Sang Zhi felt aggrieved, unable to shamelessly act as if nothing had happened like he did. She wiped her cheek with the back of her hand and asked with a stern face, "What were you doing just now?"
Duan Jiaxu feigned ignorance, "What's wrong?"
Staring at him, Sang Zhi forced herself to calm down and hinted euphemistically, "I wasn't asleep. I know everything you did."
Duan Jiaxu grinned mischievously, "Then what did I do?"
Looking at his perpetually unserious yet composed expression, Sang Zhi truly felt like tearing his mouth apart. At that moment, she suddenly remembered the advice both her roommates had given her.
—If he flirts with you, flirt back.
The rising heat on her face seemed to cloud her mind.
Sang Zhi had an extremely impulsive idea. She lifted her eyes and said calmly, "Come here."
Her demeanor was so fierce it seemed like she might slap him the next second. Yet Duan Jiaxu showed no resistance and obediently leaned closer, "What is it?"
Sang Zhi, "Come a bit closer."
Duan Jiaxu, "Want to whisper something to me?"
Sang Zhi remained silent.
When they were about ten centimeters apart.
Sang Zhi abruptly raised her head and, as if throwing caution to the wind, quickly kissed his cheek, withdrawing in less than a second. Then, staring at his completely unexpected and momentarily stiffened expression, she said expressionlessly, "That's what you were doing just now."
"..."
Just then, the class bell rang. The teacher was already standing at the podium, and several students who had just rushed in took the empty seats beside Sang Zhi.
Sang Zhi averted her gaze.
Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might leap out of her chest. After regaining her composure, rather than regret, she felt more of a triumphant satisfaction at having finally turned the tables.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could sense Duan Jiaxu's gaze still fixed on her.
Sang Zhi pretentiously picked up her water bottle and took a sip, putting on an air of complete indifference to what had just happened.
After a long while.
Duan Jiaxu chuckled, his voice carrying a light breath as if he were in an excellent mood yet found it hard to believe. He murmured to himself, "There's such a good thing?"
"..."
His words made it sound as if she had taken some kind of stance. Sang Zhi abruptly turned her head and said deliberately, "The action I just took doesn't mean I have any feelings for you."
"That doesn't count?" Duan Jiaxu raised an eyebrow, "Then aren't you just being a rogue?"
Sang Zhi retorted righteously, "You started it."
"Then shall we always be like this from now on?" Seeing that she had truly taken the bait, Duan Jiaxu didn't explain and drawled, "If I act like a rogue, you will too?"
Sang Zhi paused, staring at him for several seconds. Not wanting him to discover that she actually felt she had gained the upper hand, she thought for a moment and said coldly, "If you dare do that again, I'll tell my brother."
Duan Jiaxu, "Call your brother to beat me up?"
Sang Zhi, "Mm."
Duan Jiaxu replied nonchalantly, "Fine, go ahead and call him."
Sang Zhi, "?"
Duan Jiaxu laughed, "We're bound to go public sooner or later."
Sang Zhi, "..."
Duan Jiaxu, "Might as well make it sooner."
Sang Zhi couldn't help saying, "I'm not even with you."
"I know," Duan Jiaxu said leisurely, "Isn't that what I'm brainwashing you for?"
"..."Sang Zhi ignored him, pretending to focus on the useless lecture she had barely paid attention to from the start. Her cheeks and lips felt burning hot, and she desperately wanted to take a small mirror from her bag to see how she looked at that moment. But with him sitting beside her, she felt such an action would be too embarrassing.
Before long, Duan Jiaxu spoke up again: "Let's talk about you calling me by my full name earlier."
"If you won't let me call you that, then don't call me by my name either," Sang Zhi said stubbornly, completely unfazed, enunciating each word clearly. "I also think it's inappropriate."
Duan Jiaxu: "Fine."
Sang Zhi snorted softly.
Duan Jiaxu leaned back in his chair and chuckled lightly: "If you stop calling me brother, it means our relationship has progressed to the next level. Then I'll take it as you flirting with me."
Sang Zhi was momentarily stunned, finding this absurd: "Just calling you by your name counts as flirting?"
"Mm," Duan Jiaxu said. "I tend to be presumptuous."
"..."
After this class ended, Sang Zhi checked her schedule on her phone and brought Duan Jiaxu to another classroom. This was a specialized course, and most of the students present were Sang Zhi's classmates.
Ning Wei and Wang Ruolan had already arrived and were sitting in the second row, having saved seats for both her and Yu Xin.
When they saw Duan Jiaxu following behind Sang Zhi, they immediately understood, exchanging meaningful glances with her.
Sang Zhi pretended not to see. With only two seats left, she couldn't bring Duan Jiaxu over to sit with them, so she simply went to sit in another row.
Soon after, a male classmate who was on fairly good terms with Sang Zhi took the seat next to Duan Jiaxu. Noticing Duan Jiaxu, the boy casually remarked: "Sang Zhi, your boyfriend came to class with you?"
Sang Zhi glanced at Duan Jiaxu but neither explained nor denied it.
Taking their silence as confirmation, the boy asked familiarly: "Which department are you in?"
Duan Jiaxu: "Software Engineering."
The boy: "Also a freshman?"
Duan Jiaxu made an affirmative sound.
