The place Lu Sui took Wu Mangmang to was in the school’s faculty dormitory area. “Is there a restaurant in here too?”

“Yes, Lu’s Restaurant,” Lu Sui said, leading Wu Mangmang up to the sixth floor.

Wu Mangmang sighed. She should have thought of this earlier.

Lu Sui had bought both units on the left and right sides of the sixth floor, breaking through the middle to create a large apartment of about 200 square meters. The decoration style was the literary and fresh style Wu Mangmang loved, with floral wallpaper—obviously not Lu Sui’s preferred taste.

“When you said you wanted to come to University A for graduate school, I had this prepared,” Lu Sui said, opening the refrigerator to get Wu Mangmang a can of milk.

This girl had been raised with delicate skin and tender flesh, as white as a fluorescent light—the milk definitely played an important role.

Wu Mangmang lowered her head and took a sip, sighing comfortably in her heart.

She felt that Lu Sui had spoiled her and made her palate picky.

Lu Sui served Wu Mangmang fish fillet porridge and made her some blanched vegetables.

“I’m going on a business trip tomorrow. How about I have Annie come bring you meals?” Lu Sui said.

“Then I probably won’t be able to take off the hat of ‘capitalist young lady’ for the rest of my life,” Wu Mangmang said. “You don’t need to worry about me. I’ve been eating in the cafeteria for most of the year, and my physical condition is perfectly fine—my resistance has strengthened.”

Lu Sui pressed his lips together, restraining what he wanted to say. “Then I’ll leave you the key to this place.”

Wu Mangmang didn’t speak. After a while, she felt she was being too cowardly, afraid of what Lu Sui might do, so she said: “Can you not do this? We have no relationship now. What would I want your key for?”

“I was thinking that bathing in your dorm isn’t convenient. There’s a bathtub in the bathroom here where you can take baths. The bath salts are your favorite brand, and I chose geranium essential oil for you,” Lu Sui said.

Wu Mangmang hated Lu Sui’s “devil’s temptation” the most—it left her completely defenseless. University A was good in every way except that the bathrooms were too crowded. Girls took long baths, and the queues were always long, making Wu Mangmang waste a lot of time every day.

Wu Mangmang struggled for a moment, then extended her hand, opening her palm and letting Lu Sui place the key in it.

“Since you knew this all along, why didn’t you give me the key earlier?” Wu Mangmang now started to turn the tables.

Lu Sui tapped her nose tip: “If I didn’t leave, would you have accepted the key if I gave it to you?”

Indeed, she wouldn’t have.

Wu Mangmang stubbornly said: “Then you’d better stay away for a few more days.”

It seemed like her words came true—Lu Sui was gone for half a month. Wu Mangmang didn’t feel much about it, but Zeng Ruling and Dai Tingting, who had been spoiled by Guo Xuefeng and Lu Sui respectively, sighed every day about having to buy their own breakfast.

“Mangmang, why haven’t we seen Mr. Lu recently?”

“Probably because I drove him away with my difficult behavior,” Wu Mangmang stood up and patted Zeng Ruling’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll find you another breakfast delivery person in a few days.”

“Hey, I’m being serious with you,” Zeng Ruling grabbed Wu Mangmang. “What are you really thinking?”

“I don’t know,” Wu Mangmang really didn’t know. She had always been muddled on the path of romance.

“Let me tell you, people are eyeing men like Mr. Lu every minute. You’ve been aloof long enough. When he’s not here, you should appropriately call to show concern, and I guarantee he’ll come tomorrow. If you don’t give any warmth at all, even the world’s greatest warm-hearted man would be frozen into an icicle by you.”

Wu Mangmang laughed: “Yes, my romance strategist. But the problem between him and me isn’t about liking or not liking—it’s about whether we can get along or not. I’m going to the lab. Don’t wait for me for dinner tonight—I’m meeting with my senior to discuss thesis matters.”

Wu Mangmang’s advisor was the legendary expert. For graduate students like her, theses were usually guided by doctoral students. Although Wu Mangmang’s situation was better because of her uncle’s connections, her advisor still wouldn’t have much time for thesis guidance.

That evening, Wu Mangmang treated her Senior Su to hotpot. They had only eaten half when Lu Sui came in from outside.

“How did you find this place?” Wu Mangmang looked at Lu Sui in surprise.

