Chapter 31: Must Make Chen Ye Personally Say He Loves Her!

"Me?" At the mention of himself, Weng Jilin's mood visibly plummeted.

"What happened? She didn't say yes?" Chen Ye asked with a smile, lightly punching him in the chest.

Weng Jilin shook his head in bewilderment. "She neither rejected me nor agreed. She ate the steak and accepted the gift, but I just don't get it."

"Is that so..." Chen Ye grew thoughtful.

In the timeline before his reincarnation, this was the classic behavior of a gold digger. However, that term didn't even exist yet. Besides, he had never heard any rumors about Yu Mengmeng becoming a gold digger. From what he remembered, she had simply married a college classmate, had a child like a normal person, and usually just posted baby pictures on her Friends Circle.

Could this timeline have changed because his offhand comment prompted Weng Jilin to confess early? Had introducing Yu Mengmeng to the world of the wealthy awakened her latent gold-digger potential? Still, looking at his friend's lost and fragile expression, Chen Ye decided to investigate further. He was well-versed in the teachings of a certain great leader—no investigation, no right to speak, and making an incorrect investigation similarly grants no right to speak.

"Did she really say nothing else? Tell me exactly what she said," Chen Ye pressed quickly.

"She didn't say much," Weng Jilin grumbled dejectedly, as if Yu Mengmeng's romantic push-and-pull had deeply wounded him. "She just mentioned that the meal and the gift were too expensive. Then, when she saw I stopped eating halfway through, she forced me to finish my steak. She also said that eating the exact same food at a restaurant downstairs, plus riding the Ferris wheel, wouldn't have cost even three hundred yuan for the two of us combined. She scolded me for wasting money, and finally added that her parents are teachers who are strict about this sort of thing, so they probably wouldn't approve..."

But Chen Ye suddenly realized what was actually going on. "You're just showing off your romance to me, aren't you?" he asked in exasperation.

"What romance?" Weng Jilin instantly grew anxious. He wondered how Chen Ye could accuse him of showing off when he was clearly so heartbroken and miserable. If anyone was showing off, it was Chen Ye and Su Siyun!

Seeing his friend's complete lack of romantic experience, Chen Ye couldn't be bothered to explain further. He patted Weng Jilin's shoulder and advised earnestly, "If you really like her, just stick to her like glue from now on. Don't let go. Otherwise, I wouldn't easily let such a good girl—"

"Chen Ye, why are you two walking so fast?"

Yu Mengmeng's voice rang out just as he was jokingly threatening to steal Weng Jilin's girl. The two girls had caught up to them.

Chen Ye immediately reverted to his nonchalant demeanor, acting as if he hadn't said a word. Weng Jilin, on the other hand, seemed to have been awakened by his friend's words. He stood frozen in place, his mind racing as he pondered what Yu Mengmeng had told him. Hearing her words come out of his own mouth, the context had shifted completely. It didn't sound like she was playing hard to get at all—it sounded like she genuinely had his best interests at heart!

A second later, the gaze he fixed on Yu Mengmeng turned incredibly fervent, as if he were looking at a rare and priceless treasure.

However, neither Chen Ye nor Su Siyun noticed this exchange. Chen Ye had zoned out, wondering what gifts he should bring back for his grandparents tomorrow, what his eldest uncle's little daughter might need, and how many days it would be before he returned.

Meanwhile, Su Siyun stood next to Yu Mengmeng, flushed red and looking entirely at a loss. Her earlier actions made her deeply ashamed of herself, even though she felt justified in her reasoning. First, it was to permanently put an end to Zhao Qimin's harassment. Second, she simply couldn't stand by and listen to Zhao Qimin's thinly veiled insults mocking Chen Ye's status as an orphan.

But the third and most important reason—the one that had caused her to momentarily lose her mind—was that Chen Ye had provoked her competitive spirit. She refused to allow the very things she took pride in to be torn to shreds by him. She had to prove herself. She had to prove it to Chen Ye.

