Xia Xia backed away discreetly while Xie Huai advanced brazenly.

Seeing him approach step by step, Xia Xia’s calves trembled as she retreated faster.

Xie Huai raised the pillow in his hand: “If you dare to dodge again, don’t blame me for breaking your legs.”

So Xia Xia didn’t dare move.

Xie Huai questioned: “When the police asked if I forced you, you cried. When they asked if I hit you, you cried again, crying your way straight into getting me taken to the police station. I’m curious, what the hell were you crying about?”

“When I’m scared, I can’t control my emotions,” Xia Xia said softly. “There were two of you and props in the closet. Who knows if you were planning to handcuff me to the bed for a threesome? Besides, with so many police officers watching, it was embarrassing…”

Xie Huai: “…My face was on the evening paper’s front page. Who’s the embarrassed one here?”

Xia Xia: “You can’t blame that on me. Maybe the reporter just thought you were handsome and gave you special coverage.”

Xie Huai’s expression remained cool: “So I should thank you?”

“No need for thanks.” Xia Xia acknowledged her fault. “I was wrong that night too. I didn’t think things through. I admit my emotions were a bit out of control, otherwise I wouldn’t have…”

She paused, then gave him a sincere bow: “I apologize. I’m sorry.”

“Just a sorry?” Xie Huai tilted his head to look at her.

“Then what?” Xia Xia resigned herself, wearing an expression of complete indifference. “I definitely can’t afford compensation unless you sell me. Or maybe you could let me make the evening paper too? Though that might be difficult.”

“How about this: you pack up your stall now, and we’ll go find a hotel to finish what we couldn’t that night, to make up for your damages, okay?”

“But let me say upfront, I can’t split the bill this time. You’ll have to pay for the room.”

Xie Huai: “…”

The girl looked soft and delicate, yet she said such things without batting an eye or blushing, unnaturally composed.

He frowned, looking her up and down, suddenly noticing her hands.

—Hanging at her sides, tightly gripping her clothes, betraying her inner nervousness.

Xie Huai suddenly found it amusing.

“Alright then.” He raised his eyebrows. “Not only will I cover the room, but I’ll buy all the whips, candles, and condoms too. When you’re ready, we’ll go. It’s eleven-thirty now. I’ll get an hourly room, and we can still make it out for dinner.”

As he spoke, he tossed the pillow behind him: “Let’s go now. Whoever doesn’t go is a grandson.”

Xia Xia: “……”

When she spoke again, her voice unconsciously softened: “Never mind, I’ll pay compensation instead.”

“How much money would compensate for your mental damages? Name your price, though it’ll have to be in installments—I don’t have money now.”

Xie Huai remained silent, and she inexplicably grew nervous, glancing up at him from the corner of her eye.

Xie Huai was also studying her, his gaze thoughtful: “You’re a freshman? Which school?”

Xia Xia nodded: “School of Management.”

Xie Huai said: “I can’t make it to the freshman assembly this afternoon. Sign in for me. Remember what the counselor says, and come tell me tonight—I’ll still be here after the meeting.”

Xia Xia asked puzzled: “Why would a bedding seller need to attend the freshman assembly?”

Xie Huai didn’t respond, and she suddenly realized: “You’re a freshman too? But why are you selling things here?”

Xie Huai glanced at her: “None of your business.”

When Xia Xia returned empty-handed to the dormitory, another roommate had arrived.

Cai Yun washed several apples and placed them on the girl’s desk: “Zi Yu, have some apples.”

Zhu Zi Yu sat at the desk doing her makeup and turned her head to thank her. When she saw Xia Xia enter, she paused briefly before greeting her.

Cai Yun carried the fruit basket back to her seat: “Xia Xia, would you like an apple?”

She asked casually, without the warmth she’d shown to Zhu Zi Yu, and was already heading back to her seat before finishing her question, but Xia Xia intercepted her midway.

“Yes.” Xia Xia smiled like a naive sweetie. “Thank you, Cai Yun.”

Xia Xia put the apple on her desk planning to have it for lunch, and stared at it longingly for a while, but her stomach was too hungry to wait, so she picked it up and began munching.

Cai Yun asked curiously: “I saw you go into the supermarket earlier. Didn’t you buy bedding?”

Xia Xia spoke with her mouth full: “We’ll talk about that later.”

Cai Yun gave her a long look and reminded her: “The supermarket doesn’t have much stock left. If you want to buy something, you’d better hurry.”

Xia Xia nodded, her foot propped on the chair, her calf skin startlingly white.

She ate the apple completely clean, leaving no flesh on the core, and then went to wash her hands in the washroom in the corridor.

