Chapter 1: The Red Carp, the Green Carp, and the Donkey
"In the house of the red carp, there was a little green donkey named Li Lü Lü. In the house of the green carp, there was a little red donkey named Lü Li Li. The red carp said their Li Lü Lü was greener than the green carp's Lü Li Li. The green carp said their Lü Li Li was redder than the red carp's Li Lü Lü. Who knows whether the green carp's donkey is redder than the red carp's, or the red carp's..."
Ruan Yu pressed her lips together and tapped the page of the book with her finger. Wrong again.
This tongue twister, The Red Carp, the Green Carp, and the Donkey , had taken her about ten minutes to recite, yet she hadn’t managed to get it right even once. Was it difficult? Not really. She was just distracted.
Leaning against the railing of the rooftop, Ruan Yu gazed out at the campus, which was decked out in festive decorations. Everywhere she looked, there were vibrant colors—even the basketball hoops on the playground had been adorned with red lanterns by someone.
It was the 60th anniversary celebration of Yangshan University, a day that should have been lively. But Ruan Yu wasn’t used to liveliness. Whenever she saw others laughing boisterously in groups, she felt like an outsider. It was as if she could never blend into that laughter or produce such exaggerated sounds herself.
Fortunately, she didn’t force herself to fit in.
"The red carp's..."
Wrong again—still stumbling at the beginning.
Ruan Yu tapped the page harder this time, leaving a faint scratch from her nail. Stubbornness flared in her, and she silently vowed that if she couldn’t recite the entire thing flawlessly this time, she would...
She hadn’t yet decided on a self-imposed punishment when a burst of music suddenly erupted behind her—a Western pop song with a strong electronic beat.
The rooftop’s tranquility was shattered.
Startled, Ruan Yu immediately turned around. She had thought she was alone up here, but apparently, she wasn’t.
Her eyes swept the area until she spotted a head popping up from behind the row of air conditioning units at the far east end. A guy.
He seemed to have been sleeping, and the music had been his phone’s ringtone.
"Hello," the guy answered, his voice thick with sleep and impatience. After a brief silence—likely listening to the caller—he muttered an affirmative and hung up.
Effortlessly, he rose from the ground.
Dressed in a bright red hoodie, he looked like a blazing fire under the sunlight. Dusting himself off, he strode in Ruan Yu’s direction.
Instinctively, she tightened her grip on The Complete Book of Tongue Twisters .
The wind on the rooftop had picked up at some point, making her long skirt sway.
As he passed her, his eyes flicked to the book in her hands, while her gaze remained fixed on his hairstyle—shaved close on the sides, with the middle section braided into dreadlocks tied into a short ponytail at the back. Complicated.
They exchanged a brief glance before he walked past.
Ruan Yu stared at his straight-backed figure, wondering how long he’d been lying there. Had he heard her fumbling through The Red Carp, the Green Carp, and the Donkey all those times?
Just as the thought crossed her mind, the guy suddenly turned around, his dark eyes bright and gleaming.
"Hey, you!" he called.
Ruan Yu pointed at herself.
He nodded.
"What?" she asked.
"The anniversary celebration’s about to start. Aren’t you joining?"
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