Chapter Fifty: You're Jealous

Wen Yichen’s words carried an explosive tension that startled Bai Xu into sitting up straight, so frightened that he didn’t even dare say goodbye to Jiang Muwen, only giving her a furtive wave.

Jiang Muwen watched Wen Yichen disappear before her eyes, her heart suddenly twisting with a sour ache, as if she’d been abandoned. Wen Yichen didn’t say anything, but she knew in her heart—he was angry, and his anger was directed at her.

Jiang Muwen swept the classroom floor quickly, then carried the collected trash to the bin. Lowering her gaze, she happened to spot a bottle of orange juice lying inside—the orange juice she loved most. Her heart tightened again, and she quietly tied up the garbage bag. The feeling was worse than being scolded by a teacher.

“What’s wrong?” Yin Lizhe, with his backpack slung over his shoulder, approached her with concern.

“Nothing…” Jiang Muwen forced herself to hold back her sadness, placed the trash bag aside, and walked back to her seat, picking up her backpack.

Sometimes, secret love is beautiful. Other times, it torments you so much that you wish you weren’t alive. And yet, the feeling can never be spoken aloud, like a secret that cannot see the light, carefully hidden in one’s heart.

...

No sooner had Jiang Muwen arrived home than she received a message from Wen Yichen: “I’m not feeling well today. No tutoring.”

Staring blankly at her phone screen, Jiang Muwen recalled that Wen Yichen had gotten angry at her before, but his anger always faded within minutes. Why, then, had so much time passed today and he was not only still angry but didn’t even want to see her?

Though a thousand questions crowded her mind, Jiang Muwen resisted asking any of them—she was afraid he’d find her annoying: “Alright, rest well.”

After sending the message, Wen Yichen didn’t reply again.

After dinner, Bai Xu unexpectedly received a game invitation—from Wen Yichen himself.

Bai Xu hesitated for a moment, then accepted the invitation.

The next second, Wen Yichen sent a voice chat request.

Bai Xu suspiciously clicked accept, then positioned the microphone near his mouth. “Hey~ How come you’ve got time for games tonight?”

“I felt like playing, is that so strange?” Wen Yichen replied coldly.

“Isn’t this about the time you usually help ‘the little girl next door’ with her homework?”

Bai Xu deliberately avoided mentioning Jiang Muwen’s name, but even so, Wen Yichen’s eyes instinctively tightened at the words.

“Not in the mood tonight.” Wen Yichen said as he put on his headset and launched the game.

“Come on—usually you’re so eager to tutor her, what’s changed…?”

“Can you stop bringing up Jiang Muwen every other sentence?”

After saying this, Wen Yichen seemed to realize something and immediately fell silent—even he didn’t know why, but every time Jiang Muwen was mentioned, his mood soured. Clearly, he had nothing to do with her, yet he felt… betrayed?

“Wen Yichen, what’s gotten into you today?” Bai Xu pressed.

Wen Yichen didn’t respond for a moment. After a pause, he spoke again, sounding just like a wronged child: “No, but—do you know how outrageous Jiang Muwen was today?”

“What happened? Isn’t it just—”

Before Bai Xu could finish, Wen Yichen interrupted: “You don’t know—today, I told her I wasn’t feeling well and wouldn’t tutor her. Do you know what she replied? Just: ‘Alright, rest well.’”

Bai Xu was puzzled. “If she didn’t say that, what should she have said?”

“I always thought of her as a really good friend, but she didn’t even show any concern for me? Shouldn’t she at least ask what’s wrong, if it’s serious? She just replied so simply?” Wen Yichen rattled off three questions, leaving Bai Xu momentarily speechless.

At that moment, Wen Yichen looked exactly like a wronged girl. If Wen Yichen hadn’t spoken to Bai Xu by voice chat, Bai Xu might never have seen this side of him.

Seeing Bai Xu’s silence, Wen Yichen spoke again, “Bai Xu, are you listening?”

After a moment, Bai Xu’s voice drifted through the headset: “Wen Yichen, do you really only see Jiang Muwen as a good friend?”

The question stunned Wen Yichen. He paused, then said, “What else?”

“Then why are you angry?” Bai Xu pressed.

“I’m upset because we’ve been friends for more than ten years, and when she heard I was sick, that was her reaction. She even…” Wen Yichen’s voice grew softer as he spoke, the last syllable trailing off, as if he couldn’t finish his thought.

“Have you ever thought about why you’re angry at her and Yin Lizhe?” Bai Xu continued to probe.

“Maybe because I can’t stand her being… better than me?” Wen Yichen’s words became less certain as he spoke.

No sooner had Wen Yichen finished than Bai Xu’s voice came through the headset: “What you can’t stand is Yin Lizhe being good to her, right?”

The words made Wen Yichen’s heart clench.

Before Yin Lizhe appeared, Wen Yichen had never felt this way. It was as if Jiang Muwen would never leave his side. But since Yin Lizhe entered the picture, Wen Yichen frequently found himself beset by inexplicable frustration, riddled with anxiety, and throwing childish fits at Jiang Muwen for no reason…

“Wen Yichen, do you still not know how you feel about Jiang Muwen?” Bai Xu, seeing Wen Yichen’s silence, spoke again, sounding helpless, as if he were talking to an idiot instead of his friend. “Were you kicked in the head by a donkey? Even I, the bystander, can’t stand watching this anymore!”

Stunned by Bai Xu’s words, Wen Yichen’s hands froze above the keyboard, lost for a moment, not knowing what to do.

“Wen Yichen, are you really clueless, or just pretending?” Bai Xu’s voice came again, dragging Wen Yichen back to reality.

“I…” Wen Yichen’s movements slowed for the first time—never before had he found gaming so agonizing.

“If you randomly picked a classmate, they’d all see it—You like Jiang Muwen. You’re jealous of Yin Lizhe!”

After Bai Xu finished, Wen Yichen’s fingers slipped from the keyboard. He sat there, staring as his game character was slaughtered by the enemy. The screen faded to black.

The respawn countdown appeared before Wen Yichen’s eyes, followed by Bai Xu’s desperate shout: “Wen Yichen!! What are you doing?! Why’d you throw away your life?!”

So noisy—Wen Yichen took off his headset and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes.

It seemed… he really had fallen for Jiang Muwen. He didn’t know when it started—perhaps when he wanted to defend her whenever she was bullied; perhaps when he got angry seeing her walk with other boys; perhaps when, even as Xia Manman confessed to him, the first person he thought of was her.