I save a pathological girl with a twisted love story.

Even though Aoi casually interrupted my conversation, I wasn't that sad.

"But when it was all over, I felt sad."

"I'm so sad, I'm almost in tears."

"Are all my efforts just a joke in your eyes?"

"It's painful, I'm in so much pain."

Chiho was eating a watermelon popsicle, carefully licking the pointed end.

It didn't taste sweet, but rather salty.

Asahi Aoi looked at Chiho and said to her, "Chiho, are you still hot? You're sweating."

Chiho was taken aback, then wiped her sweat clean.

She simply looked up at Aoi and said, "Thank you."

"It's okay." Aoi waved her hand and continued eating her melon popsicle.

Xia Wuzhao seemed oblivious to everything, simply gazing at the azure sky from under the eaves.

But in his heart he was talking to Xiao Ai.

"Chiho cried just now," Ai reminded Xia Wuzhao. At such crucial moments, Ai would always remind Xia Wuzhao to make sure she didn't notice or overlook the girl's emotional fluctuations.

“I know,” Xia Wuzhao said. “After all, her crying was quite obvious. It would be strange if we didn’t see it.”

"I won't ask you why you didn't intervene this time, Lord Xiawu," Xiao Ai complained. "After all, you always have all sorts of reasons to explain yourself, Lord Xiawu."

"But be careful not to overdo it," Xiao Ai reminded her.

This time, however, Xia Wuzhao did not answer.

After finishing her popsicle, Xia Wuzhao said, "I'm going inside to pick out some things."

As they spoke, they entered the shop.

After watching Natsugiri Kai's figure disappear, Asahi Aoi said to Chiho, "Even though Natsugiri seems very indifferent and doesn't care about anything."

"But when a girl cries, he always inexplicably softens and does inexplicable things."

"If you want to become lovers with Xia Wuzhao, then use your tears to win him over."

Aoi Asahi said, "But now is not the time to cry. Crying needs the right timing; it's only effective at the right time."

"At this moment, even if you cry, you won't be able to move Xia Wu."

She spoke these words, offering guidance to Chiho in the tone of someone who had been through it all.

"Does crying have to be so utilitarian?" Chiho looked at Aoi Asahi, and her question surprised Aoi.

"Couldn't I have really been sad and wanted to cry just now? Couldn't I have really been grieving just now?"

Chiho countered, "Just now, I was so sad, I even felt like dying."

“Besides, your hint just now was to prevent Natsugiri from finding out I was crying, right?” Chiho said. “If it were really a bad time, you wouldn’t have stopped me, would you?”

Chiho looked at Aoi Asahi, hoping for an explanation from her.

But Aoi just crunched on her melon popsicle: "So, that's what you think."

“That’s right, that’s what I think.” Chiho nodded. “Because we are enemies, enemies who are fighting over Natsumi.”

Aoi pointed at Chiho with a half-eaten melon popsicle: "But we're friends too, aren't we?"

Chiho was taken aback, unsure of what to say.

"Your popsicle is melting." Aoi Asahi pointed to the popsicle in Chiho's hand, which was dripping and melting because it was exposed to direct sunlight.

Chiho hurriedly reached for it, but with a snap, the entire popsicle slipped off the flat wooden stick.

It melted into a sticky, repulsive pool of sweet water in the girl's palm.

Chapter 186 The Ups and Downs of Humility and Joy

When Xia Wuzhao came out again, Chiho was no longer on the bench.

Only Asahi Aoi was looking around with the popsicle stick in her hand. After a while, she turned to Natsugiri Kai and said, "Ah, you're out."

"Hmm." Xia Wuzhao returned to the bench and sat in the same spot as before.

"Didn't you buy anything?" Aoi Asahi asked, looking at Natsugiri Kai's empty hands.

“I couldn’t find anything suitable,” Xia Wuzhao said; “so I didn’t buy anything.”

"Really? Is that really the case?" Asahi Aoi looked at Natsugiri Kai, the popsicle stick in her hand swaying in the sunlight.

“If it’s not like that, then what would it be like?” Xia Wuzhao asked back.

"Then let's just say that's how it is," Aoi Asahi said casually.

"So, Natsugiri, did you hear what Chiho and I were saying just now?"

"Did you say anything?" Xia Wuzhao asked in return.

"Didn't you hear me?" Aoi shook the popsicle stick in her hand. "Did you really not hear me, or are you pretending not to hear me?"

"No matter what, I didn't hear anything." Xia Wuzhao looked into the distance. "There's no difference, is there?"

"Just as I expected."

Asahi Aoi had an "I knew it" look on her face. She said softly, "Although I had expected this, I still have a strange feeling after you actually said it, Natsugiri."

At this point, Xia Wuzhao should have asked a question.

However, Xia Wuzhao remained silent, as if she hadn't heard anything.

"Always so vague, always so silent," Aoi Asahi murmured to herself, but Kai Natsugiri could clearly hear what she was saying.

Taking a deep breath, Asahi looked at Natsugiri Kai and said, "I like you, Natsugiri, you know that, right?"

