Yu Mian didn’t care how ‘sad’ Tang Yao appeared. She left the teaching building and went to the school library.

She only had one class in the morning and it was still early so she decided to just head to the library. She read the floor layout in the first floor lobby and then walked to the ‘Art Books Reading Room’ located on the third floor.

In general, university libraries don’t have many students except during the final exam season. Especially in this kind of art school, whether it was dance, painting, music, or design, most of them emphasize active learning and a lot of practice, and there’s not much focus on books.

So Yu Mian walked around the reading room and didn’t see many people.

The library was extremely quiet. The rows of tall bookshelves almost reached the ceiling and the brown wooden shelves were neatly filled with densely packed books, which were classified into categories and marked. The air was also filled with the faint scent of ink.

She randomly pulled out a book from the side. It was titled 《Oil Painting Information and Techniques》. Yu Mian didn’t know much about oil painting, and her new teacher, Shen Shang, seemed to have no intention of teaching her about it at the moment. She usually had to practice sketching objects and structuring light and shadow.

She took the book and walked to the corner next to the window to sit down. There was a small square table and two chairs on either side. Outside the window was the golden sunshine of late autumn with its slight coolness, pouring in and illuminating the small corner of the table.

Time always flies by when one was focused on something.

The sunlight that originally only occupied the corner of the desk suddenly covered most of the tabletop, shrouding the girl by the window in the bright light and coating her figure with a warm golden edge.

At this time, in the school forum of Shengming University, a post was rapidly reaching the top of the page. Countless people clicked on it to comment and then forwarded it to others.

《Department Beauty Weeps, Suspected of Severing Ties with White-eyed Wolf Best Friend?》 The title might not be explosive, but the picture below was very eye-catching.

It was a photo taken by a passerby. The delicate and slender girl had a beautiful face, her eyes were red as if dyed with rouge, and there seemed to be looming tears in the corners of her eyes. She was looking at the departing figure in the distance, her beautiful eyes filled with pitiful sadness.

Most of the people who started clicking in were basically boys, after all, Tang Yao was very famous among the male students of Shengming University.

Seeing Tang Yao, the unattainable beauty that was as cold as ice to her suitors, showing such sad and pitiful expression, many face dogs^[1]someone who treats good-looking people especially well, sometimes to the extent of ignoring their weaknesses and simps suddenly couldn’t sit still.

【Tang Yao crying makes me heartbroken, aaah! Who made her cry? Is it the white-eyed wolf best friend mentioned in the title?】

【The Department Beauty is really different. Even her crying face looks a hundred times better than ordinary people.】

【Who’s Tang Yao’s best friend? Have she done anything to Tang Yao?】

【Ahhhhh, my goddess is crying!!! Goddess, tell me who bullied you? I’m going to help you vent your anger right now!!!】

Everyone was discussing and asking why Tang Yao was crying and who her best friend was. What did her best friend do to make her so sad?

Then several ‘insiders’ came out and explained clearly what happened between Tang Yao and her ‘best friend’, but they were mixed with too much exaggeration and groundless details.

【So the goddess’s best friend is Yu Mian? The one who blocked my senior sister in the toilet?】

【I know her, she’s in the class next to mine. I heard that she only got into Shengming through her family connections and hasn’t attended a lot of classes since the start of school.】

【Thanks for the popular science^[2]slang meaning to fill someone in on something. Why did Tang Yao hang out with someone like Yu Mian? Don’t you think it lowers the goddess’s style? It seems that Tang Yao is quite sad. I have to say that the goddess is really too innocent, she was sold but still help the person count the money.】

As more and more people were paying attention, the trend of the post was almost one-sided. They scolded Yu Mian, this ‘white-eyed wolf best friend’, while comforting the innocent department beauty, Tang Yao. The comments were in two opposing extremes.

How nice they were to Tang Yao was how ruthless they were to Yu Mian.

But there were also a smattering of comments that were slightly different, and it seemed that most of them were posted by girls.

Tang Yao has a great reputation among boys, but girls of the same gender weren’t as simple-minded as them. Some observant individuals have long discovered that Tang Yao wasn’t as wonderful as the rumors made her out to be. Not to mention that Tang Yao was also living in campus, and the more contact she had with other people, her true nature would more or less be exposed to some extent.

Unlike Yu Mian, who was often absent from school. There were few things that could be brought out her. The reason for scolding her in this post were nothing more than her long-term absence from school, humiliating a senior, and several ‘insider’ saying that Tang Yao was so kind to her but she was ungrateful.

Secretly, there were many girls who hated Tang Yao, perhaps because they were jealous of her appearance, or perhaps because they dislike her personality, so they sarcastically called her ‘White Lotus^[3]someone who appears sweet and innocent but is actually corrupt, cunning or deceitful’ behind her back.

【Pretentious.】

【Isn’t Yu Mian’s family rolling in money? I’ve heard that a lot of Tang Yao’s things are given by her.】

【What kind of best friend is that? Shouldn’t it be more appropriate to call her a golden thigh^[4]a powerful protector/backer? Why won’t Tang Yao cry when her golden thigh flew away?】

However, these unexpected remarks that point to the truth would soon be criticized by Tang Yao’s fans. There were still some people who weren’t clear about the inside story, but seeing that everyone was criticizing Yu Mian, they also followed suit.

