Early winter had arrived, the season for down jackets. In the evening, the study halls of Landa University were filled with the ceaseless SCRATCHING of pens on paper.
Students who knew each other would whisper amongst themselves from time to time.
Over the past month, Chen Yuan had been extremely busy. He'd gradually grown accustomed to life without a relationship, immersing himself in his studies and constantly improving.
'Who says you can't live without being in a relationship? Life is still plenty fulfilling when you're single!'
Aside from the nightly League of Legends in-house games in the dorm, where he was held hostage for entire matches under the leadership of Quan Yafeng—a Silver-rank "expert" with sixteen thousand games played—life was impeccable.
Attending classes, going to the library, feeding the seniors, participating in club activities, submitting papers.
Chen Yuan had completely moved on from his breakup. The long spell of gloom was over, replaced by one sunny day after another!
"Third Bro... Chen Yuan!"
Chen Yuan was studying for his next class when Liu Nan, sitting beside him, poked him and whispered.
He turned his head, confused. Liu Nan simply handed him a phone.
"Check out the Confession Wall. Looks like someone's looking for you!"
'The Confession Wall?'
Chen Yuan took the phone and glanced at it. The screen was filled with an incredibly long block of text.
[Hey Wall, I want to rant about a third-year, Senior Gao Ming.]
[Senior, I hate you! You're always meddling in my business, but you're so dumb, I hate it! I'm always worried you'll get tricked by someone, you worry so much. You don't even get mad when I yell at you, why do you have to be so gentle! Are you this gentle with other girls too? Baka, baka, baka! When I cry... I like you, Senior! Why can't you notice... Senior, suki, suki, daisuki! I like you the most!]
Chen Yuan froze. 'What in the world is this weeb-level cringe?'
He frowned at Liu Nan, who leaned over and hastily tapped the screen, switching to another post.
"Wrong one, my bad. Not that one."
The next post was much more normal. Below it was a photo, and Chen Yuan recognized himself immediately.
The photo had been taken from a staircase, capturing the moment he was walking out of an academic building with a few books in his arms.
In the picture, he was wearing a black hoodie, long jeans, and sneakers, with his bangs casually falling across his forehead.
[Hey Wall, trying to find this guy in a hoodie by the west escalator in Academic Building 3.]
[If he has a girlfriend, never mind. But if not, I'd love to get his contact info. He has such a great vibe, reminds me of the guy I had a crush on in high school.]
[Posted anonymously.]
There were quite a few comments under this Confession Wall post.
[Damn, I can't really see if he's handsome or not, but sis, you really captured a great vibe with this photo.]
[To the poster above, it's not the photo. That's Chen Yuan from the '21 class. His looks are off the charts.]
[Don't bother looking, I already asked for his contact info (sobbing). He politely turned me down. I heard he has a girlfriend.]
Compared to other posts, the comment section for this one was extraordinarily lively, and the drama was jaw-dropping.
Posted just a few hours ago, it already had over seventy replies.
Some people were even starting flame wars in the comments.
[I saw this '21 class guy when I was picking up a package once. He's really good-looking, tall and slim, and super polite! I feel like he could compete for the title of campus heartthrob.]
[You've got to be kidding. He looks average in the photo. The real campus heartthrob is Senior Song Lin.]
[Campus heartthrob my ass. Song Lin has uneven eyes and is a total sleazeball. He just goes around adding every girl in the big group chats and hitting on them. Guys like that are the most disgusting (puke).]
Chen Yuan scrolled through for a while, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
He handed the phone back to Liu Nan and returned to his studies.
The dating culture in university was a world apart from high school; there was never any need to be secretive. Countless guys and girls would feel their hearts flutter from a single chance encounter. They'd naturally exchange contact information, and after a bit of back-and-forth, they'd fall head over heels in love.
It was the first stirrings of love, fueled by hormones.
It was all perfectly normal.
They were in the prime of their youth. If you didn't date now, were you supposed to wait until you started working, trying to find someone in an extremely narrow social circle?
Waiting for someone below their dorm, cuddling on benches, whispering sickeningly sweet pet names while kissing in dimly lit corners... it all had a certain charm.
"Finished reading? No thoughts?" Liu Nan asked, propping his chin on his hand and giving Chen Yuan a cheeky arch of his eyebrow.
