Qian Wei was utterly baffled. Sure, her looks weren’t on Mo Zixin’s level, but she wasn’t exactly hard on the eyes either—she got approached on the street plenty of times when she dressed up. Did Lu Xun really need to react like this?

“Lu Xun…”

Before she could get any further, Lu Xun cut her off. “Be quiet. Don’t talk to me.”

“…”

And so the two of them sat in complete silence in the café. Lu Xun seemed dead set on not looking at her, keeping his gaze fixed out the window the whole time, the redness in his face gradually fading, though his eyes still flickered toward her every so often.

Fortunately, the downpour came fast and ended fast. The rain outside finally stopped, and the sky cleared up again. Qian Wei stood up, eager to get back to the dorm right away—her clothes were still damp, and she wanted to change out of them.

But just as she stood up to head out, Lu Xun grabbed her by the hand.

“Sit down.”

“Why?”

Lu Xun stood up too, his tall frame blocking the light in front of her. He glanced at Qian Wei, then looked away again, his manner rather high-handed.

“Why do you need to ask so many questions. Just wait here. Don’t go anywhere.”

He shot her one more warning glance, then turned and walked out the door by himself without another word.

Qian Wei was left alone in the café, watching his tall retreating figure in bewilderment. What kind of turn of events was this? The weather had cleared up, so why couldn’t they just walk back together? Why did he have to make her wait?

Fortunately, Lu Xun was true to his word and didn’t keep her waiting long. He hurried back through the café door before too long, and before Qian Wei could even ask what was going on, he tossed a black jacket at her without warning.

“Put it on.”

“Huh?”

Lu Xun frowned. “Put this jacket on. Wasn’t I clear enough?”

“But I’m not cold…”

“I’ll write your Criminal Law term paper for you.” Lu Xun glanced at her. “Put it on.”

“Okay, okay, okay! I’ll wear it! I’ll wear it!” Faced with this enormous windfall, Qian Wei practically forgot herself, snatching the jacket from his hands and pulling it on immediately.

“Zip it up.”

Qian Wei nodded eagerly and zipped up the front of the black jacket.

Once she had it on, Lu Xun finally seemed able to look at her directly again, turning his head back her way. He gave her a once-over, and his expression noticeably improved.

Was he worried she’d catch a cold from the rain? Qian Wei glanced at Lu Xun’s slightly sour expression and felt a bit of relief. “Thanks, Lu Xun.” Seems her future ruthless boss could still be salvaged, after all.

Lu Xun pressed his lips together, his expression stern. “No need to thank me. That shirt underneath was hideous—an eyesore for the whole neighborhood.”

“…”

Qian Wei looked down at the oversized black jacket she was now wearing, unable to figure out how the one Lu Xun had bought was supposed to improve the neighborhood’s aesthetics any better. Catching her reflection in the café’s glass window, she couldn’t shake the feeling she looked like she was wearing a black trash bag—an extra-large one, at that.

Unfortunately, Lu Xun clearly had no interest in continuing that particular discussion about his taste. Qian Wei could only trail along after him, and the two of them walked the rest of the way in silence until they reached the school gate, at which point Qian Wei suddenly thought of something.

“Hey? Lu Xun, weren’t you supposed to be going somewhere else, not back to school?”

Lu Xun seemed to pause as if just remembering, but a moment later he’d resumed his usual aloof composure. “My clothes are wet too. I’ll go change in my dorm first.”

“Oh… but why take the long way around? Coming in through the main gate and past the teaching buildings would get you to the boys’ dorm faster, wouldn’t it?”

“We’re at the girls’ dorm now, aren’t you getting off?” Lu Xun raised an eyebrow. “Seeing as you’ve got so much free time, I suppose you can write your own Criminal Law paper after all.”

“Hey, hey, hey, I don’t have time, I’m super busy! The Criminal Law paper’s yours now! I’m off, bye!”

With that, Qian Wei took off in a hurry, as if afraid Lu Xun might change his mind.

“Why’d you come back looking like a black crow?” The moment she entered the dorm, Liu Shiyun, who was busy painting her nails, stared at Qian Wei’s black jacket in bewilderment. “You definitely weren’t wearing that when you left.”

“You think it’s ugly too, right? And he specifically bought it and made me wear it…” Qian Wei muttered, pulling off the jacket, ready to keep complaining, but a whistle from Liu Shiyun cut her off.

Qian Wei looked up to find Liu Shiyun staring meaningfully at her chest. “Qian Wei, oh Qian Wei, so you’re into sexy black lace bras. Who would’ve guessed—that’s quite the impressive cleavage you’ve got going on there.”

