Moving On from the Tsundere, I Choose the Perfect Sweetheart

Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Ms. Chen’s Task and Su Qinghe’s Unread Messages

”Hello~”

”Ms. Chen, what is your command?”

The moment the call connected, Gu Yifan asked with a grin.

”Wipe that smirk off your face!”

”You brat, didn’t you say you were going shopping with Qinghe today?”

”It’s already 5:30, and you still haven’t brought her home for dinner!?”

Chen Dongmei huffed from the other end of the line.

”Uh...”

Gu Yifan was taken aback. ”No, I’m not with her right now!”

”Not with her?”

”But didn’t you say this afternoon that you were with her?”

Chen Dongmei asked, sounding confused.

”Yeah!”

”But I took her back to campus this afternoon!”

Gu Yifan explained.

Chen Dongmei: ”...”

”So I cooked this entire feast for nothing?”

The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became. ”No way,” she snapped at Gu Yifan. ”You go get her and bring her over for dinner right now!”

Gu Yifan: ”...”

”Seriously, Mom!”

”You’ve only met her once, but it feels like you treat her better than your own son!”

Gu Yifan said into his phone, his face a picture of helplessness and exasperation.

”Holy shit!”

”Brother Fan, you’re so dead!”

”Seriously, why’d you go AFK?!”

Just then, Wang Zibo’s pubescent squawk suddenly rang out.

”Huh... you’re on the phone?”

Gu Yifan: ”...”

Chen Dongmei: ”...”

On the other end of the line, Chen Dongmei was silent for a second before erupting into a roar: ”So that’s it, Gu Yifan! You brat! You snuck off to an internet cafe to play games again!”

”I’m giving you half an hour to get home!”

”And another thing! I don’t care how you do it, but you will bring Qinghe over for dinner!”

’Sheesh... even when she’s furious, she still doesn’t forget about Su Qinghe!’

’Who’s the *real* child here?!’

Listening to his mom’s tirade, Gu Yifan couldn’t help but mutter under his breath.

”Fine, I’m done arguing with you!”

”If I don’t see the two of you here in half an hour, don’t even bother coming home tonight!”

”That’s it. I’m hanging up!”

With that, Chen Dongmei hung up the phone.

CLICK~

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP... BEEP-BEEP-BEEP...

...

Gu Yifan was left speechless, listening to the dial tone buzzing in his ear.

”Uh... Brother Fan, who was that?”

Seeing that Gu Yifan was off the phone, Wang Zibo asked awkwardly from the side.

”My mom. Ms. Chen. Who else could it be!”

Gu Yifan snapped.

Hearing Gu Yifan, Wang Zibo looked embarrassed and asked meekly, ”Uh... Brother Fan, did I get you in trouble?”

”No shit!”

”You dumbass, I told you to keep your voice down, and you still pull this crap!”

”Alright, I’m not wasting any more time on you. I’ve gotta go. I still have to head to the university to pick up Su Qinghe!”

Gu Yifan shot him a glare and snapped.

’Honestly, if they hadn’t been bros for so many years, I’d really be tempted to stab this dumb son of a bitch!’

”Huh?”

Wang Zibo froze for a second, then his eyes went wide. ”Pick up Su Qinghe? Wait! You guys are living together already?!”

Gu Yifan: ”...”

SMACK~!

”Living together my ass!”

Furious, Gu Yifan smacked him upside the head. ”My mom wants me to bring Su Qinghe home for dinner! What kind of disgusting trash is filling that thick skull of yours?!”

”Ugh... ow... ow, ow...”

”Okay, okay, I get it! Why’d you have to hit me again?!”

”Brother Fan, I’m telling you, if you keep hitting me on the head, you’re gonna give me brain damage!”

Wang Zibo whined, clutching his head and looking at Gu Yifan with a pitiful expression.

”Serves you right.”

Gu Yifan said, his face impassive.

”Hey, wait a minute!”

”Aunt Mei told you to bring Su Qinghe home for dinner?”

”Does that mean Aunt Mei has met her?”

It suddenly occurred to Wang Zibo, and he looked at Gu Yifan to ask.

”Yup.”

”They’ve met.”

”They’re so tight now that I, her actual son, can’t even compare.”

Gu Yifan pouted, his tone tinged with jealousy.

”Hah!”

”Brother Fan, and you still say there’s nothing going on between you and Su Qinghe!”

Wang Zibo said, looking as if to say, ”I knew it.”

”’Going on’ my ass!”

”It’s a long story, I can’t explain it right now.”

”Anyway, it’s not what you think!”

Gu Yifan couldn’t be bothered to explain.

”Look!”

”I’m out of time, I really have to go! Remember to log me off when you’re done!”

With that, he got up and left, leaving a frowning, utterly confused Wang Zibo behind.

”Tsk~~”

’Men are such liars.’

’Guess Mom was right after all.’

He muttered, watching Gu Yifan’s hasty retreat.

This guy seemed to have forgotten that he was a man himself.

......

After leaving Fingertip Fate Internet Cafe, Gu Yifan pulled out his phone. He was about to ask Su Qinghe if she’d eaten yet when he noticed over a dozen unread messages.

A few were texts from Han Ning’s best friend, Wu Xiaoyan, while the rest were QQ messages from Su Qinghe.

Ignoring the texts from Han Ning’s friend, Gu Yifan opened Su Qinghe’s messages first and glanced at them.

July Qinghe: ”You there?”

July Qinghe: ”Are you busy?”

July Qinghe: ”Message me when you’re free and see this. I have something for you.”

...

The messages had been sent about half an hour apart from each other.

The first message had been sent at three o’clock. When he didn’t reply, she sent the second... and then the third.

’Looks like I was too engrossed in my game, and with the noise in the internet cafe, I didn’t hear the notifications.’

Gu Yifan shook his head.

He was about to call her, but then, to his dismay, he realized he’d forgotten to save her number earlier.

He couldn’t be bothered to go digging through his call history now.

After a moment’s thought, he decided to just give her a voice call on QQ instead.

RING RING—RING RING—

The QQ voice call rang for so long that Gu Yifan was just about to give up when it finally connected.

”Hello~”

A soft, gentle voice came from the other end of the line.

’It’s definitely Su Qinghe!’

”Yifan, can you wait a few minutes? I’ll call you right back.”

Before Gu Yifan could even get a word in, Su Qinghe said from the other end.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP...

And with that, she hung up.

”Uh...”

Gu Yifan was taken aback for a moment, then shook his head helplessly.

Clutching his phone, he walked over to a nearby utility pole, pulled a cigarette from his pocket, and with a flick of his wrist, tossed it perfectly into his mouth. A smooth, stylish move.

Too bad there was no one around to see it.

CLICK~

He reached into his pocket for a lighter and casually lit the cigarette.

He took a long drag...

...and then exhaled slowly.

Rings of pale smoke drifted from his lips, rising lazily on the air before dissolving into nothing.

Gu Yifan glanced down at the glowing red tip of the cigarette in his hand and murmured softly, ”It’s been two days... Being young is wonderful, and it’s great to be alive... but it all just feels a little unreal...”