In the end, they never did have dinner together.
When Xie Yichen came off the court — hot and flushed with exertion — the person sitting on the long bench was no longer her. It was Liu Chang.
Earlier, Qu Handong had messaged him — their dormmate who would stretch out on his upper bunk whenever there was nothing to do — saying the match was almost over and to meet him at the court so they could eat together.
Liu Chang was sitting there looking very pleased with himself, happily drinking a cup of mung bean ice slush, the white jacket folded neatly on the bench beside him. Xie Yichen, towel over his shoulder, narrowed his eyes slightly and walked toward him.
When Liu Chang saw him coming, he scrambled to his feet and waved. “Boss Yichen — there was a really pretty girl just now. She asked me to give you your jacket. It was the one who was sitting and talking with you earlier — did you two—”
Xie Yichen cut him off. “What are you drinking?”
Liu Chang looked at the drink in his own hand, confused. “A drink from the convenience store?”
Reading Xie Yichen’s expression, Liu Chang caught on and patted the plastic bag beside him. “Oh, yours is right here. The girl made a point of telling me to put it in your hands when she left.”
“Mm.”
Only then did Xie Yichen sit down in that unhurried way of his, wiping sweat with the towel while pulling out his phone.
Among all the messages, her profile picture was at the very top.
Sui Sui Sui: [Oh, I just remembered — the musical theater club has rehearsal tonight.]
Sui Sui Sui: [I’m heading back, let’s eat together another time.]
Xie Yichen looked at the messages steadily. He exhaled a low, nearly silent sound in the back of his throat.
Ruthless — barely an explanation, and even that was followed by a vague future promise.
He hadn’t even done anything, and she was already gone again.
Qu Handong came off the court too, sweaty and stripping off his shirt.
Xie Yichen packed up his things, tucked them in the crook of his arm, and called out a casual farewell to the two of them. “I’m heading out.”
Liu Chang called after him, “You’re not coming to the cafeteria with us?”
Xie Yichen: “No, I’ll go back to the dorm, shower, order delivery.”
Qu Handong: “Genius! Are you ordering from that place?”
Xie Yichen glanced back at him with an arched brow, as though he already knew exactly what Qu Handong was thinking. “Sure. Want me to add an order of fried chicken for you two?”
The simple joys of young people: “Oh wow! Absolutely! You’re the best!”
Dusk stretched long. The sky at the horizon was beautiful.
After Xie Yichen left, Qu Handong fished a clean shirt out of his backpack and wrestled it on in the least elegant way possible.
Liu Chang, with nothing better to do, thought back to what had just happened and couldn’t help marveling aloud, “Where did that pretty girl come from? Which department? Did she come to watch our genius play?”
Qu Handong had spotted the two of them talking from a distance during the game. He’d sensed something different in Xie Yichen’s manner, but hadn’t let his imagination run far — after all, he’d witnessed firsthand how this person had been handling the girls pursuing him recently.
That girl from economics and management had stood there waiting for a good while too, came over to bring water, and the man sent her off with one line — “I’m not thirsty.”
Qu Handong said, “Probably.”
Then, struck by a sudden idea: “Have you heard of Nash’s theorem? Do you think if we keep hanging around Xie Yichen long enough, we might start to get recognized by the pretty girls, and they’ll consider us a — lower-tier option?”
“……”
The two of them sat on the bench, each lost in their own daydream for a moment.
“Hey, did you finish the discrete mathematics assignment?”
“Not yet.”
They looked at each other, then quietly started packing up. “Let’s go. Hurry to the cafeteria, eat, then get back and do the homework.”
After slipping away from the basketball court without a word, Ning Sui received a brief reply from Xie Yichen: a single “okay.”
The following evening, right up until she finished the problem-solving class at ten, she didn’t see him post anything to his Moments. She’d originally thought to open his chat window and check in, but then she saw a girl from the computer science department next door posting a nine-photo update.
— A bright dance floor, dazzling lights, everyone looking polished and sophisticated in elegant, colorful formal attire.
Caption: [Our department is absolutely top-tier — rented a banquet hall in the five-star hotel next door 🎉]
Below, a girl she recognized had replied: [Only thing missing is your department’s lawn ornament. I was hoping to see the handsome guy in a white dress shirt 😭]
Ning Sui’s fingertip paused.
That — that meant Xie Yichen, right?
— So he hadn’t gone.
Quickly she saw another male student reply: [You clearly left before the second half. Everyone was basically already wrapping up, but a few guys used that custom photo booth set up at the entrance to video-call Yichen and ask him to say a few words — and somehow a crowd came back. People were rushing over just to watch from the door.]
It was that feeling of not having been there in person, and yet somehow having been more present than anyone.
“……”
Ning Sui couldn’t quite imagine what it would have been like if she’d actually gone with him.
She might have been packaged up like a fruit cup and escorted out.
She hesitated for a moment, then closed Moments without going to Xie Yichen’s private chat.
Over the next half month or so, Ning Sui kept a steady rhythm — going back and forth between academics and her clubs. She was thriving in her club activities, her academic workload was still manageable, and there was an occasional cultural or athletic event worked in each week. Life was full to the brim.
Their dormitory still had late-night chats every few days, always lively.
