The air fell silent for at least five seconds.

Then, Shu Ziqin made a strange sound.

Clearly flustered, he opened his mouth and said something incomprehensible to Jing Tian.

Jing Tian guessed that Zheng Xunqian probably didn’t understand either.

But that didn’t matter; Shu Ziqin’s attitude had already made everything clear.

“I understand,” Zheng Xunqian nodded slightly, “Good men should be matched with good women. Although… it’s almost there.”

This statement was too sarcastic.

Jing Tian didn’t know whether to question the “good women” part first or to ask what “I understand” meant.

However, Shu Ziqin seemed to accept the comment well, took a deep breath, and then nodded as if in agreement.

“I’ve never seen someone like him before,” he said softly but seriously, “I can’t help but care.”

Perhaps wanting to reassure him, Zheng Xunqian showed him a smile that could only be described as gentle.

Jing Tian watched, not feeling the usual acceleration of his heartbeats, but instead a sense of unease.

He had seen what a genuinely heartfelt smile looked like from him; in comparison, Zheng Xunqian now seemed like a big bad wolf singing “Little Bunny Foo Foo.”

As he inwardly criticized, unexpectedly, Zheng Xunqian suddenly mentioned his name and pointed at him, saying, “Didn’t you say that Jing Tian and Yang Yue live in the same dorm and have a very good relationship?”

Shu Ziqin was puzzled but nodded slightly, softly saying, “Oh.”

Judging by his expression, he probably didn’t understand why Zheng Xunqian brought this up.

Jing Tian didn’t know what Zheng Xunqian was up to, but he already had a bad feeling creeping up in his heart.

Sure enough, Zheng Xunqian continued, “Senior Jing Tian is very kind-hearted. If you ask him, he can say a few more good things for you in front of Senior Yang Yue.”

Jing Tian’s eyes widened instantly, and he secretly kicked Zheng Xunqian under the table.

Afraid of making too much noise and attracting Shu Ziqin’s attention, the kick was very light. Zheng Xunqian didn’t flinch since it wasn’t even painful.

Although Shu Ziqin didn’t speak immediately, the look he gave Jing Tian was clearly filled with some expectation.

With his fair complexion, refreshing temperament, and bright black eyes, Shu Ziqin’s cautious and sincere gaze now seemed somewhat pitiful, making it hard for anyone to refuse.

Fortunately, before Jing Tian could speak, Shu Ziqin shyly lowered his head again and said with a smile, “Forget it, it’s not necessary.”

“Are you sure?” Zheng Xunqian asked, “If you want to pursue Senior Yang Yue, there’s no better helper than Jing Tian.”

Shu Ziqin was startled by his words, quickly shaking his head and waving his hand, “No! I don’t have any intention of pursuing Senior Yang Yue! I just… just…”

As he spoke, his voice gradually faded away, and at the same time, he lowered his gaze to the empty table in front of him. “…I just want to talk to him more.”

Jing Tian had been troubled just now, unsure of how to refuse, but now he was wavering again, actually starting to consider helping him.

Zheng Xunqian stopped urging him further, just quietly watching, his thoughts unknown.

Shu Ziqin said, “I plan to invite him to play together again tonight!”

After saying that, he chuckled foolishly twice, his face clearly showing anticipation.

Jing Tian’s heart skipped a beat.

No, this probably wasn’t good.

Yang Yue wouldn’t agree so easily.

“Oh, by the way,” Shu Ziqin suddenly remembered something, “Senior, since you and Yang Yue live in the same dorm, have you… have you ever… heard him mention me?”

Yes.

He mentioned you quite a bit, with a lot of emotion, fully displaying his strong feelings for you.

With a forced smile, Jing Tian replied, “Nope.”

Shu Ziqin looked slightly disappointed, nodded, and smiled back at Jing Tian.

On the way back to the dorm, Jing Tian wore a grim expression, looking like he was in low spirits.

“What’s wrong?” Zheng Xunqian asked.

Jing Tian glared at him but didn’t reply.

He had originally wanted to say it was nothing, but then he feared that if he said it, Zheng Xunqian would stop asking, just like yesterday.

But unexpectedly, when he remained silent, Zheng Xunqian didn’t speak either, as if ignoring what had just happened.

Both of them walked forward with their heads down, their steps involuntarily quickening.

As they approached the dormitory area, Jing Tian finally couldn’t contain himself and broke the silence, “What exactly are you trying to do?”

Zheng Xunqian either pretended not to understand or genuinely didn’t understand what he was talking about, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s one thing for you to say those things to Shu Ziqin,” Jing Tian said, “but why drag me into it?”

“Don’t you want to help him?” Zheng Xunqian asked as if it were a matter of course, “Those two seem pretty compatible together.”

Jing Tian hesitated slightly at his words.

A corner of his heart loosened secretly, and his original annoyance and displeasure melted away a bit.

It seemed that Zheng Xunqian really wanted those two to get together.

That was inappropriate.

But it also meant that Zheng Xunqian didn’t have that kind of intention towards Yang Yue.

