Moonlight flowed through the window frames, soaking the floor in a wash of fragmented silver frost.
Ye Zhou tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. His bloodshot eyes were wide as he stared blankly at the ceiling.
He finally understood what Jiang Yingxue meant before she left.
Why her treating him to a seafood delivery was a punishment rather than a reward.
Most of that seafood consisted of sea cucumbers, oysters, sea bass, and sardines—all potent supplements for boosting male vitality.
It was all because the seafood was not only incredibly fresh but also tasted impeccable.
Without realizing it, Ye Zhou had stuffed himself until his stomach was ready to burst. Now, the only things left in the corners of his eyes were tears of regret for his lack of foresight.
At this moment, a ball of fire was trapped in his heart, leaping about restlessly—if he didn’t find a way to vent it, he would be in real misery.
Ultimately, he got up and rushed into the bathroom to take a cold shower, which made him feel much better.
By the time he returned to bed, his strength seemed to have been drained away. His heavy eyelids sank like lead, and he quickly drifted off.
***
Ye Zhou slept fitfully until the next day. Smacking his lips, he lazily peeled his eyes open.
The alarm clock on the bedside table prominently displayed the time as 10:00 AM.
In his dazed state, Ye Zhou remembered that he had a basic required course exam this afternoon.
However, it was still very early. He could sleep until 12:00 PM, order a nice Pin Hao Fan meal on Meituan, and then head to school to prepare. There was plenty of time!
Thinking this, he smacked his lips again, closed his eyes, and rolled over.
At the same time, the Daily Intelligence in his mind began to refresh:
[Today’s Intel: Su Zhihan began rehearsing for the play, Finding Oneself in the Mirror, today. Unfortunately, because you did not keep your promise to her, she has been unable to focus, making frequent mistakes during the rehearsal.
Seeing this, Lin Shulan, who is in charge of the direction, criticized Su Zhihan severely. Su Zhihan buried her head and ran into the restroom to hide. No matter how much Lin Shulan apologizes, she refuses to come out, leaving the two sides in a deadlock.]
Hearing this, Ye Zhou’s eyes snapped open as if he had been electrocuted. He sprang out of bed and scrambled to find his phone, eventually fishing it out from under the bed.
Filled with self-reproach, he turned on the screen.
“Oh no… I’m finished. Now that I’ve broken my promise, what’s the difference between me and a man who can’t be trusted?”
“But Su Zhihan should have told me in advance. She’s such a riddle-monger; how was I supposed to know her rehearsals started today?”
But when more than a dozen missed call notifications from Su Zhihan—dating from 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM—popped up at the top of the screen, he realized he had misunderstood her.
Evidently, he had been sleeping so soundly that even if the sky had fallen, it wouldn’t have woken him.
There were even messages from Su Zhihan on the Green Bubble from as early as 7:00 AM.
「Su Zhihan: Student Ye, are you awake?」
「Su Zhihan: Student Ye?」
「Su Zhihan: Are you awake yet?」
「Su Zhihan: ???」
Actually, they had exchanged phone numbers on the very first day they met. The reason was simple: if there was something important happening in the Drama Club that the other didn’t know about, they could contact each other quickly—and wasn’t this the perfect time for that?
With a heart full of anxiety, Ye Zhou mentally prepared an apology and tried to call Su Zhihan back.
He cleared his throat, ready to speak, but after the phone rang for a while, only a cold, electronic female voice answered:
“The number you have dialed is currently powered off. Please try again later…”
At that moment, Ye Zhou knew he had to move immediately. It wasn’t too late yet; at least the situation wasn’t beyond repair—hopefully.
So, he rushed into the bathroom for a quick wash and bolted out without even thinking about breakfast. However, he doubled back as soon as he reached the ground floor, quickly kicking off his slippers and pulling on a pair of sneakers.
It wouldn’t matter much at school, but didn’t he have his dignity to maintain on the way there?
***
As Ye Zhou pedaled a shared bike toward the school, his eyes scanned left and right. He was looking for a dessert shop that looked decent.
After all, how should he put it? He didn’t eat sweets very often. It wasn’t that he disliked them; he just occasionally had a few bites when he had a craving.
He only remembered that Su Zhihan seemed to love desserts.
What did she say last time?
“Uh… Sweet treats have a profound effect on healing a bad mood.”
Fortunately, it wasn’t long before a dessert shop on the right corner of an intersection caught his eye.
A pink sign hung over the door, adorned with six playful characters and pink hearts: *Life is hard; have some sweetness.*
Ye Zhou hesitated for a moment, parked the shared bike, and walked straight in.
He hadn’t realized from the storefront that the interior was quite large. For a moment, he didn’t even know where to step.
He looked around. Warm yellow lights were wrapped in the sweet scent of cream, and the desserts in the glass cases were arranged neatly, looking sweet enough to touch one’s heart.
Several female employees were busy attending to their own customers.
Then, another female clerk who was wiping the counter walked over.
She had her hair in a bun, and her eyes curved into crescents as she smiled, revealing two shallow dimples on her cheeks.
“Hello there, handsome. What can I get for you?”
“Um… let me think for a second…”
Ye Zhou’s expression suddenly became a bit awkward. He knew too little about desserts and had no idea what types there were, let alone which ones were popular with different people.
However, seeing Su Zhihan’s big-eater persona, there probably wasn’t anything she couldn’t eat, right?
After pondering for a long time, Ye Zhou finally managed to squeeze out a question.
“So, uh, which dessert tastes the best?”
The clerk was stunned for a moment, then covered her mouth and giggled.
“It seems you don’t know much about desserts, sir. May I ask if this is a gift or for yourself?”
Ye Zhou gave an embarrassed smile. “A gift.”
“For a gentleman or a lady?”
“De-definitely a lady.”
“For a lady…”
The clerk rested her hand on her chin, thinking for a moment before replying, “We recently launched a new dessert that actually fits your needs perfectly.”
She walked to the counter behind her and pointed with a smile.
Ye Zhou followed her finger. Inside a transparent glass bowl was a pink-based dessert topped with a scoop of sakura ice cream and garnished with pink jelly cubes and green leaves.
Just looking at it made his taste buds tingle.
He asked for the price—99 yuan—and bought five portions without hesitation.
The clerk covered her mouth with both hands, looking quite surprised.
“Can she really eat that much at once?”
Ye Zhou raised an eyebrow.
“I have a feeling it might not even be enough for her.”
“Alright then. I wish you the best of luck with your dessert delivery, sir!”
Faced with the clerk’s mysterious blessing, Ye Zhou felt like she had misunderstood something, but he couldn’t be bothered to explain.
He simply shook his head with a smile.
“Thank you. If it’s not enough for her, I’ll definitely be back for more.”
***
And so, carrying five Kenji Sakura White Peach Mousse Cups, Ye Zhou hurried to Jianghai University and rushed toward the restroom next to the Drama and Film Club’s dedicated rehearsal room.
He saw Lin Shulan leaning against the wall, her long, slender legs crossed beneath her black leather miniskirt.
She held an unlit lady’s cigarette between her purple-painted lips, a troubled expression on her face. She was holding her phone to her ear, though it was unclear who she was calling for help.