Xu Sui walked back to the dormitory in a daze, feeling dizzy and light-headed. Her steps felt unsteady, as if her entire being had floated off to outer space. She barely managed to make it back to the dorm room before her legs gave out, and she collapsed into her chair.

1017 was hiding in his little nest under the desk. As soon as he saw Xu Sui return, he meowed at her. Xu Sui slumped over the desk and, looking up, discovered that both her roommates had left her gifts.

When Xu Sui unwrapped the packages, she found that Liang Shuang had given her a skincare set, while Hu Qianxi had gifted her a delicate rose gold necklace.

She took out her phone and sent messages to her roommates who hadn’t returned yet, once again expressing her happiness and gratitude. To calm her racing heart after all the ups and downs of the evening, Xu Sui decided to take a bath to settle down.

After her bath, when Xu Sui pressed her hand to her face, it was still red. She plugged in her hot water bottle to charge, held her phone in one hand, and relied on memory to search for the Cantonese song Zhou Jingze had sung to her that evening.

It turned out to be called “Yellow Door.”

After finding the song, Xu Sui plugged in her white earphone cable and lay on the desk, quietly listening to it once. It was beautiful. She suddenly remembered something, picked up her phone, and opened her photo album.

One of the photos was taken just as the candles on the cake had been lit. At that moment, she had taken out her phone, ostensibly photographing the cake, but actually capturing Zhou Jingze.

He was standing beside her, and only a blurry profile was captured, appearing only at the edge of the photo.

Unless you looked carefully, no one would notice—this was her secret. Xu Sui selected this photo from her album and posted it to her social media.

After posting the update, Xu Sui turned off her phone screen and reflected on everything that had happened that day. Her mind replayed scenes like movie frames, one after another.

The emotions of this day had truly been a roller coaster. Xu Sui leaned on the desk and took out her diary, wanting to record something, including their performance together on stage today and how Zhou Jingze had praised her eye-catching performance.

Zhou Jingze’s birthday gift to her was a song, and most importantly, he wished her a happy birthday and told her to be happy every day. Xu Sui understood the reason behind this blessing—it was probably because he had accidentally learned of her sadness during that claw machine incident.

Thinking about it this way, he was truly a very gentle person, not at all like the carefree and unrestrained facade he presented on the surface.

Over the past six months, Xu Sui truly felt like she was living in a dream. Back when Zhou Jingze was in high school, he was surrounded by admirers, a golden boy, while she was insecure and sensitive, always hovering on the periphery of crowds.

They had no intersection whatsoever—the two of them were like being separated by the Milky Way.

And now, Zhou Jingze had said “let’s get to know each other again” during the first snow, and they had even become friends. Regardless of whether Zhou Jingze’s blessing tonight was because he had seen her performance on stage or was simply a polite gesture.

She had finally managed to be seen by him through her own efforts.

Xu Sui suddenly remembered a song she often listened to. She wrote a line in her diary:

I’d rather not be afraid of blushing, stubbornly attacking, fighting for your recognition.

Xu Sui propped her chin and stared blankly at her diary when suddenly there was a “bang” as the dorm room door was pushed open. Cold wind rushed in, making Xu Sui shiver. She hurriedly stuffed her diary into the drawer.

“Damn, it’s really cold outside. I shouldn’t have gone to the supermarket,” Liang Shuang complained.

Hu Qianxi flicked her incredibly flashy nails through her hair and lamented, “I miss the Sam’s Club downstairs from my house.”

“Wake up,” Liang Shuang patted her head.

Xu Sui tossed her phone onto the upper bunk and turned to talk to them: “You could have called me down to help carry things.”

“No way, you’re the birthday girl today—you’re the most important.”

The roommates went about their routines—bathing and skincare—while Xu Sui lay in bed early, her earphones still playing “Yellow Door” on repeat with that deep male voice.

