Christmas at school was celebrated with particular festive spirit among the students.

Perhaps because they had too much free time, they seriously celebrated all holidays—whether Chinese or foreign.

Under Wu Mangmang’s arrangement, her dorm room was decorated with red and green decorations covering every wall. She had bought snowman dolls, hung bells and Christmas stockings, and placed a small Christmas tree in the corner, wrapped with lights that looked absolutely beautiful when lit at night.

Everyone who visited their dorm room would exclaim “Wow!” at how beautiful it was.

Though their humble room was simple, with care, life could be exquisite everywhere.

In the evening, Wu Mangmang dragged Zeng Ruling to the school’s dance hall. The dancers here performed an exceptionally wide variety of dance styles. Many young men came to show off their street dancing—breaking, hip-hop, popping, freestyle—you name it.

The girls mostly danced neo-jazz and Latin. Wu Mangmang particularly loved it and even joined the school’s dance club to learn new dances in her spare time.

She had so many extracurricular activities that people needed to make appointments to find her.

When Ning Zheng arrived at University A, he waited a full hour before Wu Mangmang finally answered her phone.

Wu Mangmang adjusted her fluffy pajamas around herself. It was too cold in the dead of winter, and she was too lazy to change clothes before going downstairs.

Ning Zheng looked at Wu Mangmang, who was as round as a bear, and laughed mockingly, “Are you planning to hibernate?”

When Wu Mangmang saw Ning Zheng, she was also stunned, then nearly doubled over with laughter, pointing at Ning Zheng as she gasped for breath, “What on earth are you doing?”

Ning Zheng was wearing a Santa Claus red outfit borrowed from who knows where, complete with black boots and a white beard stuck to his chin, making his handsome face look particularly comical.

Seeing Wu Mangmang laugh like this, Ning Zheng felt a bit embarrassed. At his age, using such childish tactics to chase a girl was indeed somewhat laughable. “Santa Claus came to bring you a present. If you keep laughing, there won’t be any gift.”

Honestly, Wu Mangmang was a little touched. By rights, Ning Zheng should have been at the Christmas banquet at Lu Garden right now.

“What gift?” Wu Mangmang asked.

“Stretch out your hand,” Ning Zheng said.

Wu Mangmang pulled her hand from her clothing pocket. Her small, white, tender hand looked particularly tiny against the backdrop of her bear pajamas. Ning Zheng reached out and grasped Wu Mangmang’s hand.

Wu Mangmang’s smile faded as she forcefully tried to pull her hand back. She currently had little favorable impression of aggressive pursuers.

Ning Zheng held firm, not letting Wu Mangmang pull away, while his other hand formed a fist and slowly placed something into Wu Mangmang’s opened palm.

What Ning Zheng gave her was a necklace.

“This is the first Christmas limited edition jewelry perfume our company produced,” Ning Zheng said.

The necklace’s pendant was a thumbail-sized perfume bottle with a very artistic design, carved from gemstone.

Wu Mangmang said, “I know, it’s the collaboration with Lan Yue Jewelry. The advertisements are everywhere.”

“This is the very first one produced, and I’m giving it to you,” Ning Zheng said.

Wu Mangmang closed her right hand and accepted the necklace.

“Here, there’s also this—Christmas cake for you and your roommates. Don’t forget to tell them to put in a good word for me,” Ning Zheng said with a smile.

“I still have to catch the last flight back. You should go upstairs,” Ning Zheng said.

Ning Zheng was still wearing his banquet formal wear with a bow tie around his neck, looking like he had escaped midway from the Lu Garden Christmas banquet and now had to rush back.

If it had been anyone else, they would have been moved by Young Master Ning’s gesture long ago.

However, Wu Mangmang had always been heartless and carefree. Ning Zheng’s girl-chasing tactics were truly formidable, but this treatment was only available while he was pursuing you.

Because Ning Zheng’s Santa Claus outfit was too conspicuous, almost everyone in the entire dormitory building knew by the next day that Wu Mangmang had a suitor who came to confess last night.

“I can’t stand this kind of shameless woman who plays the field, eating from the bowl while eyeing the pot. How shameless,” Wang Jialin said this almost directly to Wu Mangmang’s face, just short of naming names.

