46 Avoiding the Signs

Wang Zhinu waved her hands about as she spoke.

"Just recently that Ye Qing has been rather cold towards me. It's not like him to not speak to me for this long. We've had our disputes in the past, but those were always quickly settled after a nice meal and chat. I've been stressed this past week over what I might have done wrong."

Chu Fan rubbed his chin.

"Has this been the longest that you've spent away from each other?"

Wang Zhinu shook her head.

"No. He's been sent on sect missions that have kept him away for several months to a couple of years before. But, we were always on good terms then. Now, it just feels like he's cold and forgotten all about me. We are both so close, yet so far from each other."

Chu Fan pointed at her and asked.

"How long have you two known each other for?"

Wang Zhinu sighed and placed her arms over her eyes.

"Practically our whole lives; my father brought him to the sect when he was a mere orphan. At that time, he hardly spoke to any of the other disciples and got picked on. I felt it was my responsibility to look after him since father brought him to the sect. I helped him and he began to follow me around wherever I went. We were always inseparable, like siblings."

Chu Fan's eyebrows twitched as he heard her words.

"Siblings? So you only view senior Ye Qing as a brother figure? Have you never seen him as a man? Or shall I be more specific, a suitor?"

Wang Zhinu waved her hands and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Urgh! I don't know. I really don't know. Things were fine when we were children. Why couldn't things have just stayed that way? Why can't we just stay friends forever? Why is it that if a man and woman were friends as children, that they would have to like each other as more than that?"

Chu Fan shook his head and fingers at Wang Zhinu.

"You don't get it. Feelings change with time. And at this point in time, it seems you are more afraid of your own feelings for him than how he feels towards you. You must know how he feels, am I right?"

Wang Zhinu rolled to face her back towards Chu Fan. She was pouting and embarrassed at the same time. She placed her hands over her red face.

"W-wh-what are you even talking about? Haha! What do you mean how he feels about me? I have no clue what you are talking about."

Chu Fan got a bit serious as he stared at her backside.

"Now is not a time to be acting. Even a child like me can see past his nose and look at the bigger picture. You're just deliberately avoiding the signs. A girl that knows how to tease her juniors like you, can easily spot anyone signs of affection, whether he tried to hide it or not."

Wang Zhinu got mad and turned around to glare at Chu Fan.

"What would you know about affection little fatty? You and your puppy love romance ideologies are trash anyways."

Chu Fan stood up and placed his hands behind his back.

"Oh, is that so? Is the fact that you choose to play games with senior Ye Qing's heart a simple puppy love matter? You would rather pick a glib tongued pervert like Xin Hai over senior Ye Qing, who lover you unconditionally? Because his love is 'puppy love'? Tell me, if you really feel nothing for senior Ye Qing, then why are you so stressed over the matter in which he might have moved on and forgotten about you? Why did you accept his bizarre wager to attend the Festival of Unrequited Love if you lose to me?"

With every word he spoke, Chu Fan dealt a deadly blow to Wang Zhinu's mentality. Tears began to well up in her eyes.

"So? What would you even know? Have you ever been promised to a man that you could never come to love? Have you ever been in such a predicament where you had to choose between filial piety or the love of your life? Do you betray your family over a man you love? Or can you bear to leave everything you have for a moment's happiness?"

Chu Fan and the others grew silent. Hun Lian and Yao Lingyan walked over and placed their hands on Wang Zhinu's shoulders.

"Big sister Wang Zhinu, why didn't you ever tell me?" asked Hun Lian.

"Senior Wang Zhinu, I didn't know you carried so many burdens?" said Yao Lingyan as she comforted Wang Zhinu.

Chu Fan walked over, but he kept his space.

"Have you told senior Ye Qing any of this yet?"

Wang Zhinu shook her head.

"And please. Keep this from him. This is between me and the sect."

Chu Fan clenched his fists.

"But this concerns the both of you? Your happiness? Screw filial piety! The old people have lived their fill of life. It's us young folk that dictate the outcome of our life. I'll go talk to elder Wang myself."

Chu Fan turned and headed for the door when Wang Zhinu stopped him.

