Wen Yifan stared for three seconds before lifting her gaze to meet Sang Yan's across the table. Noticing her look, he glanced over with his usual composed arrogance, eyebrows slightly raised.
His expression was utterly righteous, as if he saw nothing wrong with his actions.
It made her wonder if she was the one being unreasonable.
Taken together, those two private messages seemed somewhat boastful.
After some hesitation, Wen Yifan typed out "That was my boyfriend who sent that earlier" in the message box. But before sending it, she suddenly felt the statement sounded even more like gloating.
She deleted it all and decided to let it go.
Remembering that her submission had been completely truthful without any exaggeration—and that he'd already seen it—Wen Yifan grew curious and brought up the past: "Did you see all of it?"
Sang Yan poured a glass of water and placed it before her: "What?"
"The first submission," Wen Yifan clarified.
"Oh." Instead of cooperating, Sang Yan leisurely recounted, "You went to KTV with a friend and got hugged."
"..." Watching his deliberately nonchalant expression, Wen Yifan decided to continue this impromptu interview. "From a male perspective, would you say my friend's behavior was normal?"
Sang Yan looked at her and quickly played along: "Generally not."
Wen Yifan paused. "Then what would be the reason?"
"I wouldn't know for sure. But," Sang Yan tapped his fingers lightly on the table, tilting his chin up slightly, "if this friend of yours happened to be named Sang Yan, I'd be more inclined to think the problem lies with you—the one being hugged."
"..." After a few silent seconds, Wen Yifan suddenly called his name. "Sang Yan."
"Hmm?"
"I think," recalling how he'd once mentioned his name was carefully chosen by his family, Wen Yifan said earnestly, "your name really does suit your personality."
Sang Yan looked up. "How so?"
Meeting his gaze, Wen Yifan uttered another phrase.
"Yan without sincerity.(Note: A play on words—"Yan" being his name, and the phrase sounding similar to "to speak insincerely."")
"..."
After dinner, they left the restaurant.
Uncertain about their next plans but aware that Sang Yan's main purpose for coming to Yihe was to visit Sang Zhi, Wen Yifan didn't want to interfere too much. "Are we going to see Zhi now?"
Sang Yan checked his phone. "Do you want to meet her?"
"Of course—" Mid-sentence, Wen Yifan suddenly noticed the hickey near his Adam's apple. She immediately swallowed her words and changed her answer. "Let's wait until she returns to Nanwu."
Since they hadn't run into many acquaintances during their trip, Wen Yifan hadn't paid much attention to it earlier. But the thought of being seen by someone they knew—especially Sang Yan's younger sister Sang Zhi—made her feel awkward.
"I have work the day after tomorrow, and my return flight is already booked for tomorrow noon," Wen Yifan informed him. "I can just take the airport shuttle."
Sang Yan gave a noncommittal hum. "I'll go back with you."
Surprised, Wen Yifan asked, "You're not staying longer? You rarely get to visit."
"Originally planned to," Sang Yan said lazily. "But seeing that bastard killed the mood."
"..."
"Besides, that kid's busy with her internship and juggling a relationship with that bastard," Sang Yan added. "Where would she find time for her dear older brother?"
Wen Yifan couldn't help defending Sang Zhi. "Your roommate isn't that much older than Zhi, is he?"Sang Yan: "Different concepts."
Wen Yifan wasn't entirely sure what had happened between them and didn't feel qualified to comment. She glanced again at the corner of Sang Yan's eye and asked, "So did you and Duan Jiaxu get into a fight?"
"No," Sang Yan replied bluntly. "I beat him up pretty badly."
"..."
"Took pity on him," Sang Yan pointed to his face and drawled, "let him land one punch."
"..."
"If that bastard had just told me the truth earlier, would I have stopped him? I knew he was chasing someone recently—" At this point, Sang Yan suddenly remembered something and let out a cold laugh. "Oh, Qian Fei helped him chase her."
Wen Yifan remained silent.
"No wonder he denied it," Sang Yan said icily. "Impressive."
From Sang Yan's words, she roughly pieced together the situation.
It seemed that Sang Zhi had known Duan Jiaxu since she was very young.
Later, because Sang Zhi's university was too far from home and Duan Jiaxu happened to be in Yihe, Sang Yan had entrusted him with looking after her. When Sang Yan learned that Sang Zhi seemed to be dating a graduate student recently, he specifically asked Duan Jiaxu to keep an eye out to ensure she wasn't being deceived.
Duan Jiaxu readily agreed.
During this time, Sang Yan also found out that Duan Jiaxu was pursuing someone—and that he'd succeeded with the help of their mutual friend Qian Fei. He found it odd but didn't dwell on it.
