Due to the poor results of their synchronized reviews, the opportunity for a January meet-up was unilaterally canceled by Shen Laoshi.
With New Year’s Day approaching, Lu Xingyan thought they could still meet up during the three-day holiday, maybe go to the World Trade Center or Taikoo Li together to celebrate the New Year.
If they couldn’t meet in January, it was fine. After all, they would have the winter vacation in mid-January.
But to his surprise, as soon as he suggested going to the capital for New Year’s Day on WeChat, Shen Xingruo replied coldly with just two words: “Not possible.”
He found it unbelievable and tried to reason that not meeting for a long time would affect their relationship. He even painted a romantic scene of counting down to the New Year and watching fireworks together.
Shen Xingruo had just come out of the library, and her phone was buzzing with WeChat notifications. The northern weather was too cold, making her feel physically uncomfortable and even causing menstrual irregularities.
Although it was warm indoors, once she stepped outside, every part of her body seemed to stiffen from the cold. She extended a finger from her glove, pressed the voice message button, and said, “Do you think failing exams at the end of the semester is romantic? Stop the nonsense and spend this time reading a couple of books.”
“Oh, by the way, I just made a study plan for the three-day New Year holiday at the library. You’ll join me in ticking off the tasks,” she added.
Lu Xingyan…
Lu Xingyan, Shen Laoshi…
Lu Xingyan, how lonely do you think you’ll be spending New Year’s Eve alone?
Shen Xingruo: “I won’t be lonely. I have you to review with me, don’t I?”
Lu Xingyan…
Lu Xingyan, your level of insanity and strictness now is even worse than it was in high school.
Shen Xingruo remained silent.
Lu Xingyan didn’t reconsider?
Shen Xingruo: “I’m insanely demanding and strict. No need to reconsider.”
Lu Xingyan: I’m wounded, I need your kiss to recover, emoji.
Lu Xingyan: I won’t listen, I won’t listen, emoji.
Lu Xingyan: My heart is ashen, emoji.
Shen Xingruo only revealed her eyes, the lower half of her face hidden behind her scarf. As she glanced at the barrage of emojis Lu Xingyan sent, her lips couldn’t help but curve upwards. But she quickly regained her composure and coldly replied with a “no” rabbit emoji.
Lu Xingyan: How can you be so ruthless even to yourself?
Lu Xingyan: I’m humble, emoji.
Lu Xingyan: After trying to persuade her for two days to no avail, Lu Xingyan gave up. He was sitting in the classroom when suddenly it dawned on him! Legs are attached to his body, so why shouldn’t he go if he wants to? Without further ado, he bought a plane ticket and plunged into the library to start reading the literary works assigned by Shen Xingruo.
His thoughts were as follows— If he were to rush to the capital without consulting Shen Xingruo, she would get angry… No, not just angry, but give him a serious lecture with a straight face. After all, her cold and aloof demeanor couldn’t afford to crack. As a mature and considerate boyfriend, he had to show a serious attitude towards studying to make her less angry or at least provide her with an excuse to let him off the hook.
Yes, that’s right. That’s the plan.
Thinking this through, Lu Xingyan was momentarily moved by his thoughtfulness and thoroughness.
To be honest, he couldn’t entirely blame his poor academic performance on slacking off in class. Studying Chinese language and literature was too challenging for someone like him who had little background in it. Even pronouncing “荼蘼(Tu Mi)” as “茶蘼(Cha Mi)” was a struggle for him, considering his lack of prior experience in this field over the past eighteen years.
Lu Xingyan was quite serious in his classes this semester, never skipping the elective courses or ideological and political theory courses. He attended every single one of his major courses and even occasionally helped his roommates by saving seats for them.
However, some of the classes were so confusing that even Lu Xingyan, who usually took things lightly, couldn’t comprehend them. The teachers would start by saying, “You can relax a bit in my class. There’s no need to follow the textbook word for word. What’s the point of rote memorization?”
But before anyone could relax, they would suddenly change the topic and say, “Today, I’d like to hear your opinions on the novels of Jin Shengtan. Everyone knows who Jin Shengtan is, right?”
The students would respond in unison, “Yes.”
Lu Xingyan: ???
No, the teacher.
I don’t know.
All I know is that the male lead in “The Heirs” is named Jin Tan.
—So, sitting in the library reading, he was in utter agony. Yawning, he quickly flipped through a literary masterpiece. He became smarter and decided to put down the book and search online for summaries and famous quotes from the stories, which he then condensed and memorized.
