“Where’s the registration form?”
Lu Hesheng’s low, magnetic voice rang out.
Qin Liangyan was the first to react. She awkwardly pulled out a polite smile, then quickly nudged Lin Ting with her elbow, shooting her frantic looks.
Lin Ting’s mind was still spiraling—Oh no, oh no, oh no! Had Lu Hesheng heard that ridiculous comment she’d just made?
Lu Hesheng lifted his hand again and tapped lightly on the desk in front of her.
“Junior, what are you spacing out for?”
Lin Ting’s heart skipped a beat.
Flustered, she precisely pulled a sheet from the stack of documents on the desk and handed it to him.
“It’s here.”
Lu Hesheng lowered his gaze, picked up the black pen on the table, and signed his name with sweeping strokes.
His handwriting was strong and forceful—completely at odds with his always cool, lazy demeanor.
Only then did Lin Ting dare to lift her head and openly look at him.
It had to be said—the Creator really was biased.
Three years had left no marks on his face. Instead, his brows and eyes carried a touch more maturity and sharp charm.
So dazzling it was almost impossible to look away.
Lu Hesheng’s movements slowed imperceptibly.
He set the pen down, his gaze sweeping over her before finally stopping on the volunteer badge hanging on her chest.
“Finance School. Lin Ting.”
He rolled each word slowly over his lips.
It felt as though a feather brushed against Lin Ting’s heart, sending a faint tingling sensation through her.
Lu Hesheng caught her gaze before she could look away. He smiled and raised an eyebrow.
His voice wasn’t loud, but it was enough for everyone at the registration desk—who had been quietly eavesdropping—to hear clearly.
“Junior Lin, you deliberately ignored me earlier. So why are you sneaking glances at me now?”
“Trying to get my attention on purpose?”
All eyes snapped over at once.
Qin Liangyan, loving drama as always, scanned back and forth between the two of them with undisguised curiosity.
Lin Ting’s cheeks burned. She wished she could crawl straight into a crack in the ground.
Lu Hesheng was always like this—his words sharp to the extreme, never leaving anyone any room to save face.
Forcing herself to stay calm, Lin Ting said, “Is there anything else, senior?”
Lu Hesheng lowered his eyes, looking at the girl’s pure face, faintly flushed. His tone carried a hint of grievance.
“There is. Something serious.”
“Does junior have some kind of issue with me?”
Lin Ting couldn’t hold her expression. She glanced at him helplessly.
Lu Hesheng bent down with a smile. The already loose collar of his shirt dipped even lower, faintly revealing the firm outline of his chest.
He leaned in to meet her eyes, pointing at his sharply defined profile as he drawled out a lazy threat.
“Take another good look at me, then. Tell me—do I really look just so-so?”
“Or is it that the water and soil in America don’t suit Chinese people, and they ruined me?”
Lin Ting: “……”
How did he get more narcissistic after studying abroad for a few years?
She answered guiltily, “You do look a bit better in person than in the photo.”
He didn’t speak, his gaze still fixed on her.
Lin Ting’s scalp tingled. She hurriedly raised her voice and praised him again, “A thousand—no, a billion times better-looking! Really! I swear!”
After saying it, even she felt embarrassed.
Only then did Lu Hesheng straighten up, letting out a sigh of relief.
“That’s good.”
“When I applied to Jing University, I thought the students here would all be warm and friendly, but—”
He paused, staring straight at Lin Ting. The heat in his gaze felt like it might melt her.
“On my very first day, I got taken out by a junior’s harsh review. I’ve been holding in a belly full of grievances.”
“So, junior—don’t you think you should treat me to a meal and help me recover?”
His tone was natural, his demand flawless and impossible to refute.
The corner of Lin Ting’s clothes was soaked with cold sweat in her clenched palm.
She was so awkward her toes were curling into the floor, her mind screaming Help! Someone save me! I’m socially dead!
She instinctively glanced around.
Everyone at the registration desk had collectively lowered their heads, pretending to be busy with their own work.
Left completely on her own, Lin Ting couldn’t withstand the pressure.
