With Xu Manjin around, Shen Hua’s tense nerves finally relaxed a little.
Since it was just the two of them in the car, she felt bolder. After taking some photos, they huddled together to edit them, chattering away excitedly, barely paying attention to what was happening outside the car.
Just as they were getting into the swing of things, the back door clicked open. A gust of cold wind swept in, carrying the familiar scent of cedar.
Both girls froze and turned to see Zhou Yunting standing by the door, his suit jacket draped over his arm.
Shen Hua’s cheeks flushed instantly. Her expression turned stiff.
Xu Manjin, being tactful, pursed her lips, slipped out from the other side, and quickly climbed into the passenger seat.
Shen Hua hurriedly moved further to the other side, and only then did Zhou Yunting bend down and get in.
For a moment, the atmosphere inside the car grew heavy.
Yang Jiang started the engine and drove toward the University of Hong Kong. No one spoke. The only sound was the faint hum of the air freshener.
It was Xu Manjin who broke the silence.
As usual, she scrolled through her schedule for the next day and suddenly asked Shen Hua, “We have Old Witch’s class tomorrow. Did you do the assignment?”
Old Witch’s class referred to their composition course. It was long and tedious, demanding a lot of brainpower for arranging music. Every time, Xu Manjin found it a headache. Shen Hua felt the same, but there was no choice—they had to grit their teeth and compose, even if their work turned out dull and boring.
Shen Hua gave a brief reply: “Done.”
Xu Manjin frowned. “Why don’t you ever go along with the crowd?”
Shen Hua’s forehead broke out in a cold sweat. She really didn’t want to talk about this in the car.
She didn’t respond, but Xu Manjin pressed on, carefree and blunt: “Well, it’s fine. If Old Witch happens to call on me tomorrow, I’ll just use your assignment.”
Since they didn’t have to hand in their work—Old Witch would pick someone to present in class, and those not chosen essentially didn’t need to do the assignment—this was their usual routine.
Xu Manjin tapped her phone and couldn’t help laughing. “Daji, look at the group chat. Everyone’s saying they didn’t do the homework.”
“I said you did it.”
“They’re all calling you a beaut now. ‘Great beauty, please save us!’ Hahaha.”
Shen Hua was speechless. She didn’t check her phone and said, “Fine, I’ll treat it as charity.”
“Hahahaha.” Xu Manjin laughed again. “Quick, look—Gu Linzhou said he saw Li Jiaxin on campus today, but it turned out to be you.”
“These jerks sure know how to sweet-talk when they need something.”
Shen Hua couldn’t handle that comment, especially in this setting.
Then Xu Manjin suddenly exclaimed dramatically, “Oh my god, is Gu Linzhou trying to chase you?”
Shen Hua frowned, couldn’t help pulling out her phone, and saw Gu Linzhou had covered her photo with hearts and captioned it: “The great beauty has arrived—everyone clear the way!”
Others in the group who wanted to borrow her assignment chimed in, praising her like a celestial fairy.
Shen Hua’s eyes went dark. She almost wanted to leave the group.
Just as she was about to put her phone away, Xu Manjin turned around and snatched it from her hand.
Startled, Shen Hua let out a cry and reached to grab it back, but Xu Manjin was quick. Her fingers flew across the screen, tapping a few times before Shen Hua could react. Both their phones chimed with a notification almost simultaneously.
Shen Hua snatched her phone back and opened the group chat. She almost laughed in exasperation.
Xu Manjin had used her account to post: “Greatly pleases this emperor. Tonight, I choose you.” And she had attached an emoji from a period drama of flipping over a concubine’s name card.
“Xu Manjin!” Shen Hua lowered her voice and reached out to smack the back of Xu Manjin’s head. The force wasn’t hard, but it was enough to make Xu Manjin’s head tilt.
“What are you doing!” Xu Manjin yelped, rubbing the back of her head as she turned around. “I was just having fun!”
“Have fun with your head!”
Xu Manjin sighed helplessly. “They kept @ing you, and you, the star of the show, didn’t show up for ages. How boring is that!”
Shen Hua was left speechless. She hugged her phone and slumped back into her seat, staring at the group chat that had exploded like a pot. In a low voice, she muttered, “Next time, I’m not doing the assignment either.”
Hearing that, Xu Manjin immediately grinned. “That’s more like it. See, this is what happens when you don’t go along with the crowd.”
