The two of them shopped at the mall until nightfall, carrying large and small bags back toward campus.
Just as they reached the dormitory building, a shadow suddenly leapt out from the dark corner to block their way.
“Ah—!”
Gu Lianxing cried out in alarm. Shen Ci, too, was startled, but when she saw who it was, her expression instantly darkened, impatience flashing in her eyes.
Li Xiao stood there, face grim, his gaze sharp and cold as it locked on Shen Ci.
“Li Xiao?” Recognizing him, Gu Lianxing snapped angrily, “What’s wrong with you! Lurking outside the girls’ dorm this late at night—are you trying to scare someone to death?”
But Li Xiao ignored her completely. His eyes never left Shen Ci as he demanded, his voice tight with anger, “Why did you move dorms? Are you hiding from me?”
Shen Ci couldn’t help letting out a derisive laugh, which only made his expression even darker.
“Did you send gifts to another guy’s livestream? And he’s in your dorm too. You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
His presence radiated suffocating tension, his tone barely restrained, teetering on the edge of losing control.
Shen Ci lifted her brows, her eyes filled with open disdain as she met his glare. “Li Xiao, we’re already over. Whatever I do has nothing to do with you. You have no right to interrogate me here.”
“I don’t agree!” Li Xiao suddenly roared, his eyes bloodshot, his face twisted with unwillingness. His eyes reddened with tears as he shook his head. “I don’t know what I did wrong—or did my mom say something to you? All I know is that I love you. I don’t agree to breaking up!”
As if struck by a thought, he suddenly gripped her thin shoulders, blurting out, “You have someone else, don’t you? Otherwise, why would you give gifts to another man?”
“Why is it you won’t take the money I give you, but you’ll accept someone else’s? Is their money sweeter? Easier to spend than mine?”
“Just tell me how much you need—I’ll give it to you! As much as you want!”
“But please, don’t break up with me. Tell that guy it’s over. I don’t care, I really don’t care!”
By now, his pride and arrogance had completely crumbled. His voice trembled, and he stood before her utterly humbled. Even Gu Lianxing, who had been ready to scold him again, was struck silent. His raw desperation made her hesitate, almost wanting to speak up for him.
But Shen Ci was utterly unmoved. She simply looked at him quietly. She had never seen Li Xiao like this before—so fragile, as if one blow could shatter him. Anyone else would have felt pity, perhaps even softened.
But all Shen Ci could recall was the cold face of Li Xiao sitting in the back of a luxury car—while she clawed at the window frame, crying for an explanation, and he hadn’t spared her a backward glance.
She remembered the window rising, trapping her fingers and dragging her several meters before she fell miserably onto the roadside.
She remembered the suffocating stench of exhaust in her face as his car sped away.
And now, this same man wearing a mask of “deep love”? Shen Ci only wanted to rip it apart.
She shoved his hands off her shoulders with force and said evenly, “I told you—we’re over.”
The faint light in his eyes went out instantly, leaving only despair. His face turned ashen as he stared at her. “Why? Why are you doing this to me?”
He had thought that if he humbled himself enough, Shen Ci would return to him. He had never bowed his head to anyone like this in his life. Why was she still unmoved?
Gu Lianxing’s delicate brows knitted tight, watching anxiously.
But Shen Ci had no intention of wasting another word. She stepped past Li Xiao and strode quickly into the dormitory building.
Gu Lianxing glanced back at his broken figure. She couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity.
Even if he really did have… certain shortcomings, that could be treated. With today’s medicine, it wasn’t an incurable illness. He didn’t deserve such complete rejection.
“Li Xiao, calm down,” Gu Lianxing said softly. “I don’t know all that’s between you and Shen Ci, but I don’t think she’s someone unreasonable. Just now you accused her of having someone else—do you have proof? If not, that’s slander. Is that really how you ask someone to come back?”
Li Xiao turned to her, her words pulling him back a little from his frenzy.
“Did I… say the wrong thing?” he muttered.
Gu Lianxing sighed. “If you don’t have the facts, don’t jump to conclusions. Even if you doubt her, you should find out the truth before you speak.”
She thought of the scene at the restaurant earlier—how Shen Ci’s former roommates had mocked her, saying she’d been abandoned by Li Xiao. Their ridicule still rang in her ears. Gu Lianxing added, “She didn’t move dorms to avoid you. It was because her roommates ganged up to bully her.”
Li Xiao stiffened, shocked. He hadn’t known that.
“She… she never told me.”
Gu Lianxing shook her head helplessly. “If her relationship with them had been good, how could she never mention them to you?”
Li Xiao lowered his head, stricken with guilt. He hadn’t cared enough to even notice Shen Ci was being bullied.
“Go home and think it through. Calm down. Don’t act like this again,” Gu Lianxing told him gently before heading inside.
Back in the dorm, Shen Ci was tidying up. The freshmen had cleaned the room thoroughly—it was spotless.
“Wow, it’s so clean!” Gu Lianxing exclaimed theatrically, smiling as she walked over. “Thank goodness for you. If I’d moved in first, I’d have been lost.”
Shen Ci smiled lightly, unaffected by the encounter with Li Xiao. “Come on, make your bed and get your things in order. Then hurry and shower before lights out.”
Seeing her composed, Gu Lianxing finally relaxed.
Still, she bit back her impulse to defend Li Xiao. She could tell he truly cared for Shen Ci, but it wasn’t her place to interfere.
She had known Li Xiao since childhood. Though not close, she’d known him long enough to give him advice.
But Shen Ci was different. They had only just met, even if they already got along well. Boundaries mattered—she couldn’t meddle in Shen Ci’s private life.
End of Chapter