Jiang Lu’s lips moved slightly, as if wanting to speak, but the sound of hurried, frustrated footsteps thudding down the stairs had already reached their ears. Qi An’an didn’t dare let him make a sound. She quickly raised her index finger and pressed it against Jiang Lu’s lips, shaking her head while mouthing, ‘Don’t talk, don’t talk.’

She could tell Jiang Lu was clearly nervous too. His whole body was as stiff as a rock.

The beam of a flashlight occasionally swept across the door of the washroom, and the furious teacher muttered as he passed by, his voice gradually fading, “Where did they go…… These little rascals…… If I catch them, I swear I’ll……”

It seemed he was gone.

Qi An’an didn’t come out right away. Thanks to watching too many TV dramas, she was particularly wary that this might be a trick. What if the teacher was actually hiding behind the door, waiting to catch them the moment they came out?

Holding her breath, Qi An’an strained to listen. She wanted to remind Jiang Lu, but seeing that he hadn’t moved a muscle either, she figured he was thinking the same thing.

Jiang Lu closed his eyes briefly. The space was far too small.

He was already pressed as tightly as possible against the wall behind him, his hands braced awkwardly on the wooden boards behind Qi An’an. Still, he couldn’t avoid physical contact. She was too close. Her head was right next to his nose, and the slightest movement made her hair brush against his cheek.

There was nowhere to escape. The soft, sweet scent of the girl lingered endlessly at the tip of his nose.

Jiang Lu truly felt like he was going to lose it. As a child, when he suffered hunger, beatings from his mother, and the scorn of others, he felt life was hard. But as he grew up, few things ever challenged him like that again.

Now, it seemed, all of that was easier to bear than this single moment.

His Adam’s apple bobbed involuntarily. He had always despised romantic relationships. Seeing couples being affectionate used to fill him with disgust. He never imagined he’d find himself in such a position.

He looked down at Qi An’an. She hadn’t noticed anything amiss, still attentively listening for sounds outside. She had no idea how much self-control it took not to pull her into his arms.

Her eyes shone like stars in the dim light. He wanted to hold her. He wanted to kiss her.

Jiang Lu tilted his head slightly and closed his eyes to calm his uneven breathing. His hands, still braced on the rough wooden boards, began to sting faintly from the pressure.

Qi An’an remained unaware of the turmoil raging inside Jiang Lu. She earnestly listened for a long while and finally decided the teacher probably wasn’t coming back.

She whispered breathily to Jiang Lu, “Jiang Lu, do you think it’s safe to go out now?”

Because of their close proximity, and the fact she only reached his chin, her warm, sweet breath landed directly on the side of his neck as she spoke. Jiang Lu’s hands slowly clenched into fists.

It had been safe for a while now, he just hadn’t wanted to say so.

After a brief pause, Jiang Lu replied calmly, “It’s fine. We can go out now.”

He stepped out first, and Qi An’an followed behind him. Outside really was safe, and only the occasional student walked by in the corridor.

Now that the tense moment had passed, Qi An’an found it a little funny in retrospect. Looking at Jiang Lu’s blank expression, she even found it cute. “Jiang Lu, we were such a mess just now.”

Like two frightened rabbits running for their lives.

Jiang Lu stared at her. She smiled so freely, her eyes bright and carefree. In that tiny space earlier, they had been so close— clothes rubbing and bodies occasionally touching.

She hadn’t looked disgusted or uncomfortable. But neither had she blushed or acted shy.

And yet his own heart was still pounding in chaos.

Jiang Lu felt a faint helplessness stir within him. Looking at her smiling face, that helplessness softened into something warm. “Go get some rest. We have to get up early tomorrow.”

Qi An’an nodded with a grin.

When they reached the stairs to the third floor, Jiang Lu made no move to accompany her further. He stood quietly on the steps, watching her. “Go on.”

After everything they’d just been through— watching him eat dinner and dodging the teacher— Qi An’an was in a great mood. She nodded and beamed at him. “Mm, I’ll head up then. You should sleep early too.”

“Mm.”

Jiang Lu watched her figure disappear from view, then turned to head toward his own dormitory.

After only a couple of steps, he glanced sideways at the washroom nearby. Just like on the second floor, there was a gap between the door panel and the wall.

Jiang Lu blinked, his expression still blank. He turned his head forward again and took a few more steps. Then, unable to hold it back, the corner of his lips lifted slightly.

────ρя


The next day’s military training mainly involved standing at attention and marching in step.

In fact, the training intensity at No. 1 High School was already considered quite high. They trained not only during the day but also in the evening. It was only the second day, and some of the girls in the lineup were already struggling. Occasionally, someone would request a break.

