Back at the apartment, Shen An collapsed into bed and fell sound asleep.
He slept deeply until evening. When he finally opened his eyes, night had already fallen outside the window.
He habitually checked his phone for messages. Song Rui hadn’t bothered him again, but Senior Sister Chen was still going strong.
“Shen An, have you eaten yet?”
“Shen An?”
“Message me when you’re done eating.”
“Shen An!!!!”
“?”
“?”
Starting at four-thirty in the afternoon, Chen Nannan had sent him dozens of messages, one every five minutes or so. They were packed together so densely that anyone who didn’t know better might think a loan shark was chasing him down.
The most recent one was from seven-thirty that evening.
He glanced at the time on his screen: eight-twenty.
Stretching comfortably and rolling onto his side, Shen An had no intention of getting up.
He first replied to Chen Nannan.
“Senior Sister, Senior Sister, is there a fire?”
Ding-dong.
She replied almost instantly: “What fire?”
“Oh, then it must be an earthquake.”
Chen Nannan: “? What are you rambling about?”
“Then why are you looking for me so urgently? I ate my fill and came back to sleep. I just woke up.”
“Are you a pig? A nap turning into sleeping past eight!!” Chen Nannan sounded exasperated.
“That’s not important. Did something happen?” Shen An asked leisurely.
Then, Chen Nannan’s side went silent.
“Senior Sister? Senior Sister?”
“?”
“?”
Now it was Shen An’s turn to bombard her with messages.
Meanwhile, Chen Nannan was lying on the living room sofa, staring at her phone with a conflicted expression.
Truth be told, she didn’t have any real business with Shen An.
Her initial thought had just been to check if he and Xu Yijing had finished eating.
Then maybe drag him out for a stroll that afternoon.
But her messages had gone unanswered, like a stone sinking into the sea, which left Chen Nannan feeling a bit miffed.
She got carried away, stubbornly sending him a message every few minutes, bombarding him like a debt collector.
When you’re that worked up, you really go all in.
Once her emotions cooled down, though, facing Shen An’s question left her stumped.
It was already late evening. Was she supposed to go stroll the sports field now?
“It’s like this…”
Chen Nannan racked her brains. Her gaze suddenly landed on a flyer on the table, and inspiration struck. She had her excuse.
“Hm? Like what?”
“Well… tomorrow… I have some work.”
“?” Shen An sent a puzzled emoji. “Senior Sister, it’s getting late. You should rest early.”
“Hey, how can you say that!!”
“Heh, so Senior Sister wants to mooch off my free labor again?”
“Hey, don’t put it like that. Tomorrow we’re setting up a booth, so we need to move some stuff. The clubs and Student Union are starting recruitment soon.”
“It’s recruitment season, sure, but what does that have to do with a freshman like me?”
“I… I’m in the Basketball Club, so… I just wanted to ask if you have time and if you could come help out…”
Shen An smiled. “So Senior Sister Chen, you’re in the Basketball Club?”
“Yeah! I’m the vice president of the Basketball Club. Pretty impressive, right?”
Even through the screen, Shen An could feel the pride radiating from Chen Nannan.
“So, does that mean you’re really good at basketball, Senior Sister?”
“Uh…” Chen Nannan replied weakly, “I actually handle the administrative stuff.”
“Then you should rest early.” Shen An was utterly merciless.
“Aw, come on, don’t be like that. The Basketball Club doesn’t have many guys, but there’s a ton of stuff to move.”
“Gender equality, Senior Sister. You can’t play favorites.”
“I…” Chen Nannan conceded another step. “Just come take a look. You don’t have to move much. Anyway, you’re just sitting around in your dorm with nothing to do.”
“Nah, I’ve got work to do. Super busy.”
“Fine then. I’ll handle it myself tomorrow. You rest early.” Chen Nannan pouted.
“Awesome. Long live Senior Sister.”
Chen Nannan: …
She stomped around the living room in frustration for a while, then propped her chin on her hand and sank back onto the sofa.
So bored~
She picked up her phone. Shen An really seemed to have bailed, leaving just that “Long live Senior Sister” with no follow-up.
At times like this, the whole dynamic shifted again.
Chen Nannan was too stubborn to message him first now.
But she kept picking up her phone, silently staring at the chat, half-hoping he’d say something—anything—to back down a little.
She actually had plenty of work waiting for her. Just the stack of documents on the table needed her attention.
If Shen An hadn’t messaged her, she probably would’ve kept at them until late into the night.
That’s how she’d spent most of her two years at university.
She skipped most social gatherings, and eventually, no one invited her anymore.
She didn’t have many friends. Despite her positions, people who knew her saw her as someone focused on work, not super enthusiastic about hanging out privately.
As vice president of the Basketball Club, she was mostly a figurehead.
For tomorrow’s Basketball Club recruitment, they’d given her a heads-up, but she usually skipped it.
She wasn’t socially anxious or anything—Chen Nannan handled her duties well and got along fine with teachers and classmates.
It was just that her position was a bit sensitive, making clubs tricky.
Plus, she had her own reasons.
She found most social connections lacked the spark to motivate her.
In this day and age, people tended to be more reserved.
If an invitation got turned down once, there wouldn’t be a second.
The same went for conversations.
No desired response to one line, and you’d instinctively hold back the next.
Chen Nannan saw herself as pretty passive. Without anyone proactive coming along, she’d gradually closed off her circle.
Shen An…
This junior she found a bit special was one of the few who’d caught her interest.
No other reason—just that among all the freshmen she’d guided, only Wang Yuqiong and Shen An had built any real rapport with her.
The rest were “dead contacts” in her phone.
And Shen An was the only freshman who’d left her with a “not bad” impression during their interactions.
