weixi had once been a sunny, cheerful, confident, and beautiful "first love" kind of girl. Otherwise, she couldn’t have captivated him for seven or eight years, leaving a deep imprint on his memory across two lifetimes. But it seemed that since his rebirth, he hadn’t seen her smile like that. Every encounter with her had felt unpleasant... Watching Bai Weixi, who seemed to have rediscovered her past happiness, Li Yuan felt as if he had returned to his high school days, before he had the memories of his rebirth. A mix of indescribable emotions churned within him—a complex feeling with no outlet.

Noticing Li Yuan’s furrowed brow and troubled expression, Bai Weixi asked with concern, "Li Yuan, is something on your mind?"

Li Yuan looked at Bai Weixi. Her worried look was sincere. It couldn’t be faked. Shaking his head, he managed a smile and explained, "It’s just some company stuff. It’s nothing."

Seeing that Li Yuan was unwilling to confide in her, Bai Weixi felt a little disappointed. She spoke softly, "Li Yuan, don’t put so much pressure on yourself. In my eyes, you’re already incredibly impressive. If you have any worries and you’re willing, you can always talk to me. I can still be the listener I was back then."

Her saying that was one thing, but mentioning the word "listener" instantly sent Li Yuan’s mind reeling back to a high school memory. In the second semester of their sophomore year, he had bombed a midterm exam. His rank plummeted from a stable top-three position to outside the top twenty. His homeroom teacher, Old Wang, had given him a harsh dressing-down in front of the entire class and even called his parents afterward to report the situation. It was the only time in his life his parents called him from thousands of miles away specifically about his studies. They scolded him soundly over the phone, leaving him with a grievance he couldn’t voice. And it was on that occasion that Bai Weixi had become his listener. They were already deskmates by then. That evening, she intentionally stayed behind for over an hour after school let out, just to listen to him vent... Perhaps it was from that moment that he fell deeply for Bai Weixi. A few days later, he confessed his feelings for the first time and was, unsurprisingly, gently rejected...

Recalling the past, a pang of sadness struck Li Yuan. He suddenly felt the urge to drink heavily and eat ravenously.