That Wonderful Encounter
On the day she first arrived to register, Su Yuning declined the bodyguard’s offer to help with her luggage and carried her suitcase to the dormitory herself.
The entire hallway was carpeted, soft and soundless underfoot. It felt less like a dormitory and more like a luxurious suite in a five-star hotel. She knocked on the door and cautiously peeked her head inside.
Quan Ling, who was sitting on the sofa inside, turned to look.
She already knew about Su Yuning.
Her father was a philanderer with countless women. Those women had gone mad trying every possible way to squeeze into the Quan family’s doors, but none had succeeded.
Quan Ling was used to it. After all, none of those women ever managed to appear before her—her mother had taken care of them all.
Her mother didn’t care who her father liked or who he kept as a mistress. She only cared about her own status as the lady of the Quan household and the standing of her two children.
She had also heard about Quan Jianqian suddenly dismissing all his mistresses. She was quite curious—this was the first time her father had ever “turned over a new leaf.” This “Su Yuning” sounded very ordinary, yet she truly had some skill.
She was also aware that Madam Quan had invited Su Yuning and had even called her mother to say she was making too big a deal of it. It was just a woman—why did she need to meet her in person?
On the other end of the phone, Madam Quan chuckled and said, “Lingling, I’ve agreed to let Ningning transfer to your school. You’re the same age, and I hope you’ll look after her.”
Quan Ling found this utterly absurd.
Her, look after a girl her own father was pursuing? Was her mother joking?
“Mom, have you gone crazy because of Dad?”
“No, I’m perfectly clear-headed… Lingling, you don’t understand.”
Quan Ling sneered. “I don’t understand. Have you and Dad been bewitched by this Su Yuning? Calling her Ningning… If you like her so much, why didn’t you just send her over today?”
“I certainly wanted to. But Lingling, I’m getting older, and my heart isn’t in the best condition. I can’t have deeper contact with her.”
“…Is this Su Yuning someone from the central government? Or the child of some influential family?”
“No, Lingling, don’t overthink it.”
Su Yuning arrived just as Quan Ling had hung up the phone. She couldn’t make sense of it no matter how hard she tried. Hearing the knock, she crossed her arms and sneered as she looked over. She was determined to see what this “Su Yuning” was all about.
The door opened, revealing a timid little face—
Quan Ling came from a good family, was beautiful, and intelligent. She had never been in a relationship because no one had ever caught her eye, but she had never doubted her sexual orientation—her standards for a partner had always been men.
But now, her mind went completely blank.
So this is the type I like.
She thought.
Su Yuning… Su Yuning…
Her eyes were neither too big nor too small, her nose wasn’t particularly high, and her lips… her lips looked so soft…
Features that were otherwise ordinary and unremarkable, but on her face, why did they look so adorable?
In an instant, it was as if flowers had bloomed and ice had melted… no beauty could compare to the impact of this single glance.
“Hello, my name is Su Yuning…”
She spoke.
Cupid’s arrow struck firmly into her chest. Quan Ling was dazed for a long moment before she finally managed to say in a hoarse voice, “Hello, I’m Quan Ling, your… roommate.”
To her surprise, Quan Ling accepted her far more easily than she had expected. Su Yuning felt a numb sense of disbelief.
The world was changing too fast and too drastically. She couldn’t keep up.
Even now, she remained in a dazed, disbelieving state, even wondering if she might actually be dead and this was some kind of posthumous fantasy paradise…
After the Quan family had stuffed her into this school, Quan Ling had directly taken over all her affairs. This was her second month at the school. The boy holding flowers downstairs, currently confessing his feelings, was a male classmate from the neighboring class. Su Yuning didn’t even remember ever seeing him before, yet tonight he had inexplicably run over and spouted a bunch of strange words. Su Yuning didn’t want to pay him any mind; the security guards would go deal with it soon anyway.
But before the guards could arrive, a commotion erupted downstairs first.
A girl from the neighboring dorm ran over and said, “Zuo Xingyan and Zhang Zhi are fighting!”
Only then did Su Yuning abruptly throw off her blanket and lean over by the window to look down. A crowd had gathered below, and she couldn’t see clearly.
