That… would it be okay if we exchange WeChat?

Yue Qianling and Yin Xue’s plan for the day was originally to get up, freshen up, find a restaurant for a meal, go shopping, and take the subway back to their school around six or seven in the evening.

It was supposed to be a relaxing and enjoyable first day of the new year.

But reality is often more challenging than plans.

As noon approached, neither of them felt like getting out of bed.

In the end, they ordered takeout for lunch, and their shopping plan turned into playing with their phones in bed.

By late afternoon, around four or five o’clock, they finally embarked on their journey back to the school.

Students who had not gone home for the holidays were having dinner at restaurants near the school, so the streets around the campus were actually quite lively at that time.

Yin Xue came out of the subway station and became inexplicably a little sad when she saw the lively scene.

“Sigh, the new year came early this year. The winter break starts in two weeks, and it’s the last winter break of our lives. Then, in a few months, we will not be students anymore. I’m so sad huhuhu.”

Yue Qianling was originally in high spirits, but after hearing Yin Cue’s words, her mood was also affected.

“Yeah, where else are we going to find a place to live for two thousand yuan a year in the center of the city, with direct subway access and surrounded by buses?”

“……”

Yin Xue’s delicate thoughts of spring and autumn were gone. “You’re right. We’ll have to start looking for a place when we come back next semester.”

Both of them were not from Jiangcheng, and finding a place to rent was an essential part of their plans to stay and work in the city.

However, their workplaces were quite far apart, so it would seem to be difficult to continue living together.

They continued to discuss this issue as they walked towards the pedestrian street across from the school gate.

Over the past year, they had eaten at all of the restaurants near the school and were familiar with the taste and prices of each one.

Perhaps it was because Luo Tuo had mentioned cilantro in the morning, but Yue Qianling suddenly had a strong craving for cilantro beef from a Chinese restaurant. Yin Xue had no objections, so they went straight to that restaurant.

The place was always busy, and by the time Yue Qianling and Yin Xue walked in, only two tables near the entrance were available.

After sitting down, they both ordered their food without looking at the menu. After all, the most famous dish in this place was cilantro beef. The two girls didn’t have big appetites, so they just ordered a vegetarian dish and a soup.

After ordering their food, they went back to playing on their phones.

Yue Qianling was so engrossed in her Weibo that she didn’t notice the situation around her until the girls at the table behind her started whispering to each other and overheard a familiar name come up in their conversation.

“Hey, look, isn’t that Gu Xun?”

Yue Qianling immediately raised her head as if a button was pressed, and sure enough, she saw Gu Xun and another guy walk in together.

She had seen the other guy at the basketball court before, and he seemed to be Gu Xun’s roommate.

When the two of them came in, they went straight to the only remaining empty table, sitting at opposite ends. Jiang Junnan faced Yue Qianling, while Gu Xun sat with his back to her.

The waiter quickly brought over the menu, and the two didn’t look around as their attention was all focused on the menu.

Yue Qianling subtly nudged Yin Xue with her elbow.

Yin Xue originally didn’t recognize Gu Xun from his back, but due to Yue Qianling’s reaction, who else could it be? So, she leaned in and whispered in Yue Qianling’s ear, “What a coincidence. Why don’t you go say hello?”

“That would be so awkward. What would I say?”

Yue Qianling thought for a moment.

“It’s such a coincidence that you’re eating here too, and then he says, ‘Otherwise, will I wash the dishes?’”

Yin Xue curled her lips and sighed in exasperation.

“Why can’t you be as clever and witty as some other girls who can strike up a conversation anytime and anywhere.”

Yue Qianling wished she could do that, too.

If only she could be like them, she wouldn’t have missed so many opportunities.

Shortly after, the food was served at Yue Qianling’s table. The waiter brought two servings of cilantro beef on a tray.

After placing one serving of cilantro beef on their table, he then carried the other serving to Gu Xun’s table.

Yue Qianling’s attention was always on their side.

She saw Jiang Junnan frowning at the cilantro and pushing it slightly closer to Gu Xun.

Gu Xun picked up his chopsticks and took a bite.

From Yue Qianling’s perspective, she couldn’t see his expression, but she saw him take one bite after another as if he was enjoying it.

