Volume 3 Chapter 81: I Think I Have Some Selfish Feelings
Gao Liang took a sharp breath from the pain, which made Lin Lin quickly pull her hand back. She shook her head and said sorry in a nervous voice,
“I—I didn’t mean to do that. I’m sorry, Gao Liang. Um… does it hurt? Is it very painful?”
“Phew…”
Gao Liang could still feel a light pain from the wound. But he forced a small smile and said,
“It’s… it’s okay. Just don’t touch it.”
“I only wanted to see if it was serious. I’m really sorry…”
Lin Lin lowered her head and started walking again. Gao Liang followed her. The two of them walked side by side. After a short silence, the girl spoke softly, feeling guilty.
“I’m sorry, Gao Liang. My problems… I shouldn’t always trouble you. You even had to use your connections to help me. I’ve been causing you trouble all this time. And today… you even got hurt because of me.”
When she finished speaking, she let out a deep sigh. She looked a little sad.
After all the excitement was over, when things became quiet again, she suddenly realized that someone had been getting hurt for her all along. Lin Lin felt a deep pain in her heart.
He was supposed to be her rival, yet he kept helping her.
She said she hated him the most, yet she kept depending on him.
Gao Liang…
When Lin Lin thought about the past, she felt it was a little funny. When they were young, she had put many labels on him in her mind.
In her imagination, he was like the villain in a story. She had never even really talked to him, but she thought she already “understood” him just by guessing and making things up in her head.
But…
So what if she thought she understood him? Gao Liang was the villain, the bad guy, the rich and carefree young master. But… she was never the hero of the story. Instead, she was like those side characters who feel jealous of the hero but do not even have the courage to stand up and challenge him. They can only complain quietly in the background.
Before, Lin Lin believed that everything happened because “someone else’s child” stole her role in life. But later she started to wonder, was she standing alone in the corner because she was too distant and closed off?
She was bad at handling problems, so she became afraid of facing them. She avoided every difficulty and hid at home. Over time, she became less and less comfortable with the outside world. She had no social life, and even her relationship with her younger brother slowly became distant.
What really changed all of this?
Was it only because she made a wish to become a girl?
No…
Lin Lin clearly remembered that even after she became a girl, during those early days, she was still seen as strange in class. No one liked her. No one cared about her. No one paid attention to her.
Later, it was because of Gao Liang, Dog Bro, Gao Ye, Sister Wenmei, Xiao Bai, and many others… They kept helping her. They kept encouraging her. They helped her find a new world.
Maybe that new world did not have to exist in real life. Maybe it was in Ari-chan’s livestream room.
Anyway, without them, she probably could not have done it.
She never thought that one day, she and Gao Liang, her childhood rival, would walk this far together.
That they would fight side by side…
And then walk home together.
“Mm-hmm, it’s fine. Actually… I got these wounds when I fought those guys outside the martial arts dojo just now. They’re just small scratches. It’s much better than getting punched by you, Lin Lin.”
Gao Liang smiled, as if he did not care about the injuries at all. Lin Lin became anxious and said,
“That makes it even worse! Those men in black could already knock them down easily. Why did you still go up and fight?”
“I asked them to help, so I couldn’t just stand there and watch,” Gao Liang said with a smile. He reached out and gently touched the girl’s head. Before he could pull his hand back, the small strand of hair on top of her head had already stood up.
“Besides… Lin Lin, I was angry. They bullied you. I couldn’t just stand below the stage and watch the whole time. That would be too embarrassing. So I decided to teach those guys a lesson myself. Although… haha, I didn’t really win.”
His smile made Lin Lin feel strange inside. She quietly clenched her fists. Then, in a small voice, she said,
“Actually, when I dared to go on stage and fight them one-on-one… it was probably because you were there. Because you were watching below, I wasn’t afraid of losing. If I had been alone today, I… I probably wouldn’t even have dared to walk in. I might have just run away in shame.”
After saying this, Lin Lin’s face turned red. She gently turned her head away.
For some reason, those words sounded… a little strange.
But Gao Liang reacted calmly. He smiled lightly and nodded.
“Gao Liang, can I ask you a question?”
Suddenly, Lin Lin said this.
Gao Liang felt something was a bit different, but he still nodded. “What is it?”
“Why do you always help me?”
The girl’s lips moved slightly. When she looked at him, her eyes were full of confusion, or maybe… low confidence.
“I… I’m not special. There are many girls who are better than me. So why do you always help me? I… I really don’t understand.”
“Why?”
Gao Liang tilted his head. That question really surprised him. Why did he pay special attention to Lin Lin?
Hmm…
“I think it’s probably because I like helping people. Since I was young, my family has been well-off, so I never had to worry about money. When I have nothing to do, I just like helping my friends,” he said with a small laugh. “Actually, I didn’t only help you, Lin Lin. I’ve helped many other people too. It’s just that… I help you the most often.”
“Mm…”
Lin Lin felt a little embarrassed and lowered her head.
“Then… when you keep helping me, do you ever feel that I’m annoying or troublesome?”
Deep down, she already felt that she did not deserve all this.
Why did she keep troubling her so-called rival? Just because she had decided by herself that he was her lifelong enemy?
And besides, rivals should make things difficult for each other. It should not be like this, him always helping her.
“Who knows?” Gao Liang shook his head, then explained, “Maybe it’s because… um, you’re too cute, Lin Lin? Well, the first time I helped you, it was really just because you looked very worried. After we became friends, it just became a habit. And later… maybe, maybe I also started to have some selfish feelings?”
“W-What… selfish feelings?”
Lin Lin felt shy. Her heart was beating fast. She knew she should not ask so directly, but at the same time, she really wanted to hear his answer.
“Maybe it’s because…”