The Sisyphus Bookstore was pretty crowded on the weekend.
Most of the booth seats were taken up by students and parents—some doing homework, some reading for leisure. It looked like a giant study hall.
Zhou Xinran and Xu Yang had each claimed a small two-seater table, heads down, scrolling through their phones as they waited for Lin Xuechun and the others.
The moment Lin Xuechun stepped into the seating area, she spotted Zhou Xinran.
She walked over and lightly tapped her on the shoulder.
Zhou Xinran looked up, her eyes instantly lighting up. “Babe, you’re here!”
“Yeah. When did you guys get here? Where’s your Xu Yang?” Lin Xuechun asked.
“We just got here not long ago. Xu Yang’s over there.” Zhou Xinran tilted her chin toward the diagonal front. Xu Yang happened to look over at that moment, waved at Lin Xuechun, and got up to come over.
Zhou Xinran stood up to give up her seat and explained to Lin Xuechun, “There were no four-person tables left when we arrived. You and Classmate Xi can take this table. Me and Xu Yang will sit elsewhere.”
The table was a small square one, with two single sofas facing each other.
Lin Xuechun turned her head to look at Xi Chenzhou beside her.
“I’m fine with anything.” Xi Chenzhou took two steps forward, slipped the backpack off his shoulder, and set it on the sofa.
Seeing that, Lin Xuechun placed her bag down on the seat across from him.
Zhou Xinran’s gossipy gaze bounced between the two of them.
Xu Yang came over with a grin full of white teeth and greeted Xi Chenzhou, “Hey, Classmate Xi. I’m Xu Yang—Yangzai from the group chat.”
“And I’m Ranranzi. Zhou Xinran, Xuechun’s roommate.” Zhou Xinran chimed in with her own introduction.
Everyone had already introduced themselves in the group chat before, so they all knew each other’s names and majors.
Xi Chenzhou gave both of them a slight nod—cool but not impolite.
Then he looked at Lin Xuechun, his eyes asking, “What do you want to drink? I’ll order.”
“No need, I’ll order. You got me the sandwich this morning.” Lin Xuechun fished her phone out of her bag and clutched it in her hand, her expression already showing she was fully prepared to go a few rounds with him over this.
Xi Chenzhou raised an eyebrow slightly, didn’t fight her on it, and pulled out a chair to sit down. “Iced Americano. Thanks.”
Lin Xuechun noted it down and was about to head to the counter when Zhou Xinran immediately hooked her arm. “Babe, I’ll go with you.”
Once they were a few steps away and sure they couldn’t be heard from behind, Zhou Xinran leaned in close to Lin Xuechun’s ear, her eyes gleaming with curiosity. “Okay, babe, so you and Xi Chenzhou came from school together just now?”
“Yeah.” Lin Xuechun didn’t hide it from her.
Zhou Xinran’s eyes went wide. “Wait, what’s going on?”
Lin Xuechun explained in a low voice, “So on Friday when we were eating, he texted me asking how I was getting there. I said I was taking the subway, and then he said he’d come along.”
“The subway?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh my god. He looks like one of those pampered rich young masters—definitely not the type to take the subway. He must’ve done it just to keep you company. You two…”
Zhou Xinran gave Lin Xuechun a suggestive wink.
Lin Xuechun felt her face heat up under that gaze. “It’s not that big a deal. The BYD boss takes the subway to car shows too.”
“That’s different—that’s because of traffic, and he’s in a hurry.”
“We were in a hurry too.”
“What about the breakfast then? I heard that, you know—he brought you breakfast! How do you explain that one?”
“He just grabbed a Subway sandwich on the way. Maybe he was trying to hit the delivery minimum.”
“Heh.” Zhou Xinran wore an expression that clearly said, “Yeah, right, like I’d believe that.”
Lin Xuechun pressed her lips together, feeling like she really couldn’t argue her way out of this one.
Somehow her mind drifted back to that moment on the subway, and a wave of warmth crept up her cheeks again.