Sang Zhi: "..."
He's really getting addicted to pretending to be young.
The boy didn't suspect a thing and soon turned to talk with others.
Duan Jiaxu turned to look at Sang Zhi, curling his lips into a smile: "We're in the same grade."
Sang Zhi: "Have some shame."
Duan Jiaxu seemed somewhat tired. Then, he folded his arms on the desk and rested his head on them: "I'm going to sleep for a while. You pay attention in class. Don't get distracted during specialized courses."
Sang Zhi responded with an "Oh."
"If you feel like it," Duan Jiaxu added, suppressing a laugh, "you can steal a kiss."
"..."
Sang Zhi couldn't help herself and placed a textbook over his face: "In your dreams."
Their seats were relatively close to the front, and moreover, this was a small classroom. Therefore, Duan Jiaxu sleeping beside Sang Zhi was particularly noticeable to the teacher.
Not long into the class, Duan Jiaxu became the teacher's target.
The teacher was relatively young and smiled amiably: "That sleeping student over there, please stand up and answer a question."
Duan Jiaxu showed no reaction.
Sang Zhi also pretended not to know him.
The teacher added: "The student next to him, please help wake him up."
Sang Zhi could no longer pretend nothing was happening and had to nudge him: "Brother Jia Xu."
Duan Jiaxu lifted his head: "Hmm?"
Sang Zhi braced herself: "The teacher wants you to answer a question."
Duan Jiaxu frowned with sleepy eyes but stood up without any panic. After listening to the teacher's question, he pondered briefly and soon calmly provided one or two points in response.Sang Zhi found it incredible. After he sat down, she couldn't help asking, "How did you know how to answer?"
Duan Jiaxu pointed at her textbook: "Just randomly read a few lines."
"..."
Sang Zhi looked through her book for a long time but couldn't find the answers he had just given.
The male classmate who shared the class with Sang Zhi came over at that moment and whispered, "Classmate, didn't you come to accompany your girlfriend to class? How did you know the answers? Even I didn't know them."
"Studied a bit," Duan Jiaxu said lightly. "So I can help tutor my girlfriend later."
The male classmate gave him a thumbs-up.
Sang Zhi also leaned in and whispered, "Did you really study?"
"Not really," Duan Jiaxu chuckled lightly, speaking in a casual tone. "I wasn't asleep—I was actually listening just now."
"..."
After this class ended, it was time for lunch. To let him truly experience campus life again, the two didn't go off campus but headed straight to the student cafeteria.
The cafeteria at Yihe University wasn't open to the public, so if Duan Jiaxu wanted to order food, he could only use Sang Zhi's meal card. Neither of them were particularly picky eaters, so they just ordered a set meal.
They found a seat and sat down.
Duan Jiaxu picked up his chopsticks and said naturally, "Next time, it'll be my turn to treat you."
"..."
It was only a few dollars.
Sang Zhi: "No need."
Duan Jiaxu looked up: "For free?"
Sang Zhi had been treated by him plenty of times before; she couldn't possibly calculate such a small amount. "Yeah, it's on me."
"Alright," Duan Jiaxu sat up straight, speaking politely and elegantly, "Then I'll come again next time."
"..."
With the excuse of accompanying her to class, Duan Jiaxu started visiting her more frequently afterward. However, since he had to work during the day, he usually came to see her in the evenings.
When Sang Zhi had something going on, she would also instinctively let him know in advance.
Besides attending classes, Sang Zhi was also busy with competition preparations. Because of this, she often communicated with their advisor, Liu Miao, and over time, they became quite familiar.
In the blink of an eye, the May Day holiday arrived.
Sang Zhi participated in a department activity. When she returned to the dormitory that evening, she happened to hear her roommates discussing whether they would go home for the summer break.
"I probably won't go back. I want to find an internship," Ning Wei said. "If I'm at home, I definitely won't look for one. I'd just be idle, so I might as well find something to do."
Yu Xin: "Huh? You're interning as a freshman?"
Sang Zhi was also surprised.
"That's my plan," Ning Wei said with a laugh. "My department head also found an internship during the summer of his freshman year. Hearing him talk about it made me not want to waste time either. Plus, my boyfriend isn't going home either."
Sang Zhi felt tempted by what she said.
But she knew that if she brought this up with Sang Rong and Li Ping, they would definitely object. They might even send Sang Yan over to drag her back home.
Sang Zhi tentatively sent a WeChat message to Sang Yan: 【Bro.】
Brother: 【?】
Sang Zhi: 【I don’t want to go home for summer break qwq】
Brother: 【?】
Sang Zhi deliberated for a long time, then hesitantly and very formally typed out a long paragraph: 【I plan to find an internship here to enrich my university life. I don’t want to waste my youth; I want to seize my youth and do everything I can while I’m young. So, could you help me talk to Mom and Dad about this? When New Year comes, if Mom still nags you about getting married, I’ll put in a good word for you too.】Sang Yan, too impatient to type, sent a voice message directly, his tone clearly disbelieving every word she said: "Your graduate student boyfriend isn't coming home either?"
Sang Zhi: "..."
Sang Yan sneered: "Get your ass home during the break. What kind of nonsense are you spouting?"
"..."
Sang Yan: "Even through the screen, I'm blushing for you."
"..."
OpenNovel