The moonlight was as cool as water. The road ahead was nearly empty, with only a few scattered silhouettes. A girl and a boy walked one after the other—not too fast, not too slow.
Zhu Yuyou walked in front, her heart thumping wildly. In this innocent school phase, a boy walking a girl back to her dorm almost always hinted at ambiguity. Just like how Bai Shinan used to walk Mu Yuwei back every night.
“Classmate Bai Shinan, this is far enough,” Zhu Yuyou said. Ahead was the corridor leading to the girls’ dorm, well-lit and easy to attract attention.
“Mm. Good night. See you tomorrow.” Bai Shinan waved without stepping into the restricted area. Going any further would only trouble Zhu Yuyou.
“Good night. See you tomorrow.” Zhu Yuyou gave him a shy nod and quickly turned to run off.
Only after she disappeared around the corner did Bai Shinan turn and head toward the boys’ dorm. Just as he reached the base of the building, Li Pengfei stepped out from the shadows.
“Wait—Old Bai, don’t tell me you’ve fallen for our class rep?” Li Pengfei asked with a constipated expression.
“Which eye of yours saw that I like her?” Bai Shinan shot him a look of disdain. How did he never realize before that Li Pengfei had such a love-brained side?
“You don’t like her? Then why’d you serve her food? Why walk her to the dorm?” Li Pengfei looked like he had irrefutable proof.
“If you ate plain rice with pickled veggies every day, I’d serve you food too. If you cried your eyes swollen helping me, I’d carry you back to the dorm without a second thought,” Bai Shinan said irritably.
Li Pengfei had no comeback. Something seemed off, but not exactly wrong either.
“Fine, I can’t out-argue you. But if you don’t like the class rep, you’d better keep some distance. Stop leading her on.” Li Pengfei tried to advise him sincerely. He didn’t want Bai Shinan going from simp to player.
“Clarify that. How exactly am I leading her on? Isn’t this just normal friendship?” Bai Shinan felt his actions were all perfectly justified.
“You call that normal? Wait—what standard are you measuring by?” Li Pengfei suddenly realized what was off.
Bai Shinan went quiet. He had only ever chased one girl, so naturally, all his standards came from Mu Yuwei.
“Sigh. Old Bai, think about it—if you took just a tenth of the care you showed Mu Yuwei and shared it among ten girls, you could make each one feel like a princess.” Li Pengfei sighed. This story is hosted at g.com.
“I got it. Thanks for the reminder.” Bai Shinan took a deep breath. The path ahead of him was still long.
“We’re brothers, what’s with the thanks?” Li Pengfei punched him lightly on the shoulder.
The two returned to their dorm and went straight to sleep. They didn’t wake until the alarm rang.
It was still spring, and summer was a while away, so mornings were chilly. Bai Shinan struggled to stretch a hand from his warm bed to silence the alarm. He cracked his eyes open and checked the time.
5:30 AM!
What the hell—who set the alarm so early!?
Then he remembered—it was himself.
Back in the day, even with heavy sleep deprivation, he’d force himself up before 6:00 AM, rush to the cafeteria to buy a bowl of piping hot barley porridge, and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes.
By the time the porridge cooled to an edible temperature, Mu Yuwei would be arriving for breakfast.
That barley porridge was her favorite. But if she came too early, it’d be scalding, and she had a sensitive tongue. If she came too late, there wouldn’t even be scraps left.
So Bai Shinan always got up early to buy it and let it cool for her. When summer came, he had to get up even earlier.
But that was the old Bai Shinan. Now? Sorry—not worth it. He rolled over and went right back to sleep.
…
On the other side, Mu Yuwei strolled leisurely along the path. Other girls jogged past her, trying to cut the breakfast line. But she didn’t feel even a hint of urgency.
She never had to worry about those things.
By the time she reached the cafeteria and walked to her usual window-side seat, she found it occupied by unfamiliar girls—and there was no barley porridge on the table.
Every morning before, a certain boy would walk up to her with a smile, saying things she never cared to remember.
As Mu Yuwei’s best friend, she had enjoyed plenty of perks. The breakfast Bai Shinan bought often included a portion for her, and he gave her snacks and drinks regularly too.
“Tiantian, drop it. He never had any obligation to bring me breakfast.” Mu Yuwei suddenly found Liu Tiantian’s words a bit grating.
“Hmph. So what if he won’t get breakfast? There are plenty of guys who’d line up to do it for you.” Liu Tiantian was already used to being pampered—now standing in line like everyone else felt unbearable.
Mu Yuwei didn’t respond. She was feeling annoyed, but her rational side kept reminding her there was nothing to be angry about.
Bai Shinan, do you really think this little game of playing hard to get will make me give in? I’ll show you—I can live just fine without you.
“Tiantian, let’s get in line for breakfast.” Mu Yuwei pulled Liu Tiantian toward the queue. She wasn’t helpless—Bai Shinan’s absence didn’t affect her at all.
…
After nearly ten minutes in line, Mu Yuwei finally got her favorite barley porridge. It wasn’t hard—until she turned around with her tray and saw the cafeteria packed with people.
She and Liu Tiantian had to keep walking deeper inside, scanning for a free spot.
Finally, they found a vacant two-person table. Just as Mu Yuwei placed down her tray, the warning bell rang—the one that signaled it was time to gather on the sports field for morning exercise.
That meant they had less than five minutes to eat.
“Seriously? How are we supposed to finish in time?” Liu Tiantian complained.
Everyone nearby began wolfing down their food. Some stuffed buns into their mouths and bolted. Being late meant getting dragged to the front row—public punishment. No one wanted that shame.
Mu Yuwei panicked a little too. She was well-known on campus and couldn’t afford that kind of embarrassment.
She scooped a spoonful of porridge, blew on it, and shoved it into her mouth—only to spit it out the next second. Her tender tongue writhed like a fish tossed into a pan, and she inhaled rapidly, trying to cool the burn.
So hot! It was never this hot before…