Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts

"Yu, you say it."

Wu Lingyu lightly patted Yiyi's hand and asked knowingly, "Yiyi and Brother Fan...how far have you gone?"

The act had to continue; if she accidentally revealed her relationship with Brother Fan, Yu's status would plummet from ally to captive instantly.

Zhang Yiyi's face turned red, recalling the morning...noon when she was hiding under the bed with no clothes on and was seen by Yu.

"It's not what you think, Yu!" She was afraid Wu Lingyu would misunderstand and quickly whispered in her ear.

Despite already knowing the truth, Wu Lingyu cooperated, opening her mouth wide, wider, and even wider.

"That's all..." Zhang Yiyi lowered her eyes, confessing everything except for the impulsive act from the night before.

Wu Lingyu found it hard to grasp her emotions at that moment; after all, that man usually treated her like a tree stump, telling her everything.

Listening to Zhang Yiyi rehash it now only made her heart ache, without much anger.

Seeing Zhang Yiyi just lowering her head, she decided to remain silent as well.

"Ahem...Yu?" Zhang Yiyi peeked up when Wu Lingyu stayed silent for a long time.

"Mmm...Got it." Wu Lingyu nodded, her face expressionless.

"Yu, are you mad?" Zhang Yiyi cautiously probed.

"No." Wu Lingyu shook her head.

Yu wasn't lying; she really wasn't mad!

Not only had she played even more than Yiyi, but with both of them having experiences like gentlemen under the bed, Wu Lingyu felt even closer to her.

But Zhang Yiyi couldn't read Yu's mind, clearly not understanding her thoughts.

She gripped Yu's hand and urgently said, "Yu, please don't be angry. I...I want to tell you a secret!"

She had decided to tell Wu Lingyu about her and Wanning's secret.

It would be best if Yu joined their family; it would be Wanning, Yiyi, and Yu's family in the future.

Wu Lingyu raised her head as expected and asked, "What?"

"I need to ask you a question first, Yu." Zhang Yiyi didn't rush to speak, needing to confirm something.

"What?" Wu Lingyu responded the same way.

"If Brother has someone he likes, would you give up?" Zhang Yiyi asked.

Wu Lingyu's heart skipped a beat, sensing a premonition and guessing what Yiyi wanted to say.

"No."

She looked at Zhang Yiyi resolutely.

"Other than Brother Fan, I won't marry anyone in this life!" Yu's eyes shone brightly.

Zhang Yiyi let out a small sigh of relief; she was worried Yu would say she'd give up, which would make her a fool, Ellie.

"But Brother can only marry one person. What if that person isn't you, Yu?" Zhang Yiyi held her breath.

Wu Lingyu suddenly felt suffocated, like a fish out of water.

After a moment of silence.

She said, "I don't know."

"But I'll always stay by Brother Fan's side, always, always!"

Maybe this was Yu's heartfelt thought, each word touching.

Zhang Yiyi remained silent for a moment.

"I understand." She looked at Wu Lingyu.

"Mmm." Wu Lingyu looked back at her.

They held their gaze, reluctantly, for thirty seconds, a minute, two minutes.

"Yu!"

"I'll never leave Brother, ever!"

Zhang Yiyi suddenly spoke loudly.

"So, let's work together, okay?" Zhang Yiyi extended her hand.

Wu Lingyu smiled, and her face softened like melting snow, as if the entire season's worth of snow had melted into her eyes.

Zhang Yiyi also smiled, with two dimples appearing on her face, her smile radiant like the voice of the wind everywhere.

"Yes, let's work together!" Wu Lingyu took her hand.

Their smiles brightened more and more, and this handshake marked a change in Xiu Luo Field.

Operation Lie Fan, done!

Wu Lingyu let go of her hand and, looking into her eyes, said, "So, what is the secret? Now you can tell me?"

Zhang Yiyi sat back down obediently, but facing Wu Lingyu, she suddenly found it difficult to speak. After all, it seemed too unfair to Yu! (Or so she thought)

"Ahem... The thing is... Brother and I... Wanning... Wanning has known all along."

She quietly observed Wu Lingyu's expression, and seeing no change, continued, "I know about Brother and Wanning too. Wanning knew even before I did; we've been working together for a long time."

