Not just Zhao Qian, Xu Zhinan was also stunned by his words.

After that ridiculous night between them, Xu Zhinan had ridiculously said she would be responsible for him, and then they exchanged contact information.

They contacted each other occasionally, and later gradually grew more familiar.

The relationship started strangely and developed strangely. It seemed there was never a moment when the relationship was clearly defined.

Xu Zhinan looked down at Lin Qingye, who was sitting on the steps, and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Be with me." He answered very directly.

Xu Zhinan chuckled lightly and also answered directly, "No."

Zhao Qian was completely bewildered the whole time, even suspecting she could no longer understand Chinese. Before she could react, Xu Zhinan had already pulled her away.

This state of bewilderment lasted until Xu Zhinan unlocked the door and walked into the dorm room.

"Wait." Zhao Qian asked in a daze, "Was that Lin Qingye just now?"

"..."

"Was he confessing to you? No, but why? Why would he suddenly confess to you?" The more Zhao Qian thought about it, the more confused she became. "And why did he call you Ah Nan?"

Xu Zhinan hadn't been prepared for how to tell Zhao Qian about this, but Lin Qingye's bombshell had shattered her plans, leaving her momentarily unsure how to start.

Zhao Qian looked at her expression and had a sudden epiphany.

She remembered the male voice that had answered the phone when she called Xu Zhinan that night. At the time, she and Jiang Yue had commented on how nice the voice sounded. Thinking back now, it did seem very similar to Lin Qingye's voice, but she had never once thought it could be him.

Who the hell would have thought of that???

Her best-behaved roommate didn't return to the dorm late at night, and when she called her, it was Lin Qingye who answered and said she was already asleep.

Then...

Zhao Qian took a deep breath, "Ah Nan, you didn't already sleep with Lin Qingye, did you!!!"

Xu Zhinan panicked and went to cover her mouth, "Lower your voice!"

"Ho-ly crap."

Zhao Qian pinched herself, then let out a yelp. She wasn't dreaming.

"You're too awesome, and you never even told me! That's not cool!"

"...It's not what you think."

At this point, it was hard for Xu Zhinan to hide it anymore.

Besides, she was now determined to part ways with Lin Qingye, free from her previous worries, but it was still embarrassing to say it out loud.

During that time, she had truly been as if possessed.

Xu Zhinan only briefly told her how they had met. Only then did Zhao Qian vaguely recall that Xu Zhinan had indeed not come back one night during their freshman year.

It was just that they had only just met back then, and she hadn't been nosy.

Zhao Qian asked, "So now you two...?"

Xu Zhinan didn't speak, just shook her head. After a good while, she said, "You guys were right, the girls who truly fall for Lin Qingye have it pretty miserable. So I'm not planning on liking him anymore. I've already split up with him."

Zhao Qian blinked, remembering that this was something she and Jiang Yue had said casually while chatting before.

She never expected that their thoughtless words back then would take on such a different, deeper meaning in Xu Zhinan's ears.

Zhao Qian asked in disbelief, "You broke up with him?"

"We parted ways," Xu Zhinan corrected.

For a relationship like theirs, "break up" wasn't the right term.

Zhao Qian didn't see much of a difference between the two and gave her a thumbs up. "That's amazing, Ah Nan! You must be the only girl who could ever dump Lin Qingye!"

Xu Zhinan: "..."

She had originally been a little worried that Zhao Qian would be unhappy about her hiding things, but now, with her lively personality stirring things up, she actually felt a sense of relief.

After she had explained everything, Zhao Qian was also somewhat emotional. She patted her back and asked, "So what do you plan to do now?"

"What?"

"Isn't Lin Qingye trying to get back together with you?" she said, slapping the table.

Xu Zhinan paused, recalling how Lin Qingye had looked just now.

Sitting alone on the steps, stripped of the applause, screams, and flowers, dressed in a white shirt and black pants, he looked like a clean-cut youth, with a look that was somewhat... downcast.

Ah Nan, just be with me.

Xu Zhinan lowered her eyes and let out a soft sigh.

He knew all too well how to make others fall for him.

"I won't be like that again." Her tone was soft, as if she were admitting her mistake and repenting.

"That's the spirit!" For some reason, Zhao Qian was filled with righteous indignation despite not knowing all the details. "Didn't everyone on the forums say before that if you two got together, it'd be like an angel and a demon? You can't let the demon get off easy. You need to be with a prince."

She then changed the subject. "That childhood friend of yours is pretty good!"

"..."

Ruan Yuanyuan hadn't been staying in the dorm recently. When Jiang Yue returned from the library at ten that night, she also found out about the matter and reacted just like Zhao Qian.

She found it hard to believe, and she didn't even know where to begin to process it.

It was too incredible.

The next morning, Jiang Yue was the first to get up and leave for the library to study.

Xu Zhinan was already awake too. Tomorrow was the last exam of finals week. She slowly got up, stretched, and was just about to climb out of bed when her phone suddenly buzzed several times.

Jiang Yue had sent her a series of text messages.

[Jiang Yue: Ah Nan!!!!]

[Jiang Yue: I think I saw Lin Qingye downstairs just now!!! He's sitting by the flowerbed!]

[Jiang Yue: Could he be waiting for you???]

[Jiang Yue: It must be Lin Qingye! I heard the girls walking past me talking about it too!!]

Two seconds later, Jiang Yue sent a photo.

Lin Qingye was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday, sitting on the steps with his head in his hand.

Xu Zhinan paused. 'Did he not go back at all yesterday? He didn't even change his clothes.'

She stopped wondering why Lin Qingye would still be there at this hour and forced herself to look at the situation with a clear head.

The T-shirt he had left at her place had been washed at home and brought back to school with her. Xu Zhinan sat on her bed, staring for a moment at her suitcase in the corner against the wall.

Xu Zhinan got out of bed, quietly took his shirt out of the suitcase, changed out of her pajamas, and went downstairs.