Chapter 21: On Guard

While they talked, servers brought dish after dish—plates of barbecue and snacks quickly covered the table.
They declined the staff’s grilling service. Qi Yu thought the topic was finally over—only for Li Tong to grill meat and chat at once, still clinging to the subject.
She picked up beef slices; they sizzled the moment they hit the pan. After laying out a full plate she set down the tongs and picked up where she had left off.
“Right? I thought so too. I bet you’d definitely refuse—good thing she never went through with it.”
“……” Jiang Ya breathed deep inside, stared at the grill in silence a moment, glanced at the person across with lowered eyes and no words, then said, “I didn’t even know her. Refusing is normal—it has nothing to do with her gender.”
“True anyway…” Li Tong agreed, flipping the meat in order. “Personally I lean toward—liking someone doesn’t mean you have to confess. Especially in school. If you don’t confess, at least you keep some fantasy.”
“If you really confess and get rejected… forget it, I cringe just thinking about it.”
Jiang Ya: “……”
Qi Yu: “………”
One sentence silenced the table again.
The culprit kept going, oblivious. Li Tong had always been like this—once the floodgates opened she could not stop. Qi Yu had sat beside her back in high school and knew full well how sharp her tongue was.
“I don’t think you’re cut out for self-media.” Qi Yu leaned against the booth back, watching Li Tong, and dropped that line out of nowhere, scattering Li Tong’s thoughts.
Li Tong blinked. “Huh? Why? My numbers are decent.”
“Not that.” Qi Yu picked up a lettuce leaf and wrapped meat carefully, voice calm. “I just think public speaking might suit you better.”
“Ever seen that variety show? People go up to give speeches and roasts—you might fit right in.”
Jiang Ya could not hold back a soft “pfft,” hand over her mouth, teasing eyes on Li Tong.
“Really?” Li Tong noticed nothing odd, took it as praise, and ran with it. “I had this talent and never knew? Hahaha.”
“Oh!” Li Tong’s eyes lit up. “I was stuck on my next vlog topic—you just gave me an idea.”
“Next episode I’ll do an emotions series—one topic per ep. Maybe youth? That could work, or also…”
Hearing her take it seriously, Qi Yu almost laughed. A random joke had accidentally sparked Li Tong’s creativity.
But Qi Yu had laughed too soon.
They had been on filming—then Li Tong swerved the conversation back.
“If I pick ‘youth’ as the theme, what should the first topic be? Gotta hit resonance so views go up…”
“Hey.” Li Tong’s eyes flashed; she did not even eat the meat at her lips. “What about teenage love stories?”
“Don’t look at me.” Qi Yu was scared of that stare—meat in hand, dipping sauce, mouth busy refusing. “No idea. I’ve got no material for you.”
Li Tong turned to Jiang Ya, chewing politely. Jiang Ya saw her look, said not a word, only shook her head fast.
Qi Yu glanced at them and added, “Not to discourage you—but parents might report you for promoting early romance.”
Li Tong pushed back. “Who says youth romance has to be dating? You can talk regret—things that faded—drifting apart…”
“Besides, who didn’t have a crush or two back then? It’s normal at that age.”
“You didn’t?”
Li Tong met Jiang Ya’s eyes by accident and said at once, “Then you didn’t.”
Jiang Ya paused, smiled helplessly.
“You neither?” Li Tong aimed at Qi Yu.
Qi Yu was focused on the grill. She paused, looked up at Li Tong. “What?”
Li Tong: “In high school—anyone you liked? You can chat casually. I could use it as material.”
“……” She felt a gaze on the top of her head—not Li Tong’s. She did not look up, only kept turning meat on the pan.
Unhurriedly she flipped everything, then slowly lifted her eyes—a flash at someone, then settled on Li Tong’s face.
“…I didn’t either. Ask someone else.” Her tone was casual, light, brushing the topic away. “Material doesn’t have to be real—you can make it up or search online.”
“Hey—” Li Tong raised a brow. “Makes sense. New angle—searching now.”
True to form Li Tong dropped meat and drink, phone out, keys clacking.
Finally off the hook, Qi Yu breathed easier inside.
But that gaze on her had not lifted.
What kind of look it was, Qi Yu did not know—she never met it. She only grilled, dipped, wrapped meat in lettuce and ate, head down the whole time.
She did not know how many times she repeated that before the persistent stare finally moved away.
The instant it did, her lowered eyes lifted—while Jiang Ya’s head was down, one quick look at her. Brief—by the time Jiang Ya looked up again, Qi Yu’s eyes had already slid away.
……
Entering the mall the sky was gray but still had light. Leaving, one look up—night had fallen.
Lately days were short, nights long. By late afternoon it was nearly dark; cool evening wind blew like a prelude to night.
Near the mall entrance, by the parking lot, people came and went. Qi Yu’s group was among them, chatting, seeing Li Tong off.
The mall was huge; parking far. They walked a good while before delivering Li Tong.
Li Tong walked slightly ahead, dug out her keys, looked back. “How are you two getting back? Want a ride? I’m free.”