Soon, he finished reading the stories about “a lewd man studying abroad in Japan who was too timid to confess his love to the girl he liked and ended up committing suicide” and “a girl forced to marry her beloved’s disabled brother, who then quietly had an affair with the younger brother, gave birth to his child in despair, and gradually became a perverse middle-aged woman who constantly quarreled with her daughter-in-law and daughter.”
He couldn’t help but sigh silently, modern literature is truly profound and extensive.
As the New Year’s holiday approached, Lu Xingyan packed his bags, ready to go to the capital.
At the same time, Shen Xingruo also bought a ticket back to her hometown, preparing to pack her suitcase in the dormitory.
The big club was preparing for a small concert for the New Year’s celebration, and the orchestra she joined was the main force in the concert.
However, before the rehearsal, she told the leader that she wouldn’t participate.
The leader was puzzled. There was never a shortage of violinists in the orchestra, and they always had to compete for a spot in the rehearsal. Why would she give up voluntarily when she could earn two extra comprehensive points?
Shen Xingruo only replied, “I want to spend New Year’s Eve with my boyfriend, and my comprehensive points are already maxed out.”
The leader: “…”
Okay, go ahead.
On the day before New Year’s Eve, Lu Xingyan was having lunch with the members of the Student Union.
Shen Xingruo called him.
After chatting about this and that, she casually asked, “What are you doing tonight?”
Lu Xingyan, looking at the menu, calmly replied, “What can I do? Didn’t you assign me a study task? Of course, I’ll be studying diligently in the dormitory.”
Shen Xingruo responded with a simple “Okay” and then said, “Let’s review together tonight. You go ahead and eat first.”
After hanging up the phone, Lu Xingyan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Some guys teased him, “Junior, you’re quite lucky. Your girlfriend checks up on you so closely.”
Lu Xingyan casually laughed, “She’s clingy. Can’t help it.”
This sparked another round of banter at the table.
Male students were rare in the Literature Department, and good-looking ones like Lu Xingyan were even more sought after. During military training, many senior female students tried to recruit him into the Student Union.
Lu Xingyan wasn’t initially interested in joining the Student Union, but it was Shen Xingruo’s suggestion for him to give it a try, to exercise his ability to handle things. So he joined.
He didn’t have much interaction with the Student Union on regular days and usually didn’t attend any unnecessary activities. But this time, it was the year-end gathering, and he couldn’t excuse himself from attending.
During the meal, Lu Xingyan was so focused on heading to the airport after school that he didn’t notice a girl with bangs quietly observing him.
This girl with bangs was named Chen Mengmeng, an assistant officer in the Study Department and a freshman majoring in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language.
After scrutinizing him, Chen Mengmeng sent a message under the table to her roommate, Bai Lu, saying, “Lu Xingyan just said he’ll stay in the dorm tonight. You can make your move now.”
Receiving the message, Bai Lu immediately sat up from her bed, her eyes sparkling. After sitting still for a few seconds, she sent a series of kiss emojis to Chen Mengmeng and then hurriedly got off the bed.
Li Ting happened to be getting ready to go out and saw Bai Lu’s excited expression. She casually asked, “What are you up to?”
“It’s none of your business,” Bai Lu replied with an unfriendly tone, not even bothering to look at her.
Li Ting paused briefly, realizing roughly what her silly and mischievous roommate was up to. But she didn’t bother to advise her further and just rolled her eyes inwardly before leaving with a stack of books.
Li Ting didn’t perform exceptionally well in the college entrance examination, with a total score of just 590. While she could get into a prestigious university like a 985 institution, choosing the right school and major was a bit challenging.
Fortunately, there were many local admissions for the university she applied to, and she obediently accepted the transfer offer. She ended up at Star University.
Li Ting didn’t want to apply to Star University because many of the freshmen there came from prestigious high schools in Star City. This meant that her new classmates might include students from Mingli High School.
It also meant that her embarrassing history of tearing up Lu Xingyan’s exam paper might not be forgotten even in college.
But she had no choice, and her parents wouldn’t let her give up a 985 university just because of such a trivial matter.
So, in the end, she entered Star University and was transferred to the Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language program.
When she first entered university, Li Ting felt hopeless and uneasy because fate seemed to be against her.
Lu Xingyan was also in the Literature Department!
He was in the Chinese Language Class 3, which shared some major courses with her Chinese Language Class 1!
For about a week, she was in despair and mentally prepared herself to be hated and talked badly about behind her back.
However, during this period, she ran into Lu Xingyan several times, and he seemed to recognize her. But Lu Xingyan didn’t seem interested in confronting her.
After a week passed, and then two weeks, no rumors were circulating in the class about her.
Upon reflection, she realized that after the incident in high school, neither Lu Xingyan nor Shen Xingruo had bothered her again.
