Qing Ye eventually helped arrange a meeting between Meng Rui Hang and Xie Qian Qian, repaying the favor from when Meng Rui Hang had kept her secret.

Of course, the pretext wasn’t too forced – with New Year’s Eve approaching in a few days, she used this opportunity to invite her dormmates out for barbecue skewers, casually including Meng Rui Hang.

Everyone went except Sun Wan Jing, who needed to stay in the library that evening.

The entire evening was quite harmonious. Though Xie Qian Qian didn’t talk much, her astonishing appetite shocked the other three. Throughout the evening while they chatted, she ate continuously from start to finish, never stopping. Qing Ye couldn’t understand how someone with such a small frame could have such a huge appetite.

But that wasn’t important. The key moment that night came when everyone was happily dining together, and a muscular man at the neighboring table, either drunk or whatever, kept trying to reach for Qing Ye whenever she passed by to get dishes. Disgusted, Qing Ye began taking detours to avoid him.

The group of men at that table deliberately stirred things up, discussing their table with lecherous looks, since except for Meng Rui Hang, they were all women.

Just as Qing Ye’s group was getting up to leave, that table either made a bet or somehow goaded the muscular man, who then blatantly reached out to grab Qing Ye’s bottom.

At that moment, Qing Ye was talking to Qu Bing, her back to the neighboring table, completely unaware. Just as the man was about to succeed, his wrist was suddenly caught. Qing Ye hadn’t felt anything when she heard a scream. When she turned around, she saw Xie Qian Qian gripping the muscular man’s wrist, twisting it like a pretzel. She kicked away the stool the man was sitting on, causing him to fall straight onto his bottom. Even then he couldn’t break free from Xie Qian Qian’s grip. When the man’s friends came to grab Xie Qian Qian, she kicked the tall skinny one and sent him flying.

Qing Ye and the others were completely stunned. Everything happened in a flash – they barely understood what had occurred before they were all taken to the police station.

So what should have been a pleasant New Year’s Eve was spent at the police station. The police were quite shocked to learn these four troublemakers were from Q University.

The muscular man played innocent and pitiful, so the main questioning naturally focused on Xie Qian Qian who had used force. However, whether from tiredness or whatever reason, she just kept yawning, appearing completely disdainful of explaining.

In the end, it was the silver-tongued Qu Bing who explained the whole situation. You should know how a logical science student can argue black into white. Combined with victim Qing Ye standing beside her, blinking pitifully at the police uncle in a coordinated performance, the police instantly felt the muscular man’s group had gotten what they deserved.

Deserved or not, fighting was still wrong – they had to take responsibility. Although they hadn’t thrown any punches, Xie Qian Qian had acted to protect Qing Ye, so they couldn’t abandon her. Just as Meng Rui Hang was about to contact his father, two imposing men came to handle the matter, and afterward, they were free to go.

Leaving the police station, they saw the middle-aged uncle who had helped them out driving a Beijing-plated Phantom. Before leaving, he said to Xie Qian Qian: “Remember to come home.”

Xie Qian Qian appeared rather dismissive as the car drove away, leaving a group of bewildered people behind.

So on their way back to school, Qu Bing tentatively asked: “Was that your father just now?”

Xie Qian Qian casually replied: “Butler.”

“…” What a mystifying answer – whose butler drives a Rolls-Royce? Did her family own ten mines that needed managing?

Therefore, no one pursued the topic further, nor dared to – who knew if she was showing off or joking?

Qing Ye didn’t plan to go home tonight either. It was already past ten when they reached the school gate. Qu Bing and Meng Rui Hang began arguing about some domain problem, their discussion becoming increasingly complex as they brought in calculus concepts. Xie Qian Qian listened beside them, occasionally contributing a comment.

