Fang Zhuo could never quite understand the appeal of these color-clash matching items.
Or rather, she felt that being in a relationship was a very private thing. Before she had started dating Yan Lie, she had never felt it was something that needed to be shared with others.
And Yan Lie seemed perfectly normal most of the time — yet the moment marketing merchandise came into view, it was as though he’d activated a filter cranked up a hundred times.
You wouldn’t believe it was the same person.
The day the hats arrived, Fang Zhuo washed hers immediately, then hid it away.
A few days later, the formal new student check-in period for University A officially began.
Fang Zhuo, being a local, was in no rush and packed her things to leave the following day.
She didn’t have much luggage to begin with. Yan Lie had told her that the school would distribute bedding, washbasins, and similar items, and that other everyday necessities could just as well be bought at the small supermarket on campus. So she only brought a few changes of summer clothing and a newly purchased laptop, packed into one suitcase and one backpack, and took the morning bus to City A.
Yan Lie, worried she’d get lost, arranged a time to meet and pick her up at the bus stop.
Under the blazing sun, Fang Zhuo walked toward the air-conditioned bus door and squinted against the wave of scorching heat rising off the concrete road.
She dragged her suitcase down from the steps and suddenly felt the weight lift from her hand — Yan Lie had already reached over and taken it.
“I called a cab. It’s waiting at the intersection up ahead.” Yan Lie said, lifting the suitcase with ease, and steadied Fang Zhuo with his other hand. He was wearing the white short-sleeved shirt he had bought for himself.
Fang Zhuo asked, “Didn’t your dad come to see you off today?”
“He went back to work.” Yan Lie said. “Besides, I wouldn’t want him to. He’s been acting very strange lately.”
Fang Zhuo reflected on this and decided that Yan Chengli’s oddness probably had nothing to do with her, so she didn’t give it another thought.
Yan Lie pulled the suitcase ahead, glanced back a few times, and — wanting to be subtle but unable to contain himself — said: “Your outfit today looks really nice.”
Fang Zhuo: “…”
Yan Lie said diplomatically: “It’s just missing a hat.”
Fang Zhuo quickly said: “Incompleteness is a kind of beauty.”
“Fair enough.” Yan Lie didn’t press the matter — he had his sights set on the future anyway. “Winter’s coming. I’ve been looking for scarves lately.”
Fang Zhuo immediately felt even hotter.
The cab was waiting by the roadside, the trunk already stuffed with Yan Lie’s luggage.
The driver had smoked a cigarette during the wait, and the interior was thick with the smell of tobacco.
The two of them got into the back seat and squeezed the suitcase into the remaining space. Yan Lie tapped the back of the front seat and said: “Uncle, whenever you’re ready — we’re heading to University A.”
“East gate work for you?” the driver asked. “That’s where most people go, probably the main check-in entrance.”
Yan Lie said, “That’s fine.”
The air conditioning in the back didn’t reach very well. The sun came through the window and still left Fang Zhuo’s skin burning. She fished a tissue from her pocket and wiped roughly at her forehead.
“Fang Zhuo.”
Fang Zhuo dried the sweat from her face and turned to look at him. Yan Lie reached over and cupped her face in both hands, rubbing it gently left and right. Whatever was in his palms was cool and slightly thick.
Fang Zhuo held still and didn’t pull back. “What is this?”
“Sunscreen.” Yan Lie said by way of instruction, “Make sure you apply it, alright? These next few days of military training will be scorching. It won’t turn cooler until Monday next week. If you’re not careful, your face will peel. Apply it at least thirty minutes before going out. I’ve put this bottle in your bag.”
Quite the meticulous young man.
Yan Lie applied it very carefully, until Fang Zhuo’s face had started to feel warm, before he calmly withdrew his hands and tucked the bottle into the side pocket of her backpack.
The car stopped at a red light. Two impatient horns sounded from ahead. It was only then that Fang Zhuo, with some delay, came to a realization.
