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Chapter 20: The Two Campus Belles

Zhang Yunhao saw one of the girls walking toward them.

His eyes instantly widened, looking like they were about to pop out of his head.

“Damn!”

He marveled to himself.

Could it be that his luck with girls finally arrived?

And she was actually a campus belle!

He must have saved all of humanity in his previous life to have such luck.

Zhang Yunhao’s little heart started thumping wildly, completely out of control.

When he was young, his mother once asked a fortune teller to read his fate.

The fortune teller made a prediction:

“This child, when he goes to high school, will have loads of girls coming up to ask for his contact info.”

As the pretty girls walked closer, Zhang Yunhao already started cheering in his heart.

Meanwhile, Shen Qingxuan and Zhao Ran were still deep in conversation, completely unaware of what was happening.

A moment later, a loud girlish shout broke the calm.

“Zhao Ran, I finally caught you!”

“Hiss—”

Zhao Ran sucked in a breath in pain, clutching his ear that had just been grabbed.

When he saw who it was, he shouted at the top of his lungs, “Bai Youwei, what the hell is wrong with you!”

Zhang Yunhao’s high hopes deflated in an instant, like a punctured balloon, and he hung his head in silence.

Where did it all go wrong?

That fortune teller was famous in their area, he shouldn’t have gotten it wrong!

While Zhao Ran and Bai Youwei continued to bicker, Jiang Yubing also arrived at the table.

The moment Zhang Yunhao saw her, a flicker of hope rekindled in his heart.

“Junior, what a coincidence!”

Jiang Yubing’s lips curled up slightly, showing just the right amount of a smile as she greeted them softly.

Shen Qingxuan watched Zhao Ran and Bai Youwei fool around with great interest, but the sudden voice beside him made his heart skip a beat.

He quickly turned his head and saw Jiang Yubing standing behind him.

He called out nervously, “S-senior, did you also come for hotpot with friends?”

He couldn’t act too familiar with Jiang Yubing, otherwise his two good brothers would notice something was off, and that would be hard to explain.

After all, his marriage with Jiang Yubing was fake—none of it was real.

Bai Youwei stopped bickering with Zhao Ran, pulled her hand away from Zhao Ran’s hair, and asked with a look of utter surprise, “Bingbing, you two know each other?”

Her Bingbing never showed much interest in boys, so why would she greet a guy on her own today?

Could there be some kind of unknown relationship between them?

Bai Youwei sized up Shen Qingxuan carefully, secretly thinking:

This guy actually looked pretty handsome, at least more pleasing than this annoying Zhao Ran in front of her.

Jiang Yubing kept a calm expression and replied in a light tone, “I recently helped out as an orientation volunteer for the new school juniors.”

She knew her best friend too well.

Bai Youwei always went on about ‘all men are scumbags’ right in her ear every day, and promised her they would absolutely not date during college.

Over the past three years, countless people had confessed to Jiang Yubing, but Bai Youwei had blocked every single one for her.

Any sign of trouble, and Bai Youwei would dig to the bottom of it.

“Oh, I see!”

Bai Youwei replied lightly, then leaned over to whisper by Jiang Yubing’s ear in a low voice, “Bingbing, we’re beautiful-girl soldiers—we absolutely can’t fall in love. You must never betray your friends, okay!”

Jiang Yubing couldn’t help but laugh when she heard that.

Bai Youwei really was such a little oddball, otherwise she never would have come up with the nickname “Jiangbei Number One Wife” for Jiang Yubing.

She reached out and poked Bai Youwei’s forehead lightly, her face helpless but doting.

“Don’t worry about it at all.”

After all, she had gone straight to getting a marriage certificate, so she hadn’t even dated anyone.

Naturally, there was no promise to betray.

After that, the two girls joined the meal.

The four of them chatted energetically around the table, although most of the time it was just Zhao Ran and Bai Youwei bickering with each other.

Zhang Yunhao stayed silent the whole time, only picking up food and eating quietly.