She originally didn't want to go see Xia Wuzhao.

"Because it's too shameful to say such things, that's why you can't look at him."

"No matter who he was handing the love letter to, he would always bend over, lower his head, and hold the love letter up."

"It's probably because if you fail, no one will see your expression."

Even if you fail, you can turn around and run away. Maintain your basic dignity.

But Aoi Asahi ultimately looked at Kai Natsugiri, gazing at her profile.

"Although I may have said these things before, I still want to say them again: I like you, Xiawu."

Asahi Aoi said earnestly, "Although you may not understand now, I want to tell you that we had many ties in the past. It's just that you have amnesia, so you don't remember."

"I confessed my feelings to you before, and you accepted."

Xia Wuzhao looked at Asahi Aoi and said, "Even if you say these things now, I don't have any such memories in my mind."

“Of course I know about this,” Aoi Asahi said frankly. “I’m just informing you about it. I’m just saying that I like Natsugiri Kai. Even if you don’t remember, you’ll remember someday.”

"You just need to remember this."

Asahi Aoi looked at Natsugiri Kai seriously: "So, you can use me for whatever you want."

"So you knew you were using it."

“If I didn’t even know that kind of thing, I wouldn’t be Asahi Aoi.” Asahi Aoi said softly, her expression calm and composed. “Besides, you had a feeling all along, didn’t you? If not, why would you have come to me and asked me to cooperate?”

Xia Wuzhao looked at Asahi Aoi: "I did know about what you were talking about a long time ago, after all, your attitude changed very strangely."

"So, I really was using you."

"Aren't you angry about this?" Xia Wuzhao slowly looked at Asahi Aoi: "A normal person's reaction should be anger, right?"

Aoi Asahi's chestnut-colored eyes met Natsugiri Kai's once again.

"The current Xia Wuzhao is just like the Xia Wuzhao of the past."

The girl thought to herself, "Of course I'm angry. How could I not be? I'm so angry I'm about to explode. But I just held it in."

"Because Chiho is my friend."

“Besides, I can wait,” Aoi Asahi said calmly. “I will always win, it’s just a matter of time. If I can win faster, I will of course pursue it, and if I fail, I will not be discouraged.”

"So what? So what are you trying to say?"

Natsugiri asked Asahi Aoi.

"What I want to say is, use me as you please. Natsugiri Kai, you want to do something to Chiho, don't you?"

Aoi said, "Whatever you want, make the most of me."

"I see."

Xia Wuzhao nodded.

Aoi threw her popsicle stick into the trash can and said, "It's good that you know now."

When Chiho returned, she saw Asahi Aoi and Natsugiri Kai sitting on a bench.

Seeing the two people who were not speaking, she felt a surge of joy.

"I thought they would do something. But now they're doing nothing, just like strangers."

"I have the advantage."

Chiho's earlier dissatisfaction vanished instantly, and she floated back to her original position.

"What did you do before?" Xia Wuzhao asked softly.

"I didn't do anything, the ice cream just melted and fell into my palm." Chiho showed Natsugiri Kai her palm: "But I've already washed it, so you can't see it now."

Her palms were wet, and although they had been wiped, they were still unusually damp.

The three of them sat on the bench, lost in thought in a relaxed manner.

The cicadas chirped louder under the sunlight, but the heatwave continued to swell.

The gray cement floor is now blindingly white.

After staring blankly for a while, Chiho finally asked, "What should we do next?"

"It's fine to cool off here," Xia Wuzhao said casually. "After all, it's just too hot outside."

"Just waiting here?"

Chiho was somewhat dissatisfied. She longed for a more beautiful summer, a summer filled with wonderful memories, a summer she could cherish forever.

It's summer for lovers.

—Instead of this ordinary, mediocre, and idle summer.

You can do something like simply seeking refuge in the shade anywhere.

"So what do you want to do?" Xia Wukai asked Chiho.

Chiho looked at Natsugiri Kai and said, "I want to do things that only lovers can do."

The girl smiled mischievously and gave a seemingly plausible but ultimately flawed answer.

Xia Wuzhao glanced at her and then ignored her.

Chiho puffed out her cheeks and said with great dissatisfaction, "Are you really that unwilling? I'm at least a beautiful girl, right?"

"Is that right?"

Natsugiri Kai does not answer Chiho's question.

So Chiho went to ask Aoi Asahi again, "I'm a beautiful girl, right?"

“That’s right, you’re a beautiful girl,” Aoi Asahi replied softly.

"See?" Chiho tilted her chin up happily upon hearing Aoi's words.

But then she looked at Xia Wu with a resentful expression: "I'm a beautiful girl, and you're completely indifferent to me. I'm so sad."

She clutched her heart, as if she were about to suffocate.

Xia Wuzhao looked at her: "Should I call a doctor for you?"

Chiho, who had initially mustered the courage to make a joke, suddenly became discouraged.

She said angrily, "Really, Xia Wu, are you really that clueless, or are you just pretending?"