Zhu Yunque had almost no sleep that night.

The moment she closed her eyes, Lu Rangchen’s face floated up in her mind — the things he had said, and that clumsy yet scorching kiss between the two of them.

That was her first kiss.

She hadn’t imagined it would be with Lu Rangchen.

It really was quite strange.

Everything had happened so far beyond what she had expected, yet she felt inexplicably anxious — or rather, she was quietly afraid that all of it was only an illusion she had conjured on her own.

— Then she woke up the next morning.

She was still lying face-down on her high school desk, and all that awaited her was an incomprehensible physics lesson.

The illusion had slowly gathered and taken shape inside her mind. Zhu Yunque suddenly felt she had no backbone at all.

She was the one who had wanted to draw Lu Rangchen in.

Yet in secret, she was still firmly, inescapably drawn by Lu Rangchen.

Fortunately, that state of simultaneous anticipation and anxiety didn’t last long. Her jumbled thoughts were quickly interrupted by Lu Rangchen himself.

Her phone screen lit up and stayed lit for several seconds in the dark dormitory.

Zhu Yunque’s heart gave a small lift. She looked and saw two WeChat messages from him.

Lu Rangchen: 【It’s getting late, I’m going to rest.】

Lu Rangchen: 【You get some sleep too. Good night.】

A few simple lines — reporting on his own whereabouts and reminding her he existed.

No excess punctuation, no provocative wording. Yet the words carried a warmth that seemed to come from nowhere, an intimacy that went well beyond the boundaries of their current relationship.

The first thought that surfaced in Zhu Yunque’s mind was that the creator of the universe had fashioned men and women with far greater differences than anyone imagined.

He was the one who had proposed being together.

Yet she was the one lying awake in anxious restlessness.

Zhu Yunque’s feelings were rather complicated.

What made it worse was that she also seemed to be enjoying it.

The two messages sat there, left unread.

Later, after tossing and turning in bed for a long time, she finally couldn’t hold out any longer and replied to Lu Rangchen with a single “mm.”

The next day she still had to go in for her shift at the library — the day shift this time.

The day shift was easier in every way compared to the night shift.

Zhu Yunque ate a casual breakfast in the dormitory and headed straight to the library building.

She had barely started work at the beverage counter when she saw a young man come through the door and walk directly toward her. He set a neatly packaged chicken sandwich and a cup of yogurt on the counter, then handed her a beautiful bundle of soft pink flowers.

Both items were exquisitely packaged — clearly not cheap at a glance.

Zhu Yunque’s expression shifted faintly; she hadn’t even had time to react when the young man said: “You’re Zhu Yunque, right? Lu Rangchen asked me to bring these to you.”

That name was one she knew by heart.

Yet the moment she heard it, Zhu Yunque still couldn’t stop her heart from speeding up.

The morning light of the library was clear and warm.

Zhu Yunque looked at that bundle of lively, vibrant flowers and pressed her lips together. “Why didn’t he come himself?”

“Oh, him,” said Yang Tao, with a fairly easy-going smile. “He had something to take care of and left. I’m his dormmate — he asked me to bring it over.”

Zhu Yunque was mildly surprised. “He’s living in the dorms?”

Yang Tao: “He is — though he just moved in a few days ago, and sometimes he’s not around.”

Zhu Yunque was briefly lost in thought, then nodded and said thank you.

Yang Tao waved it off, told her not to mention it, turned around, and left.

Left a little disoriented by the breakfast and the flowers, Zhu Yunque suddenly recalled that the last time she’d asked Lu Rangchen how he knew she was working this part-time job, he hadn’t given her a straight answer — and on top of that, she hadn’t even known he’d moved into the dorms.

Both were small things, in the end.

But Zhu Yunque still felt as though she’d been kept in the dark.

Then again, when she thought about it, she didn’t really have any standing to feel upset.

The two of them weren’t in that kind of relationship yet. Besides, Lu Rangchen had still given her a surprise.

Perhaps it was this contradictory mindset at work that when Lu Rangchen sent her a message, Zhu Yunque deliberately kept him waiting for over ten minutes.

Of course, those ten-odd minutes were already her absolute limit.

Lu Rangchen said: 【That was Yang Tao — my dormmate and a friend.】

A rather understated tone.

As if he were introducing her to his social circle.

Zhu Yunque replied: 【You moved into the dorms.】

Lu Rangchen: 【Yeah, just got it sorted out a few days ago. Family was worried I’d be too reckless on my own.】

Human beings really are such greedy creatures.