She was Guo Xuefeng’s secret admirer, but unfortunately, Guo Xuefeng had no interest in her.

Wu Mangmang stopped in her tracks when she passed Wang Jialin. According to her mental script, she should have slapped Wang Jialin across the face, then arrogantly scolded her with “ugly women cause more trouble,” performing the proud and rude pampered princess role to perfection to vent her anger and not suffocate herself with frustration.

Wu Mangmang indeed almost did exactly that, but when the words reached her lips, she somehow couldn’t curse them out.

It seemed like it would lower her own standards.

So in the end, all her thousand words condensed into a single pitying look.

Only afterward did Wu Mangmang realize that she had still been influenced by the Lu family.

“Don’t pay attention to that kind of person. She’s just sour grapes because she can’t get what she wants,” Zeng Ruling comforted Wu Mangmang. “There are two boys in their department pursuing her, but she likes my cousin in her heart while still stringing along those two boys.”

Wu Mangmang smiled and thanked Zeng Ruling for her comfort.

Actually, Wu Mangmang had never really had any close female friends throughout all her years of schooling. When she was in college, she was a thorn in the side of all the girls—flaunting her wealth ostentatiously, arrogant and conceited.

Looking back now, she found it quite amusing. Who hasn’t had their brain-dead moments, right?

The news of Ning Zheng’s high-profile pursuit of Wu Mangmang naturally reached Guo Xuefeng’s ears.

But Guo Xuefeng didn’t come to question Wu Mangmang. Instead, he became even more attentive, probably feeling the pressure of competition.

Honestly, Guo Xuefeng was quite good-looking, his family was well-off, he had a bright future ahead of him, loved sports, played basketball well, and wasn’t bad at soccer either. He was tall and cheerful, and the number of girls who liked him was countless.

Although Wu Mangmang had been difficult to win over, Guo Xuefeng was still very confident, feeling that he would definitely win the beauty in the end.

Other rivals couldn’t make Guo Xuefeng feel anxious, but Ning Zheng was different.

Apparently, young girls all liked rich, handsome, long-legged oppas.

Because of Ning Zheng’s appearance, the treatment of Wu Mangmang’s entire dormitory changed. Every morning, Guo Xuefeng would buy three breakfasts and deliver them downstairs, waiting for Wu Mangmang to come down and collect them.

Originally, he could have asked other girls to take them upstairs, but Zeng Ruling expressed that to prevent someone from putting gold, metal, or thallium in Wu Mangmang’s food, it was better to trouble Wu Mangmang to go down and get them herself.

Guo Xuefeng varied the breakfast every day. Taking advantage of others’ kindness, Wu Mangmang felt she could barely hold out anymore.

The worst off was Zeng Ruling.

“You absolutely cannot agree to Guo Xuefeng. If you soften your heart, we won’t have breakfast anymore. At least wait until the three of us get through this winter before you agree to him. Spring is the season for romance—when it’s warm, it’ll be easier for us to get up, then you can do whatever you want with him.”

“Women truly have the most poisonous hearts. He’s your cousin, after all,” Wu Mangmang said, laughing as she playfully hit Zeng Ruling.

“Even cousins are distant relatives. Sleep is most important,” Zeng Ruling declared.

Wu Mangmang didn’t mind either way. Heaven and earth were vast, but roommates were the most important. She quite liked this girl Zeng Ruling, and whatever her good friend said to do, she would do.

When it came to people she liked, Wu Mangmang’s level of compromise was probably beyond even her own imagination.

As for Ning Zheng, he was too busy with work and had few opportunities to show his presence in front of Wu Mangmang, so he could only send WeChat greetings every day.

However, Wu Mangmang had no interest in long-distance relationships and had no inclination to flirt with Ning Zheng online. She preferred real, tangible care, like buying breakfast every day.

So Wu Mangmang rarely replied to Ning Zheng.

Ning Zheng cursed through gritted teeth in his heart—heartless little wench, she was too good at playing hard to get.

Ning Zheng was a typical masochist; the more a woman ignored him, the more interested he became.

“What’s so interesting about your phone? Are you going to play or not?” Shen Ting asked Ning Zheng irritably.