Sigh~
What a heartless guy.
Chen Nannan grumbled to herself, deciding to give up waiting.
Ding-dong.
!
She snatched up her phone.
Shen An: “Oh yeah, Senior Sister, I don’t think I’ve joined the Freshman Group yet, right?”
“Yeah, I’ll add you now.”
“Sure.”
With a few taps, Chen Nannan pulled Shen An into the so-called Freshman Group. It was a dead group, basically no activity.
It had been lively before term started, with Wang Yuqiong keeping things going.
But once classes began and everyone met in person, they formed their own circles and lost interest in chatting.
After joining, Shen An didn’t message Chen Nannan again.
The conversation ended once more.
Ah~
For no reason at all, Chen Nannan felt deeply unhappy.
She kept staring at Shen An’s profile pic, occasionally clicking into his Moments.
Of course, it was a blank slate—no daily updates at all.
Just like hers.
She set her phone down, feeling off-kilter.
What the heck was she even hoping for!!!
If he doesn’t want to hang out, fine. Whatever.
Chen Nannan took a deep breath. Work and studies came first. She needed that scholarship this semester too.
Meanwhile, Shen An truly had zero interest in hauling stuff around.
But he was deliberately stringing Chen Nannan along.
He knew a single meeting could spark some intriguing chemistry.
That was especially true for building friendships—or even romantic ones.
He didn’t mind spending time with Chen Nannan. In fact, he had a pretty good impression of her.
But if she was this eager, he’d lose some control.
It was one of Shen An’s old habits.
He always tried to stay uncommitted and totally free.
The downside was potentially missing friends, but the upside was never being the vulnerable one.
So, no rush.
Shen An glanced around, then tapped on Song Rui’s profile and messaged her.
“How’s it going? Made up your mind?”
Song Rui, who was diligently studying the Student Handbook in her dorm, jumped at the sudden notification sound.
She glanced cautiously around. Huh…
Looks like they were all out.
She was alone in the dorm.
Song Rui set down the Student Handbook and picked up her phone.
Oh…
It was from him.
She opened it and blinked. “What?”
“?”
“Oh oh, you mean that thing about the homework. I… I still think it’s not a great idea.”
“Hmm, honestly, I don’t think it’s great either.”
“I’m glad you see it that way… So… how about I treat you to a meal instead?”
“You really hate owing people favors, huh?” Shen An thought of Song Rui’s timid, cautious demeanor and couldn’t help chuckling.
“No… This… This doesn’t really count as owing you, does it? I just… I just feel like I can’t accept it so easily.”
“Since you feel like it’s not quite right, then let me treat you to a meal as thanks?”
“Great. I was planning to head to the Azure Sea Grand Hotel and have some seafood.”
“Ha?”
Song Rui was immediately taken aback. “The Azure Sea Grand Hotel? I heard that’s a five-star place.”
“That’s right. Since you want to thank me, shouldn’t you show a little sincerity?”
In that moment, Song Rui thought Shen An was being a bit unreasonable.
But she was the quiet type.
“I… I might not have enough money.”
“You were really planning to take me to the Azure Sea Grand Hotel? Just kidding.”
“Oh~”
“Cough cough. Actually, it’s no big deal. You don’t need to go to the trouble of treating me to a fancy meal. It was just a small effort on my part.”
“Your successful campaign was all thanks to your own charm. It had nothing to do with me.”
Shen An just wanted to lie comfortably in the apartment and wait out the month.
“My… my own charm?”
Song Rui could hardly believe it.
“Yeah.”
“But I thought… when I went up to speak, I performed terribly.”
“But your smile has such a friendly vibe.” Shen An typed slowly. “Everyone gets nervous their first time on stage. Take Yang Bin—he can barely get a sentence out smoothly.”
“So compared to him, especially for a first time, you did really well.”
“And your smile is genuinely pretty. That’s part of your special charm.”
Song Rui stared blankly at the words on her screen.
After a long moment, she replied, “Thank you.”
“That’s the third time you’ve said thank you, isn’t it?”
Shen An mustered his patience. “If you really want to thank me, just buy me a cup of milk tea.”
“Milk tea? Right now?”
“Of course not now. Tomorrow. Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll probably be over at the Basketball Club.”
“Basketball Club… where’s that?”
“This… won’t you just ask around? Dummy.”
“Oh, oh.”
“Then when you get to the Basketball Club tomorrow, just message me. I… I’ll go buy it for you.”
Shen An hesitated for a moment. “Make it two cups.”
Song Rui blinked but didn’t refuse. “Okay.”
Yet deep down, a faint ripple stirred in her heart.
Why… two cups?
Was he planning to drink both himself?
Or… was it for him and…
Song Rui picked up the flyer she had set aside.
The Basketball Club was recruiting new members too.
And sign-ups for interviews were tomorrow.
He must want to join the Basketball Club. He’s probably really good at basketball, right?
She kept all these questions tucked silently away in her heart, unasked.
But her thoughts continued to ferment around those two cups of milk tea.
Shen An set down his phone and started to get up from bed. Suddenly, crisp piano notes drifted in from beyond the door.
His heart stirred.
So late at night—who would be playing the piano?
But the sound was so close by. There was really only one possible answer.
He pushed open the door and followed the music down the corridor to the room at the very end.
The piano notes were coming from inside.
It was Xu Yijing playing.
So this was her music room? No wonder she had warned him not to go poking around in there.
Shen An knew next to nothing about music, but that didn’t stop him from appreciating it on a gut level.
He had no idea what Xu Yijing’s actual skill level was with the piano. All he knew was that it sounded wonderful to him.
So he stood there in front of the door, listening quietly to her playing.
