On the way back.
Sheng Xia followed behind Zhang Shu, keeping a distance of two or three meters. He would occasionally glance back to make sure she was still there.
She was somewhat grateful for the wind tonight—it quickly dried her tears. Still, she wasn’t sure if her eyes were still red.
When they reached the corridor, she stopped in her tracks. Hearing her footsteps halt, Zhang Shu turned around and saw her standing still.
"You go ahead first," she said softly. "I’ll go back in a bit."
Zhang Shu ignored her and instead sat down by the corridor. "You go first. I’ll go back later."
Sheng Xia sat down as well, a good four or five meters away from him. She insisted, "You go first. My eyes are a little…" red.
Before she could finish, the motion-activated light in the corridor clicked off with a soft sound.
Sheng Xia instinctively tensed up.
Since their voices had been too quiet and slow, the sensor had clearly dismissed them as negligible.
Zhang Shu coughed loudly and stomped his foot hard against the ground. The light flickered back on.
"I’ll wait for you," he said.
Sheng Xia lowered her gaze, the sting rising in her nose again.
Did he know she was afraid of the dark?
If this was goodbye, why couldn’t he be a little more ruthless? What was the point of giving her hope like this?
Yet she didn’t say anything more.
The two of them sat in silence, neither speaking nor even glancing at their phones.
They spent ten minutes like that, wordless in the dark.
She could tell the time so precisely because the corridor light turned off every three minutes—Zhang Shu had already cleared his throat three times.
Just as Sheng Xia was debating whether to leave first, the bell signaling the end of class rang.
The teaching building erupted into noise, making the question of who should leave first irrelevant.
"Let’s go," Zhang Shu said, breaking the silence.
Sheng Xia stood up and walked past him, taking the lead this time.
Perhaps because the excitement from the blackout hadn’t worn off yet, the classroom was in an uproar—shouting, laughing, a cacophony of voices.
Aside from a few nearby classmates, hardly anyone noticed Zhang Shu and Sheng Xia’s disappearance and return.
Zhou Xuanxuan’s gaze darted between Zhang Shu and Sheng Xia.
One had entered through the back door, the other through the front, and neither looked quite right.
Sheng Xia was always quiet, so that wasn’t unusual, but Zhang Shu sat slumped in his chair, lost in thought—that was strange.
The atmosphere between them seemed off.
Had they fought?
For the entire second self-study session, Sheng Xia had no idea what she was doing. No matter which subject she tried to focus on, her mind would wander. Eventually, she gave up and pulled out a collection of essays to read. Essays were supposed to be free-flowing yet cohesive, but Sheng Xia was just "flowing"—she couldn’t grasp any deeper meaning.
She barely made it to the end of class. Ready to leave—since she wasn’t getting anything done here anyway—she had just started packing her bag when Xin Xiaohe rushed over.
"Xia Xia, wanna grab a late-night snack at the north gate?"
They had talked about experiencing the "culture" of the north gate at the start of last semester but still hadn’t gone.
"Sure," Sheng Xia agreed.
Xin Xiaohe was pleasantly surprised. "Wow! Then let’s hurry. It’s packed right after school starts—the milk tea shops will be full soon."
Sheng Xia rarely walked through the north gate at night. Seeing the lights and the crowds, she almost thought she’d stumbled onto some food street.
The usually quiet alley was now lined with food stalls selling everything imaginable—spicy chicken feet, grilled cold noodles, stinky tofu, roasted pork knuckles, fried chicken strips… The clamor and bustle were overwhelming, thick with the scent of street food.
"Order whatever you want, my treat!" Xin Xiaohe announced grandly before whispering in Sheng Xia’s ear, "It’s my turn to pay this time, wuwu."
Sheng Xia was curious. "Turns?"Xin Xiaohe answered matter-of-factly: "Of course! Since we're all out together, paying separately would seem so un-united!"
Sheng Xia nodded, mentally noting this as one of the "cultural norms."
She suggested, "Since I'm new here, shouldn't I be the one treating everyone?"
"No no no, your turn next time."
"Okay."
They first sent someone to secure seats at the milk tea shop while the others strolled along the small street, browsing stalls to buy their favorite snacks.
The milk tea shops, board game cafes, and script murder mystery stores along the street were all packed by now.
There were several milk tea shops—both chain stores and independent ones.
Xin Xiaohe whispered in Sheng Xia's ear again: "This one's the hardest to get seats at."
With its black storefront, it looked very cool.
Sheng Xia asked, "Is the tea really good?"
"No," Xin Xiaohe said mysteriously, "Because the three owners are hot guys!"
Sheng Xia: ...
