Chapter 264: Hate Me?

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

This time, An Nuo was simply the most eye-catching existence in Ace Tribe. Her acting skills were astonishing and agile. The video of her acting as the police officer was posted online, causing many people to be impressed. Especially those haters who said that new actors would definitely not act well in Wulin Universe were now speechless.

Murong Qiao smiled at An Nuo’s outstanding performance and couldn’t help but share it with Huo Yichen happily.

“Have you had dinner?” She sent a message.

Huo Yichen replied quickly, “1’11 eat later.”

He seemed to be very busy, so much so that he only replied with five words, as if he had to squeeze out time to reply to her.

Murong Qiao remembered that there was an upcoming exam in the Finance Department, and Huo Yichen must have gotten busy because of it.

Huo Yichen’s studies in the finance department were very heavy, and he hadn’t attended morning cla.s.s with her for the past two days.

“Morning.”

“Good night.”

These two sentences appeared frequently in Murong Qiao and Huo Yichen’s recent chat records and occupied a lot of s.p.a.ce.

Murong Qiao knew that Huo Yichen was preparing for the exam, so she was considerate enough not to disturb him. They had also changed their meetups to video calls.

While having lunch in the dormitory, she video-called Huo Yichen.

“Don’t just focus on reading. If you don’t eat, how can you study harder?” She was concerned.

For the past two days, Murong Qiao had been video-chatting with Huo Yichen. Every time she looked at his desk, it was empty. There was no sign of lunch at all.

Huo Yichen sighed. “I’ve eaten.”

Huo Yichen hadn’t finished reading the pile of doc.u.ments in his hands, so he didn’t intend to say that he hadn’t been eating lunch for the past two days.

He wanted to rea.s.sure Murong Qiao, but his stomach growled uncontrollably, and Murong Qiao happened to hear it.

“Have you eaten?” Murong Qiao repeated with a smile.

Seeing him like this, Murong Qiao understood everything. He must have been too busy to eat.

His lie was exposed on the spot. Murong Qiao didn’t blame Huo Yichen for lying to her. Instead, she found it funny and felt that he was actually busier than he said.

It was probably not easy to even take the time to video call her.

Huo Yichen pretended to surrender and raised his hand to vouch, “I’m really too busy…”

His helpless tone coupled with the dark circles under his eyes made Murong Qiao’s heart ache even more.

She wanted to urge Huo Yichen to at least eat something to replenish his energy, but she heard him hurriedly say goodbye.

“Bye.” Murong Qiao had no choice but to say goodbye and hang up.

However, Murong Qiao didn’t give up on the idea of making Huo Yichen eat. If he didn’t eat well and got a stomach ache, the gains wouldn’t make up for the losses. Seeing that he didn’t have any cla.s.ses in the afternoon, Murong Qiao made a lunchbox from the small kitchen attached to the dormitory and stuffed it in her bag before leaving.

The last time she came to look for Huo Yichen, she happened to know the way, so she found the library smoothly.

However, she was not from the Finance Department, so she could only ask her cla.s.smate for directions. “h.e.l.lo, cla.s.smate. May 1 know where the self-study room is?”

“Self-study room? It’s on the leftmost side of the fourth floor,” the person replied.

After asking his cla.s.smates for directions, Murong Qiao walked along the road. The first thing she saw when she stood by the back door was Huo Yichen, who was sitting at the back and occupying a corner of the window.

Huo Yichen had an unapproachable aura, so no one was sitting at the surrounding tables. He sat alone in his seat and read without saying a word. His gaze was focused and serious, and he didn’t even notice Murong Qiao’s unconcealed gaze.

There was a large stack of books beside him, almost taller than him.

Murong Qiao stood at the back door for nearly two minutes, but he didn’t look up. It was obvious how serious he was.

Seeing Huo Yichen like this and hungry, Murong Qiao felt a sting in her heart.

She raised her foot and walked in without making a sound. She didn’t want to disturb the others’ studies, so she quietly walked around to Huo Yichen’s side and sat down.

