"You’re so cold. Are you playing hard to get?"
"I know you don’t have a girlfriend."
Gag!
Jiang Yao’s blood pressure shot up. She clutched her stomach, pretending to retch.
’What a delusional, conceited girl. He already said he was off to comfort his girlfriend, so what are you fantasizing about?’
’You think my young master is a top-laner or something? That he needs to play games and string you along?’
Jiang Yao cursed inwardly. ’Looks like I need to turn up the heat! Time to show you what a real duel looks like!’
She furiously typed out three words:
"You’re overthinking it."
...
Lanjing, in a women’s dorm.
Liu Tingyue was lying on her stomach on her dorm bed, her legs crossed and swinging back and forth.
When she saw Chen Yuan’s reply, she wasn’t angry. Instead, a smile graced the corners of her lips.
"What are you doing? Come down and play mahjong, Yueyue," called a few girls huddled together below her bunk.
It was pouring rain, so there was nowhere to go. They could only hole up in their dorm, where the entertainment options were limited to video games and mahjong.
Of course, some people were studying, like her roommate Qi Mengxin, who was preparing for the graduate school entrance exam and was reading a book right now.
"You guys play, I’m chatting with someone," she answered nonchalantly.
"Who? That jock from last time?"
"No, I’m talking to Chen Yuan."
"Oh, really! You haven’t snagged that freshman yet? How far have you gotten?"
"I feel like... he’s not as innocent as I imagined. He seems to know how to play games, which is kind of sparking my desire to conquer him," Liu Tingyue said, twirling a strand of hair at her forehead with a raised eyebrow.
"Ooh~ ’Just like that, I was conquered by you~’" the girl sang teasingly, clasping her hands together. "’Drinking the poison you hid away!’"
"Get lost!"
Liu Tingyue shot her a look and typed a reply to Chen Yuan.
"I don’t believe you!"
"[Shiba Inu with paws on hips.jpg]"
...
Jiang Yao:
"If you don’t believe me, Senior Sister, you can call me. I’ll prove it to you."
...
Liu Tingyue understood immediately.
’You’re so smooth, Junior!’
’Moving on to a sweet voice call already, are we?’
She quickly sat up, composed herself, and cleared her throat twice, finding just the right mood before tapping the voice call button and dialing.
Liu Tingyue was filled with anticipation. She knew Chen Yuan wasn’t just handsome; his voice was also quite pleasant. It was the kind of voice that, the moment he spoke in a game, would have female players swooning.
For someone like her, who had a bit of a thing for voices, this was perfect!
...
Fengting District.
"Young Master, she doesn’t believe me! She said she’s going to call you. She’s so annoying!" Jiang Yao whined with a pained look on her face, tattling with a sense of grievance. "She has absolutely no sense of boundaries."
Even though she was the one who suggested the call, she was pinning the blame on Liu Tingyue.
Shameless!
When it came to being a "green tea," Jiang Yao refused to lose to Liu Tingyue. The only way to deal with a woman like that was to fight fire with fire—by being an even bigger "green tea" than she was.
"Huh? Why the sudden phone call?" Chen Yuan hadn’t even processed it yet when the phone was shoved in his face. A voice call was actually coming through.
And Jiang Yao had enthusiastically pressed the answer button for him and placed the phone by his ear.
On the other end of the line.
A few seconds after the call connected, a magnetic, lazy voice came through, its pitch slowly rising, sounding both mournful and delighted.
"Junior... why aren’t you saying anything?"
Just from the sound of her voice, you could feel a hint of flirtation, like a light feather brushing against your heart.
"I really am busy, Senior Sister Liu. It’s mainly that I—"
Chen Yuan wanted to tell her the truth—that he was with his girlfriend—to crush any ideas Liu Tingyue might have. But he was only halfway through his sentence when Jiang Yao, who was right beside him, suddenly parted her lips, puffed out her cheeks, and called out in a voice so cloyingly sweet it could give you goosebumps, "Brother Chen Yuan~ who are you on the phone with?"
His scalp instantly went numb.
Meanwhile, in the Landa University women’s dorm, Liu Tingyue was equally stunned. She gripped her phone, completely petrified.
"..."
An eerie silence fell.
It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
BEEP—
The call was abruptly disconnected.
The next second, Jiang Yao was covering her mouth, doubled over with laughter. She threw herself onto the sofa, repeatedly punching the soft cushions.
"Hee hee hee..."
She was laughing so hard she was about to cry.
’I’d love to see the look on that ’green tea’ senior’s face right now!’
...
As night fell, the heavy rain seemed to shut down all of Lanjing. The usual clamor of traffic from outside was gone, and the streets were deserted. Only the towering skyscrapers remained, their lights still shining brightly.
This was Jiang Yao’s first time spending the night away from home, and she was filled with an indescribable feeling.
It was a mix of fear and excitement, but mostly, it was bashfulness and thrill.
She lay under the soft, clean comforter, her hair, now dry, fanned out around her. Chen Yuan had just finished blow-drying it for her. Amidst the WHOOSH of hot air, they had chatted idly about nothing in particular, carefully avoiding the topic of sleeping in the same bedroom that night.
Perhaps for two people who had never been in a situation like this, the subject was just too awkward to bring up.
So, they would just let things happen naturally.
Jiang Yao thought Chen Yuan’s bed was very soft, and the comforter seemed freshly washed. It probably wouldn’t be too uncomfortable tonight. She pretended to play on her phone, but her eyes kept darting toward the two pillows at the head of the bed.
Her thoughts were a chaotic mess. A tiny Jiang Yao in her mind was exclaiming, ’Oh my god, who would have thought we’d actually be sleeping in the same bed! Is this a dream?’ The tiny Jiang Yao pinched her own thigh just to prove that this was no fantasy.
This was reality, something that was really about to happen.
While overwhelmed with a mix of emotions, Jiang Yao was also terrified her older sister would call to check up on her. She was chatting in a group chat, but her heart skipped a beat with every buzz of a new message notification.
In the study.
Of course, Chen Yuan had no idea what Jiang Yao was thinking. The lights in the room were bright. Several books were spread out on the desk, and he was studying the problems within them. Since he had resolved to study hard, he couldn’t just say it; he had to take real action.
Romance was sweet and lovely, but he couldn’t neglect his studies. Sticking together every single moment would ruin the beauty that comes with a little distance.
Time slowly passed...
He didn’t know how much time had gone by, but Chen Yuan had become completely absorbed, utterly immersed in the sea of knowledge.
Until the door was slowly pushed open.
He didn’t hear it. Jiang Yao had to knock on the doorframe before Chen Yuan snapped out of it as if waking from a dream.
"Ahem—"
Jiang Yao didn’t dare to look at him. "It’s ten-thirty now," she said shyly. "Shouldn’t you be getting some rest?"
With the pouring rain punctuated by thunder, she really couldn’t fall asleep. She had been waiting for Chen Yuan to finish studying and come to the bedroom.