Jiang Ruoqiao was in a good mood, and now that she had a moment, she took a proper look at Lu Yicheng.
He was in his usual unchanging uniform — a t-shirt paired with black trousers, though today’s shoes were sneakers rather than the usual canvas ones. Nothing fancy in terms of brand, but they’d been brushed clean. And of course, his eternally faithful black backpack.
No visible marks on his face.
Lu Yicheng noticed her scrutiny, and had a fair idea of what she was checking for. He lowered his voice: “We didn’t come to blows.”
Though it had come close. And maybe someday it still would.
Jiang Ruoqiao felt a wave of relief. This wasn’t something to probe into too deeply — and from the look of him, Jiang Yan hadn’t gotten the better of him in any case. She took the four portions of breakfast from him, the ease in her expression unmistakable. “Thank you for this. They’re going to be thrilled — we’re all notorious sloths. In two years of school, the number of times we’ve actually gone to the cafeteria for breakfast can be counted on two hands.”
That was the honest truth.
Like attracts like, after all. There was a reason the four of them got along so well.
Jiang Ruoqiao herself was someone who more or less kept to regular meals — but asking her to brave the crowded cafeteria first thing in the morning? That was never going to happen.
As for the other three roommates — none of them were in a hurry to get up early either.
Lu Yicheng looked uncertain when he heard this. “That can’t be right — Jiang Yan brought you all breakfast plenty of times.”
Not just Jiang Yan — anyone who’d pursued her, or pursued any of her roommates, had made a point of delivering breakfast. How could they have gone to the cafeteria for breakfast themselves fewer times than could be counted on two hands in two years?
Jiang Ruoqiao’s smile faded. “Oh. You’re very precise, aren’t you.”
That was quite the rigorous logical mind.
Lu Yicheng realized he’d misspoken, and fell quiet.
Jiang Ruoqiao took a breath, and explained patiently: “I meant we rarely go to the cafeteria to buy breakfast ourselves.”
Lu Yicheng: “……Right.”
He added: “I’m sorry — I misread what you meant.”
Watching him like that, Jiang Ruoqiao didn’t quite know what expression to make. She kept a straight face for a moment, then couldn’t help but smile. “Alright, alright. I know the academic genius world operates with extreme precision. Thank you for today.”
Lu Yicheng felt a genuine rush of relief. “…No need to thank me. It was the right thing to do.”
*Oblivious,* Jiang Ruoqiao thought. *Truly oblivious.*
“Alright, I’m heading back up.” She kept her voice low. “If anything comes up, call me.”
Lu Yicheng: “Right.”
He watched her walk back into the dormitory building. When he looked up, he saw a whole row of heads bobbing up and down along the dormitory balconies like a game of whack-a-mole, popping out and ducking back in. He was deeply uncomfortable — but he straightened his spine all the same and left the area around the girls’ dormitory at a noticeably faster pace than usual.
Jiang Ruoqiao brought the four portions of breakfast upstairs.
Her three roommates crowded around immediately.
“Oh wow, he actually brought breakfast for us too.”
“Oh it’s my favorite buns! Apparently the soymilk sells out fast every day. Do you think eating breakfast from the academic genius will give us a boost in exams?”
All three tactfully pretended not to notice the distinction Lu Yicheng had drawn.
Jiang Ruoqiao’s: the refined urban beauty standard — coffee and croissant.
Theirs: down-to-earth and practical — soymilk and buns.
Jiang Ruoqiao popped the lid of her coffee and took a sip. The cold, faintly bitter flavor spread through her mouth and sharpened her mind. “Don’t exaggerate — as if studying with the academic genius would actually—”
“Oh right, there’s already a thread up on the school forum!” Yun Jia looked down at her phone. “Ruoqiao, I sent you the link — don’t worry, the three of us are watching the comments and ready to manage things.”
Oh?
Jiang Ruoqiao forgot about her coffee and immediately followed the link.
【SHOCKING!! Our Department’s Peony Heartthrob Seen Doing THIS Outside Girls’ Dormitory This Morning!!】
Good.
That was a solid headline.
It got her attention immediately.
She clicked through to read the original post.
【As we all know, coming back to campus is absolutely miserable. Didn’t sleep well last night — need to take a moment to criticize the air conditioning in our dorm, it’s truly terrible, I hope maintenance sees this and reflects. So I woke up early, miserable, and was doing a hundred-meter sprint with my roommates to get mixed noodles — side note, the noodle chef’s craft remains unparalleled, truly a gift — okay okay getting back on track. We were coming back from buying noodles when we spotted our campus heartthrob. I know everyone has their own heartthrob, but! Please redirect yourself to the appropriate thread: Lu Yicheng consistently polls highest for the title, and in this thread, no contrarians are allowed to question his status. Understood?
Anyway, we saw the heartthrob and we were thrilled — honestly, he’s gotten even better looking.
