Pursuing Her Best Friend after Confession Failed-Chapter 75 - 74 Little Fish: Singing the Song You Wrote (First Update, Please Subscribe)
Li Yuan had no idea that by walking Xia Zhijin back, he had become the center of conversation in the girls’ dormitory.
He glanced at the time; it was just a little past eight in the evening. Li Yuan didn’t head straight back to the men’s dormitory. Instead, he strolled leisurely to the school’s sports field and subconsciously pulled out a cigarette. Just as he was about to light it, he realized he didn’t have a lighter.
He sulkily stuffed the cigarette back into its pack. Xia Zhijin, my treasured girl, for your sake, I might really have to quit smoking.
Li Yuan sat on the steps beside the field, watching the couples walking together in twos and threes, an unconscious smile forming on his lips. Today, the time he had spent with Xia Zhijin had been truly wonderful. It felt as if he had completely let himself go, returning to a time of carefree innocence.
Previously, even though he had been reborn, his soul had been sculpted by more than thirty years of life, leaving it utterly weary. This was why he could be so irritable at times, lacking the subtlety expected of a "middle-aged man." It was all due to the massive accumulation of negative emotions from his previous life. When a person is repressed in an environment for too long, a sudden outburst can be like a flash flood, destroying everything in its path. He used to be that kind of person—brimming with repressed negative energy.
Starting from university, a long series of failures—the pressure of work, the pressure of life, the pressure of family—had overwhelmed him, twisting his psyche. It had transformed him from a vibrant, energetic young man into a reclusive and taciturn person, like a powder keg ready to explode at the slightest spark.
But in the half-day he spent with Xia Zhijin, her pure and innocent smile, her shy and endearing face, and her delicate, willow-leaf eyebrows had a special way of touching his heart with every expression.
I wonder if her roommates will see through her act. Those girls don’t seem like the type to be easily fooled. Li Yuan was genuinely worried about Xia Zhijin. She was too naive, like a blank sheet of paper, flawlessly pure. Even a "middle-aged uncle" like him couldn’t help but be affected when he was with her.
That was also why he liked girls like her. His own soul was already so "dirty" and had lost its purity, which was why he felt a stronger urge to be close to such an innocent girl.
But it doesn’t matter. So what if they find out? As long as Zhijin is happy, what can anyone do? It’s just a shame that military training starts tomorrow. I can’t properly tease my treasured girl anymore...
Li Yuan’s thoughts drifted, and the realization that formal military training began the next day irritated him. Military training for university freshmen was notoriously strict. Drills started at 6:30 in the morning and continued until after 9:00 at night. There were all sorts of exercises: standing at attention, turning left and right, marching in step, goose-stepping, and so on. It was tedious and boring, and it would be a lie to say it wasn’t grueling.
He had already gone through it once in his previous life, so the thought of doing it all over again felt incredibly pointless.
Two weeks of military training... I really wish I could have some minor surgery, get a sick leave note from the instructor, and work on my own projects, Li Yuan muttered to himself. But getting sick leave wasn’t easy. A day or two was manageable, but two weeks would require approval from the university’s leadership. And since Daxia University was a top-tier 985 university, the rules were even stricter.
What a pity my appendix won’t get inflamed.
His thoughts scattered, turning to his entrepreneurial plans. The office renovation had been ongoing for over ten days and would be mostly complete in another half a month. As soon as military training was over, he could launch his business. Currently, including two months of royalties from his writing, Li Yuan had over 18 million in cash stored in his bank and company accounts. This was the capital he had set aside for his startup.
Whether it was developing games or building websites, a significant initial investment was required. In the internet industry, you couldn’t even make a ripple without at least a few million, or even tens of millions. Fortunately, the recent economic crisis had created a surplus of talent in the job market. As long as he was willing to pay, recruiting high-end professionals from the computer science field wouldn’t be difficult. With his guidance, they could avoid many common pitfalls and directly adopt proven models.
Take building a website, for instance. Having taught himself computer programming and worked as a coder in his past life, he could even do it himself if he dedicated enough time. The results just might not be top-notch.
Li Yuan had numerous business plans swirling in his mind. If just one of them succeeded, he would achieve financial freedom for the rest of his life. Of course, if they all failed, it would simply mean he wasn’t cut out for business. In that case, he would just have to settle for being a Great Writer and a part-time Landlord, living out this life in peace.
I hope military training ends quickly so I can officially launch the ’Datang’ commercial juggernaut... Then, I can punch Alibaba and kick JD Bro, making Daddy Ma and Daddy Wang kneel and sing ’Conquest’...
