On the way back.

Sheng Xia followed behind Zhang Shu, keeping a distance of two or three meters. He would turn back occasionally to make sure she was still there.

Sheng Xia was somewhat grateful for the wind tonight – her tears dried quickly, though she wasn’t sure if her eyes were still red.

When they reached the corridor, she stopped. Zhang Shu heard and turned around, seeing she had stopped walking.

“You go back first,” she said softly. “I’ll return in a bit.”

Zhang Shu ignored her suggestion and instead sat down by the corridor. “You go first, I’ll return later.”

Sheng Xia also sat down at the edge, about four or five meters away from him. She insisted, “You should go first, my eyes are a bit…” Red.

Before she could finish speaking, the corridor’s motion sensor light clicked off.

Sheng Xia instinctively panicked.

Their conversation had been too soft and slow, clearly ignored by the motion sensors.

Zhang Shu coughed loudly and stomped his foot firmly on the ground. The lights came back on.

“I’ll wait for you,” he said.

Sheng Xia lowered her eyes as the ache returned to the tip of her nose.

Did he know she was afraid of the dark?

If this was goodbye, why couldn’t he be more ruthless? What was the point of giving her hope like this?

However, she didn’t say anything more.

They just sat there quietly, neither speaking nor playing with their phones.

They remained silent in the night for ten minutes.

The time could be judged so precisely because the corridor’s motion sensor lights would turn off every 3 minutes, and Zhang Shu had made noise three times.

Just as Sheng Xia was hesitating about whether to leave first, the class dismissal bell rang.

With the teaching building becoming noisy, there was no longer any need to decide who should leave first or last.

“Let’s go,” Zhang Shu spoke first.

Sheng Xia stood up and walked ahead of him.

Perhaps because the excitement from the power outage hadn’t died down yet, the classroom was full of whistling and shouting, bustling with noise.

Besides nearby classmates, few people noticed Zhang Shu and Sheng Xia’s disappearance and return.

Zhou Xuanxuan’s gaze moved between Zhang Shu and Sheng Xia.

One entered through the back door, one through the front, and neither seemed quite right.

Sheng Xia was usually quiet, so that wasn’t strange, but Zhang Shu slumped into his chair looking completely lost in thought, which was unusual.

The atmosphere seemed off.

Had these two fought?

Throughout the second evening study period, Sheng Xia had no idea what she was doing. No matter which subject she tried to study, her mind would wander. She gave up struggling and took out an essay collection to read. Essays were meant to be loose in form but not in spirit, but Sheng Xia just felt “loose,” unable to grasp any “spirit” from them.

She practically endured until class ended, wanting to leave – she couldn’t get anything done here anyway.

Just as she was packing her bag, Xin Xiaohe ran over. “Xia Xia, want to go get late-night snacks at the North Gate?”

They’d talked about experiencing the North Gate “culture” since the beginning of last semester but hadn’t gone yet.

“Sure,” Sheng Xia agreed.

Xin Xiaohe was pleasantly surprised. “Wow, then let’s hurry! It’s most crowded at the start of term – we won’t get seats at the bubble tea shop later.”

Sheng Xia rarely went through the North Gate at night. Seeing lights everywhere and crowds of people, she almost thought she’d arrived at some food street.

The usually quiet alley was full of mobile food stalls selling all sorts of things – spicy chicken feet, cold noodles, stinky tofu, grilled pork trotters, fried chicken strips… The noise and bustle created a lively atmosphere.

“What do you want to eat? Order whatever!” Xin Xiaohe called out generously, then whispered in Sheng Xia’s ear, “It’s my turn to treat, wu wu.”

Sheng Xia was curious: “Taking turns?”

Xin Xiaohe answered as if it was obvious: “Yeah, we’re all out together – paying separately would show a lack of unity!”

Sheng Xia nodded, remembering this as “culture” point one.

She suggested: “Since I’m new to the group, wouldn’t it be more appropriate if I treat you?”

“No no no, you can do it next time, next time.”

“Okay.”

They first sent someone to secure seats at the bubble tea shop while others browsed the street stalls one by one, buying whatever they liked.

The bubble tea shops, board game cafes, and murder mystery rooms along the street were all packed.

There were several bubble tea shops, both chain stores and independent ones.

Xin Xiaohe whispered in Sheng Xia’s ear again: “This one’s the hardest to get seats in.”

It had a black storefront and looked very cool.

Sheng Xia asked: “Is it really good?”

“No,” Xin Xiaohe said mysteriously, “it’s because the three owners are handsome!”

