Summer vacation passed quickly, and soon the first day of school arrived.
Wen Li was eating the last breakfast her mother made for her at home when she couldn't help but remark, "Mom, why doesn't today's millet porridge taste as good as yesterday's?"
"That can't be," Wen Tao walked out of the kitchen. "This is the leftover millet porridge from yesterday."
"…"
Alright, she already knew the reason.
Wen Li's university was local, so she went home almost every week. This time, heading back to school brought no reluctance to leave home at all—just a little excitement at escaping the daily grind.
"Mom, I'm leaving." After breakfast, Wen Li tossed the last pack of dried almonds into her small suitcase, checked everything, and pushed it out the door.
Wen Tao walked her to the garage, giving instructions along the way: "Study hard at school. Keep a low profile and don't cause trouble. A gentleman uses words, not fists. If something happens, go to your teacher, or call the police. Don't handle it yourself. Got it?"
Wen Li murmured in response, "Got it."
"No fighting, no playing hero, no dumping food on classmates' heads. Got it?"
"Got it."
Wen Tao was still rambling on, and Wen Li's ears were practically growing calluses from it. She quickly grabbed her Doraemon bag and climbed into the car, smiling as she cut off the spell-casting: "Bye, Mom!"
Wen Tao sighed. "Go on, then. Be careful on the road."
On the way, her dad struck up a casual conversation: "By the way, are those two sports school kids of yours still training in weightlifting?"
"Zhu Zhiyi and Xiang Kui?"
"Yeah."
"Mm, they're doing pretty well in the provincial team."
Wen Li thought to herself—if it weren't for her arm injury, she'd be in the national team by now. Heaven envies the gifted.
"Let me tell you, girls who do weightlifting get ugly—fat and short. It'll be hard for them to find a boyfriend later."
Ji Qingti turned the steering wheel fully and continued, "Dad still hopes you'll be an ordinary girl—pretty, safe, and sound. After graduation, find an easy job, fall in love. Championships, gold medals—we don't need any of that."
Ji Qingti chattered the whole way.
Wen Li didn't interrupt. She quietly watched the scenery outside the window.
The car window reflected her profile. She said nothing, just sat there in silence for two hours like the heroine of a youthful angst novel.
_
In Sea City, September, the summer heat hadn't yet faded. The campus, dormant for two months, was coming back to life.
Wen Li got out of the car, breathed in some fresh air, and dragged her suitcase into the campus.
Quite a few freshmen were walking around with their parents, touring the grounds. The student council was busy handing out flyers to welcome the new arrivals. The atmosphere was lively.
Wen Li sighed at how fast time flew—in the blink of an eye, she was already a sophomore senior.
Passing through the bustling crowd, she spotted two girls standing at the entrance of her dormitory building. In front of them sat a large jug of bottled water, and they seemed to be discussing how to carry it upstairs. They were Cheng Xiling and Jiang Zao from her dorm.
Wen Li jogged over with her little suitcase in a few quick steps: "Babes, I'm back!"
Cheng Xiling spotted her first, her face lighting up with surprise: "Lili's back!"
Jiang Zao practically flew over: "Oh my god, our savior is back!"
Their dorm had always had harmonious relationships. In freshman year, everyone complained about the poor water quality in the dorm, so they pooled money to buy a water dispenser. The only problem was that their dorm was on the sixth floor with no elevator, so the four of them had to take turns carrying the water jugs upstairs.
Aside from Wen Li, everyone in the dorm had a frail, delicate frame. Carrying a water jug up six floors could take half their lives.
Wen Li was someone who cherished the fairer sex. Besides, carrying water was effortless for her, so she voluntarily took over the job. Of course, the others felt bad taking advantage of her for free, so they agreed to exempt her from dorm cleaning duties.
Without a second word, Wen Li carried her suitcase in her left hand and a 38-pound water jug in her right, strolling up to the sixth floor with ease. The two girls behind her, empty-handed, couldn't even keep up with her pace.
"Lili, slow down! Your arm just healed!" Jiang Zao called after her.
Wen Li had already disappeared from sight.
By the time she had the water dispenser set up in the dorm, Jiang Zao and the others finally made it back, panting: "Heroine Li is mighty and strong. This little lady is truly in awe."
Fu Qin also teased her: "Lili, you're so reliable. If you were a guy, I'd definitely marry you."
Wen Li grabbed a cup, filled it halfway with water, and flopped onto her chair: "If I were a guy, I wouldn't marry you."
Fu Qin pouted: "If not me, then who would you marry?"
Wen Li crossed her legs and said, "At least someone like Lingling—gentle, considerate, and she'd bring me breakfast."