Qian Wei glanced down reflexively, and it finally dawned on her what Liu Shiyun meant. She’d worn a white T-shirt out today, and after getting soaked in the downpour, it had clung tightly to her body, outlining every curve with nothing left to the imagination. Worse still, the wet white T-shirt had gone completely see-through, making her underwear plainly visible…

Qian Wei’s face flushed instantly, heat rushing all the way to her ears.

She’d been walking around in front of Lu Xun dressed like that this whole time…

Liu Shiyun’s tone turned gossipy. “You still haven’t told me—who was it that specially bought you that ugly black crow of a jacket? Who got to see our little Qian Wei’s impressive cleavage on display like that?” She narrowed her eyes. “Come on, spill it. Who’d you put on that little wet-shirt seduction show for? Was it on purpose? Did anything happen? With an asset like that, you should be unstoppable.”

Red-faced, Qian Wei snapped, “No! I wasn’t trying to seduce anyone, and nothing happened!”

“Hmm, that doesn’t add up, though. If a guy went and bought you clothes to wear, that means he didn’t want anyone else seeing your figure like that. And buying something this ugly on purpose—it really does feel deliberate, like he wanted to make sure no one else would pay you any attention while you looked this hideous. Sounds like a scheming, calculating kind of guy…” Liu Shiyun rubbed her chin. “I feel like you’re completely outmatched here.”

This girl really had read too many romance novels, Qian Wei thought. Lu Xun, interested in her? Ha, he’d have to be blind for that to happen.

The next time Qian Wei saw Lu Xun was the following morning. By then, she’d already mentally prepared herself to simply ignore the whole café incident. As usual, she brought Lu Xun his breakfast—this time, he didn’t ask her to eat with him, taking the food and leaving right away, though he did turn back to call out to her just before he left.

“Is that library seat thing still available?” Perhaps it was her imagination, but there seemed to be a hint of awkwardness on Lu Xun’s face. He held his head high, glancing at her only briefly before looking away again. He was wearing fitted trousers and a navy top today, his legs straight and long, the dark clothing making his features look even more striking. It reminded Qian Wei of something she’d seen on the campus forum—that just being able to talk to Lu Xun felt like an honor, given his looks.

“Yes! Of course it’s still available!” Qian Wei rubbed her hands together, eager to prove her loyalty. “As far as you’re concerned, I only make binding offers, never mere invitations to treat. Any offer I extend to you will never be revoked!”

“Hm.” Lu Xun looked away. “Then reserve me a seat at the library. I’ll be going there a lot lately.”

“No problem! Whenever you get to the library, just come find me at East Library Two.” Qian Wei gave him a knowing smile. “This time, seize the moment.”

Lu Xun frowned and asked again, “What?”

Qian Wei wiggled her eyebrows at him. “You know what I mean.” Honestly, this guy was such a poor actor—what was the point of being so cagey about it? He’d claimed before he didn’t even like the library, didn’t care about the seat-reserving service Qian Wei offered, and now here he was specifically asking her to secure him a spot. Ha, Qian Wei thought, as if she couldn’t see what he was really up to. Hadn’t Mo Zixin been showing up regularly at East Library Two, where Qian Wei worked, for the past week? Clearly he liked Mo Zixin, wanted to pursue her, but was too proud to do it openly—had to sneak around about it instead.

“Is there a seat somewhere less crowded?”

Qian Wei gave him an “OK” gesture. “Leave it all to me.”

That very morning she’d told him this, and by afternoon, Lu Xun had already shown up at East Library Two. Qian Wei led him to the seat she’d reserved for him, smiling mysteriously as she went. “There’s a surprise coming in a bit.”

The seat Qian Wei had reserved for Lu Xun was at a table tucked in a corner against the wall. Elsewhere in the library, all the tables sat six people, but this particular spot, due to spatial constraints, had only a small two-person table—since there was no room for any other study desks nearby, it counted as a rather VIP-level, quiet arrangement in a library where seats were otherwise scarce.

Sure enough, a rare look of satisfaction crossed Lu Xun’s normally hard-to-please face, and he even gave Qian Wei a rare smile.

Qian Wei felt smugly triumphant. Just wait, she thought, you’ll be even more grateful to me in a moment.

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Qian Wei spotted Mo Zixin’s graceful figure at the entrance of East Library Two. She’d been coming to study here around this time nearly every day for the past week.

“Mo Zixin.” Qian Wei called out to her in a lowered voice. “I saved you a seat, no need to go looking for one.” She pointed toward the corner by the wall. “Right there, let me show you.”