“Shu Ziqin seems like a pretty nice guy,” Zheng Xunqian said.

“It’s not about whether he’s nice or not,” Jing Tian shook his head, “Yang Yue won’t like him. It’s better for him to give up sooner.”

Zheng Xunqian frowned slightly, “Why?” Then he looked Jing Tian up and down, “Does Yang Yue have someone he likes?”

“Not right now,” Jing Tian shook his head, “But he doesn’t like guys. He’s straight and only likes girls.”

Zheng Xunqian visibly paused for a moment, then asked incredulously after a moment, “Are you sure?”

Those three words sounded familiar.

Jing Tian completely understood his mood and couldn’t help but want to laugh, “Really, he’s had girlfriends before.”

Zheng Xunqian fell silent.

Indeed, Yang Yue didn’t seem like a straight guy at all; it was natural to misunderstand.

“If it weren’t for that, of course, I’d be willing to help him,” Jing Tian said, “but you can’t force these things, right?”

Zheng Xunqian remained quiet for a few more seconds, then shook his head. “You didn’t use to say that.”

“Huh?” Jing Tian was puzzled.

“If you don’t try, how will you know?” Zheng Xunqian looked at him. “To be sure that you really can’t accept it, at least you should wait until after you’ve kissed or slept together.”

Jing Tian was taken aback.

In broad daylight, still on the road, why suddenly talk about these things?

This statement couldn’t stand scrutiny at all; it was outright highway robbery logic.

Seeing him staring at him without a word and blushing, Zheng Xunqian continued, “You said this yourself.”

“Me?” Jing Tian hadn’t snapped out of it.

“It’s okay,” Zheng Xunqian smiled at him, “I know you don’t remember.”

“… “

“It’s quite reasonable,” Zheng Xunqian finally looked ahead, “Many things, you only know the answer after you’ve tried.”

The meaning of this sentence was too profound.

Jing Tian was stunned, unable to speak.

Back in the dorm, Yang Yue was wearing a troubled expression.

Jing Tian suddenly had a bad feeling.

As soon as Yang Yue saw him, he immediately sighed heavily, complaining, “He’s here again.”

Sure enough, Shu Ziqin enthusiastically invited him to play games.

“What torture,” Yang Yue lamented, “Do you mind if I block him? After all, he’s your friend, and I’m afraid you’ll feel awkward.”

“… How about you tell him you’re busy today?” Jing Tian brainstormed for ideas, “Or tell him to practice more on his own before teaming up with you, set a standard for him, like reaching at least the platinum rank?”

“Isn’t that saying he’s really bad?” Yang Yue hesitated, “Wouldn’t that be too much?”

Although he complained a lot, deep down he was a gentle person, unconsciously considering others when not playing games, unwilling to hurt them.

“It’s okay; he shouldn’t mind,” Jing Tian said after thinking for a moment.

Shu Ziqin’s game account was called: No Difficult Work.

Believing in his character, not only would he not mind, but he would also work even harder to achieve his highest goal of impressing Senior Yang Yue.

“Then I’ll give it a try…” Yang Yue picked up his phone and typed for a while, then suddenly looked up, “How do you know this game has a platinum rank?”

Jing Tian was stunned.

He thought, oh right, how do I know?

Yang Yue grinned at him, “I really think you should give it a try!”

“Let’s talk about it later,” Jing Tian declined, “I’m too busy.”

He already had two more classes than usual students and needed to catch up on the knowledge he missed in his spare time, leaving little time for entertainment.

Occasionally, when he had some free time, he just wanted to space out.

Seeing Yang Yue like this, he knew playing games was not easy, and his energy wasn’t enough.

“Okay, okay,” Yang Yue sighed and didn’t insist, then asked, “Did you see what Achen said in the group today?”

“What?” Jing Tian was puzzled, “I blocked it and didn’t see.”

Their group of friends for eating, drinking, and playing wasn’t large, but they were very talkative. They were active for eighteen hours a day.

After becoming more familiar with them, Jing Tian enjoyed playing around in the group chat, although he didn’t speak often, he enjoyed reading their texts and occasionally joking around.

This was a waste of time and could affect his concentration when studying.

So not long ago, he reluctantly set the status to not receive notifications, only occasionally checking it when he had spare time to chat for a bit.

“They’re planning to go to RESET again,” Yang Yue said, “Tomorrow night, are you coming?”

Jing Tian was instantly caught in a dilemma.

He wanted to go, really wanted to.

The last experience brought him novelty and fun, ignoring the hard-to-explain aftermath; it was truly a wonderful experience.

But that hard-to-explain aftermath was really hard to ignore, which was frightening.

“If you go, we need to establish two rules,” Yang Yue raised his hand seriously, “First, you can’t drink more than half a cup of alcohol.”

“…And second?” Jing Tian asked.

Yang Yue thought for a moment, “There’s nothing else in particular, just control your drinking, absolutely no getting drunk.”

He really wanted to dance, he wanted to badly.

Jing Tian rubbed his nose and smiled at Yang Yue, “I should be… able to do that.”