Ning Zheng put away his phone, glanced at Shen Ting, and laughed mockingly, “In such a bad mood? Did you get dumped?”

He Yan and Shen Ting had been fighting fiercely lately. No woman could tolerate a relationship that never saw the light of day for long.

He Yan was no exception. Because Shen Ting couldn’t treat her as an equal, she had already proposed breaking up.

Unfortunately, the Shen family couldn’t accept such a daughter-in-law.

Shen Ting coldly glanced at Ning Zheng and played a two of circles.

“I win,” Lu Sui pushed his tiles forward.

“Looks like among the three of us, Lu Sui is still the most formidable. He’s successful in both romance and gambling,” Ning Zheng said, laughing as he looked at Zhao Xinyun, who was sitting to the side chatting happily with Wang Yuan.

The new love and old flame chatting so congenially struck Ning Zheng as somewhat amusing. He couldn’t help but fantasize about what it would be like if Wu Mangmang were also there. Even Ning Zheng himself shuddered at the thought, feeling like all his brothers were picking up Lu Sui’s leftovers.

But the feeling wasn’t too bad—not exactly hard to swallow. Looking at Jiang Baoliang, who was treating Wang Yuan like a treasure, it really was a case of one thing conquering another.

“Let’s play ball this weekend,” Shen Ting suggested.

“I’m not going. The day after tomorrow, Xinyun and I are going skiing in Switzerland,” Lu Sui said.

“I don’t have time either,” Ning Zheng quickly chimed in. He hadn’t seen Wu Mangmang’s face in many days, and this brat wasn’t even returning his calls—clearly showing signs of wanting to run away.

After finishing mahjong, the resort owner came to invite the gentlemen to the hot springs while the ladies went to enjoy spa treatments.

The resort had just opened recently, and since Ning Zheng had a business relationship with Zhang Huichun, he had invited Lu Sui and the others to show their support today.

Zhang Huichun finally had a chance to see the real gods, so naturally, he racked his brains to curry favor.

The hot springs were just a pretext—what fun was it for several men to soak together?

In the private room, more than a dozen girls in bikinis with explosive figures were already waiting, all around twenty years old, at the peak of their youth.

The most beautiful one was also the tallest, immediately catching the eye. Ning Zheng’s heart fluttered for a moment—this girl actually looked somewhat like Wu Mangmang, especially her mouth.

However, Wu Mangmang had a Barbie doll kind of beauty, while this girl before him was both pure and seductive, with very alluring eyes.

Since all four gentlemen present looked at Shirley first, Zhang Huichun didn’t know what to do.

Shirley was quite perceptive and actively approached Lu Sui, saying sweetly, “Let me help you change clothes.”

Lu Sui stepped aside and said to Zhang Huichun, “We don’t need these services. Tell them to leave.”

Jiang Baoliang breathed a huge sigh of relief. Though his heart was itching, he had brought Wang Yuan along, and having finally gotten this precious girl, he couldn’t break his vows.

Shen Ting was indifferent.

Ning Zheng looked at Shirley’s retreating figure with some regret. He was a single man who hadn’t had any action in a long time, and just when he spotted someone appealing, she was dismissed like that.

Ning Zheng complained with a laugh, “Lu Sui, you’re not being fair. You’ve had your fill, but you don’t care if others starve.”

Jiang Baoliang said, “Instead of envying Lu Sui, you should hurry up and find someone decent yourself. Zhao Xinyun is not someone to mess with—women these days are all trouble.” Then Jiang Baoliang punched Ning Zheng, “If you knew there would be this kind of arrangement, why didn’t you give us a heads up?”

Jiang Baoliang was a bit sorry he had brought Wang Yuan this time.

Ning Zheng laughed, “My fault.”

Four men soaking in hot springs without women was indeed less interesting, but fortunately, there was fine wine for company. The hot steam mixed with the wine’s vapor, making them pleasantly intoxicated.

“Have you decided to marry Zhao Xinyun?” Ning Zheng asked Lu Sui casually.

Lu Sui took a sip of wine and looked at Ning Zheng through half-closed eyes, “Why are you so concerned about my private affairs?”

