Jiang Lu looked into Lin Xuan’s eyes.
The weather today was exceptionally fine. Lin Xuan’s desk faced the morning sun, and the early light spilled into the depths of his eyes, making his gaze remarkably gentle and sincere as he looked at Jiang Lu.
He seemed to harbor no ulterior motives whatsoever, wishing only to finish his drawing.
Jiang Lu locked eyes with him for a moment, his nerve endings seemingly trembling.
He swallowed hard, able to hear the faint sound of his own breathing. Soon, lowering his eyelashes to stare at his own fingertips, he asked in a low voice, “Then how am I supposed to demonstrate for you, Lin Xuan?”
The moment the words left his mouth, he felt a twinge of regret.
The request Lin Xuan had put forward was truly a bit excessive; their current relationship was not yet deep enough to warrant such an agreement. Yet, driven by a certain private inclination, he did not want to refuse outright.
With a conflicted, deep intake of breath, Jiang Lu did not wait for Lin Xuan to reply before blurting out, “I want to think about it.”
Lifting his gaze to meet Lin Xuan’s, he asked, “Can I?”
“Of course you can.” Watching him like a little snail tentatively extending its antennae, Lin Xuan’s deep contemplation flashed and vanished in his eyes. His expression betrayed no displeasure; although his gaze held a hint of disappointment, it was quickly reined in.
Maintaining his gentle demeanor, he said, “テントThis is your freedom, Xiao Lu. I will respect your choice.”
Jiang Lu stared down at his fingertips.
There was no abnormality whatsoever.
He let out a sigh of relief, though an inexplicable sense of unease lingered in his heart.
At that moment, Bubu leaped down from his arms, shook out its fur, and strutted regally out of the room.
Turning back around, Lin Xuan was just about to click the play button on his online lecture when his fingers suddenly paused, hovering above the iPad.
Jiang Lu recognized that the online lecturer was a professor from the Peking University Business School. Although the professor did not teach his specific courses, Jiang Lu had run into him around campus.
Seeing that Lin Xuan was about to resume listening to the lecture, Jiang Lu wondered if he should go look for Bubu, only to hear Lin Xuan ask, “Did you see that post?”
Jiang Lu immediately understood what post he was referring to. Hesitating for a fraction of a second, he nodded and let out an affirmative hum, saying he saw it.
After a brief pause, he asked, “Do you know who posted it?”
“Mm.” Lin Xuan’s voice was light and calm as he named someone: “Tang Yuan.”
He explained further, “The poster was a newly created account with an encrypted IP, but in this entire school, Tang Yuan is the only person who has been my classmate since elementary school. It is not hard to guess.”
“It really was him,” Jiang Lu muttered softly.
Lin Xuan smiled slightly, asking if Xiao Lu had anything he wanted to ask.
Jiang Lu pondered for a brief moment before finally shaking his head.
“You believe me?” Lin Xuan asked.
Jiang Lu nodded in confirmation.
The two most conclusive pieces of solid proof listed by the original poster were things Lin Xuan had already explained to him long ago. The rest were completely insignificant, and the supplementary video used as corroboration was clearly an instance of those individuals maliciously trying to lead people astray. In Jiang Lu’s eyes, it held not an ounce of credibility.
That video might look plausible at first glance, but in reality, it was full of loopholes.
However, people who did not know the truth would easily be led astray by the supposed proof at the beginning, viewing the video as corroborating evidence. As a result, the comment section of that post was filled with malicious replies.
Therefore, upon seeing the post, his primary concern had been whether Lin Xuan had seen it and whether it would ruin his mood, rather than demanding an explanation from him.
“Thank you,” Lin Xuan said softly.
“That post has quite a high view count,” Jiang Lu said, still somewhat uneasy, asking if it would affect him.
“It does not matter.” Lin Xuan chuckled instead, looking entirely unconcerned about such matters. “It is merely experiencing things I have already been through once before. Xiao Lu does not need to worry on my behalf.”
“Besides, I have Xiao Lu now.” Sideways, he gazed at Jiang Lu, the corners of his lips curving upward as his burning gaze met Jiang Lu’s with utter sincerity. “As long as Xiao Lu believes in me, that is enough.”