"Nope. I have a girlfriend, remember?"
"Girlfriend my ass! You've been saying you have one since the semester started, but we haven't seen so much as a shadow of her. It's one thing to lie to your bros... I forget the middle part... but don't lie to yourself."
"You saw right through me," Chen Yuan admitted. "I don't. But honestly, relationships aren't all they're cracked up to be."
"Why not?"
"Because they take a guy's efforts for granted," Chen Yuan said, a flicker of anger on his face as his expression turned cold. "They drain you of all your ideals about love, then dump you and play the victim."
An image of Jiangg Ning's face surfaced in his mind. He shook his head, trying to force the thought of that wicked woman away.
'He knew all too well that these seemingly enthusiastic female students were only interested in his looks.'
'If he were just average-looking, who would bother to learn about his self-discipline and ambition? Forget snapping a picture and posting it to find him; a single moment of eye contact would probably get him blasted on social media.'
'The title would be something like: "Girls, PSA! Ran into a total creep after class today. He deliberately brushed against me with his shoulder, and the way he looked at me was just disgusting."'
"A very insightful summary," Liu Nan said, nodding in agreement. "In-house games later back at the dorm?"
"You guys go on ahead. I'm going to feed the seniors."
"Alright."
...
"Jiangg Ning" was taking a stroll across campus. Students passing by all stopped to greet her, their enthusiasm palpable.
She was, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful sights at Landa University.
She wore a particularly chic trench coat, her long, wavy, wine-red hair cascading over her shoulders. As she walked under the streetlights, her hair seemed to catch the light with a heart-stopping glow. The nude heels on her feet were a familiar pair, making her already considerable height seem even more statuesque.
Her slender, snow-white calves were clearly defined with each step, the delicate line of her Achilles tendon visible above her heels.
She walked from beneath the brightly-lit academic building into a small garden. Only when there were fewer people around did she finally let out a sigh of relief.
Then, she did something very "girlish"—she made a small fist and pumped it downwards, as if psyching herself up.
This was not an action Jiangg Ning would ever make.
It was Jiangg Yao.
She had been impersonating her sister at Lanjing University for several days now. Jiangg Yao's performance was seamless—neither students nor her sister's colleagues had noticed a thing.
Her sudden shift from gloom to cheerfulness that day wasn't because she'd gotten over a breakup. It was because she had realized she truly liked Chen Yuan. After a great deal of thought, she had decided to pursue a real-life relationship with him, even if it meant hiding it from Jiangg Ning and everyone else.
So she began to experience life outside, preparing to impersonate her sister.
Still, she was apprehensive, especially when it came to Chen Yuan. She worried he wouldn't forgive her.
Jiangg Yao had done her research. She decided to apologize properly and had spent the last few days loitering in the small garden where the 'senior' cats hung out, hoping to run into Chen Yuan.
The lighting was dim. She stroked the cats gathered around her, whispering softly.
"Your Majesty, Kitty Cat, if you think Chen will forgive me, please meow just once..."
The senior cat looked up, its clear eyes fixed on her. 'Woman, I've been rubbing on your leg for ages. Where's the food?'
"Why no meow? C'mon, sweetie~ Do you think Chen will come today? Hmm?"
The senior cat thought, 'Rubbing isn't working. Guess I'll try licking her foot.'
"You little licker, can't you say anything? Meow?"
Jiangg Yao picked up the calico, swaying it back and forth as she tried to communicate with it, her brow furrowed.
CRACK—
From around the dark corner of the academic building came the crisp snap of a shoe on a dry twig.
Chen Yuan approached with a smile, his pockets stuffed with several sausage sticks. It was all he had to feed them. He hadn't been by in a few days and had actually missed the seniors.
He found the process of feeding the seniors to be incredibly therapeutic.
But as soon as he entered the small garden, Chen Yuan spotted a girl crouching there, surrounded by several of the seniors.
The light from the academic building didn't reach here directly. What little ambient glow there was got mostly blocked by the low bushes, leaving the ground dappled with specks of light. The girl wore a trench coat that exuded a sophisticated aura, and even in the early winter chill, it did little to conceal her long, pale legs.
The evening breeze would lift the long hair at her cheek, and each time, the softly murmuring girl would reach up to tuck it behind her ear.