He nearly choked on his drink.
After coughing twice, Qin Yu finally recovered and stared at Xi Liye with wide eyes, as if he had just heard the most unbelievable thing in the world.
“What?”
“The public account articles?”
“Oh… you mean those dating guides?”
His expression became extremely strange.
Like he wanted to laugh but was desperately holding it in.
“Wait…”
“Old Xi, don’t tell me…”
“You actually read them?”
Xi Liye didn’t deny it.
He simply looked at him quietly.
His gaze practically said:
Otherwise?
At that moment, Qin Yu completely lost it.
Leaning closer, he laughed so hard he nearly fell off the sofa.
“My god…”
“So the reason you came out tonight for the first time in history isn’t because you wanted to relax—”
“You wanted me to recommend more articles, didn’t you?”
Xi Liye remained unmoved by his exaggerated reaction.
Only after Qin Yu laughed enough did he slowly ask:
“Weren’t you the one who told me to learn how to date?”
Qin Yu was genuinely dying of laughter.
Who could have imagined it?
The untouchable genius.
The cold-faced king of hell, Xi Liye.
Actually coming to him for relationship advice.
If this got out, Qin Yu could laugh about it for the next ten years.
What a spectacle.
An absolute spectacle.
His eyes darted around mischievously.
Then he quickly suppressed his grin and leaned closer.
His voice dropped into a conspiratorial whisper.
“Brother Xi.”
“I understand.”
“I completely understand.”
“Dating is a profound discipline.”
“How could a few public-account articles ever be enough?”
“Those are beginner-level stuff. Just enough to fool amateurs.”
While speaking, he glanced around furtively.
Making sure no one was paying attention.
Then he reached into the flashy metallic handbag tossed beside him.
After a few seconds of rustling—
He pulled out…
A pink booklet.
Qin Yu stuffed it into Xi Liye’s hands like he was handing over top-secret military intelligence.
At the same time, he deliberately blocked everyone’s view.
“Shhh!”
“Hide it!”
“This is the good stuff!”
“My ultimate treasure!”
Xi Liye lowered his gaze.
Looking at the absurdly pink object.
The cover featured rainbow-colored glowing letters:
“Thirty-Six Green Tea Techniques for Winning Your Wife Back — Collector’s Secret Edition”
Several cartoon figures surrounded by pink hearts decorated the corners.
For a brief moment, Xi Liye’s expression froze.
Meanwhile, Qin Yu wiggled his eyebrows enthusiastically.
“Don’t judge the cover.”
“The content is hardcore.”
“From beginner theory to advanced practical applications.”
“It has everything!”
The more he talked, the prouder he became.
In his mind, he was practically performing a public service.
Helping his friend’s romantic future.
“Old Xi.”
“Trust me.”
“Follow this guide and you’ll achieve twice the results with half the effort.”
“Before long, Wen Chu will be completely devoted to you.”
Xi Liye held the pink booklet between his fingers.
His grip tightened slightly.
After a long pause, he finally spoke.
His tone remained impossible to read.
“So this is what you normally study?”
Qin Yu:
“…Ahem!”
“I gather knowledge from all sources!”
“It’s theoretical preparation!”
“You think everyone is like you? Relationship IQ below zero?”
“Anyway, just take it home and read it!”
“You might learn something.”
Xi Liye didn’t respond.
Looking down at the booklet.
After a moment, he slipped it into the inner pocket of his coat.
Right.
Qin Yu might be unreliable.
But after dating so many girlfriends, he must possess at least some useful experience.
Seeing this, Qin Yu’s grin stretched all the way to his ears.
He felt like he had accomplished something significant.
His mind had already begun imagining Xi Liye sitting expressionlessly while seriously studying that ridiculous booklet.
The mental image was so powerful he nearly laughed out loud.
Xi Liye ignored Qin Yu’s barely controlled amusement.
He picked up his whiskey.
And drained the glass in one swallow.
“By the way.”
“Wen Chu…”
“She always sends me a lot of messages.”
“Whenever we’re together, she gets upset easily.”
“But every time she’s angry, she still ends up messaging me afterward.”
He paused.
“Why is that?”
Even after getting angry—
She still shared her daily life with him.
Every time he finished an experiment and checked his phone, there would be countless messages waiting.
Maybe she’d discovered a new dessert in the cafeteria.
Or seen two fat cats fighting near the woods.
Or complained about a professor assigning too much coding homework.
Sometimes she’d simply grumble:
‘It’s so cold. I don’t want to leave my room.’
Why did Wen Chu always have so many things to tell him?
In person, she barely spoke.
Yet through messages, she seemed endless.
“Holy crap…”
Qin Yu blurted out.
His expression became extremely complicated.
The way he looked at Xi Liye resembled someone staring at a lottery winner who didn’t realize how lucky he was.
“Old Xi.”
“You’re showing off.”
“You absolutely are.”
He leaned closer.
Jealousy practically overflowing.
“A clingy girlfriend.”
“A beautiful girlfriend.”
“A girlfriend who shares her life with you even when she’s angry.”
“How did someone like you end up dating someone like that?”
“How is your luck this ridiculous?”