Before feelings are invested, that’s fine — but once they are, a flourishing possessiveness immediately begins to grow.

Just like Zhu Yunque in that moment, already wanting to demand — why didn’t you tell me?

Aren’t you the one who likes me?

You should have told me.

There it was — that was her, unreasonable in the way of someone acting like a bandit. She didn’t even dare imagine how intense her desire for control over Lu Rangchen would be if they actually started dating.

What she hadn’t expected was that Lu Rangchen’s next message, in an instant, pushed back the words that had been rolling toward the tip of her tongue.

He said: 【I wasn’t all that keen on it at first, but then I thought about how much easier it would make things for finding you — so I moved in.】

“……”

This answer had a bit of a coaxing quality to it.

Zhu Yunque let her fingertips dwell for a moment, then steered the conversation toward the other question. 【Then how did you know about my part-time job here?】

It wasn’t something she’d told many people.

And only girls at that.

She really couldn’t figure out how Lu Rangchen had come to know.

This time Lu Rangchen didn’t redirect: 【Your class’s female class monitor told me.】

The female class monitor……

Zhu Yunque thought back briefly and suddenly remembered what Li Yuqing had said a few days ago — about the class monitor having her WeChat added by Lu Rangchen.

Lu Rangchen didn’t bother hiding it either: 【I specifically looked for her before National Holiday and got her WeChat — I wanted to get your timetable.】

At first that girl had really thought Lu Rangchen adding her WeChat meant he was interested in her.

She’d even boasted about it a few times.

Then, the very same evening her request was accepted, Lu Rangchen had told her he wanted her to help put together a copy of Zhu Yunque’s class schedule — including elective courses — and that he’d pay for it.

The girl hadn’t been particularly willing at first.

But Lu Rangchen’s offer was genuinely not small, and even a fool would have found it hard to resist.

In the end, she went to considerable lengths and got him a copy. When she sent it over, she added a new message as a bonus — mentioning that Zhu Yunque was working during National Holiday at the campus library.

Lu Rangchen didn’t type out this part of the story — he sent it as a voice message.

The library was too quiet; Zhu Yunque specifically found a pair of earphones.

Lu Rangchen’s voice was slow and unhurried, carrying a loose, unhurried charm — his pure Beijing accent sounding pleasant no matter how many times she heard it.

Zhu Yunque pressed her lips to hide a smile, at a complete loss for what to say about him.

Call him money-burning? Well, the money he’d splashed around had been for her.

Call him presumptuous for getting her schedule without asking? Well, that had also been for her.

She had a strong need for control.

But his tenacity when it came to her — when you really counted it up — might not necessarily be less extreme than hers.

After a moment’s deliberation, Zhu Yunque could only say: 【Lu Rangchen, don’t waste money on things like this in the future.】

The message read very much like a fussy little household manager.

And yet a certain someone was entirely taken with exactly that.

Lu Rangchen, sitting in the passenger seat, pulled at the corner of his mouth. He wanted to send her a voice message back just to tease her, but one glance at Deng Zhe sitting right there beside him made him restrain himself.

The weather in Jinshi was quite nice.

It had the effect of lifting his mood along with it.

Lu Rangchen thought for a moment, then sent her a text message.

Lu Rangchen: 【Alright. From now on I’ll listen to whatever Que-que says.】

He seemed quite taken with that nickname.

Within a few minutes of receiving it, Zhu Yunque replied with six ellipsis dots in exasperation and didn’t respond further.

Lu Rangchen let out a small snort of laughter.

Deng Zhe, driving beside him, glanced over. “What happened — she turned you down again?”

Lu Rangchen had driven himself there; he’d barely slept four or five hours from the previous night to early morning, and his voice carried a weary nasality. He gave a light laugh: “You think I’m you?”

Deng Zhe, hearing that, made a self-conscious “tsk” sound. “Right, my bad — forget I said anything.”

They were nearly at the off-ramp from the elevated highway.

Deng Zhe asked again, “Are we really going straight there? Shouldn’t we grab something to eat first?”

He glanced at his watch. “Isn’t it a bit too early to be showing up unannounced?”

Lu Rangchen stared ahead, his eyes expressionless, his tone cold. “Get it done early, get back early — I don’t have time to drag this out with her.”

Deng Zhe let out a helpless sigh and shook his head. “I really don’t get Lin Zhinian — she’s not short on guys pursuing her, she’s pretty, she’s got money — what’s with spending all her time on these crooked schemes? You’ve already moved on and she’s still talking that kind of nonsense behind your back.”

