Chapter 26

The three people in the room were all stunned.

It wasn’t as if the Sports Institute had never delivered water before. During Activity Month a while back, the Sports College loved pulling stunts like that. Guys would show up to help out the dorms with more girls.

It was a chance to flex their physical prowess, chat up some pretty girls, fill water jugs, fix computers, unclog drains—overall, a harmonious little interaction laced with shy awkwardness.

But those events were always bunched together, and that time had long passed.

Plus, even if Zheng Xiyu was tall and strong, she was still a girl. One girl delivering water to other girls? That was something no one had ever heard of, let alone seen.

“Tsk, tsk…” Li Tong shook her head.

“Sigh…” Ruan Ruan let out a long breath.

Li Tong hooked her arm. “So what about us?”

Ruan Ruan said, “Let’s head to 523. Their dorm head has a little hamster.”

Li Tong nodded. “Deal. At least there’s something to do.”

Tang Tianman had just been shooing her roommates out, but now that they were actually leaving, something felt off.

She grabbed Ruan Ruan’s arm. “Actually, it’s not necessary…”

Ruan Ruan pursed her lips. “Who knows.”

Li Tong chimed in, “Yeah, our room’s got everything. If your bed isn’t big enough…”

Tang Tianman kicked her.

Ruan Ruan shook off her hand. “If you two really have something going on, just spit it out. We’ll treat if we have to, or chip in our share…”

Tang Tianman said, “You guys go ahead.”

Ruan Ruan and Li Tong laughed as they turned and pulled open the dorm door.

Zheng Xiyu stood outside, her head nearly brushing the doorframe. She had a bucket of purified water slung over her shoulder in the most standard pose imaginable.

The two quickly stepped back to clear a path.

“Put it down, put it down—that thing’s heavy,” Ruan Ruan said, kicking aside a stool that was in the way.

“Not heavy,” Zheng Xiyu replied with a smile, setting the bucket down light as a feather, like she’d just shrugged off a little backpack.

Li Tong eyed the bucket, then Zheng Xiyu, curiosity piqued. “How much can you carry, anyway?”

Zheng Xiyu said, “Not sure.”

Li Tong asked, “Tangdou’s weight?”

Zheng Xiyu laughed. “No problem.”

Li Tong went, “Tsk.”

Ruan Ruan added, “Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

Tang Tianman said, “Hamsters are so cute.”

Li Tong rolled her eyes. Ruan Ruan flashed her an OK sign and dragged her out.

The door clicked shut. Zheng Xiyu had been here before; she swapped out their water with familiar ease, not a hint of shyness.

And talk about perfect timing—the last bucket was bone dry.

Tang Tianman stared at it. Zheng Xiyu seemed to read her mind. “Last time I was in your dorm, it looked about empty.”

Tang Tianman said, “You must have a good eye for that.”

Zheng Xiyu smiled. “Send me the edited photos when they’re done. I’ll head out.”

Tang Tianman blinked. “???”

What was this? She was really just here to deliver water? She’d talked more to Tang Tianman’s roommates than to her, then patted her butt and left—no, she hadn’t even done that. Way too casual.

Tang Tianman stared at her. Zheng Xiyu clearly had no plans to stick around. She waved bye-bye and reached for the door.

“You…” Tang Tianman started.

“Got class,” Zheng Xiyu said.

“Oh.”

Zheng Xiyu had wiped off her makeup, taken down her hair, and changed clothes. She looked like her usual self for classes and training.

She’d dazzled Tang Tianman in a rush earlier, then circled back for no reason. Tang Tianman looked up at her head and realized that aside from her hair, which looked like it’d been permed into loose curls, everything from that morning might as well not have happened.

Zheng Xiyu waited for her cue.

Tang Tianman waved her off. “See you.”

Zheng Xiyu nodded. Before stepping out, she fished two candies from her pocket and set them on the desk.

The dorm fell quiet again. Tang Tianman eyed the candies—her favorite flavor.

Ruan Ruan and Li Tong got dragged back by Zheng Xiyu from someone else’s dorm.

Li Tong grumbled, “What’s the big idea? I didn’t even get a good look at that hamster’s face.”

Ruan Ruan glanced around the room. “Where’s the person?”

“She left,” Tang Tianman said. “Just dropping off water. Doesn’t take long.”

Li Tong tsked.

Tang Tianman popped a candy into her mouth. “Tsk-tsking all day. Isn’t your mouth tired?”

It was pretty tired.

No—pretty sour.

The candy was pretty sour.

With no more interruptions, Li Tong clambered back onto her favorite bed. Ruan Ruan saw that Tang Tianman wasn’t in the mood to chat, so she slung on her bag and headed off to camp out in the library.

