When she got nervous, she tended to walk very fast — a habit she’d had since childhood. Her emotions were always impossible to hide.

What was wrong with her?

…No, wait. That wasn’t right.

The real question she should be asking was: what was wrong with *him*?

He kept saying these strange, ambiguous things, making her heart flutter up and down, unable to settle.

Su Man couldn’t help but wonder — did he… like her?

The thought surfaced in her mind, and the flush that had just faded from her cheeks rushed back again.

Goodness…

What was happening…

— Back in school, boys had said flirtatious things to her too, but back then she’d only felt embarrassed, annoyed, irritated. So why was it that when Lu Yuwen acted this way toward her, she only felt her heart go into a complete panic?

If — hypothetically speaking — she also had feelings for Lu Yuwen… ahem… then what had been going on with her feelings for Li Li before?

Could Li Li really have been right — was she just being boy-crazy? Was she… starved for male attention???

Su Man couldn’t let herself keep thinking about this!

She felt utterly mortified by herself!

Lu Yuwen caught up from behind, laughing softly as he said, “Why did you suddenly start walking so fast?”

“Oh… it’s nothing.” Su Man turned to face him, her cheeks flushed pink. She raised one hand and fanned herself lightly beside her face, her gaze a little evasive. “I — I’m just a little warm, I wanted to get to the front faster.”

“It is a bit hot today,” Lu Yuwen agreed, glancing left and right. Then he said to Su Man, “Wait here for me a moment.”

With that, he quickly disappeared into the crowd.

Su Man stood there in a daze, not even having a chance to ask where he was going before he was already gone.

But she only had to wait about half a minute. She saw him weave back through the crowd at a jog, something new in his hand — a sun hat.

Su Man stared blankly as he came to a stop in front of her, and the hat was placed directly on top of her head, blocking out the blazing sunlight. The top of the hat had two little cartoon ears that swayed gently.

“So cute,” Lu Yuwen said with a smile.

Su Man: “……”

She pressed her hands against her warm cheeks, thinking to herself: *Just pretend he’s complimenting the hat…*

At that moment, Lu Yuwen said, “Your phone seems to be ringing again.”

“Huh?” Su Man startled, and instinctively dug through her bag, pulling out her phone. She found one unread message — from Li Li.

Su Man: “……”

She really didn’t want to look at it.

It was probably because she’d hung up on him, so he wasn’t satisfied and had sent a message to continue yelling at her.

“Take a look — he keeps trying to reach you, maybe something’s urgent,” Lu Yuwen said.

Su Man forced a small smile, tapped open the unread message, and then… went blank again…

Unexpectedly, there was no yelling at all.

Not only was there no yelling — he was actually apologizing for what had happened earlier, and beyond that… he was asking her to go see a movie.

Su Man stared at this new message from Li Li for a long time, unable to come back to herself. She half-suspected his account had been hacked.

“What is it?” Lu Yuwen asked her. “You don’t look so good — is it bad news?”

“Uh, no…” Su Man slowly lowered her phone, her expression stunned. “It’s Li Li. He… he apologized to me, and asked me to go see a movie.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Lu Yuwen smiled warmly. “From your expression, I thought he was cutting ties with you.”

“I’m just too shocked,” Su Man said, laughing a little with a trace of embarrassment. “I’ve known him for so many years, and I’ve never once seen him talk like this. He’s… a very proud person. Top student at school, the youngest doctoral candidate — he’s never backed down to anyone except professors and his supervisor.”

She paused, then murmured quietly, “I suspect his account got hacked…”

Lu Yuwen let out a low laugh and reached out to give the little ear on her hat a gentle pinch. “Didn’t you always wish he’d treat you better? Now that he’s willing to give a little, how come you suddenly don’t believe it? Come on, smile — and then start thinking about what outfit to wear that day, what shoes, what bag.”

Su Man was quiet for a moment, then said softly, “Forget it… We’re always bickering. Suddenly going to the movies together feels… strange.”

“Not used to it?” Lu Yuwen tucked both hands into his trouser pockets, his tall frame standing before her, smiling as he said, “Then let’s go see a movie together — consider it advance practice for you.”

……

*Ahhh, I’m so sorry to you all!!!*

—