“Thank you for being understanding, Luo Yueli. I still have something to take care of, so I’ll be going first.”
Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Su Yichen picked up the mineral water bottle from the ground, tossed it into the trash can, and apologized once more before leaving.
“Jiang Jingjie, and the two seniors…” A trace of apology appeared on Luo Yueli’s face. “I need to head back to the dorm to change my clothes first.”
“Uh… alright.”
Jiang Jingjie could only watch as Luo Yueli turned around and walked farther and farther away in the direction they had come from.
“Hot pot place… hot pot place…”
Luo Yueli didn’t return to the dorm. Instead, she held her phone and walked along the street, scanning as she went, until she stopped in front of a wine-red doorway.
“Found it. ‘I’m Crazy for Hot Pot.’”
Pushing open the glass door, she spotted Su Yichen sitting at the innermost table at a glance.
“You got here fast?”
Su Yichen set his phone down on the table and looked at her with a smile. “And you didn’t go back to change?”
His tone was calm, but carried a hint of familiarity, as if greeting an old friend.
After speaking, he glanced at the deviation value.
It hadn’t increased.
Over the past few days of interacting with Luo Yueli, Su Yichen had figured something out.
If he wanted to change their relationship and break free from the constraints of the ‘Luo Yueli’s simp’ persona, he had to take the initiative himself.
Because Luo Yueli seemed not to understand how to shift the nature of their relationship. Even after that so-called “breakup,” there had been no real progress between them.
It was time to give her a death sentence.
A gentle one, named ‘childhood friend.’
“The skirt is just a little wet. It’ll dry in a bit.”
After saying that, Luo Yueli even gave a little sway in front of him. When Su Yichen lowered his gaze, he saw the damp hem of her skirt clinging to her legs.
That was his handiwork from earlier.
His eyes brushed past her fair, slender calves and the soft, delicate feet in strappy sandals, but he didn’t linger.
Leaning back in his chair, he said, “I’ve already ordered. Take a look and see if you want to add anything.”
“…Okay.”
Luo Yueli sat down across from him and skimmed through the menu.
Most of it was what she liked.
“Mm, this is fine.”
After a moment’s thought, she added a few dishes that Su Yichen liked before handing the menu to the waiting server.
He still remembers quite clearly.
The corners of her lips lifted unconsciously as she recalled the moment earlier when he had helped her out.
She felt like she would remember that version of Su Yichen for a very, very long time—even someday in the distant future, when she had grown old.
Thinking about it still brought a faint, bittersweet feeling that made her heart race.
“You seem to be in a good mood?”
“Of course~”
Resting her elbows on the table, she interlaced her fingers and propped her chin on the back of her hands. “I didn’t want to go eat with them.”
Then she blinked playfully. “Good thing I ran into you.”
“If you didn’t want to, why were you with Jiang Jingjie and the others?” Su Yichen took a sip of the warm buckwheat tea and asked lazily.
“Because we were rehearsing for the freshman welcome gala, so I ended up staying late. Jiang Jingjie plays guitar, right? He’s doing a singing performance.”
She didn’t hide anything and continued, “Those four seniors are from the student union. He probably knows I’m interested in joining.”
“I also happened to say I had nothing going on tonight, so he suggested we have dinner together.”
“Since one of the seniors is a department head in the student union, and I’d already let it slip before, I couldn’t find a good reason to refuse.”
“I see.”
Su Yichen set down his porcelain cup. The unfinished tea rippled slightly. “Jiang Jingjie probably likes you. I often hear him mention your name back in the dorm.”
“When I spilled water on you earlier, those seniors looked at him first before looking at me.”
“I think they all know him.”
“I don’t like him. He even treated Xiaoya to milk tea before, trying to find out what I think of him.”
Then she hesitated. “By the way, Yichen, Jiang Jingjie is your roommate… about what happened today…”
After having just sentenced Jiang Jingjie to death in the realm of romance, Luo Yueli suddenly grew worried. “He won’t cause trouble for you, right?”
“Why would I be afraid of him causing trouble for me?”
Su Yichen curved his lips slightly, his tone a little carefree. “I didn’t do anything to him. I was just walking while looking at my phone and accidentally spilled water on you.”
“I… I’m worried it might affect your relationship as roommates. After all, you’ll be living together for four years.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
Su Yichen said, “He’s just my roommate. And you’re my childhood friend. No matter what happens, I’ll stand on your side.”
“We are childhood friends.”
Luo Yueli didn’t respond immediately. She parted her lips slightly, her bright eyes studying him as if seeing him for the first time.
After a moment, she looked away, a faint blush spreading across her fair cheeks. “Yichen… why do I feel like… you’ve changed?”
Su Yichen’s eyelids twitched. He pulled up the void realm panel and glanced at the deviation value, his expression unchanged. “Yueli, I’ve been thinking carefully about this lately.”
“If our relationship is going to change, your effort alone isn’t enough. I need to do something too—and more than before.”
After saying that, he checked the deviation value again from the corner of his eye.
Luckily, it hadn’t increased.
The first step had been taken.
From here, he could slowly make changes, bit by bit, until her impression of him completely shifted—until they became true friends, true childhood friends… instead of that abnormal relationship from before.
At that point, even if Luo Yueli were present, the deviation value probably wouldn’t rise anymore.
With that thought, Su Yichen picked up two plates of fatty beef from the small cart the server had just brought over and slid them into the boiling hot pot.
He really does seem different now.
Luo Yueli watched him quietly as he added the ingredients to the pot.
Her eyes shimmered like a lake stirred by a gentle breeze.
But when she saw the steam from the hot pot fog up his glasses completely, she pressed her lips together and let out a soft, suppressed laugh.
Honestly…
Still just as clumsy.
Who wears glasses while eating hot pot? And doesn’t even take them off?
So Luo Yueli stood up and leaned forward. While Su Yichen was busy adding meat to the pot, she gently pinched his glasses and slowly removed them, smiling.
“Yichen, you should take your glasses off when you eat, otherwise—”
Her voice suddenly stopped.
The gentle smile froze on her lips as she stared blankly at the boy’s flawless, breathtaking face.
It was like witnessing, at the end of spring in April, a sudden bolt of awe cast down from the heavens along with a soft, drifting breeze.
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