The girl’s soft murmurs blended into the gentle evening breeze, stirring faint ripples.
Shen An pillowed his head on his arms, squinting at the setting sun about to dip below the horizon.
“Senior Sister, are you here to warn me against early romance?”
“It’s not high school anymore.”
Chen Nannan’s words brimmed with endless implications. They invited easy elaboration, deeper exploration, or even a touch of flirtation.
But Shen An didn’t rush. He opted for the most “straight-guy” response, deliberately sidestepping the girl’s intentions.
At the same time, he was being cautious to avoid any awkward case of wishful thinking.
Chen Nannan blinked in surprise. She hadn’t expected that answer from him.
She lifted her small face from her knees and rolled her eyes. “I don’t have the spare time for that.”
“That’s a relief.”
Shen An chuckled lightly. “But it doesn’t make much difference anyway. Didn’t I say it already? I’m not interested in women.”
Black lines crept across Chen Nannan’s forehead. “Your way of thinking is really one of a kind.”
“So which of those statements is the real one?”
“Does true or false even matter that much?” Shen An arched an eyebrow, teasing her. “Could it be that you’ve taken a liking to me, Senior Sister?”
“Isn’t that moving a bit too fast? We’ve only been hanging out for less than a day.”
Thwack!
The moment the words left his mouth, Chen Nannan didn’t hold back. She delivered a sharp Nine Yin White Bone Claw right to his side.
Shen An yelped in pain. “You’re so violent.”
With a cold expression, Chen Nannan huffed. “Who told you to spout nonsense?”
“Then why’d you ask me that in the first place?”
“I… I’m just a little curious.”
At that moment, Chen Nannan pulled the cyan umbrella from her pants pocket.
She slowly unfurled it, scrutinizing the cyan canopy and the unique patterns printed on it. The umbrella swayed gently in the breeze as she examined it.
Shen An could guess what had her curious.
It was this umbrella.
When he’d left the apartment and walked all the way to the Library with it, plenty of people on the road had shot him frequent glances.
In a way, Shen An shared Chen Nannan’s curiosity.
She wondered why the umbrella was in his hands. He wondered why it drew so much attention.
Both questions circled back to the same point: Xu Yijing.
Shen An asked casually, “Curious about what?”
He propped himself up, his gaze puzzled.
Chen Nannan folded the umbrella shut. She had confirmed the patterns on it—this was her umbrella!
Her expression grew serious as she looked at Shen An intently. “You said you live in the North District, right?”
“Mm.” Shen An nodded.
“The North District is for teachers’ dorms and the Apartment District. English Department students don’t live there.”
“And the ones in the Apartment District—aside from those in special majors—are either rich or influential.”
“So why are you living in the North District?”
Facing her scrutinizing stare, Shen An’s lips curved into a smile. He chuckled. “Senior Sister, you sound like you’re interrogating a suspect right now.”
Chen Nannan shoved him in annoyance. “Be serious! I’m dead serious about this!”
“Alright, alright. I bet your question ties back to this umbrella, huh?”
Shen An paused, his tone turning playful. “Or should I say, its owner.”
Chen Nannan didn’t deny it.
She lowered her head to study the cyan umbrella in her hands. “This umbrella isn’t yours.”
“Of course not. I just borrowed it temporarily.”
“From who?”
“Uh… I think you already know the answer, Senior Sister, even if I don’t say it.”
“I know…” Chen Nannan’s expression turned complicated in an instant. “Xu Yijing, right? It’s her umbrella.”
“She lives in the North District Apartment too.”
Her eyes shifted to Shen An. “So, are you living with her?”
“Or is it because of her that you get to stay in the North District Apartment?”
“What exactly is your relationship with her?”
Shen An let out a dumbfounded laugh. “Senior Sister, you really are interrogating me now.”
“I… I’m just curious.” Chen Nannan looked away, her words not matching her eyes.
“Then I’ve got a question for you too. What’s your deal with Senior Sister Xu? You seem awfully interested in her.”
Shen An took the opening to voice his own curiosity. He wanted answers too.
At the same time, it was a chance to learn more about Xu Yijing.
Her first impression on him had been too perfect, too unassailable.
She wasn’t normal, that much was clear—but in a complimentary way, at least from that initial encounter.
Chen Nannan pursed her lips, clearly reluctant to reply.
Shen An pressed on. “You’re English Department, Senior Sister Xu is Art Department. By rights, you two shouldn’t cross paths.”
“Hmm. Was Senior Sister Xu in English Department her freshman year and only transferred to Art Department sophomore year? And maybe she transferred because of you?”