Seeing this scene, she couldn’t help but let her imagination run wild, and she felt a little proud and wanted to share it.

So, she whispered to Yin Xue again, “Did you see that? Gu Xun also likes cilantro beef. Our tastes are pretty compatible. At least we won’t have disagreements over meals in the future.”

Yin Xue put down her phone and shot her a cold glance. “You’re already thinking about future disagreements over meals just because you saw someone enjoying the same dish? So if someone treats you to a meal, you’re going to start thinking about where to buy a school district house in the future?”

Yin Xue, the voice of reason.

Stumped for words, Yue Qianling was patted on the head by Yin Xue. “My dear, stop fantasizing. You might as well think about how add to him on WeChat first.”

Yue Qianling stared at Gu Xun’s back, her palms slightly sweating.

Yin Xue was right. The last time they went back to school together, she missed a perfect opportunity because she was too nervous. Since she had met by chance again today, she should give it a try—

Jiang Junnan saw that Gu Xun was taking several bites of cilantro beef in a row, so he couldn’t help but put down his chopsticks and asked him, “I thought you don’t like cilantro? What’s gotten into you today?”

“Can’t I just try it?”

Gu Xun said, then took another bite.

“Of course you can, but do you have to?”

Jiang Junnan crossed his arms, looked at Gu Xun for a while, rubbed his chin, thought for a long time, and asked, “Do you have some incurable disease, and cilantro is some kind of home remedy?”

“……”

Sometimes, Gu Xun really couldn’t understand why people like Jiang Junnan could have girlfriends.

He was looked at until he lost his appetite. He looked at Jiang Junnan, dissatisfied, and said, “I’m eating cilantro, not poison. Can you stop looking at me with that kind of look?”

“If there’s a mirror here, I really want you to see your own expression when you eat cilantro.”

Jiang Junnan pushed another dish in front of Gu Xun and said in a serious tone, “You’re about to throw up, so don’t eat anymore, okay? Brother, believe in modern medicine, not home remedies. Spare yourself.”

Gu Xun was now both without appetite and in a bad mood.

Moreover—

Cilantro really tastes disgusting.

He put down his chopsticks, picked up the water pitcher next to him, and poured himself a glass of water.

Jiang Junnan also didn’t like cilantro. At the moment, there was only one vegetable dish on the table, and he was eagerly waiting for some spare ribs, so he kept glancing into the kitchen.

During one of these glances, he saw Yue Qianling.

“Hey.” He nudged Gu Xun with his foot and whispered, “Yue Qianling is here.”

Gu Xun was in the middle of drinking water and didn’t quite hear what he said. After swallowing, he responded with a, “Huh?”

Jiang Junnan thought he didn’t know who Yue Qianling was at all.

“Yue Qianling, from the College of Fine Arts. You really don’t know her?”

Seeing Gu Xun’s silence, he continued, “She moved here from Jiangbin campus in her junior year, just like you. She’s a regular on the school’s confession wall on Weibo. Didn’t we used to talk about her in the dorm before?”

Gu Xun put his cup down and looked back.

Yue Qianling had been sneakily looking their way but wasn’t prepared to meet Gu Xun’s gaze. She suddenly felt flustered and panicked, quickly turning her head away and pretending to look at the scenery.

Yin Xue saw her like this and immediately pinched her thigh.

Yue Qianling’s whole body trembled, then she realized the situation. Her gaze darted around aimlessly, then stiffly turned back. When she met Gu Xun’s gaze again, she stiffly nodded at him as a way of greeting.

Gu Xun had actually just turned his head in response to Jiang Junnan’s remar.

He didn’t expect to see that she was indeed there and had greeted him.

Gu Xun could only nod in response.

Turning back, Jiang Junnan asked in surprise, “Do you know each other?”

Gu Xun: “Hmm.”

Jiang Junnan: “When did you meet? Why didn’t I hear you mention it?

“Our moms were classmates. We had dinner together once.”

Gu Xun explained his connection with Yue Qianling in a few words. Just then, the waiter served the other dishes, so he lowered his head and continued eating.

Jiang Junnan, however, remained in a daze for a long time.

Aside from games, football, and basketball, one of the topics of conversation in the boys’ dormitory at night was beautiful girls.

Especially when the students from the College of Fine Arts had just moved from the Jiangbin campus, the dormitory would talk about Yue Qianling almost every two or three days.

