Encountering each other for two consecutive days could be categorized as a romantic coincidence.

But now, the atmosphere seemed tense.

Chu Chen Tao almost immediately noticed the two of them, and his previously light and smooth pace came to a halt.

Zheng Xunqian still maintained his casual appearance, maintaining the same pace as before, neither fast nor slow.

After a few short seconds, Jing Tian had distanced himself from them.

Due to nervousness, Jing Tian’s steps stopped.

Zheng Xunqian quickly turned around. “What’s wrong?”

He was feigning ignorance.

Jing Tian didn’t believe that Chu Chen Tao, who was just five meters away, wouldn’t see them completely.

After all, he had just mentioned him.

Chu Chen Tao quickly regained his composure, walked briskly towards them, and even offered a friendly smile. “What a coincidence, just finished class?”

Jing Tian had a backpack on his back, and since he and Zheng Xunqian were classmates, it wasn’t strange for them to walk back to the dormitory together.

They had been walking one after the other, not side by side.

Chu Chen Tao provided him with the best excuse, which was probably the answer Chu Chen Tao wanted to hear.

Jing Tian grinned at him but remained silent.

Indeed, they had just finished class, but admitting it now would seem like hiding something.

Jing Tian wasn’t good at this kind of thing.

Chu Chen Tao interpreted his silence as agreement and gave Zheng Xunqian a meaningful glance before continuing, “Heading back to the dormitory now?”

The dormitory building was just ahead, so this was basically a rhetorical question. However, Jing Tian still didn’t give a straightforward response.

He was going to the dormitory, but not his own.

Without speaking up, someone else took the initiative to answer for him.

“He’s coming back to the dorm with me,” Zheng Xunqian replied, looking at Jing Tian. “Is there a problem?”

Chu Chen Tao was taken aback.

I need to get something.

My laptop won’t turn on, and he lent me one, but he forgot to give me the charger and data cable.

The teacher arranged for him to tutor me.

Whether Chu Chen Tao liked it or not, these were not difficult things to explain.

Jing Tian opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

Unexpectedly, he felt a bit annoyed out of nowhere and became a little upset.

Encountering so many things these days, feeling so helpless and forced to accept them, at this strange and inappropriate moment, made a crack in his emotions.

These people are imposing their expectations on him one by one, but what exactly gives them the right to hold him responsible for things he doesn’t remember or intend to take responsibility for?

He wanted to shout out loud: I don’t remember anything, and I don’t intend to take responsibility for anything, so just leave me alone!

Jing Tian took a deep breath, opened his mouth, and then closed it again.

Lacking courage, thin-skinned, embarrassed, unable to speak up.

He felt even more aggrieved.

The other two present noticed his change in expression but couldn’t anticipate his internal turmoil.

“Can I borrow five minutes of your time?” Chu Chen Tao looked at him. “I have something to say to you.”

Jing Tian glanced at him, thinking, Not convenient.

Chu Chen Tao took a step towards him. “If you don’t have anything urgent to attend to, could you spare a moment with me…”

“I… I don’t have, have time!” Jing Tian said.

He managed to get this sentence out in a stuttering manner, feeling relieved as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his chest.

Chu Chen Tao looked surprised.

Zheng Xunqian shrugged, feeling somewhat amused.

Emboldened, Jing Tian raised his hand, pointed at Zheng Xunqian, and added, “It’s not because of him. It has nothing to do with him.”

Zheng Xunqian raised an eyebrow.

“Senior, um…” Jing Tian’s tone quickly softened, lacking confidence, but he still insisted on expressing his thoughts, “We’ve said what we had to say yesterday. You promised not to force me.”

Chu Chen Tao remained silent.

Jing Tian cleared his throat and looked directly into his eyes. “Some things cannot be forced.”

Chu Chen Tao hesitated, then nodded. “I understand, it’s not meant to be anything else, just…”

“I don’t want to waste time on anything other than studying right now,” Jing Tian said. “I just want to focus on my studies and make up for what I’ve missed over the years.”

Chu Chen Tao glanced meaningfully at Zheng Xunqian.

Zheng Xunqian didn’t speak, staying out of it, looking like a spectator.

“Alright,” Chu Chen Tao sighed, quickly putting on a smile again. “At least… Can we still be friends?”

Jing Tian hesitated for a moment and nodded slightly.

“Jing Tian,” Chu Chen Tao took a half-step forward again, his smile still forced, but his tone carried an obvious sense of loss, sounding low. “…Could you also try to understand me?”

Jing Tian blinked, puzzled.

“I haven’t done anything wrong,” Chu Chen Tao said. “…Everything was fine as it was.”

“Never mind,” Chu Chen Tao smiled bitterly and shook his head. “You’re not wrong either. It’s just a joke from fate.”

After saying that, he turned aside and walked past Jing Tian.

“If you need anything, you can find me anytime,” he said. “I… I still really like you.”

Jing Tian stood still on the spot, forgetting even to bid farewell.

Chu Chen Tao quickly walked away, leaving him standing there, silent and unmoving.

“Shall we go?” Zheng Xunqian urged.

Jing Tian looked up at him, then lowered his head again, saying, “You go ahead. I… I’ll come later.”

“You don’t even know where I live.”

Zheng Xunqian said.