……

……

After they finished eating, they left the restaurant and went their separate ways.

Shen Qingxuan had to use the restroom urgently, so he came out a bit later.

He walked some distance in the direction of home and immediately spotted a stunningly beautiful girl standing under the streetlights.

Wasn’t that Jiang Yubing?

Was she waiting for him?

He hadn’t seen much of Jiang Yubing recently because of military training, and the house always felt empty at night.

He still couldn’t quite get used to it.

Shen Qingxuan strolled over at an easy pace.

When he reached Jiang Yubing, he gave a small smile and asked softly, “Are you heading home?”

Jiang Yubing gently nodded and replied softly.

Shen Qingxuan turned slightly to the side, “Let’s go.”

The two walked side by side, steps in sync, slowly heading home together.

All along the way, the atmosphere was peaceful and harmonious, and their footsteps sounded especially clear in the quiet night.

“What’s the grudge between your best friend and Zhao Ran?”

Shen Qingxuan broke the silence, asking curiously.

Jiang Yubing looked confused upon hearing that, clearly not expecting him to ask such a question.

“No.”

Jiang Yubing replied succinctly.

Shen Qingxuan pressed further, “Then why did she go straight for Zhao Ran’s ear?”

“You don’t know?”

Jiang Yubing shot back in surprise.

“Huh? Know what? I know nothing!”

Shen Qingxuan looked completely clueless and shook his head repeatedly.

Jiang Yubing grew even more surprised, widening her eyes and saying, “Isn’t Zhao Ran your good bro? You really didn’t know he has an engagement with Weiwei.”

“What?”

Shen Qingxuan froze, stopping in his tracks.

He never expected that Zhao Ran, the guy he grew up with wearing split crotch pants, actually had a fiancée.

When had that happened?

How could he have heard nothing about it?

No way.

He definitely needed to interrogate Zhao Ran properly when he got the chance.

This guy actually kept something so huge a secret from him, truly not treating him like a father anymore.

Shen Qingxuan didn’t even realize he was hiding just as much from Zhao Ran.

Jiang Yubing saw his dazed look and couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

“So you really didn’t know.”

Shen Qingxuan replied awkwardly with a nod.

A barbecue stand on the roadside sent up curling smoke, its warm orange glow flickering in the night.

Shen Qingxuan and Jiang Yubing passed by shoulder to shoulder, and the smell of grilled meat instantly tickled their noses.

Jiang Yubing turned her head toward Shen Qingxuan.

“Are you full?”

Jiang Yubing blanked out for a second, as if her mind was somewhere else.

“Want a little barbecue?”

There was a trace of gentle laughter in Jiang Yubing’s voice.

Her eyes lit up at once, full of anticipation.

Seeing this, Shen Qingxuan couldn’t bear to refuse.

The two walked to the stall and ordered a few skewers from the boss, then strolled slowly along a familiar street toward home.

“Smells so good!”

Jiang Yubing inhaled deeply, sighing with satisfaction.

Soon, the barbecue in her hand disappeared as quickly as if swept away by the wind.

Shen Qingxuan watched her, a small smile appearing on his lips.

This big miss was probably pampered all her life and rarely ate street snacks like this, judging by how she didn’t even care about her image while eating.

Thinking that, he shook the grilled sausage in his hand and offered with a smile, “Want a grilled sausage?”

Jiang Yubing stared at that sausage, smacking her lips, hesitated for a moment, but still reached out and took it, thanking him crisply, “Thanks.”

Shen Qingxuan looked at the oil at the corner of her mouth and felt his heart itch even more!

In the end, he couldn’t help himself, and pulled out a napkin, slowly moving closer to Jiang Yubing.

The moment his fingertips touched her cheek, Jiang Yubing blushed bright red, like a ripe tomato.

Shen Qingxuan instantly realized he was being a little too intimate, quickly withdrew his hand and stammered by way of explanation, “I only saw there was oil at the corner of your mouth.”

Jiang Yubing murmured softly, “I know, just… be gentle…”

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