He spun wild guesses, letting his imagination run free.
But those “guesses” were deliberate, meant to bait her into correcting him.
Sure enough, the moment he finished, Chen Nannan sneered. “She’s always been in Art Department. We’re not classmates.”
“Oh~ Now that’s interesting.”
Shen An muttered offhandedly. “When I was carrying this umbrella around, a bunch of people stared at me too.”
“Tsk. Senior Sister Xu must have a huge reputation around school!”
Chen Nannan let out a light huff. “Of course she does. There aren’t many students on campus who haven’t heard of her—except you freshmen, maybe.”
“But don’t worry. All you newbies will know her soon enough.”
Shen An lay back down, drawling lazily. “I figured as much. After all, Senior Sister Xu is so stunning, it’s impossible for her not to turn heads.”
“Honestly, I wandered around campus today and saw plenty of pretty senior sisters. But none hit me with that jaw-dropping impact right from the first glance like Senior Sister Xu did.”
He went on praising Xu Yijing at length, oblivious—or pretending to be—to the darkening scowl on Chen Nannan’s face.
Of course, it was all intentional.
From her reactions at the start, it was clear her relationship with Xu Yijing wasn’t some warm friendship.
Otherwise, Chen Nannan wouldn’t have hemmed and hawed, trying to cover it up.
Sometimes, the best intel came from a rival’s mouth.
“What, first day on campus and you’re already her fanboy? Dreaming of winning the beauty?”
Chen Nannan cut off his rambling, her tone laced with rare mockery.
“Cough cough, nah, not quite.”
Shen An gave an embarrassed smile.
Then, with a wicked rub of his hands, he added, “But if someone wanted to win the beauty… how tough is the competition?”
“You…”
Chen Nannan shot back coldly, “Fierce. Practically every guy on campus is your rival!”
“Because they all have the same idea.”
“I see…”
Shen An deflated. “Sounds pretty impossible.”
Seeing that disappointed look on his face, Chen Nannan felt an inexplicable sourness well up inside her!
This was her junior brother, after all!
“Can’t you show some backbone? You just said you weren’t interested in women!”
Chen Nannan snapped in frustration. “Now one Xu Yijing has you all starry-eyed. What a letdown.”
Shen An yawned lazily. “No interest because I know it’s a lost cause. Why pour energy and time into something you can’t have?”
“Lack of interest doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a pretty girl.”
“It’s like the clouds in the sky—you like looking at them too, right? But you know you can’t reach them. All you can do is watch quietly and commit them to memory.”
Chen Nannan: …
Was this classic simp talk?
Not exactly. He had zero intention of chasing or trying.
It was more like the instinctive appreciation anyone normal would have for something beautiful.
Still, it rubbed Chen Nannan the wrong way.
Especially when compared side by side—and for a sensitive, perceptive girl like her, contrasts stung.
They’d spent the whole day together. Sure, Shen An called her “Senior Sister,” but Chen Nannan knew it was just polite formality.
No different from how he’d address anyone.
In his mind, she wasn’t anything special.
Just a regular friend—a female friend.
If Xu Yijing hadn’t entered the picture, Chen Nannan would have loved the relaxed, equal vibe. No pretenses, just friends being friends.
But now Xu Yijing was part of the conversation.
And there it was: the comparison.
Both of them were his senior sisters. And she hadn’t been half bad to him—buying him milk tea, showing him around all day.
Xu Yijing had probably exchanged fewer than a handful of words with him!
Yet he harbored admiration for Xu Yijing, while toward her…
That jealousy-fueled sense of defeat cracked Chen Nannan’s composure for the first time in ages.
She curled up silently, burying her small face in her knees once more.
Shen An had been hoping she’d snap and spill some real dirt. Instead…
Well, this was anticlimactic.
Provoking her hadn’t worked. Even mad, she was just a quiet sulker.
Shen An switched tactics. “Senior Sister, cat got your tongue?”
“Was I wrong?”
“You were right. Completely right,” Chen Nannan mumbled.
“Don’t be like that. I was just messing with you earlier.”
“No need to sugarcoat it. Xu Yijing really is beautiful and charismatic. She’s great at her studies, has a wonderful personality—everything about her is perfect. It’s totally normal to have a crush on her. You don’t have to try to comfort me.”
Shen An: . . . .
She’d already given up on herself? Come on, that took all the fun out of it.
Shen An stood up and leaned in closer, whispering, “Senior Sister, is it because of that? Are you jealous of Senior Sister Xu?”
“Huh?”
Chen Nannan jerked her head up. “I’m not jealous of her!”