It sounded almost as though Lin Xuan was saying he only had him left in the world.
Jiang Lu’s heartstrings vibrated slightly, feeling somewhat uncomfortable under that intense gaze. He murmured an acknowledgment and looked away.
“I will handle this matter,” Lin Xuan added. “Xiao Lu does not need to get involved, and please do not let this cause friction between you and your roommates.”
Tang Yuan and Yu Jingrong had already become friends with his three roommates. Even without being told explicitly, the fact that those two had sat with them the other day allowed Lin Xuan to easily deduce it.
Jiang Lu’s throat bobbed, and he replied that it was alright.
He stayed at Lin Xuan’s place for the entire day, and that evening, Lin Xuan personally drove him back to the entrance of the dormitory building.
Watching Lin Xuan’s car turn around and drive away, Jiang Lu pulled out his student ID to swipe through the gate, stopping when he saw Shi Jiayu and Chen Feng approaching.
Chen Feng was chattering happily all the way, wearing a duckbill cap pulled low so not a single strand of hair peeked out, while Shi Jiayu walked with one hand in his pocket, looking utterly speechless as Chen Feng draped an arm around his shoulder.
The two of them soon spotted Jiang Lu standing at the dorm entrance.
“Yo, Xiao Lu.” Chen Feng released Shi Jiayu and hooked his arm around Jiang Lu’s neck instead, asking why he was standing out there all by himself.
“I just got back,” Jiang Lu said. Just as he was about to turn his head, his peripheral vision caught a flash of bright color beside Chen Feng.
With a rather strange expression, he asked, “Chen Feng, did you dye your hair?”
“You noticed so fast?” Flexing his fingers to flick the brim of his cap, Chen Feng declared with absolute confidence that it looked super handsome.
Jiang Lu looked blankly at Shi Jiayu.
Shi Jiayu swiped his card to unlock the security door, and upon entering, casually snatched Chen Feng’s cap right off his head, revealing a blinding fluorescent green hair color that nearly seared Jiang Lu’s eyes.
Jiang Lu’s pupils dilated in shock, and for a second, he thought he had somehow traveled back seventeen years.
If Chen Feng had not trimmed his hair into a buzz cut, Jiang Lu would not even want to imagine how much of a visual disaster it would be.
Laughing hysterically, Shi Jiayu remarked that he looked like a walking disaster zone.
Jiang Lu was utterly speechless.
Pulling Jiang Lu inside, Chen Feng snatched his cap back to cover his head and gave a cold snort, telling him that he knew nothing.
Silently, Jiang Lu slipped out from under his arm and stepped over to Shi Jiayu’s side.
Chen Feng asked what he was doing.
Coughing lightly to change the subject, Jiang Lu asked how he had suddenly thought of dyeing his hair.
Shi Jiayu mocked that the idiot lost a bet with Tang Yuan and the others at a bar.
Running a hand over his cropped green stubble, Chen Feng retorted that a bet was a bet and it was not like he was a sore loser.
The moment Jiang Lu heard the name Tang Yuan, his expression cooled slightly, but he still reminded Chen Feng that they had only just started classes and the professors had not even learned everyone’s names yet, asking if he had a death wish by dyeing his hair such a blinding color right now.
Chen Feng’s triumphant smile froze, and he went blank, realizing he had completely forgotten.
Shi Jiayu laughed and called him an idiot.
Jiang Lu redirected the conversation by asking where Xie Yu was.
Shi Jiayu answered that he was live-streaming in the dorm, adding that Tang Yuan introduced him to Rivet, and Xie Yu arranged to stream together with him today.
Jiang Lu asked who Rivet was.
Chen Feng replied that he was a star mid-laner, naming a very famous esports team from their game, and noted that Jiang Lu wouldn’t know him because Rivet was their dear streamer Xie’s idol, marveling at how Tang Yuan actually knew him and pulled strings to help Xie Dog achieve his fangirling dreams, while pointing out that even though their dear streamer Xie was giving Tang Yuan and the others the cold shoulder these past couple of days, he became completely speechless the moment he saw Rivet.
It was Tang Yuan again.