Before sleep, Xu Sui checked tomorrow’s class schedule as usual, then logged into WeChat. Her social media showed a red notification dot. When she clicked it, she saw birthday wishes from friends.

Xu Sui scrolled through them all but didn’t see the name she was hoping to see. She stared blankly at the photo she had posted.

The white cream cake was surrounded by a circle of red strawberries, capturing Hu Qianxi helping to light the candles, but on the far left, a tall black silhouette was frozen in the frame.

The profile was blurry, but if you looked carefully, you would notice that the young man’s hand was captured quite clearly—with distinct knuckles, pale azure veins running up his arm, and a black mole right in the center of the web between his thumb and index finger.

Xu Sui lowered her dark lashes and was about to exit WeChat when suddenly a red plus sign popped up.

She felt nervous and clicked to see—ZJZ had liked her post. Seeing his name made Xu Sui’s breathing quicken.

Actually, Xu Sui’s caption was from the song Zhou Jingze had sung tonight:

Hidden paradise within the wardrobe

The original lyric was “garden,” but she changed it to “paradise” because she was afraid people would notice. The next line of the song was—

The boy I admire stays close by my side.

Seeing Zhou Jingze’s profile picture, Xu Sui unconsciously smiled, her heart feeling like it had been sifted with honey, and even the air seemed a bit thinner.

Zhou Jingze had simply given an ordinary like, but to her it was different. If this was her own wishful thinking, then tonight would be her brief fantasy.

She’d consider it his response to her stubborn pursuit.

The next day, Xu Sui went about her usual routine—washing up, gathering her things, and heading to the academic building for class. What she didn’t expect was the sideways glances and discussions she attracted along the way, with some people even taking photos of her.

The excessive attention made Xu Sui unconsciously quicken her pace to class. This was strange.

When she reached the classroom, Xu Sui had just set down her textbook when Liang Shuang pounced on her like an octopus, grinning: “The goddess has arrived!”

“Huh?”

Seeing Xu Sui’s completely puzzled expression, Liang Shuang pulled out her phone, opened the forum page to show her, her tone excited: “You’re probably the only person in the entire school who doesn’t know you made it to the homepage of both schools’ forums. Your drumming performance last night was so outstanding that everyone’s talking about you now—they absolutely love you.”

Xu Sui took the phone, her thumb quickly scrolling down the screen. It was all photos and discussions about her performance last night.

A: [Who is this? I need to know her name, department, and how much the bride price is within one minute.]

B: [This young lady is so beautiful—her eyes are so clear and lively.]

C: [Holy shit, this girl looks like the good girl type, but she’s so fierce when drumming. She’s my type.]

D: [Forget drumming, drum me instead. I’ve already figured out where we’ll be buried together.]

Liang Shuang leaned over and nudged her shoulder: [Hey babe, why don’t you take this opportunity to date someone? What type do you like? I’ll help you screen them.]

Xu Sui shook her head. Seeing her pure and innocent expression, Liang Shuang hesitantly asked, “Have you ever… been in a relationship before?”

“No.” Xu Sui began taking out her textbooks and pens to prepare for class.

“Damn, then what are you waiting for? Hurry up and date someone!” Liang Shuang looked at the academic overachiever with an expression of frustration.

Xu Sui didn’t know how to express her one-sided crush, and Liang Shuang was waiting for her answer. Fortunately, the class bell rang, and she breathed a sigh of relief, using the opportunity to change the subject: “Class is starting.”

After class, Xu Sui didn’t want to deal with people discussing her while eating, so she hurried to the cafeteria, packed a meal, and returned to the dorm.

As soon as Xu Sui pushed open the door, Hu Qianxi happened to be petting the cat. She teased, “The goddess Sui is back?”

Xu Sui calmly nodded, placed her meal on the desk. Hu Qianxi was facing away from her, playing with 1017 using a toy. Taking advantage of Princess Qianxi’s inattention, Xu Sui directly pressed her cold hand to the back of Hu Qianxi’s neck, laughing: “Are you done yet?”