Mo Zixin looked a bit surprised, but glancing around, she confirmed there really were no other open seats in the library at the moment. She thanked Qian Wei in her soft, gentle voice and headed toward the seat Qian Wei had pointed her to.

Qian Wei watched Mo Zixin walking toward the table where Lu Xun sat, her heart practically soaring. This, she thought, had been a truly thoughtful gesture on her part—surely Lu Xun would be delighted by this little surprise.

Unfortunately, Qian Wei’s peaceful days didn’t last long. She’d barely finished her library shift when Qian Chuan caught her right at the entrance.

“Qian Wei, there’s something I want to ask for your help with.” Qian Chuan’s tone was full of enthusiasm.

“No way.” Qian Wei shot him down mercilessly without even hearing him out.

Faced with her response, Qian Chuan looked genuinely exasperated. “It’s not about borrowing living expenses this time. I just want your advice—I want to pursue Mo Zixin.”

How could that possibly work?! Mo Zixin was her future boss’s wife!

“Qian Chuan, listen to me. You and Mo Zixin aren’t a good match, it won’t last!”

Qian Chuan protested. “What gives you the right to say that? I’m serious about this. I’ve decided to have a relationship that never ends—isn’t the whole ‘from school uniforms to wedding dress’ thing trendy right now? That’s exactly the kind of relationship I want.”

Qian Wei thought to herself that based on how things went in her past life, even if he did win Mo Zixin over, they’d end up breaking up eventually anyway. But faced with Qian Chuan, currently drunk on infatuation, she doubted anything she said would get through to him.

“Anyway, don’t count on me to be your strategist or set anything up for you.” Qian Wei shot him an unsympathetic look. “Besides, Lu Xun likes Mo Zixin too, you know. Weigh your odds carefully—between you and Lu Xun, who do you really think stands a better chance? Not to mention, Lu Xun and Mo Zixin are both in our law school, so they’ve got plenty of chances to interact—the advantage of proximity, and they’re both top students in law with plenty of common ground.”

“What do you mean, weigh my odds?” Qian Chuan said, all but ready to roll up his sleeve to flex his bicep. “Where exactly do I fall short compared to Lu Xun? Besides, that guy has zero interest in Mo Zixin. You saw how he acted at hotpot the other day—he seemed entirely focused on eating the whole time, barely even looked at Mo Zixin. If anything, he kept looking at you a bunch—if it weren’t for the fact that it was someone like you he was looking at, I’d have thought he had a thing for you.”

That set Qian Wei off. “What do you mean, someone like me? What’s wrong with me?”

“Look at yourself—not the least bit ladylike, ready to snap at me the second I open my mouth. Now look at Mo Zixin, so gentle, always speaking so softly.”

“Qian Chuan, our sibling relationship is officially over. Goodbye!”

After that unpleasant parting with Qian Chuan, Qian Wei went back to the dorm. She’d specially packed a dinner for Liu Shiyun too, only to find her not there. It wasn’t until Qian Wei had nearly finished her own meal that Liu Shiyun finally pushed open the door and came back to the room.

“Exhausted,” she said, flopping into a chair. “Student union’s been swamped with stuff lately.” She thanked Qian Wei and dug into the boxed meal ravenously, then paused halfway through as something occurred to her. “Oh, right, Qian Wei—want to come to that new theme park out in the suburbs this weekend? The student union’s organizing it, they’ve chartered a bus, everything’s arranged, no need to plan a thing. Want to come? I heard the park’s really fun.”

Qian Wei wasn’t particularly interested, and shook her head. “I’ll pass. It’s a nice weekend, might as well just sleep in the dorm.”

Liu Shiyun looked a bit disappointed. “I figured you’d come since Qian Chuan’s going.”

The mention of Qian Chuan’s name snapped Qian Wei fully alert. Qian Chuan normally had zero interest in things like amusement parks—for him to be this out of character, something had to be up. “Who else from our school is going? Is Mo Zixin going?”

“Yep.” Liu Shiyun blinked. “Lu Xun’s going too.”

“Then count me in!” Qian Wei perked right up. Lu Xun and Mo Zixin going off to a theme park together to build a nice romantic connection—there was absolutely no way she could let Qian Chuan swoop in halfway through to ruin it! Absolutely not!

Liu Shiyun, however, got the wrong idea entirely. “So you’re not running the multi-track strategy anymore? Giving up on Li Chongwen to focus on Lu Xun?” She smiled with obvious implication. “This trip is two days, one night. First day we’re at the theme park, and the second day we head over to the forest park nearby. Better seize your chance!”

Qian Wei knew there was no point explaining—she gave up the fight and let it go.