Revelation of the Way of Heaven

Chapter 174 Confession

As soon as Qin Xiaochuan returned to his dorm, his two roommates immediately surrounded him, asking, "How did it go? How did the battle go?"

Before Qin Xiaochuan could reply, Gao Xiang continued, "Look at you, all smiles. You must have succeeded. How about it? How are you going to thank us?"

"What? You're overthinking it." Qin Xiaochuan rolled her eyes at him.

"Could it be that they failed? That's impossible. With me as their top support, they couldn't possibly fail." Gao Xiang asked in surprise.

"No, no, I haven't confessed at all." Qin Xiaochuan rolled his eyes again.

"Why? Are you chickening out?"

Qin Xiaochuan said, "How could I possibly back down? I spent my birthday at her house, and her mother was there too. How could I possibly confess my feelings?"

"You're something else, meeting the parents so quickly," Gao Xiang teased with a smile.

"What are you talking about? It's not even close to happening yet," Qin Xiaochuan said speechlessly.

"No matter what, the fact that she invited you to her birthday party shows that she cares about you. As the saying goes, being near the water tower makes it easier to get the moon first, so you should seize the opportunity, brother." Gao Xiang gave him a knowing look.

Qin Xiaochuan was lost in thought as he recalled Guo Shiyi's sweet and lovely appearance today. Just then, his phone rang. When he opened it, he saw that it was a message from Guo Shiyi.

"Are you asleep?"

"Not yet, I just got back to the dorm. What's up?" Qin Xiaochuan quickly replied.

"The gift you gave me today must have been very expensive, right?" she asked.

"It's alright. You gave me such an expensive dagger last time, so I can't be too stingy this time."

"The dagger I gave you last time was for self-defense. After all, we're comrades, and it wouldn't be good if either of us got hurt."

"Yeah, I understand. After all, it's your coming-of-age gift, so it should be taken seriously." Qin Xiaochuan replied and then sent a big smiley face.

Gao Xiang curiously leaned over, glanced at his screen, and asked, "Is it a message from her? Bro, your chance has come."

"Go away, what opportunity? Don't pry into other people's privacy," Qin Xiaochuan said.

"Libras are known for their high emotional intelligence, I'm afraid you're no match for her," Gao Xiang said, looking like a consultant.

"Tch, you're talking like you're waging war. Who are you looking down on?"

"Don't you know that so-called feelings are just psychological warfare between men and women?" Gao Xiang said dismissively.

As the two were talking, the phone rang again. Qin Xiaochuan glanced at it and saw that it read: "I'll accept it this time, but you're not allowed to buy such expensive gifts again. Actually, I'll be happy no matter what gift you give me. Anyway, thank you." It was followed by a domineering girl emoji.

"Wow, this looks promising! Let's strike while the iron is hot and make it happen!" Gao Xiang leaned over again, urging them on.

"You're overthinking it." Qin Xiaochuan covered his phone and climbed onto the upper bunk, no longer giving Gao Xiang a chance to spy.

He read Guo Shiyi's message again, but Gao Xiang's words kept echoing in his mind, and his heart began to stir.

"Although she seemed to be blaming herself for buying such an expensive gift, her words clearly showed she was thinking of me and didn't want me to spend money, which means she cares about me a lot." Qin Xiaochuan pondered, his heart pounding. Finally, unable to contain his excitement, he typed on his phone: "Shiyi, actually, I wanted to tell you today that during the time we've spent together, I've unknowingly fallen for you. Shiyi, be my girlfriend."

After typing it out, he looked at the message repeatedly, feeling it was too direct. What if she didn't like him? He'd be left with no way out, and might not even be able to be friends anymore. Thinking this, he deleted everything in the input box and retyped: "Shiyi, honestly, you're the cutest, gentlest, and most considerate girl I've ever met. I want to say, I'm deeply infatuated with you. Why don't you consider being my girlfriend? [smiley face]"

"Um, this seems too casual, it doesn't look very sincere." Qin Xiaochuan glanced at the content in the input box and pressed the delete key again.