Xu Sui had just come in from the bitter cold outside, and she naturally had cold hands and feet. This icy touch made Hu Qianxi scream immediately, and she instantly turned around to tickle Xu Sui.

Xu Sui was ticklish and giggled uncontrollably. The two wrestled and played around for a long time, finally tumbling onto the bed together by accident.

Hu Qianxi lay beside her and suddenly remembered something: “Suisui, I have a theory I’ve been wanting to tell you since last night.”

“Hmm?” Xu Sui lay on her back, breathing slightly heavily.

“Why do I feel like my uncle likes you?” Hu Qianxi suddenly blurted out this sentence.

This unexpected, out-of-the-blue statement made Xu Sui’s heart skip a beat. She hadn’t yet caught her breath, and her chest was still rising and falling slightly.

“Everyone knows he likes sophisticated, flirtatious women,” Xu Sui replied with a laugh, trying to make her tone sound casual and relaxed.

“But last night, when everyone asked him to sing, he didn’t. Then it was your birthday, and he voluntarily sang,” Hu Qianxi recalled last night’s scene, saying, “This is fucking unprecedented.”

“Based on my understanding of my uncle, no one can force him to do something he doesn’t want to do. He’s the type with an unrestrained personality who acts freely. He never lets himself be put in a passive position, and if he is, he’ll directly destroy it,” Hu Qianxi played with a string on her hoodie, continuing to reminisce, “He’s always been like this…”

When Zhou Jingze was in high school, he became obsessed with modified racing cars for a while. He always wanted a custom car with his name engraved on it. He told his grandfather about this wish. His grandfather had always doted on this grandson, and since Zhou Jingze had excellent grades in school and hadn’t gone astray, his grandfather naturally agreed to this birthday wish.

On his seventeenth birthday, Zhou Jingze received the gift from his grandfather, but Zhou Zhengyan confiscated the car keys and made him a deal: “You’re going to participate in this chemistry competition and get first place for me.”

Zhou Jingze lowered his eyes, his voice flat: “I don’t want to.”

It wasn’t that he disliked chemistry; he just had average interest in it. Moreover, Zhou Jingze had his own plans for doing things. If he suddenly had to prepare for a chemistry competition, it would only disrupt his rhythm.

Besides, Zhou Zhengyan usually didn’t interfere with him, but now he suddenly demanded he win first place in chemistry—it wasn’t for Zhou Jingze’s benefit but for his own reputation.

Zhou Zhengyan snorted coldly: “If you can’t do it, go find your car in the junk recycling station.”

The atmosphere was tense. Zhou Jingze remained silent for a long time, then finally looked up and suddenly smiled, his tongue pushing against his left cheek: “Fine, I’ll definitely make you proud.”

In the end, Zhou Jingze did make Zhou Zhengyan “proud,” not by winning first place, but by turning in a blank test paper during the competition. He even wrote a long string of English on it, giving suggestions to the question writers, basically telling them not to create such childish, rigid problems.

Zhou Jingze’s contemptuous and arrogant attitude toward the exam quickly got him in trouble—parents were called, he received disciplinary action, and got warnings from the organizing committee.

After hearing Hu Qianxi’s story, Xu Sui finally understood the reason behind Zhou Jingze’s blank test paper incident that had caused such an uproar.

“That still doesn’t mean anything,” Xu Sui said.

“My intuition is usually right. During this time, I’ll create more opportunities for you two to be alone together, and you can observe whether he treats you specially.” Hu Qianxi turned to face her and winked.

The speaker was casual, but the listener took it seriously. Because of Hu Qianxi’s inadvertent small stone, ripples spread across Xu Sui’s heart. Xu Sui often found her mind wandering while doing homework.

Could Zhou Jingze really like her, even just a little bit?

On Friday, Xu Sui spent the entire day in the laboratory, working until she was exhausted and disoriented. When she finished, she checked her phone and found that Hu Qianxi had texted asking her to meet at the second cafeteria at 6:30 for dinner.