Cai Yun walked behind Zhu Zi Yu: “Zi Yu, let me tell you, that Xia Xia is weird.”

…

Zhu Zi Yu had also come by long-distance train. She slept in the bed opposite Xia Xia’s, and after putting away her things, she climbed into bed to sleep, looking completely exhausted. Yet she was extremely beautiful, and even in her tired state, her makeup remained impeccable. When she squinted her eyes in drowsiness, she looked like a lazy purebred aristocratic cat.

The freshman assembly was in the evening. At dusk, Cai Yun invited Zhu Zi Yu to the cafeteria for dinner but didn’t ask Xia Xia.

Zhu Zi Yu was being pulled by the arm by Cai Yun, looking somewhat impatient, while Cai Yun wore a smile.

Cai Yun was always trying to make conversation with her. Zhu Zi Yu didn’t much enjoy talking to her, her words coming out one by one reluctantly, but Cai Yun didn’t mind, willingly offering warmth to a cold shoulder.

Zhu Zi Yu couldn’t handle her enthusiasm but couldn’t bring herself to be rude to such a friendly face.

Zhu Zi Yu looked at Xia Xia: “Coming with us?”

Xia Xia shook her head: “You go ahead.”

After everyone left the dormitory, Xia Xia took out her wallet and emptied its contents.

One fifty yuan note, one twenty, two tens, plus four coins.

Her bank card had exactly one hundred yuan left, and her Alipay balance was zero.

One hundred and ninety-four yuan—all her savings in the world.

She covered her head, slumping onto the desk, muttering: “Miscalculated… This damn school doesn’t even provide bedding…”

According to her original plan, this money could have lasted one or two weeks if she had been frugal. She could find some part-time work handing out flyers for eighty yuan daily payment, and gradually support herself without starving. But if she bought bedding, she’d have no money for food, and if she didn’t buy bedding…

She hadn’t gone far when she left at noon before hearing Cai Yun telling Zhu Zi Yu inside: “That Xia Xia is weird. The first thing she did in the dorm was glue her shoes—I would’ve thrown those broken shoes away—and she carries super glue and toothpicks with her… And you should see her phone, probably one of those free ones that come with phone plans. I have several in my drawer at home. Oh my god…”

…If she didn’t buy bedding, probably the whole school would know she was weird by tomorrow.

Xia Xia opened the box she hadn’t unpacked yet, filled with various odds and ends. She’d only taken out the toothpicks and super glue this morning and Cai Yun had already called her weird. If Cai Yun saw these things, she’d probably faint on the spot.

An old desk lamp with a broken corner, two brand new but plain notebooks, a dozen peeling coat hangers, an English dictionary with loose pages, half a bottle of shampoo, a thermos with faded flower prints…

Xia Xia finished organizing her things around six o’clock and ran to the lecture hall in the teaching building.

With its rich historical heritage, every building and road at Nan University has been given a name. The path from the dormitory area to the teaching building was called Spring Harmony Road.

Xie Huai had his stall on Spring Harmony Road. He’d sold most of his bedding in the morning, with only one set stacked aside. Several large boxes were piled on the ground, from which he took out thermoses, mosquito nets, and desk lamps, arranging them neatly on the ground.

Xia Xia stood watching from a distance, thinking Xie Huai was truly peculiar. While other freshmen were busy reporting in and organizing their dorms on their first day, he was systematically selling bedding here, and after selling bedding, he’d sell thermoses at night. No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t figure out what his deal was.

Xia Xia had left late, and when she reached the lecture hall, almost all seats were taken except for the front row facing the podium.

The Management School’s counselor this year was called Yi Meixian, who despite being in her thirties looked like she was in her twenties, dressed like a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl, with skillful makeup that made her blend in perfectly with college students.

She lectured alone for two hours, maintaining a stern expression throughout, stopping whenever she saw someone playing with their phone.

Xia Xia had left her phone charging in the dorm and was somewhat bored, propping her chin on her hand while doodling in her notebook, nodding off sleepily. Just as she was about to lay her head down for a nap, the voice from the podium stopped.

Yi Meixian stared at her: “Girl in the front row, is my lecture making you so sleepy?”

Xia Xia immediately straightened up and sat properly.

After finishing her speech, Yi Meixian didn’t take attendance but instead pulled out a stack of test papers from under the desk and handed them to Jiang Jingzhou beside her.

Jiang Jingzhou distributed them, and the students below looked at each other in bewilderment.

Yi Meixian: “When you received your admission notice, there should have been a school rules manual and an A4 paper in the envelope. The text on that A4 paper was typed by me, character by character, in my office, telling you to read the school rules manual carefully.”