Qing Ye walked alone at the back. Though she didn’t speak, she was listening to their discussion. Suddenly, a car across the street honked its horn. This road usually didn’t allow honking, so Qing Ye reflexively looked up across the street. She saw a tall figure quickly step back onto the curb. Qing Ye was startled – the car passed by, blocking her view. Her heart suddenly began racing wildly, but in that split second while she blinked, the car passed and there was no one across the street.

The three ahead stopped and turned back to call her: “Qing Ye, what are you looking at?”

Her gaze swept across the street once more before she sighed, turning back with some disappointment: “Nothing.”

On the way back to the dorm, the three somehow started discussing conjugate matrix definitions, while Qing Ye’s mood suddenly plummeted to rock bottom. She couldn’t hear a single word they were saying anymore.

Perhaps it was because of that sudden apparition, or maybe the date reminded her of him, or perhaps they’d been apart too long and everyone started looking like him.

Walking at the back, Qing Ye lowered her head and rubbed her dry eyes, struggling to suppress the violent emotions in her chest.

Finally, the three women bid farewell to Meng Rui Hang and returned to the dorm. But as soon as they entered, Sun Wan Jing handed Qing Ye a wrapped small box, saying someone had delivered it for her earlier that evening.

Qing Ye asked who had brought it, but Sun Wan Jing didn’t know. There was no note inside or outside the box. Qing Ye sat on her bed and opened the wrapped box to find a deep black jewelry box inside. She opened the jewelry box with trembling hands to find a dandelion-shaped necklace lying quietly within.

All three dormmates saw how Qing Ye’s entire expression changed the moment her gaze fixed on that necklace. The next second, she closed the box, grabbed the necklace, and rushed out.

The night wind blew cold against her face. One year – on this day last year, everyone had gathered at Xuan Island. The two of them had snuck into the house and hidden behind the door where he had kissed her and said “Happy New Year.”

She had buried her face in his neck and told him her New Year’s wish was to spend next New Year’s Eve with him again.

He had promised that no matter where in the world she was, he would spend New Year’s with her.

How could she have forgotten?

That person was him – the figure she saw was Xing Wu. He had come, come to Beijing. He had seen her just now and must have wanted to rush over to her, which was why that car suddenly honked. But Qing Ye didn’t know why he wouldn’t meet her.

She searched that street endlessly like a headless fly, but among countless people, that familiar figure was nowhere to be found.

She stood lost at the street corner. As she turned, she saw in the distance that archway with its green bricks and white pillars. When that landmark bearing the school name suddenly entered Qing Ye’s view, she suddenly understood everything.

He had come to find her, traveling thousands of miles. Perhaps when he saw her, he had wanted to rush to her, but in that instant, she and her group of elite classmates had walked through that tall archway. He had stopped outside the arch. She could even feel Xing Wu’s emotions at that moment – anxiety, unease, and perhaps some resistance.

Xing Wu was someone with such strong self-esteem. Sometimes Qing Ye wondered if he couldn’t get into a Beijing university, or if he couldn’t make something of himself, would he never come to see her in his lifetime? She had told him long ago that she didn’t care, but he had told her he did care, so she could only desperately endure the pain of separation.

However, all of this shattered when Qing Ye saw that archway. Her heart ached for him. She knew very clearly what she had gone through in three years of high school to step through this archway, and for Xing Wu to pass through this door in one year, the price he would have to pay was greater than anyone’s.

She could even imagine him burning the midnight oil studying, his life like stagnant water. But how much pain must he have felt after seeing her walk through that door with his own eyes?

This door separated them into two worlds, so he had ultimately stopped before the archway without appearing.

Qing Ye took out her phone and dialed his number again and again. This familiar number had lain quietly in her contacts for half a year. Though she had looked at it countless times, though she had wanted to dial it many times, she had never felt as impulsive as now.

The call went through, but Xing Wu didn’t answer. The cold wind crept into her pores, the chill assailing her from all directions. She didn’t know how long she had walked before helplessly standing by the roadside and sending him a series of voice messages.