Sheng Xia: …

Inside the shop, a walkway led to two rows of booth seats along the sides, all with high-backed chairs creating privacy between them.

It had a coffee shop feel.

In the booths, some were studying with desk lamps and books spread out, some were playing cards, some were chatting, and some were… hugging and kissing intensely.

Sheng Xia averted her eyes – don’t look at improper things. Uh, culture point one, culture point one.

When ordering, Sheng Xia saw the legendary three handsome owners.

They were all very young, probably just in their early twenties, fashionably dressed, and indeed good-looking.

Their service attitude was very laid-back, even a bit cold.

They were going for that aloof vibe.

But Sheng Xia felt their aloofness was different from Zhang Shu’s – theirs seemed affected, while Zhang Shu’s was more natural.

Zhang Shu was better looking too, perhaps much better.

Eh, how did she end up thinking about him again? Better stop…

Xin Xiaohe ordered a mango smoothie. Sheng Xia frowned and stopped her: “Xiaohe, your period is coming in a few days, better not have anything cold, right?”

Xin Xiaohe tilted her head to think, “Oh right, I forgot about that.”

“Mm,” Sheng Xia suggested, “why don’t you get something hot?”

Xin Xiaohe: … Wu wu, I never drink hot drinks OK?

“Will I live longer if I listen to the fairy’s advice?”

Sheng Xia replied seriously: “It should help.”

“Okay then.”

“Mm.”

The card players in the booth burst out laughing, curiously poking their heads out to look at the girls discussing periods so openly in public.

Even the three cool faces behind the counter twitched, glancing up to see what kind of person would so naturally acknowledge herself as a fairy.

After ordering and sitting down, Sheng Xia noticed Xin Xiaohe’s friends were all looking at her with expressions that seemed… shy.

It made Sheng Xia’s ears turn red too.

“Sheng Xia…” one of them murmured, “I like staring at you, don’t panic.”

Sheng Xia: …

“Me too.”

Xin Xiaohe: “Haha they’ve been drooling over you in the dorm for a long time.”

Sheng Xia felt slightly embarrassed.

With Xin Xiaohe there, the awkwardness soon dissolved into nothing. They shared street food and sipped bubble tea while gossiping, talking about everything from celebrities to classmates to teachers.

Occasionally they even discussed people from other schools.

It was like hearing stories from another world to Sheng Xia – so if you’re famous enough, people from other schools do know about you?

Instead, people nearby were too familiar to gossip about.

How many bubble tea shops like this had Zhang Shu been the subject of discussion?

Sheng Xia almost choked on her bubble tea – what was going on, why did everything remind her of him? How was she supposed to live like this?

The topic finally turned to someone Sheng Xia knew. Someone asked: “Xiaohe, hasn’t Yang Linyu returned yet?”

“Probably next week.”

Sheng Xia was curious: “Where did he go?”

She hadn’t seen him during the make-up classes.

Xin Xiaohe: “He went to River Yan University of Technology’s independent recruitment winter camp.”

Sheng Xia: “Gone so long, won’t he fall behind in classes?”

Xin Xiaohe’s roommate said: “At this stage, there’s not much new material anyway. Trying to improve test scores isn’t nearly as worthwhile as independent recruitment. It’s River Yan Tech! Even missing a month of classes would be worth it!”

Yang Linyu ranked in the twenties in class. If Sheng Xia worked a bit harder, she’d be about the same as him.

Another girl looked at Xin Xiaohe: “But if he goes to River Yan, won’t you two…?”

“What’s it got to do with me?” Xin Xiaohe said carelessly. “I’m aiming for East University!”

As the girls chatted, suddenly a girl appeared by their booth wearing a long hoodie, baseball cap, and super short shorts – somewhat like Chen Mengyao’s style. She put a basket of snack platters on the table and asked Sheng Xia: “Hey, my friend would like to add your WeChat, is that okay? These snacks are from him.”

She glanced toward the booth diagonally to the right, where a tall, slim guy sat wearing a pointed knit hat despite the mild weather, with some yellow hair showing.

He dressed in the same style as the shop owners.

It was someone trying to hit on her!

The girls all winked and made faces at Sheng Xia.

Sheng Xia politely declined: “Sorry, I don’t have WeChat.”

To her surprise, the girl smiled and said, “QQ is fine too.”

Sheng Xia: …

It felt like falling into a trap.

Sheng Xia felt a bit troubled. Beside her, Xin Xiaohe muttered lightly: “If he can’t even come to ask himself, why give it to him? What is he, an emperor?”

The voice wasn’t particularly quiet. Over there, Yellow Hair turned his head and stood up to come over.