“You’re not?”
“Of course not!”
Chen Nannan shook off her sulking demeanor, her big eyes locking onto Shen An in full rage mode.
“But from the way you talk, it sounds like you and Senior Sister Xu… well, aren’t on great terms.”
Shen An said in a timid whisper, looking uneasy.
Chen Nannan puffed out her cheeks in defiance. “Because I don’t like her.”
“Uh… yeah, if a girl is that popular, it can rub other girls the wrong way. Make them jealous.”
Shen An said, playing hard to get.
“It’s not because of that! I’m not jealous of her! I don’t care about any of that!”
Chen Nannan shot back, thoroughly pissed off.
“Then what is it?”
Shen An gazed at Chen Nannan with wide, expectant eyes.
“Because…” Chen Nannan started to say, then stopped herself. “Never mind, forget it.”
“Huh? I hate it when people speak in riddles.”
Shen An chuckled.
“Well… it’s not a big deal anyway.”
Chen Nannan sighed. “I guess I can tell you, as long as you promise not to spread it around.”
“My lips are sealed tighter than with super glue,” Shen An vowed solemnly.
“So… back in my freshman year, I was in the same department as her.”
“I was one of the candidates running for president.”
Chen Nannan rested her chin on her knees, reminiscing about the events from a year ago.
“I wanted to be president, so I threw myself into it. I was working until eleven or midnight most nights, then heading out again at six in the morning.”
“But Xu Yijing… she…”
“Hm?”
“I was in charge of a project. It was almost done—just finishing it up would have given me a huge boost.”
“But right when it was nearly complete, Xu Yijing swooped in and took it from me.”
“In the end, she finished the project and naturally became president.”
A wry, mocking smile tugged at Chen Nannan’s lips. “And then she had the nerve to come over all fake-nice and ask if I wanted to be her vice president.”
Shen An listened quietly until the end, and he got the picture.
So it was an old grudge.
He asked, “You turned her down?”
“What else was I supposed to do? Say yes?” Chen Nannan snapped, fuming.
“Uh, so did you two get into a fight?”
Shen An asked, full of anticipation.
“Of course not! Why would we fight? It was just a president position. I don’t even want it.” Chen Nannan pursed her lips.
No fight, huh…
Shen An felt a little disappointed.
He loved watching girls catfight and tear into each other.
But from this, Shen An picked up some useful info.
First, Xu Yijing wasn’t just a member of the Student Union—she was the president of her department.
That bumped her notoriety up another level. No wonder, in a huge university like this, even the style of her personal umbrella was common knowledge.
Second, Chen Nannan wasn’t the type to hide her feelings.
Nine times out of ten, her words were straight from the heart, unfiltered.
Sure, they were colored by her own bias, but they weren’t made up out of thin air.
So Xu Yijing wasn’t flawless.
Stealing someone else’s hard work—at the very least, that proved she wasn’t so innocent.
Of course, there could be misunderstandings.
Like maybe the previous president handed it off to her on purpose. Backroom deals like that were a dime a dozen.
Chen Nannan glanced at him. “What’s with that look on your face?”
“I’m pissed off for you, Senior Sister! That project was ninety-nine percent your work!”
Shen An quickly switched to an outraged expression.
“It’s fine, it’s all in the past. No big deal. Let her have it if she wants it so bad. Honestly, it’s better this way—I’d have worked myself to death otherwise.”
Seeing his reaction, Chen Nannan smiled faintly and waved it off.
“Good thing you can see it that way, Senior Sister.”
Shen An nodded. “The key to life is learning to cheer yourself up. Don’t dwell on the crap.”
Chen Nannan huffed. “As if I’d waste time obsessing over it. I sleep it off and forget all about it.”
Then her eyes narrowed. “Wait a second. You still haven’t explained what your deal is with her. Why do you have her umbrella?”
“Uh…”
“Uh, what? Don’t tell me you ‘just happened to pick it up’ or something.”
The gentle look in Chen Nannan’s eyes sharpened.
She’d almost let Shen An distract her.
She was the one who’d asked him first.
And he lived in the North District. With her umbrella in his hands—and knowing Xu Yijing like she did—their relationship had to be more than met the eye!
In other words…
All that righteous indignation she’d poured out? He might have been secretly laughing at her inside.
What if he went back and told Xu Yijing everything?
Damn it.
Chen Nannan snapped to attention, growing angrier by the second. She couldn’t hold back anymore—she reached out with her small hand and pinched his ear. “Come clean now and you’ll get leniency! Resist and it’s the full penalty! Spill it!”
