Jiang Ruoqiao was still looking at Lu Yicheng in a daze.

Under that focused, attentive gaze, the palm of Lu Yicheng’s hand grew warm and the tips of his ears grew a little hot — but he still waited patiently for her reply.

He was genuinely puzzled. With sun this strong, given her temperament, she would normally never want to be outside.

So what was she doing here?

Jiang Ruoqiao came back to herself and replied with a slight delay: “Oh, I came here to take care of something. What about you — why are you here?”

Her voice carried a trace of nervousness.

It really was strange. She had come here, and he had shown up too — and just like in the dream, he had walked toward her. The words were different, but the tone was the same gentle warmth.

“Me?” Lu Yicheng smiled. “I’m doing part-time work at a senior friend’s company. The role is a bit complex — there’s a lot of groundwork to do. A colleague my senior knows happens to have relevant materials, and I came to pick them up. That colleague works around here.”

Jiang Ruoqiao made a sound of acknowledgment. Right — there was indeed a large company in this area.

Lu Yicheng glanced at the time. “Are you heading straight back to school? If you’re not in a rush, we could grab a meal.”

His tone sounded casual, but underneath it he was nervous too — why he was nervous, he couldn’t quite say.

Jiang Ruoqiao: “Oh.”

Lu Yicheng thought: That should be agreement, shouldn’t it?

Neither of them was very familiar with this part of the city. The area had plenty of office workers, but these companies all shared one common feature — they had employee cafeterias. In short, outside restaurants had very little customer base here. Jiang Ruoqiao walked with her parasol behind Lu Yicheng for nearly a kilometer, and she was just about to lose her mind and pull out her phone to call a car when they finally found somewhere to eat.

But…

Jiang Ruoqiao stood hesitating in front of several small eateries.

Lu Yicheng asked with careful apprehension: “Which one would you like?”

He had been following the navigation directions.

He just hadn’t anticipated that the hot pot restaurant would be closed today.

The remaining options were a Sha County snack shop, a small mixed-dish restaurant, and a Lanzhou hand-pulled noodle shop.

Lu Yicheng rubbed the back of his head with some embarrassment and suggested: “Why don’t we look for another place? It won’t take long.”

He was tense.

The kind of tense that nearly rivaled college entrance exam day.

He was sure she was going to be annoyed. She didn’t look like the type who would appreciate these kinds of options. But he honestly hadn’t meant this to happen — he had looked up a hot pot restaurant, and he had no idea that particular place would be closed today.

“Won’t take long??” Jiang Ruoqiao was someone who did have a temper. “Do you mean another twenty-plus minutes of walking in this sun? Lu Yicheng!!”

Lu Yicheng apologized immediately: “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. This is my fault.”

He admitted fault so quickly and so sincerely that Jiang Ruoqiao’s irritation deflated on the spot. She waved it off with a weary hand. “Forget it. You didn’t really do anything wrong.”

Lu Yicheng: “Then…?”

Jiang Ruoqiao: “Just pick a place. Any place.” She paused, then made a point of specifying: “Within a hundred meters.”

Lu Yicheng made a mental note: next time, don’t make her walk this far. And before going to any restaurant, call ahead to confirm they’re actually open.

Noted, Lu Yicheng.

In the end, Lu Yicheng brought Jiang Ruoqiao to the small mixed-dish restaurant.

There weren’t many customers. Jiang Ruoqiao clearly had no interest in going to select dishes herself — she found a seat and sat down, leaving all the ordering and carrying of food to Lu Yicheng. If he had been eating alone, he would have gotten at most one meat dish and one vegetable dish. But now there were two of them, and moreover, the other person was her — so Lu Yicheng generously chose the most expensive dishes available. When the server brought over six or seven small bowls, Jiang Ruoqiao was taken aback: “Can we even finish all this?”

Lu Yicheng: “I think… that should be fine.”

Jiang Ruoqiao’s interest was piqued. She pressed her lips together, her dimples peeking out as she teased him: “Lu Yicheng, what happened to your cost-effectiveness philosophy?”

Wasn’t it always cost-effectiveness this, cost-effectiveness that?

Given his habits and personality, wouldn’t he normally order four dishes at most? How had he suddenly gone and ordered six or seven?

Lu Yicheng had clearly been teased, but still managed to maintain perfect composure as he said: “I think choosing a small mixed-dish restaurant for lunch is already quite the cost-effective choice.”

Jiang Ruoqiao was stumped.

He wasn’t wrong.

Six or seven dishes, all told, surely wouldn’t add up to more than a hundred yuan.

The meat dishes were pricier, but she’d glanced at the price list when they came in — even the most expensive dish was under twenty.

The vegetable dishes were even cheaper.

