Chapter 21 Part 3

“Why? Does Lan classmate have no plans to date?” One of them mustered his courage. “If that’s it, can you reserve a spot for me? I can wait!”

Lu Wuqi didn’t say a word. She just turned her head to look at her girlfriend, waiting for her to give the rejection.

“Sorry, it’s not that I have no plans. I already have a partner.” Lan Xu smiled as she spoke, holding Lu Wuqi’s personal water bottle. She silently made a decision in her heart.

“Hm? Lan classmate, you already have a boyfriend?” The bold guy deflated instantly and muttered under his breath, “How come I’ve never seen him?”

“Not a boyfriend.” Lan Xu paused for a beat, then freed up one hand to hold Lu Wuqi’s. “A girlfriend.”

They had already discussed going public a few days earlier. The plan was to post a friends-circle photo with their medals after the Sports Meet.

Capital University had a few low-class people, but overall, it was pretty open-minded. There were plenty of same-sex couples on campus, so coming out wouldn’t cause any real harm—just some minor attention.

That said, now was a pretty good time too. Once they went public, Lan Xu could cheer for Lu Wuqi completely openly.

“Huh?” The guys froze at Lan Xu’s words. Everyone quietly watching the scene was stunned too.

“Whoa! I told you!” A girl’s voice rang out. She shook her roommate’s arm frantically. “See? I called it! Nailed it!”

“Shh!” Her roommate’s toes curled in secondhand embarrassment as she forced a smile. “Sorry about that. My roommate’s just excited—she’s into shipping couples. Please ignore us.”

With that, the roommate dragged her away at top speed to avoid getting photographed and posted on the campus forum as the center of attention.

“Ah? Th-that—I’m really sorry! Sorry!” The guy’s face turned beet red at Lan Xu’s words.

Realizing he’d just tried to steal a department bigshot’s girlfriend right in front of her, his level of awkwardness rivaled the roommate’s.

“Be more careful next time.” Lu Wuqi said.

She could be a little petty, but not that petty. Before going public, this kind of thing was unavoidable.

“Xuxu is my girlfriend. Remember that.” Lu Wuqi couldn’t help adding. It might be unavoidable, but reminders were still necessary.

“You’re normal friends at most.” Lu Wuqi tacked on. As for contact info—don’t even think about it if you’re smart!

“Got it, big sis! Oh, I forgot to grab my clothes. See ya!” The guy struggled to keep a straight face, made up a lame excuse, and bolted—without even noticing he’d let “big sis” slip out loud for Lu Wuqi.

“Ah, our clothes aren’t collected either. Big sis, bye!” The other guys who’d been about to join in glanced at each other and followed suit, running off.

These freshmen had only been in university for two months—their faces weren’t thick enough yet. After the blunder, they scattered faster than anyone.

Lan Xu scratched at her cheek, feeling it heat up, and whispered, “Lu Wuqi, are you too scary? Or am I too intimidating?”

“It’s them who should be embarrassed,” Lu Wuqi summed up, swiftly changing the subject. “Tomorrow’s the sports meet. Want to go out for a nice meal?”

“Nah, the relay race is on the first day. Better to stick with cafeteria food—if we eat out and get stomach issues, that’ll be a problem.” Lan Xu thought for a moment. “How about noodles tonight, and soy milk with soup dumplings tomorrow morning?”

“Sure, whatever you say.” Lu Wuqi agreed readily. She took Lan Xu’s hand and headed toward the exit.

After walking a few steps, Lan Xu noticed the stares from all around. A wave of shyness welled up in her chest, making her steps a bit unsteady. Instinctively, she edged closer to Lu Wuqi.

Lu Wuqi tightened her grip on her girlfriend’s hand. “Tired from waiting so long? Want me to carry you?”

“No need—you’re the one who’s been training hard. If anyone’s carrying, it should be me carrying you.” Lan Xu quickly replied. “Which cafeteria are we hitting?”

They were already drawing eyes just from holding hands. If Lu Wuqi carried her, the crowd would double!

Lu Wuqi pondered for a second. “The farther one—Number Three?”

“Sounds good.” Lan Xu let out a quiet sigh of relief in her mind.

Going public with her relationship to Lu Wuqi wasn’t hard at all. The tricky part was dealing with all the extra attention afterward!

–

Eating at a farther cafeteria did help dodge some stares, but once Lan Xu got back to the dorm, her three roommates zeroed in on her immediately.

They dragged their chairs over, surrounding her like a three-person trial.

“Lan Xu! You and Lu Wuqi are dating?! How could you hide it from us?!” Yan Yuanyuan accused loudly.

“No wonder she tagged along when you volunteered—now it all makes sense!” Ai Jiaxin, who’d recommended food spots to them before, shook her head with a sigh. “How did you hold back from telling us?!”

“We’re not even the first to know! Lan Xu, has our friendship faded or what?!” Zhang Huai chimed in, her eyes brimming with obvious envy.

Lan Xu blinked in confusion. “How’d you all find out? I haven’t even posted on my Moments yet.”

“Of course we know! Your relationship announcement is already a hot post on the forums!” Yan Yuanyuan pulled out her phone.

“The school’s Confession Wall has it too—someone submitted it, photos and all!” Ai Jiaxin opened her social feed, letting the evidence speak for itself.

“Ah, we just admitted we’re together. No need for all this fanfare, right?” Just hearing this made Lan Xu’s breathing quicken.

