Chapter 16: Is Qin Luo with You?

Page 1 of 3

“I’m too tired today. I’m going to sleep first, An.”

Xu Ke had not even had time to feel happy before Qin Luo’s message struck her senseless, and the resentment in her heart surged uncontrollably.

She quickly typed out a reply, completely forgetting that she had sworn never to answer Qin Luo again.

“You didn’t even save my name?”

“What do you mean, you’re too tired? You’re tired because you spent the day playing with Yao Yanyan, right?”

“Qin Luo, say something! Don’t you think you owe me an apology? Don’t you think you owe me an explanation?”

“I know you still like me. For the sake of the song you wrote for me, I’m willing to give you another chance.”

“You don’t have class tomorrow morning, right? I do. Come to my classroom and sit in on my lecture. Apologize to me in person, and I’ll forgive you for what happened before.”

“Qin Luo, say something! Don’t tell me you’ve already fallen asleep!”

Xu Ke sent message after message, but Qin Luo never replied.

She clenched her teeth. That anxious feeling of gain and loss came rushing back, effortlessly crushing the certainty and confidence she had only just recovered.

It’s already late. He... He probably didn’t reply because he was afraid of disturbing my sleep.

Or perhaps... his phone is on Do Not Disturb, so he didn’t receive any notification. He has no idea that I replied.

That must be it. Otherwise, the moment he saw my message, he would have replied. He always used to do that.

When he wakes up tomorrow and sees my messages, he’ll realize that I’m angry. He’ll come to my class and keep me company... He definitely will...

Xu Ke’s thoughts began to run wild. One voice after another rose from the depths of her heart, turning into excuses she could accept and, to some extent, soothing her disordered emotions.

She slipped her phone beneath her pillow, closed her eyes, and tried to fall asleep. She wanted tomorrow to arrive as soon as possible, along with Qin Luo’s belated apology.

But the more she tried to sleep, the less she could.

The young man’s spirited figure lingered in her mind. Xu Ke thought of all the little things he had once done for her, and of how unfamiliar he had seemed these past two days. Her heart tightened with distress, yet at the thought that Qin Luo would soon return to her side, she could not help but feel delighted.

It was an emotion she had never experienced before, one she could not understand—the feeling of fearing both gain and loss.

“It’s all right. He likes me so much. He’ll definitely come and apologize...”

Xu Ke murmured to herself, forcing her mind to stop wandering.

On a nearby bed, Yao Yanyan faced the wall, the glow of her phone illuminating her alluring, coquettish face.

She stared at Qin Luo’s chat window in WeChat, opening it and closing it, then closing it and opening it again. At last, she gritted her teeth and stuffed the phone beneath her pillow.

She had thought that would keep her from being affected, but her mood inexplicably grew restless.

She knew exactly where that restlessness came from. Ever since earlier, she had been wondering what Qin Luo and Xu Ke were talking about. Had Qin Luo apologized to Xu Ke? Had he denied what he had said—that he no longer liked her?

She did not want to see that outcome. There was no reason for it; she simply did not want it.

That was why she wanted to message Qin Luo and ask. She even inexplicably began looking forward to seeing him appear in her classroom again the next day.

Yet she was unwilling to take the initiative with Qin Luo, because that went against her principles. Thus, reason and emotion began to clash within her.

As a woman who proudly called herself a heartbreaker, Yao Yanyan found this state of mind difficult to accept.

She wrestled with it for quite some time before finally giving herself a reasonable explanation.

“I just don’t want to see that smug, idiotic look on Xu Ke’s face...”

Murmuring to herself, she gradually closed her eyes.

Page 1 of 3

Page 2 of 3

Elsewhere, Tang Yu had been lying in bed for ages, unable to fall asleep.

Thoughts of Qin Luo, Xu Ke, and Yao Yanyan kept circling through her mind, leaving her increasingly irritated and unsettled.

This was more troublesome than any of the student council’s work. By comparison, she would rather double her workload than get involved in this game called romance.

But Xu Ke and Yao Yanyan were both her roommates. She was a sentimental person and did not want anything to happen to either of them.

As for Qin Luo...

Remembering the boundless affection he had once shown Xu Ke, all the little things he had done, and the sudden change in him over the past two days, Tang Yu finally could not help sighing.

“Although I think he still likes Xu Ke, that’s only my guess. I’ll test him tomorrow... Ugh, I still have to deal with the planning for the school anniversary celebration. What a headache...”

Murmuring to herself, she gradually closed her eyes.

Of the five people in the dormitory, three were forcing themselves to sleep. The remaining two, however, seemed to belong to an entirely different world.

“Liunian, I understand them less and less. Does Qin Luo like Xu Ke or Yanyan now? Does Xu Ke even like Qin Luo? Was Yanyan just jealous of Xu Ke earlier? By the way, what should we eat tomorrow morning?”

“Scallion pancakes. I want one with chicken strips.”

“But I heard scallion pancakes with chicken strips aren’t authentic. Though I do like chicken strips.”

“That’s exactly the point. The lack of authenticity is what gives them that special flavor!”

“Oh, all right, then. What should we have for lunch... Wait, that’s not the point! You still haven’t answered my questions!”

“Ugh, I don’t understand romance either. Real-life relationships are so strange. They’re nowhere near as pure and beautiful as love in fictional worlds. It’s proof of humanity’s fundamentally flawed nature.”