"Shiyi, we've known each other for so long, and your confidence and optimism always inspire me. Do you remember? The first time we went on a mission together, we looked at the stars on the rooftop. What you said to me deeply touched me, making me feel like I'd met a kindred spirit. Actually, I was planning to confess my feelings to you today because I've realized I think I've fallen for you. Will you be my girlfriend?"

After typing out a long message in one go, Qin Xiaochuan breathed a sigh of relief. After reading it over several times, he finally felt that there was no problem with it. It could express his feelings while leaving room for maneuver. Even if she didn't agree, the two could still remain friends.

Thinking of this, he placed his thumb on the send button, but hesitated to press it.

Qin Xiaochuan closed his eyes, took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and finally pressed down hard.

His heart pounded wildly, and the air seemed thick with tension. He stared intently at the screen, but there was no reply from the other end of the phone.

A flood of thoughts rushed through his mind. At that moment, Qin Xiaochuan felt as if each second was an eternity. He imagined what Guo Shiyi would think after seeing his confession. It was as if a clock in his mind was ticking away nonstop. After waiting for a very long time in a state of nervous anticipation, his phone finally received a reply from Guo Shiyi.

Qin Xiaochuan's heart, which had finally begun to calm down, started racing again. He looked at his phone screen, where it read: "Thank you. Actually, I like you too, but it's just the kind of liking between friends. It hasn't reached that level yet, you know? I think you feel the same way. We haven't really gotten to know each other yet, have we? Anyway, thank you so much. Let's continue being friends, okay? [smiley face]"

A tremendous sense of loss crashed over him. Qin Xiaochuan felt as if a huge boulder had sunk to the bottom of the water, so heavy that he could hardly breathe. He gave a bitter smile and finally managed to say through his heartache, "Okay, then we'll still be friends."

After replying to that message, he tossed his phone aside, lay back on the bed, and reminisced about the moments he shared with Guo Shiyi, feeling sometimes happy and sometimes disappointed. After that reply, Guo Shiyi never sent him any more messages.

That night, he went to bed very late and had all sorts of weird dreams, which caused him to wake up very late in the morning. When he woke up, he saw a message on his phone that Guo Shiyi had sent him at five o'clock in the morning.

"You must not have slept well last night. I'm sorry, I was actually very scared. I value relationships a lot, and I'm afraid I'll end up like my parents, two people who used to have a great relationship but ended up like enemies."

For some reason, when Qin Xiaochuan saw this message, he seemed to see Guo Shiyi lying in bed, tossing and turning all night, her mind filled with chaotic thoughts. At that moment, all the sadness and disappointment in his heart disappeared, replaced by a heart full of heartache. He knew that Guo Shiyi must have suffered even more than he had last night because of that lukewarm message he sent, so he quickly replied, "Yeah, I understand. I was too impulsive and shouldn't have been so impatient. Don't worry, no matter what happens, I will always be by your side."

The girl quickly replied with a happy emoji, followed by, "Then you must come see my performance next Friday!"

"Absolutely!" Qin Xiaochuan replied with a smile. Although he had been suffering from insomnia the night before, he felt incredibly relaxed at the moment.

"You seem so happy, did you successfully confess your feelings?" Gao Xiang suddenly leaned closer and stared at him.

"No," Qin Xiaochuan said honestly.

"It doesn't seem like it, but don't be discouraged. I forgot to tell you, Libra's biggest weakness is that they are indecisive and find it hard to make up their minds, so it's normal for them to fail once they confess their feelings," Gao Xiang said confidently.

"Why didn't you say so sooner?" Qin Xiaochuan rolled his eyes at him, then continued, "You seem to know a lot about Libras."

"That's a must, I've been deeply hurt by Libra women before," Gao Xiang said with a pained expression.

Qin Xiaochuan looked incredulous: "You can still get hurt? You're lucky you don't hurt others."

"Hey, you don't understand." Gao Xiang waved his hand at him and walked away alone.