She turned to glance at Shen Hua.
Seeing her friend in low spirits, she asked, “Are you mad?”
Shen Hua said, “No.”
Xu Manjin handed her phone over. “Come on, fine—you can use my phone to post whatever you want.”
Her tone was sincere, and Shen Hua couldn’t help but laugh, pushing her hand away. “Get lost.”
“Roger that, Empress Daji!” Xu Manjin grinned and sat back, then started sighing again. “Ugh, I really hate Old Witch’s class!”
Xu Manjin’s antics had lifted Shen Hua’s mood considerably, so she shot back, “Then why don’t you blow up her classroom with a bomb?”
Xu Manjin was dumbfounded. “What did you say?”
“Don’t you hate her class?” Shen Hua said, suppressing a smile.
“Still, I’d never do something like that!” Xu Manjin rolled her eyes but couldn’t resist bickering back. “If you want to blow it up, you do it. I’ll just cheer you on!”
“You’d be doing humanity a favor.”
Xu Manjin was speechless. “I think I’d be doing a favor for a bunch of scoundrels like you two!”
The two of them went back and forth, teasing each other affectionately, warming up the gloomy atmosphere in the car.
They had completely forgotten that Zhou Yunting was still sitting silently in the back seat. They’d even forgotten this was his car.
Shen Hua laughed out loud.
The corners of her eyes curved into soft crescents.
And Zhou Yunting once again saw the Shen Hua who had first made his heart skip a beat so unexpectedly.
His Adam’s apple moved slightly. His tone carried a hint of protectiveness that was hard to detect. “What’s her name? I’ll have her kicked out.”
The words jolted Shen Hua back to reality, reminding her that Lin Qinghuai was still in the car.
Xu Manjin also snapped out of it, quickly glancing back at the back seat before turning around again.
Both of them knew that with Lin Qinghuai’s influence, he might actually have that power. But they were only joking—they wouldn’t actually ruin someone’s livelihood.
So they both wisely shut up, and the car fell silent again.
Not even two seconds passed before Xu Manjin suddenly remembered that she had planned to confront Lin Qinghuai today.
So she mentally rehearsed her lines, cleared her throat twice, and put on a composed tone.
“Mr. Lin, you’re a busy man. You disappear for over half a month. Now you suddenly pop up, looking for our Shen Hua without any explanation. So tell me—what’s your intention?”
Having been in a position of power for so long, Zhou Yunting wasn’t used to being spoken to in such a confrontational tone.
He raised his eyes and glanced at Xu Manjin in the passenger seat. His gaze was calm, showing no sign of anger. He maintained his gentle demeanor, his voice steady and slow: “I was abroad for the past few days dealing with some urgent matters. I only returned to Hong Kong today, and I happened to run into you two at the restaurant.”
The explanation seemed flawless, impossible to fault.
But both Xu Manjin and Shen Hua knew the truth.
No matter how busy he was, it wasn’t so busy that he couldn’t send a single message in over half a month.
Xu Manjin frowned immediately, her tone sharper. “Being busy is one thing, but it’s another to vanish off the face of the earth. We got in your car today as a courtesy. You need to make things clear right now. Are you serious about dating Shen Hua, or are you just looking for some fun? If it’s the latter, we’ll get out now, and we’ll go our separate ways from here on out!”
The car fell dead silent.
Yang Jiang took the opportunity to glance at Xu Manjin in the passenger seat, a hint of admiration in his eyes. In all his years beside Mr. Zhou, hardly anyone had dared to talk back to him like that. This classmate named Xu Manjin was truly courageous.
He even started planning which intersection ahead would be best to pull over and let the two girls get out.
But five seconds passed, and Zhou Yunting still hadn’t spoken.
Shen Hua felt that since they had decided to lay their cards on the table, she needed to express her stance as well.
So she said calmly, “Mr. Lin, my friend is blunt. Please don’t mind her. But harsh words carry truth. What she said is right—I think we really need to be clear with each other. If you’re looking for a long-term relationship, I’m willing to try getting to know you. But if it’s just a whim, looking for someone to have fun with, I don’t want to be involved in something so vague.”
She paused, her voice softening but carrying a note of sincerity. “My life is very simple. Every day, it’s just classes and practicing the cello. I’m not used to the big world you’ve seen. If you don’t have that intention, just say so directly. Then we won’t have to see each other again.”