Not only Zhao Qian, but Xu Zhinan was also stunned by his words.

Between them, after that absurd night, Xu Zhinan had absurdly said she would take responsibility for him, and then they had exchanged contact information.

They contacted each other occasionally, gradually becoming more familiar.

The relationship began strangely and developed strangely, seemingly without ever a moment when their relationship was clearly defined.

Xu Zhinan lowered her gaze to look at Lin Qingye sitting on the steps and asked, “What do you mean?”

“Be with me.” His answer was straightforward.

Xu Zhinan laughed lightly, also responding directly, “No.”

Zhao Qian was completely confused throughout, even doubting whether she still understood Chinese. Before she could react, Xu Zhinan had already pulled her away.

This state of confusion continued until Xu Zhinan unlocked the door and walked into the dormitory.

“Wait.” Zhao Qian asked in a daze, “Was that Lin Qingye just now?”

“…”

“Was he confessing to you? No, why? Why did he suddenly confess to you?” Zhao Qian became more confused the more she thought about it, “And why did he call you Ah Nan?”

Xu Zhinan hadn’t prepared to tell Zhao Qian about this matter, but Lin Qingye had suddenly broken through, and she didn’t know how to start explaining.

Watching her expression, Zhao Qian suddenly had a flash of insight.

She recalled the male voice that answered when she called Xu Zhinan that night. She had told Jiang Yue at the time that the voice was pleasant, and now thinking about it, it did indeed sound very similar to Lin Qingye’s voice, but she had never thought it could be Lin Qingye.

Who would have guessed???

The most well-behaved roommate was not returning to the dorm late at night, and when she called her, Lin Qingye answered and said she was already asleep.

So then…

Zhao Qian took a deep breath: “Ah Nan, don’t tell me you’ve already slept with Lin Qingye!!!”

Xu Zhinan panicked and covered her mouth: “Keep your voice down!”

“Holy shit.”

Zhao Qian pinched herself and yelped, confirming she wasn’t dreaming.

“You’re too incredible, and you never even told me! That’s so unfair!”

“…It’s not what you think.”

At this point, Xu Zhinan couldn’t hide it anymore.

Besides, now that she had decided to separate from Lin Qingye, she didn’t have the same concerns as before, though she still felt embarrassed saying it out loud.

During that period, she had truly been like someone possessed.

Xu Zhinan only roughly told her how they had met, and Zhao Qian vaguely remembered that during their freshman year, there was indeed one night when Xu Zhinan hadn’t returned.

But they had just met at that time, so she hadn’t pried.

Zhao Qian asked, “So now you two…?”

Xu Zhinan didn’t speak, just shook her head, and after a good while, she said, “You guys were right, girls who truly fall for Lin Qingye are quite miserable, so I don’t plan to like him anymore. We’ve already separated.”

Zhao Qian blinked, recalling that this was something she and Jiang Yue had casually mentioned during a chat.

She hadn’t expected that what they had said without much thought would hold such deep meaning when heard by Xu Zhinan.

Zhao Qian asked incredulously, “You broke up with him?”

“We separated,” Xu Zhinan corrected.

For a relationship like theirs, “breaking up” wasn’t appropriate.

Zhao Qian didn’t think there was any difference between the two terms and directly gave a thumbs up: “You’re amazing, Ah Nan! You must be the only girl who could dump Lin Qingye!”

Xu Zhinan: “…”

She had initially been worried that Zhao Qian would be upset about her concealment, but now with her lively personality stirring things up, she felt relieved.

After explaining everything, Zhao Qian also felt somewhat moved, patting her back and asking, “So what do you plan to do now?”

“About what?”

“Isn’t Lin Qingye asking to get back together with you?” She slapped the table.

Xu Zhinan paused, recalling how Lin Qingye had looked just now.

Sitting alone on the steps, stripped of all the applause, screams, and flowers, in a white shirt and black pants, like a clean young man, with something about his appearance that seemed… down and out.

Ah Nan, be with me.

Xu Zhinan lowered her eyes slightly and softly exhaled.

He knew too well how to make others fall for him.

“I won’t be like that again,” she said softly, as if confessing a mistake and repenting.

“That’s the spirit!” Zhao Qian, for some reason, despite not knowing the details, was filled with righteous indignation, “Didn’t people on the forum say before that if you two were together, it’d be like an angel with a demon? You can’t go cheap on the demon; you should be with a prince.”

She then immediately changed her tone, “That childhood friend of yours isn’t bad!”

“…”

Ruan Yuanyuan hadn’t been staying at the dormitory lately. By ten o’clock that night, Jiang Yue returned from the library and also learned about this matter, reacting just like Zhao Qian.

It was hard to believe, and she didn’t even know where to begin accepting it.

It was too incredible.

Early the next morning, Jiang Yue was the first to get up, heading out to study at the library.

Xu Zhinan was already awake. Tomorrow would be the last exam of finals week. She got up slowly, stretched, and was about to climb down from her bed when her phone suddenly vibrated several times in quick succession.

Jiang Yue had sent her a series of messages.

[Jiang Yue: Ah Nan!!!!]

[Jiang Yue: I just saw what looks like Lin Qingye downstairs by the dormitory building!! He’s sitting by the flowerbed!]

[Jiang Yue: Could he be waiting for you???]

[Jiang Yue: It must be Lin Qingye! I heard girls walking past me talking about it too!!]

Two seconds later, Jiang Yue sent over a photo.

Lin Qingye was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday, supporting his head with his hand as he sat on the steps.

Xu Zhinan was surprised. Had he not gone back at all since yesterday, not even changing his clothes?