Gu Xun had never joined in these conversations, so Jiang Junnan had always thought that he didn’t even know who she was.

However, it turned out that not only did Gu Xun know her, but they were also acquainted.

The more Jiang Junnan thought about it, the more increasingly amazed he felt, and he couldn’t help but sneak a glance at Yue Qianling.

A few minutes later.

Jiang Junnan suddenly spoke in a low voice, “Gu Xun, I want to tell you something, but promise me you won’t turn around and look.”

Gu Xun raised his eyebrows, “Why so mysterious?”

“I think…”

Jiang Junnan licked the corner of his lips and lowered his voice even further. “I think Yue Qianling likes you because she has already peeked at you several times in the past few minutes.”

“……”

Gu Xun’s action of picking up a vegetable paused for a moment. He then curled his lips and turned his chopsticks to pick up a piece of cilantro beef.

Jiang Junnan thought he didn’t believe him and added, “Believe me, my intuition is absolutely right. That look in her eyes, she definitely likes you.”

“Hmm,” Gu Xun casually replied, “Got it.”

Got it.

Just “Got it”???

Jiang Junnan could hardly believe what he heard.

“Got it? Bro? That’s Yue Qianling!”

Gu Xun raised his eyes and didn’t do anything, but his facial expression clearly expressed his meaning.

So what about it?

In fact, he had been getting this feeling for a while.

Since their second meeting, he noticed that Yue Qianling’s eyes toward him seemed a bit unnatural, and she couldn’t even meet his gaze directly.

Yet, she often snuck glances at him outside of his line of sight.

The frequency was so high that even Gu Xun himself unintentionally noticed a few times.

Including their subsequent encounters, she was always fidgety and awkward, often stumbling over her words.

Some things might not need to be explicitly said, but Gu Xun had a good understanding.

However,

So what?

“You’re someone with a girlfriend. What are you getting so excited about?”

Gu Xun asked.

If it weren’t for the fact that Yue Qianling was not far away from them, Jiang Junnan would have slapped the table.

“I’m just getting excited for you! Why aren’t you reacting at all?”

“I’m not familiar with her, and,” Gu Xun paused for a moment, raised his eyelids, and casually threw out a sentence, “I’m not into looks.”

“Bullsh*t, you’re not into looks? There’s no man who isn’t into looks.”

Jiang Junnan didn’t believe a word. He thought Gu Xun was just pretending, “If you ever bring an average-looking girl back one day, I’ll cut my head off and pickle it for you to drink.”

Gu Xun suddenly fell silent, not knowing what he was thinking about. His thoughts suddenly became a bit scattered.

A blurry but very lively face began to appear in his mind.

After a while, he muttered to himself, “Perhaps she’s not bad looking.”

Jiang Junnan: “What?”

“Nothing.”—

Men always eat faster.

Even though they arrived at the restaurant at roughly the same time, Gu Xun’s table had already finished their meal, while Yue Qianling and Yin Xue were only halfway through.

Jiang Junnan received a phone call and went out first, leaving Gu Xun to pay the bill.

Seeing an opportunity, Yin Xue tugged at Gu Xun’s sleeve.

***

“Now is the perfect time, while he’s alone, hurry up and ask him for his WeChat.”

“Now?” Yue Qianling looked around nervously. “But there are so many people!”

“It’s because there are so many people that it’ll be hard for him to refuse you!”

“But what should I say?”

Yin Xue clicked her tongue in frustration. “Just say, just say…”

But Yin Xue didn’t have much experience with chasing guys either, so she couldn’t come up with anything after racking her brain for a long time.

Until Gu Xun got up to leave, Yin Xue was anxious for Yue Qianling, and her eyes scanned around. Suddenly, she spotted a school ID lying on the ground of the aisle.

“Here’s your chance!” Yin Xue quickly pointed at the school ID and said, “He lost his school ID! You hurry and return it to him, and casually ask for his WeChat. Isn’t that a perfect excuse?!”

At this point, Yue Qianling was also a little anxious. After hearing what Yin Xue said, she thought it made sense, so she quickly picked up the school ID and chased after them.

Gu Xun and Jiang Junnan hadn’t gone far.