It wasn’t fear—she just felt it was too flashy, plus a touch of embarrassment. Dating was just between her and Lu Wuqi. It wasn’t news or anything—how’d it blow up across Capital University?!

“Lan Xu, don’t you know how big a deal your girlfriend is on the forums?” Yan Yuanyuan couldn’t hold back. “Even if we’re not in Computer Science, we’ve heard bits and pieces.”

“What’ve you heard?” Lan Xu genuinely had no clue what made Lu Wuqi such a hot topic online. She was just her girlfriend.

Ai Jiaxin got that exasperated look of “what am I gonna do with you” and dove into the explanation. “Your Lu Wuqi’s been praised by tons of professors. Word is, she’s already got a spot in next semester’s national programming contest!”

Lan Xu nodded. “I know about that, but the roster isn’t out yet. These things aren’t set till the end.”

“Your girl skips class with zero issues! Heard once during roll call, eight people were absent. The other seven got half their participation grade docked—except her!” Yan Yuanyuan added from the side.

Lan Xu touched her nose sheepishly. “That’s ’cause Lu Wuqi was helping Teacher Wang test a program that day, so she got a pass.”

“And get this—your girl’s joined a senior’s studio! The kind that stamps legit internship proofs!” Zhang Huai jumped in. “Even tons of juniors can’t squeeze in!”

Lan Xu coughed lightly. Lu Wuqi had mentioned it, but it wasn’t just joining—she’d invested a month’s pay to become the senior’s business partner.

Still, hearing it summed up like this… Lu Wuqi really was amazing. Did she land herself an ultra-impressive girlfriend?

“So, dating Lu Wuqi—did I hit the jackpot?” Lan Xu reached up to rub her neck. “I’m not all that impressive myself.”

Yan Yuanyuan patted her shoulder. “You bet. Lu Wuqi’s a legend in Computer Science. But she doesn’t join activities much, and she’s not big on smiling, so no one’s dared confess to her.”

“No way? Lu Wuqi smiles a ton—she’s rarely not smiling.” Lan Xu refuted seriously. “Don’t spread rumors.”

“Pfft, of course she smiles around you, her girlfriend. But she’s not like that with others.” Zhang Huai sighed lightly. “Lan Xu, who knew you’d be the first of us to get a girlfriend.”

“Yeah, when did you two get together? Start of term?” Ai Jiaxin asked.

Lan Xu put on her innocent face again and answered honestly. “We started dating in our senior year of high school.”

“Senior year?!” Ai Jiaxin’s voice shot up. “So you’ve been hiding it from the jump?!”

“We weren’t close at the start of term. If I’d said right away I had a girlfriend, it’d feel weird.” Lan Xu raised her voice a bit to defend herself. “I never hid chatting with Lu Wuqi from you guys, right?”

“Oh yeah! First time I came to the dorm, I saw you two brushing teeth together!” Yan Yuanyuan smacked her thigh hard, grinning as she asked, “Lan Xu, you two didn’t… sleep together that night, did you?”

“Huh?” Lan Xu wasn’t sure how to respond.

That was over two months ago—how’d Yan Yuanyuan remember? Talk about a delayed reaction!

“There’s more?” Ai Jiaxin and Zhang Huai looked shocked.

“The dorm was empty except me, and I wasn’t used to it, so I asked Lu Wuqi to keep me company.” Lan Xu faced their sparkling eyes and pushed through. “We didn’t do anything—just slept. Don’t look at me like that. You’ve all crashed with friends before.”

“Lucky… I wanna date too.” Zhang Huai’s eyes stayed full of envy. She actually liked girls too, but as a perpetual single, she hadn’t even come out.

“Fine, since you were together before we met, we’ll let it slide this time.” Ai Jiaxin, who’d gotten her gossip fix, was satisfied for now. “But warning the other two—if you start dating, no hiding it from us!”

After half an hour of playful bickering, the topic of Lan Xu dating Lu Wuqi finally wrapped up.

As the one who’d kept it secret, Lan Xu meekly accepted her “punishment”—bringing her girlfriend to treat the other three to a massive hotpot feast.

They even scheduled it: right after the sports meet ended on Friday. No holding back until we’re drunk!

Without her roommates’ over-the-top reactions, Lan Xu wouldn’t have realized just how awesome her girlfriend was.

Meanwhile, over with Lu Wuqi—the forum news had spread, and her roommates knew too.

But when Lu Wuqi returned to the dorm, the other three didn’t dare grill her. They just asked for help with problems like always.

No helping it—Lu Wuqi was always in work mode in the dorm, stern and unsmiling. She didn’t seem like someone you could joke with!

Her roommates could only gossip wildly in their three-person group chat, sharing pics from the forums and swooning over how good the big shot looked smiling.

–

The sports meet opening ceremony was pretty standard—just with some famous alumni showing up, unlike other schools.

Once it wrapped, the thrilling 4×100 relay kicked off first.

Lu Wuqi changed into her track uniform and spikes, draping a jacket over as she jogged on the track to warm up and stay loose.

Lan Xu stood in the infield with a towel and water bottle, spine ramrod straight from all the sneaky glances thanks to their relationship.

“Be careful out there—some might overrun and can’t brake in time,” Lu Wuqi warned. As the referee got set, she shrugged off the jacket and handed it to Lan Xu.

“Got it. I’ll hug the inside. Go get ’em!” Lan Xu took the jacket, eyes full of her girlfriend. “I’ll be waiting at the finish line!”