“It was you, wasn’t it?”

“Don’t hide from me, come out.”

“Where are you?”

The air was filled with bitter cold. The stars were hidden in the night sky, infinite darkness enveloping Qing Ye as she crouched down, tears suddenly rolling down her face.

With a sobbing voice, she sent the final two words: “Jerk.”

The clock struck twelve – another new year. Qing Ye received his reply.

Just four words: “Happy New Year.”

She suddenly stood up and ran frantically down that street. She was certain Xing Wu was nearby, watching her from somewhere. She began calling him again, and this time he answered, but when the call connected, they both suddenly fell silent.

Finally, Xing Wu spoke first, saying to her: “It’s cold at night. Go back early.”

Qing Ye heard a radio noise through the phone – he was leaving…

She bit her lip hard to keep from crying out, hanging up without saying a word.

Anger, resentment, and grievance – all emotions suddenly flooded her chest. After entering the school gate, she felt like she couldn’t catch her breath, leaning against a nearby tree as the world spun around her.

She didn’t even know how she made it back to the dormitory. Qu Bing had spoken with the dorm supervisor and waited downstairs for her, finally swiping her card to let her in.

As soon as she entered the dorm, Qing Ye collapsed onto her bed, covering herself with the blanket and crying silently. She had never missed him as much as she did at this moment – missed his eyes and brows, his gentle voice, even his warm embrace. Countless intense memories caused Qing Ye’s emotions to completely break down.

The half year’s worth of endurance crumbled with everything that happened tonight. Only when her blanket was suddenly pulled away and her arm forcefully grabbed by Xie Qian Qian, pulling her entire body up, did she realize just how strong this girl’s grip was.

Her tear-stained, disheveled face was exposed to her three roommates as the blanket was pulled away.

Qu Bing and Sun Wan Jing watched her in silence, while Xie Qian Qian opened her wardrobe, pulled out several cans of beer, opened one, and forced it into Qing Ye’s hand, saying: “Drink. You’ll sleep better after drinking.”

Qing Ye mechanically accepted the beer, drinking while crying. The dorm lights were already out, and they hadn’t turned on their emergency lights, so only moonlight illuminated the three pairs of eyes watching her.

Seeing Qing Ye cry like that, Xie Qian Qian felt uneasy and quietly opened a can herself. Qu Bing followed suit.

While drinking, Qing Ye took out the necklace and held it up to the moonlight. The dandelion pendant slowly rotated in the air, its design so familiar. Qing Ye brought the pendant closer to examine it carefully, finding a tiny character “晴” (Qing) in the lower right corner on the reverse side of the pattern.

The other three watched as Qing Ye suddenly stood up, hurriedly walked to her desk, pulled open the drawer, and took out a drawing, laying it flat on the table.

Xie Qian Qian stood not far from her, glancing sideways at the drawing. In it, a person lay among pure white dandelions, exuding a forbidden beauty that was impossible to look away from. Dandelions danced in the air with the wind, while the girl in the drawing had her eyes closed, lips slightly curved in a moving smile.

Qing Ye gradually placed the pendant near the lips of the person in the drawing – the small dandelion falling on the lips matched the pendant’s shape perfectly.

When Qing Ye saw this, she understood – he had personally designed this pendant’s shape. On her birthday last year, he had said he would make up for her gift later – it was this platinum necklace.

Seeing Qing Ye’s expression, Qu Bing and Sun Wan Jing curiously gathered around. Then Qu Bing stared at the drawing and asked: “This is you, right? It’s drawn so well. Who drew it?”

Qing Ye choked up: “My boyfriend.”

The air suddenly grew quiet. After a long while, Sun Wan Jing finally said: “The flower language of dandelions is love that cannot stay, like its seeds – they scatter with a breath, impossible to hold onto. Their destination depends on the wind’s direction. Wherever the wind takes them, they will land, take root deeply, and grow tenaciously. That’s why the white dandelion’s flower language is also never-ending love.”