Jing Tian hesitated for a moment. “Then tell me.”

Zheng Xunqian hesitated briefly, then turned his head to look in the direction Chu Chen Tao had left, and said, “…Are you going to find him?”

“No,” Jing Tian said, “I want to go back to the dorm first.”

What did he want to do in the dorm? If Zheng Xunqian continued to ask, he wouldn’t have an answer.

He didn’t have anything else to do, he could just follow Zheng Xunqian, but he didn’t want to.

His stubbornness, albeit small, made him want to go against the meaningless situation.

He needed a bit of independent space to digest his emotions at the moment.

“Okay then,” Zheng Xunqian pointed, “That way, Building C, Room 202.”

Childishness easily satisfied, the little hint of rebellion in Jing Tian’s heart quickly dissipated.

He became obedient again and nodded, “Got it.”

“…Do you have anything else to do later?” Zheng Xunqian asked.

Jing Tian shook his head honestly, then added, “I plan to study a bit more.”

“Bring your books and materials when you come over later,” Zheng Xunqian said, “Since you want to study well, I’ll take responsibility for you to the end.”

After parting ways with Zheng Xunqian, Jing Tian’s mind was still in chaos.

Just now, for the first time in his life, he was confessed to face-to-face by someone.

This made him unable to control his thoughts, repeatedly recalling the tone, expression, actions, and voice of Chu Chen Tao in those brief two seconds.

Chu Chen Tao likes him, something he should have realized long ago.

But hearing it with his own ears still gave him a huge impact.

Regardless of whether he could respond, being admired by another person was ultimately something that brought positive emotions.

Jing Tian couldn’t help but reflect on whether he had been too excessive and too direct just now.

At the very least, he should have accepted the invitation to talk first and said those things when the two of them were alone.

Chu Chen Tao probably wouldn’t want Zheng Xunqian to see what happened just now.

Thinking of Zheng Xunqian, another more complex emotion surged in his heart.

Zheng Xunqian had only said to him, “You’re the one I like.”

But what about him?

Compiling so many materials, actively accompanying him in experiments, forcibly going to class with him, why?

He had his own desires, but what did he have to offer in return?

Jing Tian couldn’t help but furrow his brows.

He had always been insecure about this, even if he showed it blatantly, if the other party didn’t say it, he didn’t dare to guess.

No, not just refraining from guessing, he couldn’t even think too much about it.

Jing Tian wiped his face and told himself, to hell with it, men will only hinder my progress in studying!

As soon as he pushed open the door of the dormitory, he immediately heard Yang Yue’s voice, full of intense curiosity.

“Why did you just come back now? Did you need so long to eat?”

“…I went to class,” Jing Tian said, “I had a makeup session this afternoon.”

Yang Yue was greatly disappointed. “What? I thought you were with him the whole time.”

Indeed, they had been together the whole time.

And soon, he would go find him again.

But they hadn’t done anything ambiguous, they had just attended class, and then continued to study.

“So, how did it go? What did you guys talk about? How did it feel?” Yang Yue asked eagerly.

“It’s… nothing much,” Jing Tian said, “Nothing special.”

Yang Yue squinted his eyes.

“There really isn’t anything!” Jing Tian said.

“See, it’s because you were like this before that you now have no idea about your past love life!” Yang Yue said emphatically. “Are you going to repeat the same mistakes?”

Jing Tian was stunned, it took him a while to try to retort, “…I can’t just lose my memory again, can I?”

“Who knows,” Yang Yue said, “Haven’t you heard? Some people, after recovering their memories, completely forget about the period they were amnesic.”

There’s such a thing? Jing Tian was surprised.

“So!” Yang Yue sat down in front of him with a grin. “What’s the deal between you and him?”

“…I don’t know, it’s not that I don’t want to say, I just can’t put it into words,” Jing Tian thought for a moment, then added a little more, “Oh, by the way, Teacher Xia now has him in charge of my studies.”

“Wow!” Yang Yue widened his eyes. “He agreed?”

More than just agreed, it’s safe to say he actively pursued it.

“It’s too obvious,” Yang Yue said, “No matter what your relationship was before, now he’s obviously trying to pursue you!”

Jing Tian didn’t respond.

He could feel his cheeks getting a little hot.

“Haven’t you asked him what happened between you two back then?” Yang Yue asked again.

“…I don’t want to ask.”

Jing Tian said.

Of course, he was curious.

But he didn’t want Zheng Xunqian to notice this curiosity.

His intuition told him that among those past events, there would definitely be something he would regret hearing about.

“Alright, no more talking,” Jing Tian put down his backpack. “I’ll tidy up a bit, I’m going to… study later.”

Yang Yue didn’t think much about it and asked, “You know where you put all your books and materials, right?”

“I know,” Jing Tian walked to his desk and opened the bottom drawer. “It’s been so many days.”

He said, as he began to search for the textbooks related to the subjects he wanted to study today.

In these days, he had a general idea of where his personal items were placed, but he hadn’t had time to look through them carefully.

After moving out a whole stack of textbooks from the drawer, he discovered a tin candy box hidden underneath.

With curiosity, he opened it and found several things inside, with a plain-covered hardback notebook placed on top.

His heart skipped a beat uncontrollably.

His intuition told him that this was something very important to him.