Ning Zheng laughed, “I see you’re getting on in years. Your little aunt is probably ready to drag you to bed to make babies, right?”

Lu Sui swirled his wine glass, “I’m at that age.”

Ning Zheng leaned back and sighed, “I’m also thinking about settling down. When you get old, you don’t have the energy to chase after young girls anymore.”

Jiang Baoliang laughed, “Which girl are you planning to harm?”

Ning Zheng smiled without answering. Actually, he was quite surprised himself. When they had just been discussing marriage, he thought of Wu Mangmang and actually felt that marriage wouldn’t be so bad.

Ning Zheng had originally planned to visit Wu Mangmang over the weekend, but sudden business matters forced him to cancel again.

Instead, it was Shen Ting who unexpectedly encountered Wu Mangmang.

At that moment, Wu Mangmang was riding her bicycle with several books borrowed from the library in the front basket, cycling along the lake toward her dormitory.

Snow was falling from the sky. Wu Mangmang wore white fluffy earmuffs, a white down jacket, jeans, and snow boots. Her face was flushed red from the cold.

When Shen Ting turned his head, he saw Wu Mangmang outside the car window.

“Mangmang.”

Hearing someone call her name, Wu Mangmang turned her head and saw Shen Ting with his car window rolled down.

“Oh, it’s you,” Wu Mangmang said, putting one foot on the ground to stop her bicycle.

Shen Ting got out of the car and saw Wu Mangmang stamping her feet in place, putting her frozen red hands near her mouth to breathe warm air on them.

Her nose tip was bright red, like a pitiful little rabbit.

Shen Ting’s heart twisted slightly. He had never seen Wu Mangmang like this before. Whenever he had seen her in the past, she was always proud and lively.

Shen Ting knew something about Wu Mangmang’s parents’ attitude toward her after she broke up with Lu Sui—all of this was what Shen Yuanzi had told him.

After Wu Mangmang saw sympathy in Shen Ting’s eyes, she found it somewhat absurd. Honestly, she felt she was living very well now and didn’t need pity.

“I just forgot to bring gloves,” Wu Mangmang quickly explained. Riding bicycles around campus was perfectly normal—after all, the school was huge, and walking was so tiring, while driving was unnecessary.

“Do you have time for a cup of coffee?” Shen Ting asked.

Wu Mangmang hesitated for a moment, uncertain why Shen Ting would want to have coffee with her.

“It won’t take much of your time.”

Only then did Wu Mangmang nod.

The café Wu Mangmang chose was inside the school, run by work-study students. The environment was average, but the coffee tasted good.

“Are you here to see He Yan? How come I don’t see her?” Wu Mangmang asked, holding her hot milk tea. Since she and He Yan weren’t in the same department, they didn’t interact much, only occasionally passing by each other without much conversation.

“She and I broke up,” Shen Ting said.

“Oh,” Wu Mangmang wasn’t surprised. Lu Sui had said from the beginning that Shen Ting and He Yan had no hope.

Wu Mangmang sat with Shen Ting for a while, but since Shen Ting really wasn’t much of a talker, after asking about her recent situation, he had nothing else to say.

Wu Mangmang felt awkward and excused herself, saying she had club activities.

Just after Wu Mangmang left, He Yan entered the café. When she saw Shen Ting, her eyes reddened and she turned her face away, ordering a coffee to go.

When He Yan turned back around, Shen Ting had already walked outside the café.

He Yan watched Shen Ting’s upright figure and couldn’t stop the tears from flowing down her face. She had once thought she was different, that they had loved each other so much. Every passionate night had made her feel that Shen Ting loved her.

Unfortunately, when emotions faced reality, they were so fragile.

He Yan’s self-respect wouldn’t allow her to willingly be Shen Ting’s mistress and watch him marry another woman.

“Shen Ting, you bastard,” He Yan said, driven by some unknown impulse. She pushed open the café door and rushed out, hurling the scalding coffee cup at Shen Ting’s back.

Shen Ting felt heat on his back, stopped, and turned to look at He Yan, gently waving his hand in farewell.

Because of love, parting was always heartbreaking.

Because the love wasn’t deep enough, there was no way to break through all obstacles.