Pursuing Her Best Friend after Confession Failed-Chapter 40 - 39 On the Self-Cultivation of a Playboy
Li Yuan watched Bai Weixi cry her heart out and felt extremely elated.
Serves you right for stringing me along in our past life and learning the ways of a ’green tea’ girl who keeps men on the hook. The debt from our past life will be paid in this one. Just you watch, I’ll torture you to death. This life, let’s see who has the higher skill level and who’s better at this game. Perhaps I lived such a miserable life before that even the Daoist Ancestor of the Three Pure Ones couldn’t stand it anymore. That must be why they let me be reborn to collect this debt...
Suddenly, a song popped into Li Yuan’s mind. It was by a female singer that Bai Weixi used to like, and she had even sung it to him back in high school.
I didn’t understand the song’s meaning back then and was left to pass the years in sorrow.
Under Bai Weixi’s red, tear-filled gaze, Li Yuan put on a deeply affectionate act and spoke in a low, melancholic voice, "Bai, may I request a song?"
Bai Weixi just stared blankly, not uttering a word.
Li Yuan continued to hum to himself, "You said holding hands was a promise, but my dear, that isn’t love..."
She had specially sung this song, "My Dear, That Isn’t Love," for him while playing her violin. This happened during their senior year before the college entrance exams, just as he was preparing to confess his feelings. At the time, he didn’t understand, simply thinking she really liked the song.
Looking back now, he realized there was probably never a future for them. He might have breached her defenses at some point, but the past version of him was never Bai Weixi’s ideal choice. In his past life, he simply wanted to be good to her, to give her everything he had. But even after all that effort, what did it amount to?
Li Yuan sighed softly, looking at the immortal-like figure of his first love before him and shaking his head slightly.
If I’d had Principal Wang’s wealth in my past life, even as a playboy, countless girls just as beautiful as Bai Weixi would have thrown themselves at me. And a ’green tea’ girl like Bai Weixi would have been completely obedient... That’s reality! If a man doesn’t want to be kept by a woman, he’d better have a thick wallet. That’s a man’s true backbone. Everything else is nonsense.
Bai Weixi stared at Li Yuan, scenes of his kindness flashing through her mind. For some reason, the Li Yuan before her felt like a complete stranger. He was right there, yet he seemed as distant as the horizon.
A pain pierced Bai Weixi’s heart. She stared at him with wide eyes and demanded in a hoarse voice, "But you’ve already kissed me. Don’t you plan on taking responsibility?"
"If holding hands isn’t a promise, what makes a kiss any different?" Li Yuan shook his head. "In this day and age, a kiss means nothing. Heck, even if we went all the way, it would still mean nothing. Let’s go. I’ll take you to your dorm."
Hearing Li Yuan’s cold words, Bai Weixi gave him a deep look, as if to burn his image into her mind. She suddenly grabbed her suitcase and stormed off without a backward glance.
Just as Li Yuan was about to chase after her, Bai Weixi’s cold voice reached his ears.
"Don’t follow me. From now on, you and I have nothing to do with each other."
"Goodbye, Li Yuan!"
Li Yuan stopped in his tracks, watching Bai Weixi’s departing figure and feeling an unexpected sense of loss.
Damn it. I wanted to drag things out a bit, to learn how to keep a fish on the hook, and this one has already jumped out of the pond and run off? Well, the fish can run, but the pond can’t. Since we’re both at Daxia University, I’ll toy with you until you’re so smitten you won’t know what hit you...
After spitting out those angry words, Bai Weixi noticed that Li Yuan really hadn’t followed her. The more she thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt, and tears began to stream down her face once again. On her way, several upperclassmen tried to hit on her, but she coldly rejected them all.
Stupid Li Yuan, mean Li Yuan! Why do you hold such a grudge? It was just a song I sang a long time ago, and you had to read so much into it just to mock me. I swear, I’ll never speak to you again!
