Bai Aiting had been quite busy lately, busy with establishing a friendly relationship with Dong Xi.

She seemed to have fully activated crisis management mode. Within a week, she had tagged Dong Xi’s account three times on the campus network, posting status updates like “You look well today,” “The afternoon pomelo tea tastes better than the morning milk tea,” and “Go home early after school.” She made it appear as though Jin Yiken was showing concern for Dong Xi in her name. Either she loved him to the bone or had gotten into the habit of putting on an act—tolerating such obvious infidelity and even cooperating in the performance.

She might have also sent Dong Xi a friend request, but so far the number on Dong Xi’s friend list remained at—10.

Conversely, Long Qi’s account, which usually delighted in sarcasm, had been completely peaceful. The campus forum called it a “rare phenomenon,” speculating whether she too had become a spectator of this “Jin-Bai-Dong love triangle drama.”

Amidst all the commotion, another weekend arrived. During these two days, Long Xinyi sent quite a few text messages, which roughly read like “Sis, come home for dinner tonight,” “Sis, come eat lunch here today,” “Sis, don’t be angry anymore”—all pleading messages. It seemed Jin Yiken’s “backup plan” had indeed worked, making Long Xinyi now treat her with the attitude of kowtowing to the god of wealth, wishing he could bring her home and enshrine her.

She didn’t reply to any of the messages and, while she was at it, deleted Jin Yiken’s number.

The situation with Jin Yiken pursuing Dong Xi took a new turn on Monday morning. At that time, the class was still noisy before morning self-study had begun. Two girls from the adjacent group sitting in front and behind each other were gossiping. Long Qi sat filing her nails while her deskmate was doing homework—doing homework for her.

On Dong Xi’s desk lay a large paper bag. She placed all the empty, cleaned thermos bottles one by one into the bag, put the art books in, put all the gifts from Jin Yiken in—her movements gentle and quiet. So initially, apart from Long Qi watching, it didn’t attract much attention. It wasn’t until she put the last thermos bottle in and organized the paper bag, making a rustling sound, that surrounding students gradually looked her way. The attention spread from the small group to the large group, then from the large group to the entire classroom, like dominoes suddenly being pushed over with her at the center, triggering a domino effect.

Her every move was under the gaze of dozens of eyes throughout the class.

After everything was organized, she stood up from her seat carrying the paper bag and walked out the front door alone.

At that time, no one from the class followed her out, but some boys instinctively leaned against the windows to look down the corridor. Discussion gradually spilled out too. Long Qi took the earphones out of her ears and became the second person to leave the classroom. Dong Xi walked ahead looking straight ahead, while she followed ten steps behind, maintaining her distance.

She was walking toward the elite class area.

This time was precisely an undisciplined moment with few students and no teachers managing them. Even the elite class couldn’t avoid noise. Dong Xi had quite a few former classmates here, so as she passed by, people poked their heads out from almost every window, watching her walk to the easternmost end of the corridor—into the best class.

Jin Yiken was sitting at his seat disassembling his deskmate’s phone.

He had picked up this bad habit from somewhere and couldn’t quit it. When Dong Xi walked to his desk, he was still obliviously twirling the miniature screwdriver between two fingers. It wasn’t until the classroom gradually quieted down and Dong Xi placed the paper bag on his desk, blocking a patch of light in front of him, that he looked up.

Long Qi watched them from the classroom’s back window.

Both wore uniforms. Jin Yiken’s shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, while Dong Xi’s shirt was covered with a moonlight-white cardigan. Her long hair hung over her shoulders, soft as water. The strong contrast between them—one strong and one weak, one hard and one soft—made the entire classroom’s atmosphere extremely subtle and tense. Long Qi put both hands in her pockets and watched quietly.

Dong Xi said: “I’m here to return these to you.”

Her tone was very ordinary, very light. Her eyes only looked at Jin Yiken’s, just as Jin Yiken’s eyes had looked only at hers last week.

She continued: “Our relationship isn’t familiar enough, so please…”

“Stop pursuing you?” Jin Yiken interrupted.

Dong Xi nodded.

He put the screwdriver in his hand on the desk surface and replied: “Impossible.”

