Over the three days of the college entrance exam, Xu Huaishi made no effort to speak to Zhao Yi on her own — afraid that the moment they engaged, she would unknowingly put pressure on him.

Zhao Yi, too, was buried in last-minute cramming. Each time he finished an exam paper and the classmates around him asked how it went, his answer was always the same: “Looks like I’ll have to wait another four years before inheriting the family business. What a shame.”

Everyone else took it as his usual nonsense. Only Xu Huaishi knew it was actually a very genuinely unfortunate thing.

The day of the final exam, the sky was clear and limitless. Examinees poured out of the test center like a flowing river, cheering all the way. Xu Huaishi finally let herself unwind completely. On her way back to the classroom, she thought of Zhao Yi and stopped at a junction, turning to scan the crowd to see if he had come out yet.

She stood up on the ledge on her tiptoes, craning her neck to search — and didn’t notice someone coming up behind her. A large hand landed lightly on her shoulder.

She startled and spun around to find Zhao Yi grinning at her, all teeth. “Looking for someone? Your beloved?”

“…”

She choked, then quickly straightened up with full conviction: “That’s right — I had a romantic encounter in the exam hall. The boy sitting in front of me looked exactly like my Li Shican-gege. I’m planning to go all-in and pursue him.”

Zhao Yi could tell she was joking and was just about to say oh, give it a rest — when he noticed a boy with bright red lips and white teeth stop directly in front of Xu Huaishi, his face flushed crimson.

The two of them locked eyes, then both watched as the boy stared at Xu Huaishi and said: “Classmate, you… did you just say you were going to pursue me?”

Xu Huaishi was completely lost — this couldn’t be happening, could it?

She stared at him blankly, blinked, and asked: “You were sitting in front of me?”

The boy’s ears went red. He nodded.

This was a tremendous misunderstanding.

She was just about to wave her hands and explain when Zhao Yi, beside her, erupted — he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her away.

The boy was stunned for a moment, then hurried after them: “Hey, classmate — you don’t have to pursue me, actually I also—”

Zhao Yi was striding forward in long steps, dragging her along, and called back over his shoulder: “Actually you also what — are you a karst landscape? Can’t you see this flower is already claimed?”

“…”

Xu Huaishi stumbled along in his grip, sputtering: “Who — who’s claimed? Who exactly has been claimed here?!”

He hauled her all the way to the foot of the academic building, stopped, waited for the crowd to thin, and pulled her to the side of the path. “You tell me.”

“If I knew, why would I be asking you?”

“You don’t know?”

Xu Huaishi kept up her act of perfect oblivion. “I genuinely don’t — why don’t you explain it to me?”

Zhao Yi shoved his hands into his pockets, pulled them out, then shoved them back in again — repeating this several times before finally saying: “I’ve done the math. Getting into university shouldn’t be a problem. Even if I can’t make it into a second-tier program, I can scrape into a third-tier one and make do.”

Xu Huaishi put on an air of cool indifference. “But most of Hang Shi University is first-tier programs.”

“I looked into it a long time ago — there are a few second-tier programs too, on the same campus as the first-tier ones. If I can’t get into those, there’s also a third-tier college one kilometer north of Hang Shi and another three kilometers to the east.”

Xu Huaishi gazed at the sky and murmured quietly: “You missed one — there’s another one five kilometers to the west…”

Zhao Yi was silent for a beat, then laughed. “You did your research that thoroughly?”

Xu Huaishi glanced at him sideways. “I’m aiming for Hang Shi, of course I investigated the surrounding geography and local conditions thoroughly.”

“Right,” he said, reining in his laughter, “we’ve gotten off topic.”

Seeing him turn serious, Xu Huaishi suddenly felt a flutter of nerves. Her hands dropped to her sides, fingers pinching the hem of her skirt. She gave a quiet “oh” and lowered her eyes to the toes of her canvas shoes.

Zhao Yi cleared his throat, looking at the crown of her head as he spoke: “The point is — it’s only a few kilometers, and my legs are long enough, practically two meters. As long as you’re willing — when late-night self-study ends and you can’t see the road clearly, I can still be there walking you down the stairs. As your… boyfriend, walking you down the stairs.”

His gaze was practically radiating heat — Xu Huaishi felt as though the top of her scalp was scorching. She touched her hair, tapped her shoe tips together, and gave another small “oh.”

Zhao Yi’s patience snapped. “I’ve already said my piece — can you at least give me a straight answer?”

She looked up, her own temper flaring to match his. “Is this strong-arming me into something? You haven’t even asked properly — why should I be obligated to answer?”

Zhao Yi faltered, his confidence deflating. He rubbed the tip of his nose and said: “Then… would you be willing to be my girlfriend…”

She let out a low hum, broke into a grin, and said: “No!” — then immediately turned and ran.

Zhao Yi was so exasperated he laughed. He grabbed her back, pulling her straight into his arms. “You’re just forcing me to strong-arm you!”

From the building above, a wave of exuberant noise rolled down: “Ohhhh——!”

Both of them looked up at the same time — and discovered that at some point, a crowd had gathered along the railing of the upper floors, watching the whole thing unfold.

Xu Huaishi’s face went scarlet. Furious, she shoved Zhao Yi away and stomped down hard on his sneaker. “Can’t you tell when someone means the opposite of what they say!”

Author’s note: The Xu-Zhao You’re My Belated Happiness – Chapter arc ends here for now — but when I write the bonus chapters for the main couple later, these two will definitely make a cameo appearance!