After nearly three hours of morning training, the instructor finally showed mercy and allowed everyone a five-minute rest. Yu Tianyang stomped his numb feet and wailed, “I’m so jealous of those girls who get to rest. Let me become a girl too!”

Qi An’an didn’t understand. “What does that have to do with gender? If you’re really not feeling well, just take a break.”

“Ai, you don’t get it.” Yu Tianyang waved his hand dismissively. “It’s a matter of pride— dignity. Have you seen any guys ask to rest? If I go sit with the girls, I’ll be laughed at until graduation.”

He glanced at Qi An’an and asked, “Be honest, Qi An’an. Can you still hold on? If not, don’t push yourself.”

His tone was full of doubt. Qi An’an looked so small and delicate. If she fainted, he honestly didn’t have the strength right now to carry her.

“Ugh, aren’t you annoying? Why do you keep worrying about this? Can you stop doubting my physical strength? I wasn’t pushing myself too hard at all.” Qi An’an said honestly. Although military training was tiring, it wasn’t to the point where she found it unbearable. Plus, it was only the second day.

Her physical condition was decent, and as long as nothing unexpected happened, Qi An’an believed she could make it through the entire military training just fine. What she had feared most before was getting her period during training as this body suffered from severe dysmenorrhea. But she had checked her calendar. At most, it would come toward the end of training, so it didn’t matter much.

Yu Tianyang gave her a thumbs-up. “Alright, I believe in you.”

Bored, he glanced around, then stared at the people resting nearby. “Hey, can you believe Qi Zhen has already gone to rest three times this morning? Didn’t expect her to be such a delicate beauty.”

Qi Zhen was sitting under a tree, drinking water. Yu Tianyang looked at her and shook his head while complaining, “When she asked for leave the third time, I swear the instructor rolled his eyes, but still let her go. What a kind instructor.”

Qi An’an didn’t have a good impression of Qi Zhen now, but she didn’t join Yu Tianyang in mocking her. She simply said, “That’s her business. No need to pay attention.”

Yu Tianyang snorted and then suddenly remembered something. “Oh right, did you put in a good word for me in front of Jiang Lu yesterday?”

“No, I didn’t even tell him you were the one who told me where to find him. We didn’t mention you at all yesterday.”

“Really?” Yu Tianyang raised his eyebrows, looking doubtful. “Then why did it feel like Jiang Lu was especially nice to me after he got back yesterday? I can’t describe it, just…… felt it. He was friendlier than before.”

Qi An’an corrected him, “Jiang Lu’s always been friendly to you.”

Yu Tianyang didn’t know what kind of misunderstanding Qi An’an had about the word ‘friendly’. With a blank expression, he said, “Right. Then he was even friendlier.”

Break time passed quickly, and soon the instructor gathered everyone again for training. By the end of the day, their stamina bars were completely emptied once more.

After the evening training session ended, Qi An’an ran to the school gate to buy snacks. When she returned, she brought back two boxes of strawberries. After washing them, she placed them on the table and called everyone over to eat.

The girls in the dorm all swarmed around, shouting, “An’an is an angel!” and unceremoniously began helping themselves. Only Qi Zhen remained seated on her bed, unmoving. Qi An’an saw her but didn’t react.

In the past, she would have smiled and warmly invited Qi Zhen to eat with them, or brought a few strawberries over for her. But now that their relationship had grown strained— and more importantly, Qi Zhen’s character turned out to be far different from what Qi An’an had imagined— she felt no such inclination.

To her dismay, Qi An’an realized that not only had she given up on being friends with Qi Zhen, but her enthusiasm for shipping her CP was also quietly fading.

Let things unfold naturally. If they truly liked each other, she would still give them her blessing. But if they couldn’t be a couple, well…… that was fine too.

Qi Zhen glanced at the girls chatting in a tight group, her expression darkening as she turned away from them. She had always thought that Qi An’an didn’t have many friends in class and assumed her own popularity far surpassed Qi An’an’s. Yet unexpectedly, despite living under the same roof, Qi An’an was the one everyone liked.

It wasn’t as if she never bought food to share with the dorm— she did. But for some reason, the others never responded to her the way they did to Qi An’an.

Qi Zhen quietly clenched her fists, fury simmering inside her. She wasn’t inferior to Qi An’an in any way. She was pretty too, and she was Qi Hong’s biological daughter as well. Her mother was even her father’s white moonlight. Meanwhile, Qi An’an was just a scheming girl, unloved by both parents. One day, Qi Zhen would crush her underfoot.

That night, the girls chatted happily for a while before lights-out and went to sleep. Qi Zhen, in low spirits, didn’t join the conversation and fell asleep soon after the lights went out.

That night, she had that dream again.