And Lu Xingyan, in terms of her personality, doesn’t seem like the type to manipulate people behind their backs. She just gradually settled down. But once someone settles, they tend to drift. Her roommate, Bai Lu, didn’t know what was going on. It’s like she was blind before and hadn’t noticed Lu Xingyan in the Literature Department. It wasn’t until she saw him in class one day, she was instantly struck and fell head over heels. Then, in their dorm room, they chattered away for several nights, discussing how to pursue him. Bai Lu blurted out, “You should just give up. Lu Xingyan’s girlfriend is the top scorer in our provincial literature exam, a classic beauty. I used to be in the same class as them.”
Hearing that she was in the same class as Lu Xingyan, Bai Lu got even more excited and immediately came over to pester her with questions. But after Li finished speaking, she realized she had let slip something she shouldn’t have. No matter what, she refused to say more or disclose Lu Xingyan’s past at Mingli. Bai Lu was displeased and began to resent her.
Then, not two days later, her other roommate, Chen Mengmeng, who usually stuck to Bai Lu like glue, discreetly gathered a lot of information about Lu Xingyan from other students at Mingli. She also managed to dig up some dirt on Li’s previous conflicts with Lu Xingyan. Bai Lu’s slight dissatisfaction suddenly magnified. Chen Mengmeng and Bai Lu began to openly ostracize her. With only four people in the dorm, the remaining one tried to survive in the middle, swaying towards whichever side held more power.
At first, Li felt quite aggrieved by being excluded. But she had developed a strong heart during high school, knowing that studying was the only serious business. Since the dorm relationships weren’t going well, she decided to distance herself. And after nearly half a semester, she had seen through Chen Mengmeng and Bai Lu. They weren’t good people at all. Despite appearing to be close friends on the surface, they often gossiped about each other behind their backs.
They both knew Lu Xingyan had a girlfriend, yet neither of them took his long-distance relationship seriously. One was absurdly confident, thinking her looks could surely win Lu Xingyan over, while the other was a typical white lotus, scheming to disrupt things. Li didn’t bother advising them; she just waited for them to make a scene, hoping it would attract Shen Xingruo, who was in the capital. Maybe Shen Xingruo could teach them a lesson in manners.
After the student union gathering, Lu Xingyan made a detour back to the dorm to grab his luggage. He only had two classes in the afternoon, so once he finished, he hailed a car and headed straight to the airport. Upon arrival in the capital, with the city lights beginning to illuminate the dusk, distant glimmers danced in his eyes, casting a mosaic of light and shadow.
As he imagined the scene of meeting Shen Xingruo, a smile crept onto his lips involuntarily. Shen Xingruo’s flight departed half an hour before his, and by the time he reached the university, she had already entered the campus of Xing University with her luggage in tow.
Arriving at the male dormitory building where Lu Xingyan resided, she noticed a girl setting up candles, and under a tree, there was a guitar. It seemed someone was about to confess their feelings. Without much thought, she stood below the building and called Lu Xingyan.
As the call connected, the girl’s preparations were complete. She slung the guitar over her back and stepped into the heart-shaped circle of candles. The candles, seemingly controlled by electricity, suddenly lit up—
“Lu Xingyan, are you studying in the dorm?” Lu Xingyan had just gotten out of the car, standing at the main entrance of the university. He teased, “Guess.”
“In that case, you’re not there.” He still didn’t give a direct answer, only asking, “Where are you?”
Shen Xingruo pursed her lips, her voice as calm as ever. “Me? I’m below your dormitory building.”
Lu Xingyan was momentarily confused. “What? Below my dormitory building?”
He paused for three seconds before asking again, “Shen, Shen Xingruo, are you saying you’re at Xing University?”
The biting wind blew, and Lu Xingyan struggled to confirm, feeling his heart sink. But Shen Xingruo thought he was just too happy, too excited to speak clearly. She gave a soft “mm” and continued, “Is the boys’ dormitory building very popular? There’s a girl playing guitar downstairs; it seems like she’s about to confess. I wonder which lucky guy it is.”
As Shen Xingruo finished speaking, Bai Lu, standing in the middle of the heart-shaped candles, accompanied by the sound of the guitar, called out tenderly to the upper floor, “Lu Xingyan from the Chinese Language and Literature Class Three! I like you! Can you be my boyfriend?” After shouting, she half-crouched, her hands forming a heart above her head.
The boys upstairs erupted into cheers. However, Shen Xingruo’s gaze paused momentarily, her lips, once curved in a smile, now straightened. She casually remarked, “So, the lucky guy is you.”