Zheng Xiyu sent over a link. Tang Tianman opened it and discovered it was a post on the N University Forum.
The content concerned the two of them. Someone had snapped a photo of their farewell that evening under the dim glow of the streetlights—one tall figure and one short. Tang Tianman was tilting her head back and standing on tiptoe to gaze up at Zheng Xiyu, who looked down at her with remarkable gentleness.
The post itself was straightforward: ttt chased down zxy???
But the replies below were anything but. This was the Anonymous Section of the N University Forum, notorious for its gossip and savage commentary. Plenty of people were openly mocking or taking sly digs.
【This is straight-up dad walking his daughter!】
【The campus belle has turned down how many guys, and she goes for this?】
【These two don’t even look like they’re into girls—one of them doesn’t have short hair or anything.】
【Half the girls at the Sports Institute have gotta be into girls, right? All that stamina—the campus belle must love it.】
【Creepy dudes, buzz off. Sour grapes because you can’t have her. Let them do their thing—I think this photo is sweet as hell!】
Tang Tianman gave the last comment a like without a second thought.
For a candid shot, the photo was pretty good. It captured their expressions perfectly, and yeah, it did look sweet.
She saved the image, switched back to WeChat, and messaged Zheng Xiyu:
—You mind this?
Zheng Xiyu replied almost immediately:
—I’ve already requested deletion and reported it, but it’s too late. The admins probably won’t check until tomorrow.
Tang Tianman nodded to herself. Looked like Zheng Xiyu did mind.
Anyone would mind having their photo posted to an anonymous forum. Lowlifes were everywhere, and it felt disgusting to have strangers picking you apart.
Once Zheng Xiyu had explained the situation, the discomfort in Tang Tianman’s body eased. She felt perfectly calm now.
Because from childhood onward, she’d had her photos plastered all over the place countless times.
She used to argue with people back then, but she’d since realized online fights were pointless. Idiots behind screens never felt shame for their actions.
So Tang Tianman put it out of her mind. She figured she was like a grassroots celebrity—enjoying the perks of her looks meant dealing with the downsides too.
There had been posts like this before, but she and her friends had always reported them promptly for deletion.
She hadn’t expected Zheng Xiyu to spot this one tonight and bring it up with her.
Tang Tianman decided to offer some guidance to her little junior.
—When did you see the post?
—Before lights-out.
—You can’t sleep because of this?
—Yeah.
Tsk, so honest. Tang Tianman smacked her lips and kept chatting.
—Do you usually browse the forum?
—No. A teammate saw it and asked me about it—that’s how I found out.
—Oh. Well, browse around more and you’ll see this stuff is just people talking nonsense. Hardly anyone buys it.
—My teammate asked if we were dating.
—Hahaha, just tell her the truth.
—She’s a close friend, so I can tell her. But with others, I don’t get the chance to explain.
The smile on Tang Tianman’s face froze. She held her phone without typing for a long moment.
She actually cared this much?
If someone didn’t want rumors with you, it could mean they had a partner, or someone else in mind, or they just disliked you. None of those were great topics for WeChat right now.
Zheng Xiyu’s messages on WeChat felt icy cold. Tang Tianman couldn’t see her face or read her mood.
—When are you free? Let me treat you to dinner.
She sent it off.
—Saturday.
A moment later, Zheng Xiyu replied.
Tomorrow was Friday, so Saturday worked fine.
Tang Tianman said goodnight. She no longer felt like editing photos, so she shut down her computer and crawled back into bed.
But her mind was wide awake, constantly rehearsing how to talk to Zheng Xiyu when they met on Saturday.
The next day, Tang Tianman slept in late, missing her morning class entirely.
She decided to skip the first one altogether, staying in the dorm to organize materials for Activity Month.
The missing photos had been sorted out, so she could pick the best ones, print them on glossy paper, and hand them out to every classmate.
As for the rest… Tang Tianman stared at them for a good while before reining in her thoughts. She packed them away into a folder.
The day passed uneventfully. That evening, someone suddenly started calling Tang Tianman’s name from downstairs in the dormitory building.
