Sheng Xia looked at his unusually serious face. “Haven’t we been dating all along?”

Zhang Shu was incredulous. “All along?”

“You come over often, don’t you?” asked Sheng Xia.

“That counts as dating? First time I’ve seen such an easily satisfied girlfriend,” Zhang Shu remarked.

“How many girlfriends do you have?” Sheng Xia caught the loophole, muttering under her breath, “No wonder you’re so good at kissing…”

Zhang Shu was momentarily speechless, then broke into a smile. “Getting clever, aren’t we? Picking apart words? Don’t you know how many girlfriends I have? Let’s count: Zhang Shu’s Girlfriend Number One, the talented Sheng Xia; Number Two, the stationery-rich Disney Princess; Number Three, who was Number Three again? Ah yes, Number Three is the soft and ghost-fearing one…”

Sheng Xia was embarrassed and angry, pushing him away.

Zhang Shu nearly lost his balance, almost tipping over his bicycle. He laughed freely, suddenly catching onto something in her words. He leaned in close, suppressing his smile, “What did you just say? Good at kissing? What makes you say that? Does that mean you like it?”

Caught off guard by his counterattack, Sheng Xia’s barely settled heartbeat quickened again. She turned away, “I’m hungry, I want to eat. Go play with your Number Two girlfriend!”

She walked ahead on her own.

Zhang Shu followed unhurriedly, leading his bicycle.

“Why Number Two? How about Number Three?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“It’s not dark yet, no ghosts around.”

“…Then how about Number One?”

“Number One is hungry.”

“Number One’s boyfriend Zhang Shu is hungry too.”

“Fine, Number One will take Zhang Shu to eat.”

For dinner, they tried a cafeteria they hadn’t been to before, then as usual took a walk around campus to digest.

The sunset faded quickly, and the street lamps lit up in an instant, casting golden fragments of tree shadows on passersby’s shoulders.

Sheng Xia walked half a step behind Zhang Shu, her hand held tightly in his, head down as she stepped on his shadow.

In the quiet moment, Sheng Xia murmured, “It seems like you’re the one from Heqing, you know the way better than I do.”

Zhang Shu didn’t feign modesty: “I know the way better than you.”

Sheng Xia: “Oh, there are fewer and fewer people around.”

What paths was he choosing, who knew what his intentions were?

Zhang Shu stopped and turned back, “I’ve noticed your rhetoric has improved lately?”

She would throw in a couple of jabs now and then, speaking with hidden meanings, and hints of resentment, reproach, and pride.

Like a cat’s claws scratching at someone.

He liked it.

Sheng Xia answered, “Because Number One is talented?”

Zhang Shu laughed silently: “There aren’t any plane trees in Heyan either, so how did someone learn to be so crafty?”

“Oh no, is it because bad company corrupts good morals?” Sheng Xia looked up, holding back her smile.

This was truly irresistible. Zhang Shu lowered his head, making it as if to kiss her again. This seemed like it would never end. Sheng Xia, thinking she still had questions for him, simply stood on tiptoe and gave him a quick kiss.

Zhang Shu wasn’t prepared and couldn’t quite react.

While he was still stunned, she took the opportunity to retreat half a step, swinging his hand, “I heard that your department is full of geniuses, and everyone’s very busy.”

The day classes started, he had revealed himself to her roommates, and that night, Room 322 had their first late-night chat session, with him as the main topic.

Sheng Xia hadn’t previously been in this academic tier, so she had never understood this level of university and major. Therefore, she wasn’t clear about how legendary Zhang Shu’s Computer Science Department in the School of Information Sciences was.

That night, she received an education from her roommates.

Their department was known as the “noble department.” Hard to get in, and harder to get out, because it was packed with supernatural talents—if you didn’t succeed, you’d become a demon.

Why did she feel Zhang Shu seemed quite at ease?

Zhang Shu came back to his senses, staring at her conciliatory hand gesture: “Are you saying I come too often?”

