by Fufu Jinshengyue
“My heart favors you above all others—every last piece of my candy is yours.” —Letter No. 9327 Written to You
September. The weather in Haicheng was still scorching.
Having wrapped up a year of studying abroad in Italy, Xia Shuran arrived at Jing University to register as a sophomore.
Her overseas school had been perfectly respectable; the main reason she’d come back was that her family wasn’t what it used to be—her parents had lost a considerable sum in business.
On the day she went to register, her father told her to fly in on her own; he wouldn’t be seeing her off.
Apparently, Jing University’s campus culture was one of modesty and composure, and since the school had no shortage of wealthy students, it discouraged parents from chauffeuring their kids in luxury cars.
Xia Shuran really wanted to tell her dad: even if you pawned your current SUV, it wouldn’t be enough to buy a new tire for one of those luxury cars.
Fine, she’d go alone. She wasn’t some spoiled princess.
She figured she could work part-time abroad—after all, her family hadn’t had money when she was little either.
They’d known hardship back then, and she could fully adapt to returning to those circumstances.
At nine in the morning, before boarding, Xia Shuran hadn’t finished her soy milk when she was suddenly jostled, nearly spilling it all over herself.
The two guys squeezing past behind her were wearing ridiculously expensive streetwear brands, and they didn’t even apologize for bumping into her.
Xia Shuran instinctively turned around. When the two guys saw her, they froze on the spot.
The girl before them had her lips pressed together in a slight pout, with pure, beautiful features and a fair, delicate face tinged with a faint blush.
A white maxi dress paired with her ink-black, straight long hair made her look like a fairy who’d descended into the mortal world.
Even bare-faced, she was this stunning.
One of them had a montage of countless coming-of-age movie heroines turning around flash through his mind.
“Sorry about bumping into you just now, sis—our bad, we didn’t mean to.”
Now they knew how to apologize?
Xia Shuran withdrew her gaze and said nothing.
After boarding, she found her seat near the back.
In front of her sat a guy and a girl.
The girl was chattering away nonstop; the guy barely responded.
Xia Shuran had just stowed her backpack in the overhead bin when the two guys who’d bumped into her took their seats directly behind her.
“You go ask for her WeChat.”
“No, you go.”
“I don’t dare.”
“Coward.”
“I think I’ve fallen in love—I’m into girls who look pure but have a killer figure.”
The other shot him a glare. “Every guy’s into that. Go ask for her WeChat if you’ve got the guts.”
Xia Shuran had already put on her earphones and couldn’t hear what they were saying.
“Hey, hey, hey—got it, got it.” Huo Xiaoyang jumped up. “Let Brother Yu ask. We absolutely have to get it.”
Music filled Xia Shuran’s ears, and she watched, confused, as one of the guys who’d bumped into her suddenly ran over to the guy in the row ahead of hers.
He crouched by the guy’s legs, said something, made a pleading face, and pressed his palms together.
He looked like he was performing some kind of ritual, and Xia Shuran let out a soft laugh.
At that exact moment, the girl in the front row turned around after hearing Huo Xiaoyang’s words.
She gave Xia Shuran a once-over, her striking eyes not exactly friendly.
She turned back. “Huo Xiaoyang, go ask yourself. Why bother Ah Yu?”
“Brother Yu, I’m begging you—Mingyu and I are heading back to LA in a few days. Besides the mountain circuit, this is my only request. Please, please.”
Chi Yu lifted his eyes and shot him a glance.
Huo Xiaoyang immediately froze. He was still a little afraid of him.
Then, Chi Yu coolly turned his head to look at Xia Shuran.
For a split second, Xia Shuran was stunned.
She’d figured the guy would be handsome.
After all, from behind, his silhouette was clean and elegant, the line from his nape to his shoulders straight and smooth, his skin fair.
But she hadn’t expected the front view to be this devastating…
His black hair was cut short and neat, with a few strands of fringe falling just past his brows—the perfect length, not covering his eyes, yet still carrying that effortless vibe.
His facial structure was refined and elegant, but his features were sharply defined, almost aggressively so.
Those long, narrow phoenix eyes were icy cold when they looked at you, and his thin lips gave off an air of aloofness.
His expression was blank, his gaze indifferent, yet Xia Shuran instinctively felt this was someone you didn’t mess with.
Maybe it was just a woman’s intuition.
She quietly turned down the volume on her earphones.
The next second, she heard his flat, uninflected voice: “Could I get your contact info?”
The atmosphere seemed to freeze.
Huo Xiaoyang himself was even more shocked—Brother Yu had actually helped him ask a girl for her WeChat.
He thought excitedly: I really do matter to Brother Yu!!
There were many students on this flight headed to Jing University, and they all covertly glanced over.
At Jing University, who didn’t know Chi Yu?
Once they’d boarded and discovered Chi Yu was in the back row, everyone had become a bit reserved.
The kind of reserved where you think: I need to maintain a good image in front of a celebrity.
So it hadn’t been loud to begin with, and now the atmosphere was even quieter.
They were just dying to know—who on earth could make Chi Yu make the first move?
Chi Yu was Jing University’s universally recognized campus heartthrob. Word had it his family was loaded, though no one knew what business they were in.
Back during military training, all he had to do was stand there, and he was handsome enough to make senior girls’ noses bleed.
Within a week of the semester starting, the forums were flooded with candid photos of him.
Girls from other schools formed groups to visit Jing University just for a glimpse of him.
And our school heartthrob actually went up to talk to a stunningly hot beauty today.
When has he ever paid attention to a woman?
This is big news.
Xia Shuran snapped back to reality, not quite daring to meet his gaze.
Chi Yu’s eyes were extremely indifferent, devoid of emotion, but she still felt a slight blush creep onto her face.
This was truly a first—it was always her who made men blush, never the other way around.
She nodded in agreement.
Xia Shuran had just taken out her phone when she saw Huo Xiaoyang eagerly shoving a QR code in front of her.
“Sis, scan this one.”
And Chi Yu had already turned back around at some point.
Xia Shuran: “?” So he was asking on someone else’s behalf.
Then what did that make her?
Xia Shuran lifted her gaze and smiled at Huo Xiaoyang. “Sure.”
That smile was simply stunning, striking straight into Huo Xiaoyang’s heart.
His entire body began to heat up, turning into a boiled shrimp right before their eyes.
Xu Yanxi snorted. “Pathetic.”
Xia Shuran’s gentle voice shifted tone.
“On one condition—have that handsome guy in front of me send me a photo of his abs.”