Lu Rangchen gave a lazy snort. “Her father spoiled her rotten.”

The implication was clear between the lines.

Her father may have indulged her.

But Lu Rangchen was not going to.

Since it was the early shift, Zhu Yunque was able to clock off before two o’clock that afternoon.

She’d eaten a casual lunch and planned to find a proper place to eat once she got off.

After changing out of her uniform and leaving, she was mid-message with Liang Tian, asking if she wanted to come along, when Feng Yanlai’s call came through.

Business must have been going well lately.

Every time Feng Yanlai called her recently, she was in a good mood, and the living allowance she transferred grew increasingly generous.

The moment she learned Zhu Yunque was heading out to eat with a friend, she transferred two thousand yuan directly into Zhu Yunque’s account.

Looking at the number that popped up on screen, Zhu Yunque was mildly surprised. “Mom, that’s too much.”

Feng Yanlai laughed. “Too much? Would you rather I’m stingy about it and give you two hundred?”

Zhu Yunque’s daily expenses weren’t large, and school had just started — other than food and drink, there was almost nowhere to spend money.

But since Feng Yanlai had given it, she accepted.

The two of them chatted briefly, and Feng Yanlai asked how she was adjusting to campus life. Zhu Yunque said she was managing well, and then — though Zhu Yunque wasn’t quite sure where this was coming from — Feng Yanlai suddenly brought up Zhao Qijia.

Feng Yanlai said, “His mom came into my shop yesterday to buy clothes, and she told me you’d turned him down?”

Zhu Yunque, who had been walking toward the exit, stopped in her tracks when she heard that.

Feng Yanlai sounded genuinely puzzled. “You two used to get along so well — why did you just cut him off like that?”

It seemed Zhao Qijia had told his mother quite a lot. Feng Yanlai had caught some of it, and her voice carried a note of cautious probing. “His mom said something about how you already have someone you like?”

There was a tentative quality to her tone. “Don’t tell me it’s Lu Rangchen.”

Zhu Yunque: “……”

Her heart gave a small, startled jolt.

Feng Yanlai’s attitude was, strangely, somewhat different than usual. After a stiff pause of two seconds, she spoke in a persuasive tone: “I’m not trying to interfere in your love life, but, Yunque — when choosing a person, choose someone suitable. Lu Rangchen is a good kid, but he’s simply from too far away. Too out of reach.”

Compared to Zhao Qijia, whose father was a lawyer and whose mother was a teacher, someone like Lu Rangchen and his background was indeed an entirely different world.

Only Zhu Yunque couldn’t understand it.

Feng Yanlai hadn’t been opposed to the two of them spending time together before — she’d even seemed to hope they’d interact more. So why, now that Zhu Yunque was in university, had her attitude changed like this?

But it wasn’t her nature to insist on asking when she couldn’t figure something out.

She was far from home, out from under anyone’s thumb.

What she did was her own business; Feng Yanlai had no say, and she was too disinclined to listen.

Just then, someone called to her from behind.

It was the older student she worked alongside who came rushing down the corridor, saying someone was asking for her.

Zhu Yunque used this as her exit. She said, “Mom, I have something to deal with,” and ended the call.

The other student gave her a significant look. “What’s going on with you? Someone’s looking for you again.”

“Who is it?”

“A woman. Gorgeous, dressed in a real retro style, heavy makeup — looks like an internet celebrity.”

Put together, those few descriptors, and Zhu Yunque could immediately guess who it was.

The other student’s eyes held a touch of gossip as she lowered her voice. “She’s not a girlfriend of one of your admirers, is she?”

Zhu Yunque gave her a look.

The other student closed her mouth and went back inside.

She seemed to exchange a few words with whoever was in there, and when Zhu Yunque looked up again, she met Lin Zhi’s eyes across the beverage counter.

Lin Zhi seemed quite pleased to see her, flashing a wide red-lipped smile and waving.

……

There was a nicely decorated little café near the library.

That’s where Zhu Yunque brought Lin Zhi.

Lin Zhi hadn’t done well academically and had been sent abroad to study at a young age, where she’d mostly coasted along. A school of this caliber was a first for her, and she found everything fresh and fascinating everywhere she looked.

It was Zhu Yunque who was feeling a little out of her depth.

She was reserved by nature.

And on top of that, this was Lin Zhi she was dealing with.