She wanted to prove that having so many people like her wasn't just some delusion, nor was it a sign of immaturity. And the only way to prove all of this was to make the very person who had spouted those critiques fall in love with her! As long as Chen Ye developed feelings for her, she could throw those exact words right back in his face!

The only problem was... she had never pursued a boy before.

Her mind raced until she suddenly remembered the harmonica. She hurriedly turned to him. "Chen Ye, how much did that harmonica you gave cost?"

"A little over two hundred."

Hearing this, Su Siyun pulled three crisp hundred-yuan bills from her small crossbody bag and held them out to him. "Here, this is to pay for the harmonica."

"What is this supposed to mean?" Chen Ye narrowed his eyes at the outstretched cash.

"It doesn't mean anything. I just simply didn't want... I mean, your family isn't well-off, so giving such an expensive gift is too much. I can't accept it, but I figure it can't be returned now, so I can only compensate you in cash. You need the money more than I do," Su Siyun explained with a sweet smile.

She had originally been about to say her usual line of not wanting to owe anyone, but she forcibly swallowed the words before they could escape her lips, swapping them for a different phrasing. She knew without a doubt that her usual tone wouldn't make anyone feel good, even with her lack of experience in pursuing boys. She needed to act as though she genuinely cared about Chen Ye.

To her embarrassment, however, Chen Ye shot back, "But I gave it to Jiang Xin. Why are you giving me money?"

"He's still pretending!" Su Siyun complained inwardly.

Even if Chen Ye truly didn't like her anymore, the name on that love letter and the harmonica—which only a handful of people even knew about—proved it was one hundred percent meant for her! Being rebuffed like this in front of the others was a tough pill to swallow, even for her, but she had to put on a brave face.

"Giving it to Jiang Xin or giving it to me—isn't it all the same? We are family, after all." Su Siyun maintained her smile, pushing the cash a bit further forward for him to take.

But Chen Ye remained completely unmoved.

"Are you the one giving me this money, or did Jiang Xin ask you to?" he asked, looking her dead in the eye.

Su Siyun had been acting strangely ever since they got off the Ferris wheel. She was behaving completely outside the framework of the person he remembered. He couldn't quite see through her motives. In the past, even if Su Siyun had compensated him in cash for a gift, she never would have said something like that. She would have simply stated that she didn't want to owe anyone. But now, her words made it seem as though she had become a completely different person; Chen Ye actually detected a hint of genuine concern in her voice.

"Of course it's... it's because I wanted to give it to you." Su Siyun faltered for a moment, but ultimately chose not to lie. She had always disdained dishonesty.

"Then you should keep it." After leaving her with those words, Chen Ye ignored her. Letting out a light breath, he nodded to Yu Mengmeng and then addressed Weng Jilin. "I've got some things to take care of, so I'll head back first. You guys have fun."

"Huh? Why don't you walk Siyun home, Chen Ye?" Yu Mengmeng quickly interjected, seizing the opportunity.

She had no idea what had transpired since last night. All she knew was that Chen Ye liked her best friend, yet for some reason, he hadn't confessed his feelings the night before. Because of this, she was still trying her hardest to play matchmaker.

But Chen Ye just smiled and shook his head. "Weng Jilin can escort you both back."

With that, he patted Weng Jilin's shoulder and offered an encouraging look before raising his hand to hail a taxi that happened to be crawling toward them. Amidst Su Siyun's stiff posture and her look of sheer disbelief, Chen Ye opened the car door and ducked inside.

Weng Jilin and Yu Mengmeng exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock mirrored in the other's eyes. Chen Ye seemed... a little too cold toward Su Siyun.

Meanwhile, Su Siyun gritted her teeth, glaring daggers at the taxi's retreating taillights as the banknotes were tightly crumpled in the palm of her hand.

"I refuse to accept this!"