What was this?

Just a light peck to dismiss him?

Was she tired of him?

“Not at all!” She put on a serious face, “I just met with my advisor today, and I was wondering if you’ve figured out how to spend these four years? I feel like I still don’t understand anything.”

She was busy with this and that all day, but looking back, she didn’t know what she had been busy with.

While he always seemed calm and collected.

Even though his situation was more nerve-wracking.

Zhang Shu led her to the grass lawn at the side.

It was dark, and there were few people on the lawn.

Sheng Xia sat hugging her knees, while Zhang Shu sat with his hands propped behind him, long legs slightly bent, his posture relaxed and casual.

“So what do you think university is?” he turned his head, tucking her hair that had fallen on his shoulder behind her neck.

Her neck was slender, gleaming white in the night. The soft lines disappeared into her collarbone.

Zhang Shu’s gaze returned to her profile, unconsciously rubbing his nose.

Sheng Xia looked at the scattered lights of the library across the lake and answered, “The way of the university lies in illuminating virtue, in loving the people, and in resting in the highest excellence. Although that university is different from this university, it’s still higher learning, and in any case, it should be different from high school.”

Zhang Shu nodded: “Mm, and then?”

Sheng Xia: “But I seem to still just be following the class schedule, going to classes, reading books as the teachers tell us to, isn’t this still the high school mode? I vaguely feel this isn’t enough, but I don’t know where to start…”

She turned to meet Zhang Shu’s gaze, “I’m a bit lost.”

Yes, lost. This word effortlessly summarized her current state.

After meeting her advisor, she felt even more so.

She repeated Professor Tan’s words to Zhang Shu almost verbatim.

“The teacher said this major is different, think clearly about where you came from and where you’re going, how to study, figure it out from the beginning, don’t idle around, don’t waste time… what did he mean?”

Zhang Shu: “Why didn’t you ask the teacher directly then?”

“Because other students were there, and the teacher wasn’t just speaking to me alone. He probably wanted each person to have their understanding?”

Zhang Shu rubbed the top of her head, “Your confusion is quite timely.”

She froze as he tilted to the side, resting his head on her lap, and looking up at her.

His head was quite heavy, falling on her legs with considerable weight. Sheng Xia felt slightly uncomfortable, but he seemed not to notice, naturally continuing: “I’m not too familiar with your discipline, but there are commonalities.”

“Our department is quite busy. Many came in through informatics competitions, and freshman professional courses are just formalities for them, while I’m studying what’s just formality to them. It might be more obvious by junior year, for many people, even if the textbooks are outdated. It’s not uncommon for non-competition students to be crushed to graduation. Differences, frustration, confusion, everyone has them, don’t worry.”

As he spoke, his head kept moving slightly, the back of his head brushing against her thigh.

Sheng Xia leaned back uncomfortably, not looking at him, and responded, “But you’re the valedictorian, the freshman representative, the one who gave a speech in front of everyone.”

He was so amazing, would he also feel lost?

“That’s because social influence was involved at the time. I’m not the most outstanding in terms of grades,” Zhang Shu’s tone remained casual, as if he wasn’t evaluating himself, “Moreover, the beginning doesn’t equal the ending. At Haiyan, who doesn’t have a few valedictorians around them? This doesn’t represent anything.”

He looked at her, his head turning…

Sheng Xia felt her leg going numb, her body seeming to be electrified.

“This might also be what your advisor wanted to say, about where you came from and where you’re going. Think clearly about what you were like when you came, what you want to do, don’t be idle, and don’t waste time on the wrong path.”

His voice brought back her attention.

Sheng Xia finally looked down, meeting his gaze.

The young man’s eyes were still bright in the night.

Some people are just like this—as long as they look at you while speaking, you feel as if you’ve been sniped, unconditionally convinced.

Sheng Xia suddenly remembered her first failed monthly exam in senior year, when he was also like this, starting from his own experience, putting himself in her shoes, analyzing by analogy, and showing her the way.