Li Tong bounded out first. The balcony facing the dorm entrance was across from theirs. She dashed into the neighboring dorm and yelled like a whirlwind, “Lemme see, lemme see—which cocky little underclassman is this?”
The girl in the next room laughed. “It’s a girl.”
“A girl?” Li Tong frowned.
“Well, she looks like one. Pretty handsome, though.” The neighbor nudged Li Tong toward the balcony. “Come take a look.”
Li Tong peered over, her frown deepening.
She dashed back to their dorm like the wind and slammed the door behind her.
“Tangdou~” She called to Tang Tianman. “I think you might need to take action today.”
“Ignore her. She’ll leave when she gets tired of shouting.” Tang Tianman hated public confessions most of all—candles and all that crap. Tacky as hell.
“It’s a girl,” Li Tong said. “Short hair—like, super short. Leather jacket, Martin boots, total cool-girl vibe. Kinda handsome.”
Tang Tianman’s head throbbed. “If you like her, go down there yourself.”
“Nah. If I liked girls, it’d be someone like you.” Li Tong sidled up to her. “All soft and cute.”
Tang Tianman smacked her lightly on the head.
Five minutes later, Yang Qianqian from the next dorm knocked. “Tianman, she’s still down there. Quite a crowd’s gathered.”
Tang Tianman rolled out of bed and opened the door with a smile. “Sorry if we’re being noisy. Who’s still in your dorm?”
“Zhang Yi’s here.”
“Call her over. I’ve got new snacks—help yourselves.”
Yang Qianqian happily went to fetch her. The two came in, and Tang Tianman hauled out a big box of goodies.
“Take your time picking and eating. I’ve got homework to ask you about anyway.”
Put snacks in front of girls, and they formed a united front. The vibe turned instantly harmonious.
Li Tong practically shoved her head into the box, hunting for flavors she hadn’t tried.
They chattered about homework, griped about professors, and before long, half an hour had flown by.
“Alright.” Tang Tianman clapped her hands and stood. “Let’s go check if she’s still there.”
The three followed right behind her to the balcony. Tang Tianman didn’t hide—she leaned out openly for a look.
The crowd below had thinned to normal. The girl was gone.
“Nailed it.” Tang Tianman snapped her fingers, beaming.
“Pretty awkward. I couldn’t last five minutes,” Zhang Yi said.
“Yeah, and she was holding a huge bouquet of roses.” Yang Qianqian turned to Tang Tianman. “Do you know her, Tianman?”
“Probably not,” Tang Tianman replied.
“Probably?”
“I didn’t get a good look at her face, so who knows. But if she knew me, she’d have messaged first, right?”
Li Tong grinned. “Your messages are a black hole. You block people like it’s a habit.”
“Simple and effective.” Tang Tianman tugged Li Tong to head back.
Zhang Yi stopped her. “Can I ask you something?”
Tang Tianman raised her hand smoothly. “My orientation’s fluid. It’s about the person, not the gender. If I like them, it works. If not, it doesn’t.”
“You’re awesome.” Yang Qianqian clapped for her.
“You could be too.” Tang Tianman winked at her.
Back in their room with the door shut, Li Tong dragged Tang Tianman to a chair and sat her down. She lowered her voice. “You really gonna let everyone keep misunderstanding?”
“What misunderstanding?” Tang Tianman looked up at her.
Li Tong was even more worked up. “That you like girls.”
“I just said—orientation’s fluid.” Tang Tianman shoved her playfully. “It’s a new era. Loosen up.”
“That’s theory. Reality’s different.” Li Tong pressed. “Someone’s bound to post about a girl confessing to you tonight. Keep this up, and everyone assumes. What if you meet a guy you like later?”
“Tell him.”
“…”
“He’d feel honored—a bisexual like me picking him out of everyone.”
“I’m being serious.”
“So am I.”
Li Tong slapped the table. “Fine.”
Sure enough, before long, a new post about Tang Tianman topped the Anonymous Section homepage.