He hadn’t needed to do it himself.
And he’d done it all with such an air of complete innocence.
He’d been taking advantage of her, plain and simple.
Fang Zhuo glanced sideways at him. Yan Lie sat there quite contentedly, his gaze drifting out the window at the greenery along the roadside — looking entirely oblivious and unguarded, radiating an undisguised sense of joy that anyone would be able to feel.
Taxi drivers tend to like conversation. During the pause in traffic, the driver had glanced back through the rearview mirror several times, studied them for a moment, and then took the initiative: “You two look happy.”
Yan Lie answered first: “Of course — finally getting to go to school.”
The driver was full of admiration: “Now that’s the spirit of a University A student — happy just to go to class. The last few students I picked up were all looking miserable, like they were heading to their execution, not their education. If all young people were like you two, our society would really be something.”
Fang Zhuo thought to herself: Uncle, I think you may be giving him a bit too much credit. At least half of Yan Lie’s happiness right now has nothing to do with the call of knowledge.
Yan Lie smiled but didn’t respond. He slipped out his phone and tapped away quickly.
As he lowered his hand, Fang Zhuo’s phone buzzed.
She unlocked it with her fingerprint. The screen jumped to their chat window.
Lielie With a Fierce Name: Being with you makes me really happy. [Blushing husky face]
Fang Zhuo stared at that expressive little sticker for two seconds, then flipped her phone face-down on her knee and turned to look out the window.
When Yan Lie wanted to charm someone, no one stood a chance.
The expressions on both of their faces were peculiarly telling, and they fell into silence by mutual unspoken agreement. The driver in the front seat felt distinctly uncomfortable.
He encouraged them: “You two don’t have to whisper on my account! Don’t mind me! It’s not like I know you — what am I going to do, gossip about you?”
Yan Lie laughed. “Uncle, you really don’t have to do that.”
“I’m bored out of my mind! We drive all day long. If we get a quiet pair of passengers, we go completely mad. You two have got me curious now!” the driver announced. “I’ve been around — nothing surprises me anymore. Don’t waste your consideration on me!”
Yan Lie exchanged a few more playful remarks with him. Ahead, the traffic began to slow — University A had come into view.
The driver wove through the stream of vehicles with practiced skill and smoothly pulled up to the front entrance. He got out on his own initiative and helped them unload the suitcases.
No sooner had the car door shut than a group of volunteers came over distributing flyers, pointing out directions and answering questions.
Yan Lie told them he had already scouted the campus the day before and could guide Fang Zhuo through the check-in process, and set off carrying the suitcase, leading her toward the residential area.
Students had been arriving in a somewhat staggered stream, so there was no line at the statistics booth. Two senior students sat under a sun umbrella and, when they saw the new female student come to check in, asked for her name and class number before enthusiastically distributing materials.
“This is your meal card — it has a hundred yuan on it. This envelope has a campus map and your advisor’s contact information. At the gymnasium you can collect your washbasin, bedding, military training uniform, and other supplies. If you don’t know the way or have too much to carry, look for a volunteer to help. There’s a small event at the college tonight, a class meeting tomorrow afternoon, and military training starts the day after. Make sure your phone is always reachable when you first arrive at University A. If there’s anything you don’t understand, feel free to ask.”
The senior student spoke quickly. Fang Zhuo was still checking the contents of the envelope when he finished. She looked up and said, “Thank you. I’ll remember.”
The senior student smiled and said, “New student…”
His eyes drifted sideways and landed on Yan Lie’s expression — a thin smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. The senior student paused, and changed course: “Never mind. Take some time over the next couple of days to familiarize yourself with the campus. Have you joined the class group chat?”
Fang Zhuo said, “I have.”
It was Yan Lie who had told her about the class group chat in the first place. Perhaps because young people harbored too much anticipation for their new lives, messages flooded in constantly at ninety-nine-plus. Fang Zhuo had muted it for the sake of her own focus.