Tang Tianman sat down at her computer, imported the photos, and spent the whole afternoon editing.

College life was, all in all, just this: bland, boring, and dull.

That evening, Tang Tianman sent the photos to Zheng Xiyu. Their chats went back to normal.

Sometimes Tang Tianman couldn’t figure out where her inexplicable irritation came from—or where it vanished to.

Either way, from then on, whenever she opened her phone’s photo album and saw their selfie, it just felt… good.

A solid underclassman. They’d chat a bit whenever things were free. As long as Zheng Xiyu wasn’t training, she replied right away.

After that, just as Zheng Xiyu had predicted, bright sunny days grew rare.

One rain chased the next, temperatures plummeting until N City’s winter arrived with a chill in the air.

The days until the CUVA Regionals were running out. Zheng Xiyu was either in class or training; Tang Tianman felt exhausted just hearing about her packed schedule.

Compared to Zheng Xiyu’s grind, the whole 4520 dorm felt downright lazy.

Mid-semester, a few enthusiastic professors threw together a pop quiz. Tang Tianman had sharp comprehension and adapted well to flexible formats—they suited her perfectly. She ended up taking first in the literature theory midterm.

The whole class was floored.

Tang Tianman was pretty enough already. She thrived in the Student Union, aced socializing, could write and shoot photos with talent to spare—and now her grades weren’t just average? No way.

People like her had life on easy mode.

On the surface, Tang Tianman played it cool, shrugging it off to her classmates. It was just a pop quiz, nothing like a full formal exam. She’d gotten lucky with questions that played to her strengths.

But back in the dorm, 4520 partied hard that night with a few drinks and planned a big feast out the next day.

“We only cut loose like this with the door shut…” Li Tong slumped in her chair, rubbing her round belly. “Sigh, tall trees catch the wind, people fear fame as pigs fear getting fat. Our Tangdou’s so damn excellent, I don’t even dare hype her up usually. You might not believe this, but…”

Ruan Ruan, who lived for gossip, leaned in. “Spill it.”

Li Tong sighed dramatically for effect, then dropped her voice. “Last year’s activist push—why do you think our Tangdou lost to Zhang Zhuguo?”

Ruan Ruan rolled her eyes. “Obvious. Our class only has two guys—they’re treated like gold.”

Li Tong snorted. “He’s a real piece of work.”

Ruan Ruan agreed. “He sure is.”

Li Tong went on, “Back then, he was all over helping girls, this and that, even handing out candy dorm to dorm. Can you believe it?”

Ruan Ruan said, “He skipped ours.”

Li Tong nodded. “Petty piece of work.”

Ruan Ruan added, “It’s just girls rubbing each other the wrong way. Dou’er being pretty alone draws haters. Last year, when her uncle dropped her off at school, someone snidely said, ‘No wonder our Dou’er can afford luxury skincare…'”

Tang Tianman spoke up. “She wasn’t wrong. If my dad wasn’t bankrolling me, I couldn’t even afford meals—let alone skincare.”

Li Tong said, “My little Bean—is that why you’re so low-key about buying stuff now?”

Tang Tianman chuckled. “Nah. I just like treating you guys to food and drinks.”

Ruan Ruan shook her head. “And you’re still laughing…”

Tang Tianman stayed calm. “Blame my dad striking it rich midway. He never drilled any born-princess vibe into me. Who doesn’t get sour over sudden wealth? You haven’t dealt with our distant relatives—surviving their holiday jabs makes school drama feel like child’s play. Kinda cute, even.”

Li Tong grabbed her hand. “That’s why I love you: princess fate, zero princess syndrome.”

Tang Tianman replied, “Don’t love you. Thanks.”

Li Tong clung on. “I know. You love that… that… Big Tree Branch! Buying her designer stuff, snapping couple pics, movie nights in the dark, all that hugging and tugging—what’s that about!”

Tang Tianman looked at Ruan Ruan. “She’s lost it, huh.”

Ruan Ruan laughed. “She flips out every so often—you know that. But hey, wanna invite Zheng Xiyu tomorrow? Haven’t seen her in ages. Kinda miss her.”

Tang Tianman said, “Didn’t we see her on the field during sports elective last time?”

Ruan Ruan got mad. “That’s your sports elective! No us! None!”

Li Tong piled on. “Right! Your moonlight rendezvous!”

Tang Tianman slapped the table. “Moonlight sports class? That 3% booze soda’s got you sloshed.”

Li Tong grinned. “Broad daylight tryst under clear skies! Damn, that sounds even hotter.”