Cheng Xiling let out a soft laugh, looking a bit shy.
Fu Qin's competitive streak kicked in: "I can bring you breakfast too! Marry me!"
Jiang Zao laughed: "Alright, stop fighting over her favor. You know she likes Lingling. Think back to military training."
Fu Qin understood: "True. Beauty saving beauty."
Jiang Zao: "Hahaha, and there was the princess carry too. We were shipping them so hard."
Cheng Xiling smiled and said, "You guys, stop joking around."
The incident they were talking about happened during military training at the start of the semester. Back then, Wen Li wasn't close with them yet—after all, she was the only one in the dorm from the School of Physical Education, while the other three were all from the School of Music.
During military training, the School of Physical Education and the School of Music happened to be in the same formation.
On the third day of training, Cheng Xiling happened to be on her period. Her stomach was hurting, and she wanted to ask the drill instructor for leave, but instead she got scolded for being delicate, told she was too troublesome, and asked why no one else had so many problems.
The girl was so frightened she didn't dare say a word, and she stood at attention in the sun with a pale face.
As a result, the sun exposure gave her low blood sugar and she fainted on the spot. Jiang Zao and Fu Qin, who were beside her, were startled and rushed over to take care of her. Because the situation was so urgent, the two of them ran over without reporting first, which challenged the drill instructor's authority again.
He tore into both of them, scolding them for being undisciplined and disorganized.
After Cheng Xiling recovered, the drill instructor still thought she was faking it and made the three girls do thirty push-ups each on the side.
The three of them were naturally slender and frail, with hardly any meat on their bones—let alone thirty push-ups, none of them could even do three.
Jiang Zao kept apologizing, trying to beg the drill instructor to let them off, but he kept a cold face and said they wouldn't be allowed to eat lunch if they didn't finish.
This matter had nothing to do with Wen Li, but she was furious watching it. What kind of crappy drill instructor was this? This was just pure bullying.
So she stepped forward: "Thirty push-ups each, right? I'll do them in their place."
The moment she said that, not just the drill instructor, but the entire formation was shocked. Ninety push-ups—even most guys with a regular fitness routine couldn't do that, let alone a girl.
Everyone thought she was bragging, but Wen Li actually completed them with ease, her form so standard that even the picky drill instructor had nothing to say. After finishing, she dusted off her palms and, under everyone's stunned gaze, picked up Cheng Xiling and carried her to the infirmary.
From then on, Wen Li became famous overnight in their cohort, becoming the top celebrity on campus and perfectly winning over the three beauties of Room 602.
After this incident, some busybody who loved watching the drama wrote an article and submitted it to the school's official account, and labels like "Handsome is a feeling, not a gender," "Women are no less than men," and "This year's guys' biggest competition is a baby-faced girl" got plastered onto her.
What could Wen Li do? She wanted to follow her mom's advice and keep a low profile, but she couldn't help it—mainly because she was just too cool.
"Alright, stop fighting over who's the favorite. Want to head to the supermarket and hear some good news?" Jiang Zao asked them.
Wen Li's shower caddy had been accidentally stepped on and broken by her last semester when she went to the bathroom in the middle of the night, so she was planning to buy a new one.
Fu Qin said she wanted to go too.
The three of them went to the supermarket together. Wen Li picked out a shower caddy and grabbed some toiletries, tossed them into the basket, paid, and walked out.
As soon as they exited the supermarket, they heard a girl at the door go "Wow!" and mumble quietly, "It's Xiao Jinyu!"
What?
Xiao what yu!
Wen Li's sharp ears twitched, and her little head turned to look behind her.
The guy happened to walk out of the supermarket from behind them. He was wearing a clean white t-shirt with earphones in, whether he was on a call or listening to music, she couldn't tell.
The setting sun hung at the edge of the sky, its warm orange light dyeing the tips of his hair a shade of gold.
As he brushed past her, Wen Li seemed to catch his scent—like pine branches bent low after snowfall, a coldness that rushed at her face. Faint, but with an overwhelming presence.
Her head turned like a wheel, following him as he walked away.
Fu Qin raised her hand and snapped her fingers in front of her face: "What are you spacing out for?"
Only then did Wen Li's soul return to her body. She smoothed her bangs and asked her, "Do I look ugly right now?"
Fu Qin looked at her strangely. She wasn't wearing any makeup today, but her skin was clean and fair, not a single pore visible on her face. Her delicate, petite features looked especially sweet, like a doll.
"Not ugly at all. You're very pretty. Have some confidence!" she answered firmly.
Wen Li felt reassured.
At this point, there was nothing else to do—just go for it.
So the confident Lili charged off in the direction the guy had left.