Hard to Deceive
Chapter 6: It wasn't for you

Wen Yifan was startled and her eyebrows twitched.

How did a corpse come back to life???

And what’s the meaning of the mark?

Wen Yifan glanced upwards and stared at the text she sent out: Happy Chinese New Year ^_^

At that moment, Wen Yifan suddenly felt that she had become illiterate.

What I sent were greetings, not foul language…...

Forget it.

The act of typing a question mark is quite intimidating.

Wen Yifan was startled by him through a phone screen.

Her reaction was like seeing someone you will never meet until the day you die.

He simply didn’t care what she said, he had to reply to her question marks even if it was just a greeting message.

Wen Yifan hesitantly typed in the chatbox: Do you know I’m...

She noticed someone passing by before she could finish typing her sentence. Wen Yifan subconsciously looked up and noticed Sang Yan walking towards the location which was about a meter ahead of her before stopping beside a girl.

That girl was skinny and she was silently looking down. It seemed like she was looking at her mobile phone.

She recalled the conversation between Sang Yan and his mother. That girl must be his sister.

Wen Yifan still faintly remembered that girl. She met her during high school, her name was Sang Zhi, and she was six or seven years younger than Sang Yan. During that time, she was petite and looked like a porcelain doll. Wen Yifan had to bend down to talk to her.

Now, she was almost as tall as her.

Sang Yan said lazily, “Brat.”

Sang Zhi looked up, “What?”

Sang Yan, “I heard that you have been under a lot of pressure lately?”

Sang Zhi briefly answered, “I’m not.”

Sang Yan continued to question, “Was it because the final examination is coming up?”

There was only a person in between Wen Yifan and them.

She could clearly hear them speak like there was a TV drama playing in front of her with this distance. She didn’t mean to listen to them but their conversation kept coming into her ears…

“I said I’m not.”

“Why do you want to overthink?” As if he wanted to implement the task commanded by his mother, Sang Yan casually said, “I didn’t study but I still got into Nanwu University. Moreover, even if your qualifications are lacking, we still have the money for you to retake your semester.”

“Didn’t study? Did you think I forgot?” Sang Zhi glared at him, she was getting annoyed, “Don’t worry. You’ve worked very hard to enter Nanwu University, however, it’ll just be a piece of cake for me to enter Nanwu University.

“……”

“Oh, right.” Sang Zhi added after complaining, “I heard from Mom that you’ve quit your job?”

“……”

“It can’t be, right?”

Sang Yan tilted his head to the side, “It’s none of your business.”

Sang Zhi said, “Were you fired and embarrassed to admit it?”

Sang Yan’s phone rang before he could reply to her. He looked down and suddenly said, “If you refuse to listen to what I say, why not let this ‘Biological Brother’ comfort you instead?”

“What…” Sang Zhi suddenly stopped when she saw who was calling him. She muttered after a few seconds, “No thanks.”

Sang Yan didn’t say much after that, he went back to the hut to answer the phone call.

The surroundings became silent.

Although Wen Yifan couldn’t fully understand what they were talking about, she was uneasy because she was left no choice but to eavesdrop on someone she knew at a short distance. Fortunately, she was wearing a face mask, which gave her a sense of security.

Wen Yifan turned on her phone screen again.

She noticed the unsent message in the chat box and felt that the message was inappropriate, so she deleted all of it. She wanted to indirectly confirm whether he knew that this was her WeChat. She thought about it again and again before cautiously replying: ?

He didn’t reply to her message immediately as he was probably still on the phone.

She stared at her phone for two seconds.

Wen Yifan suddenly realized a problem.

Even if Sang Yan had really blocked her.

But she didn’t block him from seeing her moments.

“……”

Upon this thought, Wen Yifan immediately opened her moments.

There were too many things that happened during that period of time. Her latest post in her moments was more than two months ago. She posted a picture when she went to a bar with her colleagues when she was still in Yihe town.

Wen Yifan’s eyes were fixed on her phone screen.

What caught her eyes was a selfie of her with her ex-colleagues.

The people in the photo were smiling brightly and posing joyfully for pictures. Wen Yifan was sitting at the lower-left seat and her skin was too fair until it was overexposed. She looked into the camera calmly with a faint smile on her lips.

Her facial features were prominent.

