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Chapter 1 – High-Speed Rail

The high-speed train stopped at Huize South Station for ten minutes.

Lu Xingyan took off his noise-canceling headphones, and immediately, the snoring of the man in front of him and the sound of passengers’ luggage wheels became noticeably louder. He slumped in his seat momentarily before sitting up straighter and placing his headphones on the table. As he twisted the cap off a bottle of mineral water, he asked, “How much longer?”

“We’ve reached Huize, so about another hour,” Xu Chengzhou replied, engrossed in his game.

Chen Zhu happened to come over for a snack. She rummaged through Xu Chengzhou’s backpack and pulled out a bag of dried pork. She offered it, “Do you guys want some?”

Xu Chengzhou dodged to the side, “Auntie, I’m in a ranked match. Don’t poke me!”

Lu Xingyan didn’t respond; he just pushed the bag away, maintaining his cool demeanor.

Chen Zhu rolled her eyes and walked back to another compartment, biting into the dried pork.

Since it wasn’t a holiday, the high-speed train was relatively quiet. The new passengers had stowed their luggage, and the sound of rolling suitcase wheels faded. The man in the seat ahead seemed to wake up, and his snoring also stopped.

After finishing his water, Lu Xingyan reclined in his seat and closed his eyes to rest. He hadn’t slept well the night before and was very tired. However, his aristocratic airs flared up regardless of time, place, or situation; no matter how tired he was, he couldn’t fall asleep on the train.

When his eyes rested, his hearing seemed to sharpen. He could hear Xu Chengzhou muttering under his breath, the train doors closing, and the faint sound of silent casters rolling on the floor, moving closer and then farther away.

Shen Xingruo was taking a high-speed train for the first time to travel far. She only discovered at the last minute that Huize South Station didn’t support ID card check-in. She wasted a lot of time queuing for a ticket, but fortunately, she made it onto the train just in time.

Carriage 2, seat 7A, by the window.

Shen Xingruo checked her ticket again—

Yes, it was her seat. But a middle-aged man was already sitting there.

Shen Xingruo said, “Excuse me.”

The man didn’t move, nor did he lift his eyelids. His beer belly protruded prominently as he leaned against the seatback, his mouth slightly open, with a tuft of nose hair sticking out. His hair was greasy, clumped together, and shining.

“Uncle, this is my seat. Did you sit in the wrong place?” Shen Xingruo’s voice was somewhat cold as if laced with menthol.

Lu Xingyan opened his eyes briefly before closing them again, continuing to rest. He bent his leg and gave a casual kick forward.

Caught off guard, the man with the beer belly jerked his head to the side. The woman dressed as a white-collar worker next to him had been enduring him for a while. Seeing his head loll over, she quickly shifted to the side and tapped him with her rolled-up magazine. “Sir, wake up.”

With all this commotion, the man couldn’t pretend to sleep any longer. He wiped his face, pretending to have just woken up, and turned around, seeing Lu Xingyan leaning back in his seat, seemingly asleep. Confused, he turned back to see Shen Xingruo standing in the aisle, looking like a well-behaved student. He said impatiently, “There are other seats over there. Can’t you just sit somewhere else? Why are you so inflexible, young lady?”

“Carriage 2, seat 7A is my seat, Uncle. Let’s check our tickets.”

“What’s wrong with you, young lady?” The man with the beer belly was slightly surprised. He pointed at her, ready to lecture her, but a train attendant happened to hear the commotion and came over.

After Shen Xingruo briefly explained the situation to the attendant, she offered to show her ticket. After checking it, the attendant turned to the man with the beer belly. “Sir, could you please show your ticket and ID card?”

The attendant appeared to be in her early twenties, looking inexperienced. The man with the beer belly didn’t take her seriously and dismissed her, “I bought my ticket on my phone.”

“Then please show me your phone order.”

“My phone is dead.”

“Then your ID card?”

“I lost it.”

Their back-and-forth was getting on Xu Chengzhou’s nerves. His game, which had been going well, was now ruined. Frustrated, he tossed his phone aside and leaned back.

After a few seconds, he suddenly nudged Lu Xingyan with his elbow.

“What?” Lu Xingyan frowned, half-opening his eyes. His voice was hoarse, showing his irritation.

Xu Chengzhou leaned in and whispered, without moving his eyes, “Check out that girl. Isn’t she pretty and elegant?”

Lu Xingyan looked up.

It was early spring in February, the weather was still chilly despite the occasional warmth. The girl was wearing a beige drop-shoulder turtleneck sweater, her long hair tied low into a ponytail. Her back was slender, and the weight of her black backpack made her shoulders slump, making her look very thin. From his angle, he could only see half of her face, but her profile was quite delicate.

