After Lu Xun left, Qian Wei pressed her hands to her burning cheeks, finally able to get to work without distraction.

She first sorted and organized the books that had been brought down from the original archive room, then returned some recently returned books to their proper shelves. Only after that did she sit back down at the East Building No. 2 circulation desk. Qian Wei casually picked up a poetry collection, hoping to settle her mood — her emotions had been swinging too wildly lately, and she felt she really needed to calm down and reduce her desires for a while.

But she hadn’t read for more than a few minutes before someone came to the desk.

“Excuse me, I’d like to borrow this book.”

Qian Wei put down her book and looked up. It was a tall young man, thick-browed and bright-eyed, quite good-looking.

She glanced at the book he handed over — it was Yang Jiang’s We Three.

Qian Wei efficiently processed the checkout for him. “There you go.”

The young man smiled. “Thanks.”

Qian Wei lowered her head again to read her poetry collection, but before long, the young man came back, this time with another book in hand. “I’d like to borrow this one too.”

It was Yishu’s Her Town. Qian Wei was a little surprised — it wasn’t common to see a guy reading Yishu’s novels. She couldn’t help but glance at him curiously.

The young man looked away, and Qian Wei quickly looked away too, as naturally as she could. What someone chose to read was their own business, and she didn’t want her staring to make him uncomfortable.

Not many people came to borrow books that day, so Qian Wei flipped through a few more pages of her poetry collection before someone else finally came to check out a book.

She looked up — it was the same young man again.

“This one too, if you don’t mind.”

Qian Wei looked — it was a book by Feng Tang, Joy. She thought this guy’s taste in reading was certainly eclectic — Yang Jiang one moment, Yishu the next, now Feng Tang. Quite a wide range.

Just as she finished having that thought, the young man came back again.

This time the book was a completely different style — How to Make Your Product a Bestseller, apparently a marketing case-study book written by a foreign author.

This time, the young man finally struck up a conversation with Qian Wei. The circulation desk was some distance from the study tables inside the library, so as long as they didn’t speak too loudly, it wouldn’t disturb the others reading or studying.

“Do you like Tagore?”

Qian Wei was startled for a moment before smiling — she realized he meant the copy of Stray Birds she’d been reading.

The young man smiled too. “You smiled and said nothing, and I felt that for this I had waited long.” He looked at her a little bashfully. “That’s my favorite line from Stray Birds.”

“By the way, you’re Qian Wei, right?” His tone turned slightly awkward. “I heard the librarian call your name. I’ve been coming to read in this building for a while now, and I’ve seen you around. I was wondering if maybe—”

“I’d like to borrow a book.”

Before the young man could finish, a voice cut in and interrupted him.

Qian Wei looked up to see Lu Xun standing in front of her, holding a stack of books, his face set in a scowl.

Since someone else was now waiting in line, the young man could no longer stand there chatting with Qian Wei. He still seemed eager to keep discussing Stray Birds, though, and only stepped aside without actually leaving.

Lu Xun slapped the books in his hands down onto the desk with a loud smack. Then, as if deliberately putting on a show, he picked them back up and flipped them over in his hands — not like someone actually interested in reading them, but like someone showing them off on purpose.

Lonelier Than Fireworks, Real Men Aren’t Afraid, I Turned Into a Fire-Breathing Dragon, The Origins of the Character “De”…

Qian Wei looked at the pile — what on earth was Lu Xun borrowing? As far as she knew him, he only ever read professional books or case studies useful for making money. She’d never once heard of him being interested in this kind of random, miscellaneous reading material.

But since Lu Xun apparently had quite a few books to check out, the young man from before probably didn’t want to wait. By the time Qian Wei registered what was happening, he had already left.

“Are you seriously borrowing all these???” Qian Wei looked up and asked Lu Xun.

“Yep. All of these.”

“You’re actually going to read this stuff?”

Lu Xun scoffed through his nose. “I’m not reading them. I’m lending them to someone else.”

Qian Wei went on alert. “Who?”

“Someone with inappropriate ideas.”

“Huh? Who? What’s going on?”

Lu Xun said irritably, “The guy who just left, obviously.”

“Huh?”

“He came and borrowed four books, and you didn’t even notice?” Lu Xun’s voice was full of pent-up frustration. “One at a time — you don’t think that was just to get your attention? Childish.”

Qian Wei lowered her voice to argue back. “Not necessarily — maybe he really did just finish one and then happen to notice another good one he wanted to borrow too.”

“Read the first character of each of the four book titles, one after another.”

“Huh?” Qian Wei paused, then said uncertainly, “I? Like? You?”

Lu Xun just looked at her silently for a moment. Then, suddenly dropping his sour expression, he gave a light, helpless laugh. “Forget it. With that head of yours and those dull nerves, what’s the point of me even being upset? No matter how anyone tries to show interest in you, you never notice — let alone something this subtle and juvenile. It’s not like it’s a few years ago anymore, and people still pull this kind of stunt. So old-fashioned.”

Qian Wei, though a bit slow on the uptake, finally understood after Lu Xun’s hint. She lowered her head, thought about it for a moment, then looked at the four books Lu Xun had thrown down, claiming he wanted to borrow them — and suddenly she had a flash of realization.

Likewise, reading the first character of each of those four titles in order spelled out — She is mine.

