Chapter 54: Was she desperately trying to kick the bucket?

"Xu Ke, are you alright?"

The kind-hearted Chu Shijin walked over to Xu Ke, took a bag of snacks from her handbag, and said cautiously, "I'll give you some snacks, so please stop crying, okay?"

Xu Ke finally showed some reaction this time.

Her red lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but when the words came out, they dissolved into nothing more than a trembling sob.

"He can't just give up on me like this... He can't just give up on me..."

Overwhelming emotions poured out along with her voice. Unable to restrain her feelings any longer, Xu Ke let her tears flow freely, letting her cries echo through the small dormitory.

The rest of the girls were quite startled by Xu Ke's appearance. They were so used to her usual cold and proud demeanor that they had never seen her looking like this.

Chu Shijin and Chu Liunian appeared somewhat at a loss, unsure of how to handle the situation, so they cast pleading looks toward Tang Yu.

Tang Yu did not sit idly by. She walked over to Xu Ke, gently took her hand, and asked, "Do you understand your feelings for Qin Luo now?"

"I'm sorry, I know I was wrong. I really like him. Tang Yu, please help me, won't you? Help me bring Qin Luo back. He can't not like me anymore, he just can't..."

Xu Ke's sobs trembled slightly, and this time, she finally voiced the true thoughts in her heart.

Xu Ke gripped Tang Yu's hands tightly, just like a drowning person clutching at a straw. She exerted so much force that it even caused Tang Yu a slight sting.

However, given the circumstances, Tang Yu did not pull her hands away. She only furrowed her brows slightly, unsure of what to say to Xu Ke for a moment.

If Xu Ke had said these words a few days earlier, Tang Yu would have chosen to help her without hesitation. Tang Yu was not averse to helping lovers find a happy ending.

Yet the situation was completely different now. Ever since Qin Luo said those things in the classroom and kissed Yao Yanyan, this "game of romance" was no longer a one-on-one match.

Based on Tang Yu's understanding of Yao Yanyan, she did not believe Yao Yanyan would simply stay out of it. Even though Xu Ke now understood her own feelings for Qin Luo, she was ultimately a step too late.

This reminded Tang Yu of a phrase she had once seen online: "Late-arriving deep affection is cheaper than grass."

Tang Yu had no romantic experience and had simply scoffed at the phrase back then, feeling that it degraded grass—after all, what wrong had the grass ever done?

Yet seeing Xu Ke like this now, she truly understood the meaning behind those words: *Knowing it would come to this, why act as you did in the beginning?*

"Forget it, Xu Ke. I know you're hurting right now, but..."

Tang Yu started hesitantly, wanting Xu Ke to accept the current reality without being too blunt and triggering her further.

Before she could finish, however, Xu Ke interrupted her harshly, "It cannot be forgotten! He can't just let it go like that!"

"He used to like me so much; how could he just stop liking me like that? He... he was only doing it to provoke me. It worked, and now I know I love him. As long as I go to him again, as long as I take the initiative to say I love him, he will come back to me. He definitely will..."

Like a clown refusing to admit reality, she hysterically denied everything before her.

Seeing her emotions grow increasingly agitated, Tang Yu knitted her brows and said loudly, "Snap out of it! He doesn't like you anymore!"

It was rare for the usually gentle and soft-spoken Tang Yu to show such anger. When her classic, egg-shaped face took on a stern and cold expression, its sheer presence instantly choked off Xu Ke's words.

Xu Ke bit her lip, appearing as though she wanted to argue further, but Chu Shijin suddenly muttered softly from the side, "I don't know much about liking someone or not, but people who like each other are supposed to kiss, right? I saw Qin Luo kissing Yao Yanyan just now, so they must like each other, shouldn't they?"

As soon as these words left her mouth, the entire dormitory fell dead silent.

Xu Ke stood frozen in place. Her expression shifted repeatedly—alternating between confusion and sudden realization—until finally, she began to murmur like someone talking in her sleep.

"Qin Luo and Yao Yanyan are together..."

"How can they be together..."

"They shouldn't be together..."

Her voice was not loud, but it was clearly audible in the quiet room.

As she muttered on, she suddenly stood up and walked toward her bed.

Moving like a walking corpse, she climbed onto her bed while continuing to mumble, then slowly lay down, staring blankly at the ceiling.

The murmuring in her mouth grew fainter and fainter. The three girls watching from below could not tell whether she was merely spacing out or had already fallen asleep.

This eerie behavior made Chu Shijin feel somewhat uneasy. She shrank her neck and asked weakly, "I... did I say something wrong?"

Chu Liunian glared at her and whispered, "What do you think? Xu Ke is already like this, and you're still provoking her—are you trying to make sure she pops a blood vessel? This kind of plot where your dorm mate gets NTR'd right to her face... unless it's in a Japanese anime, it's pretty explosive in any medium!"

"I... I wasn't doing it on purpose. I was just stating the facts..."

Chu Shijin felt aggrieved, so she pouted and ate a snack.

Tang Yu, standing nearby, wanted to say something but held back in the end. She merely cast an approving look toward Chu Shijin silently.

She hadn't had the heart to bring up Yao Yanyan directly to stimulate Xu Ke earlier, but looking at it now, this was actually the most direct and decisive way to make Xu Ke accept reality.

As the saying goes, a long pain is worse than a short one. Rather than sinking into regret and remorse, making a clean break was better; this way, Xu Ke would likely recover after a few days of distress.

When all was said and done, these were just trivial matters of romance. Could they really leave someone broken beyond repair?

Thinking so quite naturally, Tang Yu patted Chu Shijin's head and said softly, "You were right. As for Xu Ke... don't worry, she should be fine in a few days."

Hearing this, Chu Shijin instantly regained her boldness. In her mind, Tang Yu had always been the smartest and most reliable person in the dormitory, far superior to that blockhead second-dimension fan Liunian. If Tang Yu said she was right, then she was definitely right.

Thus, she glared fiercely back at Chu Shijin—wait, at Chu Liunian—and whispered defiantly, "Look, look, even Tang Yu said I wasn't wrong."

Chu Liunian curled her lip. "I didn't say you were wrong. I meant... never mind. Your brain is only filled with snacks; you wouldn't understand even if I explained it."

Chu Shijin felt deeply offended and retorted, "What do you mean? Are you calling me stupid? Spell it out for me!"

Chu Liunian shook her head. "Given your IQ, it's hard for me to explain. Or perhaps later, when Tang Yu ends up with the person you like, I'll give you a little nudge from the side, and you'll probably understand what I mean."

Chu Shijin wore a blank expression, while Tang Yu wore a face full of question marks.

Meanwhile, inside a certain hotel outside the campus, Yao Yanyan was rolling around on the bed...