We were about to fully analyze his eternal devotion to the double-strap backpack when we heard something rather… jaw-dropping.
Right, that’s when we realized — a heartthrob, the so-called Peony Heartthrob, what is he doing outside the girls’ dormitory at this hour, with breakfast?
Turns out, he was there for Jiang Ruoqiao.
He was bringing her breakfast 🙂
To my knowledge, Jiang Ruoqiao was dating Jiang Yan.
Which raises the question —
First, did Jiang Ruoqiao and Jiang Yan break up?
Second, is Lu Yicheng here on his own behalf, or on his friend’s?
Third, IS LU YICHENG PURSUING JIANG RUOQIAO??
By the way, my personal deepest desire is that Lu Yicheng is pursuing Jiang Ruoqiao, for two reasons: first, the campus beauty and the campus heartthrob are simply perfect for each other! Second, honestly — who here doesn’t enjoy watching a full-scale rivalry unfold? Anyone? Anyone who doesn’t enjoy it, come at me.】
The replies underneath were equally entertaining —
Reply 1: Are we really getting this much excitement first thing in the morning??
Reply 6: I think I actually saw Lu Yicheng walking Jiang Ruoqiao back yesterday. I figured I’d just misread the situation — but after seeing this thread, maybe I didn’t??
……
Reply 15: Based on reliable information, I can actually answer all three questions: First — my friend is hometown friends with Jiang Ruoqiao’s roommate, and apparently Jiang Ruoqiao and Jiang Yan broke up over the summer. Second — Lu Yicheng is there on his own behalf. Third — yes, he is pursuing her.
Reply 22: They broke up? Why? Does anyone know? I actually thought they were a good match.
……
Reply 38: Breakups always come down to the same few things — incompatible personalities, different visions for the future. Apparently Jiang Yan plans to work after his undergrad and Jiang Ruoqiao wants to go to graduate school. Anyway, do modern breakups still require formal written justifications? Sometimes you just don’t want to be with someone anymore, sometimes you’re just not compatible — I broke up with someone this summer too, didn’t even lose weight afterwards, I feel cheated (sorry, off-topic)
……
Reply 56: Are none of you focusing on what matters here?! What matters is — two close friends turning on each other over the same woman, a campus beauty no less!! That’s ELECTRIFYING!! (I honestly could never get into Lu Yicheng’s specific appeal before — he always seemed too gentle. But now that all this has unfolded, his magnetism has gone through the roof and I have no idea why.) Lu Yicheng, I’m rooting for you!
Meanwhile, the boys’ dormitory was far from quiet either.
Especially Jiang Yan’s room, which had been bombarded with messages from the moment the day began. Everyone was asking about the thread and what was going on.
Jiang Yan was lying flat on his bed like a corpse, stiff and straight, staring at the ceiling. He wasn’t answering calls, wasn’t reading texts — just lying there with a leaden gaze fixed on the ceiling above him. Du Yu and Wang Jiangfeng had already sensed something was wrong with him yesterday. When he came home last night, he’d brought with him a coldness so all-consuming that they hadn’t even needed to turn on the air conditioning. He’d come back wrapped in ice.
Jiang Yan said nothing. His expression was terrifying.
Like someone who’d been swindled out of several million by a business partner, or like someone whose whole family had been destroyed.
Du Yu and Wang Jiangfeng had wanted to ask, but with him like that, there was no way.
This morning, Du Yu was brushing his teeth when someone poked him. He followed a link through to the thread, and what he saw was so startling he started coughing, toothpaste foam spraying everywhere.
Du Yu rinsed his mouth and ran back into the room. “What on earth is going on with this forum thread — why is everyone saying Lu Yicheng is pursuing Jiang Ruoqiao??”
And not just vaguely said — said with complete specificity.
And the thread was already enormous. It was clearly going to be one of the hottest posts on the whole forum.
Jiang Yan shot upright from his bed with a heavy sound.
His back was rigid.
Like a bowstring drawn to its absolute limit.
Wang Jiangfeng was desperately signaling at Du Yu to stop. Du Yu couldn’t see it — he was too fixated on the thread, still stuck on repeat, only capable of saying “what the—” over and over again.
Du Yu kept on: “Impossible, right?! But there are photos, I looked again and again — that’s definitely Lu Yicheng! Is he actually pursuing Jiang Ruoqiao??”
Was this for real?
This unbelievably dramatic?
Jiang Yan swung himself off the bed without a word.
His face was glacial.
Du Yu finally noticed.
Alright. No need to verify further. That expression on Jiang Yan’s face — like the whole world owed him something — said it all.
Du Yu maintained a straight face on the surface. Inside, he had become a screaming siren: *Lu Yicheng is actually pursuing Jiang Ruoqiao?!*
Since when?! How did he know nothing about this?!