The entrance led to a narrow aisle flanked by two rows of high-backed booths that provided privacy.
It had a café-like vibe.
Some booths had people studying with desk lamps, others were playing cards, chatting, or... cuddling and making out.
Sheng Xia averted her eyes—what you shouldn't see, don't look. Ah, another cultural norm.
While ordering, Sheng Xia saw the legendary three handsome owners.
All young, probably in their early twenties, stylishly dressed, and indeed good-looking.
Their service attitude was very laid-back, almost indifferent.
They carried an air of aloofness.
But Sheng Xia felt it was different from Zhang Shu's cool demeanor—theirs felt more put-on, while Zhang Shu was more natural.
Zhang Shu was also better-looking, perhaps by more than just a little.
Huh, why did she think of him again? Stop it...
Xin Xiaohe ordered mango shaved ice. Sheng Xia frowned and stopped her: "Xiao He, your period is coming in a couple of days. Maybe skip the ice?"
Xin Xiaohe tilted her head in thought. "Oh right, I forgot."
"Mhm," Sheng Xia suggested, "How about something hot?"
Xin Xiaohe: ...Ugh, I never drink hot beverages, OK?
"Will listening to the fairy lead to a long life?"
Sheng Xia replied seriously: "It probably would."
"Okay then."
"Mhm."
The card players in the booth burst out laughing, curiously peeking at the girls openly discussing periods.
Even the three cool faces behind the counter twitched, glancing up to see what someone who casually called herself a fairy looked like.
After ordering and sitting down, Sheng Xia noticed Xin Xiaohe's friends eyeing her with expressions that seemed... shy?
This made Sheng Xia's ears turn red too.
"Sheng Xia..." one of them murmured, "I like staring at you, don't mind me."
Sheng Xia: ...
"Me too."
Xin Xiaohe: "Hahaha they've been drooling over you in the dorm for ages."
Sheng Xia felt slightly embarrassed.
With Xin Xiaohe around, the awkwardness soon dissipated. They shared street snacks, sipped milk tea, and gossiped—from celebrities to classmates, from classmates to teachers.
Occasionally, they even mentioned people from other schools.
To Sheng Xia, it all sounded like a foreign language, as if she'd entered a new world: So if you're famous enough, people from other schools really would know about you?
Ironically, those closest to them weren't gossip material because they were too familiar.
She wondered how many milk tea shops like this had featured Zhang Shu as gossip material.
Sheng Xia nearly choked on her milk tea—what was this? Why did everything remind her of him? How was she supposed to live like this?The topic finally shifted to someone Sheng Xia knew, when someone asked, "Xiao He, hasn't Yang Linyu returned yet?"
"Probably next week."
Sheng Xia was curious, "Where did he go?"
She hadn’t seen him at all during the tutoring sessions.
Xin Xiaohe replied, "He went to attend the winter camp for independent recruitment at Heyan University of Science and Technology."
Sheng Xia asked, "He’s been gone for so long—won’t it affect his studies?"
One of Xin Xiaohe’s roommates chimed in, "At this stage, there’s hardly anything new left to learn. Grinding for scores isn’t as worthwhile as independent recruitment. It’s Heyan Tech we’re talking about—even skipping a month of classes would be worth it!"
Yang Linyu was also ranked around twentieth in their class. With a bit more effort, Sheng Xia could catch up to him.
Another girl looked at Xin Xiaohe and asked, "But if he goes to Heyan, wouldn’t that mean you two…?"
"What does that have to do with me?" Xin Xiaohe said dismissively. "I’m aiming for Dongda University!"
As the girls chatted, a girl suddenly appeared by their booth—wearing a long hoodie, a baseball cap, and super-short shorts, somewhat resembling Chen Mengyao’s style. She placed a basket of assorted snacks on their table and asked Sheng Xia, "Hey, my friend wanted to ask for your WeChat. Is that okay? These snacks are from him."
As she spoke, she glanced toward a booth diagonally to their right, where a tall, lanky guy sat. Despite the mild weather, he wore a pointed knit cap with a few strands of dyed blond hair peeking out.
His outfit matched the style of those "boss types."
A pickup attempt!
The girls all waggled their eyebrows at Sheng Xia teasingly.
Sheng Xia politely declined, "Sorry, I don’t have WeChat."
Unexpectedly, the girl laughed and said, "Then Q.Q works too."
Sheng Xia: "…"
She felt like she’d walked right into a trap.
Sheng Xia hesitated, while Xin Xiaohe muttered under her breath, loud enough to be heard, "If he doesn’t even have the guts to come over himself, why should you give it to him? Is he the emperor or something?"
The blond guy turned his head, stood up, and walked over.