The neighboring dorm was also a double room. The girl who had run over was named Chu Shuangshuang. She moved in the same circles as Quan Ling, and the two got along well. Her feelings toward Su Yuning were complicated. At first, she had thought Quan Ling had found some little follower or sidekick to bring along as a foil to herself, but no matter how she thought about it, it didn’t seem necessary. Later, after observing Quan Ling’s various behaviors, she finally began to piece together some clues.
She felt both deep awe and utter disbelief toward this “fox spirit” who, after only two months at the school, had attracted countless male and female admirers vying for her attention, despite her ordinary, even somewhat rustic appearance. In Chu Shuangshuang’s mind, Su Yuning must possess some mysterious, unfathomable methods. She had even privately asked Su Yuning once if anyone in her family lineage had perhaps entered the mystical arts or something similar.
Otherwise, with her utterly unremarkable looks, her bean sprout-like, scrawny and underdeveloped figure, her average-level intelligence and emotional quotient, and her non-existent inner substance, how could she possibly have so many people utterly bewitched?
Among them, Zuo Xingyan was also one of those “suspected” to have been enchanted by this “fox spirit.”
He was a local of the capital. Su Yuning wasn’t too clear on what his family did, only that it was something quite impressive. After all, even within the Aristocratic Academy, a hierarchy existed.
Only a handful of families stood at the very top of the food chain.
Zuo Xingyan was one of them. There were a few other big shots who were like dragons—their heads were seen but their tails rarely appeared; they generally didn’t show up at school.
Seeing that the fight downstairs had escalated to the point of drawing blood, Su Yuning couldn’t stay put. She went downstairs and saw that saying they “were fighting” was actually giving Zhang Zhi too much credit. He had no ability to fight back at all; he was simply being pinned to the ground and pummeled.
A crowd of onlooking classmates didn’t dare to step in, especially since several of Zuo Xingyan’s friends stood with their arms crossed, forming a circle around the scene. Those who could hang out with him surely came from families of considerable standing as well.
Zuo Xingyan’s name sounded quite elegant, but the man himself stood over 180 centimeters tall, with long legs. It was said he was an avid fan of rather violent activities like boxing and fencing.
Su Yuning had never seen him before and had only heard a bit about his reputation when she first arrived. It was just yesterday that she had finally laid eyes on this combat club’s big shot.
Yesterday afternoon, the school’s combat club held a competition. Quan Ling had taken her along to watch the excitement. Zuo Xingyan had stepped onto the stage amidst the crowd’s rapt attention. When the match began, he had taken the initiative and swiftly knocked his opponent to the ground.
Blood splattered all over Zuo Xingyan. In the fighting ring, he was unbeatable in the lightweight division, his bare upper body boasting tight, powerful muscles with terrifying explosive strength—eight-pack abs and a V-line. Covered in blood, he looked both handsome and dangerously sexy, breathing slightly heavily, his eyes fierce and intimidating.
Su Yuning had never witnessed such bloody violence up close before. She covered her eyes fearfully, hearing the screams of girls and whistles from boys in the arena.
“Brother Zuo is awesome!”
“God Zuo is the coolest!”
A crowd swarmed around Zuo Xingyan, wiping his sweat and offering him water. He took a sip, his gaze casually sweeping across the scene. Just then, Quan Ling noticed Su Yuning’s discomfort and pulled her through the crowd to leave.
Zuo Xingyan only caught a glimpse of her back.
Compared to the stunning beauty Quan Ling beside her, that figure seemed utterly unremarkable, nothing worth looking at.
Yet inexplicably, Zuo Xingyan couldn’t tear his eyes away for a long time.
“Brother Zuo, what are you looking at?”
Zuo Xingyan brushed aside the hands around him, leaped down from the platform on his own, and strode after them, only to be blocked by the surging crowd. Frowning impatiently, he could no longer spot that figure. He grabbed someone nearby and asked, “Who was standing here just now? What’s her name? How come I’ve never seen her at school before?”
The boy he grabbed struggled to recall. “That’s the daughter of the Quan family from L City.”
“I’m not talking about her. I know Quan Ling. Who’s the other one?”
“The other one… she’s a new transfer student. Just an ordinary little girl, but there’s something strange about her—quite a few people fell for her at first sight. Her name is… Su Yuning, I think.”
“Su Yuning.”
Zuo Xingyan repeated the name slowly, savoring each syllable in his mouth.