The girl’s parents also froze for a moment, the scolding that was about to burst from their mouths stuck in their throats.

The plot reversed so quickly that it caught everyone present completely off guard.

“Young lady, are you certain you were with Xie Ci at that time?”

Someone asked, their voice stern, “This is not something to joke about.”

“I’m certain… cough cough…” Xu You’s face was pale, her hand loosely formed into a fist placed before her lips as she coughed twice softly.

When she coughed, her thin, small shoulders hunched together slightly, trembling, and the ponytail tied at the back of her head loosened and slid forward over her shoulder.

Xie Ci was more than a head taller than Xu You. He stood close to her and instinctively wanted to reach out to support her arm. His arm had just moved when his own father glared fiercely at him.

He awkwardly withdrew his hand.

Xie Dongyu’s tightly furrowed brow finally relaxed somewhat.

He picked up his phone and dialed someone’s number. As soon as the other side answered, he immediately said, “Pull up the surveillance footage from the underground parking lot of Zhengda Plaza on the afternoon of October 17th.”

“……”

“What?!” Xie Dongyu stood up from the sofa and quickly walked out to the corridor.

The remaining people in the office exchanged glances with one another.

After a moment of silence, the girl’s mother started yelling at Xu You, “So whatever you say is the truth? Show us the evidence first! My daughter is so unfortunate, having to deal with this kind of thing…”

She began crying and wiping tears dramatically again.

Xu You said nothing. Instead, the grade director came forward to mediate, “Since it’s been mentioned that there’s surveillance footage, Mother Liu, please don’t be anxious. Whether or not it was our school’s student who did this is still up for discussion.”

After all, if this kind of thing became big and spread outside, it wouldn’t look good. The school administration was more inclined toward a peaceful resolution.

After arguing for a while longer, Xie Dongyu returned from making his phone call outside.

He first glanced at Xie Ci, then said in a deep voice, “The mall has footage of my son in the elevator at 5:20 PM. The surveillance shows he didn’t drive out of the mall until 6:15 PM. As for the time period when your daughter’s incident occurred, my son has sufficient evidence of being elsewhere…”

As soon as these words came out, more than half of those present breathed a sigh of relief.

—

Coming out of the principal’s office, Xu You walked ahead while Xie Ci kept his eyes on the ground, silently following all the way.

Approaching December, the temperature had suddenly dropped. Although the afternoon sunlight was bright, when the wind blew on people’s faces, it still cut painfully.

Walking past the fountain, she gradually stopped, staring at the clusters of small water jets bubbling up, lost in thought.

“That…”

Xie Ci’s sudden voice startled Xu You.

He tilted his head, leaning in very close.

“Move back a little.” Xu You wanted to push him away.

Xie Ci neither spoke nor stepped back. He just stared at her with his eyes. “Why did you help me today?”

“……” Xu You looked away.

But he remained stubbornly persistent, as if he had to get an answer.

“Don’t you really dislike me?” Xie Ci kept pressing her with questions.

Xu You remained silent. She was just a bit tired. She walked around him and sat down on the wooden bench nearby.

Xie Ci stayed where he was, standing motionless.

Xu You stretched out her legs straight, her hands propped on the edge of the bench, leaning forward slightly with a sigh.

There was still some time before class ended. If they went up now, it would disrupt classroom discipline again.

Xu You’s fingers lightly tapped the bench. After two seconds, she beckoned toward the distance, as if summoning a little puppy.

“Stop standing there.”

Her voice wasn’t loud. Her palm patted the spot beside her, “Come sit.”

Xie Ci reacted after a long moment, almost doubting he was experiencing auditory hallucinations.

He secretly observed Xu You’s expression, then quietly and obediently walked over, sitting down beside her.

The two of them sat very close, their legs almost touching. Xu You didn’t seem to notice.

For a moment, there was silence.

“Xie Ci.”

She called his name and asked, “Today, why did you argue with your father?”

Xie Ci didn’t speak. She continued, her voice slow and gentle, “Your father and mother are very worried about you too. With this kind of incident, you should have come to discuss it with me, or explained things clearly to them, to avoid—”

“Ha, they’re not worried about me at all.”

Xie Ci’s gaze turned away, his voice flat and emotionless, saying expressionlessly, “They divorced a long time ago. They each do their own thing. Who has time to care about me?”

Xu You was stunned. After a while, she said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I’m not very good at talking. Please don’t mind.”

“What, don’t tell me you helped me speak up just because my dad scolded me.” He turned his head.

Even sitting, Xie Ci was taller than Xu You. She looked up at him and said seriously, “You’re my classmate. You helped me. No matter what, I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.”

“Can’t we just not be classmates?” He said dissatisfied, muttering.

Seeing she didn’t respond, Xie Ci continued, “Do you find me especially annoying?”

Xu You shook her head.

“Then can you stop deliberately being cold to me?”

He had been trying to hold it in, but now he couldn’t anymore.

That sudden, inescapable feeling of restlessness mixed with longing.

Really, Xie Ci had never been this agitated in his entire life.

Being influenced so deeply by a girl’s every move.

That feeling of being with her—thinking about it was never enough, yet he couldn’t put it into words.

“I haven’t been deliberate.”