At the beginning of the dream, she saw a familiar villa. She walked down the stairs level by level, and in the dim, cold basement, she saw a pale teenage boy.

He was slim, his face unclear, but it felt like he was very good-looking. She asked for his name, but he didn’t reply.

In her heart, she looked down on him. Whoever he was, if he had any sort of status, he wouldn’t be locked up in a place like this. Still, no matter how lowly he was, there was no need to make an enemy out of him. A little kindness was nothing to her.

She handed him a piece of bread and walked away.

The scene shifted. In a lavishly decorated hall, a man sat on a leather sofa, his long legs crossed casually. Even though his face remained unclear, his entire presence radiated nobility and cold authority.

She stared blankly at the scene when suddenly her own voice rang out.

“Everything before…… it was all a misunderstanding. I’m sorry. I should have stood firmly by your side. But…… but can you forgive me, considering how young and gullible I was back then? I know you still have feelings for me.”

The man across from her seemed to have heard a joke. “Feelings? I don’t even have a heart anymore. Where would you be if I did?”

At that moment, Qi Zhen was inexplicably dazed. The man’s voice was really nice— not just nice, but faintly familiar.

Her voice spoke again, “Can you stop saying such spiteful things? Have you forgotten? The first time we met, I gave you bread. I didn’t treat you like the others did. I was the first person in your life to show you kindness. Are you really going to throw away what we had?”

This time, the man didn’t even scoff. His voice was calm, “Qi Zhen, you know exactly what was behind that so-called kindness of yours. The only reason I didn’t throw you out on the spot was because you once showed me a bit of shallow, hypocritical sentiment. Clearly, you don’t understand just how revolting you truly are.”

……

Qi Zhen suddenly jolted awake from the dream, gasping as she sat up. It was a little past 3:00 a.m., and everyone else in the dorm was fast asleep. She took a sip of water and lay back down, her mind still reeling from the dream.

She had always known that she needed to be good to one particular person. That way, she could live a life of luxury without worry or fear. But until now, her dreams had never shown her who that person was. Only this time did she finally see him. Though she couldn’t make out his face, his figure was familiar.

The man resembled Jiang Lu. Not only his figure, but even his voice sounded like his. The only thing that didn’t fit was— how could someone like Jiang Lu be locked up in the basement of a villa? That didn’t match his status as a rich young master at all.

Qi Zhen thought about it for a long time and finally decided that no matter what, she would stick to her original plan. She had to win Jiang Lu over first. If he turned out to be the person she was looking for, then great. If not, she could always dump him later.

────ρя


Over the next few days, military training projects increased and intensified. Besides standing at attention and marching in step, they also had to do five-kilometer morning and evening runs. On top of that, the weather had suddenly turned exceptionally hot.

The sun blazed overhead as the instructor barked through the heat, “Train well, everyone! The standard-bearer selection is coming up. I expect each of you to perform your best.”

During the final report performance of military training, the standard-bearers would lead the formations— one male and one female. It was considered the first real honor of their school life.

Standing in the lineup, Qi Zhen straightened her back upon hearing the instructor. She stood quite close to Jiang Lu and had observed over the past few days that the instructor admired him a lot. Jiang Lu had indeed performed outstandingly. It seemed very likely that he would be chosen as the male standard-bearer. As for the female one, Qi Zhen was determined to get it.

Since standard-bearers had to carry the flag and salute when passing the reviewing stand, their movements were more complex, requiring separate, additional training. If she and Jiang Lu were both selected, that would give them more chances to be alone together.

With that goal in mind, Qi Zhen gritted her teeth and endured several days without taking a single break. She had been pampered since childhood and wasn’t used to even the slightest discomfort, so lasting this long took real effort.

Her persistence paid off. With about five or six days left before military training ended, the instructor began considering candidates for standard-bearers, and Qi Zhen had indeed caught his attention.

Qi Zhen was tall, pretty, and had been training diligently the past few days, making her a solid candidate. The instructor first had Jiang Lu step out, then among the other students standing at attention, he called out Qi Zhen.

Qi Zhen felt a surge of ecstatic joy in her heart. She walked over to stand beside Jiang Lu as instructed by the instructor, her lips curled in a slight smile. Tilting her head, she glanced at him.

The military uniform naturally carried a harsh and iron-blooded aura that complemented Jiang Lu’s temperament perfectly. Just by standing there, he exuded a cold arrogance. It wasn’t Qi Zhen’s first time seeing Jiang Lu, but this single glance still made her cheeks flush red.

Jiang Lu knew it was Qi Zhen approaching. Only when she came near did he feel so utterly disgusted.

His gaze remained lowered, his face devoid of expression, as if he were deep in thought.