Plus, she had a time she’d agreed to meet Liang Tian, and she didn’t have much time to spend chatting idly. She went straight to the point and asked Lin Zhi what she’d come to see her about.

“I came about Lu Rangchen, of course.”

Lin Zhi took a sip of coffee. “Why else would I come all the way here?”

Her gaze happened to drift to the bracelet on Zhu Yunque’s wrist.

Zhu Yunque’s throat tightened slightly.

Drawing in a quiet breath, she said, “Lu Rangchen and I aren’t together yet — you don’t need to——”

“Precisely because you two aren’t together yet is why I had to come find you.”

Lin Zhi was an impatient person — impatient enough to lean her face right in close. She stared at Zhu Yunque with genuine confusion. “Why? Why won’t you get with him? Is there something you’re still not satisfied with? Or do you think he’s going to marry me someday?”

She spoke quickly — rapid fire, almost like a machine gun.

It took Zhu Yunque several seconds to register that this girl had apparently not come to make trouble.

She was mildly surprised.

Lin Zhi said, “I don’t care where you heard it from. As for the marriage thing — don’t worry about it. Even if our families have intentions along those lines, neither of us has any feelings for each other. I treat him like a little brother and he treats me like a sister. His mother is even my godmother.”

“And this kid — he’s stubborn as anything. Once he sets his mind on something, he won’t easily let it go.”

“Otherwise, why do you think he came to this university? There were plenty of better places in Beijing suited to his scores. Why specifically pick this one.”

“Of course, saying it’s entirely for you would be too absolute, but seventy percent of it is pretty likely.”

“And he liked you back in high school, and now in university he comes here to pursue you — doesn’t that make perfect sense?”

Hearing that, Zhu Yunque felt a sensation at the tip of her heart — like a numbed prickle.

She looked at Lin Zhi in disbelief. “He likes me?”

Lin Zhi gave an exasperated laugh. “What else? I left my cat at his place, and he didn’t warm up to it for half a year before finally tolerating it — does he look like someone who suddenly develops feelings for a person out of nowhere?”

“……”

This piece of information hit harder than Lu Rangchen’s confession the previous day.

Zhu Yunque’s heartbeat suddenly became very strong.

She seemed partly convinced, but still couldn’t understand it. “Did he tell you this himself?”

“Not in so many words.”

Lin Zhi said, “It was more reading between the lines — plus what my godmother accidentally let slip. She originally wanted him to go abroad, but he absolutely refused to leave. It drove my godmother nearly mad.”

“Oh, my godmother mentioned you too. She said you were the quieter, more sensible type. Back in high school, Lu Rangchen was already treating you differently. She had your best interests at heart — worried Lu Rangchen would affect your studies, worried you two would fall into early romance, so she more than once talked to Lu Rangchen about it privately, telling him to be mindful and keep his distance. And this kid, for all he looks like a wild one who won’t be tamed — he actually cares a lot about what my godmother thinks.”

“After all, my godmother’s health has never been great.”

“The thing with Zhitao devastated her. Whenever she sees a girl around the same age, she can’t help worrying about her.”

Having said this, Lin Zhi let out a quiet sigh, and went still.

Zhu Yunque’s fingertips stiffened slightly as she caught the key word.

She asked: “Who is Zhitao?”

At this, Lin Zhi looked up. “Lu Rangchen never told you?”

Zhu Yunque pressed her lips together and shook her head.

Lin Zhi sighed again and said, “Fine.”

She took a moment to gather herself and then said, “Lu Zhitao is Lu Rangchen’s older sister — five years older than him, the same age as me. We’d played together since we were small, like twins in how close we were.”

“Unlike me, Zhitao wasn’t wild. She had a gentle, kind nature, and had always been very protected.”

“But perhaps because she was so protected, at eighteen, she was deceived and then cast aside by a despicable person at her school. She developed depression.”

At that, the story stopped.

The air seemed to solidify along with it.

Zhu Yunque felt something catch in her throat, and her eyes widened slightly, looking at Lin Zhi in disbelief.

Lin Zhi looked down at her own bracelet and gave a soft smile. “Before she left that year, she went to a temple and prayed for two identical bracelets. She told me that someday we would go to a film school together and become stars. Then she was gone.”

“She left everyone behind and was gone.”

“Her leaving broke my godmother. Took away half her will to live.”

“That year, Lu Rangchen was only thirteen.”

“For him, the one thing his sister left behind that had been closest to her was this bracelet — the same as mine.”

“And from that time forward, he wore it every day.”

“For six or seven years, he’s been wearing it.”