The final outcome was this:
After traveling all the way from Nanwu to Yihe, he discovered that the person Duan Jiaxu was pursuing was Sang Zhi.
And the graduate student Sang Zhi mentioned was Duan Jiaxu.
"..."
Wen Yifan inexplicably felt a bit sorry for him and didn't refute his words. She glanced around, noting the students coming and going, and changed the subject: "So where should we go now?"
Sang Yan glanced at her. "Wen Shuangjiang, isn't this where you went to university? Shouldn't you be the one picking a place?"
"Then how about we walk around Yihe University? It's been a while since I've been back." Wen Yifan calculated. "I graduated four years ago. After graduation, I worked at Yihe Daily and moved to another district, so I rarely come here anymore."
Sang Yan smiled. "Sure."
Once inside the campus gates, Wen Yifan was in good spirits and began pointing things out. "Yihe University isn't as large as Nan University—it only has one campus, but it's still pretty big." Then, she gestured toward a direction. "My old dormitory was over there."
Sang Yan looked and nodded. "Mm."
Night fell as the sun set. The summer sky was dotted with scattered stars. Along the way, they passed a small artificial lake, but the breeze still carried the lingering heat of the day.
At this hour, the campus paths were bustling with students—mostly those who had just finished classes, heading out for dinner or other group activities, creating a lively atmosphere.
Hand in hand, the two continued walking.
Wen Yifan pointed things out as she spoke. "That's the cafeteria I frequented the most. Next to it is our university library. ... That's the auditorium—it was newly built during my year. My graduation ceremony was held there."
Sang Yan listened quietly, following her directions and occasionally responding.
After touring most of the campus, Wen Yifan grew thirsty and took him to a milk tea shop on campus.
The line outside wasn't long—only two or three people. But there was only one staff member inside, who seemed to be a beginner, taking orders and making drinks at a painfully slow pace.
It took a while before it was finally their turn.Since she needed her phone to pay, Wen Yifan instinctively let go of Sang Yan's hand and lowered her head to look at the menu, hesitating for quite a while. The staff member was busy making drinks and didn’t rush her.
Wen Yifan wasn’t sure what to order either. Just as she was about to ask Sang Yan for his opinion, she suddenly heard movement beside her.
She glanced over.
At some point, a sweet-looking girl had appeared next to Sang Yan. The girl wasn’t very tall and was blushing as she handed him her phone. “Senior, can I get your WeChat?”
“…”
Sang Yan stood there with his hands in his pockets, his expression indifferent. Hearing the address, he seemed to recall something and turned to look at Wen Yifan, his eyes carrying a hint of amusement. “Sorry.”
The next moment, Wen Yifan’s hand was back in his grasp.
“I’m dating this junior here,” Sang Yan said, curling his lips slightly as he pinched her fingertips. “So it’s not very convenient.”
…
This reminded Wen Yifan of the first day they met, when she had been “scammed” by Sang Yan. After buying the milk tea, Wen Yifan sipped it while bringing up the incident. “You’re the same age as me, so why did you always call me ‘junior’ back then?”
Sang Yan’s tone was deliberately provoking. “Wasn’t it you who started it?”
“At the time, I thought that since the class bell had already rung and we were late,” Wen Yifan said honestly, “you were still so brazenly filling your water bottle, not looking like a freshman at all.”
“Well, we were already late,” Sang Yan drawled. “Being in a hurry wouldn’t change that.”
“…”
Wen Yifan had never met someone like him before.
Someone who did everything with such unshakable confidence, as if all the logic in the world was on his side.
But listening to him, she had to admit that what he said did make sense.
A full tour of the campus would take about two hours.
After walking for a while, Wen Yifan started feeling tired. Combined with the lingering discomfort from last night’s events, she didn’t feel like moving much once they left the campus. Holding Sang Yan’s hand, her pace gradually slowed.
Noticing her state, Sang Yan turned back. “What’s wrong?”
Wen Yifan looked at him. “Tired.”
Their eyes met, and after a few seconds, Sang Yan suddenly understood. Amused, he quirked his lips before crouching halfway. “Hop on.”
Wen Yifan didn’t move immediately. “Aren’t you tired?”
Sang Yan: “We’ve barely walked any distance.”
Hearing this, Wen Yifan climbed onto his back without hesitation. “Oh.”
The next second, Sang Yan lazily uttered three words: “Little spoiled brat.”
“…”
Wen Yifan wanted to clarify that under normal circumstances, walking for two hours wouldn’t tire her out. But that wasn’t something she could bring up now. Looping her arms around his neck, she couldn’t resist lightly biting his ear.
Her touch was featherlight, and Sang Yan frowned at the ticklish sensation. “Save it for when we get back.”