The senior student said, “Alright then. Go ahead and collect your things first.”
So Yan Lie took Fang Zhuo to the gymnasium. She presented her meal card and received a set of bedding, then collected two military training uniforms from the adjacent booth.
Between the two of them, their hands were essentially full. The gymnasium and Fang Zhuo’s dormitory also happened to be at opposite ends of the campus.
Yan Lie slowed his pace and, as they walked, pointed out the various types of shops in the surrounding area. By the time they reached the dormitory building, he asked: “Do you know the way back?”
Fang Zhuo, drenched in sweat, looked troubled.
This was genuinely hard.
Many of University A’s buildings shared a similar architectural style, and the paths criss-crossed in every direction. She couldn’t even tell east from west, let alone navigate the roads. She only knew that they had walked a very long way from the gymnasium.
This campus was enormous.
Yan Lie said reassuringly: “It’s alright. For now, just follow your classmates when you need to go somewhere. For the time being, you only need to know where the cafeteria and your dormitory building are. During military training, your drill instructor will take you around to learn the layout. If you still can’t get your bearings after that, I’ll walk the paths with you a few more times until you know them.”
This entire walk had left the back of Yan Lie’s shirt nearly soaked through with sweat.
Fang Zhuo set her bag down on the edge of a flower bed and pulled out two paper napkins to hand him.
The flower bed nearby was planted with a spread of four-leaf clovers, dotted in the center with small pale white and pale pink blossoms. The sun was fierce, yet they grew lush and abundant regardless.
Yan Lie pushed the suitcase forward and said, “All of this is for you.”
“For me?” Fang Zhuo said, surprised. “There’s so much. What about your own luggage?”
“I came to campus yesterday, so my stuff is already in my room — I just haven’t collected my military training uniform yet.” Yan Lie curled up the corner of his mouth and explained with obvious self-satisfaction, as though he had been scheming over this for some time: “This suitcase has milk, fruit, some snacks, and bread. That one has a mosquito net, laundry detergent, a cleaning cloth, and things like that. They might not look like much, but they’re all genuinely useful. I was afraid you might not have everything, so I put together a full set to match my own. Having extra is fine — just keep it all.”
Fang Zhuo opened her mouth. For a moment she didn’t know what to say.
Yan Lie tilted his head down slightly, leaning in close, his eyes bright with pleasure: “Well? Doesn’t it feel good to have such a thoughtful boyfriend? This is a passed-down shopping list I got from several senior students after infiltrating the campus network.”
Fang Zhuo admired his social ease — his ability to quickly click with absolutely anyone. And his little schemes were almost endearingly transparent, with Fang Zhuo’s name written all over the back of them.
He was standing there now wearing the look of someone waiting to be praised, looking just like the little cartoon sunflower on his shirt — swaying round-headed in the breeze, cheeks flushed, smiling, reaching toward the sun for its warmth.
“Thank you,” Fang Zhuo said. “My boyfriend.”
Yan Lie’s already-bright eyes flickered for a moment. He broke into a radiant smile, satisfied. “Your dormitory is on the fourth floor. This building has no elevator — I’ll carry everything up to the hallway for you first.”
It was, after all, a women’s dormitory. Even though visitors of any gender were permitted during the enrollment period, Yan Lie knew it wasn’t appropriate to linger.
He carried all the boxes up to the stairwell landing, said a brief goodbye to Fang Zhuo, and headed back down.
Fang Zhuo found her dormitory and moved her things in two trips.
University A’s undergraduate dorms were four-person rooms, with private bathrooms and a small balcony.
When Fang Zhuo arrived, the small room was already crowded with people.
A tall girl with short hair sat at one of the desks, scrolling through her phone. Another girl with long hair had her entire family — six or seven people — gathered around her, helping her organize her desk. As Fang Zhuo walked in, the whole family turned to look at her, startling her considerably.