He looked at her the same way then.

The young man’s passionate feelings and the adult’s soberness blended without any sense of discord in one person.

A thought arose in her heart—what had she done to deserve this?

“Then what does Ashu plan to do?”

Zhang Shu caught a strand of her hanging hair, twirling it between his fingers.

His thoughts.

Because of this question, he hadn’t figured it out either. What to do? Coming to a new platform, discovering that past advantages were all clouds, not even enough to serve as stepping stones. So what to do?

“Find your track,” Zhang Shu suddenly said deeply.

Using her question as an opportunity to answer, Zhang Shu also suddenly became clear in this moment.

The path in high school was nothing but studying—reading thousands of books.

But university is different. More important than reading is finding your track, and reading the right books.

His track might not be in coding at all, at least not solely in coding. On this track, others’ starting line was too high, beyond reach, so why fixate on this small plot of land?

Finding your track…

Sheng Xia silently repeated these words, still pondering when she felt her neck being pulled down, and the next second, warm lips pressed against hers.

Zhang Shu tilted his head up and kissed her suddenly, then let go, his head falling back onto her knee, “Tell me, aren’t you a treasure?”

Sheng Xia looked at his radiant smile, dazed.

Zhang Shu sat up, rubbing her head: “Don’t think too much. You worked too hard in senior year and suddenly stopping feels uncomfortable, it’s normal. People don’t have to have goals at every stage, as long as the overall path is right. Didn’t we say? Sheng Xia can always just do what she likes, if you like writing books, go write books, if you like doing research, go write papers, do what you like to the extreme, isn’t that the most amazing?”

As for those worldly things, the things that need competition, pursuit, and sprinting to obtain.

Leave those to him.

Sheng Xia looked at him and nodded.

She felt his head approaching.

“It’s dark…” he spoke, his voice extremely close and low, his breath falling on her face.

Sheng Xia instinctively leaned back, uncertain: “Mm- mm?”

Her head was suddenly cradled, her lips kissed once, his mouth curving up, “It’s dark, let me see if Number Three has come back…”

Number Three.

“Number Three is…” Sheng Xia mumbled unconsciously, “Mmph!”

He cupped her face with both hands, tilted his head, and kissed her deeply.

Caught off guard, Sheng Xia fell straight back. He didn’t catch her waist to pull her back either, but followed the momentum of the kiss, pressing her completely onto the grass to kiss her.

He pressed down heavily, then slowly released, his tongue tip sliding across the corner of her mouth as it entered, making Sheng Xia shiver, unconsciously letting out a whimper, “Mm…”

Zhang Shu’s body also tensed, he propped himself up and gazed at her dazedly.

Sheng Xia fell into his eyes, darker than the night.

Her black hair spread on the ground, her pupils holding a pool of clear spring water, and her too-fair skin had a kind of fragile beauty in the night.

“This is killing me…” Zhang Shu sighed, pressing down for another deep kiss.

They didn’t know how long they kissed.

She knew he liked kissing, spending most of their time together kissing.

But Sheng Xia didn’t know that such a simple action could make one so tireless.

The overgrown grass pricked finely at the back of her head, while in front, fine and dense kisses swept away all of Sheng Xia’s senses.

He suddenly caught her tongue and wouldn’t let go, sucking hard.

Sheng Xia’s tongue root went numb!

Her whole body felt like it was being roasted by fire, so tense her toes couldn’t help but curl.

Just as she was about to push him away, his lips left.

Chin, neck…

Pain!

The tightening pain in the flesh below her collarbone made Sheng Xia open her eyes, she weakly touched his head, “Ashu…”

Zhang Shu reluctantly propped himself up, looking at her with unsteady breath.

Looking at her slightly swollen lower lip, looking at the crimson mark below her collarbone.

His gaze slowly rose, meeting her misty eyes again, he couldn’t help but kiss her once more.

“Mm, Number Three is so soft.”