……

The queue was slowly moving into the washroom, a few people came out at the same time and it was her turn in the queue. Wen Yifan recovered from her thoughts and kept her mobile phone in her pockets before going into the washroom.

A moment later, Wen Yifan went out of the washroom.

The washroom basin was shared by males and females. The male and female washrooms were separated by two or three metres.

Wen Yifan turned open the tap and her thoughts were all over the place.

So he was just pretending not to recognize me previously in the bar.

He also didn’t send me the bulk greeting message on purpose.

He loathed anything that was related to her.

Wen Yifan looked up and saw Sang Yan who was still standing at the same location through a mirror in front of her. It seemed that he had finished his phone call. His hand was in his pocket and his other hand was playing with his phone.

I wonder if he will reply to my message.

The next moment, Wen Yifan noticed Sang Zhi was also coming out from the washroom and went to the basin beside her. However, the tap seemed to be broken as there was no water coming out when it was turned on.

Wen Yifan had just finished using the basin and she made room for her, “You can use this instead.”

Sang Zhi immediately said, “Thank you.”

She was slightly stunned when their eyes met.

Wen Yifan didn’t notice it. She looked away and took out her mobile phone before going out of the washroom. She opened her phone and the interface was still at the chatbox with Sang Yan.

He didn’t even reply to her punctuation mark.

Wen Yifan understood the reason. She remained silent for a moment and she couldn’t resist typing: Let’s unfriend each other.

She deleted her message not long after.

Wen Yifan was stunned when she glanced at the two question marks they had just sent. She suddenly felt that their conversation was tense, she replied with a question mark and thought, “Idiot, do you think you’re the only one who knows how to type a question mark?”

However, she didn’t mean to start a fight with him.

Wen Yifan didn’t want to be upset during the new year festival, so she was thinking about how to give in.

She typed: Then.

She stared at the question mark sent by Sang Yan and the New Year blessings she sent. She was hesitating whether to continue typing her message: It’s okay if you’re not happy.

“……”

After the message was successfully sent out, Wen Yifan was getting closer to Sang Yan. When she was passing by him from a distance, she awkwardly looked down and secretly peeked at him before noticing that he was opening WeChat.

That man’s long eyelashes were drooping down, he was staring at the content on his phone screen.

Wen Yifan didn’t know whether she was hallucinating, but she seemed to hear him scoff.

Her spine froze.

She continued walking for a while.

Wen Yifan’s indescribable guilt had finally subsided once she was far from him. She looked at her phone screen again and as she expected, he still didn’t reply.

She sighed and stopped thinking about it.

Wen Yifan felt that she was gone for a long time. She didn’t want to waste any more time so she quickly returned to the shooting location.

There was not much difference from when she left.

The plaza was full with decorations, plants and the small buildings were decorated with colorful lights, which created a festive atmosphere. People were moving around and the staff members were keeping order, they were all beaming.

The advance preparations were all set and ready for the arrival of a new year.

Qian Weihua and Zhen Yu were having a conversation. Fu Zhuang was standing beside them, obediently and silently listening to them. He immediately approached Wen Yifan when he noticed her return.

Fu Zhuang was a newly recruited intern, he joined the company two weeks ago, and he was a final year university student. He was exactly the opposite of his name, he was short but skinny, just like a bamboo. His facial features were adorable but his voice was contradictingly deep, “Yifan, if you come one moment later…”

*Zhuang means a well-built and buff body

Wen Yifan thought something was wrong, “Then what?”

Fu Zhuang said in sorrow, “Then you might only see my frozen dead body.”

“......” Wen Yifan nodded her head, “Thanks for your contribution, I was wondering what I should write for my journal.”

“I’m just a topic in your point of view!” Fu Zhuang complained, he was shivering but his voice was spirited, “D*mn, I’m so f*cking cold, the wind can almost blow out my snot!”

Wen Yifan looked at him.

Most boys of this age prefer fashion instead of the ability of the clothing to keep them warm, Fu Zhuang was no exception. He only wore a jean jacket that seemed to have zero resistance to the cold, and his lips were purple due to the cold.

He was also very skinny, as if he would be blown away by the sea breeze in any minute.

“The seaside is usually cold. Wear more layers of clothes the next time you come out for work.” Wen Yifan took a hand warmer out from her pockets and gave it to him, “Put it in your pocket to warm your hands.”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Fu Zhuang never thought about accepting her offer, “Yifan, keep it, you must be colder than me.”