Sheng Xia: … My good friend, this isn’t the right time for reverse psychology.

“I thought girls might be more comfortable talking to girls,” the guy arrived at their table and spoke, “but in that case, classmate, how about adding QQ?”

Xin Xiaohe’s roommate asked: “You’re not from our school, are you?”

“I’m from the Yingjie Division.” He answered, already pulling up his QQ scanner.

Xin Xiaohe’s roommate reflexively said: “Oh, a fourth-year high school student?”

“No, the third year,” Yellow Hair answered.

Xin Xiaohe raised an eyebrow and whispered to Sheng Xia: “A third-year from Yingjie Division – if he’s not from a rich family, he’s from an ultra-rich family, if not ultra-rich, then super ultra-rich…”

Sheng Xia: …

Did she think she was being quiet?

Yellow Hair had heard and smiled, saying: “Not really, just getting by in school.”

The atmosphere became a bit awkward.

Yellow Hair said: “We’ve met before.”

Sheng Xia looked up.

“At the school sports meet.”

Oh, she thought it would be some special encounter.

At this point, if she didn’t add him, he’d probably stand there trying to join their girl talk.

Sheng Xia pulled up her QR code and added him.

Just another inactive contact.

Outside the shop, Zhou Yingxiang, who had stumbled upon his classmate’s attempt at picking up girls and wanted to watch the show, finally saw who the target was and blurted out a curse – “Holy shit!”

Carrying several cups of bubble tea, he sprinted back to the board game cafe.

In the private room, the usual crowd was there.

Hou Junqi was playing PUBG, with gunfire sounds everywhere; Wu Pengcheng was scrolling through short videos, grinning stupidly at dancing girls; Han Xiao was propping his chin up contemplating which deck to use, muttering to himself as if planning development strategies; Liu Huian was watching a sports game, with cheering sounds coming one after another.

A noisy room.

Only Zhang Shu was leaning back on the sofa, seemingly asleep.

Everyone was waiting for Zhou Yingxiang’s bubble tea.

“I’m here, I’m here.”

“I’m about to win, wait…”

“I want lemon tea.”

“Let me finish this half.”

“Shall we play Unlock?”

Zhang Shu sat up straight on the sofa, tore open a straw wrapper, randomly grabbed a cup without checking what it was, stuck the straw in, and took a sip.

Zhou Yingxiang was shocked – that was the ice cream milk tea he bought for himself, sickeningly sweet.

Sure enough, Zhang Shu frowned, “What is this stuff.”

“I saw Sheng Xia.”

As soon as Zhou Yingxiang spoke, whether playing games, watching pretty girls, or watching sports, everyone looked over.

Zhang Shu slowly lifted his eyelids, staring at Zhou Yingxiang.

“Next door, with some girls.” Zhou Yingxiang probed.

Hou Junqi felt dispirited, “Xin Xiaohe and her girlfriends, right? Poor little Sheng Xia, hanging out with them – she probably can’t understand half of what they’re saying. Hope they don’t corrupt her.”

“I also saw someone from our class hitting on her.”

“…”

“And she agreed to add his QQ.”

Hou Junqi closed his game and stood up: “Do you even understand what the important points are when telling a story?”

“Who’s trying to steal her away?”

“Those Yingjie kids have too much free time.”

While everyone was chattering, a figure quickly flashed out. Looking at the sofa, Zhang Shu was nowhere to be seen.

The room door bumped around before being left half-open, showing how urgently and roughly the person who opened it had left.

Everyone shook their heads.

But the next second, Zhang Shu pushed the door open and came back, sitting back on the sofa, elbows propped on his knees, hunched over thinking about something.

Everyone looked at each other.

Han Xiao spoke first: “Shu-ge, aren’t you going to check it out?”

Zhang Shu picked up that ice cream milk tea and took another sip.

The sickening sweetness didn’t bother him now.

Zhang Shu asked: “Just hitting on her?”

Zhou Yingxiang was confused for a moment: “Yeah, he just got her QQ and left.”

“Mm.” Zhang Shu stopped talking and showed no sign of taking further action.

Hou Junqi whispered: “What’s going on?”

He felt something had been odd between A-Shu and Sheng Xia lately, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what.

Wu Pengcheng asked: “Did you two fight?”

Zhang Shu said flatly: “We broke up.”

“What?” Everyone was stunned.

Zhang Shu: “Not really.”

Everyone relaxed slightly.

Zhang Shu: “We were never together in the first place, so how could we break up?”

“What?” Even more unified and louder than before.

He had no right to interfere.