Chapter 3 – Sang Li, Come Out

Sang Li looked up from her phone and met Lu Tinghe’s lazy, unconstrained gaze.

In those dark eyes, she could almost see a reflection of her small figure. Under the sunlight streaming in through the window, the light gleaming from his eyes sparkled more dazzlingly than a sky full of stars.

Sang Li bit her soft lip and lowered her head. “He’s not my boyfriend. I don’t have a boyfriend.”

Upon hearing that, Bo Yanzhi become interested. “Little Sang, just now you said Chu Yan was your boyfriend. Don’t tell me you’ve got a crush on him?”

Chu Yan gave a faint smile. “No way. I’m the boyfriend of Sang Li’s best friend. I heard Sang Li and Lu Tinghe were high school classmates—maybe she just got flustered seeing how handsome he is.”

“Oh, I see—” Bo Yanzhi deliberately drew out his words, his eyes flicking back and forth between Sang Li and Lu Tinghe, a faint sense of premonition stirring in his chest.

Sang Li awkwardly curled her toes, burying her head lower and lower as she kept stuffing food into her mouth.

The earlier discussion about the Biomedical Science major had just ended when Bo Yanzhi casually scrolled through his phone and asked Lu Tinghe, “Ning Mo was asking if you’re free tonight to grab a drink at Baolong.”

The moment he said that the hand holding Sang Li’s fork paused mid-air.

That one sentence carried a lot of weight.

Baolong Bar—well-known in northern Jingdu as a gathering place for wealthy heirs, where even the most basic booth came with a six-figure minimum spend per night.

Ning Mo, a senior in the Biomedical Science department, was the daughter of the department chair, Ning Zhihuan, and widely recognized as one of Jingdu University’s campus beauties.

Lu Tinghe casually pulled a cigarette from his pack. His long, well-defined fingers pinched it effortlessly and held it steady at his fingertips.

With a faint smile, he gazed at the cigarette, his lips curled ever so slightly.

The man carried a kind of reckless, unrestrained charm, tinged with an alluring nonchalance that was hard to ignore.

Before Lu Tinghe could respond, Sang Li stood up first. “Excuse me, I need to use the restroom.”

Lu Tinghe narrowed his eyes slightly, watching her retreating figure. His gaze then fell on the pale green short skirt she wore.

Silently, he placed the cigarette between his lips.

Still getting no answer, Bo Yanzhi nudged him again. “I’m talking to you—are you going or not?”

After a moment, Lu Tinghe turned his head and put the cigarette into Bo Yanzhi’s mouth.

The mockery in his eyes was unmistakable. His thin lips parted slightly. “Bullshit.”

Bo Yanzhi: “……”

…

On the other side, Sang Li was sitting on the toilet in the women’s restroom, her whole body stiff as if struck by lightning.

Time seemed to freeze in that moment.

No wonder her stomach had been hurting earlier—it turned out her period had come early.

The air conditioning in the Western restaurant was set low, yet fine beads of sweat had formed on Sang Li’s forehead.

Great—she hadn’t brought a pad.

That could’ve been salvaged with layers of toilet paper, but the pale green skirt she was wearing had already been stained by a small, glaring patch of red.

After three month’s, this was how she ran into her old crush: first getting exposed for lying about having a boyfriend, then having her skirt ruined by an unexpected period. Could anyone possibly be more miserable than her right now?

Back in the restaurant, the three men had continued eating for nearly another half hour but Sang Li still hadn’t returned.

Chu Yan asked curiously, “What’s going on with Sang Li? Did she get an upset stomach or something?”

Bo Yanzhi joked, “Maybe she missed a step and fell into the toilet?”

Lu Tinghe replied, “Mm, and then she reached up from inside the bowl and flushed herself away.”

Bo Yanzhi and Chu Yan: “……”

The three of them went silent for a few seconds.

Then Lu Tinghe stood up. “I’m going to the restroom too.”

After Lu Tinghe got up, he didn’t head toward the restroom. Instead, he exited the Western restaurant and turned into a nearby convenience store.

A short while later, outside the restroom in the restaurant—

Just as a girl was about to step inside, she was caught off guard by the man standing by the door.

Broad shoulders, a slim waist, long legs—his looks were exceptional, handsome to the point of making it hard to look away.

The girl couldn’t help but take a second glance. The next moment, the man smiled at her.

“Excuse me, could you help me with something?”

Her heart skipped a beat. She focused her gaze and gasped, “You’re… Lu Tinghe?!”

Lu Tinghe curled one corner of his lips. “Student at Jingdu University?”

The girl nodded frantically like a pecking chick. “Yes, yes, I’m in the Business School…”

Before she could finish her sentence, Lu Tinghe stuffed a package into her arms. “Do me a favor—bring this to someone inside. Her name’s Sang Li.”

“Oh, okay.”

Still full of curiosity, the girl accepted it. She barely resisted the overwhelming urge to ask, *Is this Sang Li your girlfriend? *

Inside the restroom stall, Sang Li had finally made up her mind. She tore off several sheets of toilet paper and used them as a makeshift pad. She was planning to see if she could wash out that small patch of blood at the sink outside.

Just as she stood up, there was a knock at the door. “Excuse me, are you Sang Li?”

Sang Li pushed open the door slightly, revealing half her small face. “Yes… and you are?”

The girl handed her the package of sanitary pads. “Lu Tinghe asked me to give this to you.”

Sang Li: “?!!”

…

A while later, Sang Li stood silently in front of the sink, her already soft, fair cheeks now flushed a vivid red—like a shrimp freshly boiled, as if she might start dripping with embarrassment at any second.

It’s over. Lu Tinghe must’ve seen the bloodstain on her white skirt when she left the table earlier.

All the blood in Sang Li’s body rushed to her head, a flood of humiliation overwhelming her.

If her phone weren’t still on the table, she would have bolted right out of there.

Suddenly, from outside the women’s restroom, a familiar and pleasant male voice called out, “Sang Li, come out.”

Startled, Sang Li nearly collapsed to the floor if not for the support of the sink.

The next second, she blurted out instinctively, “Sang Li’s not here!”

Lu Tinghe: “……”

Almost the instant the words left her mouth, Sang Li wanted to cry from embarrassment. She shut her eyes, wishing she could disappear from this adorable little world.

Lu Tinghe chuckled softly. “Still not coming out? In a moment, people might think something shameful going on in there, and the police will show up to bust a brothel.”

Sang Li: “……”

She kept her head down as she stepped out of the restroom, clutching the rest of the sanitary pads in her arms. She hurried past Lu Tinghe. “Thank you, Senior.”

Lu Tinghe grabbed her arm. “Wait.”

Sang Li looked up at him.

Though she was nearly 1.7 meters tall, she was still a head shorter than Lu Tinghe, who stood at 1.88 meters. From this angle, she could clearly see his fair, well-defined Adam’s apple.

She quickly averted her gaze. “What is it?”

Lu Tinghe shrugged off the pale blue shirt he had layered over his white T-shirt and tied it loosely around Sang Li’s slender waist with a casual knot.

“It’s covered. Let’s go back.”