The instructor had initially planned for the two of them to walk together for practice, but before he could start, a commotion suddenly rose from the ranks. Several people shouted together, “Instructor! Instructor! Someone fainted!”

The instructor glanced over and turned back to them. “You two wait here for now, I’ll go check it out.”

Once he left, Qi Zhen relaxed. With a gentle smile, she softly asked, “Jiang Lu, are you tired? It’s been so hot these past few days. Do you want to get some ice cream? There’s a place just outside the school gate. When we’re done here, we could go buy some together.”

Jiang Lu let out a low chuckle and lifted his eyes to look at her. “It seems you really don’t understand just how disgusting you are.”

His voice was calm and his pitch black eyes were devoid of any emotion. His words overlapped eerily with the ones from Qi Zhen’s dream the night before, and a cold sweat immediately broke out on her back.

Why had he said that exact sentence? Was Jiang Lu really the person she was looking for? If so, why would he speak to her like this? Had she done something wrong? Offended him somehow? Besides, hadn’t he shown signs of affection toward her before?

Qi Zhen bit her lower lip, her eyes gradually reddening. “Jiang Lu, why would you say that about me? Did I do something wrong before? Or did someone speak ill of me to you? If there’s a misunderstanding, I can explain everything.”

Clenching her teeth, she spotted a slightly loosened brick on the ground. While anxiously explaining, she took a step forward, moving toward Jiang Lu.

Qi Zhen calculated her move precisely. Her foot caught on the brick, her balance wobbled, and she fell straight toward Jiang Lu’s chest.

Jiang Lu’s face had already darkened. He had seen the entire sequence of her expression and movements with perfect clarity. Just before she could fall into him, he took a large step back.

With a loud thud, Qi Zhen crashed heavily onto the ground.

“What’s going on? What happened?” The instructor had just finished handling the incident and turned back to check on the two model students he had selected— now both were a mess. One was inexplicably on the ground, and the other stood there pale, bracing himself on his knees and retching.

“What’s this? How do you fall over while just standing? Can you still stand up?” The instructor asked in shock. He helped Qi Zhen up first, then turned to Jiang Lu with concern. “What’s wrong? Is your stomach upset?”

“I’m fine.” Jiang Lu shook his head. He had only been sickened by what Qi Zhen had just tried to do. After a moment, he felt better.

“Student, how’s your leg? Is it serious? Should I send you to the infirmary?” The instructor frowned as he looked at Qi Zhen, who was crying and clutching her leg. She seemed unable to put weight on it— probably a sprain.

Qi Zhen kept her head down, crying. Her leg hurt, but more than anything, she felt humiliated. She had thought that, no matter what, Jiang Lu would at least try to catch her. She hadn’t expected him to step aside so cleanly and let her fall.

And it wasn’t an accidental fall, so this felt like a slap to the face.

So many people had seen it. Would they guess her intentions? A wave of shame and grievance rose in Qi Zhen’s heart, and she cried even harder.

“Alright now, stop crying. I’ll have someone take you to the infirmary.” The instructor said.

Qi Zhen wiped her tears and suddenly remembered something. She asked worriedly, “Instructor, can I still be a standard-bearer?”

The instructor comforted her, “It looks like you sprained your leg. Focus on recovery for now. The standard-bearer drills start today. If we wait for you, you’ll fall behind. It’s okay, don’t lose heart. When you get to university and do military training again, you can aim for the position then.”

Qi Zhen gritted her teeth. Her leg throbbed with pain and her heart ached even more. She had lost her spot as a standard-bearer, injured her leg, and made a complete fool of herself.

A wave of resentment surged inside her as she glared at Jiang Lu.

To her surprise, Jiang Lu was also looking at her. His face was still pale, but far better off than hers. The sneering smile at the corner of his lips stung her eyes.

Qi Zhen lowered her head in fury and shame.

The instructor couldn’t spend all day comforting her. After arranging for someone to take her to the infirmary, he returned to the lineup and walked down the middle row.

His hand paused for a moment beside the girl standing to the left of Qi An’an.

After a brief hesitation, he pointed at Qi An’an. “You, step out.”

Jiang Lu remained where he stood, the nausea in his stomach gradually easing. He closed his eyes for a moment.

He would speak to the instructor before the official drills began and find a suitable reason to withdraw. It wasn’t about what had happened just now— he simply couldn’t be alone with an unfamiliar girl. That was his problem. Just hearing their voices and sensing their presence made him deeply uncomfortable.

Even if they weren’t as unbearable as Qi Zhen, he still found it hard to adapt.

Footsteps slowly approached from behind. Jiang Lu didn’t turn his head, but a frown creased his brow, irritation welling up inside him again.