"None of this is my grandfather's choice. These are the orders of Former Sect Chief, Su Chow. Grandpa and the former sect chief have always been drinking buddies. When they were both drunk, they vowed that their future offspring would be either married or sworn brothers. Xin Hai was already Sect Chief, Hun Xiao's direct disciple when he was a child. At the time Hun Lian was not even born yet, so Xin Hai was chosen as a surrogate son and I was betrothed to him shortly after I was born."

The three children gasp for air and exclaimed, "HAAAAAAAAAAA!?

Hun Lian grew furious and began rolling up her sleeves.

"Damn grandpa! How dare he order big sister to marry that big pervert Xin Hai?"

Chu Fan's mind began to spin as he felt powerless against such a powerful figure. It would not be an easy task in making such a prideful and stubborn fool take back his words.

"I have never felt close to Xin Hai in any way. Our personalities have no harmonious balance. I never intended to have any feelings for Ye Qing. But as Chu Fan said, 'feelings change with time'. I regret it all as I have come cherish the bittersweet moments of happiness spent with Ye Qing. And as the amount of time that we will be allowed to spend together lessens, I find myself missing every moment I spend away from him."

Chu Fan shook his head and looked towards the tiny glimmer of hope he saw within his grasp.

"I can do it. I can fix this predicament. We just need to delay this by one year's time."

Wang Zhinu looked at him with a confused expression.

"What do you mean you will fix it? You need one year's time? Grandfather is announcing our engagement next year at the inter-sect tournament."

Chu Fan smiled and pointed at himself with his thumb. The popular trend of couples that loved to show off and announce their planned marriages at events was pretty convenient for Chu Fan in this case.

"Oh, is that so? Then trust in me! I got this in the bag already. For now, just love senior Ye Qing truthfully and don't hold back."

Wang Zhinu looked at Hun Lian and Yao Lingyan.

"Is this little fatty serious? Can I really trust in him?"

The two girls only nodded and gave the "okay" signal. Chu Fan had proven quite promising in his past "death defying feats", so much so that his closes friends could blindly trust him.

Chu Fan opened the door and stepped outside. He stretched and took a deep breath. Wang Zhinu and the two girls chased him outside.

"You won't run off and tell Ye Qing, now would you?"

Chu Fan turned around and smirked.

"Why would I? He's already heard more than enough. Isn't that right, senior Ye Qing?" he said as he pointed at the roof.

Wang Zhinu ran to where Chu Fan stood and looked up at the roof. From behind her a figure emerged. Surprised, she turned around to see Ye Qing standing in front of her. His face was emotionless, but his eyes held a somber emotion. With no words to express his feelings, he embraced her in his arms.

"I'm such a fool Zhinu."

Tears began to run down his cheeks and land on her head.

"Don't cry you fool. If you cry, I'll cry." she said as she began to sob and dig her face into his chest.

Chu Fan stretched his arms and cracked his knuckles. He turned around and began walking away.

"Hun Lian! Yao Lingyan! Let's give these two a little privacy."

The two girls ran to Chu Fan and began questioning him.

"How did you know senior brother Ye Qing was there?" asked Yao Lingyan.

"I thought senior Ye Qing wasn't supposed to hear any of that?"

Chu Fan clapped his hands together, kicking up a gust of wind.

"It was pretty easy to predict. With Da Bao and Tian Han no longer supervising him; of course he would choose to see her. Though, he would not see her in person and go against my plan, he would observe her from afar. But knowing him, just seeing her in a pitiful state would bring him to inspect things more closely. It was a matter of making her speak truthfully about her feelings. Hopefully this brings about a bit of closure to the two of them."

As he spoke, Chu Fan noticed footsteps from behind him. He turned around to see Wang Zhinu running towards him.

"Chu Fan, if you want to cancel the match this weekend, I can cancel it without damaging your reputation."

Chu Fan shook his head.

"Why would I back out now? I still need to show you the effectiveness of my Gourmet Elixirs. Be prepared to lose, senior Wang Zhinu."

Wang Zhinu turned around and walked towards Ye Qing.

"I'll be looking forward to seeing what you can do, junior disciple Chu Fan."