Xu You’s eyes looked at the white clouds in the sky as she said calmly, “My life is different from yours. Our upbringings are different, so perhaps the ways we treat people are different too. You used to make me angry, but not to the extent that I disliked you.”

Having said this, she glanced at him. “I used to be quite afraid of you, because your temper was too bad.”

Xie Ci’s face stiffened. “Where the hell is my temper bad?”

“It’s just not good anyway.”

Xu You shook her head. “And you like to act like a thug…”

Before she could finish, everything suddenly went dark before her eyes.

Xie Ci’s face was right in front of her.

“If your mouth is so good at talking, why don’t you do stand-up comedy?”

—

School days passed just like that, plain and dull yet tedious.

After the incident involving Xie Ci was posted on the forum, it was deleted after just a few hours. Follow-up clarification posts came out as well. In any case, it didn’t stir up any major waves, and the matter just passed.

As for that junior girl, not long after, she transferred schools.

The class adjusted seating positions again, but Xu You remained in the first row without moving.

She had now changed from a boarding student to a day student. The house she rented was in a neighborhood near the school, not very far. Her mother usually took care of her.

Friday afternoons generally had few classes—one PE class and two self-study periods. After finishing those, they had the weekend off.

Xu You had been kept awake by the crying of a child downstairs last night and hadn’t managed to take a nap at noon. At this moment, her eyelids kept drooping.

She forced herself to finish a set of practice exam papers in the classroom, then tossed her books aside, laid her head on her desk, and fell into a deep sleep, not even hearing the dismissal bell.

When she woke up, there were only a scattered few people left in the classroom. It was very quiet.

Xu You yawned, gathered the books on her desk, shouldered her backpack, and left school.

The school gate area had heavy foot traffic, with crowds of people.

As she crossed the street, she was still thinking about a function problem she had just worked on.

After walking a few blocks, Xu You stopped in front of a pastry shop.

She went in and waited in line for almost half an hour. Winter days grew dark early. By the time she came out, the streetlights along the road were already lit.

Xu You carried the plastic bag in her hand, head lowered, slowly walking past lamp after lamp.

This street had very few people, hardly a soul in sight.

Walking down a slope, she descended two steps. Her body paused.

“Stop following me.” Xu You turned around.

Not far away, a dark shadow emerged.

Xie Ci had both hands in his pockets, keeping a moderate distance from her.

It had been almost a week already. Ever since Xie Ci learned that Xu You lived off-campus, he followed her home from school every single day.

He always silently followed behind, never disturbing her.

Xu You had originally intended to keep pretending she didn’t know, but gradually, the way he acted—like a stray cat following her—began to look a bit pitiful.

She stood in place for a while.

Unable to bear it, Xu You tightened her grip on the bag. She turned back, walked up to Xie Ci, and looked up to ask him.

“Where is your home?”

Xie Ci’s mind went somewhat blank.

Running out of patience with him, she tugged at his jacket. “It’s the middle of winter. Aren’t you cold following me around?”

“I’m not cold.” He answered very quickly.

Xu You asked again, “Then why are you following me?”

Back to this question again.

Her voice was soft and gentle.

Xie Ci didn’t answer. He clicked his tongue and looked elsewhere.

A cool breeze blew past. Both of them shrank their shoulders from the cold.

Xu You wore a thick coat with a school uniform draped over it—clearly a student at a glance.

They stood by the roadside. Occasionally people passed by, casting curious glances at them.

The atmosphere felt strange.

Xu You felt uncomfortable and turned to take a step forward.

The person behind her reacted quickly, catching up to walk alongside her.

The two had nothing to say to each other. They had only walked a few steps when his phone rang.

Xie Ci answered. Song Yifan’s loud voice came through carelessly from the other end, “I’m asking if you’ve walked sister-in-law home yet. What time is it already? Everyone here is waiting for you to come, Brother Ci.”

The voice was very loud and clear. It reached Xu You’s ears perfectly. She heard every word distinctly.

Xie Ci walked a few steps to the side, frowning impatiently, “I’m not going today. Stop bothering me.”

Song Yifan, afraid he would hang up, quickly said “Hey, hey” twice. “Don’t not come! We…”

Then he was directly hung up on.

His expression was quite serious as he put away his phone. When he looked up, he met Xu You’s gaze.

“Does looking at a handsome guy require such concentration?” Xie Ci started being glib again.

Xu You lowered her head and fished out a still somewhat warm green rice ball from the plastic bag, handing it to him. “Here, eat this. Go back quickly.”

Xie Ci took it without a word, but still stubbornly refused to leave.

His scoundrel nature showing through.

“Xie Ci, what exactly do you want?” Xu You had no way to deal with him. She couldn’t shake him off or convince him to leave.

She held it in for a long time, then said, “Stop following me home all the time.”

“Stand still for a moment.”

Xie Ci’s expression was hidden in the moonlight. He looked down at her, so close to him, his thin lips pressed tight.

“Xu You, I’ve been holding back for a very long time.”

After Xu You heard him say this sentence, before she could react, she only felt her shoulders being held by someone.

He quickly leaned in, mouth to mouth, and pecked her once.

Xie Ci’s breathing was heavy, hot breath exhaled by her ear. “Let me kiss you once and then I’ll leave.”