Chapter 151: In the end, he just isn't good enough (revised)

Sun Yu walked out of the school gate, clutching a kraft paper file bag in his hand, while his other hand held a small sun umbrella.

Just walking that short distance from the teaching building to the school gate, the afternoon's scorching sun forced a thin layer of sweat onto his back, making his T-shirt stick to him.

He narrowed his eyes, quickened his pace toward the black sedan parked not far away, thinking to get into the cool car as soon as possible.

When he opened the car door, the imagined scene of quiet rest did not appear.

Instead, he saw his desk mate Yang Yixie and his father's efficient, strong‑presence assistant chatting happily.

Yang Yixie wore that familiar shy smile he knew, while Meng Kexin...... she was actually smiling?

It wasn't a professional polite smile; her brows and eyes were curved, making her whole demeanor much softer.

Sun Yu's motion froze, gripping the car door handle, stuck outside, brows furrowed, his gaze sweeping back and forth over the two.

Something's off.

He remembered clearly that before he went in, Ke Xin Jie's face was still a bit pale, saying she hadn't rested well last night, which was why he had told her to rest properly in the car.

How in the blink of an eye did she end up chatting so enthusiastically with Yang Yixie?

In his memory, neither of them was anything special; when he first became desk mates with Yang Yixie, he had put in considerable effort to get closer.

In the end, he just isn't good enough, right?

The two inside the car also stopped talking because of the suddenly opened door.

Yang Yixie turned his head, while Meng Kexin, as if instinctively, lifted her hand to tuck the stray strand of hair falling by her cheek back behind her ear, the motion natural, then continued to coil the hair at the nape, restoring her previous neat bun.

"Got the file?"

Meng Kexin spoke first, her voice already back to its usual crisp tone.

"It's hot outside, get in the car quickly—shall I drive you straight to the place to eat?"

"No problem."

Yang Yixie readily agreed, shifting over to make room for Sun Yu.

"It just so happens I dropped off a meal for my mom early, so I'm a bit hungry now."

"Did I ask you?"

Sun Yu dove into the car and slammed the door shut with a bang, shutting out the scorching heat.

The cool air‑conditioning wrapped around him instantly, yet he still felt an inexplicable imbalance inside.

He grabbed Yang Yixie's neck, pulled him toward himself, lowered his voice, and questioned in a volume only the two could hear.

"Hey! I'm saying, buddy, this seems a bit underhanded—how did you get so close to my Ke Xin Jie all of a sudden?"

He knows Meng Kexin's abilities.

Don't let her cute doll‑like face and short stature fool you—when they first met he thought she was an intern his dad had dug up somewhere, and he was a bit dismissive.

In just a couple days, that assistant sister had whipped him into shape with her decisive methods, and he willingly called her "Ke Xin Jie."

That guy Yang Yixie, usually quiet and unnoticeable in class, how did he...?

"Hss, could it be that this guy likes that type?"

"I didn't see it coming," Sun Yu wore an expression of sudden realization, his gaze toward Yang Yixie tinged with teasing.

"Loli body, queen‑sister heart?"

Yang Yixie was pulled slightly askew by his grip; just looking at that guy's eyes, anyone could tell he was thinking dirty, so he helplessly adjusted his glasses and explained in a similarly low voice.

"You're overthinking it—I just knocked on the window earlier, startled Ke Xin Jie, apologized, and then we chatted a couple of sentences."

"Ke Xin Jie?!"

Sun Yu's eyes widened even more, his expression exaggeratedly putting on the look of "My son has rebelled, deeply wounding my heart."

"You're already calling her 'sister'?! You're not even that close to me—sigh, Dad raised you for nothing."

Yang Yixie's face showed a hint of disdain, and he directly slapped his hand away.

"It's fine—I can be even closer to you, call me Dad."

Although their muttering was kept low, it still faintly carried to the front seats in the relatively quiet cabin.

Meng Kexin fastened her seat belt, glanced through the rearview mirror at the two boys in the back seat leaning shoulder‑to‑shoulder and whispering, and felt more at ease inside.

After returning from that game world, her various perceptual abilities, including hearing, were far above ordinary people's, making it easy to hear their conversation clearly.

It seems...... really just a coincidence.

This Yang Yixie's words and deeds are those of an ordinary high‑school graduate—he'll roughhouse with classmates, flash a shy smile, and sincerely apologize if he frightens someone.

It is completely different from the "abnormal existence" in her memory that wore the same face in the game world and defied logical explanation.

Simply the fact that Yang Yixie is a normal person already surpasses Ying Duo by far.

Meng Kexin exhaled lightly, her long‑tense nerves finally relaxing.

She started the car, skillfully turned on the signal, and drove away from the school gate.

"Hold on, we're setting off."

——————————————————

Meng Kexin parked the car steadily in the lot near the restaurant.

"We've arrived, you two young masters should get out."

She turned her head, a faint smile on her face, and said to the two in the back seat.

Sun Yu finally stopped whispering with Yang Yixie there and enthusiastically extended an invitation to Meng Kexin.

"Ke Xin Jie, you really won't join us for a bite? Their signature dish is pretty good!"

Meng Kexin smiled and shook her head, her tone gentle but firm.

"No thanks, I had lunch late, I'm not hungry yet; I'll just fry something simple at home later. Remember to have fun—we'll be heading to the capital soon."

She indeed needed some alone time to digest that brief but immensely impactful "reunion."

Although the preliminary judgment was a false alarm, the shadow cast by that face isn't so easily dispelled.

Sun Yu saw her attitude was clear, and without pressing further, he replied cheerfully.

"Alright, sis, you can go back first; I'll just take a taxi home tonight, no need for you to send me off!"

Yang Yixie also politely nodded at Meng Kexin.

"Thanks for seeing us off, Ke Xin Jie. Goodbye."

As soon as they got out of the car, Sun Yu nudged Yang Yixie with his elbow, wiggling his eyebrows and lowering his voice.

"Ah, what a pity, Ke Xin Jie didn't agree; don't be upset, there'll be another chance next time!"

Yang Yixie gave him a speechless glance, then pushed up his glasses.

"What are you acting out in your head all day? I've only just met Ke Xin Jie and exchanged a few words, yet you're reacting so strongly—could it be that you yourself have some designs on her?"

"Whoa! Don't talk nonsense!"

Sun Yu reacted as if his tail had been stepped on, hurriedly denying it, though his face looked a bit unnatural.

"How could my Ke Xin Jie be someone you can casually fantasize about? She's practically a queen! My feelings are pure respect for the strong... and a hint of awe!"

He recalled how Meng Kexin had overwhelmed him with her tactics, eventually forcing him to obediently call her 'sister'—a black mark in his history that still made his heart race.

Yang Yixie looked at his reaction, snorted, and didn't continue the topic.

Their mutual teasing had become the norm.

Watching the two boys get out of the car one after another, shoulders linked as they walked toward the restaurant entrance, Meng Kexin finally let out a slow sigh of relief.

She lowered her seat a bit, hoping to rest a while longer, but found she had no trace of sleepiness.

In her mind, the face of that person under the scorching sun, wearing black-framed glasses, kept popping up involuntarily, linking with the vague but green-light-shining figure deep in her memory.

They kept overlapping, then separating again.

She irritably rubbed her forehead, took out her phone, and began scrolling aimlessly, trying to drown her uncontrollable thoughts in fragmented information.