Chapter 32: Fang Wan
To lend credibility to her lie, Ruan Yu deliberately got off the bus one stop early and wandered around a nearby bookstore before heading back to campus.
Just as she crossed the pedestrian crossing, she spotted Teng Yi’s car parked at the school’s main gate.
Under the dim glow of the streetlights, Teng Yi stood by the car with a few others, chatting and laughing intermittently. Amid the laughter, there was also the playful voice of a woman.
Ruan Yu should have turned and walked away, but curiosity got the better of her.
She wanted to get a clear look at the girl standing beside Teng Yi. Unfortunately, the girl was facing sideways, her features obscured, leaving only a silhouette visible.
The girl was quite tall, with curly long hair and a curvaceous figure. As she spoke, her arms occasionally swung or twisted in fluid, dance-like motions, as if she might break into a dance at any moment.
Was that Fang Wan?
It had to be her—the only girl in the West Journey Street Dance Club, rumored to be the team’s darling.
Lost in thought, Ruan Yu suddenly noticed Teng Yi glance in her direction. She quickly ducked behind a roadside tree and, shielded by the night and passing cars, quietly circled around to the back gate.
All this back-and-forth made her miss the dormitory’s curfew. Fortunately, the dorm supervisor recognized her and let her in without much fuss.
Jian Xiangxiang and the others had already showered and were lying in bed chatting. When Ruan Yu entered, they immediately sat up to tease her.
“Ruan Ruan, look at you! Even you’re coming back late now. Spill it—is there something going on?”
“No. I just went to the bookstore.”
“The bookstore?” Jian Xiangxiang groaned and flopped back onto her bed. “You’re so boring. I was hoping you’d had some romantic encounter out there.”
The others laughed.
Ignoring them, Ruan Yu grabbed her clothes and headed for the shower.
By the time she finished, the dorm was quiet. Each girl was curled up in bed, engrossed in her own distraction—Xia Qiaofeng reading a novel, Jian Xiangxiang texting on WeChat, and Chen Manbai scrolling through Xiaohongshu.
Ruan Yu climbed into bed and closed her eyes, but Teng Yi’s smile lingered in her mind.
If she hadn’t coincidentally overheard Fang Wan’s call today, she didn’t know when she would’ve snapped out of it.
Her father had always taught her: no matter how much you like something that belongs to someone else, you must never take it. The same logic applied—no matter how much you liked someone else’s boyfriend, you must never let yourself fall for him.
Ruan Yu sighed heavily.
Her three roommates lay motionless in their beds, each absorbed in their own world, while she tossed and turned. Unable to sleep, she pulled out her phone and opened a vocabulary app, but after studying for a long time, not a single word stuck.
Jian Xiangxiang got up to use the bathroom and, passing Ruan Yu’s bed, peeked at her phone. Disappointed, she reached under the covers and pinched Ruan Yu’s arm.
“Ruan Yu, if you’re going to be boring, at least don’t make it a habit. You’re terrifying. Don’t you have any sweet, girlish dreams?”
Ruan Yu put her phone away and stared blankly at the light spilling from the bathroom.
What were girlish dreams?
Was liking someone a girlish dream?
Even if that person was out of reach? Even if that person’s heart belonged to someone else?
She had no answer. All she knew was that, compared to being boring, losing control of her heart was far more frightening.
Hah…She really wished she could go back to the past. For her, it was much simpler to just be an emotionless academic overachiever.
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