Chen Huan crouched near the east gate of the campus, following the System's instructions.
Suddenly, she saw a Pagani pull into an SVIP parking spot on campus.
Immediately after, a handsome man with broad shoulders and a narrow waist stepped out.
It was Song Zeqian!
He casually kept one hand in his pocket, the pale blue veins on his cold, fair-skinned arm faintly visible. Beneath his fine, ink-black hair, his dark, deep-set eyes were cold and calm.
Before meeting him, Chen Huan had never known that a man could be so beautiful.
He was supremely authoritative! No wonder he topped the school's most popular figure list every year.
"Senior Song, a friend of mine really admires you. Could you give me your WeChat?"
Chen Huan had actually planned to bring Jiang Wu along to stake out the spot.
But Jiang Wu was single-minded and insisted they couldn't leave early.
So Chen Huan came to ask for his contact information instead.
The closer she got, the faster her heart pounded, almost to the point of fainting.
Song Zeqian gave her a cold sidelong glance, then couldn't be bothered to look again.
"Not suitable."
Chen Huan's eyes went wide, and she tried to argue further, "Senior, you haven't even met her yet, how do you know she's not suitable?"
"Our ID numbers are different. Not suitable."
Not giving her a chance to keep pestering him, he draped his jacket diagonally over his shoulder and walked toward the auditorium.
Leaving only his back.
Chen Huan's entire face flushed red with embarrassment. How utterly humiliating!
So basically, if you're human, there's no room for negotiation at all!
The System comforted her: "It's okay, there's plenty of time. If he gave out his WeChat so easily, that would mean he's not a good man."
Chen Huan nodded.
"You're right. Even though he's sick of Lin Yingyue right now, he's a responsible man.
He definitely wouldn't just add anyone on WeChat. Looks like I'll have to think of another way."
...
Lin Yingyue didn't know Song Zeqian had already entered the school.
After coaxing Song Zeqian, she thought everything was fine, but her little heart was pounding wildly in her chest.
She felt like a storm was brewing.
But she didn't think much of it, just attributing it to an irregular heartbeat from staying up too many nights.
Just as she was about to head to the subway station at the school's east gate, a pleasant male voice called out to her.
Lin Yingyue looked up.
Just as Lin Yingyue was about to step toward the subway station, a clear, gentle male voice came from behind her, calling her name:
"Yingyue!"
She turned around and saw Li Mingyan walking over quickly, holding two bottles of a drink with a somewhat familiar packaging.
The evening sunset fell on him, coating his entire figure in a warm, golden halo, his smile clean and bright.
"You've been rehearsing for so long, your throat must be uncomfortable, right?" Li Mingyan handed one of the drinks to her. "Here, moisten your throat."
Lin Yingyue instinctively wanted to refuse.
But her gaze paused as it swept over the drink's packaging.
A light blue glass bottle body with a white label.
Printed on it were simple line drawings of mountains and rivers, along with a few plain Chinese characters.
She remembered that when she was little, the orange soda produced by the old soda factory in her hometown had a very unique taste.
It had a slightly astringent fragrance of orange peel, and everyone loved to drink it.
She took the bottle with some surprise. "This brand is still being sold now?"
"You really do remember it. I recently went back to our hometown and found a small workshop still making it. The taste hasn't changed at all, so I brought back a few cases."
"I remember back in high school, after evening self-study classes ended, the girls would sometimes go to the convenience store to buy this, sit by the track, and drink it slowly. I guessed you might like it too."
Lin Yingyue naturally remembered.
She also missed it.
Money can be earned again, but the past can never be brought back.
"Thank you. How much was it? Let me pay you."
"No need, haha. What's money between friends? It's just a bottle of soda. You can treat me next time."
She took a sip, and sure enough, it was the sweet and sour taste of orange powder, with a slightly astringent aftertaste.
It couldn't compare to the wide variety of drinks in the big city, but it was precious.
No one noticed that in the shadow of the tall sycamore tree behind the side of the auditorium, a tall, straight figure had been standing silently for a long time.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, and tiny specks of light fell into his narrow, elongated eyes, illuminating the undisguised, overwhelming jealousy within.
His pale, cold knuckles cracked as he clenched his fist.
The keys digging into his palm went completely unnoticed.
Song Zeqian couldn't hear what they were saying; he could only see the two of them chatting and laughing.
Lin Yingyue had accepted someone else's drink, and she had even drunk it.
Song Xinlian's words echoed in his ears.
Certain dark emotions grew wildly in his heart, like weeds spreading everywhere, connecting heaven and earth, blocking out the sun.
He thought—
Baby, that's not allowed.
You can't look at others, you can't like others.
You can only ever like one person forever and ever, and that's me.
Otherwise...
I'll be very angry...
✦✦✦