Qi Yu hands in pockets behind her, wind in her face making her squint. “No need. You go. I’ll manage.”
Jiang Ya stood beside Qi Yu, tucking wind-tousled hair. “I don’t need one either.”
“Fine, you’re both so polite.” Li Tong called ahead, saw them still following, waved with a smile. “Go back—you don’t need to walk me further. Parking’s right there.”
“Let’s meet again sometime. I’m off!”
Qi Yu and Jiang Ya answered. They stood watching Li Tong fade away.
After a moment Qi Yu turned back and asked Jiang Ya, “How will you get back?”
Jiang Ya looked over, smiling eyes asking back, “You?”
“I…” Qi Yu looked at traffic in the distance to the right. “Not sure yet… I checked—the nearest subway here doesn’t connect to the line near my place. No metro—bus.”
Nanliu was a county-city near the provincial capital. Years ago they had built metro to integrate with the big city’s network. Few lines though; daily life for most had not changed much.
Especially e-bikes. Qi Yu had planned to ride today—but Qi Xuan begged to borrow it to review at a classmate’s house. One pitiful look and Qi Yu could not refuse and handed it over.
“Oh… I thought you rode today.” Jiang Ya said.
Qi Yu thought of Qi Xuan’s pleading face and felt helpless. “I wanted to—but I lent it to Xuan. Said she’s reviewing with a classmate.”
“And you? You didn’t drive?”
Jiang Ya shook her head with a smile. “No. Parking’s a pain—I took a cab.”
Qi Yu: “Then…”
Jiang Ya was already on her phone. A moment later she looked up. “I checked—bus 91 for me. You?”
Qi Yu’s brow lifted slightly. “What a coincidence. Me too.”
Jiang Ya: “Walk together? Nearest stop’s eight minutes.”
She waved her phone at Qi Yu—navigation still on screen.
Qi Yu glanced and agreed.
Since they were on the same route, no need to dodge on purpose. Trying too hard would make her the abnormal one.
Nothing to avoid. She had driven Jiang Ya home before—same bus was fine. Just friends.
Only—she had found Li Tong chatty earlier. Now she kind of missed her.
Without Li Tong in the middle, she and Jiang Ya had nothing to say—hard to find one shared topic. Every time they were together, a faint awkwardness seemed to follow.
She did not want that either. Between friends, awkward was taboo. But forcing small talk might freeze things worse.
Qi Yu looked at the pavement, thinking, with no sign of speaking.
The silence held until they left the mall and turned a corner. The bus stop was not far ahead when the person beside her suddenly said, “Look.”
Jiang Ya’s arm touched hers—on purpose or not—Qi Yu flinched aside and looked up.
Besides ordinary pedestrians, nothing special.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Those two students ahead.” Jiang Ya lifted her chin toward two girls to the left front.
Similar height, backpacks, padded school jackets—badges on the clothes showed they were uniforms.
Saturday—maybe just out of tutoring. The girl with longer hair on the left held a book; the shorter-haired girl on the right pressed close, as if trying to snatch the book to read.
They tugged and laughed; their voices even reached them.
Qi Yu watched their backs; something soft inside stirred. She only looked at Jiang Ya, expression puzzled. “They… what about them?”
“Don’t you think… they’re a lot like us back then?” Jiang Ya said softly.
Jiang Ya wore casual flats today; Qi Yu wore short boots with a bit of heel—Jiang Ya had to look up slightly to meet her eyes.
Even in the dark, her eyes seemed to glitter like crushed glass.
Qi Yu met that smiling gaze a moment, then looked away, flickering toward other passersby. “Yeah, similar… about the same age…”
She heard Jiang Ya’s soft laugh, then: “More than age. We used to walk like this after school too.”
“Remember? Once your grades slipped… teacher called you to the office and you were gloomy all afternoon.”
“After school you barely talked. Li Tong was there too… she asked and you wouldn’t say why, so none of us knew.”
“Then what?” Qi Yu was pulled into old memory too—but so many years; details were blurry.
Jiang Ya: “Then you told me to buy you candied haw at the school gate and you’d feel better. I thought you were joking. You ate it and really did cheer up.”
“After that I thought candied haw fixed moods for a while—whenever I saw them I’d buy some… looking back, pretty childish.”
Jiang Ya seemed lost in memory, head down, lips curved.
She did not know Qi Yu was watching her now—deep gaze, unreadable feeling.
Childish? Sure—who had not been childish in youth.
She could not recall specifics, but hearing Jiang Ya, she understood.
It was never the haw that made her happy—it was Jiang Ya buying it for her.
In the end, everything came back to Jiang Ya.
Yet this person stood beside her now. After everything, talking about the past as if still oblivious—never sensing how she had felt then.
She really did not know—did Jiang Ya understand at all? Missing her crush back then was one thing. Now, after honesty and reunion…
Even if unlikely—did Jiang Ya have no guard at all toward her?
If she fell for her again—what then? Still play the dignified, distant friend?
Really did not get it…
Qi Yu laughed coldly inside.