She gave in, softening her tone as she tried to negotiate.
“Can we go after I finish up in half an hour?”
Lu Hesheng let out a barely satisfied hum. “Mm.”
He walked over to Lin Ting, pulled up a chair, and sat down beside her, lazily propping his chin on his hand while scrolling through his phone.
Not far away, two voices sounded at the same time.
Secretary Yao spoke in a sweet, coquettish tone, “Hesheng, I’ve already handled all your enrollment procedures.”
Shen Xiao urged him impatiently, “Hurry up and eat! I’m starving to death—the restaurant manager already saved us a table.”
The next second, Shen Xiao’s eyes widened as he looked at Lin Ting, his mouth forming an “O.”
“Holy crap! Young Master Lu, you’re back in the country for one day and you’re already flirting with a pretty girl?”
“Wait—something’s not right. How can you two be this fated? Isn’t this just what we—”
Lu Hesheng shot him a cold look.
Shen Xiao immediately shut up, silently pointing at his stomach, which had gone flat from hunger.
Lin Ting looked up, following the sound.
Her gaze passed calmly over the exquisitely made-up, slender woman.
Her mood sank abruptly.
She looked back at Lu Hesheng, forcing a polite curve to her lips, her words distant.
“I won’t disturb you today, then, senior. It seems someone is waiting for you over there.”
Afraid of refusing too bluntly, she added tactfully, “After all, you probably don’t need my meal.”
Lu Hesheng didn’t catch her deliberate avoidance at all. His peach-blossom eyes curved with a half-smile.
“Relax. Someone’s here to cover your work.”
He beckoned with his hand. “Secretary Yao, come here.”
A flash of reluctance crossed the woman’s face, but her body moved obediently. Her heels clicked as she walked over.
She piled on a sweet, ingratiating smile. “Hesheng.”
Shen Xiao covered his ears. The hunger in his stomach was almost drowned out by how sickly sweet her voice was.
Lu Hesheng lifted his eyelids, giving her a listless glance.
“Can’t you see my junior is busy?” He tilted his chin toward Lin Ting. “You—come take her place.”
Lin Ting’s hands paused mid-motion.
Secretary Yao bit her red lip, sounding aggrieved. “But this afternoon I—”
Lu Hesheng cut her off coldly, interrupting her deliberately affected tone.
“Save your little schemes.”
His words were merciless, his eyes filled with icy mockery.
“You’re nothing more than a plaything Lu Huaishan keeps around for amusement because he’s blind. You really think you’re qualified to step into the house?”
Five minutes later, after they’d walked out of the campus gates.
Lin Ting’s head was still a little dazed.
She had actually mistaken a woman who wanted to become Lu Hesheng’s stepmother for his girlfriend…
Qin Liangyan walked beside her, her tone full of suspicion.
“Tingting, something’s off with you.”
“You and this Young Master Lu—are you hiding some earth-shattering gossip from me?”
When Lin Ting first entered university as a freshman, she had already been famous.
It could even be said that half of Jing University knew there was a beautiful top student in the Finance Department named Lin Ting.
She had served as a freshman representative and appeared on the university’s official website homepage. Plenty of well-qualified guys had pursued her relentlessly.
Yet she seemed to have severed all worldly desires, focusing single-mindedly on studying and making money.
Now Qin Liangyan finally understood—when someone like Lu Hesheng stood before her like priceless jade, how could anyone else ever catch her eye?
Lin Ting could clearly feel the two sticky gazes behind her.
Her body tense, she lowered her voice to explain, “I’m really not familiar with him. We were just high school classmates.”
Each of the four harbored their own thoughts as they walked through the lively alley near Jing University’s entrance.
After the rain, the sky was a washed, brilliant blue.
But Lin Ting had no mood to appreciate it. She was trying to calm the heart that had been wildly pounding all day.
What should I treat Lu Hesheng to? With his picky taste and status…
Lost in thought, she suddenly spotted the small restaurant she’d eaten at dozens of times before. Her body made the decision before her brain did.
Lin Ting stopped walking.
“We’re here.”
“Senior—how about we eat here?”