Ji Shuning thought for a moment. “Isn’t that your pale yellow dress from middle school?”
“No, it’s not.” Lin Yutang shook her head. “And I don’t remember having a pale yellow dress in middle school.”
Ji Shuning thought again, still convinced she hadn’t mistaken it.
“It’s definitely that pale yellow dress of yours. Don’t you remember? You wore it at the sports meet in seventh grade. You couldn’t tie the neck strap properly and had to ask your deskmate for help.”
Bringing up such a trivial matter from years ago, Lin Yutang barely remembered it—she’d even forgotten who her deskmate was back then.
She quietly explained to Ji Shuning, “It’s not mine. That’s Lu Chaosheng’s WeChat profile picture.”
Ji Shuning choked on her words. “If it’s Lu Chaosheng’s, then it’s probably just a similar dress.”
She was the only one in the dorm who knew that Lin Yutang was currently staying at the Lu residence.
But no one would ever associate Lu Chaosheng’s profile picture with anything related to Lin Yutang.
At 11 PM, Hang Xia was practicing her spoken English in the dorm when her phone suddenly rang.
The screen showed an incoming call from her mother.
A flicker of fear passed through her eyes, and she didn’t tap to answer for a long time.
Her roommate poked her head out from the bed, annoyed. “Hang Xia, it’s really late! I can tolerate your oral practice, but letting your phone ring for this long—who are you trying to deafen?”
Hang Xia’s expression instantly turned cold, her tone laced with undisguised contempt. “The dorm cleaning is done by my family’s maid every week. Since you’re enjoying the benefits I bring without any guilt, what right do you have to tell me what to do?”
The roommate who’d been irritated moments ago was rendered speechless and could only yank her bed curtain shut in frustration.
Hang Xia withdrew her gaze and answered the call.
“Mom.”
“Xiaxia, you got second place in the competition?” The voice on the other end could barely contain its fury. “Not only did you fail to get first place, but you went and bribed the teacher with money? The principal personally called me, saying you might face disciplinary action. If I hadn’t pulled strings and pressured them, and sent gifts to the principal, you’d have been disciplined within these first few days of school!”
Hang Xia was momentarily at a loss for words.
Her mother’s rage practically erupted through the receiver. “Everything I’ve taught you has gone to waste! You got caught over something this trivial—you’re stupid beyond saving! All your supplementary cards are frozen, and your allowance next month is halved. Reflect on your behavior!”
Before Hang Xia could say anything, the call was slammed down.
Her long, manicured nails clenched tightly around her phone, leaving deep imprints on the silicone case.
Her girlfriends had all put on the latest ice-blue crystal mother-of-pearl necklaces and kept asking why she wasn’t wearing the matching set. But her parents wouldn’t approve of her buying one, saying it would make her sick younger sister resentful. Hang Xia had planned to use next month’s allowance to buy one too.
She was at the age where she cared most about her appearance, wanting nothing more than to wear haute couture and fine jewelry like her friends.
Now all her wishes had gone up in smoke, and a surge of grievance welled up inside her, instantly transforming into pure hatred for Lin Yutang.
Late September, the day before the National Day holiday.
In the dorm, everyone except Ni Qianqian, who was from out of town, was packing to go home.
Lin Yutang finished first and collapsed into her chair, scrolling through her phone.
Suddenly a WeChat message popped up from “LL.”
[How much longer until you’re done packing? I’m coming to pick you up downstairs.]
Lin Yutang bit her lip and immediately declined.
[No need. Shuning’s parents are coming to pick her up soon, and they’ll drop me off at the Lu residence on the way.]
Lu Chaosheng didn’t bother acknowledging her refusal and simply sent five words.
[I’ll be there in five.]
Lin Yutang: “…”
Ever since he’d kissed her out of nowhere that day, she’d been avoiding him.
She’d even stopped going to the track and the gym, terrified of running into Lu Chaosheng and his group of friends.
After saying goodbye to her roommates, Lin Yutang struggled to carry her luggage down the stairs. When she walked out the door, she still had five more flights of steps to descend.
