Looking at the expensive bracelet, Wen Chu thought that since the male lead had given her such a gift, she should at least show some gratitude.
She slipped the bracelet onto her wrist, snapped a quick photo, and sent it to her chat with Xi Liye.
【Chuchu Hide-and-Seek: Xi Liye, Xi Liye! Look, how does it look on me? Isn’t it super pretty?】
By then, Xi Liye had finished his meeting with the counselor and returned to his high-rise apartment near the school. He usually didn’t stay in the dorms; they were too noisy, and he had a very strong sense of personal boundaries, preferring quiet and absolute privacy.
His phone screen lit up on the desk, vibrating several times in succession.
He opened his phone, saw the girl’s message, and clicked on the photo she had sent.
The lighting wasn’t great, but the center of the frame featured a slender, porcelain-white wrist. The bone structure was elegant and clear, and her skin possessed a delicate texture under the warm light. The bracelet he had given her was perfectly encircled around that wrist.
The incredibly thin chain almost vanished into the glow of her skin, leaving only the moonstone and the curled silver kitten to shimmer with a soft, tranquil light.
【L.YE: Mm.】
Fearing Wen Chu might think he was being dismissive, he added another line.
【L.YE: It’s very beautiful.】
Soon, another reply came back, this time with a noticeably tentative tone:
【Chuchu Hide-and-Seek: But the gift you gave is so expensive, and I haven’t given you anything in return.】
Xi Liye smiled. He hadn’t expected the easily ruffled Wen Chu to actually feel shy.
He tapped on the screen, his pace steady and unhurried:
【L.YE: It’s fine.】
【L.YE: That kitten bead-art will be your gift to me. I like it very much.】
【Chuchu Hide-and-Seek: Xi Liye, do you really like cats that much? The bead-art had to be a kitten, and the bracelet you bought me has a kitten element too. I didn’t expect you to be a “furry-con” (animal lover)?】
Wen Chu was genuinely curious. Could the “madman” male lead from the original book actually like fluffy things?
A long time passed before Xi Liye’s message arrived.
【L.YE: It’s alright.】
Perhaps the childhood version of Xi Liye had truly loved kittens. He had even secretly raised one once, but for certain reasons, that kitten had died.
Thinking of something, Xi Liye’s gaze darkened slightly, and his aura became dangerous.
The way the girl was huddling her neck in the snow this morning… didn’t she look exactly like a pitiful kitten waiting for its owner to claim it?
Wen Chu was sprawled on her bed like a puddle. She didn’t pay much attention to Xi Liye’s words. After all, she liked kittens too. Back when she lived alone as a shut-in, a friend had given her a kitten for company, fearing she’d be lonely.
After some time, the dorm door pushed open. Familiar footsteps and the rustle of plastic bags reached her ears. Her roommate, Xia Yaoyao, was back, thoughtfully bringing her dinner.
“Chuchu, get up and eat! It’ll get cold if you wait!” Xia Yaoyao’s voice was full of energy.
Smelling the aroma of food, Wen Chu’s stomach gave a very honest growl. She struggled out of bed, her long hair messy from sleep, and slowly climbed down the ladder.
“Thanks, Yaoyao…” she mumbled her thanks, reaching for the food container.
However, when she looked up after taking the box, she met three pairs of startlingly bright eyes, filled with excitement and scrutiny.
Xia Yaoyao, along with the other two roommates, Zhou Rui and Li Yue, who were usually busy at their desks, had surrounded her at some unknown point.
Although she was used to her three roommates and no longer hid on her bed due to social anxiety, Wen Chu was still stunned by this lineup. She blinked blankly: “…?”
Xia Yaoyao took the lead. She lunged forward, staring at Wen Chu’s lips, scanning them up, down, left, and right.
After a few seconds, a look of confusion crossed her face, and she muttered, “Eh? There’s nothing…”
“Nothing what?” Wen Chu felt uneasy under her gaze.
“Oh, Yaoyao, you’re being too careless!” Zhou Rui pushed Xia Yaoyao aside and leaned in. “Chuchu, don’t move, let me see… The neck! Right, look at the neck!”
As she spoke, her gaze shifted downward, inspecting the small section of Wen Chu’s neck visible above her pajama collar.
Li Yue stood slightly further back, also looking at Wen Chu with expectant eyes.
The scrutiny made Wen Chu’s skin crawl. She instinctively shrank her neck and pulled her collar up. “What… what are you guys doing?”