Wen Yifan laughed. “We’ll be sleeping when we get back.”
“Then go ahead,” Sang Yan said. “Just be mindful of people around.”
Ignoring him, Wen Yifan said slowly, “Carry me for five minutes, then we’ll hail a cab back.”
Sang Yan: “Why not hail one now?”
Wen Yifan answered honestly, “I want you to carry me for a bit.”
“…”
“Sang Yan, I just showed you around,” Wen Yifan murmured, resting her chin on his shoulder. “Isn’t Yanda University nice?”
“It’s alright.”"After we get back to Nanwu, when we both have some free time," Wen Yifan also wanted to hear him talk about his university days, "let's go visit Nanwu University together, okay?"
"..." Sang Yan's lashes flickered slightly as he smiled. "Sure."
Thinking that Sang Yan had gone to bed later than her last night and woken up earlier, Wen Yifan struggled to jump down from his back after walking less than five minutes. Just then, an empty taxi happened to pass by, and she reached out to hail it.
The two returned to the hotel.
The room had already been tidied up, with fresh sheets neatly arranged.
Wen Yifan flopped directly onto the bed, idly playing with her phone for a while. Out of habit, she opened Weibo again and refreshed it, immediately spotting a new post from that anonymous confessions account—still a screenshot of a submission.
This time, the caption was simple, just a single question mark.
[?]
The content of the screenshot was all too familiar to Wen Yifan. It was clearly her own words sent to this blogger.
—Anonymous and censored, how do you pursue someone you’ve offended before?
—Slept with them.
Nearly a year had passed between the two messages.
Wen Yifan’s scalp tingled. After steeling herself, she clicked into the comments. Her vision was instantly flooded with waves of question marks, scrolling down without seeing any other words.
Because of this, one ordinary reply stood out conspicuously among them.
[Congratulations]
"What are you looking at? Go take a shower," Sang Yan drawled, enunciating each word deliberately. "Junior."
Wen Yifan put away her phone. "I’ll lie down a little longer."
Sang Yan raised an eyebrow. "Want me to help you again?"
Wen Yifan paused, seriously considering it, and found the suggestion quite feasible.
"Is that okay?"
"..." Sang Yan was momentarily speechless at her response. He lowered his eyes, half-smiling. "When did you become so shameless?"
Last night, she could’ve claimed she was too tired to move.
But now, wide awake, she could still say such things with a straight face.
Wen Yifan leaned over, draping herself lazily over his legs. "You’ve already seen everything anyway."
Sang Yan didn’t respond.
But Wen Yifan had only said it casually.
Soon, she sat up again, muttering, "I’m going to shower."
The next moment, Sang Yan pulled her back, holding her firmly with one hand. "Running away?"
Wen Yifan looked puzzled. "Didn’t you tell me to shower?"
"Didn’t you ask me to help you?"
"..."
"Then, junior," Sang Yan stood up, lifting her effortlessly, his voice low and teasing by her ear, "how about sleeping with your senior tonight?"
The next day, the two slept until noon again.
After checking out, Wen Yifan took him to a nearby restaurant for lunch before heading to Yian Airport. By the time they boarded the plane and arrived in Nanwu, it was already 5 p.m.
Dinnertime had arrived.
After getting into a taxi outside the airport, Sang Yan didn’t head straight home. Instead, he directed the driver to a barbecue restaurant near their place.
This restaurant had recently opened, and Wen Yifan had heard Su Tian recommend it many times but never found the time to visit. She and Sang Yan had previously agreed to go together once he returned from Yian.
After getting out of the taxi, the two entered the restaurant one after the other and were led to a table by a server. Before Wen Yifan could even sit down, she suddenly heard a familiar voice amid the noisy surroundings.
"Yifan?"
Following the voice, Wen Yifan immediately met Su Tian’s gaze.
The barbecue restaurant was bustling with energy.Su Tian was also seated at a table for two, with an unfamiliar man across from her. They seemed to have just arrived, as the table was still empty with no dishes served yet. Su Tian looked at her with a bright smile, clearly surprised to see her here.
"You came here to eat too?"
Wen Yifan smiled and nodded. "Yeah."
Su Tian was about to say something else when her gaze shifted and suddenly landed on Sang Yan standing behind Wen Yifan.
She immediately fell silent.
Wen Yifan blinked, about to introduce him.
Noticing Sang Yan’s exceptionally striking features, Su Tian glanced back at Wen Yifan. Spotting their intertwined hands, she suddenly understood something and turned to Sang Yan again. Without thinking, the words slipped out.
"Yifan, is this your King of Ducks?"
Wen Yifan: "..."
Sang Yan: "?"
OpenNovel