Xia Xia getting into Nan University was purely an accident.

In high school, her teachers all said that Xia Xia was a natural beauty, and also naturally suited for Peking or Tsinghua University.

The homeroom teacher even declared that if Xia Xia didn’t get into Peking University, he would give red envelopes to all the teachers in the office. After the college entrance exam results came out, whenever he met colleagues, he would clutch his head and groan: “My head’s been hurting lately, can’t remember things well.”

Xia Xia checked her college entrance exam scores at an internet café. While they matched her post-exam calculations, they were fifty points lower than she had expected before the exam.

Among a row of high scores, the ninety points in English stood out most glaringly.

The English test was worth one hundred and fifty points, and Xia Xia had never scored below one hundred and forty.

The only exception was on the day of the college entrance exam, during the last test, when her lower abdomen hurt so badly that she had to be carried out of the exam room halfway through.

*

At Nan University’s gate.

Xia Xia stood next to a small motorcycle outside the security office, bending down to look in the bike’s mirror.

The mirror reflected the girl’s pretty face as she pulled up the corners of her mouth into a smile, muttering to herself: “Sweet, sweet.”

“A little sweeter…” After fiddling for a while without achieving the desired effect, she straightened up dejectedly and said in frustration, “Sweet my grandma.”

The student union had arranged for staff to welcome new students. Seeing Xia Xia carrying two suitcases, they sent a male student to help with her luggage.

The student was named Jiang Jing Zhou. He had a fresh appearance and was friendly, chatting as they walked. After introducing his department, they discovered he was a senior in Xia Xia’s same major.

Jiang Jing Zhou chatted with her the whole way and didn’t leave when they reached the dormitory building. He smiled: “Your suitcases are heavy, let me help you carry them up.”

Xia Xia smiled shyly: “That’s too much trouble, Senior.”

She already had the first-love look that boys liked, and when she smiled, it was like a March spring breeze caressing one’s face. Her voice was soft and incredibly sweet.

“It’s no trouble.” Jiang Jing Zhou looked up at the room assignment list posted on the first-floor blackboard, his expression hesitant. “You’re rooming with Cai Yun?”

Xia Xia leaned in to look. All four girls in the room were classmates from the Sociology major.

Xia Xia asked: “Senior, you know her?”

Jiang Jing Zhou raised his eyebrows: “Met her a few times, wouldn’t say I know her.”

The dorm room was for four people, with beds above and desks below.

When Xia Xia entered, one girl was already inside. The girl slept across from Xia Xia. Her bed was made up with a white mosquito net hung above it. Her desk was neatly arranged with cosmetics, extracurricular books, and a computer. Her wardrobe was secured with a small brass lock.

Xia Xia looked up at the name tag by her bed.

Cai Yun was typing on her computer. Hearing movement, she turned to glance at Xia Xia, her gaze moving up from her feet, lingering on her canvas shoes, then shifting to her suitcases and bags, sweeping around before finally speaking: “Zhao Shan Qi or Zhu Zi Yu?”

Cai Yun was making a spreadsheet in Excel. She had pulled up a list of female classmates, clearly asking Xia Xia’s name to record new student check-ins.

Xia Xia ignored the superior tone in her voice and didn’t ask why a new student like her was managing these things.

She smiled brightly: “I’m Xia Xia.”

Cai Yun frowned: “Xia Xia? The highest scorer admitted to the Sociology Department this year?”

Xia Xia maintained her harmless smile, modestly saying: “Just lucky, I performed above average on the entrance exam.”

Cai Yun looked surprised, her gaze wandering over that pretty face before settling on her shoes.

Seeing the indescribable meaning in Cai Yun’s gaze, Xia Xia quickly looked down and discovered that the side of her shoe had come unglued at some point, revealing a long crack with earth-yellow glue inside.

The shoes were bought from Taobao for nineteen yuan ninety-nine and had fallen apart like this after just a week of wear. She hadn’t even noticed.

Xia Xia put down her luggage, took out a pair of intact shoes from her suitcase to change into, and arranged some daily necessities on her desk.

Six Gods Florida Water, Dabao facial cleanser, Yu Mei Jing face cream, Palace Lantern almond honey…

Cai Yun watched in a daze as Xia Xia calmly pulled out a tube of 502 glue and a pack of toothpicks from the bottom of her suitcase.

Xia Xia picked up the unglued shoe in one hand and carefully applied glue to the seam with the other.

She worked meticulously and skillfully, barely wasting any glue as she fixed the shoe. Afterward, she used the toothpicks to remove excess glue from the edges. When finished, the shoe was restored to its original state with no visible signs of damage.

Xia Xia looked at the shoe with satisfaction and turned to ask: “Cai Yun, I heard there’s a new student meeting tonight…”

Cai Yun’s seat was empty. She had left at some point.

Xia Xia put the shoes on the balcony to dry and returned to sit in her chair, staring absently at her bare bed frame.

Nan University only provided accommodation; bedding and such had to be bought by students themselves.

