After Rebirth and Done Chasing, I Choose the Gentle and Rich Goddess Over the Scheming Campus Belle - Chapter 24:

Chapter 24: Could You Stop Being So Full of Yourself?

“He Li, look, I got this!” A sweet voice rang out on the early morning street.

He Li turned his head and saw Miao Xiaoyu’s fair little hand holding up two small cards. 

“What’s that?” He Li looked at them, puzzled.

Miao Xiaoyu pouted slightly. “Movie tickets! For this Friday night. Want to go with me?” She smiled brightly as she invited him.

As the two grew closer, Miao Xiaoyu was no longer as shy around He Li as she used to be. Inviting him to a movie now only made her blush slightly. If it had been before, she would’ve been a nervous wreck, stuttering the whole way through.

Looking at her expression, He Li nodded. “Sure. Let’s take a break and relax a little.”

Hearing that, Miao Xiaoyu smiled even more happily. “It’s a deal then! I’ll contact you that day.”

“Alright. I’ll listen to you,” He Li said dotingly.

Miao Xiaoyu put away the movie tickets, excitement bubbling in her heart. But then, a figure appeared ahead…

“He Li!” Not far away, Liu Yuyan was waving at him.

Miao Xiaoyu immediately frowned in displeasure. “Why is she here again? How did I not realize before that she was this shameless? You’ve rejected her so many times and she still won’t give up.”

He Li agreed with her, but he couldn’t help feeling that this situation seemed oddly familiar. 

Back then, when he had chased after Liu Yuyan, wasn’t he the same? 

No matter how many times she rejected him, he had thick skin and kept trying. 

Now that the roles were reversed, it was Liu Yuyan trying to cling to him. It really was the cycle of karma!

He Li sighed to himself. He truly didn’t want to deal with Liu Yuyan anymore, but if someone insisted on pestering you shamelessly, what could you do? 

The only way was to reject her harshly—completely and mercilessly—so she’d give up her delusions for good.

With that thought in mind, He Li was already prepared. 

Liu Yuyan had now walked over quickly…

“He Li, I’ve been waiting for you here for ages! Why are you so late?” Liu Yuyan complained.

He Li looked at her in disbelief. “Are you out of your mind?”

“What did you say?” Liu Yuyan asked, clearly annoyed.

He Li shrugged. “I never told you to wait. You came here clinging to your fantasies—what does that have to do with me? And even if I’m late, that’s my business. Who gave you the right to question me?”

“This is unreal. What’s wrong with you? Why do you keep showing up in front of me trying to make things difficult?”

“You…” Liu Yuyan was angry.

In the past, she might’ve panicked. 

But not now. After seeing the name “Crucian Studio” yesterday, she believed she had figured out He Li’s true feelings. She was sure he still cared about her. She had come today to talk things out and give him a chance to reconcile.

That’s why she wasn’t flustered by He Li’s harsh words. She just felt annoyed. “As expected, he’s pretending to be distant again. If I hadn’t uncovered the truth yesterday… I might’ve apologized to him first.”

“Hmph, what a calculating man!” she thought, coldly sneering inside, forcing herself to stay calm.

Then she raised her head, looked at He Li, and said, “Enough! No need to pretend. I came here today to talk things out completely.”

“Oh?” He Li’s expression grew amused. 

He didn’t know what Liu Yuyan was up to, but he sensed that she must’ve misunderstood something—otherwise, she wouldn’t be acting like this.

He was even looking forward to it now.

He looked forward to seeing her pour out everything she thought she had figured out, only for him to crush it all, leaving her totally devastated. The thought made him a bit excited.

Seeing He Li’s reaction, Liu Yuyan misunderstood his subtle tremble as emotional excitement. She felt pleased. “See? Just hearing me say I want to talk things out made him tremble. I was right all along. He Li, you still can’t hide your feelings. And Miao Xiaoyu, you’re just wasting your time!”

With that, Liu Yuyan got straight to the point, her tone proud and direct. “He Li, I went to your studio yesterday. Unfortunately, you’d already left. But it’s fine. While I was there, I discovered the name of your unreleased studio… It’s called Crucian Studio, right?”

She smiled smugly.

He Li nodded. “Yeah, so?”

“Exactly!” Liu Yuyan grew even more confident. “You thought you could fool others with a homophone, but not me. ‘Crucian’—it’s from your name ‘Li’ and my name ‘Yu’, right?”

“He Li, you really went all out. You’re clearly still in love with me, yet to make me lower my head and admit I was wrong, you deliberately acted cold and pushed me away. But you didn’t realize—the studio name revealed everything.”

“If you truly wanted to cut ties with me, you wouldn’t have named your studio that way.”

He Li was completely dumbfounded.

Crucian means ‘Li-Yu’? What the hell? How did he not know this? Was Liu Yuyan seriously making this up in her head?

He stared in stunned silence. But Liu Yuyan thought his dazed expression meant he had nothing to say. She stepped forward confidently and smiled, “I was right, wasn’t I? Look at you—completely speechless!”

“But, you really did a good job this time. I realized… I still have feelings for you too. Consider this my way of making up for rejecting you before. I’ll let go of everything you did to hurt me.”

“I’ll reluctantly agree to be with you. Just as you wanted—I’ll lower my head and take the initiative to chase after you.” As she spoke, she pulled a small box from her backpack.

“This is breakfast I made. I didn’t make it to show off how great I am. I just want the people around you to know… what I’ve lost, I will take back!”

She held the breakfast box out to him.

He Li, finally snapping out of his shock, looked at the box in her hands, then at her overly confident expression. He frowned for two seconds before finally saying, “Don’t you think you’re being a bit too full of yourself?”

Liu Yuyan’s brows furrowed.

“He Li, we’ve talked everything through. Can you stop pretending? I’m willing to be your girlfriend. I even brought you breakfast. This is already my biggest compromise. Don’t push your luck! If you keep this up, you’re going to lose everything!”

That did it. He Li couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Just how confident did someone have to be to say something like that?

He shook his head helplessly. “Liu Yuyan, please, for the love of sanity—wake up! You’re scaring me. I’m afraid I’ll catch whatever madness you have. I’m a normal person, I can’t be as delusional as you.”

“And for the record—‘Crucian’? The ‘Yu’ is ‘Yù’, as in ‘Jade’!”

“Also, you didn’t even peel off the delivery label on the side of your lunch box. Next time you claim something is homemade, maybe don’t let the delivery guy put a sticker on it!”

As he finished, Miao Xiaoyu burst into laughter.

Liu Yuyan’s face turned pale as paper.

“You… you lied to me. You just wanted to make me admit I was wrong, didn’t you?” she said, trembling, her eyes red as she bit her lip.

He Li smirked. “Wrong.”

Clatter!

The breakfast box slipped from Liu Yuyan’s hands. She covered her mouth, trying her best not to cry…