“Your roommate told me,” Lu Sui looked at Su Xianjun across from Wu Mangmang. “This must be Senior Su?”

Su Xianjun also stood up: “That’s me.”

Lu Sui extended his hand to him: “Lu Sui. You don’t mind if I sit down?”

Su Xianjun looked at Lu Sui, then at Wu Mangmang, and smiled: “Not at all, not at all.”

The waitress very perceptively brought another set of bowls and chopsticks.

Wu Mangmang glanced at Lu Sui—this man really received different treatment. The hotpot restaurants around the school were famous for good business but poor service. If you asked them to add water, even if you used a soprano voice, they might not hear you.

But now they were quick to bring chopsticks.

Wu Mangmang had been with Lu Sui for so long but had never seen him eat Sichuan-style hotpot. Mr. Lu found it too greasy and spicy, harmful to the stomach.

Back then, at that spicy hot pot restaurant, Shen Ting hadn’t touched his chopsticks either for the same reason—they all looked down on hotpot and spicy hot pot as too low-class, with a bunch of people cooking vegetables in one pot, which didn’t conform to their hygiene habits.

Wu Mangmang particularly loved the lively atmosphere of eating hotpot. Even alone, seeing the red pot steaming with white smoke made her feel lively and comfortable.

Eating it warmed her entire chest and lungs.

Wu Mangmang watched Lu Sui roll up his sleeves, mix his own dipping sauce, then casually pick up a slice of spicy tender beef to cook in the pot.

This series of actions was truly smooth and natural. Wu Mangmang even wondered if she had misunderstood Lu Sui before.

However, he didn’t eat much himself, but cooked many beef slices for Wu Mangmang. Su Xianjun joked beside them: “Do boyfriends all have to serve their girlfriends like this now? I need to learn from Lu Sui and go back to please my girlfriend.”

Speak of the devil—Su Xianjun had just mentioned his girlfriend when Bai Lingshi hurried into the hotpot restaurant, looking around as she walked. Two female classmates followed behind her, with strange expressions on their faces.

“Su Xianjun!” Bai Lingshi shouted loudly upon seeing Su Xianjun, pushing aside the waitress blocking her way and angrily walking over.

“What did you promise me?” Bai Lingshi stood in front of Su Xianjun and yelled, “Didn’t you say you would absolutely never eat alone with her?” Only after Bai Lingshi finished yelling did she notice Lu Sui sitting with his back to her.

Su Xianjun’s face darkened: “What are you talking about? Junior Wu’s boyfriend is sitting right here.”

Bai Lingshi’s face immediately showed embarrassment, but she couldn’t save face and huffily turned her head away.

Su Xianjun quickly walked over, put his arm around Bai Lingshi’s shoulder, and anxiously explained in whispers by her ear.

There’s a kind of beauty called being so beautiful you have no friends.

This probably described people like Wu Mangmang.

In any case, girls with boyfriends probably didn’t want their boyfriends to get close to her.

Wu Mangmang’s eyes met Lu Sui’s in the air. She felt she could read this sentence from his eyes: “See? If it weren’t for me rescuing you…”

Although Wu Mangmang wouldn’t admit it, what she did was indeed somewhat inappropriate. Yesterday, when she asked Su Xianjun to revise her thesis, she casually said a word of thanks and suggested treating him to dinner, which he casually agreed to.

To Wu Mangmang, this was perfectly normal—she hadn’t considered Su Xianjun’s girlfriend’s feelings at all, which was indeed inconsiderate of her.

Wu Mangmang stood up and smiled at Bai Lingshi: “Senior, please sit together. Are these two your classmates? Please sit. I’ll have the waitress bring the menu.”

Since Wu Mangmang provided a way out and it was all a misunderstanding, Bai Lingshi and her roommates awkwardly sat down.

Su Xianjun made a big sigh of relief behind Bai Lingshi, while Wu Mangmang smiled and sat next to Lu Sui.

This meal was eaten awkwardly, and Wu Mangmang learned another life lesson.

Bai Lingshi’s two classmates kept stealing glances at Lu Sui while eating. Lu Sui was naturally used to various kinds of attention and stealing glances, while Wu Mangmang played the role of a proud little princess perfectly—from the moment she sat next to Lu Sui, she never cooked vegetables herself again; Lu Sui did it all.