Sensing that someone else was approaching, Huo Yichen frowned and looked up in the direction of the commotion. He was still wondering who was so insensitive when he saw Murong Qiao’s face enter his field of vision.

The disgust on his face instantly turned into shock, as if he did not expect Murong Qiao to appear here.

“Why? You don’t want to see me?” Murong Qiao asked him softly.

She saw all the changes in Huo Yichen’s expression from the beginning to the end and thus, Murong Qiao deliberately said those words to tease him and made a sad expression.

How could Huo Yichen hate her? He quickly shook his head and denied it. “No.” He could not wait to see her. How could he not want to see her?

He had been busy with his studies for the past two days. Now that Murong Qiao had taken the initiative to appear in front of him, Huo Yichen was both happy and guilty. He couldn’t help but secretly blame himself for not taking the time to accompany her.

“I’m glad you came over.” His expression warmed.

Huo Yichen ran under the table to take Murong Qiao’s hand with his free hand. His broad and dry palm wrapped around Murong Qiao’s cold hand, transmitting heat.

Only then did Murong Qiao put away her sad expression and look at him with a smile. At the same time, she secretly scratched his palm with her hand.

The library needed a quiet atmosphere. Both of them couldn’t make a sound in tacit understanding, but their hands under the table held each other tightly, expressing their silent longing.

Murong Qiao carefully took out the bento she had made from her bag. “I remember that you didn’t eat.”

She did not forget why she had come in the first place.

Due to the fact that it was not polite to eat tasty food in the self-study room, Murong Qiao only made some meat floss rice b.a.l.l.s to fill his stomach. He could then eat the main meal at dinner time.

The rice ball was made into a more convenient size for the mouth.

“Taste my effort?” Murong Qiao said half-jokingly.

She picked up a rice ball and brought it to Huo Yichen’s mouth. Since there was no one around, she didn’t hide her actions.

Huo Yichen opened his mouth and ate it. The distinct grains of rice had a hint of sweetness. After biting into it, the meat floss inside revealed a fragrance that spread on the tip of his tongue, teasing his gradually awakening taste buds.

His hungry stomach also clamored. In fact, he had not eaten much since he woke up early today.

Huo Yichen ate very seriously, savoring the taste and appreciating Murong Qiao’s thoughts. “It’s delicious.”

His gaze moved from the words to the lunch box, and finally to Murong Qiao’s face.

The person he liked was right beside him. How could he be in the mood to read now?

“Stop eating.” Murong Qiao suddenly stopped feeding.

Sensing Huo Yichen’s gaze following the bento, Murong Qiao knew that he must not have felt full yet. However, he definitely wouldn’t feel hungry anymore.

She put the bento away again. “You’ve been hungry for too long. You’ll feel uncomfortable if you eat a lot suddenly.”

The lunchbox was therefore stuffed back into the bag, and in its place was a book, Tagore’s Collected Birds.

Huo Yichen glanced at the t.i.tle and remembered that he still had to revise. He smiled bitterly.

“Focus on your studies—” Murong Qiao waved the book in her hand and reminded him.

Murong Qiao didn’t want to disturb his studies because of her arrival, but it wasn’t easy for them to be together, and she couldn’t bear to leave, so she brought a book over to accompany him.

Seeing this, Huo Yichen had no choice but to focus on his books again. Fortunately, his stomach was not as empty as it was when he came to the library. Now that he had food in his stomach, he felt much better and was able to focus more.

However, not long into reading the book, a note was stuffed into his hands. “For you,” Murong Qiao whispered to him.

Perhaps because the air conditioner in the self-study room was a little hot, Murong Qiao’s cheeks turned pink. She stuffed the note into Huo Yichen’s hand and quickly retracted her hand.

Huo Yichen didn’t feel distracted, but there was an indulgent smile on his face. He opened the note and read its contents.

Dark clouds become heaven’s flowers when kissed by light.

When the dark clouds were kissed by the light, they became flowers in the sky..