Her beautiful fantasies about university life were shattered by her encounter with Li Yuan today.
Pushing open the door to her dorm, Bai Weixi saw Zhong Tingyue, Ding Shanshan, and another tall, long-haired girl cleaning up. She held back her tears, forced a smile, and greeted them, "Hi everyone, you all got here so early!"
The moment Zhong Tingyue saw Bai Weixi, she was stunned by her beauty. Zhong Tingyue herself had been a campus belle in high school, but in terms of face and figure, Bai Weixi was her equal.
She’s my roommate? It looks like she was just crying.
Zhong Tingyue also greeted her with a smile. "Hello, I’m Zhong Tingyue. Welcome to dorm A-1314."
Ding Shanshan chimed in, "My name is Ding Shanshan."
The other girl spoke up as well, "I’m Xu Tingrou."
Bai Weixi’s gaze swept across the room, lingering for an extra moment on Zhong Tingyue.
"I’m Bai Weixi."
Li Yuan spent over an hour strolling around campus. His eyes, always sharp when it came to spotting beauty, found solace among the dazzling upperclasswomen and innocent first-year students, soothing his wounded spirit.
Who says only girls with bad grades are pretty? That’s complete nonsense.
At Daxia University, a "Project 985" institution, the quality of the female students was quite impressive—far better than at the Tech University he attended in his past life. As expected of a Project 985 normal university, it was in a different league.
Back at his dorm in Lan Yuan, besides Yi Jing, the simple boy from the northwest, there were two new faces.
"Dude, you’re Li Yuan?" asked a fair-skinned boy who stood about 1.74 meters tall. He was dressed stylishly in tight casual pants and wore a watch.
Li Yuan nodded with a smile. "Bro, what’s your name?"
"I’m Zhou Tianyu, from Guanyun," he said, full of confidence.
Li Yuan asked in confusion, "Where’s Guanyun?"
"The lingerie capital of the world, and you don’t know it?" Zhou Tianyu’s eyes bulged as if he were looking at an alien.
"I honestly don’t. Just tell me the province and city; that’ll be easier."
"You don’t know Guanyun, but you must have heard of Liancheng, right?"
"Liancheng?"
"The one with the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit."
Li Yuan nodded in realization. "Oh, so you’re from Su Province. I’m from Huizhou."
Zhou Tianyu felt his spirits sink. He had thought Guanyun was quite famous, yet none of his three roommates had ever heard of it. Seeing his reaction, Li Yuan recalled an internet joke from his past life about the "Thirteen Protectors of Su Province" being notoriously disunited. The reputation was clearly well-deserved, as they all seemed to introduce themselves by their specific local city rather than the province.
Li Yuan then looked at another boy who was even taller than him and as thin as a bamboo pole. "And what about you, bro?"
The skinny, tall boy replied, "Liu Jia, from Chuan Province."
See, this guy was different. Li Yuan chuckled. "Bro, you must be almost 1.9 meters tall, right? Do you play basketball?"
At the mention of basketball, Liu Jia’s eyes lit up. He nodded, "Of course, though my skills are just average."
Li Yuan’s interest was piqued as well. "Great, that means I’ve got another basketball buddy," he said excitedly. "I love playing too, so we can practice together sometime."
During his university days, he had loved the atmosphere of the frequent basketball games. His skills weren’t outstanding, but he loved the sport. Don’t ask why—the answer was passion.
The four of them chatted idly and quickly got to know one another. Unlike Yi Jing, Zhou Tianyu was quite outgoing, perhaps because he was from the south. Meanwhile, Liu Jia and Li Yuan were like two peas in a pod and hit it off immediately. They bonded over their love for basketball, talking about the NBA with such expertise that you’d think they were long-lost friends.
As they were talking, Li Yuan’s stomach started to rumble. He suggested, "Guys, it’s six o’clock. How about we all go grab something to eat at the cafeteria tonight?"