Sheng Xia: "…" My dear friend, reverse psychology is not the move right now.
"I figured girl-to-girl might be easier," the guy said as he reached their table. "But since it’s come to this—how about adding me on Q.Q?"
Xin Xiaohe’s roommate asked, "You’re not from our school, are you?"
"Yingjie Division," he replied, already pulling up the Q.Q scan function on his phone.
Xin Xiaohe’s roommate instinctively blurted, "So, a fourth-year senior?"
"No, third year," the blond guy answered.
Xin Xiaohe raised an eyebrow and whispered to Sheng Xia, "A third-year from Yingjie Division—if he’s not a rich second-gen, then he’s a rich third-gen. If not a third-gen, then an Nth-gen…"
Sheng Xia: "…"
Did she think she was being quiet?
The blond guy clearly heard and chuckled. "Nah, just scraping by for an education."
The atmosphere grew awkward.
The guy then said, "We’ve actually met before."
Sheng Xia looked up.
"At the school sports meet."
Oh. So not some grand serendipitous encounter.
At this point, if she didn’t add him, he’d probably just stand there and blend into their girl-talk session.
Sheng Xia pulled up her Q.Q QR code and added him.
One more contact to bury in the list.
"We’ll let you get back to your chat," the guy said tactfully before returning to his seat with his female friend.
Outside the shop, Zhou Yingxiang—who had stumbled upon his classmate’s pickup attempt and stayed to watch—finally caught sight of the girl being hit on and let out a stunned curse: Holy sh—!
Clutching several cups of bubble tea, he sprinted back to the board game café.
Inside the private room, the usual group was still gathered.Hou Junqi was playing PUBG, the gunfire sounds crackling nonstop; Wu Pengcheng was scrolling through short videos, grinning foolishly whenever a beauty swayed on screen; Han Xiao rested his chin in hand, muttering to himself as he strategized which mahjong tiles to play; Liu Huian was watching a soccer match, cheering loudly in waves.
What a noisy room.
Only Zhang Shu lay reclined on the sofa, seemingly asleep.
The whole group was waiting for Zhou Yingxiang to bring the milk tea.
"I'm back, I'm back."
"I'm about to win this chicken dinner, wait a sec..."
"I want lemon tea."
"Let me finish this half-time first."
"Should we play Unlock?"
Zhang Shu sat up from the sofa, tore open a straw wrapper, casually grabbed a cup without checking what it was, stabbed the straw in, and took a sip.
Zhou Yingxiang was shocked—that was the ice cream black tea he'd bought for himself, sickeningly sweet.
Sure enough, Zhang Shu frowned. "What is this crap?"
"I saw Sheng Xia."
The moment Zhou Yingxiang spoke, everyone—whether gaming, watching beauties, or soccer—turned to look.
Zhang Shu slowly lifted his eyelids, fixing his gaze on Zhou Yingxiang.
"Seriously, in the next room, with some girls," Zhou Yingxiang ventured.
Hou Junqi immediately lost interest. "Xin Xiaohe and her clique, right? Poor little Sheng Xia, stuck with them—probably can't understand a word they're saying. Hope she doesn't get corrupted."
"I also saw someone from our class hit on her."
"..."
"And she agreed to add him on QQ."
Hou Junqi quit his game and stood up. "Do you even know what 'getting to the point' means?"
"Who's trying to steal her?"
"Those Elite Division kids have too much free time."
As everyone chattered away, a figure flashed past them. When they looked back at the sofa, Zhang Shu was already gone.
The private room's door slammed violently against the wall before settling half-open, testament to how urgently and roughly it had been flung aside.
Everyone shook their heads.
But the next second, Zhang Shu pushed the door open and returned, sitting back on the sofa with his elbows on his knees, hunched over as if deep in thought.
The group exchanged confused glances.
Han Xiao spoke first: "Shu-ge, aren't you going to check it out?"
Zhang Shu took another sip of the ice cream black tea.
Cloyingly sweet, yet somehow not unpleasant now.
Zhang Shu asked, "Just hitting on her?"
Zhou Yingxiang blinked. "Uh, yeah. Asked for her QQ and left."
"Hmm." Zhang Shu said nothing more and made no further move.
Hou Junqi whispered, "What's going on?"
He'd felt something was off between A-Shu and Sheng Xia recently, though he couldn't pinpoint exactly what.
Wu Pengcheng asked, "Did you fight?"
Zhang Shu said flatly, "We broke up."
"What?" The group was stunned.
Zhang Shu: "Not exactly."
They relaxed slightly.
Zhang Shu: "We were never actually together in the first place. How could we break up?"
"WHAT?" Even more unified and louder this time.
He had no right to interfere.
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