After spacing out for a while, Xia Xia took her wallet and went out.

*

The supermarket was packed with new students and parents. Xia Xia finally managed to squeeze in, took one look, and left empty-handed. As she passed the entrance, she heard a girl nearby whining to her parents: “I don’t want the grey checkered mattress, it’s so tacky. I want the Winnie the Pooh one, buy it for me—”

Xia Xia sat on a bench outside the supermarket. As noon approached, the sun grew hotter, burning her exposed arms.

She flipped through her wallet and checked the pitiful balance in her bank account. A bedding set wasn’t particularly expensive, and she could afford it, but buying it would leave her with no money for other things. Toothbrush cup, toothbrush, toilet paper… she still needed these daily necessities, and she also needed to save some money for textbooks.

Though she could get by being a bit messy during the start of school, and she didn’t mind personally, she might one day wake up to find herself featured on the Tianya Forum—”Exposing my disgusting roommate who never brushes her teeth and never uses toilet paper.”

Xia Xia imagined that scene and frowned tightly, unable to accept it.

In comparison, she thought another title would be slightly better.

—”Exposing my weird roommate who doesn’t buy bedding and sleeps on bare boards.”

She pondered for a moment, then took out her phone and messaged someone called Lu Shuo: [Senior, are you still selling bedding this year?]

Lu Shuo replied instantly: [Not in the mood.]

Xia Xia was about to put her phone away when Lu Shuo sent another message: [Aren’t you going to ask me why I’m not in the mood?]

Xia Xia had almost put her phone in her pocket but pulled it out again, obediently asking: [Why aren’t you in the mood?]

Lu Shuo sent a crying emoji: [Enchanting Little Demon deleted me as a friend, I don’t know what I did wrong to make her angry. My feelings for her were genuine. She’s ignoring me, I can’t eat or sleep well, and can’t even play games properly… Xia Xia, teach your senior, how should a man get over heartbreak?]

Xia Xia: “…”

Was this man acting in a romance drama? Xia Xia couldn’t take it.

She was about to block him like Enchanting Little Demon had when she heard the family from earlier speaking behind her.

“The supermarket’s sold out of pretty mattresses, it’s not that Dad won’t buy it for you.”

The girl pleaded: “People are selling them by the road too, with lots of patterns including Sailor Moon. Let’s go buy from there.”

Xia Xia looked in the direction they left, seeing a stall at the end of the road.

*

The stall under the stone pine wasn’t large. At first glance, it was surrounded by circles of white quilts, with stacks of mattresses beside them decorated with colorful cartoon prints. A group of young girls gathered around picking through them. Empty plastic bags from unpacked bedding were scattered on the red brick path, dancing in the wind.

In the middle of all these pillows and quilts sat a person.

He wasn’t very old, wearing loose dark blue hip-hop joggers, a black T-shirt, a black baseball cap, and a light yellow Adidas messenger bag at his waist.

He leaned against the pillows behind him, one leg stretched out and one propped up, lazily playing with his phone. When people occasionally asked about prices, he responded half-heartedly.

When he got annoyed with the questions, he would turn on the speaker on the ground and set it to maximum volume:

“Mattresses 100, quilts 80, pillows 25, four-piece sets 60, products from legitimate major factories, no need to worry about unscrupulous merchants or being overcharged… Mattresses 100, quilts 80…”

…

Xia Xia felt the cotton in the quilt. The quality was decent, and the prices were cheaper than the supermarket, but still too expensive for her. She played with the plastic wrap on the ground while looking at the vendor, thinking that, unlike the supermarket, perhaps there was room for negotiation here.

While she was lost in thought, her hands unconsciously fidgeted with the plastic bag that had contained a quilt.

Hearing the rustling of the plastic bag, the young man’s heavy eyelids moved from his phone to Xia Xia.

His gaze was cool, carrying a mixture of coolness and just-woken drowsiness. The sudden change in perspective under the plateau’s sun made him squint as he could barely keep his eyes open.

When Xia Xia met his eyes, at first glance, she felt she had seen him somewhere before.

At second glance, looking more carefully, her legs began to tremble.

Xie Huai put his phone back in his pocket and quietly observed the girl before him.

The girl had thick black hair and a delicate white neck, topped with a gentle oval face.

Her lips were a faint light red, her nose delicate, her eyes large and clear, with curved eyebrows that inspired affection.

Xia Xia crouched at the roadside across from his stall, quietly swallowing.

She stood up carefully, trying to make her movements appear natural.

Xie Huai’s contemplative gaze fell on her, making her feel like sitting on pins and needles. She wanted to leave quickly before he remembered who she was.

Just as she took a step, a deep male voice came from behind: “Hey.”

Xia Xia pretended not to hear and continued walking, then heard him say: “I’m talking to you.”

Xia Xia had to stop and turn around, her previously scrunched face instantly transforming into an expression of innocent bewilderment. She pointed at her nose with her index finger, her acting skills honed over eighteen years of life reaching their peak at this moment.

She asked confusedly: “Me?”