Yue Qianling, clutching the campus card, jogged a few steps and caught up to them.

“Gu Xun!”

Hearing this shout, both Gu Xun and Jiang Junnan turned around at the same time.

Seeing that it was Yue Qianling, Jiang Junnan cleared his throat and teased in a low voice, “See, I wasn’t wrong, was I? She caught up.”

Gu Xun glanced at him with a cold expression, and Jiang Junnan immediately put away his teasing expression.

However, when Gu Xun looked back at Yue Qianling, his face didn’t soften.

But Yue Qianling didn’t think too much about it.

It was because she hadn’t seen any other expression from him except this one.

Even if there were others, it was usually a more irritated look.

She took a few small steps toward them, slightly tilting her head, handed the card to him, and softly said, “Your school ID just fell on the ground a moment ago, luckily it didn’t go far.”

Jiang Junnan, hearing her words, raised his eyebrows in surprise. And after thinking for a moment, he couldn’t hide the teasing smile anymore.

In order to hold back his laughter, he covered his mouth with his hand and turned his head away.

Gu Xun looked down at the school ID in Yue Qianling’s hand. He couldn’t express the indescribable mood he had, so he just forced a slight smile.

“Mine?”

Yue Qianling blinked her eyes, not yet grasping what he meant. Then she heard a voice panting behind her, shouting, “Classmate!”

^[1]tl: I can’t… the secondhand embarrassment… I feel bad for YQ :<

Then, a guy with glasses came running up to Yue Qianling.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the school ID she was holding.

“Phew, I finally caught up to you. Thanks a lot.”

“……?”

Yue Qianling looked at the guy and then back at the school ID in her hand.

Name: Wan Xiaopeng.

At that moment, countless sparks raced through Yue Qianling’s mind.

She seemed to understand something but still asked with disbelief, “Is this yours?”

The guy nodded, looking at the card in Yue Qianling’s hand, and said, “Yes. Thank you, thank you. I accidentally dropped it on the ground while eating just now.”

Seeing that Yue Qianling was stunned and still not offering to return the card, the guy added, “Luckily, you found it. Otherwise, it would be a hassle to apply for a new school ID at this time.”

“………………”

How should she put it?

If murder wasn’t illegal, Yue Qianling would have already taken a knife to chop Yin Xue up at this moment.

She just couldn’t understand why the most embarrassing moments of her life always seemed to happen right in front of Gu Xun.

Oh, Gu Xun.

She couldn’t dare to look at Gu Xun now.

She could feel his gaze fixed on her, and it felt like it was about to suffocate her.

But she needed to maintain her composure.

“No worries, no worries,” she forced a smile, “Just be more careful next time.”

The guy nodded shyly and accepted the school card, but didn’t leave.

“Thanks,” he cleared his throat and looked at Yue Qianling shyly, “That… would it be okay if we exchange WeChat?”

Fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck.

Why did the *peach blossoms have to show up at a time like this?!

(*a metaphor used to refer to romantic encounters)

Yue Qianling was usually good at handling this kind of situation, but at this moment, in front of Gu Xun, she inexplicably felt a layer of burning sensation on her face.

For some reason, being approached by a stranger in front of Gu Xun made her feel uncomfortable and awkward. She was afraid that if she didn’t handle the situation properly, Gu Xun would misunderstand something.

Her face turned crimson, and she bit her lip. She glanced at Gu Xun for a moment, then quickly averted her gaze and muttered, “N-no, it’s not very convenient…”

The guy was extremely embarrassed now.

It wasn’t just because Yue Qianling had rejected him but also because of the way she had looked at Gu Xun just a moment ago.

The boy clearly felt that Gu Xun’s face was not good and even a little impatient. Jiang Junnan, who was standing next to him, also seemed embarrassed.

The guy seemed to understand something.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He quickly apologized, “I didn’t know you had a boyfriend!”

Then he immediately turned to Gu Xun and said, “I’m really sorry.”

Yue Qianling: “…?”

She looked at Gu Xun in confusion.

The guy also looked at Gu Xun awkwardly.

Under the gaze of the two, Gu Xun turned his head to Jiang Junan without changing his expression.

“You?”

Jiang Junan: “What?”

Gu Xun: “When did you change your girlfriend?”

Jiang Junan:”……What?”