Ruan Ruan nearly cracked up. Tang Tianman couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing too.

She had indeed met up with Zheng Xiyu privately a few times—some encounters purely by chance, others not quite so coincidental.

But they were all perfectly ordinary moments, perfectly ordinary activities: chatting for a while, walking a short distance together, sharing an umbrella, grabbing a meal.

Everything happened on campus, never lasting long, with interactions that stayed light and casual.

The most Zheng Xiyu ever did was smile at her, or occasionally tug her arm to steer her clear of passing cars or pedestrians.

Tang Tianman found it all quite comfortable. That manic, awkward mood of hers slowly eased, settling into a calm and gentle state.

And in a way, it drew her even closer to Zheng Xiyu.

“She can’t make it tomorrow,” Tang Tianman said. She had just chatted with Zheng Xiyu that morning. “She’s been insanely busy lately. Their coach has lost it. If it weren’t for classes, they’d probably lock the whole team in the Training Hall and not let them out for a single step.”

“Ah, I can understand that,” Ruan Ruan said. “Poor little thing.”

“Big-time pitiful—enormously pitiful,” Li Tong added.

Tang Tianman shifted the topic. “I feel like someone’s getting jealous of me, or maybe it’s because I’m not excellent enough yet. Anyway, no hiding it from you all today: I’ve discovered a bit of the joy in studying. I’m ready to cast aside all distractions and study hard every day to make real progress.”

“Tomorrow, I’ll reserve a spot for you in the library,” Ruan Ruan said. “No leaving until lights-out.”

“Teacher Lin asked if I wanted to join her new research project,” Tang Tianman replied.

Li Tong’s eyes went wide. “Damn! You’re charging full speed down the road to becoming a top student—no turning back!”

Ruan Ruan had the most experience with this. She was the best student in their dorm on average and interacted with teachers the most. “It mainly depends on you and whether you’re interested.”

Tang Tianman thought it over. “I think it sounds fun. I want to give it a try.”

Ruan Ruan was all for it. “Go ahead. Teacher Lin is great—she’ll motivate you to read more.”

Li Tong raised her soda—the kind with just three percent alcohol—and chugged a huge mouthful. “You’re all abandoning me in this cruel, heartless world with no room for slackers!”

Tang Tianman didn’t truly believe she was on her way to becoming a top student. She just felt a spark of interest and wanted to play around with it.

Lately, the weather had been lousy, putting a damper on outdoor activities. Their classes weren’t as packed, either, leaving her with a vague sense of boredom.

Especially since she knew Zheng Xiyu was grinding away at training every single day.

Especially after seeing those fingers of Zheng Xiyu’s, wrapped in bandages that couldn’t even stop the blood from seeping through.

When Tang Tianman asked about it, Zheng Xiyu brushed it off breezily: she’d just bumped a nail.

Tang Tianman even suspected the whole nail might have been knocked clean off.

The thought left her feeling indignant. In the end, it boiled down to something like: “My friends are all working so hard, and here I am, a total slacker. I don’t deserve to be friends with her.”

The day she agreed to join Teacher Lin’s project, the teacher handed her a long reading list.

Tang Tianman planted herself in the library from dawn till dusk. When the administrator finally started shooing people out, she scooped up her stack of books and hurried toward the exit, feeling just like the determined heroine in some motivational movie.

The sensation was exhilarating, brimming with joy.

She couldn’t resist sharing it with Zheng Xiyu.

With her hands wrapped so tightly, typing was a hassle. Training was probably wrapping up by now anyway, so she just hit the voice call button.

It rang a few times before connecting.

“What are you up to?” Tang Tianman asked.

“Just got back to the dorm,” Zheng Xiyu replied.

Zheng Xiyu’s dorm was in Building 18, quite a hike from Tang Tianman’s Building 9. But the library sat right in the middle, and in Tang Tianman’s mind, that “quite a hike” suddenly shrank to nothing.

It felt close now—really close.

“I’ve got something to tell you,” Tang Tianman said, her voice laced with excitement. “Don’t move. This time, I’m coming to you.”

“Okay.” Zheng Xiyu gave her dorm room number and added, “Where are you right now?”

“Don’t worry about where I am. See you in a bit.” Tang Tianman hung up quickly.

She shoved her phone into her pocket and crammed all the books into her backpack any which way she could. Then she tugged the shoulder straps tight, deciding this weight wasn’t some fearsome enemy—it was the crack of a starting gun, urging her onward.

“On your marks—” she called to herself.

“Run!!!”

And with that, she shot off like a little cannonball, straight toward her target: Zheng Xiyu.