“Babe, something’s up with you! Why are you blushing?” Zhou Xinran caught the change in her immediately, her sly eyes roaming over Lin Xuechun’s face.
“N-nothing.” Lin Xuechun shook her head.
“Hmph, fess up!” Zhou Xinran was in the honeymoon phase of her own relationship, so she basically had built-in radar for this kind of thing. The moment she saw that shy, flustered look on Lin Xuechun’s face, she knew something was definitely going on.
At least since she’d known Lin Xuechun, this was the first time she’d ever seen her make that expression when talking about a guy.
“Let’s just order first.” The counter happened to be their turn. Lin Xuechun changed the subject, pulled up her payment QR code on her phone, and said to the server, “One iced Americano and one latte, please.”
“That’ll be seventy-two yuan total.”
Beep.
Lin Xuechun aimed her payment code at the scanner.
Zhou Xinran held back her curiosity and quickly placed her own order too.
After they each paid, they got their receipts and pager and waited in the pickup area for their drinks.
“Okay babe, spill it, spill it—do you want me to be dying of curiosity all morning?”
Lin Xuechun lowered her gaze, blinked, and bit her lip, as if she found it a little hard to say. She spoke in a small voice, “It’s just… he helped carry my bag on the way here.”
What?
Carried her bag?!
“Oh my god! That’s so flirty!!”
Zhou Xinran made a screaming-groundhog face, which startled Lin Xuechun into quickly covering her mouth while guiltily glancing over at Xi Chenzhou. She only relaxed once she confirmed he hadn’t noticed.
“Keep your voice down.”
She had originally planned to mention being pressed up against Xi Chenzhou on the subway, but judging by Zhou Xinran’s current reaction, if she found out, the bookstore’s roof would probably be blown clean off.
Forget it. Better not say anything.
Lin Xuechun kept her mouth shut.
Zhou Xinran was still caught up in the bag-carrying incident. “I’m telling you, babe, every time I go out with Xu Yang, if I don’t ask him to carry my bag, he never offers on his own! So Xi Chenzhou is definitely into you!”
“But don’t you think he’s a little too smooth? He’s probably dated a bunch of girls, so he’s used to carrying bags for them when they go out.” Lin Xuechun calmed down and thought it over, sobering up considerably.
Sure, she talked big online, flirting with all kinds of handsome guys like she was wild and open-minded—but that was because those online hunks had zero overlap with her real life. Even if they’d dated eight or ten girls, it had nothing to do with her.
She never got emotionally invested.
She just appreciated their looks and bodies from a distance.
But in real life, she had a serious virgin complex and mental purity standards.
She didn’t want her boyfriend to be someone who’d been “used” by others—even having been in a relationship before was a dealbreaker.
Anyway, she was pretty petty about that kind of thing, and her possessiveness ran strong.
Zhou Xinran also calmed down. “Now that you mention it, that makes sense. Classmate Xi’s face doesn’t exactly scream ‘never been in a relationship.’ But you two really do look great together. Worst case, you could just hook up for fun—no feelings involved. Look at how straight his nose is, how sexy his Adam’s apple is. You can tell even through his hoodie how good his body is. I seriously want to rip his clothes off and see—”
“Pfft—” Lin Xuechun burst out laughing at her description.
Truly a ride-or-die bestie.
How could she be thinking the exact same thing?
She’d never seen Xi Chenzhou without his clothes, but she had hugged him.
Her mind flashed back to the scene on the subway—her arms around his waist, pressed tight against his chest. She could feel the firm, solid contour of his waist beneath the hoodie, incredibly strong. His abdominal muscles were probably gorgeous…
Speaking of abs.
Lin Xuechun inevitably thought of that Douyin creator, ksmk123.
She wondered whose body was better.
Though, purely in terms of looks—if ksmk were truly top-tier handsome, he’d definitely show his face. Not showing it meant he was lacking in that department. So Xi Chenzhou was probably better-looking, right?
Either way, both of them hit her sweet spot perfectly.
Come to think of it, she’d been so busy studying these past few days that she hadn’t checked ksmk123’s page. Had he posted anything new?