Wen Chu happened to look up, and her round, innocent eyes collided directly with Xi Liye’s deep, searching gaze. Her entire body froze. Her hand trembled, and with a soft click, the black bead held in her tweezers dropped onto the table on Xi Liye’s side.
She reached out to grab it, but Xi Liye was much faster. He extended his hand, intercepting the runaway black bead and catching it with his own tweezers.
“Here?” His fingertips crossed the invisible boundary between them, hovering over the empty spot in her kitten pattern.
“…Yes.”
Having received confirmation, Xi Liye’s left hand, still holding the tiny black bead, crossed the gap between them and moved directly over her baseplate. He finally pressed the bead into the small plastic peg.
“Let’s do it together. It’ll be faster,” Xi Liye spoke.
He was right. To get through this unbearable date as quickly as possible, Wen Chu had chosen an animal pattern that looked simple but was actually quite complex to assemble.
“Fine,” Wen Chu said, placing the pattern guide between them.
But gradually, she began to regret it.
They were sitting so close that she could feel the male lead’s breath brushing against her face. As someone used to being alone, Wen Chu had never been this close to another person.
Xi Liye, however, seemed completely unaffected.
His movements were fluid and precise. He even gave her occasional guidance: “Use light gray here.”
Wen Chu nodded absentmindedly, doing exactly as he said.
With great effort, they finally finished the kitten pattern. But the next second, Xi Liye placed his fox pattern in the middle.
Wen Chu: “…”
Time seemed to stretch infinitely; every second was an ordeal.
Finally, the ordeal ended. Xi Liye picked up the small iron and parchment paper, completing the final fusing step. After it cooled, the two bead-art pieces lay before them—a kitten and a fox, their poses frozen in time.
Wen Chu breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, it was over.
However, before she could fully exhale, she saw Xi Liye naturally pick up the kitten piece. Without even a second glance, he tucked it directly into the inner pocket of his overcoat.
The movement was so smooth it was as if it were a trophy he rightfully deserved.
Wen Chu, who actually really wanted the kitten piece: “…” Wait, isn’t that kitten mine?
But on second thought, she let it go. The fox was fine too, and besides, she had worked on both of them anyway.
With that thought, she reached out and took the fox bead-art.
Later, Xi Liye stepped out to take a phone call. When he returned, he looked apologetic. “I’m sorry, I just got a call from my counselor. I might not be able to stay with you any longer.”
The opportunity had arrived! Wen Chu was just about to express her “dissatisfaction” when the man suddenly produced a small box. Inside was an extremely delicate silver bracelet that shimmered with a soft light.
The design was minimalist. In the center of the chain hung a smooth, polished moonstone. Beside the stone was a cute silhouette of a kitten, curled up in a lazy, minimalist outline.
Wen Chu’s complaints died in her throat.
“I bought this at a shop when I went out just now. I didn’t have much time to choose, so please accept this as a gift for our first date. Don’t be angry anymore.” Xi Liye’s words sounded incredibly sincere.
What else could Wen Chu do? He had given her a gift; it would be awkward to continue making a scene.
Xi Liye checked the time on his phone.
“I’ll take you back first,” he said.
Xi Liye drove Wen Chu to the school gate, and the two parted ways.
“I… I’m here.” She stepped out of the car, said goodbye, and headed back into the campus.
“Goodbye.”
In the car, Xi Liye watched the girl’s receding figure until she disappeared from sight.
His fingertips twitched slightly as he recalled the sensation of touching her fingertips earlier. They were very soft.
His thoughts drifted back to the first time they met.
Back then, in the noisy, crowded private KTV room, amidst the chaotic lights and shadows, he had been bored, dealing with mindless games and rowdy cheering. He hadn’t intended to come to this university party, but his family had called, insisting he come home.
He had been so annoyed he couldn’t even continue his chemistry experiment, so he had come out.
So when the card saying “Date someone with the same phone battery percentage as you” was drawn, he only found it absurd.
However, when he happened to glance up and scan the crowd, he saw her—
Shrinking into the deepest shadows of the sofa, trying her best to curl into a ball. She looked like a small herbivore that had accidentally wandered into a predator’s den, terrified and confused, observing her surroundings with caution.
She reminded him of a lab rat tied up for an experiment.
In that instant, a strange, almost malicious curiosity quietly reared its head.
A bit pitiful.
Xi Liye could still remember the feeling of seeing Wen Chu for the first time.
So, when the crowd found no match, his gaze returned to that corner. As if possessed, he raised his finger and pointed.
“Has that person been checked?”
He didn’t actually care about the battery coincidence; it was just an excuse. But when Wen Chu was hauled from the shadows into the spotlight, seeing her panicked expression, he had to admit he felt an immense sense of pleasure.
And when she actually revealed that same “47%,” a subtle sense of destiny rose in his heart.
See? The prey I set my sights on was delivered into my hands by fate itself.
Xi Liye retracted his gaze from the dormitory building. He thought about today’s date.
The girl was good at acting spoiled and getting prickly.
But it didn’t matter. It was rare for him to find something he was interested in. He would be very patient.
Wen Chu, who had no idea she was being targeted, returned to her dorm, changed into comfortable pajamas, and scrambled onto her bed. Inside her bed curtains was a soft mattress and quilt, along with a fluffy bear plushie she had recently bought.
She threw herself into the soft bedding, hugged the bear, and buried her face deep into its fur, which smelled faintly of laundry detergent, taking several deep breaths.
She thought of the bracelet Xi Liye had given her.
Because the original owner of the body was quite knowledgeable about luxury goods, some instincts seemed to remain. Wen Chu hesitated, but curiosity got the better of her. She took a detailed photo of the bracelet and opened a luxury appraisal app to use the image search.
A few seconds later, the results popped up.
When she saw the brand, series, and the long string of zeros in the price, Wen Chu gasped. Her hand shook, and she nearly dropped her phone.
How can a tiny bracelet cost tens of thousands of yuan?!
Did the original owner receive such a gift in the plot? Wen Chu tried to recall the original story but found that the descriptions of the male lead’s ex-girlfriend were far too sparse; such details were never mentioned.
Wen Chu sighed… finally, she stored the bracelet away carefully. She planned to sell it later if the male lead ever took revenge and she ran out of money. She wasn’t going to be like those “silly-sweet” heroines in novels who pretend to be noble and return everything to the guy on the day they break up.
However, seeing the price of the bracelet still made her heart tremble. As expected of the male lead, Xi Liye, he wasn’t just a top student with stunning looks; his family background was also immense.
The Xi family was a top-tier powerhouse spanning finance, technology, real estate, and more. Their roots were deep, and their branches were vast. He was a genuine “rich second generation.”
Is this the power of capital? So envious.
But Wen Chu remembered that in the original book, the male lead didn’t seem to have a very good relationship with his family.