When Li Tong told her, Tang Tianman was reading with a popping candy in her mouth. “Mm-hmm. Baby, report it for me.”
“Already did. Used to lurk your drama posts for fun—now it’s straight to report.” Li Tong eyed her. “You…”
“What can I do? Look at celebrities—only big scandals get a studio statement. This is small potatoes.”
“Ugh, with that attitude, debut as an idol already.” Li Tong ignored her and burrowed into her own bed.
Tang Tianman flipped through her book but couldn’t focus anymore.
She thought of Zheng Xiyu again, and their chat from last night.
With Zheng Xiyu’s personality, she’d probably spend the whole day glued to the forum, waiting for the post to be deleted. If she saw this new one, who knew what she’d think.
Tang Tianman herself didn’t care, but she didn’t want to drag anyone else down.
She opened WeChat and messaged Weak Chirpy Little Kitten:
—What do you want to eat tomorrow?
Zheng Xiyu was probably training again; it took a while for her to reply.
—Senior Sister, sorry—a last-minute match got added the day after tomorrow, so I’m heading to C City with the team tomorrow morning.
Tang Tianman tossed her phone aside, thoroughly annoyed.
She suspected that Zheng Xiyu was deliberately avoiding her.
But she couldn’t just send a message asking directly. If Zheng Xiyu simply replied that she wasn’t, Tang Tianman would only end up even more embarrassed.
She desperately wanted to clear the air with Zheng Xiyu and figure out her stance. That would determine whether they should keep in touch going forward.
The more Tang Tianman thought about it, the more impatient she grew. Her heart burned with frustration, and she yanked back the curtain, calling out to Li Tong, “Tong, could you do me a favor and hang out in the dorm next door for five minutes? I need to make a call.”
The only way to make their dorm fully soundproof was to shut both the front and back doors and have one person stay inside alone.
Li Tong glanced at her expression and saw she was teetering on the edge of anger. She immediately rolled off her bed. “Sure, sure, sure.”
Grabbing her phone and slipping on her slippers, she dashed out.
No one wanted to face Tang Tianman’s wrath. She was fine most of the time, but when she got mad, she turned into Little Yama.
In the sudden silence, Tang Tianman dialed the number. Worried she wouldn’t be able to pace properly on the bed, she got up and stood on the floor.
The call connected almost immediately. Zheng Xiyu’s voice came through. “Hello.”
There was a slight breathlessness in her tone.
“Are you training?” Tang Tianman asked.
“Yeah.”
“Isn’t training supposed to be no phones?”
“It’s a break. I was afraid you needed something.”
Afraid you needed something. Tang Tianman pursed her lips, thinking this girl wasn’t quite as pure and straightforward as she let on. She knew how to play her cards when it mattered.
“What could I possibly need?” Tang Tianman said.
“I’ve been checking the forum all day. That post got deleted around noon. But…”
“You really care that much about it?” Tang Tianman cut her off. “Is being linked to me causing you any trouble?”
Her voice turned remarkably calm at that point. If Zheng Xiyu so much as hinted at any inconvenience, Tang Tianman was ready to rattle off eight hundred solutions on the spot.
Of course, the most effective one would be for them to pretend they never knew each other from here on out.
She took a deep breath, steeling herself. But Zheng Xiyu’s response sounded genuinely confused. “Trouble?”
“Yeah,” Tang Tianman listed them off one by one. “Afraid people will think you’re gay, afraid your classmates will gossip, afraid it’ll cause misunderstandings with a guy you like and mess up your relationship.”
“Are you afraid of that?” Zheng Xiyu asked her in return.
“I’m not afraid at all. Someone like me, who’s always the center of attention wherever I go, wouldn’t sweat something like that.” Tang Tianman struck a domineering CEO pose. “Anything I want, I’ll get it no matter what.”
“Mm. If you’re not afraid, then it’s no trouble for me,” Zheng Xiyu said.
“???” Tang Tianman gripped her phone tighter.
“I don’t have a boyfriend right now,” Zheng Xiyu continued, “and I probably won’t in the future either.”
