Qiao Liuyue quietly watched him venting over there.
After he finished shouting, Zheng Qingyuan felt a bit embarrassed instead.
He didn’t dare turn his head to look at her.
In a stiff tone, he said, “Um... thanks for coming out with me. Let me send you a red envelope.”
Rich guy indeed.
Red Envelope Bro.
Qiao Liuyue waved her hand. “No need. I didn’t really help with anything, and...” She paused, her tone apologetic. “I didn’t tell you in advance that Jiaojiao has a boyfriend.”
Zheng Qingyuan suddenly understood.
So that’s why, last time, when he thought he and Dong Jiaoyan were a couple, Qiao Liuyue had that look like she wanted to say something but held back.
He let out a sigh, deflated.
“It’s fine. Not your fault. I’m just an idiot.”
Qiao Liuyue: “Yeah.”
Zheng Qingyuan froze. “...”
Wait, his emotions were right there.
Normally, shouldn’t she say something comforting?
Just a “yeah”?
Zheng Qingyuan: “Anything besides ‘yeah’?”
Qiao Liuyue replied honestly, “Thanks for the red envelope.”
He had sent it right after saying he would, and she was quick to claim it.
Another three of two hundred each.
Nice—this covers not just this month’s meals, but next month’s too.
Zheng Qingyuan felt a lump of frustration stuck in his chest, unsure what to say.
He turned his head and saw the girl in front of him lowering her head, revealing her smooth forehead, her long lashes drooping beneath her glasses.
She was opening the red envelope, a faint smile spreading across her lips.
Zheng Qingyuan glanced at her, then quickly looked away.
He muttered to himself,
“I just want a girlfriend who doesn’t covet my looks or my family’s money. Is that really so hard?”
Qiao Liuyue hit him right in the gut: “Hard.”
Zheng Qingyuan: “How so?”
Qiao Liuyue: “Online dating is risky. You know who can meet your expectations?”
Zheng Qingyuan: “Tell me.”
Qiao Liuyue: “A romance scammer.”
In her view, Dong Jiaoyan was bad in a straightforward way. She just wanted a handsome guy—what’s wrong with that? Nothing. And wanting someone rich? Also nothing wrong. The real issue was stringing along a rich guy as her wallet, dating a handsome one, and casually lining up a potential target, the “Neighbor Brother.”
Qiao Liuyue finished speaking and prepared to leave.
After keeping Red Envelope Bro company this long, she hadn’t taken his money for nothing.
“Hey, Liuyue, why are you leaving?” Zheng Qingyuan quickly called out.
“Is there something else, Neighbor Brother?” The same phrase “Neighbor Brother,” but she tilted her head slightly, saying it with a hint of playfulness and teasing.
Zheng Qingyuan’s face flushed slightly.
He felt a bit awkward.
After thinking it over, he said, “I think you’re right. Online dating really is too risky. But...” He paused, a hint of anger creeping into his tone.
“I could accept someone ending things because of money or looks.
But I can’t accept Dong Jiaoyan—she already had a boyfriend and still led me on!!!”
“Even treated me like a fool. That’s just too much!”
His voice was full of indignation.
Qiao Liuyue said nothing, just watched him quietly.
Zheng Qingyuan’s eyes held a kind of naïve stupidity.
“Can you help me get revenge?”
Qiao Liuyue spread her hands. “Jiaojiao is my good friend. Are you trying to turn me against her and help you? Does that seem realistic?”
Zheng Qingyuan suddenly wasn’t so dumb.
His eyes darkened, deepening like ink.
He spoke slowly,
“When I met Dong Jiaoyan today, I was actually going to confront her. I didn’t expect her to surprise me first.
By then, I’d already looked into her... including you.”
“Actually, you’re the same as me—being played by Dong Jiaoyan, or rather used. She says she treats you as a good friend, but that’s not really how it is.”
Qiao Liuyue raised an eyebrow.
She gestured for him to continue.
Zheng Qingyuan raised his voice slightly.
“Are you willing to keep being her foil, her stepping stone, while she orders you around in the name of friendship? Are you okay with that?”
A faint smile curved Qiao Liuyue’s lips.
She looked up at him.
“So?”
Zheng Qingyuan’s voice gritted with a hint of vengeful malice.
“Revenge on Dong Jiaoyan with me.”
“She’s always been messing with others’ feelings, right? Then you steal her boyfriend!”
The air around them went still.
Three seconds of silence.
A scoff escaped Qiao Liuyue’s throat.
Husky and pleasant.
She lowered her head, removed the black glasses perched on her nose, and lifted her gaze again, revealing a pair of beautiful, slightly uptilted amber apricot eyes.
Her pupils sparkled with brilliance, carrying even a hint of gloomy sharpness.
Zheng Qingyuan’s gaze landed on her face, and he was momentarily stunned.
The originally thick bangs had already been trimmed to fall on both sides of her cheeks, revealing her smooth forehead. On her delicate, fair little face, those eyes, once hidden by glasses, shone brilliantly, their light rippling.
A gentle breeze brushed by, stirring the strands of hair on her crown.
At that moment.
The girl before him was no longer dull or plain.
She looked like a gloomy, stunning queen lurking behind the curtain.
Her tone was slow and arrogant.
“What if I was already planning to do that?”
Her words floated lightly,
But to Zheng Qingyuan’s ears, they struck like thunder.
His pupils trembled slightly.
It was as if he was meeting her for the first time all over again.
...
Though Dong Jiaoyan had been prepared, rejecting Sui Feng still left her a bit regretful.
On the way back, she grabbed Qiao Liuyue’s hand and chattered, “Ugh! I originally thought that even if I told him I had a boyfriend, Suifeng would still keep chasing me.”
“Isn’t that how it is online? Even if the female lead is in a relationship, the devoted male supporting character is still there, faithful, ready to send money when needed.”
What she cared about most was “sending money.”
Qiao Liuyue didn’t say a word.
Dong Jiaoyan glanced at her, then sighed in frustration:
“Forget it, forget it. If Suifeng hadn’t been pushing so hard, I wouldn’t have told him I have a boyfriend early.”
“At least I’m being honest about it now—better than him finding out on his own later.”
“I don’t believe, with my charm, I can’t find someone better!”
Qiao Liuyue suddenly spoke up. “Better than what? Don’t you already have a boyfriend now? Or are you planning to... break up with him?”
Dong Jiaoyan recalled her online boyfriend’s handsome face and magnetic voice, and felt a stir of temptation.
Break up?
Of course not.
She’d just string him along for now.
But he wasn’t all that great either!
Behind her back, he was playing games with a rich woman—though that “rich woman’s alt account” was also set up by her.
“Liuyue, you’ve never been in love. You wouldn’t understand.”
Dong Jiaoyan’s tone was vague, then, as if remembering something, she instructed, “By the way, help me check again. That night, he said he was doing experiments, but what was he actually up to?”
Qiao Liuyue adjusted the black frames on her nose.
“Mm... I’ve been a bit busy the last couple of days. You’ll have to wait.”
Dong Jiaoyan was surprised. “What are you busy with?”
Qiao Liuyue’s lips curled into a mysterious smile.
“Helping Neighbor Brother out with a little favor.”