An unpleasant feeling stirred within Jiang Lu. He murmured an acknowledgment and grew quiet.
Reaching the dormitory door, Jiang Lu went inside first.
Xie Yu had just finished his live stream with Rivet. Having finally hit his streaming hour quota for the month, his throat felt parched from talking, and he was chugging water straight from the bottle. Seeing Jiang Lu walk in with a slightly darkened expression, he shot a questioning look behind him at Chen Feng and Shi Jiayu.
Chen Feng and Shi Jiayu looked even more bewildered than he was.
Clearing his throat softly, Xie Yu took the initiative to ask if Xiao Lu had gone to find Lin Xuan again today.
Jiang Lu answered affirmatively, and a moment later, he spoke up out of the blue to declare that he did not like Tang Yuan and Yu Jingrong.
Expressions shifted slightly across the faces of the other three, freezing for a second.
With a somewhat unnatural tone, Shi Jiayu asked why he didn’t like them.
Jiang Lu stated that the post about Lin Xuan on their university’s online forum was posted by Tang Yuan, noting that in their entire school, Tang Yuan was the only person who had been classmates with Lin Xuan since elementary school.
The three of them exchanged guilty, furtive glances.
Even though that forum post had been promptly deleted, on the night the incident occurred, the class counselor had issued a warning in the major’s main group chat forbidding students from spreading rumors. However, the result had been the complete opposite.
College students’ capacity for gossip and speed of dissemination were not to be underestimated; over the past two days, screenshots had been flying everywhere, and all three of them had seen them.
The content of that post matched word-for-word what they had previously heard from Tang Yuan and Yu Jingrong. They were well aware that Tang Yuan and his companion were the ones who posted it, but because the post was deleted shortly after and they had nothing to do with Lin Xuan, none of them had bothered to intervene.
Yet Jiang Lu was on close terms with Lin Xuan. Consequently, Xie Yu and the others had deliberately refrained from mentioning the matter in front of him, keeping it hidden precisely because they feared displeasing him.
Now that the truth was out and Jiang Lu clearly stood on Lin Xuan’s side, all three felt a greater or lesser degree of awkwardness and guilt, unable to meet Jiang Lu’s eyes.
Removing his duckbill cap to hang it on the wardrobe door, Chen Feng scratched his fluorescent green crew cut and let his gaze wander, asking if they simply shouldn’t hang out with them anymore from now on.
Jiang Lu looked at him suspiciously, asking why he looked somewhat guilty.
Chen Feng gave a dry laugh, denying it and claiming that what that kid Tang Yuan did was simply inhumane and downright monstrous.
He suggested that there must be some kind of misunderstanding between them, asking if they could help bridge the gap so everyone could sit down and talk things out properly.
He looked toward Xie Yu and Shi Jiayu, wildly signaling with his eyes for them to say something.
Xie Yu and Shi Jiayu remained silent.
Jiang Lu said with earnest sincerity that there was no need because Lin Xuan said he would handle it, explaining that he did not want to interfere in their personal affairs, but Lin Xuan was his friend and was not the kind of person that post claimed, as those people were spreading malicious rumors behind his back, which made him dislike them and refuse to hear their names mentioned.
Besides, those two had only appeared a few days ago, yet the frequency with which their names popped up in his roommates’ conversations was already extremely high.
In stark contrast, Lin Xuan had been maliciously slandered, yet he was still advising Jiang Lu not to let the matter cause friction between him and his roommates.
Jiang Lu pressed his lips together slightly and finally apologized.
Xie Yu gave a light cough and ruffled Jiang Lu’s hair, promising that they would not bring them up again and everyone would be more careful.
Lifting his gaze to look at him, Jiang Lu said nothing more, lowering his head to reveal the soft curve of his neck and nape.
A moment later, a new notification popped up in the class committee group chat, with the class monitor asking everyone if they agreed to a joint class gathering with Industrial Management Class 2401 during the sports meet next month.
Industrial Management Class 2401.
Isn’t that Lin Xuan’s class? Jiang Lu thought to himself.
His phone lit up.
Lin Xuan’s gaze swept toward the screen.
Unknown Contact: [Done.]