Just as Li Yuan was lost in his daydream, his phone rang. He pulled it out and saw it was a call from the little rich girl, Jiang Zhiyu.
Li Yuan answered cheerfully. Before he could say a word, Jiang Zhiyu’s bright voice came through the line. "Xia Hua, what are you doing? Do you miss me?"
Her opening words startled Li Yuan, striking a fragile nerve. This wealthy young lady with a powerful background was the most forward of all the girls he’d met, making no effort to hide her affection for him. This was especially true after they had met three days ago; she would message him morning, noon, and night whenever she was free, sharing bits of her life.
Li Yuan couldn’t help but run through the list of girls who were, or might be, entangled with him. Bai Weixi, of course, was the first love he pined for across two lifetimes but could never have. She was his true first girlfriend and the one who had hurt him the most. Even after more than a decade, the thought of her still brought a pang of longing and heartache. A certain song lyric described his past self perfectly: "Missing you is a pain that breathes, it lives in every corner of my being." Now, he couldn’t quite define his feelings for her. Perhaps the desire for revenge and to collect on his emotional debt was a bit stronger than anything else. Besides Bai Weixi, he didn’t have a deep connection with Zhong Tingyue. He just had a profound impression of her from his past life. In the future, Zhong Tingyue would become an icy Goddess, so cold that just getting close was enough to freeze you. She would reject every single one of her suitors. The current Zhong Tingyue had yet to complete that evolution. Little Fish, Jiang Zhiyu, was someone he’d never met in his past life. She was the one who was most open with her affection for him. If they went to the same university and saw each other often, their relationship would surely skyrocket. And then there was his treasured girl, Xia Zhijin. Soft on the outside but strong on the inside, she was truly perfect, his ideal type. With his current level of skill, winning her over shouldn’t be much of a problem...
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Li Yuan snapped back to the present and chuckled, "Little Fish, I’m at the school sports field. What’s up?"
Jiang Zhiyu replied shyly, "Humph, Xia Hua, does something have to be wrong for me to contact you?"
Li Yuan wiped a cold sweat from his forehead. "Of course not."
On the other end of the line, Jiang Zhiyu’s voice softened, filled with a mix of anticipation and shyness. "Then, Xia Hua, do you miss me?"
Li Yuan countered, "Do you want me to say I do, or that I don’t?"
"Hmph, you’re so mean! I’m asking you, Xia Hua. Just answer me directly!"
"Alright, I guess I miss you a bit, then."
Hearing his reply, Jiang Zhiyu pouted and huffed in dissatisfaction. "Xia Hua, what do you mean, ’I guess I miss you a bit’?"
Li Yuan wiped his brow again, suddenly feeling like a boyfriend being grilled with the classic "Do you really love me?" question. Strange, have Little Fish and I already reached this stage? he wondered, keeping the thought to himself.
"Because longing is a magical power that transcends time and space," Li Yuan replied with a straight face. "When you miss me, you should be able to feel me missing you too." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞
Jiang Zhiyu asked in confusion, "But I miss you every day, Xia Hua, and I never feel you missing me."
Li Yuan’s expression didn’t change. "That just means you aren’t missing me hard enough."
"Oh," Jiang Zhiyu said. "I really want to see you, Xia Hua. Can I come find you now?"
Li Yuan was shocked. It was almost nine o’clock at night! If she came now, would she even be able to get back? "It’s too late today, and I have to be up early for military training tomorrow. Let’s wait until it’s over."
"Oh, right. You have military training for two weeks. I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop myself from coming to find you," Jiang Zhiyu said, her voice full of yearning. For the past few days, she had been finding all sorts of topics to chat with him about, feeling like three days apart felt like three years.
"Ah, maybe it’s better not to. Military training finishes really late."
Jiang Zhiyu pouted and muttered, "I really wish I could get you a leave of absence." She then added, "Xia Hua, that song you wrote for me yesterday? I already composed the music for it based on the tune you hummed. I want to sing it for you now."
Li Yuan was stunned. "I just gave you the lyrics yesterday, and you’ve already composed the music?"
As his number one patron, Li Yuan had chosen a song that was perfectly suited to Jiang Zhiyu’s vocal timbre. Of course, he had only provided the lyrics; he had no idea how to compose music.
Jiang Zhiyu replied proudly, "Xia Hua, I’m a music student, you know. What’s so hard about composing a melody? Besides, you already hummed the general tune for me."
"Xia Hua, let me sing it for you now, please?"
Li Yuan felt his knees go weak. If the little rich girl wanted to sing for him, he would gladly accept. The very thought of it was thrilling—a beautiful girl, singing a song you wrote just for her.