A shadow suddenly fell over her, and the weight of her suitcase lightened.
Lu Chaosheng had reached out and taken her luggage. Today he was wearing a loose-fitting dark gray knit sweater that somehow made his tall, lean frame look even more striking.
Lin Yutang murmured softly, “Thank you.”
Probably because they both had luggage today, Lu Chaosheng hadn’t driven his Pagani—the car that was instantly recognizable all over Jinghai—but had switched to a Rolls-Royce Phantom.
Still, a luxury car with an especially eye-catching license plate was always going to draw attention on a university campus.
Lin Yutang felt the weight of a group of people’s subtle gazes and stopped on the stairs.
“Maybe I should wait for you at the school gate?”
Lu Chaosheng’s eyes gradually darkened.
A moment later, he lightly licked his dry lips, and a low, husky laugh rolled from his throat.
“If you don’t get in the car now, more people are going to stare at us.”
His voice was pitched extremely low, his expression seemingly casual and indifferent, yet the warning in his words carried a faint, underlying pressure.
He had a point. Lin Yutang steeled herself and quickly followed him into the car.
Neither of them spoke much during the ride.
It wasn’t until the car pulled into the Lu residence that Lu Chaosheng and Lin Yutang got out one after the other.
Seeing that the girl beside him remained silent, the restlessness in Lu Chaosheng’s heart could no longer be suppressed, seeping out bit by bit.
He instinctively lowered his hand, reaching for the cigarette pack in his pocket, but just as his fingers moved, he remembered Lin Yutang was beside him and withdrew his hand.
“Lin Yutang.”
“Hm?” Lin Yutang stopped in her tracks, turning her head in slight surprise toward the man who had called her full name for the first time.
Lu Chaosheng’s gaze was deep and obscure, a faintly cold smile at the corner of his lips. “You’ve been avoiding me lately?”
Lin Yutang instinctively denied it. “I haven’t.”
“Haven’t you?” Lu Chaosheng casually lifted the corner of his mouth, recounting each incident in a slow, deliberate tone.
“On Wednesday, you asked your PE teacher for leave and didn’t go to the track for warm-up laps.”
“On Friday morning’s public lecture, you saw me and went to sit in the farthest corner.”
“And yesterday, at the entrance of the school convenience store, you glanced at me, turned around, and ran off covering your face.”
Lin Yutang: “…”
Calling him a creep was spot on.
He’d actually been keeping tabs on her every move.
She was about to question him when Uncle Han happened to walk over, smiling warmly at the two of them. “Young Master, Miss Lin, why are you standing at the door chatting? Mr. Lu is flying back to Jinghai City tomorrow evening and wants us to prepare well for tomorrow’s dinner—consider it a welcome banquet for Miss Lin.”
Lu Chaosheng raised an eyebrow. “She’s been living here for a week, school’s been in session for three weeks—a whole month—and my dad only now remembers to throw a welcome banquet?”
Uncle Han kept smiling. “The master has been busy with work. He won’t be back in Jinghai until tomorrow afternoon.”
With Uncle Han standing nearby, Lin Yutang couldn’t press the matter further, but she moved a step farther away from Lu Chaosheng.
In her heart, she had already branded him with the label “creep” in big letters.
On the first morning of the holiday, Lu Chaosheng got up at seven, washed up, and went to the pool behind the villa for an hour-long swim.
He worked out year-round; discipline was carved into his bones.
Lin Yutang also woke up at eight. After brushing her teeth and washing her face, she remembered she hadn’t opened the curtains on the balcony, leaving the room dark and stuffy.
She walked out to the balcony and pulled the curtains open. The glaring sunlight of the day spilled onto the pool below, the shimmering water dazzling to the eyes.
Lu Chaosheng braced one hand on the pool edge, using the leverage to rise from the water without the pool ladder—a clean, decisive motion that showcased the strength in his arms.
Water droplets rolled from his wet hair tips, slid past his sharply defined jawline, and trickled down his well-sculpted shoulders and back.
He suddenly looked up, his gaze sweeping toward the second-floor balcony, landing precisely on Lin Yutang, who stood frozen in place.