The desks in the art department were smaller than those in the architecture department, so the two of them sat very close together.
He could smell the sweet lychee fragrance on her and see the delicate, fair skin on the side of her neck.
Too close.
He instinctively shifted slightly to the side.
“What are you avoiding?” Lin Ran shot him a sidelong glance.
Lu Feng’s movement froze.
Just then, a commotion arose at the classroom door.
Su Wanyu walked in carrying her painting supplies. Her eyes lit up the moment she saw Lu Feng. “Brother Lu Feng…”
But her voice caught in her throat when her gaze landed on Lin Ran.
Lin Ran rested her chin on her hand, watching her with leisurely amusement. “Good morning, Little Fish. Looking for my Lu Feng?”
“Your…?” Su Wanyu’s face paled.
“That’s right.”
Lin Ran’s smile was radiant. “He’s my personal servant now. He belongs to me this entire month. If you need him for anything, you’ll have to get my permission first.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the surrounding students’ expressions quickly turned subtle, and whispers erupted.
“Oh my god, the campus heartthrob Lu Feng actually became Lin Ran’s servant?”
“Did I hear that right? Wasn’t Lin Ran Lu Feng’s admirer? How did their roles completely reverse?!”
“Isn’t it obvious? A privileged girl like Lin Ran, after chasing Lu Feng for a whole month with no progress, must have used her family’s influence to force him to submit~”
“That makes sense. Poor Lu Feng, he clearly despises Lin Ran but has to obey her.”
“Damn! Lin Ran is seriously wicked! Just because she’s rich, she thinks she can do anything?!”
“Hey, keep your voice down, girl. If she hears you, you’ll be in trouble!”
Lin Ran, the arrogant and domineering heiress, had a notorious reputation.
Now that she openly declared Lu Feng as her servant, none of the surrounding students dared to speak ill of her loudly.
Su Wanyu bit her lip, her eyes quickly welling up with tears, and was pulled away by other classmates to sit in the back row.
Under the desk, Lu Feng’s hand clenched into a fist.
“What, feeling sorry for her?” Lin Ran leaned close to his ear, her warm breath brushing against his earlobe.
“Student Lu, don’t forget your current status.”
Lu Feng abruptly turned his head, almost bumping into the tip of her nose.
Their eyes met, so close that they could see their own reflections in each other’s pupils.
“Lin Ran,” his voice was extremely low, each word seeming to be forced through gritted teeth, “know your limits.”
Lin Ran’s smile deepened, but she said nothing.
The class bell rang.
The elderly professor walked up to the podium and began the lecture.
Lu Feng forced himself to focus. For the next two hours, he mechanically listened to the lecture and took notes.
Beside him, Lin Ran sometimes listened, sometimes flipped through a sketchbook, and sometimes propped her chin on her hand, watching him write.
Her pinky finger lightly brushed across the back of his hand as he took notes.
Like a feather gently sweeping over, it stirred a faint, tingling sensation.
Lu Feng’s pen paused, leaving an ink blot on the paper.
Lin Ran chuckled softly and withdrew her hand as if nothing had happened.
Lu Feng stared at that ink blot and suddenly realized that this so-called “master-servant game” was far more torturous than he had imagined.
It wasn’t physical exhaustion, but this constant, invasive, ambiguous control.
Lu Feng steeled himself, suppressing that tingling sensation in his heart completely.
When the class bell rang, Lin Ran grabbed her notebook, stuffed it into her bag, and ordered Lu Feng,
“You’re free for now. I’ll contact you tonight.”
With that, she disappeared through the classroom door without a hint of reluctance.
Lu Feng breathed a sigh of relief.
These two hours were the longest he had ever experienced.
Su Wanyu from the back row walked up. “Brother Lu Feng, do you have anything else to do next?”
Lu Feng lowered his gaze. “I need to go work on my design drafts.”
Su Wanyu nodded. “Alright, then you go ahead and get busy. Don’t forget we’re meeting at the library at two this afternoon.”
Without giving Lu Feng a chance to refuse, Su Wanyu finished speaking and hurriedly left the classroom.
＊
At two in the afternoon, Lu Feng arrived at the library.
At this time of day, the library wasn’t crowded, and a large section of the study desks on the third floor was empty.
Sunlight filtered through a row of bookshelves, spilling onto the polished floor.
Su Wanyu sat by the window and waved at him.
“Brother Lu Feng~” Her eyes were bright, her smile radiant.
Lu Feng sat down opposite her, placing his backpack beside his feet. “Where are those foreign books you mentioned?”
“Over there, I’ll go get them!”
Su Wanyu stood up and left, soon returning with three large hardcover books, which she placed in front of Lu Feng.
“Quick, see if these are what you wanted?”
Lu Feng opened one—it was a collection of early works by an Italian master architect. His attention was quickly captured.
