Chapter 18 : Jacket

Fu Xingjian typed on his phone while walking, “Then come and grab me.”

The reply came quickly: “You have legs too, stop messing around and come back.”

His expression immediately turned cold, and he hung up the phone, wondering if the other person would come looking for him.

Unaware of the situation, Lin Ran noticed his sudden change in mood and couldn’t help but ask, “What happened?” Seeing his thin shirt, she suddenly realized something was wrong. Her face turned red with apology.

“Fu, you can have your jacket back. It’s cold,” she said.

Fu Xingjian stopped in his tracks, raised an eyebrow, and looked at her. “Do you know me?”

Remembering how she had “accidentally” kicked him on the dance floor, he understood—this girl wasn’t as innocent as she appeared.

His cold expression mixed with disdain, and Fu Xingjian quickened his pace. Lin Ran had no idea where he was headed and had to hurry to keep up. In the cold night air, her breath turned into white mist. “Of course I know you. You’re… the campus heartthrob,” she said awkwardly.

She felt a little embarrassed, thinking it might sound like she was flirting with him.

Fu Xingjian didn’t respond. In his mind, Lin Ran was already marked with the same label as the scheming girls.

The two walked for a while until they reached the school gate, where a luxury hotel was located across the street. Lin Ran had seen many classmates enter and exit there. When Fu Xingjian stared silently at the hotel, Lin Ran’s heart raced. Even though she was slow to catch on, she soon realized what the rules she had overheard at the party meant.

Could he be serious about this?

No, no, no. They had just met—there’s no way he would do something like that.

“Fu, this… is not right. Let’s go back,” she said, tugging at his sleeve. Fu Xingjian frowned and subtly avoided her.

He took out his phone again, only to feel disappointed when he saw there were no new messages. Casually, he scrolled through his social media feed.

When he saw the latest post from Yao Ning, his lips tightened and his chest felt heavy.

“New Year, thank you for your company~” [Image]

The photo attached showed Yao Ning with a boy, their heads touching in a close shot. Fu Xingjian recognized him as a popular guy from the Sports Academy. He had played basketball against him before.

A sense of helplessness flooded him. Fu Xingjian repeatedly opened and closed his phone. Lin Ran, standing beside him, was shivering from the cold, unaware of what was bothering him, but she could tell he wasn’t happy.

Suddenly, Fu Xingjian dragged her over and took a photo. Lin Ran leaned into him, and his embrace felt warm. She thought, even if she stayed there for a century, it wouldn’t feel long.

Later, it turned out the photo was just a quick three-second snap, nothing more.

“Alright, you can go now,” Fu Xingjian said.

Lin Ran was stunned. “Go back alone?”

“Oh, right, your jacket,” she said.

Fu Xingjian pressed her hand down. “Keep it. Just return it to me another day.”

Hearing that she could see him again, Lin Ran smiled and felt warmer, “Okay.”

After taking a few steps, Fu Xingjian called her over again. Lin Ran’s eyes sparkled as she looked at him.

Like a little deer.

Fu Xingjian instinctively thought of that overused description.

He rarely saw such bright eyes, and at that moment, he started to look at Lin Ran differently.

The girl in front of him wasn’t particularly good-looking, and her body was too frail to be attractive, but her skin was delicate, and her eyes were bright and clear. She wasn’t his type, but she could be considered a pretty girl.

“What’s your phone number? I’ll add you on WeChat,” he asked.

Lin Ran, looking as happy as a fool, took out her phone to show him her QR code. Only when she saw his surprised look did she realize he just wanted her to give him her phone number, not the QR code.

She blushed and smiled shyly, and he wasn’t bothered. After adding each other, Fu Xingjian turned and entered the hotel across the street.

Back at the dorm, Lin Ran rushed to the bathroom and felt alive after a hot shower.

Zhuo Ting and Li Lin surrounded her with the look of “tell the truth or face the consequences.”

“Nothing happened,” Lin Ran surrendered, gulping down some ginger tea to stop her shivering.

Zhuo Ting didn’t believe her. She grabbed the men’s jacket carefully placed on Lin Ran’s bed. “What is this? This is Fu Xingjian’s jacket!!!”

“Really, nothing happened. After we left the hall, he took off his jacket because he was worried I’d be cold and put it over my shoulders. Then we walked to the school gate,” Lin Ran explained.

The school gate?!!

They all knew what happened at the gate!!!

Lin Ran quickly stopped them from imagining anything unhealthy. “We just stood there for a while, added each other on WeChat, and then I came back.”

Huh??? Nothing happened???

“Of course not. We’re both students. What could happen?” Lin Ran said firmly, while Zhuo Ting and Li Lin looked regretful.

That night, after the lights went out, Lin Ran lay in bed and scrolled through Fu Xingjian’s social media posts repeatedly, almost memorizing them, but she couldn’t find anything new.

So she took the initiative and asked, “Should I bring your jacket tomorrow?”

The reply came: “Forget it. Just throw it away.”

Lin Ran was shocked. He was throwing away such an expensive jacket. She replied, “That’s not right. I’ll bring it to you tomorrow.”

This time, he didn’t reply.

Fu Xingjian booked a couple’s room, lay on the double bed, and posted a picture on his social media with the caption: [Image] visible to only a few people, with the address clearly shown.

He was gambling, betting that the other person would come find him, at least reach out to him on WeChat.

After posting on Moments, Fu Xingjian tossed his phone onto the bed. After taking a hot shower, he slowly reached for his phone again.

The message bar was blowing up with notifications, and in the childhood friend group chat, Yao Qian and Xu Huanran sent dozens of question marks.

Xu Huanran: “Bro, what happened? I heard you got attacked by some random girl at the ball???”

Yao Qian: “You didn’t really take that girl to a hotel, did you?”

“Whoa, whoa, are you serious? Should I rush over to watch? Do you even remember?”

“Go away!”

Yao Qian said in disdain, then added to Fu Xingjian, “Xingjian, listen to me. Don’t be foolish. Just send the girl back. You don’t even like her. There’s no point in doing something like that.”

Fu Xingjian remained silent. What bothered him was why there was no response from someone else in the group.

Time passed minute by minute, and only when it was past midnight and the new year began did he reply: “Okay.”

No one knew how Fu Xingjian spent that night.

The next day, when Yao Qian and Xu Huanran saw his huge dark circles, they joked, “Did you not let that girl go last night?”

Fu Xingjian didn’t answer, pretending to be casual. “How did you guys spend your night?” He didn’t pay attention to what Yao Qian and Xu Huanran said, it was just a casual question.

Finally, his heart ached, and he subtly inquired, “What about Ningning?”

Yao Qian shook his head and sighed, “That crazy girl disappeared somewhere. I haven’t seen her come home all night.”

Fu Xingjian felt like he had fallen into an ice cave, his whole body frozen to the core.