Yu Mian was unaware of everything that was happening online. She sat in the library until the second period ended.

The ringing of the bell signalling the end of class sounded in her ears and she finally snapped back out from the book she was reading. She took out her phone and glanced at the time. It turned out it was already noon.

Touching her empty stomach, Yu Mian stood up and put on her schoolbag, then put the book back to its original place, ready to go to the cafeteria for lunch.

The campus, which seemed a bit empty in the morning, was now bustling with people. Students who had finished their classes walked out of the teaching buildings and headed towards several cafeterias within the grounds.

Shengming University had four cafeterias. The first one had ordinary and affordable dishes and a lot of people. The second one was more upscale and specializes in Western-style meals. The third one had the most unpalatable food. However, there were many snacks there. The fourth one was known as exclusive to the nobility. The prices of the food were extremely high but the taste was quite good, with both Chinese and Western dishes available.

Yu Mian didn’t know much about the school or the location of the cafeterias, so she could only follow the flow of people while admiring the surrounding scenery.

She had to say that Shengming University deserves to be called a famous art school. Both the scenery and the architecture were full of artistic beauty.

From time to time, her attention would be drawn away by some odd-looking sculptures, or a garden with beautiful flowers, or a building with extremely spectacular design. As she walked, she found that no one else was around anymore.

She had no choice but to go find someone to ask for directions. After doing so, Yu Mian walked along a main road. Not long after, she smelled a strong floral fragrance. She instantly recognized that it was the sweet and not cloying fragrance of osmanthus.

Passing around a teaching building, a straight road suddenly appeared in front of her. There was a row of sweet smelling osmanthus trees planted on the roadside. The branches of each tree were covered with tiny golden flowers, emitting a fragrance like its baked pastry version. It smelled extremely delicious and tempting.

The scent of osmanthus always reminded Yu Mian of food, making her crave it.

She pursed her lips and felt her stomach getting hungrier.

Walking through the path covered with osmanthus flowers, there was a cafeteria at the end. It wasn’t big and there weren’t many people. It was divided into upper and lower floors, and she could smell the food as soon as she entered.

Yu Mian walked inside and found that the price of the food there was unusually expensive, although the various dishes looked really delicious.

Her mindset as an average citizen hadn’t yet changed. After hesitating for a while between eating and changing places, Yu Mian still chose to eat there.

After walking all this way, she was really hungry.

After getting food, she walked over to a dining table and sat down. Before she had even eaten two bites, a person suddenly sat down opposite her. Yu Mian subconsciously looked up and saw a familiar face.

Her eyes widened and she blurted, “Wen—”

The young man placed the silver dining plate he was holding on the table. His eyes were warm and soft as he stared at the girl across him with a slight smile on his lips. He said in a clear voice, “Hello, we meet again.”

Yu Mian’s mouth fell open and her heart started beating rapidly. “W-Why are you here?”

Wasn’t he studying abroad? Why did he come to Shengming University? If she hadn’t been sure that he didn’t know her, Yu Mian would have almost thought that he had come there specifically to find her.

After not seeing him for a few days, Wen Quyi seemed to have come out of Yu Mian’s death and returned to his former self. The young man had a tall, slender figure and handsome features. When he lowered his eyebrows and smiled, he gave off a gentle and elegant aura.

He stared fixedly at Yu Mian, feeling restlessness in his heart by the sight of her. His expression was getting more and more anxious. Then he chuckled casually and said, “Why can’t I be here?”

The speechless Yu Mian: “……”

What could she say? The other Yu Mian didn’t know Wen Quyi at all, let alone that he was studying abroad. It wasn’t good to talk too much, so she could only keep her mouth shut.

“Do you go to school here?” Seeing Yu Mian’s silence, Wen Quyi naturally changed the topic. He seemed to be in a good mood and there’s a faint smile in his eyes, like the surface of a shimmering lake, which hadn’t dissipated since he saw her.

Yu Mian always felt inexplicably guilty when facing him, so she just buried her head and eat, though she no longer able to taste much of the originally delicious food in her mouth.

She replied with her head lowered, “En…… I’m studying here.”

“What a coincidence.” Wen Quyi added with a gentle smile, “I also go to school here. I’m in the Music Department, majoring in piano.”

Yu Mian couldn’t help being surprised and concerned for her friend. Why did he suddenly come back from abroad? Even though Shengming was considered as one of the leading art school in the country, it couldn’t compare to a top music school like Mannes.

After some thought, Yu Mian still couldn’t help but raise her head and asked hesitantly, “Before…… Yu Mian told me that you seemed to be studying abroad…… Why did you come to Shengming? Did something happen?”

Looking at the girl whose eyes were filled with worry though she was unaware of it, Wen Quyi’s eyes softened and he said warmly, “No, it’s me who wants to go return to my home country.”

Hearing what he said, Yu Mian breathed a sigh of relief. Fearing that she would be noticed, she didn’t ask any further questions and only nodded. “Ooh, that’s good.”

Unexpectedly, the other party asked her, “Since we’re now schoolmates, may I ask Miss Mu Mian, can you tell me your real name?”