There was a bus stop right outside the Hua Residence complex. Bus route 527 went directly to Yang Shan University, making transportation more convenient than her previous part-time job.

After returning to school, Ruan Yu spent the entire afternoon in the library. Despite her dedicated self-study efforts, faced with the library’s endless collection of books and their boundless knowledge, she still felt incredibly small. This sense of inadequacy drove her constantly forward, making her afraid to slow down.

By the time she left the library, darkness had fallen. The red lanterns from the school anniversary celebration hadn’t been taken down yet. At a certain time, the maintenance staff would turn them all on, and that bright red glow would envelop the campus, making all passing students appear festive.

Ruan Yu felt that somehow today’s celebratory atmosphere seemed even stronger than during the actual school anniversary.

After walking for a while, she realized her feeling wasn’t wrong, as there were unusually many people wearing red clothes today. As if chasing some trend, everyone had dug out their red clothes from the bottom of their closets, wearing them regardless of season.

The cafeteria was particularly quiet on weekends, but even among the few people present, spots of red could be seen.

It seemed Tang Yi and his group had become the school’s fashion benchmark.

Ruan Yu found it somewhat ridiculous.

In today’s society, trends seem particularly easy to follow. But would wearing someone’s outfit turn you into that person? It probably wouldn’t even come close to a fraction of similarity, and such blind following only made oneself look foolish.

After finishing her meal and returning to her dorm room, she found Jian Xiangxiang lying on her bed, staring at her iPad with a troubled expression. Seeing Ruan Yu enter, she quickly waved her over.

“Ruan, Ruan, Ruan, come here quick and help me decide. I’m having decision paralysis.”

“Weren’t you going out to party?”

“They had an emergency meeting, so it’s canceled.”

Ruan Yu put down her bag and walked over.

The iPad screen displayed an array of men’s perfumes.

“My boyfriend’s birthday is coming up, and I want to pick out a perfume for him,” Jian Xiangxiang pushed the iPad towards Ruan Yu. “Help me look.”

“Perfume for a guy?”

“Mm-hmm.” Jian Xiangxiang smiled meaningfully. “You don’t know how vain that guy is.”

Ruan Yu’s gaze returned to the screen – Armani, CK, Hermes, Davidoff… and many brands she’d never seen before. Such tiny bottles, yet each cost several hundred yuan.

That was more than her entire month’s living expenses.

“It’s so expensive,” Ruan Yu remarked.

“This isn’t expensive at all. You know, for Tang Yi’s birthday, Fang Wan got him a watch as a gift, and that watch cost several thousand.”

“Who’s Fang Wan?”

Jian Xiangxiang looked at her with amazement. “You don’t know Fang Wan? Ruan, you need to stop being buried in your books all day. You’re becoming disconnected from campus life.”

Ruan Yu didn’t argue, just continued asking: “So who is Fang Wan?”

“Qiao Feng.” Jian Xiangxiang suddenly called out to Xia Qiaofeng, who was lying on her bed reading a novel. “Tell her who Fang Wan is.”

“Campus beauty,” Xia Qiaofeng replied without looking up from her novel.

“That’s not specific enough, let me elaborate,” Jian Xiangxiang cut in. “Fang Wan is Yang Shan University’s campus beauty, the goddess of the Performance Department, the only female member of the West Journey Dance Club, and most importantly, she’s Tang Yi’s girlfriend.”