[Just as I thought!]

Wu Lingyu had already guessed, so her face showed little change.

"So Wanning won't be mad. Now that you know, Yu... you won't be mad, right?" Zhang Yiyi, perhaps intentionally, asked in a weak tone.

"Smack!"

"Ah!"

Wu Lingyu slapped her thigh suddenly, standing up and indignantly saying, "How can Brother Fan do this!"

"Boohoo, Yu, don't rush!" Zhang Yiyi rubbed her thigh that had just been hit, turning red!

"Brother Fan is just a player!" Wu Lingyu glanced at Zhang Yiyi secretly and continued angrily.

"Not really. That senior, Meng Meng, and other girls, Brother didn't even look at them. We're different!" Zhang Yiyi pulled her back to sit down again, getting hit while defending that man.

"Mmm..." Wu Lingyu feared she couldn't hold back and could only fake being angry by lowering her head.

"Because we and Brother Fan are childhood sweethearts, we grew up together, that's why he's a player."

"Just like Yu doesn't want to leave Brother, I don't want to leave Brother either. Thinking about it, Brother probably doesn't want to leave us, right?"

Zhang Yiyi reluctantly comforted her.

"Is... is that so?" Wu Lingyu looked up with dim eyes, much like Little Red Riding Hood being coaxed by the Big Bad Wolf.

Seeing her expression, Zhang Yiyi felt a surge of joy and continued coaxing (not really)...clarifying, "Yes, though Brother might be a player, it's only towards us!"

Zhang Yiyi's lips twitched. Saying it even made her blush, but she continued rubbing Yu's head, indoctrinating her.

Actually, Wu Lingyu accepted the notion better because she always felt that way.

Light returned to Yu's eyes as she held Zhang Yiyi's hand and said, "Because... because we were together in elementary school, junior high, and now in high school."

"So, in the future, we'll surely be together too!"

Wu Lingyu felt she had said that somewhere before, too smoothly.

"Of course!" Zhang Yiyi suddenly felt her leg wasn't hurting anymore, holding Yu's hand in return.

"Mmm."

"Mmm!"

"Yu!"

"Yiyi!"

At this moment, Zhang Yiyi and Wu Lingyu finally reached a consensus.

The scene was so harmonious that if that man were here, he'd be astonished.

After everything was laid out, their conversation became much more relaxed.

"Yu, let me tell you, Brother is especially bad. Find a moment when you're alone and take the initiative; you won't have to do anything further after that."

Zhang Yiyi assumed Wu Lingyu and Xu Qingfan were still at zero progress, starting to share her senior experience.

"Ah... would that... would that be too..." Wu Lingyu was still pretending.

Zhang Yiyi didn't overthink it, as Yu was usually shy by nature.

She whispered in her ear, "Yu, you should do this..."

"Got it?"

"Yu?"

"Y-yes." Wu Lingyu's face was bright red.

This time she wasn't pretending because Yiyi actually gave practical advice!

Zhang Yiyi's ears were also a bit red, as much of what she shared was just theory; she could say it, but didn't know if Wu Lingyu dared to follow.

After a brief silence, Zhang Yiyi suddenly remembered something and said, "Oh, there's one more thing!"

"Mmm?" Wu Lingyu looked at her with confusion.

"The relationship between me, Yu, and Wanning, we can't tell Brother!"

"I've been thinking lately, maybe it's because I was too proactive that Brother turned into a player."

Zhang Yiyi explained her Pandora's Box theory in detail.

Wu Lingyu almost burst out laughing, finding it hilarious. That man was already a coal briquette!

[If Yiyi ever finds out that I knew everything all along...]

Wu Lingyu didn't dare think further, but she agreed with Zhang Yiyi's idea of not satisfying that man too easily.

So Yu decided to keep both sides in the dark, as long as possible, ideally forever.

"Mmm, got it!" She nodded in agreement.

A heavy burden lifted, Zhang Yiyi felt incredibly relaxed.

Replaying their conversation to ensure there were no issues, she stood up and invited her, "Hehe, let's go down, we still need to talk to Wanning!"

"Mmm!"

...