Xia Yaoyao finally straightened up, her voice trembling with irrepressible excitement. “Chuchu! Stop pretending! You left so early this morning. We thought you just had errands, but then we saw the forum posts and found out you’re actually dating Senior Xi!”
“Posts? What posts?” Wen Chu’s heart skipped a beat; she had a bad premonition.
“The campus forum! It’s a hot thread!” Li Yue held up her phone. The screen displayed the internal forum interface, with a bolded, red-highlighted title pinned to the top:
[SHOCK! The cold Medical Department genius was seen on a date early this morning! Relationship suspected?!]
Wen Chu: “???”
What kind of sensationalist headline is this? Are they serious?
She took Li Yue’s phone. The photo on the screen showed Xi Liye in his black overcoat, leaning down slightly to tie a scarf for a girl wrapped in a white fluffy coat, of whom only half a profile was visible.
The comments section already had hundreds of floors:
“Holy crap! It really is Xi Liye! He actually knows how to tie a scarf for someone?!”
“Who’s the female lead? Someone find out!”
“It looks like… the loner from Computer Science, that pretty girl Wen Chu? I heard she was recently voted as their department’s beauty.”
“Yes, yes, yes! That’s her! I saw them at the cafeteria this morning too. They even ate together!”
“So Xi Liye is really in a relationship?!”
“Am I the only one who noticed the look in the genius’s eyes when he looks at her… I screenshotted it, judge for yourselves.”
Wen Chu’s thumb scrolled down rapidly. Someone had posted a zoomed-in screenshot. In the photo, Xi Liye looked down at the girl. Though the resolution wasn’t high, his focused and calm gaze, set against the snowy backdrop, indeed gave off a certain “vibe.”
“Look, look!” Xia Yaoyao pointed at the screenshot, her face red with excitement. “We thought since you went on a date today, you’d definitely have kissed! But there’s nothing on your mouth or neck. I didn’t expect Xi Liye to be such a gentleman.”
Zhou Rui also had a face full of gossip. “Exactly! Such a romantic scene and no physical intimacy? That’s illogical! Quick, tell us, what did you guys do today?”
Actually, if this were the “old” Wen Chu, the roommates wouldn’t have dared to ask. The former Wen Chu was arrogant, always carrying an air of pride and a faint disdain for her surroundings; her relationship with her roommates was mediocre at best. But lately, they all felt Wen Chu had changed.
They couldn’t quite put their finger on how. She just didn’t seem so stuck-up anymore; she had become introverted and quiet, and her occasional moments of blankness or clumsiness made her feel real and cute. That was why they dared to crowd around her for gossip.
Wen Chu was dizzy from the barrage of questions and absurd deductions. Her cheeks were hot enough to fry an egg.
She opened her mouth to explain, to say it wasn’t what they thought.
But the words wouldn’t come.
After all, the two of them were technically dating right now.
“We… we just… had a normal meal, took a walk, did some handicrafts…” Wen Chu squeezed out a few dry words.
“Handicrafts?!” The three roommates spoke in unison, their eyes shining brighter. “Couple’s handicrafts?! Did you exchange tokens of love?!”
Wen Chu: “…” Tokens of love?
She inexplicably thought of their fused bead-art.
In the end, she was forced to endure their chattering questions for a long time, only managing to get through with vague explanations. After eating, she practically fled back up to her bed, pulling the curtains shut to isolate herself in her tiny, safe space.
The world was finally quiet.
As expected of a male lead in a book. Even dating results in a crowd of spectators.
She remembered back in her real university life before transmigrating, there were no so-called “god-tier” campus hunks—there were only “university cattle” filled with resentment for being forced to attend 8 AM classes.
Wen Chu: No thanks, I feel like I’ve been set up by “Capital.”
She pulled out her phone and clicked on the post, which was now marked with a flaming “BURSTING” icon.
The thread’s popularity had increased significantly since she last looked.
Besides the morning photo of the scarf-tying, others had begun to add details.
The comment section was in a total frenzy. After all, ever since Xi Liye entered as a freshman, his flawless face and cold, noble aura had made him the center of attention.
For two years, countless people had tried to approach him, but the genius remained like a frozen mountain. Rumors that he might even be gay had once been rampant.
Now, not only had this iceberg seemingly melted, but he had also proactively tied a scarf for someone. This was more shocking than hearing the sun had risen from the west.
Wen Chu looked at the rapidly refreshing comments and felt her temples throbbing.
It’s over. With such high visibility, won’t everyone be staring at me when I leave the dorm for class? The thought of being watched by so many people made her vision go dark.
It seemed she’d better wear a mask to class tomorrow.