Now it was Qian Wei’s turn to laugh. She looked up at Lu Xun mischievously. “So this kind of hinting is juvenile? Old-fashioned?”

Lu Xun kept his eyes fixed straight ahead, denying it with total confidence. “I occasionally borrow some random books too…”

“But didn’t you say you were leaving earlier?” Qian Wei thought about it and decided not to let that point go. “Why are you still at the library?” If he’d so clearly noticed that the young man had come back four times to borrow books, that meant Lu Xun definitely hadn’t just happened to be passing by — he’d clearly been lurking in the library the whole time.

This time it was finally Lu Xun’s turn to look flustered. But he quickly regained his usual composed, cool demeanor. “That’s a question I should be asking you. I step away for barely a moment and someone’s already trying to move in on my territory?” He turned his head away. “You attract too many admirers. So I’ll just have to keep a closer eye on you — from now on, whenever you’re working at the library, I’ll be sitting right here in this building.”

Qian Wei: ??? Buddy, aren’t you the one who attracts way more admirers? I might get one or two people striking up conversation with me in a whole year, while you get so many chocolates and love letters on Valentine’s Day alone that you don’t know what to do with them all!

And just like that, without waiting for her opinion, Lu Xun simply found himself a seat in the East Building No. 2 where Qian Wei worked and sat right down, bold as anything.

Though he made a show of picking up a book, a full hour passed and Qian Wei never once saw him turn a page. Of course he had no time to read — because even without turning around, she could feel him watching her the entire time.

Having been watched like that for a full hour, the copy of Stray Birds in her hands stayed open to the exact same page the entire time.

Fingers that have never bled can play no immortal melody; hardship never endured can create no miracle in life.

Qian Wei stared at that line for the full hour. Finally she stood up and closed the book.

There was no reading anything today.

She walked straight over to Lu Xun. “Come outside with me.”

Before he could react, she grabbed his sleeve and dragged him out of the library.

Outside the library was a small grove of trees. Without a word, Qian Wei pulled him into the grove, then finally let go of his hand, and — meeting his puzzled gaze — shoved him back against a tree trunk.

Qian Wei kept a stern face, grabbing his collar the way he always did to her, holding herself with an air of authority as she stared him down. “If you keep distracting me from my studying like this, I’m going to kiss you.”

With that, she rose up on her toes, intending to give him a forceful kiss — but rather ruining the mood, she hadn’t accounted for just how much taller he was than her. Even on her toes, she could barely reach his chin. She kept her expression fixed in that same cool, aloof look she was trying to imitate from him, while her feet strained desperately upward, trying to look effortless even as she struggled — but no matter how hard she tried, the height difference made it all completely futile.

Just as she was about to give up on maintaining any dignity and simply jump up to kiss him instead, Lu Xun leaned down on his own, lifted her up, and set her feet on top of his.

“Now you can reach me,” he said, ruffling her hair.

That finally broke her composure completely. She tugged at her own hair and muttered, “Now the whole mood is ruined!”

“Hm?”

Qian Wei stepped her feet off his, looking a little embarrassed. “I really wanted to know what it felt like to be cold, cool, and domineering just once. That was such a perfect setup — I was supposed to shove you into the grove, pin down your hands, say something like ‘You’ve successfully caught my attention’ or ‘Distract me from studying again and I’ll do this and that to you,’ and then kiss you without giving you any say in the matter.” She sighed regretfully. “I finally had the chance, and then—” She sighed again. “Honestly I was really curious how you’d feel being forcibly kissed by a domineering, cold version of me…”

Before she could finish, Lu Xun’s kiss came down on her.

Their breath mingled at close range, and Qian Wei could feel the heat and intensity in his lips and tongue. He raised a hand to press against the back of her head, pulling her closer, deepening the kiss.

It wasn’t a long kiss, but even after Lu Xun let go, Qian Wei still felt breathless, her body temperature rising. An expression could be faked, but a kiss couldn’t lie — a person’s true feelings, their most primal desires, could all be sensed through a kiss. Qian Wei looked at Lu Xun, his breathing slightly unsteady, and suddenly felt overwhelmed with shyness.

Lu Xun leaned down and kissed her again. “Did you really want to kiss me just now?”

Before she could answer, he leaned down and kissed her cheek. “All right, I won’t distract you from studying anymore.” But no sooner had he said it than he went back on his word without a shred of guilt. “One more interruption.” His tone was slightly awkward, though he still tried to maintain his composure. “Since you wanted to kiss me so badly just now, it wouldn’t be right of me not to give you the chance.”

“…”

Lu Xun looked at her. “Kiss me.”

Under the full weight of that beautiful, dark gaze, Qian Wei felt like nothing else mattered — not studying, not anything. However precious time was, as long as she was with him, even just standing quietly together doing nothing at all didn’t feel like a waste.

Qian Wei steadied herself, cleared her throat with exaggerated composure, then pointed behind him and cried out in mock surprise, “Lu Xun! Someone’s waving at you back there!”

Lu Xun instinctively turned to look — and in that instant, Qian Wei darted forward, grabbed his hand, reached up quickly, and kissed his cheek.

By the time he turned back around, she had already bolted off like a rabbit, nowhere to be seen.

Lu Xun stood there stunned for a moment, touched his own cheek, and then couldn’t help but laugh.