A middle-aged woman asked in accented Mandarin: “Where are you from, young lady?”
Fang Zhuo said, “I’m a local — from City A.”
The woman asked, “Oh — didn’t your parents come to see you off?”
Fang Zhuo gave a vague murmur: “Mm.”
She located her bed, dug a cleaning cloth out of her suitcase, went to the bathroom to wet it, and began wiping everything down carefully.
The dialects from different regions differed greatly, yet certain phrases carried a strange, faint resemblance across them. While she was cleaning, Fang Zhuo caught fragments of the family’s conversation — something roughly meaning “very independent, clearly used to helping out at home” and “your two roommates both seem pretty quiet.”
The long-haired girl had a timid, bashful personality and, visibly embarrassed, kept urging her family to leave already.
Once Fang Zhuo had finished wiping down the bed, the group exchanged a few polite pleasantries, then filed out of the dormitory in a cluster.
The moment they left, the short-haired girl in the corner let out a visible breath of relief, tossed her phone aside, and said: “Northerners — I’ve never seen anything like it. I thought they’d come from incredibly far away, then she said they drove here in two hours. They came in two cars just to drop her off at school.”
Fang Zhuo burst out laughing.
“Yu Qingjiang.” The girl turned sideways, crossed her legs, and introduced herself: “A fortune teller told me I was missing the element of water, so I came south for university.”
She had a bright, open personality — bold eyebrows, large eyes — and even her hair seemed to carry a certain crispness. She liked to joke around and had a bit of a devil-may-care quality.
Fang Zhuo walked over and shook her hand: “Fang Zhuo.”
Yu Qingjiang laughed loudly: “Don’t tell me we’re going to be at each other’s throats — fire and water!”
Fang Zhuo cast a cool sideways glance at her. Something must have struck Yu Qingjiang’s funny bone, because she laughed on without stopping.
Fang Zhuo put all her things away into the cabinet. When she opened the outer packaging, she found that Yan Lie had left his military training uniform behind.
She tore open the package. The fabric had a strong, musty smell. Fang Zhuo frowned and decided to take advantage of the daylight to wash it first.
Not long after, the other two roommates came back in turn.
Without family around, the girls were free to be themselves — they clustered together, exchanged contact information, and chatted at length about everything and nothing, while Fang Zhuo was in the bathroom washing clothes.
By the time she had hung the freshly washed camouflage uniform out to dry on the balcony, Yu Qingjiang noticed and her expression shifted slightly. She asked: “Whose military training uniform is that? It’s a few sizes bigger than mine.”
Fang Zhuo said: “A friend’s.”
Yu Qingjiang asked: “Boyfriend?”
Fang Zhuo: “Mm.”
Yu Qingjiang seemed on the verge of saying something, then held back. Seeing Fang Zhuo’s forehead damp with sweat, face still perfectly composed, she couldn’t help saying: “Your boyfriend is also at University A? Who sends their girlfriend to wash their laundry on the very first day of school?”
Fang Zhuo explained: “It was no trouble — he accidentally left it here.”
“Honestly,” Yu Qingjiang muttered under her breath. “What a calculating creep.”
Fang Zhuo: “…”
Fang Zhuo was naturally slender and fine-boned. Having sweated so much today, her lips had gone pale, and she looked rather delicate and easily pushed around.
She offered a weak defense: “He’s not like that.” Yu Qingjiang wasn’t entirely convinced.
Fang Zhuo’s black backpack was clearly a cheap one that had been used for years, and her shoes were all noticeably off-brand.
A pretty girl. Not well-off. Guileless. Slight. Yu Qingjiang couldn’t stop her mind from going places.
Fang Zhuo went over to the desk and picked up her phone. There was a message from Yan Lie.
Lielie With a Fierce Name: My military training uniform is missing.
Lielie With a Fierce Name: Is it at yours, or did I leave it somewhere?
Fang Zhuo replied.
Little Sun: It’s here. Washed it for you while I was at it.