Seeing Jiang Ruoqiao go quiet, Lu Yicheng found himself reflecting: had every place he’d taken her to been too inexpensive?

There had been the dumpling stall, and now a small mixed-dish restaurant — and if he thought about it, the most extravagant meal had been the one he’d cooked at home…

But truly, this small mixed-dish restaurant was genuinely good value, and the food wasn’t bad either. Jiang Ruoqiao didn’t have a large appetite, but she still finished a bowl of rice. All the remaining dishes went into Lu Yicheng’s stomach.

…

After eating, they headed back to school together.

Jiang Ruoqiao needed to review some client materials and then put together a detailed plan for the A University visit. Lu Yicheng had class that afternoon.

When Lu Yicheng walked into the classroom, Jiang Yan and the others had already arrived.

The atmosphere instantly became subtly charged.

Students throughout the class were exchanging glances — silent conversations conducted entirely through their eyes. After two days, who didn’t know that Lu Yicheng was pursuing Jiang Ruoqiao? And who didn’t know that Jiang Ruoqiao had broken up with Jiang Yan? Could these two maintain the same relationship as before? Of course they couldn’t.

Previously, their dormitory group of four had all sat together.

Du Yu had, out of habit, already saved a seat for Lu Yicheng, and was just about to call him over when he remembered that Jiang Yan was sitting in the seat behind — and he shut his mouth.

Lu Yicheng wasn’t going to go sit over there either. He scanned the classroom, found an empty seat, and settled in with complete ease, pulling his textbook and notes out of his backpack without a trace of discomfort.

Jiang Yan sat there expressionlessly spinning a pen. Every time the pen dropped onto the desk, Du Yu’s heart gave a little lurch.

Not only Du Yu — others in the class were equally worried, all fearing that Jiang Yan and Lu Yicheng were about to come to blows.

Lu Yicheng was entirely unaffected.

Du Yu struggled with himself for a final moment, and then — unable to bear Jiang Yan’s pen-spinning any longer — with great moral courage picked up his textbook and his bag, hunched over, and slid into the seat beside Lu Yicheng.

Onlookers: “…”

Wang Jiangfeng: “…”

He was one step too slow!!

But this wasn’t about taking sides. Du Yu and Wang Jiangfeng had actually talked about this privately — in this situation involving the three of them, they weren’t expressing any opinion and weren’t siding with anyone… The reason Du Yu went over to Lu Yicheng’s side was entirely because — this professor absolutely loved calling on students to answer questions!

With Lu Yicheng there, they could all relax.

Now that Du Yu had gone over to Lu Yicheng, Wang Jiangfeng couldn’t go too, in case people thought they were picking sides — thought the three of them were ostracizing Jiang Yan. They didn’t do things that way.

Lu Yicheng was a friend, yes — but so was Jiang Yan, and they didn’t want to grow distant from either of them.

Though Jiang Yan had been admittedly difficult to approach lately.

Always with that cold expression, making it hard to know how to talk to him.

Lu Yicheng, in contrast, was the same as he’d always been.

When the professor walked in, she immediately sensed that today felt different. She stood at the lectern and said with warm approval: “Third year — everyone has really matured! No one’s on their phones, no one’s sleeping, no one’s whispering to each other. Very good. I hope you’ll continue like this. Your teacher is very pleased.”

The rest of the students: “…”

No, Professor, you’ve misunderstood.

We are still the hopeless cases you know us to be.

Right now it’s just because there’s drama unfolding, and we’re sitting in the middle of a battlefield!

Jiang Ruoqiao’s social media accounts had quite a following.

A fan had asked her: 【Hey, didn’t you say you were going to post a video about the gifts you and your boyfriend exchange? I’ve been waiting. Christmas isn’t that many months away, and I’d love some inspiration~】

Jiang Ruoqiao had, indeed, teased this previously.

She had mentioned she would post a video about how she and her boyfriend prepared little gift surprises for each other during the holidays.

When she had said that, she had intended it for today.

After careful thought, she replied to the comment: 【I’m sorry — I hadn’t finished editing the video yet and then we broke up. TAT】

A fan immediately noticed and asked anxiously: 【What happened? How did you break up??】

Jiang Ruoqiao scrolled through the comments, smiling faintly.

She was not going to say a single bad word about Jiang Yan.

Whatever she wanted to say, she could say to herself internally and leave it there. Saying it to others wasn’t appropriate.

For one thing, they had dated, and had once genuinely liked each other — there was no need to be accusatory after a breakup, especially since it hadn’t ended in a messy falling-out.

For another, it had everything to do with her own image. However graceful and composed she appeared now, however much she refrained from disparaging anyone — if, in the future, Jiang Yan’s side tried to throw any mud at her, the contrast in character would speak for itself.