The situation fell quiet for a moment. Dong Xi looked at him while he leaned back, resting his elbow on the chair back, sitting in a manly way. The two looked at each other, one high and one low. Dong Xi’s dominant position seemed about to be replaced by Jin Yiken, while Jin Yiken had activated “flirting mode.” He seemed somewhat interested in this little lamb that had voluntarily delivered itself to his door—you could tell from his gradually enlivening gaze.

“Why is it impossible?” Dong Xi said slowly. “Is controlling your own behavior very difficult for you?”

No one expected her to say this sentence. Long Qi didn’t expect it either. Only Jin Yiken responded normally: “Difficult.”

He even asked back: “Is not breathing difficult for you?”

Just like that, he unknowingly tossed a sweet line at Dong Xi. The boys from the adjacent group couldn’t help but want to heckle, but he looked at that boy with foresight. The boy restrained himself, and the entire class’s restless agitation was also suppressed. The atmosphere remained quiet, with no intention of disrespecting Dong Xi at all.

Dong Xi frowned slightly, probably having never encountered such dialogue or such a fierce offensive. Just at this moment, a boy at the back door said softly: “Bai Aiting is here.”

Dong Xi was about to look toward the back door when Jin Yiken pulled out his chair and stood up. Her line of sight was blocked, and her hand was suddenly taken by him. He pulled her toward the back door: “I’ll walk you back to your classroom.”

Outside the classroom, Long Qi narrowed her eyes.

The instant Jin Yiken led Dong Xi out through the back door, they brushed past Bai Aiting, who had just entered the classroom. Bai Aiting immediately turned to look at them, her gaze quickly moving from Jin Yiken to Dong Xi, then looking at their hands. At this moment, a boy automatically came up to run interference for Jin Yiken. Bai Aiting’s line of sight was quickly blocked, and the surrounding area also filled with the noisy sound of boys chatting randomly.

Long Qi left the corridor at this time.

She walked alone in the wind, watching Jin Yiken and Dong Xi ahead. When he escorted Dong Xi into the classroom, he even gently placed his hand on her back, giving an extremely protective feeling. Then when Long Qi entered the classroom, she ran into him coming out. The two faced each other passing through the narrow space at the front door. He deliberately turned sideways to let her go first. Long Qi stared into his eyes. Extremely intense sparks burst forth as the two brushed past each other at close distance. Jin Yiken’s eyes held triumph, while in hers, there was murderous intent.

It was from this moment that Dong Xi became the target of public criticism. Jin Yiken not only once again displayed his interest in her openly, but also publicly humiliated Bai Aiting. Bai Aiting’s “friendship plan” collapsed. She deleted all the statuses on her campus account where she had tagged Dong Xi but received no response, and transformed herself, adopting the route of being aloof and the unshakable legitimate wife.

On one hand, she indulged Jin Yiken, while on the other, she successively uploaded several smiling photos on her album from her birthday with a couple in an elegant living room, with the caption “Uncle Jin and Auntie Jin are very young, thank you for celebrating this junior’s birthday.”

These photos carried deep meaning. First, they hinted that she and Jin Yiken had long since met each other’s parents, the marriage was set, and the wedding was guaranteed—wanting Jin Yiken’s brothers and all the loose-lipped girls to be sensible and not spread unfounded rumors. Second, they subtly gave Dong Xi a show of force, invisibly putting the label of “third party” on her. Third, they also sent Jin Yiken a reminder not to forget how satisfied his family’s old master was with her.

Killing three birds with one stone.

But when Jin Yiken and Long Qi were having an affair, her IQ had never exceeded standards like this.

Thinking it over carefully, it was probably because Dong Xi’s personal qualities and excellent family background threatened Bai Aiting, who was on the same level. She feared Jin Yiken would truly become serious, and also feared the Jin family patriarch would learn there was such a daughter-in-law candidate even more outstanding than herself. So she couldn’t wait to utterly destroy Dong Xi before she fell in love, using public opinion pressure to crush her. On the other hand, she didn’t dare throw tantrums at Jin Yiken and could only pretend nothing was wrong.

So in the final analysis, the one who loved Jin Yiken the most, who pampered and indulged him like a treasure, was still Bai Aiting.

But Jin Yiken didn’t appreciate this kind of love. What he wanted was the passionate, combustible kind that Long Qi had.