A moment later, the chat started jumping with messages.
Lielie With a Fierce Name: ??!!
Lielie With a Fierce Name: I literally just walked out the door to go buy another set.
Lielie With a Fierce Name: You washed it for me? [Wow] Is it a family heirloom or something?
Lielie With a Fierce Name: [Weeping cat]
Little Sun: I’ll give it back to you tomorrow.
Lielie With a Fierce Name: Okay. [Good and obedient]
Lielie With a Fierce Name: Are you getting along with your roommates?
Little Sun: Pretty well. They all seem easy to talk to.
Yu Qingjiang’s voice rang out loudly and clearly: “I came a week early — I thought I’d explore City A a bit. But it turns out it’s so unbearably hot here that you melt the moment you step outside!”
The other two roommates chimed in: “City A is just like that. The weather’s been extremely extreme in recent years. It only cools down a little after the artificial rainfall.”
“So I just wandered around campus instead, and signed up to volunteer for a day,” Yu Qingjiang said. “A senior student told me there are several really good-looking guys among this year’s new students. Especially the student representative speaker for this year’s incoming class — apparently he’s a local from City A? From some key high school, was it, or an experimental school?”
Lielie With a Fierce Name: What are you all talking about? Are you willing to share? I can offer free on-the-spot consultation from outside the room.
Fang Zhuo took a sip of water.
Little Sun: Talking about a good-looking guy.
Lielie With a Fierce Name: ??
Lielie With a Fierce Name: Did you tell them you have a boyfriend?
Little Sun: I did.
Lielie With a Fierce Name: Good. Make sure you also tell them your boyfriend is the most attractive guy in the class.
Lielie With a Fierce Name: For these next few days, don’t worry about eating with me. Spend more time bonding with them.
Little Sun: I know.
The long-haired roommate joined in: “Is it the one from Key High School A? Isn’t that Yan Lie? I know him — he was in my class back in middle school. I heard he got an incredible score, that University B even came to recruit him, but he turned them down. Our school gave him a scholarship worth several hundred thousand to keep him.”
Another roommate said enviously: “Academic geniuses really can afford to be picky.”
Yu Qingjiang said: “He checked in yesterday, and I went to see what the fuss was about. He’s genuinely good-looking — and importantly, not oily, not a show-off, doesn’t flirt with girls.”
The long-haired roommate laughed: “Yan Lie is famous for being straightforward. We weren’t even at the same high school and he was already well-known among us.”
Though no one was praising her, Fang Zhuo still felt a bit awkward listening to this, and asked stiffly: “When are you all going to eat?”
Yu Qingjiang paused, then asked: “Isn’t your boyfriend eating with you?”
Fang Zhuo: “He said he can’t. I’ll go with you all.”
Yu Qingjiang’s composure finally cracked. She pivoted abruptly and said: “University A is a top school, but not every male student who gets in is quality material. Our teacher once told us about an upperclassman she knew — he dated a girl in college, kept the relationship completely secret the whole time. Wouldn’t let her tell anyone. He spent her money, used her as an unpaid helper, and then the moment he graduated, he got together with some rich girl and broke up with her on the spot. Sigh — high school really is too sheltered a world. Some guys are ruthlessly calculating in ways you can’t imagine. It’s the pretty, loveable girls who tend to be taken advantage of the most.”
The pivot was far too abrupt. The other two roommates weren’t sure how to respond.
Fang Zhuo felt a pointed gaze boring into her and looked up to find herself directly meeting Yu Qingjiang’s eyes.
The two of them looked at each other in silence.
Fang Zhuo’s fingers trembled almost imperceptibly. She lowered her head and kept typing.
Little Sun: They’re talking about you.
Lielie With a Fierce Name: Oh yeah? Does someone recognize me? Is any of your roommates from City A?
Little Sun: If I’m reading this right, I think they might be calling you a bad guy.
Lielie With a Fierce Name: ??