Jiang Ruoqiao replied playfully: 【Maybe he’s a savory-soy-milk person and I’m a sweet-soy-milk person? Haha, just kidding! He’s a genuinely good person, and we had very beautiful memories together. But how do I put it — being together was very happy, and being apart will be even happier, so for each other’s sake, we chose to return to being strangers.】

This, naturally, was picked up on by her fans.

Somewhere in a girls’ university dormitory.

Meng Siyu was indignant: “Xiao Qiao broke up! I just asked my friend at A University to check the campus forum for me. According to the forum, it sounds like the guy had some issues with his conduct! Xiao Qiao is so good — she hasn’t said a single bad word about that scumbag!”

Lin Kexing listened, and found it all intensely grating.

Intensely painful.

After that day, Jiang Yan had only returned twice, and in the past few days had packed his things and left the Mingmen Huafu building.

And during this period, he had not called her once. Not sent a single message.

“I wonder if we can see any photos of that scumbag!”

“He’s so terrible — what was he thinking? Xiao Qiao is so wonderful, even I as a girl have a crush on her, and yet he goes and doesn’t appreciate it at all? Does he have manure for eyes?”

Listening to the rants and misunderstandings directed at Jiang Yan, Lin Kexing drew a deep breath, then finally couldn’t hold it in any longer. In a cold voice, she said: “Do you even understand the situation? Do you know anything about it? Do you even know them? You know nothing — so what are you out here judging?”

The other three girls in the room froze.

Ah, this…

For a moment, the atmosphere was deeply strange.

Lin Kexing glanced at them, then walked out of the dormitory.

“What is her problem?”

“I wasn’t even talking about her — why is she getting worked up?”

—

The next day, Jiang Ruoqiao met the overseas client.

Just as the materials had described — a kind-faced, warm-looking woman.

Probably in her mid-fifties, by estimation.

The woman’s name was Merry. She explained with a sense of humor that her name was Merry, and her husband’s surname was Mei — so together, she became Mei Li.

Mei Li had also prepared a gift for their first meeting: a bottle of perfume.

For Mei Li, this trip was about fulfilling her late husband’s wish. She also wanted to visit the place where he had once spent time. In fact, many years ago, she and her husband had come to A University together. Jiang Ruoqiao had arranged a rich itinerary, guiding Mei Li through the campus and introducing everything to her in fluent English. Jiang Ruoqiao was excited but nervous — fortunately, Mei Li was gracious and easygoing.

As they walked along, Jiang Ruoqiao guided Mei Li down a tree-lined path — and unexpectedly ran into Lu Yicheng.

Lu Yicheng was holding his bicycle, standing not far away.

He had apparently just happened to be passing by and seemed to want to come over and say hello, but when he saw the woman beside her, he hesitated.

He remembered her mentioning that she would be very busy these days, accompanying an overseas visitor.

Thinking of that, he decided he shouldn’t go over and disturb her work.

He didn’t go forward, and naturally Jiang Ruoqiao wasn’t going to leave Mei Li to speak to him.

She continued introducing the campus buildings and scenery to Mei Li, including some of the little stories behind them. The morning was quiet, with few people around, and Lu Yicheng could hear fragments of her voice as she spoke. He stood there for a moment, taken by what he saw: in the morning light, sunlight filtered through the tall trees and fell on her. She was wearing a white dress with a clean, simply cut silhouette, speaking in clear, measured tones as she gave her introduction, her English so fluent it was striking.

This was a Jiang Ruoqiao he had never seen before.

She radiated energy from every part of her — the vitality of a twenty-year-old student. And alongside it, an undisguised confidence and composure.

She was a dazzling light, brilliant enough to make one’s vision swim.

Jiang Ruoqiao continued her introduction.

Mei Li suddenly remarked with great interest: “Qiao, look — there’s a boy over there staring at you.”

Jiang Ruoqiao: “…”

Mei Li’s eyes were full of amusement. “Just look at those deep, intent eyes of his. That gaze — I’m certain he’s looking at you.”

Only then did Jiang Ruoqiao allow herself a restrained glance toward Lu Yicheng.

Lu Yicheng saw both of them looking at him and immediately averted his gaze, turning to push his bicycle away.

Mei Li laughed: “He got shy — such a pure-hearted boy.”

Hearing that assessment, Jiang Ruoqiao couldn’t hold back anymore and burst out laughing.

She found it so amusing. Hearing someone describe Lu Yicheng as a pure-hearted boy — saying it in Chinese felt one way, but hearing it as “boy” in English was something else entirely.

Lu Yicheng, hearing her laughter, felt even more awkward and was already pushing his bicycle to leave — but thought of something, and hurriedly gave them both a quick nod as a greeting before making his escape.

—