After she finished speaking, she turned around, opened a beer for herself, sat at her desk, turned on the emergency light, and opened a book, while Qing Ye had already broken down in tears.

This was her first time hearing about the dandelion’s flower language. She had never known that behind this drawing lay so much anxiety, fear, determination, and intense emotion – just like how he had traveled thousands of miles just to see her once, yet never dared to approach.

That night, she didn’t know how long she cried, only that the three of them accompanied her drinking until midnight. Perhaps people sometimes really need to vent – after crying her heart out, the pressure of the past half year seemed to transform completely.

Waking up the next morning, the previous night’s anger, resentment, and grievance had gradually dissipated. After calming down, Qing Ye gradually understood Xing Wu’s actions from the night before.

If he had appeared, they wouldn’t have been able to separate again. She wouldn’t have let him leave, and he wouldn’t have been able to bear leaving either. Then all their previous efforts would have been for nothing.

From that day on, Qing Ye completely immersed herself. She returned to her pre-college entrance exam schedule, sleeping only five hours daily, pouring enormous energy into her major courses, and preparing for various certification exams.

After New Year’s Eve, Meng Rui Hang never mentioned pursuing Xie Qian Qian again. Qing Ye figured he had probably assessed the situation and decided he couldn’t beat Xie Qian Qian, so he backed off. However, he had been in frequent contact with Qu Bing lately, sometimes arranging to go to the library or evening self-study together.

As for Xing Wu, people noticed that after the New Year, his entire state went from intense to obsessive. He slept even less, constantly memorizing huge volumes of English vocabulary and classical texts. Following the framework outline Qing Ye had printed for him, he tackled it bit by bit, thoroughly researching points he didn’t understand, refusing to sleep until he figured them out.

His ruthlessness toward himself made even Li Lan Fang unable to watch. She tried to persuade him several times to give up, to not push so hard, but he seemed possessed, refusing to listen to anyone.

Finally, before the New Year, he worked himself sick, falling seriously ill. After suffering for three days at home, when Li Lan Fang forcibly dragged him to Doctor Zhuang’s clinic, his fever had reached over forty degrees. Throughout the entire Spring Festival period, he spent every day sitting in the hospital getting IV drips, watching the sun rise and set, and counting down the days of his life’s final struggle.

After Dark Hall was taken down, Fang Lei’s cousin Fang Jie took over most of the target factory’s supply chain. Although Fang Jie came from a gangster background, he was extremely smooth in dealing with people and had excellent business sense and vision, so he had been quite successful these years.

Having heard about Xing Wu’s factory, he especially came to have tea with Xing Wu one time. During the Spring Festival, while Xing Wu was sick, he used visiting the sick as an excuse to discuss a business proposition with Xing Wu.

After visiting the Qing Gu food factory, he understood these young people’s operation model and quickly sensed a business opportunity. He wanted to invest in Qing Gu, transforming the factory into a snack franchise with independent research and development.

That day, he talked with Xing Wu for a long time, including future business models and supply chain management, wanting to create a local internet food e-commerce enterprise.

This suggestion indeed gave Xing Wu many insights. Xing Wu himself clearly understood that for a small workshop to grow bigger, changing the model and attracting investment was a necessary step. Moreover, he had known Fang Jie for many years. Though the man was cunning, he prioritized profits, so purely from a business partner perspective, he was indeed a good choice. Combined with his relationship with the target factory, Xing Wu felt this was an option worth trying.

So after the Spring Festival, various work began to progress. However, Qing Gu’s legal representative was still Qing Ye, which meant everything from brand registration to equity changes to a series of progression documents needed her identification and signature – this was quite troublesome.

After Du Qi Yan contacted Qing Ye and explained these circumstances, before the start of winter break classes, Qing Ye decided to return to Zha Zha Pavilion once to change the legal representative.