Xie Lan had been planning to go inside, but he was afraid someone would recognize him.
So all he could do was glare at the two of them from the back entrance, looking utterly aggrieved.
At last, class ended. Xie Lan took out his phone and checked her schedule.
Her morning classes were over.
He wondered whether the girl sitting next to her had finished hers too.
As soon as the two of them stood up, Xie Lan hurried to a corner where they couldn’t see him. Then, keeping a discreet distance, he watched the woman beside her closely.
She was taller than most girls, and her build… Weren’t her shoulders a little too broad?
When he caught sight of her profile, the man’s frown deepened.
The two of them bought drinks at the campus shop, then wandered around the grounds.
Xie Lan followed behind them, occasionally hearing the woman laugh.
For some reason, he felt jealous.
Shengsheng never laughed so happily in front of him.
He leaned against a tree, one long leg propped up, arms folded across his chest, quietly listening to their conversation.
Xie Lan didn’t like the woman’s voice.
There was something about it that felt off.
Then he heard her say, “Then should I come with you to break up with him?”
Xie Lan’s closed eyes flew open. His usually calm gaze turned turbulent in an instant, frighteningly intense.
He leaned out to look at the two figures in the distance.
Shengsheng had her back to him, but the woman was in full view.
Only then did Xie Lan get a clear look at her.
There was nothing particularly unusual about her—except for her eyes.
Those eyes seemed to see through all the complications and noise around them. When they rested on Shengsheng, they held nothing but tenderness and warmth, their weighty affection glimmering in the faintest crinkles at the corners.
Why could he see it so clearly?
Because that was exactly how he looked at Shengsheng himself.
Xie Lan smiled, but the expression looked painfully unnatural.
As the two were talking, someone suddenly darted out from the side, grabbed Lin Yun by the collar, and lifted him off the ground.
Feeling the weight in his hand, Xie Lan became even more certain of what he had suspected.
“Nice act. But you picked the wrong person.”
The man’s voice dripped with menace. Then he landed a heavy punch and knocked Lin Yun to the ground.
Jiang Wangsheng hadn’t even recovered from the shock of his sudden appearance when she saw Xie Lan hit Lin Yun.
She cried out at once.
“Xie Lan!” Panicking, Jiang Wangsheng tried to help the person on the ground, but Xie Lan caught her by the wrist.
“Baby, this is the friend you made?” He put heavy emphasis on the word “friend,” because he didn’t know whether Shengsheng understood who Lin Yun really was.
“Let go… Lin Yun hasn’t done anything to you. How could you hit her?” She was a girl, and Xie Lan had actually hit a girl. He was terrifying.
Tears welled in Jiang Wangsheng’s eyes, but he still wouldn’t let go. His grip hurt her wrist.
The person on the ground sat up and wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, leaving a smear of blood. Lin Yun lifted his eyes and met the man’s gaze.
So this was the boyfriend Shengsheng wanted to break up with.
Unfortunately, it seemed he’d also figured out Lin Yun’s identity.
Xie Lan pulled Jiang Wangsheng against his chest, brushed the tears from the corner of her eye, and pointed at the person on the ground. “Shengsheng, look carefully.”
“This is a man, for fuck’s sake.”
Xie Lan was so furious he almost laughed.
He’d been guarding against this and that, only to miss a fox spirit who dressed up as a woman.
Jiang Wangsheng stood frozen. What?
Lin Yun took a moment to recover, then got to his feet and brushed the dust off his clothes. His gaze shifted as he tilted his lips into a mocking smile at Xie Lan. “Shengsheng already knew I was a man.”
At those words, both Xie Lan and Jiang Wangsheng, still held in his arms, froze.
Lin Yun thought that if Xie Lan couldn’t take it, he might as well make things even harder for him.
A flood of thoughts rushed into Xie Lan’s mind.
“Baby, he’s lying to me, right?” His face darkened as he searched her for an answer.
Jiang Wangsheng caught Lin Yun’s glance. She still hadn’t processed the fact that he was a man.
But then she thought of how hard Xie Lan had hit him…
“I… I knew.” She lowered her head, hiding every trace of panic in her eyes.
Her tone was very calm. She felt she was getting a little better at lying.
Xie Lan was nearly mad with rage. “You… knew?”
He looked at her profile, but there was none of the reaction he’d wanted to see.
Rage surged through Xie Lan.
“Then I’ll gouge his eyes out right now. Let’s see what kind of disgusting look he can give you then.”
Watching Xie Lan fly into a rage, Lin Yun finally understood why Shengsheng wanted to break up with him.
He was a complete hothead.
How had Shengsheng ever agreed to go out with him?
Then Lin Yun remembered how innocent Shengsheng was. Incredibly innocent.
So Xie Lan had probably tricked her.
“Stop it, Xie Lan…” Seeing more and more people gathering around them, Jiang Wangsheng quickly wrapped her arms around his waist. When she looked up at him, her eyes were red.
Xie Lan looked down at the woman in front of him and only then realized that he might have frightened her.
“Baby, I didn’t mean to scare you…”
Xie Lan lowered his head to soothe her and shielded her in front of him. As he led her away, the look he gave Lin Yun sent a chill down the spine.
Lin Yun simply stepped forward to pick up his hat. His pale fingertips traced the brim, then he gave a soft laugh.
Shengsheng had gone along with what he said. That meant Xie Lan’s position as her boyfriend was hanging by a thread.
Lin Yun could take his place at any moment.
Just thinking about it made him almost unable to bear the wait.
The people who had gathered gradually dispersed. One of them had recorded Xie Lan hitting Lin Yun and posted the video directly on the campus forum. The audio was too unclear to make out what anyone was saying, but the three of them were so good-looking that the video was bound to make people curious.
…
They hadn’t even spent a full morning at school before Xie Lan brought her home again.
Looking at Xie Lan, still seething with anger, Jiang Wangsheng thought of Lin Yun, who had been beaten, and felt a headache coming on.
She’d met Lin Yun only a few days after starting university. Back then, he’d been wearing an elegant long dress, looking just like a beautiful older sister. She never expected that he was a… man who liked dressing as a woman.
“Baby, is he in your department?”
Jiang Wangsheng nodded.
Xie Lan drew a deep breath. Remembering the look in Lin Yun’s eyes made him feel as if he could barely keep his emotions in check.
How could he possibly feel at ease with a man so clearly lusting after Shengsheng right beside her?
But he couldn’t make her stop going to school, either.
Xie Lan took her hand and brought her to the sofa. As soon as they got there, he sat her on his lap.
“I have class this afternoon,” Jiang Wangsheng said cautiously, glancing up at him from time to time to see how he was taking it.
She didn’t want Xie Lan interfering in her affairs at school. He could know who she was friends with, but he couldn’t interfere.
Leaning against the sofa, the man looked at the woman in his arms. Her features were lovely, her beauty pure and moving, and an intense sense of danger welled up inside him.
He reached up to smooth the loose hair over his forehead, then suddenly said, “Baby, you’re not allowed to contact him anymore.”
Xie Lan had to admit that his possessiveness toward her had reached unprecedented levels—especially since Lin Yun was a man who liked her.
And their relationship was already somewhat unstable.
Jiang Wangsheng frowned. Though she was surprised to learn Lin Yun was a man, not contacting him anymore meant they couldn’t be friends.
She thought it over carefully. She, Mengmeng, and Lin Yun had been the first three people to meet at university. She was a little angry that Lin Yun had deceived her, but she didn’t think she wanted to stop being his friend.
She turned to Xie Lan, then shook her head.