“When are you finally going to outgrow your adolescent delusions? Even a big sister like me feels embarrassed sometimes...”

“If you added ‘my foolish little sister’ to the end of that sentence, I’d call it a masterpiece.”

“What are you talking about? Never mind... I was saying that I do have some thoughts about them... Also, I’m a little hungry again. I want potato chips, but everyone’s asleep, and I’m afraid the noise will wake them.”

“Bring me a bag too. Original flavor... What thoughts could you possibly have? We’re both single from birth. Just stay happily single with me. In ten years, we can ascend together and become grand sorcerers!”

Lying on her bed, Chu Sijin rolled her eyes. She did not bother responding to her foolish little sister anymore. Instead, she pursed her plump, babyish lips and fell into deep indecision.

In the end, she could not resist the temptation of food. Tiptoeing over to the little basket hanging on the wall, she took out two bags of Lay’s potato chips.

One was Texas barbecue flavor for herself; the other was original flavor for her sister.

Chu Sijin raised her hand and tossed one over. With a smack, it landed squarely on Chu Liunian’s face.

Chu Sijin hurriedly closed her eyes and lay flat, pretending the incident had nothing to do with her. Then she cautiously opened one eye a sliver. Only after confirming that the noise had not disturbed the others did she breathe a sigh of relief, crawl beneath the covers, and begin secretly munching on her chips.

Unhurriedly, Chu Liunian removed the bag from her face. She opened it and ate while watching videos, occasionally licking the seasoning from her fingers. Whenever something exciting happened, she broke into a delighted, auntie-like grin.

“Hee hee hee... Connor-chan, my Connor-chan...”

Her rustling laughter was accompanied by her body writhing like a maggot.

Her laughter was not loud, but it still reached Xu Ke, Tang Yu, and Yao Yanyan clearly.

None of them reacted. They simply continued forcing themselves to sleep.

Unfortunately, for many people, that night was destined to be sleepless.

...

The following day.

Tang Yu was always busy with one matter or another, so she had long grown accustomed to waking early.

Although trivial concerns had kept her awake and she had slept poorly, her well-regulated body clock still woke her on time.

What she had not expected was that her roommates, who usually only began waking one after another once she had left, had all gotten up at the same time.

Page 2 of 3

Page 3 of 3

The twin sisters from the Chu family were one thing. They had always been fond of sleeping in, whether they had class or not.

But Xu Ke and Yao Yanyan were behaving strangely. The two of them sat up in bed at precisely the same moment, as though they had planned it, then exchanged an extraordinarily meaningful glance before getting up to wash and dress.

They appeared calm and leisurely, yet somehow gave off an unmistakable air of haste. By the time they were ready to leave, they had even ended up crowding together at the dormitory entrance.

The two exchanged another glance, narrowed their eyes, and then turned their heads away with a cold snort before striding out of the dormitory.

Tang Yu watched the scene with speechless exasperation. For some reason, it gave her the distinct impression of watching a cat and a mouse...

...

After parting ways with Yao Yanyan in front of the women’s dormitory, Xu Ke ate a little breakfast before making her way to the classroom for her first lecture.

She arrived early. There were still twenty minutes before class, and barely anyone had arrived.

Xu Ke casually chose a seat in the back corner. Then she straightened her back and stared fixedly at the classroom door, as though waiting for someone to appear.

As a result, every classmate who entered the room was subjected to the full force of her gaze.

Everyone was accustomed to Xu Ke’s aloof expression and piercing eyes, yet they still noticed that something about her was especially unusual today.

A few of them even felt inexplicably guilty beneath that single glance. They shuddered, lowered their heads, and hurriedly found some remote corner far from Xu Ke.

Xu Ke paid them no attention. From beginning to end, she kept her eyes fixed on the classroom door, quietly waiting for the figure she longed to see.

One minute... Five minutes... Ten minutes...

Her anticipation was slowly drained away, and Xu Ke’s expression grew increasingly grim. Twenty minutes passed. Even the professor had arrived, yet Qin Luo was still nowhere to be seen.

By now, Xu Ke’s expression had become utterly awful.

Gnashing her teeth, she pulled out her phone and immediately bombarded Qin Luo with messages.

“Why didn’t you come to class with me?”

“Huh? Oh, I had something to take care of this morning.”

To Xu Ke’s slight surprise, Qin Luo replied almost immediately. But the content of his message made her frown, and she began interrogating him at once.

“Something to take care of? I think you went to see Yao Yanyan!”

“No. I’m busy with something else.”

“Qin Luo! Come here and find me right now! Otherwise, I truly will never forgive you again!”

“I’m really busy. Another day, all right? Be good.”

As Xu Ke read Qin Luo’s successive messages, her anger continued to build and swell.

She did not believe his excuse in the slightest. She assumed he was already being sweet with Yao Yanyan, so she sent him more angry questions. But every message vanished without a trace, receiving no response at all.

That was the last straw for Xu Ke. She sent a message directly to Yao Yanyan.

“Is Qin Luo with you?”

“Is Qin Luo with you?”

Xu Ke froze. She stared at Yao Yanyan’s message, which was virtually identical to her own and had been sent at almost exactly the same time. For a long while, she could not recover her senses.

Qin Luo... hadn’t gone to see Yao Yanyan?