Before he could make any comment, Xu Chengzhou, eager to act, said, “Hey, should we help her out, maybe record a video or something?”

Lu Xingyan withdrew his gaze, smiling dismissively, “Real hero, aren’t you?”

Xu Chengzhou shot him a knowing look and was about to say more when suddenly there was a loud “bang” from up front!

Shen Xingruo had just retracted the handle of her suitcase and lifted it a few inches before dropping it back down with a clean, swift motion.

The argument between the attendant and the man with the beer belly came to an abrupt halt, and the murmuring in the carriage quieted.

Shen Xingruo’s face was expressionless. She took off her backpack and threw it onto the horizontally placed suitcase, then took out her phone and pointed the camera at the man with the beer belly. “How about this for a headline: ‘Middle-aged Man Bullies Girl for Her Seat on High-Speed Train’?”

The man was stunned for a few seconds. When he realized what was happening, his face changed, and he started yelling, “What are you filming? Stop filming! You little brat, give me that phone!”

“What kind of manners do you have? I’ll treat you the way you treat me.”

The man hadn’t expected the seemingly quiet girl to be so tough. He was infuriated and tried to push the table away to stand up and grab her phone.

Seeing him about to make a move, the attendant quickly stepped in front of Shen Xingruo. Xu Chengzhou and two other young men also hurried over to intervene.

Xu Chengzhou shouted, “What are you doing, old man? Bullying a young girl, are you?”

One of the young men chimed in, “YeAh you think you’re in the right, hogging her seat?”

In the ensuing struggle, the white-collar woman nearby screamed in panic. The man with the beer belly, just as he stood up, was shoved back into his seat. Amidst the chaos, a heavy kick came from behind, causing him to stumble forward again.

Seeing his disheveled state, Shen Xingruo’s eyes were filled with cold disdain. She kept her camera trained on him, not moving an inch.

The man was so angry his lips were trembling. He leaned back into his seat, gripping the armrest, and nodded repeatedly, saying, “Fine! Fine! You film! Go ahead and film! I’ll just sit here and not move. Let’s see how long you can keep this up, you little brat!”

The people around couldn’t help but exclaim inwardly, “Damn, can things get this shameless?”

Shen Xingruo showed no emotional change, simply gazing quietly at the beer belly in front of her—

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Suddenly, she pocketed her phone and looked towards the table in front of Lu Xingyan, asking, “Excuse me, can I borrow some water?”

The bottle, already one-third empty, was quickly tossed her way.

She twisted off the cap.

“Are you leaving or not? If not, everyone else might as well stand up.”

The bottle tipped slightly, hanging directly above the beer belly.

?!

The surrounding people were all stunned.

The beer belly seemed to have undergone some major upheaval in its worldview, its face filled with disbelief. “You little brat…”

Before he could finish, the water mercilessly poured down.

An hour later, the train arrived at its final destination, Xingcheng South Station, and passengers began to disembark. Shen Xingruo pushed her suitcase while talking on the phone, heading towards the exit.

“Little beauty, have you arrived?”

Pei Yue’s voice sounded quite cheerful, lifting Shen Xingru’s mood as well. “Auntie Pei, I’ve gotten off the train.”

“Then head towards Exit B, I’ll be waiting here for you.”

“Auntie Pei, you’re here too?” She thought only the driver would be there.

“Of course, both your Uncle Lu wanted to come, but he suddenly had a meeting and couldn’t make it.”

Shen Xingruo quickly found Exit B. Meanwhile, Lu Xingyan and his group also headed towards Exit B, but with more people, they were moving slower.

“…Then the guy snapped out of it, and started yapping away, you know? Damn, I was so shocked! That girl just poured the water down without hesitation! Poured it down!” Xu Chengzhou vividly recounted the scene, gesturing and pulling at his coat to show, “Look at my clothes, just look! The water splashed all over me, and it’s not even dry yet!”

Because there were too few seats available when buying tickets, except for Lu Xingyan and Xu Chengzhou, everyone else sat in another train carriage and didn’t witness the scene at that time.

“And then what happened?”

“Then the train conductor showed up. That guy was in second class sitting in a first-class seat, and he only bought a ticket for one stop but ended up riding for six stops. Anyway, in the end, he got escorted off.” Xu Chengzhou remembered something, “Oh yeAh that girl who borrowed water from Lu Xingyan, she even gave him five bucks back.”