She raised her chin: “I’ve delivered the message, and whether you read it or not will be clear from this test. One hundred points total, sixty points to pass, retake until you pass if you fail. Start as soon as you get the paper.”

Xia Xia: “…”

When she received her admission notice, she had indeed seen the little manual inside, but after seeing “School Rules” written on the cover, she hadn’t even bothered to look at it twice before throwing it in the trash.

She’d seen that A4 paper too—the dining table at home had been wobbling for a week, so she’d folded the A4 paper several times and used it to steady the table leg.

Waves of wailing rose from the lecture hall, and Yi Meixian went out to make a phone call after distributing the papers.

The classroom grew restless, with people putting their heads together and some taking out phones to look up answers.

Jiang Jingzhou stood on the podium supervising: “Keep it down, don’t make too much noise.”

Seeing Xia Xia staring blankly at the paper without writing anything, he walked over to her: “Didn’t memorize the manual?”

Xia Xia hesitated. Xie Huai had only asked her to help sign in, not to help with the test paper. She wouldn’t be at fault even if she didn’t do this for him… but she’d just seen that Xie Huai’s stall still had one set of bedding left. If she could improve her relationship with him, maybe she could figure out a way to get a set of bedding from him.

She looked up at Jiang Jingzhou, timidly like a little white rabbit: “…Senior, I have a friend who couldn’t come.”

Jiang Jingzhou didn’t make things difficult, directly pulling out another test paper for her: “Don’t let Teacher Yi see.”

Xia Xia started working on the test papers, which were all about Nan University’s school rules.

She was completely confused, and while she was spacing out, someone from behind called out: “The answers have been shared in the freshman group!”

The classroom immediately erupted in cheers.

Xia Xia had left her phone in the dorm and was looking around hoping to borrow a phone from classmates with test papers in the back when Yi Meixian returned from her call. Everyone quickly put away their phones. Yi Meixian still let Jiang Jingzhou supervise while she sat down next to Xia Xia to play with her phone.

Xia Xia’s smile froze on her face.

Yi Meixian didn’t look back, and Jiang Jingzhou didn’t manage things strictly, so the students behind openly took out their phones to copy.

Sitting next to Yi Meixian, Xia Xia couldn’t do anything, so she had to tough it out and guess all the answers on the test paper, then took advantage of Yi Meixian’s inattention to pull out Xie Huai’s test paper to write on.

An hour later, Yi Meixian got up to collect the papers.

Xia Xia’s paper was full of scribbles like ghostwriting. She quickly wrote her own name, then pulled out Xie Huai’s paper intending to write his name too, but her pen tip hovered over the name field without falling. After three seconds of hesitation, she blinked her eyes.

Night, nine o’clock.

The thick cloud cover over Nan City had disappeared in the night, leaving a cold crescent moon hanging in the sky.

Xie Huai hadn’t packed up his stall yet. The night wind was cool, and he sat on a small stool wearing a blue jacket over his black T-shirt.

There weren’t many people at the stall now, and his expression was cool, that arrogant air unconsciously emerging again.

Xia Xia walked up to him and handed him a paper: “I wrote down all the important points the counselor mentioned for you.”

Xie Huai glanced at it: “Just these?”

“They also sprung a school rules test on us. The counselor was sneaky, catching everyone off guard. I asked around afterward, and nobody was prepared.” Xia Xia said eagerly, “But don’t worry, bro, I did one for you and turned it in.”

Xie Huai raised an eyebrow: “Is that so?”

“Just that there was a small accident…” Xia Xia absently fiddled with the plastic wrap of a mosquito net under her hand. “Can I ask you something?”

Xie Huai said coolly: “Ask.”

Xia Xia: “Do you know what my name is?”

“No.”

“Don’t know?”

Xie Huai impatiently: “Do I need to know that?”

“Of course not.” Xia Xia smiled like a flower. “Then bro, what’s your name?”

Xie Huai: “…”

Xia Xia nervously: “Although I did the test for you when collecting papers I realized you hadn’t told me your name.”

Seeing his eyebrows furrow, Xia Xia quickly tried to remedy the situation: “But I did turn in the paper. If you go find the teacher now and say you forgot to write your name, there should still be time. The senior said if you don’t pass this test, you’ll have to keep retaking it. It’s all very troublesome, so you should hurry.”

Xie Huai’s expression only then brightened slightly.

Xia Xia peeked at him: “You’re not angry anymore, right? If you’re not angry, I have another small accident to tell you about…”

“…You see, after collecting the papers, Teacher Yi took attendance.” She carefully observed his expression, stammering, “You don’t know my name, so it’s perfectly normal that I don’t know your name either. I couldn’t answer for you. This… this can’t be entirely my fault, right?”

Xie Huai: “…”