Love Affairs in Melbourne-Chapter 23 - 22: Tolerance Is Never Innate

Yan Yan always appeared unfriendly to guys.

Shen Xi once thought Yan Yan was also a lesbian and took it upon herself to try and turn Yan Yan straight.

Shen Xi had tried multiple times to introduce "girlfriends" to Yan Yan, but it always ended in failure.

So, the gossip today about Yan Yan meeting a handsome guy is definitely the juiciest of gossips.

Shen Xi looked eager for knowledge, wishing she could dive into the gossip.

"Is this how you two treat your own Cupid?" Yan Yan wanted to struggle a bit more.

It’s not that Yan Yan didn’t want to share her gossip; she herself hadn’t figured out how this "gossip" could suddenly emerge after several years without any warning.

It turned out, Yan Yan was the matchmaker for Shen Xi and Bao Bao. It was because of Yan Yan that Shen Xi got to know Bao Bao.

At the School of Journalism at Xiamen University, Yan Yan and Bao Bao had neither spoken nor interacted.

If there had to be any connection, it could only be in being ostracized, where if Yan Yan was second, only Bao Bao dared to be first.

For Yan Yan, the biggest difference between the University of Melbourne and Xiamen University was the word "tolerance".

This tolerance isn’t about needing forgiveness for making mistakes, but rather the degree of tolerance the world has for those who are "different".

Yan Yan was ostracized at the School of Journalism because her "brutal honesty" hurt many people’s pride.

Most couldn’t tolerate that their arduous and outstanding performance in the college entrance exam was seen as mediocre or even underwhelming by others.

The reasons for Bao Bao being ostracized were even more straightforward.

Her behavior and attire were different from the norm, and those who ostracized Bao Bao felt that someone like her shouldn’t be living in the girls’ dormitory.

Initially, Bao Bao had a decent relationship with her dorm mates and didn’t mind the ostracism, but her extremely high beauty made it hard for her not to draw attention in a crowd.

This would’ve been fine if not for the attention leading to problems.

Bao Bao’s sister Meina was admitted to Xiamen University at the same time as Bao Bao.

However, compared to Bao Bao, Meina’s academic performance was somewhat lacking; she had entered Xiamen University’s music department through an arts exam.

At the start of their freshman year, Bao Bao would go to the music department every day to have meals with her sister, who was only five minutes older than her.

Initially, the "fan girls" in the music department thought Bao Bao was a boy. They would be affectionate with Meina, hoping to charm Meina’s "little brother".

When Bao Bao’s true gender was "revealed", the fan girls transferred their anger about being "duped" to Meina.

And thus, the school beauty Meina was also subjected to severe ostracism in the music department.

The art students had many more methods of ostracizing others than the School of Journalism.

Initially, Bao Bao’s family had wanted to send Meina abroad for studies.

But, apart from the fact that it was Bao Bao who caused Meina to be ostracized, even if Meina went abroad, her English scores weren’t good enough to get her into any prestigious schools.

If one of them had to go abroad, Bao Bao felt that it should be herself.

This was the reason why Bao Bao had gone abroad after studying for just one term.

However, looking back, aside from not being able to frequently be with her sister Meina, Bao Bao was quite satisfied with her decision to study abroad in Meina’s place.

Before going abroad, Bao Bao didn’t actually realize that she was a lesbian.

What Bao Bao did have was simply the awareness that she was a girl who liked dressing in boys’ clothes.

Although at Xiamen University, Yan Yan, who was most ostracized from the School of Journalism, and Bao Bao had always avoided each other like "the king avoiding the king", when the two met at Monash University, there was somewhat a feeling of meeting old acquaintances in a foreign land.

And so, it was through Yan Yan that Bao Bao got to know Shen Xi, Yan Yan’s undergraduate classmate.

Had it not been for Bao Bao’s appearance as a "T", Yan Yan would never have known that Shen Xi was a "P." (note 1)

When SB couple first met, even Bao Bao herself hadn’t realized she was a "T", and it was even less likely that Yan Yan would suspect that Shen Xi, a person whose behavior and demeanor were no different from any ordinary beauty-loving girl, was a lesbian.

Unlike Bao Bao’s later realization, Shen Xi, who had grown up in Australia from a young age, had already figured out her orientation since she was thirteen.

Yan Yan hadn’t initially needed to face the fact that Shen Xi was a "P", but it was only after more than half a year of knowing each other and the SB couple gradually coming together that she finally came to a belated realization.

Everything happened so naturally and as it should.

Yan Yan often wondered if she would still have become good friends with Shen Xi, had she known on their first day of meeting—which was also her second day at the University of Melbourne—that Shen Xi was a lesbian.

Would her "tolerance" level back then have been as high as it was later?

Tolerance is never innate; it’s something that has to be learned gradually through a person’s experiences.

But having been targeted from a young age, Yan Yan at least knew one simple truth—just because someone is different from you doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with them.

... ...

"We hooked up ourselves, what’s it to you? Do you even know on which day we got together?" Shen Xi didn’t want to admit that Yan Yan had played matchmaker.

"I really don’t know the exact day you guys sneaked around, but can you deny that it was me who introduced you two?" Yan Yan asked Shen Xi.

"Of course I can. I saw you and Bao Bao having coffee at school and was instantly smitten, then I made my move and succeeded at once. I bent Bao Bao all by myself," Shen Xi said proudly.

"Come on, did Bao Bao really need to be bent?" Yan Yan disagreed.

"Stop changing the topic! The hot guy who came today, is he really your first love, the school hunk boyfriend? How did you two meet? How did you break up? Why have you never mentioned him before?" Shen Xi’s passion for gossip could blow through the roof.

"We met in school, and broke up over school too. I didn’t think I’d see him again," Yan Yan answered all of Shen Xi’s questions in one breath.

But Yan Yan’s answers clearly couldn’t satisfy Shen Xi.

"Are you asking for a fight? Bao Bao, don’t go easy on her." Shen Xi decided to keep tugging Bao Bao into forcing Yan Yan to surrender.

"Stop messing around. I’m being serious. Aren’t high school breakups almost always for the same reasons? Could there be any particularly shocking or earth-shattering reasons?" Yan Yan didn’t want to think about the reasons for their breakup back then; what she cared more about now was how to find Qi Yi tomorrow morning.

... ...

note 1,

T, Tom Boy, the role in a lesbian relationship leaning towards the masculine side.

P, Pretty Girl, the role in a lesbian relationship leaning towards the feminine side.