Su Yao’s mood had been fairly okay at first, but once this girl appeared, it took a sharp nosedive—her mood instantly turning as gray and gloomy as the sky outside.
Especially when the girl said she hadn’t actually shared the photos, Su Yao’s heart sank straight to the bottom of a pit.
Was she trying to use this as leverage against me? Su Yao thought.
If this got out, it would definitely cause quite a stir.
After all, Mu Nanqiu was well-known at school.
Though Mu Nanqiu herself was low-key, there were always some opportunists who liked to use her name as a banner.
Coupled with her usual cold and aloof aura, plus her family background, it wasn’t really surprising that Mu Nanqiu had become the Literature Department’s goddess senior.
And now, a goddess-like senior—like a high mountain flower—and a newcomer had some kind of unusual connection.
Surely, this kind of gossip would blow through the School Forum like a gust of wind.
At a time when activity was at its peak, any piece of juicy news could become a viral hit overnight.
But the spotlight wouldn’t fall on Mu Nanqiu. Instead, all eyes would turn to Su Yao.
Just thinking about this made her break out in a cold sweat.
The more she thought about it, the more scared she became—so scared she almost wanted to do something drastic to the girl in front of her.
Biting her lip, Su Yao stared at the short-haired girl and, voice slightly trembling, asked,
“What do you want to do?”
“Huh?”
The short-haired girl was surprised by Su Yao’s hostile and wary gaze.
After all, they’d been classmates for several months—was it really necessary to act so distant?
Isn’t it just that I know you’re close to some of the seniors?
She frowned, racking her brain for a while.
At first, she really had no clue.
She even wondered if she’d offended Su Yao somehow.
But then a light bulb went off in her mind, and she finally figured it out.
It seemed she’d chosen her words poorly, and hadn’t finished what she wanted to say, which caused the misunderstanding…
“Ahem, it’s a misunderstanding, really.”
She laughed awkwardly, cleared her throat, quickly waved her hand, and right in front of Su Yao, deleted the photos.
But even so, Su Yao wasn’t convinced.
Anyone knew that people kept backups, and there might be copies stored in the cloud.
Even if she really deleted the photos, experts could still recover them.
So, even though the short-haired girl deleted the two photos right in front of her, Su Yao didn’t believe a word she said.
After finishing all that, the girl smiled shyly at Su Yao and said,
“I actually really like Senior Mu.”
“?”
Su Yao furrowed her brows deeply, thinking, what do you mean by that?
Is that something you say in front of me?
Seeing Su Yao’s hostility grow stronger, the short-haired girl looked a bit baffled but decided to finish her explanation.
“Ever since I enrolled, I’ve been a fangirl of Senior Mu. I’ve always kept up with her, I really like her a lot. It’s just that I haven’t been able to get close to her. I’m really envious of you, Su Yao.”
After hearing this, Su Yao took a deep breath to suppress the impulsive thoughts inside her.
She was intimidated by the aura the short-haired girl radiated.
Leaning back, she made a face that basically screamed “subway, old person, phone.jpg.”
The short-haired girl grinned so widely she looked like she was about to drool, her eyes sparkling.
She reached out to hold Su Yao’s hand, but Su Yao quickly dodged, not even letting her touch her.
“D-don’t come near me!”
Su Yao nearly lost her calm voice this time.
Fortunately, there weren’t many people around, and no one noticed their interaction.
“Su Yao, Senior even lent you her camera on purpose, so it’s clear you and she are pretty close. Can you introduce me to her? Hehe~”
“……”
Su Yao didn’t answer aloud, but in her mind, the reply was just one word: “Go away.”
She rolled her eyes and turned her back, refusing to respond.
But then she thought maybe turning away wasn’t very safe, so she spun back around and stared intently at the short-haired girl, who had just tried to get closer again.
Her eyes sparkled like little stars as she pouted and pleaded,
“Su Yao, please? Pretty please?”
“Who are you?”
To be honest, Su Yao really had forgotten this classmate’s name.
They rarely talked, so she hadn’t bothered to remember it.
As for when she needed to?
Well, she figured she’d deal with that when it came.
The short-haired girl looked embarrassed.
She wasn’t sure if Su Yao genuinely didn’t know her name or was just pretending not to know, but she went ahead and introduced herself.
“I’m Luoyu.”
“……”
No recognition.
Su Yao searched through her “hard drive,” but couldn’t find anything related to that name.
She only knew that this girl seemed similar to her—someone who didn’t socialize much.
But the difference was, Luoyu lived on campus, so she and her roommates had some common ground and sometimes hung out.
Although, they didn’t get very close.
With enough time, though, maybe they’d become good friends.
Su Yao and Luoyu’s degree and symptoms of introversion were quite different, which meant their paths diverged.
In fact, introverts don’t always become friends with other introverts.
What really allows two people to get along well is sharing an interest without disagreement, and for two strangers like this, it usually only takes a bit of chance to become friends.
Luoyu glanced around.
The two guys who were playing games had finished and hurried off to eat.
The two remaining girls spoke in hushed tones, chatting quietly.
With no one else around, Luoyu felt bolder and leaned closer toward Su Yao.
Su Yao recoiled slightly in distaste.
Not familiar.
The limit of two people beside her was only because the space was so small here.
Luoyu didn’t care at all. Instead, she smiled mischievously and whispered,
“Su Yao, do you read novels?”
Su Yao looked at her, silently asking with her eyes, What exactly are you trying to say?
Luoyu’s laughter grew more joyous and genuine—not fake at all.
It even began to affect Su Yao, but Su Yao held back, copying Mu Nanqiu’s expression, wearing a cold and indifferent face.
“Look at this.”
Luoyu said as she operated her phone.
Her fingers skillfully tapped a category box on the phone’s main screen, then opened a reading app Su Yao was very familiar with.
A chill ran through Su Yao as Luoyu’s bookshelf appeared.
Ten books Su Yao recognized.
Su Yao gasped softly.
The two of them instinctively leaned closer to the screen and scrolled down until they stopped at one book that made Su Yao’s breath hitch.
“Su Yao, this book’s really good. I recommend it to you.”
“……”