Xu Sui glanced at the time, took off her lab coat, packed her things, and headed out. By the time she emerged, it was already dark.

Cold winds blew along the way, and the dim yellow streetlights stood quietly beside the road. Occasionally, sounds of basketballs bouncing and male students cheering came from the northeast corner.

Xu Sui unconsciously pulled her collar tighter and hurried toward the cafeteria. When she reached the entrance of the second cafeteria, she didn’t see Hu Qianxi, but instead looked up to see Zhou Jingze.

Zhou Jingze stood on the steps wearing a black jacket, holding a cigarette in his hand, casually chatting with someone else. He occasionally lifted his thumb to habitually press his neck.

He stood under a tree with the streetlight slanting down from behind, casting his shadow very long.

Xu Sui froze. The other person said goodbye to Zhou Jingze, and he turned around, just happening to see her. He raised his hand, gesturing for her to come up.

“Why is it you?” Xu Sui walked up the steps to stand in front of him, her tone surprised. “Where’s Qianxi?”

Zhou Jingze still held the slowly burning cigarette between his fingers. Hearing this, he looked up with considerable surprise, as if they were meeting for the first time.

Even so, Zhou Jingze still called Hu Qianxi. He turned sideways, and the “beep beep” sounds from the receiver made Xu Sui’s eyelids twitch nervously.

She had a bad feeling about this.

Sure enough, after Zhou Jingze finished the call, he turned back and said, “She says she has a stomachache and wants us to go eat.”

Xu Sui stood frozen in place, her ginger-yellow scarf covering her pale face, making her expression unreadable, revealing only a pair of dark eyes.

Seeing that she hadn’t moved, Zhou Jingze raised an eyebrow:

“What, unwilling?”

“Ah, no, I’m willing. I’ll treat you to dinner.” Xu Sui frantically searched her pockets for her meal card.

“Let’s go, you can look for it later.” A lazy chuckle fell from above. Zhou Jingze extinguished his cigarette, the crimson light dying under his shoe. He put his hands in his pockets and took the lead up the steps. Xu Sui followed closely behind. Under the streetlights, dust motes danced like snowflakes, and the moonlight gradually faded behind them.

The two came to the noodle section on the second floor. Xu Sui stood at the service window with her meal card and said, “Auntie, two servings of fresh shrimp noodles, with one serving having no scallions or cilantro.”

“Make that two servings without scallions or cilantro,” Zhou Jingze corrected. He lowered his neck and nodded to the lady at the window, “Thank you.”

Zhou Jingze straightened up and turned to look at her, his eyes carrying a casual smile: “What a coincidence, you don’t eat cilantro either?”

Hearing this, Xu Sui’s dark lashes trembled, and finally she nodded vigorously: “Right.”

Zhou Jingze and Xu Sui sat facing each other. The noodles were quickly served. Xu Sui took a sip of the soup—it was fresh and hot, and immediately warmed her entire body.

Halfway through their meal, two or three male students came over asking for Xu Sui’s phone number. Despite their repeated assurances that they just wanted to be friends with her, Xu Sui politely declined them all, citing her focus on studies.

After they left, she breathed a sigh of relief. When she turned back, Zhou Jingze was watching her with leisure, his dark eyes mixed with some amusement:

“Pretty popular lately, aren’t you?”

Xu Sui felt that no matter what she became or how popular she got, as long as she gained even a little attention from Zhou Jingze, she would become so nervous she had nowhere to hide.

Under Zhou Jingze’s gaze, she felt uncomfortable being watched. The blush on her face spread like flower petals. After a long while, she managed to squeeze out a sentence:

“Stop teasing me.”

Zhou Jingze’s narrow eyes revealed some indescribable emotion. His tone was slow and leisurely, as if he was joking but also as if he was considering something:

“Do people need to queue to chase you now?”