“If I go play Truth or Dare right now, will fate assign me a girlfriend like that too?”
He set down his empty glass.
A soft clink echoed across the table.
“But she gets angry easily.”
Xi Liye replied thoughtfully.
“Although…”
“I don’t dislike it when she gets angry.”
Then he briefly recounted some of the incidents between him and Wen Chu.
Qin Yu immediately adopted the posture of a relationship expert.
“Brother Xi.”
“This is where you don’t understand women.”
“Sometimes, when a girl gets angry, it doesn’t mean she dislikes you.”
“Or wants to leave you.”
“In fact—”
“It often means exactly the opposite.”
Xi Liye repeated the word.
“The opposite?”
“Of course.”
Qin Yu became increasingly animated.
“Think about it.”
“If she didn’t care about you, she’d let you do whatever you wanted.”
“Would she care whether you knew she hated mushrooms?”
“Would she care about your dates?”
“The fact that she gets angry means she has expectations.”
“She wants you to notice her.”
“She wants you to pay more attention to her.”
“This is called acting spoiled.”
“Throwing a little tantrum.”
“Wanting comfort.”
“Wanting attention.”
Qin Yu sounded completely certain.
“As for why she still messages you afterward…”
He rubbed his chin.
“That part’s even easier.”
“It means the anger comes fast and goes fast.”
“She doesn’t truly hold it in her heart.”
“Or perhaps…”
“In her mind, staying connected with you is more important than staying angry.”
She cares about me.
Xi Liye fell silent.
His fingers stopped moving along the rim of the glass.
“She cares about me.”
The phrase lingered in his mind.
“I understand.”
He nodded slightly.
A strange feeling rose within him.
Then Qin Yu suddenly remembered something.
“Oh right.”
“Old Xi.”
“I heard Xi Yunchuan is returning to the country soon.”
“You know about that?”
Xi Yunchuan was Xi Liye’s nominal stepbrother.
The two had never gotten along.
The last time, Xi Liye had maneuvered him into being sent overseas.
Who knew what trouble he would cause now that he was returning?
“I know.”
Xi Liye nodded.
“Just an idiot.”
The last time his family had summoned him home, it had been because of that matter.
He had been annoyed and ignored them.
Hearing this response, Qin Yu relaxed.
Apparently Xi Liye had already moved on from what Xi Yunchuan had done.
“I’m leaving.”
Xi Liye stood.
The hem of his black coat swept through the air in a clean arc.
“Huh?”
“Already?”
“You’ve barely been here!”
Qin Yu looked stunned.
“There are still experimental data that need verification.”
Xi Liye’s reason was perfectly valid.
He glanced toward the others still laughing and playing games.
“You guys have fun.”
Without another word, he headed straight for the door.
When Wen Chu returned to the dormitory, she felt like she had stepped onto an entirely different battlefield.
Her three beloved roommates were each immersed in separate gaming worlds.
The sounds of keyboards, mice, and leaking headset audio overlapped.
The room felt like a miniature internet café.
After all—
In Dormitory 408, aside from Wen Chu, who had somehow accidentally gotten a boyfriend—
The remaining three were devoted members of the Single Nobility Alliance.
Their shared hobby?
Gaming.
Unfortunately, each played a completely different game.
Of course, Dormitory 408 also embodied the inevitable fate of computer science students:
The terrifying nightmare known as Code 11408.
At this moment, all three battlefields were in full swing.
The lower bunk nearest the door belonged to Xia Yaoyao.
Wearing massive gaming headphones, her fingers flew across her mechanical keyboard so quickly they left afterimages.
“Go, go, go!”
“Crowd-control him!”
“Where’s the healer?”
“Heal me!”
“Damn it!”
“Is our jungler sleepwalking?!”
She was playing a classic 5v5 competitive game.
Known throughout the dormitory as the Red-Temperature Warning Device.
Cold hands before the match.
Bright red face afterward.
Either from excitement.
Or rage.
Currently, judging by the way she gritted her teeth at the screen, this match wasn’t going well.
Wen Chu carefully snuck behind her.
Terrified she’d accidentally bump the chair and ruin a critical play.
At the middle desk sat Zhou Rui.
Far quieter.
She wore earbuds and stared intently at her screen.
Her hand glided smoothly across a drawing tablet.
Instead of combat scenes, a beautiful ancient-style courtyard filled her monitor.
She was carefully adjusting the position of a plum blossom tree.
Zhou Rui played a historical building simulator.
Within Dormitory 408, she was known as the Infrastructure Maniac.
Her world contained no battles.
Only peaceful scenery.
And graphics powerful enough to melt a GPU.
Near the window, occupying the upper bunk, was Li Yue.
Half-reclined against stacked blankets, she held her phone.
On the screen—
A handsome silver-haired man with violet eyes gazed affectionately outward.
His clothing was ornate and aristocratic.
Yes.
Li Yue.
Top student.
Computer science genius.
A woman capable of debugging code until three in the morning.
And living proof of a mysterious law hidden deep within programming culture:
Every computer science student has at least a little bit of otaku blood.
Unfortunately for Li Yue—
Her “little bit” had evolved into a severe case.
Her one true love…
Was a two-dimensional man.