165: How do you tell if you like someone?

Xie Yunxuan stroked his chin, his brows slightly furrowed.

Uh, he wanted to retort, but it seemed to make some sense.

It seemed he had indeed viewed Chen Fang as a rival from the very beginning; Chen Fang's success meant his own failure.

Every time, he used Chen Fang as a reference, felt dissatisfied with himself, and pushed himself to surpass Chen Fang, even in the matter of pranks. This indeed seemed to be setting boundaries for himself.

His family background and his path were clearly different from Chen Fang's; it was just a brief accidental intersection, and he couldn't help but compare himself to him.

It wasn't just Chen Fang; he seemed to love comparing himself to anyone he met.

Sometimes, he would even secretly observe his rivals in the shadows, hoping their achievements would fall, and he would feel comfortable once they did.

His life's energy was scattered everywhere.

He pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded, looking up at the speaker, just about to ask for more details, when he saw Chen Fang’s face and innocent, kind expression.

A thought instantly popped into his head—this guy is trying to fool me!

His thoughts were instantly pulled back on track.

Xie Yunxuan straightened his back and frowned, "That's not right, what does this have to do with you pranking me today?"

Chen Fang raised an eyebrow slightly.

What the? Living in the same room with him, Little Xie's brain has gotten better?

Chen Fang continued, earnest and heartfelt, "You are avoiding the issue, changing the subject. I was just saying that you always compare yourself to me."

"Then what do you mean? You want to fight?" Xie Yunxuan was exposed, feeling a bit awkward, so he unscrewed his water bottle and took a sip. "Want to change rooms? Aren't you worried about our fans fighting?"

Chen Fang showed a benevolent smile, "How could you think of me like that? I just recently realized that you are very talented. For example, you like ghost blows out the light, so I don't dislike you anymore."

Xie Yunxuan was a bit bewildered, "Huh?"

"Because I can't dislike someone with good taste."

Xie Yunxuan was slightly stunned for a moment, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. He indeed had good taste.

He shrugged his shoulders while screwing the cap back on his mineral water bottle, "We're both fellow readers, easy to talk to, easy to talk to."

Chen Fang smiled, turned, and walked into the bathroom, closing the door.

Everything he said just now was nonsense. He didn't dislike Little Xie; who would dislike a cash cow? And he was too easy to fool.

Does he have a backer? This kind of naturally sharp-tongued person, yet he's managed to get by safely until today. Does Guangying Entertainment keep him as a mascot?

Outside the door, Xie Yunxuan snorted coldly and turned back to his desk.

Did Chen Fang think he was stupid?

He was just pretending to reconcile. Chen Fang begging for mercy now was useless.

Tomorrow, he guaranteed he would send Chen Fang a card, using an anonymous card, so even if Chen Fang had a rebound card, it wouldn't be effective.

And he had already thought of an excellent strategy that would kill two birds with one stone.

Chen Fang, and Xiao Bai, who shares a name with your cat, you two are dead!

Xie Yunxuan curled the corner of his mouth into a wicked, crooked smile.

...

At the same time, on the upstairs balcony.

Yue Qingzhu, covered with a blanket, nestled in a beanbag chair, holding her phone like a thief, took a deep breath, and gently typed into the search bar: [How to tell if you like someone? Or just dependent on them?]

She pressed the search button, and many videos popped up.

[You want to share things with the other person, empathize with them, want physical contact and closeness, and have a desire to explore them.]

[The desire to share is not true liking; the desire to explore is.]

[You will want to be close to him, have physical contact, like a skin hunger.]

[Be wary of physiological liking! This is DNA's choice.]

[How to distinguish between liking and being infatuated?]

Yue Qingzhu's mouth was slightly agape.

Goodness, why are these constantly contradicting each other?

And what is 'infatuated'?

Is there anything more straightforward?

Yue Qingzhu continued to scroll down and saw a suggestion.

[Imagine, you and he are in a crowded place, and he suddenly falls, face-planting, his face covered in dog poop. At this moment, is your first reaction to feel sorry for him or to feel he is very embarrassing?]

Yue Qingzhu imagined the scene and burst out laughing.

She would laugh first, then quickly wipe it off while laughing?

Feeling sorry while laughing?

If it were serious, she would definitely be flustered and feel sorry, right?

But this doesn't explain anything, does it?

Yue Qingzhu looked at the ceiling. Even if it were someone else, she wouldn't find it embarrassing.

If it were He Yuanyuan, she would also feel sorry, right?

She squinted at her phone. Invalid question!

Ah... I'm going to die.

It didn't seem so complicated before, but now it's getting more and more complicated?

She took a deep breath and continued to scroll down.

[Unconsciously smiling when talking to him; feeling like you're not good enough; becoming anxious, feeling jealous when you see him interacting with other opposite-sex individuals.]

It seems... there is.

She does relax and unconsciously smile when talking to him. Recently, she also wanted to lose weight, and she does feel a bit jealous.

But is this accurate?

Just as she thought of this, a call notification suddenly popped up at the top of the screen.

Yue Qingzhu flinched at the sudden exclusive ringtone in her earphones, and seeing the words [Liu Lu] pop up on the screen made her feel even more guilty.

She took a deep breath and answered the phone. Before she could greet, Liu Lu's voice came through the receiver.

"Qingzhu, you don't have a thing for Chen Fang, do you? Tell me honestly."

"Huh? How did you know. Oh, no, that's not right..." Yue Qingzhu closed her eyes tightly and sighed.

Darn it, she was nervous while looking up problems, and Liu Lu startled her into spilling the beans.

"Wait a moment," Yue Qingzhu covered the mouthpiece, peered out at the second-floor small living room outside the balcony, and seeing no one, lowered her voice, "I'm not sure either."

It should be. — Yue Qingzhu clutched her skirt, silently adding in her heart.

Liu Lu's sigh came through the phone, "My dear, please don't. Although he's transitioning, when he was an idol before, he accumulated many loyal fans. In the short term, there will still be many 'wife fans' and 'girlfriend fans'. He's not an ordinary singer; once the news breaks, the fans' anger cannot be suppressed by money and will definitely affect both of you."

Yue Qingzhu hugged her knees, "You're thinking too far ahead."

"Oh right, I am thinking too far ahead." Liu Lu chuckled, "Does he like you?"

Yue Qingzhu narrowed her eyes.

A moment later, she lowered her head, her fingers stroking the sofa fabric.

Yes, she felt he probably didn't like her.

It seemed his mind was full of strange things, uh, inspiration?

After being nagged for a while longer, Yue Qingzhu hung up the phone, turned off the screen, and curled up on the sofa, quietly looking at the moon outside.

...

Another hour passed.

The lights in the villa went out.

Yue Qingzhu lay in bed, and as soon as she closed her eyes, her mind was filled with "A quarrel, a knot accumulating changes, Yeah, inner estrangement is enough to instantly kill how intense the outer appearance is" from cant learn.

Her heart felt heavy. She wanted to roll back and forth on the bed but was afraid of disturbing the two people next to her. She wanted to sit by the window but was afraid of waking the two people next to her and startling them if they saw a figure.

After hesitating for a while, she threw off the covers, put on her slippers, and carefully walked out of the bedroom.

Only the balcony on the second floor could see the moon, and it was easy to get bitten by mosquitoes, so she decided to go downstairs.

She turned on her phone's light, came to the dining room, moved a chair, sat by the window, took out her phone, and continued to look up the questions in her mind, one by one.