Yu Qin had completely forgotten about the scumbag Fang Muzhuo and had moved on to a new life. She was currently in an ambiguous situation with a boy from the physics department.
Liang Xinyue, though she talked a big game about wanting handsome guys, was in practice quite honest — she and her childhood sweetheart had finally broken through the last paper-thin barrier between them and gotten together. Even though it was a long-distance relationship, they video-called every day, syrupy sweet enough to make people nauseous.
Liang Xinyue had taken to calling him oppa like the heroines in Korean dramas. Whenever she put on that soft, affected voice, the other three girls in the room would exchange wordless glances and simultaneously perform elaborate, theatrical shudders.
Bi Jiaxi remained perpetually single in the time-honored tradition, coming back to the dorm to do homework or binge-watch shows and variety programs.
Ning Sui would sometimes watch with her. Lately, two male students had been pursuing Bi Jiaxi with remarkable intensity — somehow perfectly coordinated, as if they’d planned it. One had claimed exclusive territory at the cafeteria serving line; the other specialized in showing up at the academic building with flowers. Ning Sui was so rattled by the sheer heat of it that she took to avoiding going out unless absolutely necessary.
Even Liang Xinyue got curious. “Sui Sui, that engineering student — isn’t he pretty good-looking? And he’s really putting in effort. You don’t like him at all?”
Ning Sui shook her head. “No.”
“Why not?”
“I feel like he has ears that don’t carry good fortune.”
“?”
“Okay, for real.” Ning Sui’s eyelashes dropped softly. “I just don’t really like him always coming to the academic building. Giving me flowers in front of other people. I don’t like the grand confessions on the student event stage either.”
Liang Xinyue paused. “You might just be allergic to romance in general.”
Ning Sui wasn’t sure how to put it into words. What she understood as romance wasn’t like that.
That kind of relentless pursuit only made her feel pressured. Like using the weight of public witnesses to force her hand.
If she had to give an example — that last night in Dali, when Xie Yichen had taken her out on a wind-whipped nighttime ride, and they’d sped down a deserted coastal road — Ning Sui thought that had felt rather romantic.
“……”
She didn’t know how her thoughts always managed to drift back to him like that. They hadn’t been in much contact these days. Just a few days ago, right before sleep, they’d exchanged a few simple messages.
Xie Yichen had mentioned a dormmate named Liu Chang who had signed up for a course called Resisting Temptation — only to arrive at the first class and discover the content was literally about learning to resist temptation. The elderly professor had smiled pleasantly at the room and asked, “How many of you wasted a priority enrollment slot to register for this course? That is your first lesson.”
Ning Sui: “……?”
What could she say — the neighboring university really did have a sense of humor.
Later, when it was time to sleep, Xie Yichen hadn’t dragged out the conversation. He’d said goodnight as a matter of course.
Looking at it that way, it formed quite a stark contrast with the boy from the engineering faculty.
Thinking about it, Ning Sui slowly peeled open a small packet of fish balls, speaking with her mouth full. “Maybe.”
Liang Xinyue was still unconvinced, and suggested brightly, “Maybe this one just isn’t your type. That’s okay — the sports meet is this weekend anyway. The whole school’s worth of handsome guys will be in one place. Go to the field and take your pick.”
Jingda’s sports meet was in early October, timed for when the weather was comparatively mild.
The vice head of sports for their department’s student union had posted in the group chat calling for event sign-ups. Ning Sui was still debating when Hu Ke’er sent her a private message: [Babe! Want to sign up for the 3km campus run together? No real goal — mainly for fitness and morale! 😮]
Hu Ke’er’s long-distance relationship had hit a plateau lately. Both were busy, and given the time difference, they no longer chatted every day the way they used to. Not as clingy as before.
But it hadn’t quite reached the point of breaking up either.
Ning Sui asked, deadpan: [Is it really just for fitness?]
Paopao Ke: [.]
Paopao Ke: [Also to refresh our eyes on some handsome guys’ physiques, which is also a form of fitness 😊]
“……”
Ning Sui, in a moment of magnanimity, agreed: [Fine then]
Paopao Ke: [Yay yay love you!!!]
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Lin Shuyu sent a message to their three-person high school group chat: [This Saturday and Sunday, a world-class double first-rate university will be holding its sports meet. You are both cordially invited to come play! 😮]
Zhang Yuge jumped in immediately: [Let’s go! I’m bored this weekend anyway!]
Zhang Yuge tagged Xie Yichen: [Your highness, come with me!]
About half an hour later, Xie Yichen replied with a single emoji: [👌]
Lin Shuyu was startled: [Bro, when did you start going for the silent mysterious type?]
The other end went quiet.
Zhang Yuge answered on Xie Yichen’s behalf: [He’s been pretty busy lately. That genius class of his is brutally competitive. First year and they’re already fighting over spots with professors to get into research labs. Apparently if there were a 2 AM earthquake, everyone in Yao Class would survive — they’re all awake anyway.]
Jin Ge: [I heard that one time, all four guys in the neighboring dorm said they were going to sleep, and then in the pitch-dark common area they all stepped on each other’s feet simultaneously 🐶]
Kuge Lin: [……?]
Kuge Lin: [Impressive 👍]