“Calm down, Xia Fu.”

“Don’t forget, you promised yourself you’d handle things on your own. You have to get your point across!”

She took a deep breath, forcing her fear down into her stomach, then clumsily tapped out her message with trembling fingers:

“Please…”

“Please don’t take pictures of me.”

“It’s alright, don’t be shy, I didn’t mean anything bad by it.”

Please.

“Don’t take pictures. Delete the photo.”

“Actually, I thought you looked kind of cute. I just happened to see you like that, so I snapped a picture. Really, don’t overthink it.”

Please!

“Stop it!”

“Oh, sorry, I forgot that girls hate when people comment on their weight. I guess I slipped up there; I was just showing concern.”

Please, please, please.

If words had sound, Bao Zhiwei would have heard her desperate, spine-chilling scream. Yet, despite Xia Fu “screaming” at the top of her lungs, he continued to ignore her.

He could see her in her dress, looking her over with scrutiny, yet he was blind to her as a person.

This made Xia Fu feel utterly helpless.

She felt like a ghost, watching her “body” collapse at Bao Zhiwei’s feet, powerless to do anything about it.

Fear, frustration, shock.

Her fingers began to shake as she gripped her phone, her tears dripping down onto the screen—

Why couldn’t she just do it? Was she really this useless?

A hand landed on Xia Fu’s shoulder.

“What’s going on?”

Ji Xiaowei asked with a concerned voice, pulling the fading ghost back into the present.

Just a moment ago, her roommate was all smiles, and now she was suddenly in tears. There was no way Ji Xiaowei would let this slide.

With a trembling voice that sounded as if she were speaking for the first time, Xia Fu managed to say, “He took a picture of me….” She couldn’t put her chaotic emotions into words and could only pass her phone to Ji Xiaowei.

Reading through the chat log, Ji Xiaowei’s anger erupted instantly, and she spat out, “Damn it! Just because he’s class secretary doesn’t mean he’s untouchable. Let’s call the counselor!”

“But it’s so late…”

“So what? Are we supposed to just let a creep get away with this? Counselors are supposed to handle student conflicts!”

Xia Fu stared blankly at Ji Xiaowei, who was fuming with righteous anger. Fang Jingcheng’s words from earlier flashed back in her mind: If you can’t handle it, let someone who can.

Even though the truth of her weakness stung deeply, the problem was staring her in the face, and Xia Fu had to face it.

Clenching her teeth, she dialed the counselor’s number.

It was 10:30 at night. After three or four rings, a woman picked up and said, “Hello?” sounding confused. “Xia Fu? What’s going on so late?”

Their class counselor was a woman in her early thirties named Jiang. She had two daughters, both of whom attended the kindergarten affiliated with F University. Sometimes Xia Fu would catch glimpses of her picking them up after her own classes.

Counselor Jiang was always approachable, never putting on airs in front of her students. She even encouraged everyone to call her “Sister Jiang” to keep her young at heart.

Surely, she would help her, right?

Xia Fu sniffled, clinging to this lifeline like it was her only hope.

“Sister Jiang, are you there? Bao… Bao Zhiwei took a picture of me in my pajamas… I kept telling him to stop, but he just wouldn’t listen. What am I supposed to do? I don’t know what to do!”

“What kind of picture? Don’t be scared, calm down and explain it to me. I’ll turn on my computer—why don’t you send me the chat logs?”

Counselor Jiang’s voice was gentle as she comforted Xia Fu. After reading the messages, she let out a long sigh and said, “You scared me there; isn’t this just a normal campus photo?”

“With so many people around from the bathroom to the dorms, if you didn’t want your pajamas seen, maybe don’t wear them outside, yeah?”

There was a slight scolding edge to her otherwise calm tone.

Xia Fu caught it instantly.

She tried hard to explain, “But I… I didn’t do it on purpose; it was already so dark, I didn’t think anyone would…” Tears, just barely held back, welled up in her eyes again.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. I know it was an accident.”

Jiang’s tone softened, finally turning to the main issue: Bao Zhiwei’s behavior.

“And you said you didn’t want your picture taken, but he kept at it—that’s definitely crossing the line.”

“You know, boys can be a bit blunt about things like this. They don’t always know how to express themselves properly.”

When she mentioned “boys and their little flaws,” she even let out a soft chuckle.

No, it’s not like that! Taking pictures without permission is not expressing feelings!

Xia Fu felt an urgent need to set the record straight. She didn’t want the counselor to treat this as some “innocent love misunderstanding.”

“No, I don’t have those kinds of feelings for him. We’re just classmates. I don’t want this…”

But Counselor Jiang interrupted her again.

“Mm-hmm, I know. You’re a shy, reserved, good girl. Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.”

“It’s already late, and my kids are asleep… Let’s deal with this in the morning, alright? I’ll personally talk to student Bao about this.”

She agreed to have a word with Bao Zhiwei but made it clear that she didn’t want to continue the conversation. Her tone was as if Xia Fu was making a mountain out of a molehill.

Counselor Jiang’s gentle plea only made Xia Fu feel more guilty.

Am I being too sensitive? Calling my teacher so late, even disturbing her children…

“Thank you, Counselor… Sorry for bothering you.”

Counselor Jiang replied with a soft “mm-hmm.”

She advised, “Delete the photo and chat records, and get some sleep. Don’t dwell on it; thinking too much only makes it worse,” then hung up the phone.

Even though she’d been lightly scolded, at least Counselor Jiang was willing to help and had even been considerate of her feelings.

But Xia Fu couldn’t bring herself to delete anything.

After being ignored, having to explain through tears, and getting interrupted, her mind was now a chaotic mess. She could only follow the simple command of “Don’t look at your phone.”

She placed her phone face down on the table and, still dazed, looked at Ji Xiaowei, who was watching her with concern. “Disturbing others” weighed on her like a stone, and Xia Fu thought it best to hold back her tears.

“What did the counselor say?” Ji Xiaowei asked, sensing from Xia Fu’s expression that things hadn’t gone smoothly.

The photos Bao Zhiwei sent were just screenshots, but since Ji Xiaowei was so close by, it was possible she might be in the background of the original picture too.

She had to take responsibility; she couldn’t let Xiaowei get dragged into this.

Thinking this, Xia Fu forced a smile.

“She said she’d talk to student Bao. It’s all good now… Thanks for worrying about me. I won’t let him keep the photo.”

“We’ve got an 8 a.m. class, so sorry for disturbing everyone. Let’s all get some sleep.”

Xia Fu didn’t want to say more, and Ji Xiaowei couldn’t press further.

…

The dorm lights went out.

Xia Fu took off her cute little bear pajama dress and changed into a men’s T-shirt she had stashed in the corner.

[If you don’t want to be seen, don’t wear pajamas outside.]

Counselor Jiang’s words lingered in her ears. After Bao Zhiwei had taken those pictures, she could never wear that pajama dress outside again.

Xia Fu reached out, gently smoothing the surface of her dress, her fingers tracing the outline of the little bear and the frills along the edge. In the darkness, she felt the rough texture of the fabric where it had piled.

“I’m sorry…”

She whispered softly, unsure who she was apologizing to.