Chapter 672 - 664: Yarn’s Mind

"What are you talking about? You’re apologizing to the wrong person." After his initial surprise, Alton chuckled and punched Yarn’s shoulder. "If you’re going to apologize, it should be to Ye Qingqing. What are you telling me for?"

Yarn didn’t know how to explain things to his best friend, so he just gave an awkward laugh. "Yeah... you’re right."

"Come on, let’s head to Beijing University to see Ye Qingqing first. You should probably clear things up with her. If you really like her, then you need to protect her properly. Otherwise, just leave her alone. I bet she was terrified by what happened," Alton told Yarn.

Yarn nodded, and the two of them drove off toward Beijing University.

Alton was driving. Yarn’s mind was a mess, so he leaned back in his seat, closed his eyes, and remained silent. Alton assumed Yarn was just worried about the situation with Angela and Ye Qingqing, so he didn’t disturb him.

But he had no idea that Yarn’s mind was filled with nothing but the image of Su Qing.

Yarn couldn’t quite put a finger on his feelings for Su Qing. The first time he met her, he thought he’d seen Susan and had excitedly gone up to greet her. It was only when he saw Su Qing’s face that he realized this girl wasn’t Susan at all—it was just that her back profile was strikingly similar.

His best friend had fallen for Su Qing, and he was happy for him. He was even willing to help his friend pursue her. He admired his friend’s courage, fighting to win his family’s approval for Su Qing’s sake.

However, after interacting with her a few times, he suddenly found that the way Su Qing made him feel was very similar to Susan. Sometimes, in a daze, he felt as if he were looking at Susan again.

But Su Qing was the girl his best friend liked. There was no way he could compete with him for her. Besides, Su Qing wasn’t Susan.

Yet, as time went on, his feelings for Su Qing grew increasingly complex. He even dreamed of Su Qing and Susan merging into a single person, leaving him with the hazy feeling that they were one and the same.

It was absurd, but Yarn couldn’t break out of the strange mental loop he’d created for himself.

Naturally, he didn’t dare share these thoughts with Alton, and he certainly couldn’t pursue the girl his friend liked. It was right around this time that Ye Qingqing confessed her feelings to him. Yarn knew she wasn’t his type, and he had originally planned to turn her down.

’But then a thought struck him. ’Ye Qingqing and Su Qing are roommates. If my friend marries Su Qing and I marry Ye Qingqing, then couldn’t we use their close friendship as an excuse to get together for meals all the time? That way, I’d be able to see Su Qing regularly.’

The thought was insane, but he longed for it desperately. Even if he wasn’t fated to marry this girl whose back was a mirror image of Susan’s, he still hoped he could see her often in the future. It would be like... seeing Susan again.

Acting on that impulse, Yarn agreed to Ye Qingqing’s pursuit. However, he still had to explain the situation to his family and win their approval. After all, in their world, a marriage without the family’s blessing was not considered proper or legitimate.

’But thinking about it now,’ he reflected, ’it’s so unfair to Ye Qingqing, especially since I’m the one who put her in such grave danger. That Angela is a complete lunatic. I never imagined she was this insane.’

Yarn knew he had to explain the situation to Ye Qingqing. He couldn’t let his selfishness drag an innocent person into this. Alton had been right: he didn’t love Ye Qingqing. If she married him, she wouldn’t find happiness and would likely face even more insane retaliation from Angela. That was completely unfair to her.

Deep down, he was still in love with that girl he had only known for a few days!

Fortunately, his family hadn’t given him an answer yet, and he hadn’t formally agreed to start dating Ye Qingqing. There was still time to put everything back in its proper place.

When Yarn saw Ye Qingqing, her face still pale, he felt an even deeper pang of guilt.

"I’m sorry," Yarn said, looking at Ye Qingqing.

Ye Qingqing quickly shook her head. "It’s not your fault."

"Ultimately, it has everything to do with me," Yarn said quickly. "If it weren’t for me, Angela never would have targeted you. I’m sorry."

Ye Qingqing looked up at Yarn. "Is that Angela the girl from the arranged marriage you were trying to avoid?"

Yarn nodded. It wasn’t a secret; he had told Ye Qingqing about it when she confessed to him. It was just that no one had expected Angela to be so insane.

"What... what will happen to her?" Ye Qingqing asked, her voice trembling. Honestly, she was terrified by Angela’s methods. The woman had shown a complete disregard for the law, ordering those bodyguards to... to do that to her. Thank goodness Su Qing had rescued her. Otherwise, she couldn’t imagine what her fate would have been. The memory of her nightmare from last night still made her shudder with fear.

"I hope she gets the punishment she deserves," Yarn said.

"Hope?" Ye Qingqing caught the implication in his tone. "You mean there’s a chance that Angela could escape legal punishment?"

"I don’t know. I hope not." Yarn sighed. "I’m just not sure if her family will find out about this quickly. If her family intervenes, she’ll very likely escape any real consequences and just get deported."

"So, she can do whatever she wants and might not even get punished for it." A chill ran down Ye Qingqing’s spine. She still hadn’t recovered from what happened yesterday. Now, after hearing Yarn’s words, on top of what her dorm mates had said that morning, she lost all confidence in a future with him. Even if she got her wish and married Yarn, she wasn’t sure she could survive Angela’s insanity a second time. If another attack happened overseas, she felt it would be a death sentence.

"Maybe." Yarn sighed deeply. He wasn’t the one in charge of his family’s decisions; there were many things he had no control over.

A long silence fell between them.

After a long moment, Yarn finally said to Ye Qingqing, "I’m very sorry for the terror you’ve been through. I’ll compensate you for it. Also... I think we should just stop here. I can’t be the one to bring you harm."

At his words, Ye Qingqing looked up at Yarn. Honestly, for her, it had been love at first sight. She knew she liked him very, very much; otherwise, she never would have been so bold as to confess her feelings to a boy for the first time in her life. It was a completely unprecedented move for her.

But Ye Qingqing was also very smart. She knew which decision was in her best interest. ’Even if Yarn hadn’t brought this up today,’ she thought, ’I would have done it myself. After all, when you weigh love against your own life, your life is obviously more important. Without your life, how can you even talk about love?’