Li Meng leaned over to take a look and immediately collapsed onto the desk laughing. “Are you crazy? What kind of cheesy pick-up line is that?”
“Mind your own business. As long as it gets me added, that’s all that matters.”
Xu Yuan stared at the screen, full of confidence, and pressed send.
A minute passed. No response from the other side.
“Is he looking at it? Thinking, ‘Where did this lunatic come from?'” Li Meng asked.
“He’s probably busy.” Xu Yuan flipped her phone face-down on the desk, pretending she didn’t care.
And at that very moment, Yan Ting was indeed busy.
The A University basketball court was buzzing with noise.
Yan Ting had just sunk a three-pointer, pushing the score to 78:52—an absolute blowout.
The crowd erupted in deafening cheers.
“Yan Ting! Yan Ting! Yan Ting!”
Someone in the stands started the chant, and it rippled through the crowd, all of it girls screaming.
“Ahhhh he looks so good in black today!”
“That spin move was insanely hot!”
“I need a screenshot, I need a screenshot!”
Yan Ting wiped the sweat from his brow with a blank expression and walked toward the rest area.
A small patch of his jersey was soaked through with sweat, clinging to his shoulder blade and outlining the smooth line of his shoulder.
He unscrewed the cap of his own water bottle, tilted his head back, and took a drink, his Adam’s apple bobbing with the motion.
Just then, a girl with a high ponytail stepped out from the crowd, holding an unopened bottle of mineral water, a shy smile on her face.
“Yan, would you like some water?”
Her voice was pitched just right—loud enough for the people around to hear.
The area went quiet.
A few people who recognized her started whispering: “Isn’t that Hu Niannian, the campus beauty?”
“She’s actually bringing him water?”
“Oh my god, the campus beauty is making a move herself…”
Yan Ting glanced at the bottle, then at Hu Niannian.
“Thank you,” he said.
Hu Niannian’s eyes lit up.
“No need.” Yan Ting added, then slung his bag over his shoulder and walked away.
Hu Niannian froze in place, her hand still holding the water bottle mid-air.
The whispers around her exploded.
“He turned down even the campus beauty?”
“He didn’t even crack a smile when he said ‘no need.’ So cold.”
“What kind of girl does our god actually like?”
“Maybe he likes guys?”
“Don’t talk nonsense! Last time someone said he was too close to Senior Tang, and it turned out their families are old friends! They’ve known each other since they were kids.”
“Forget it, forget it. My heart can’t take this.”
Yan Ting was already far away and hadn’t heard any of it.
He walked out of the court and slowed his pace under the shade of the trees, pulling his phone out of his pants pocket.
There was a little red notification dot in the top right corner of WeChat.
He tapped it open—[Wishing on a Star requests to add you as a friend]
The verification message read: [I did a quick fortune reading, and it says your WeChat is missing an adorable person like me.]
He stopped mid-step, his brow furrowing slightly.
He stared at the username for two seconds, then at the verification message, his expression one of utter bewilderment.
Just then, a gentle voice came from behind him.
“What are you so absorbed in?”
Yan Ting’s finger moved instinctively, pressing the screen off.
Too embarrassing!
He turned around. A man in a white shirt and glasses was walking toward him, holding two textbooks, his smile warm and refined.
Tang Shuqing—a junior in the School of Economics and Management at A University, Yan Ting’s childhood neighbor. Their families lived in the same villa district, close enough to be considered old family friends.
“Nothing.” Yan Ting shoved his phone back into his pocket. “Just some lunatic.”
Tang Shuqing raised an eyebrow but didn’t press further. He smiled and said, “Come on, let’s head back to the dorms together.”
The two walked side by side down the tree-lined path—one cold and sharp, one warm and gentle. Everyone who passed couldn’t help but steal a second glance.
After a few steps, Tang Shuqing suddenly remembered something. “Rejected another girl?”
“Yeah.”
“That was the campus beauty. You sure you don’t want to think it over?”
Yan Ting didn’t slow his pace, his voice flat. “Do I look like someone who’s lacking a girlfriend?”
Tang Shuqing chuckled and let it go.
Meanwhile, the phone in Yan Ting’s pocket buzzed again.
By the time he reached the dorm building, he couldn’t help but check.
Still that lunatic.
Second verification message: [Okay, I just did another fortune reading and I miscalculated. What your WeChat is missing isn’t an adorable person—it’s a fairy. The fairy has arrived. Open the door.]
The corner of Yan Ting’s mouth twitched. Expressionless, he hit reject.
Then he typed a line in the note box and hit send: [Get lost! Keep harassing me and I’ll block your account!]
At the same time, back in Xu Yuan’s dorm.
Her phone went “ding.”
Xu Yuan snatched it up excitedly and looked—[System notification: The other party has rejected your friend request]
Attached below was a note: [Get lost! Keep harassing me and I’ll block your account!]
She froze for two seconds. Then she smiled.
“Interesting.”
Li Meng was packing her things and came over to look. “You’re smiling after getting rejected? Are you a masochist?”