Women seemed naturally inclined to compare, and actually men were the same.

Everyone is equal in love—it’s not like the romance is sweeter just because the other person has higher looks, right?

Bai Lingshi was an only daughter with good family conditions, pampered since childhood. If not a little princess, she at least had some young lady’s temper, or she wouldn’t have been so impulsive to come “catch them in the act.”

Now Bai Lingshi looked at Wu Mangmang’s boyfriend—wealthy and handsome, graceful and well-mannered, so gentle and thoughtful that he didn’t eat or drink but focused on taking care of his girlfriend. She felt this wasn’t just showing off to singles anymore—it was torturing even couples who weren’t in their honeymoon period.

Bai Lingshi gave Su Xianjun many cold looks, but Su Xianjun remained unmoved. He was from the north and could be respectful and obedient to his wife in private, but on the surface, he would never do anything that damaged his masculine dignity.

As for Lu Sui, in Su Xianjun’s heart, he felt it was people like him who spoiled women, not fighting for male solidarity at all, causing him to be glared at by his girlfriend.

For Wu Mangmang, Lu Sui was exactly the opposite of Su Xianjun. Privately, Mr. Lu could practically control you to death, leaving you speechless, but whenever it came to comparing boyfriends, he would definitely win steadily.

This was the fish and bear’s paw dilemma.

After finishing the hotpot, Wu Mangmang was stuffed as usual. With hotpot, a group of people sitting and chatting couldn’t help but keep their mouths moving. Lu Sui had already tried to stop Wu Mangmang earlier.

Unfortunately, Wu Mangmang had overcorrected, resenting that Lu Sui had no legitimate right to control her so broadly. As a result, when she stood up, she felt uncomfortable in her stomach. She touched her stomach with her hand but was too embarrassed to tell Lu Sui, or else this man would definitely call her stupid in his heart, even if he didn’t say it out loud.

“Why are you parking here?” Wu Mangmang asked when she saw Lu Sui stop the car by the roadside.

After Lu Sui went into the pharmacy across the street and bought a box of digestive tablets, Wu Mangmang realized that her slight facial expressions couldn’t possibly hide from Lu Sui.

“Want to go to Litchi Garden for a bath? You smell like hotpot all over,” Lu Sui said.

This time Wu Mangmang didn’t stubbornly oppose Lu Sui and silently nodded.

“Don’t rush to bathe right after eating. Sit for a while first,” Lu Sui said to Wu Mangmang, who was eagerly heading to the bathroom as soon as she entered.

Hearing this, Wu Mangmang felt an inexplicable urge to laugh, lamenting that she was as childish as a child, but on the other hand, she thought Lu Sui played the role of a nagging mother so convincingly.

“I know,” Wu Mangmang replied to Lu Sui. “I’ll go prepare clothes first.”

Since this was originally prepared as their love nest, the wardrobe naturally had clothes prepared for Wu Mangmang. During Lu Sui’s business trip, Wu Mangmang came here to bathe every day and had basically figured out the situation.

The wardrobe was full of current season new items from her favorite brands, from shoes to bags, everything was available in all colors. In the 200-square-meter house, her wardrobe probably occupied no less than 80 square meters.

Lu Sui had, as always, considered all her various needs, even preparing the bread that women needed monthly. When Wu Mangmang first broke up with Lu Sui, it took at least two or three months before she got used to her current life.

It’s hard to go from luxury to simplicity.

Wu Mangmang lay down with her head on the sofa armrest, letting Lu Sui blow-dry her hair. Wu Mangmang couldn’t understand how she had ended up with Lu Sui again.

Or half-ended up together, but looking at this situation, Wu Mangmang really didn’t have much confidence in herself.

Because during this half month, she thought about Lu Sui every day, wondering when he would return from his business trip.

Wu Mangmang also felt she was useless—Lu Sui had only brought breakfast for a few days, and it wasn’t even for her to eat, yet she was already wavering.

Wu Mangmang struggled desperately in her final moments: “Lu Sui, I really can’t be competent in the role of Mrs. Lu. I think we don’t need to waste each other’s time anymore.”

The “whirring” sound of the hair dryer probably covered Wu Mangmang’s voice. Lu Sui didn’t respond for a long time after hearing it, not until he turned off the hair dryer.

“As far as I know, I’ve never proposed to you. Are you overthinking?” Lu Sui said.