She didn’t allow herself to think about why Lin Qingye would still be there at this hour, forcing herself to view the situation.

His T-shirt that she had kept had been washed at home and brought back to school. Xu Zhinan sat on her bed, staring at her suitcase in the corner by the wall for a moment.

Xu Zhinan got down from the bed, quietly took out his clothes from the suitcase, changed out of her pajamas, and went downstairs.

It was still very early.

The dormitory area was quiet, and there weren’t many people on campus.

However, Lin Qingye sitting there without a mask or hat still attracted the attention of a few early students heading to the library.

The morning glow was a pinkish-yellow.

As soon as she swiped her card and left the dormitory area, she saw Lin Qingye sitting across. The morning light stretched his shadow long and narrow.

The young man’s eyelids drooped, his brows slightly furrowed, his features cold, looking somewhat impatient and aloof.

Xu Zhinan took a deep breath and walked up to him with the clothes in her arms, under the gaze of a few people around.

Lin Qingye had sat there all night without sleep, the sunlight shining brightly on his eyelids, making it hard to open his eyes.

Until a pair of shoes appeared in his peripheral vision—clean white sneakers, thin ankles showing a bit of short socks, and above that, two straight, fair legs.

Lin Qingye recognized these as Xu Zhinan’s legs, very beautiful.

His Adam’s apple slid, and his gaze continued upward, then went blank.

Xu Zhinan threw the white T-shirt into his arms: “The clothes I borrowed from you last time, I’ve already washed them.”

He pulled the corner of his mouth and said a “thank you.”

Xu Zhinan didn’t linger and turned to leave, but as she turned, he grabbed her wrist.

The two were already famous at Pingchuan University, and standing together attracted even more attention. Xu Zhinan immediately tried to pull her hand back to shake him off.

Unfortunately, the strength difference between them was too great. She tried hard to back away, but Lin Qingye just pulled gently towards himself, and Xu Zhinan lost her balance, falling straight towards him.

Her arm rested on his shoulder. She had left in a hurry without tying her hair, and her hair tips lightly brushed his cheek.

Up close, their eyes met.

Lin Qingye didn’t support her; he even propped his hands behind him, making it look from a distance as if Xu Zhinan was actively throwing herself into his arms.

At this distance, Xu Zhinan noticed that his monolids had become double eyelids, with a shallow crease, probably due to lack of sleep.

His eyes typically carried a coolness, creating a sense of distance just by looking, but now they had somewhat of a “peach blossom” quality.

Then the corners of his eyes drooped, showing amusement: “Are you okay?”

Although he asked if she was okay, his tone was quite mischievous.

Xu Zhinan quickly pushed him away and stood up. She used too much force, causing him to fall backward, his hand landing in the flowerbed soil, getting dirty.

He casually dusted off his palms, his tone finally becoming somewhat serious: “How long are you going to be angry with me?”

“I’m not angry with you,” the young woman said calmly, her voice steady, her gaze unwavering as she looked at him. “I won’t have any illusions about you anymore.”

In contrast, Lin Qingye had not slept all night, his hair was somewhat disheveled by the wind. Sitting there looking up at her, he appeared more disheveled.

He held onto her hand, not letting go.

He seemed completely unconcerned about the gazes from around them.

Xu Zhinan was quiet for a moment, then finally asked that question: “That night when I first met you at the bar in freshman year, was it deliberate?”

He was very honest: “Yes.”

Xu Zhinan’s heart sank: “Lin Qingye, you are a bastard.”

“Ah Nan, let me get a tattoo from you,” he suddenly said, his tone light. “I promised you before, to tattoo your name on my back.”

Xu Zhinan now remained vigilant when facing him, not wanting to fall into his trap again.

She frowned: “I won’t forgive you.”

“Then don’t forgive me.”

He stood up, a head taller than her. In the sunlight, his pupils were a light amber color, his face blurred, emotions unclear.

“You are Pingchuan’s light. Having deceived you, I should pay some price,” Lin Qingye said.

Xu Zhinan was quiet for a moment, then nodded: “Alright.”

Xu Zhinan took Lin Qingye to her tattoo shop.

Though their relationship had been entangled for so long, this was the first time Lin Qingye had truly set foot in this shop.

Xu Zhinan was completely businesslike, walking to the shelf, putting on a mask and sterilized gloves, and asking, “Do you want anesthesia? It will affect the result if you use it.”

“No need.”

“Good.” Xu Zhinan picked up the tattoo machine and pointed to the workbench. “Go sit over there and take off your shirt.”

Lin Qingye laughed softly, raising his arms and crossing them to remove his clothes.

Xu Zhinan’s fingertips paused, and she pressed her lips together firmly, remembering the scene at his studio. Back then, she would blush and her heart would race just looking at him; she liked him so much.

She had never imagined herself liking someone this way.

Watching him radiate on stage, or his casual and relaxed manner when writing lyrics, she wondered what it would be like when such a person truly fell for a girl.

So even though she knew they didn’t belong to the same world, she couldn’t let go.

But after having her heart broken, she no longer harbored such vain fantasies.

In the future, Lin Qingye would achieve great success in the music industry as everyone hoped, but no matter what, he would no longer have anything to do with her.

Xu Zhinan sniffed and sat down behind him.

His back was indeed attractive, with smooth and firm lines, the contours of his shoulder blades, the indentation of his spine, and from the side, one could see the abdominal muscle lines extending from his waist.

“Where do you want the tattoo?” Xu Zhinan asked.

“You choose.”

“Since it’s about paying a price,” Xu Zhinan pointed with her index finger to the position on his right shoulder blade, “then let’s tattoo here. It hurts more here.”