“Hey, Young Master Lu, why don’t you take out that five bucks and have a look…”

Lu Xingyan glanced at him with an expression that suggested he was looking at a fool, then resumed chewing his gum expressionlessly, his gaze quickly returning to his phone screen.

This incident only seemed amusing to Xu Chengzhou; the others hadn’t witnessed it firsthand, so they didn’t feel much about it and had little interest. They started interrupting each other with different topics, quickly shifting to discussing the evening concert.

Half of this group had been friends since middle school, and their circle expanded when they moved to Mingli Academy for high school.

During winter break, they spent about ten days at the seaside, mainly because a few girls wanted to attend a concert by their idol, Lin Yu. They rushed back early because of it.

Seeing a few girls’ eyes light up and hearts flutter at the mention of Lin Yu, Xu Chengzhou rolled his eyes. He didn’t bother finishing his sentence and instead went to grab Lu Xingyan’s neck, “Hey, Young Master Lu, wanna see something?”

In just a few seconds, Lu Xingyan’s phone buzzed with a WeChat notification.

Xu Chengzhou pocketed his phone and proudly leaned in, “So, what do you think? Not bad, right? Has that arty film vibe, doesn’t it?”

The scene in the photo was quite familiar—the girl standing in the aisle, coldly watching as the middle-aged man was escorted away. Her posture was impeccable, standing there like a beautiful and elegant white peacock.

Xu Zhengzhou couldn’t stop praising, “Seriously, this girl is stunning, especially her aura. I bet she’s into ballet or something. Just look at her, she’s like the epitome of a pure and elegant first love.”

“You have quite the taste,” Lu Xingyan chuckled lightly, tapping Xu Chengzhou’s head with his phone.

“What’s wrong with my taste? I’m telling you, in Mingli, she’d be a goddess-level school flower. Don’t believe me? Ask Bian He…”

The group laughed and joked for a while before finally reaching the taxi stand. Since they were a large group, they hailed three taxis. The first two taxis seated four each, leaving Lu Xingyan and Xu Zhengzhou to share one.

Just as they were about to get in, they saw Chen Zhu getting out of the front taxi, waving at them.

Xu Chengzhou immediately sensed someone meddling, stopped his motion to get into the back seat, and gestured towards Lu Xingyan, “Let’s switch, I’ll sit in the front.”

But Lu Xingyan, with earphones on, didn’t hear him. He closed the car door without a second thought and took the passenger seat.

Xu Chengzhou was exasperated. He followed suit, got into the car, and yanked the earphones off Lu Xingyan from behind, wondering, “You’re back and you still can’t make a move? If you don’t seize the opportunity at the concert tonight, I bet you’ll be single for another thirty years.”

This time around, everyone was trying to create opportunities for Lu Xingyan and Chen Zhu during the trip, but neither of them took the initiative. As a result, when they returned to Xingcheng, there was no progress between them.

Xu Chengzhou kept nagging, and Lu Xingyan, annoyed, lifted his gaze, “Could you please shut up?”

Just as Chen Zhu was getting into the car, Xu Zhengzhou couldn’t say much more. He moved to another seat, chatting with Chen Zhu cheerfully.

Lu Xingyan’s mind was elsewhere. Chen Zhu asked him a couple of questions, but his responses were perfunctory, and he quickly put his earphones back on, engrossed in his game.

Chen Zhu lowered her voice and asked, “What’s wrong with him?”

Xu Zhengzhou: “Who knows? His picky attitude is nothing new, you’ve seen it before.”

Chen Zhu: “True, last semester he was picky like a dog, and now he’s upgraded again.”

Lu Xingyan turned up the volume to the maximum, feeling an inexplicable surge of irritation. He swiped at the screen absentmindedly, feeling somewhat restless. He sent a WeChat message to Pei Yue, letting her know he’d be home tonight.

After waiting for a response for what seemed like ages, he boredly opened Xu Chengzhou’s chat interface and clicked on the photo. It was indeed as Xu Chengzhou described, with an arty vibe.

The photo froze three-quarters of the girl’s facial profile, immersed in the twilight shadows cast through the window, creating an ambiance of ambiguity.

Perhaps because she wasn’t smiling, beyond her beauty, she exuded a coldness, like fresh snow in winter, clean and chilly.

Lu Xingyan gazed at it for a while, then casually tapped to save it.

Just then, Xu Chengzhou suddenly exclaimed, “Holy crap!” and yanked out his earphones again, pointing ahead excitedly, “I think I see your family’s car, the Oulu, 088, I’m not mistaken, right? That’s your family’s car, isn’t it?”

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