“No.” Xu Yuan tossed her phone onto the bed, folded her arms behind her head, eyes sparkling. “Think about it—what kind of person would reject a cute girl’s friend request?”
“What kind?”
“A person with a story!”
“My brother said he might be gay. See, isn’t this proof? I need to step it up and get this mission done!”
Li Meng looked like she wanted to say something but held back, ultimately giving up on trying to reason with her. “Alright, whatever makes you happy.”
Xu Yuan picked up her phone again, looking at the rejection message, a slight curve forming at the corner of her mouth.
She said, “Yan Ting, huh? When I, Xu Yuan, set my mind on something, I’ve never failed to accomplish it.”
Then she muttered under her breath, “Except when it comes to chasing Tang Shuqing.”
Li Meng: “…”
Xu Yuan sat up straight again, starting to brainstorm.
Going head-on clearly wouldn’t work. She needed to switch tactics and scope out the enemy’s situation.
And the best source of intel in the whole world was her good-for-nothing biological brother—Yan Ting’s roommate and the client-boss of this mission.
She tapped open WeChat and found the contact labeled “Cheapskate.”
She started typing: [Bro, dearest brother, the best brother in the whole world.]
Xu Shen: [(→_→)]
Xu Shen: [No money.]
Xu Yuan: [Who’s asking you for money! I just want to ask you something.]
Xu Shen: [Spit it out.]
Xu Yuan: [That Yan Ting—what kind of girl does he like?]
His reply speed was as fast as ever, and the content was as infuriating as ever.
Xu Shen: [If I knew that, why would I pay you to do this? Why are you asking? Got a crush on him?]
Xu Yuan rolled her eyes.
The person she had a crush on was Tang Shuqing, gentle like the spring breeze of March.
Yan Ting? A walking iceberg. She wasn’t part of an Antarctic expedition team.
Xu Yuan: [I took this mission, so I should at least have some intel, right? You know the saying—know yourself and know your enemy?]
There was a moment of silence on the other end, then a reply: [He doesn’t like people who talk too much, doesn’t like people who act overly familiar, doesn’t like people who act cutesy, and definitely doesn’t like people who spout cheesy pick-up lines.]
Great. Every single one hit home!
She had precisely stepped on every single landmine he had.
It was like Yan Ting had a blacklist tailor-made just for her.
Xu Yuan: [Anything else?]
Xu Shen: [He doesn’t like people who send cat stickers.]
Xu Yuan silently glanced at her sticker collection.
It was filled with all kinds of cat stickers.
[Bro, are you sure you’re not describing me specifically?]
Xu Shen: [You’re overthinking it. He’s just that kind of person. That’s why I think he might be gay. Every basic configuration of a normal girl, he doesn’t like any of it.]
Xu Yuan wanted to argue back, but found she had no rebuttal.
Taking a deep breath, she decided to change her angle.
Since there was no intel on his preferences, she’d ask about something else.
Xu Yuan: [So what are his usual hobbies? Like, what does he like to eat or drink? What movies does he watch?]
Xu Shen: [He likes playing basketball, gaming, and racing. He likes sweets, likes coffee—the bitterer the better. He likes horror movies—the scarier the better.]
Xu Yuan silently noted all of this down.
Just as she was about to ask a few more questions, Xu Shen sent another message: [Also, every Saturday afternoon he goes to the cat café behind the school’s back gate.]
Xu Yuan’s eyes lit up.
Cat café? He likes cats? Now that’s a potential breakthrough.
Wait, he likes cats?! But doesn’t like cat profile pictures? What kind of logic is that?
She asked: [He likes cats?]
Xu Shen: [No, he doesn’t.]
Xu Yuan: [Then what does he go to the cat café for?]
Xu Shen: [That cat café has really good tiramisu. He goes there to eat cake, and leaves as soon as he’s done. Never pets a single cat.]
A ridiculous image began to form in Xu Yuan’s mind.
A tall, cold-looking guy, sitting in a cat café, eating a slice of tiramisu, while a cat squats on the chair next to him—the two of them coexisting peacefully, neither bothering the other.
She suddenly felt a little like laughing.
How stubborn could this guy be?
He wouldn’t even give a cat the time of day.
Xu Yuan: [That’s it? Nothing else?]
Xu Shen: [That’s it. Three years of college, never dated, never had any flings, hasn’t even given anyone a second glance.]
Xu Yuan: [So you’re saying there’s no useful intel?]
Xu Shen: [Right. Figure it out yourself. The twenty thousand is your biggest resource.]
Alright, intel acquired, but it was as good as nothing.
Not only had she failed to find a breakthrough, she’d confirmed that she was exactly the type Yan Ting hated most—talkative, overly familiar, spouting cheesy pick-up lines at the drop of a hat, and a severe cat-sticker addict.
She’d already sent two friend requests, been rejected twice, and warned once.
If she kept sending from this account, would she actually get blocked?
She decided to go all in and try one crazy shot.
She sat cross-legged on her bed, rolled up her sleeves, reopened the add-friend page, and her fingers flew across the screen: [Young master, I’m your newly hired chat companion maid.]