“Calling me out this late at night just to drink alone?”
He Weichen looked at Xie Qingwang, who was silently pouring alcohol down his throat, completely expressionless. “Come on, talk. Why are you emo again?”
“I told her to add me back. She refused.” Xie Qingwang stared at his glass, clearly annoyed. He had already lowered himself to ask—and she didn’t give him any face at all.
“How did you ask her?” He Weichen knew him too well. “Don’t tell me you forced her?”
Xie Qingwang frowned. “Not really… I gave her that milk I took from you.”
“…How exactly did you give it to her? Tell me.”
“I said it was something you didn’t want, so I gave it to her.”
“……”
He Weichen was speechless. “You seem smart most of the time—how do you say something like that to a girl? Are you treating her like a trash can?”
Even without dating experience, he knew how bad that sounded.
Actually, Xie Qingwang had already realized something was off about what he said—but it was too late to undo it. “Then what do you suggest I do to fix it?”
“Fix what?” He Weichen took a sip of his drink. “Be honest with me—what exactly do you feel about her?”
“Didn’t I already say? I just can’t accept it.”
He Weichen let out a dry laugh. “Right. Even though you beat someone up for her, even though you snatched something from me for her, even though this is the first time in your life you’ve asked someone to add you back… sure, you don’t like her. You’re just ‘not okay with it.’”
Why did that sound so sarcastic?
Xie Qingwang fell silent for a few minutes, slowly turning the glass in his hand as some liquor spilled onto the back of it.
Then suddenly, he said, “I have a friend.”
Oh wow—classic line.
“What friend? You have a friend I don’t know about?”
Xie Qingwang shot him a look. “Don’t worry about that. Just listen.”
“Alright, go ahead.”
“My friend suddenly had a dream one day… about a girl he doesn’t like. What do you think that means?”
He Weichen drew out a breath. “And what kind of dream did your ‘friend’ have?”
“That kind.”
“What kind?”
“A… spring-related dream.” Xie Qingwang looked a bit awkward.
He Weichen gave a knowing “oh.” “That means you actually like her.”
“But she’s not my type.” Xie Qingwang blurted out—then paused. “I mean, she’s not my friend’s type.”
Yeah, sure. Keep insisting.
He Weichen had already seen through him. “Then maybe it’s just suppressed desire. Your ‘friend’ is young—it’s normal.”
“Then why is it her face?” Xie Qingwang frowned. He wasn’t inexperienced to the point of ignorance—he understood basic physical reactions. But he’d never had something like this happen before.
“Then you like her.”
“I…”
Maybe it was the alcohol, but the scenes from that dream resurfaced vividly in his mind. Xie Qingwang started to waver.
“Do I really… like her?”
He Weichen patted his shoulder firmly. “No doubt about it—you like her.”
Honestly, he hadn’t planned to let his friend figure it out this early. A little suffering in love was deserved.
But judging from Ji Nian’s recent attitude, if Xie Qingwang kept being clueless, someone else would snatch her away.
What could he do? That’s what comes with being his brother.
“I like her?” Xie Qingwang muttered, still confused.
Just as He Weichen was about to say more, Xie Qingwang suddenly downed his drink, slammed the glass down, and shouted:
“Yes—I like her!”
Then his eyes shut, and he collapsed onto the table.
“…I’m done with you.” He Weichen resignedly dragged him out of the bar.
……
After two full days of packed classes—plus all the messy drama—Ji Nian was mentally and physically exhausted. She slept the entire Saturday morning.
Then a loud crash startled her awake.
She pulled back the curtain and looked down—Li Ping had just dropped a huge box onto the ground.
Since it wasn’t during official quiet hours, Ji Nian didn’t say anything. She crawled back under the covers and checked her phone—Ruan Yu had sent her several messages.
First asking if she wanted to have lunch together, then asking if she wanted to watch a basketball game in the afternoon.
Ruan Yu had joined the student union, so she had been busy since early morning.
Ji Nian replied one by one. It was almost 11:30, so she wasn’t sure if Ruan Yu had eaten—if not, they’d eat together.
As for the basketball game, Ji Nian had never been interested in sports. In her past life, she only went because Xie Qingwang was playing.
The reply came quickly—Ruan Yu hadn’t eaten yet. They agreed to meet at the cafeteria, and Ji Nian quickly got up to wash and change.
But as she walked, she accidentally bumped into the box.
Before she could even apologize, Li Ping snapped, “Are you blind? Do you know there are valuable items in here? If you broke something, could you afford it?!”
“Sorry.” It was her fault for not paying attention.
But Li Ping finally had a chance to vent—she wasn’t letting it go easily. She crouched down to inspect the box corners, then opened it and rummaged through everything.
Unfortunately for her, nothing was damaged.
Ji Nian saw through her intentions and felt speechless. “Since nothing’s broken, please move. I need to go out.”
“Did you do that on purpose?” Li Ping insisted. There was still plenty of space beside the box—she shouldn’t have hit it unless it was intentional.
“Why would I do it on purpose? If you think I did, then show my motive. Otherwise, please move.”
Li Ping lifted her chin. “Of course it’s because of Xie Qingwang—you don’t like that I like him.”
Hearing that, Ji Nian didn’t even know what expression to make. In the end, she just sighed. “Whether you like him or not has nothing to do with me.”
With that, she turned and left. Some people simply weren’t worth engaging with.
Staring at the closed door, Li Ping glared. “Zhang Yuan, you think she did it on purpose too, right?”
“I don’t know,” Zhang Yuan replied calmly. “But when I walked past earlier, I didn’t hit your box.”
“Then she definitely did it on purpose.”
……
By the time Ji Nian reached the cafeteria, Ruan Yu had already ordered food for both of them. “There are two milk teas—pick one.”
“Thanks!” Ji Nian chose the original flavor.
“Come watch the basketball game with me this afternoon,” Ruan Yu urged. “The student union president is playing—you know he’s a total heartthrob.”
“You don’t join clubs, you don’t go out on weekends—you’ll be bored staying in the dorm. And there’ll be lots of handsome guys at the game. Maybe you’ll find a new crush and finally forget that Xie guy.”
“…Alright.”
But the moment she stepped into the basketball court—
Ji Nian already started to regret it.