Su Wanyu didn’t disturb him, sitting quietly across from him, staring at him without blinking.
Sunlight streamed in from the side, outlining his profile.
His tall, straight nose bridge, refined eyebrows and eyes, pale, thin lips, clean and slender fingers—even the veins on the back of his hands exuded a sense of allure.
Su Wanyu felt her heartbeat quicken.
Her childhood friend was truly handsome.
Right now, she was going to confess to him!
“Brother Lu Feng…” she murmured softly.
“Hmm?” Lu Feng didn’t look up.
“I…” Su Wanyu twisted the hem of her skirt with her hands under the table. “I… I have something I want to tell you.”
Lu Feng looked up at her. “What is it?”
His gaze was calm and focused. Su Wanyu felt inexplicably nervous, the words she had prepared suddenly stuck in her throat.
“I…”
She mustered her courage, deciding to go all out!
“I like you! We—”
“Lu Feng.”
A light, clear voice interrupted her.
Seeing who it was, Su Wanyu’s face instantly paled.
Lin Ran emerged from the bookshelves behind them—she had been there for half an hour.
If Xiao Tong hadn’t told her that the original plot point where the female lead confesses to the male lead was still intact, she would have suspected that her butterfly effect had flapped this scene away.
Lin Ran walked straight to Lu Feng’s side, placing a hand naturally on the back of his chair.
Lu Feng stiffened, leaning forward almost imperceptibly.
Lin Ran pretended not to notice his small movement, leaning in closer.
“My servant, your master has something to say to you.”
“Come with me.”
Before she could finish, Su Wanyu shot to her feet, both angry and fearful. “Senior Lin Ran, I made plans with Brother Lu Feng first.”
“Plans?” Lin Ran raised an eyebrow. “He’s mine now. Did you get my permission before making plans with him?”
Su Wanyu was furious. “Brother Lu Feng is a person, not your possession. Don’t go too far!”
Just as Lu Feng was about to stand up, a slender hand pressed down on his shoulder, forcing him back into his seat. Lin Ran’s gaze turned cold as she stared at Su Wanyu, but her words were directed at him:
“Lu Feng, tell her who you belong to now.”
It was phrased as a question but spoken with the tone of a statement.
Carrying an absolute sense of certainty.
Lu Feng clenched his fist.
The air here seemed to freeze.
Noise from the playground not far outside the window drifted in, only accentuating the deathly silence within.
A few seconds later, Lu Feng spoke, his voice low and hoarse: “Xiao Yu, I’m sorry.”
Four light words, like a boulder crashing down on Su Wanyu. She swayed slightly.
Lin Ran withdrew her gaze and tossed a sentence at Lu Feng, “Come with me.”
The two left, leaving Su Wanyu standing alone in place, her face as pale as paper.
＊
The two arrived at the last row of the bookshelf area.
The third floor, already sparsely populated, was utterly silent here.
Lin Ran stopped and turned around.
“Touched by the heartfelt confession of the girl next door?” she said with a smile, but there was no trace of amusement in her eyes.
Lu Feng didn’t speak.
Lin Ran took a step closer. “Should I congratulate you for finally receiving your white moonlight’s confession?”
“If I hadn’t shown up, would you have agreed?”
“This has nothing to do with you,” Lu Feng’s voice was tense.
“Nothing to do with me?”
Lin Ran let out a light laugh. “Lu Feng, it seems you still haven’t grasped the situation. You’re mine now. Everything about you has to do with me—including whose confession you accept.”
She reached out, her fingertip pressing against his chest. “Here, this month belongs to me. Understand?”
“Enough,” Lu Feng grabbed her wrist. “The bet was about being a servant, not selling yourself.”
“Is there a difference?”
Lin Ran let him hold her wrist, while her other hand casually lifted his chin.
“Lu Feng, from the moment you admitted defeat, you sold a part of yourself to me.”
“Dignity, freedom, the right to choose… all of that was part of the wager.”
“Don’t you think it’s too late to bargain now?”
Her fingers were cold, but Lu Feng felt the skin under her touch burning hot.
“I have a cleanliness obsession. I hate others touching what’s mine. Stay away from Su Wanyu from now on.”
She spoke softly, each word like a needle dipped in poison. “If I see you entangled with her again…”
“What will you do?” Lu Feng gritted his teeth.
Lin Ran raised an eyebrow. “What do you think? Haven’t you seen my methods?”
“Don’t touch her.”
“That depends on whether you behave or not.”
The two stared at each other, the air thick and tense.
The system’s mechanical voice timely rang in Lin Ran’s mind.
[Ding! New plunder mission issued: Within 24 hours, the host must leave a unique mark on the male lead, Lu Feng.]
[Mission failure: +20 misfortune points]
A unique mark?
Interesting.
Without another word, Lin Ran grabbed Lu Feng and dragged him toward the nearby emergency exit.