Xie Huai didn’t speak, silently watching her.

He wore a string of phoenix eye bodhi beads on his left wrist, which he removed and rolled bead by bead with his right thumb.

After a while, he stopped his hand movement and spoke: “What a coincidence.”

Xia Xia’s heart skipped a beat, but she forced a sweet smile: “Have you mistaken me for someone else? I don’t think I know you.”

The casual drowsiness faded from Xie Huai’s face as he narrowed his eyes slightly: “It’s fine if you don’t remember me, but I recall telling you—”

“If you dare to run, when I catch you, I’ll make sure you know…”

Xie Huai stopped mid-sentence, looking at her with an ambiguous smile.

Xia Xia’s heart skipped another beat.

The air around them suddenly became thick, and through the haziness, her confused mind opened a crack, taking her back to that muggy summer night in Chang City in June, filled with buzzing mosquitoes.

That night, she and Xie Huai were separated for questioning, and when they came out it was already morning. The police told them they could leave after signing some papers.

Xie Huai stood beside her, his invisible low pressure deliberately enveloping her entire body.

Xia Xia felt the coldness around him and trembled repeatedly, her signing hand becoming unsteady.

Seeing she was almost done signing, Xie Huai crossed his arms and studied her: “Wait for me nearby. If you dare to run, when I catch you, I’ll make sure you know…”

The words stopped there, with no continuation.

Xia Xia heard the threat in his words and, thinking of the previous night’s events, became intimidated and ran away as soon as she finished signing.

Xie Huai wanted to chase after her but was stopped by the police because he hadn’t signed yet. By the time he got out to chase her, she had disappeared into the vast sea of people in Chang City.

…

The smile froze on Xia Xia’s face, but fortunately, her reactions were quick. After being stunned for barely a second, she turned to flee.

But Xie Huai didn’t give her the chance.

He quickly sprang forward, leaping over the obstacles of pillows and quilts to get behind Xia Xia, and lightning-fast grabbed the back of her T-shirt collar.

At that moment, Xia Xia felt as if the nape of her fate had been seized. No matter how much her chopstick-thin white legs struggled, she couldn’t take a single step forward.

Xie Huai’s voice was ominous: “Why are you running?”

Xia Xia knew his lazy, aloof demeanor was all nonsense. He was roguish enough to even fight with the police.

That night at the police station when he was taken away for questioning, Xia Xia heard from another room the sound of furniture scraping and glass shattering. Later, a female police officer who came to talk with her mentioned the incident next door with lingering fear.

“Such a violent temper even smashed the glass window of the filing cabinet…”

Xia Xia had just heard police officers in the next room cursing, using old-fashioned local slang from Chang City. Those words and phrases sounded harsh at first, but in Chang City’s environment, they were unremarkable, almost becoming local customs.

Where Xia Xia lived there was poor soundproofing. Every night there would be the clanging of pots and pans, with men and women crowded in the shared kitchen in the corridor, hurling insults back and forth until the cursing turned to laughter.

Xia Xia had grown up hearing curse words and had been scolded plenty at home. If the police officer had been cursing at her, she wouldn’t have minded and might even have playfully sweet-talked with him.

But everyone has their temperament and way of life. Her indifference didn’t mean others wouldn’t care. It was normal for Xie Huai to lose his temper after being cursed to his face.

But grabbing a chair and smashing the police station’s filing cabinet glass was a bit extreme. Even more surprising was that the police officer, though crude in speech, was good-natured and decent. Not only did he not hold Xie Huai responsible, but he paid for the glass repair himself and formally apologized.

After hearing about this from the female officer, Xie Huai’s terror index in Xia Xia’s mind shot up dramatically.

—Dangerous, violent, not to be crossed, even the police had to bow their heads to him. If she provoked him and he caught her, she might be in serious trouble.

…

Xie Huai’s hand tightened on her collar: “I asked you a question, why are you running?”

Xia Xia made a pitiful face: “Brother— Brother, I was wrong, please don’t use force, let me go, and let’s talk properly, I won’t run—”

After saying this, a wave of indescribable melancholy swept through Xia Xia’s heart.

Only a few hours after arriving in Nan City by train, she had already called someone “Dad” on the bus, and now she even had a “Brother.”

Xie Huai released his hand, and Xia Xia was like a startled rabbit.

She smoothed out her wrinkled collar that Xie Huai had grabbed and watched him warily.

Xie Huai’s facial features were narrow and sharp, with three parts masculine strength and seven parts youthful handsomeness, with excellent bone structure. When not smiling, such a face gave off a cool, unrestrained air of dark clouds. As for when he smiled… Xia Xia couldn’t imagine, she had never seen it.

Xie Huai slipped the bodhi beads back onto his wrist, his voice flat and emotionless: “Let’s be clear, we were just meeting for a hookup, what’s the big deal? If you hadn’t cried all night making the police think I was an offender, I wouldn’t have ended up at the station at all.”

He narrowed his eyes: “Today if you don’t give me an explanation, this isn’t over.”