“I have two in my pocket.” Wen Yifan added, “There is no room for this anymore.”

“……”

Fu Zhuang took it happily this time and changed the topic, “By the way, have you seen a fireworks show before?”

Wen Yifan replied, “Yes, but it’s not as large scale as this.”

Fu Zhuang: “Will my wish come true if I wish upon the fireworks?”

Wen Yifan, “No.”

“......” Fu Zhuang murmured, “My only wish is to replace a girlfriend next year.”

Wen Yifan smiled, “That’s even more impossible.”

“Yifan, why are you like this!” Fu Zhuang sulked, “Then. I’ll make a wish to grow five centimeters instead! Could boys grow taller again in their twenties……”

Wen Yifan didn’t make fun of him this time.

Speaking of this, Fu Zhuang suddenly pointed towards a direction, “Hmm, just like him, my dream is to be as tall as him. I would be satisfied with being half a head shorter than him.”

Wen Yifan looked towards that direction and was instantly stunned.

Coincidentally, Fu Zhuang was referring to Sang Yan.

She didn’t know whether to say they were destined or whether to say that she was haunted by him.

He was standing ten meters away from them. He was leaning against the railing and his coat was being blown up by the wind. His jaw was slightly clenched as he casually played with his mobile phone.

She didn’t know where Sang Zhi, who was with him not too long ago, went.

“His figure is completely my ideal body figure.” Fu Zhuang sighed, “Could God and the fireworks witness the exchange of my head to his body today?”

Wen Yifan looked back at him and giggled, “Why don’t you steal his face too?”

Fu Zhuang clearly had this idea, his hesitant tone was obvious, “Won’t it be bad if I take two?”

“……”

Qian Weihua was calling for them out of a sudden.

It was probably because she was guilty that she ignored them for too long. So, she gathered them to brief them about the precautions to take note for outdoor live broadcasts.

Time gradually went by.

As the new year approached, the atmosphere was becoming more and more lively. The LED display on the tall building was starting to count down. The crowd was bustling and people started to shout out the countdown at the last minute of the year.

“——59、58、57。”

……

“——5、4、3。”

“——2！”

“——1！”

Countless fireworks were fired in the air as soon as the last second of the countdown was shouted. The fireworks formed colourful beams of lights before blooming in the night sky. Different lights bloomed into different fireworks which overlapped with each other.

The audiences raised their mobile phones up and searched for the best camera angle to capture the scenery.

Wen Yifan also took out her mobile phone and captured a few photos when Qian Weihua had finished her commands.

Her view was blocked by the people in front, so she moved aside to watch.

The whole process lasted for more than ten minutes.

Wen Yifan was slowly pushed outside to the railing by the crowd without her knowing. When she noticed the fireworks show was almost over, she went back to replace Qian Weihua and she was suddenly knocked by a person passing by.

Wen Yifan lost her balance and leaned forward a few steps.

Then, she bumped into someone.

She immediately stepped back, looked up, and subconsciously apologized, “I’m sorry.”

As soon as she apologized, she realized that the person she bumped into was Sang Yan. At that moment, he was looking down at her and she couldn’t tell what his expressions were. He seemed to be talking to someone on the phone.

“Yes, I’m going back home.”

Out of respect, Wen Yifan bit the bullet and apologized.

Sang Yan casually looked at her for a while before nodding his head.

It seemed like a sign that he had heard it.

Wen Yifan could vaguely hear him saying “Happy New Year.” to the person on the phone when she was returning.

Wen Yifan touched her face in hindsight when she was back to Qian Weihua. She touched the mask that she was still wearing on her face, her movements stopped and her nerves were relaxed.

My face was covered, maybe he didn’t recognize me…

On the other hand.

Qian Fei, his college roommate and friend was on the other end of the phone mumbling and interrupting him twice in a row. He was silent for a few seconds, “Oh, I don’t care when you will go home, okay? But thanks anyway. Bro, Happy New Year to you, too.”

Sang Yan raised his eyebrows, “What are you thanking for?”

Qian Fei, “Weren’t you wishing me Happy New Year?”

“Stop imagining things.” Sang Yan lazily said, “It wasn’t for you.”