Su Yao glanced at the time on her phone—it was already past eleven.
In just half an hour, she would be free to go eat.
What truly exciting news.
She turned her head toward Luo Yu, who was staring blankly at her phone beside her.
The phone was tilted slightly, as if deliberately hiding the screen from Su Yao’s view.
Luo Yu seemed to be keeping some secret.
Su Yao gently nudged her elbow and whispered, “I forgot to ask, why didn’t I see you that day?”
“……”
Luo Yu looked unusually flustered, as if she’d done something wrong, unable to speak.
Her eyes darted from left to right—a little twitch she made when thinking quickly.
She figured changing the subject would be better than lying.
“Ahem, ahem, Su Yao, are you confident about the final exams?”
Su Yao opened her mouth, then tightly shut it, turning away without a word.
Luo Yu’s question hit a sore spot.
Su Yao had always thought she was the kind of person who, though not brilliant, could grasp things after a quick glance.
But when she opened the advanced math textbook, she realized the subject was so profound that she had to study each part separately just to understand the symbols.
She recognized the symbols, but once combined, they became incomprehensible…
Her face flushed a bit.
Scratching her slightly feverish cheek, Su Yao muttered quietly, “It’s okay, I guess. How about you?”
“Me? No problem!” Luo Yu answered confidently.
After all, as long as she didn’t fail too many subjects at once, she could still pass the Makeup Exam.
“For PE, I’ve already got it counted as sixty. But if I want a higher score, I’ll need to max out the points on the app and then take the test with the PE teacher.”
“Mm.”
Relieved, Su Yao thought: one subject already passed.
Her department’s Professional Courses were barely passable, but math and English were never her strengths.
The rest were fine; she had been attending online classes regularly.
So now, the two remaining subjects were her main concerns.
English was manageable—still possible to catch up.
But math?
Without a teacher, it was hardly something most people could self-study successfully.
“……”
Su Yao sighed softly and glanced at Luo Yu, who was once again lost in her phone.
She had wanted Luo Yu to tutor her, but seeing her current state, Luo Yu would probably just scrape by with a sixty too.
Not much different from herself, so it wasn’t worth the trouble.
Seeing Su Yao’s attention shift away, Luo Yu sighed in relief.
She had been both nervous and excited just now.
Keeping a secret felt really wonderful!
On the day of the performance, she was first dragged back to the class and reprimanded, then sneaked out again, where she unexpectedly met someone—and was taken away.
The class bell rang.
Neither Su Yao nor Luo Yu hurried to leave.
They waited about five minutes before exiting the classroom.
Though late by five minutes, the Teaching Building was already crowded.
The two walked out slowly, planning to sit elsewhere for a while until after 12:20, when the cafeteria would be less busy.
After lunch, close to one o’clock, Luo Yu returned to the dormitory.
She had wanted to stay with Su Yao, but Su Yao insisted she go back and rest properly instead of forcing herself to stay.
Su Yao planned to go to the library alone.
Carrying her small backpack, she walked along the path.
Though wearing a somewhat heavy coat, her figure remained striking.
Not tall, but with excellent proportions, Su Yao had become a beautiful sight.
Winter couldn’t dampen the fiery passion of youth.
For the first time, Su Yao was approached by a stranger.
At first, when the person walked toward her, she thought he was just passing by or meeting an acquaintance nearby.
But as he came closer, Su Yao realized he was definitely coming for her—and yet, she didn’t recognize him at all.
“Did he recognize me as that actress?” Su Yao wondered.
The performance had been recorded clearly on camera.
Those who hadn’t gone to the venue could still watch online by chapters.
It wouldn’t be surprising if someone from the same school recognized her.
“Is this like being a celebrity?” she thought.
Maybe he’d say, “I’m your fan,” or something like that.
But as he got nearer, Su Yao truly felt what it meant to be imposing.
He was a tall figure—one meter ninety tall—frightening her.
She immediately broke into a run.
Sure, she couldn’t outrun someone with legs that long, but fortunately, he didn’t chase.
Instead, after she fled, he turned away disappointed.
When she looked back, she saw the group of boys arm in arm, laughing and chatting.
Su Yao frowned.
She could imagine exactly what they were saying.
She had seen plenty of this back in middle school—how pretty girls got approached.
Now, times had changed, and she never imagined she’d be treated the same way.
Sticking out her tongue playfully, she lightened her steps.
The library wasn’t far, but Su Yao deliberately walked slower.
She had never really paid attention to the campus before, but after Mu Nanqiu lent her a camera and asked her to take photos, Su Yao gradually learned to find the interesting parts of the world.
Even in the dead of winter, with the campus slightly desolate.
She glanced at the nearby woods, wondering what it would look like in spring.
Most of the campus greenery was evergreen; there were few trees that shed leaves easily.
But the woods behind were different—seasonal trees that now stood mostly as bare branches.
Suddenly, lost in thought, Su Yao spotted several people strolling there.
If they had been strangers, Su Yao would have glanced once and looked away.
But among them were two people she knew well: Hua Mingye and Mu Nanqiu.
The third person was a woman with wavy long hair, smiling sweetly and talking continuously.
Mu Nanqiu walking with someone else wasn’t unusual, but the woman beside him kept talking directly to Mu Nanqiu, who occasionally replied with a sentence or two.
This made Su Yao uneasy.
Anything involving Mu Nanqiu tightened her heart.
Carefully, she followed at a distance.
Not too close—just enough to hear their conversation.
Su Yao’s hearing was sharp, and she caught some of what they said, though nothing alarming—mostly the woman’s stories.
But every time the woman finished a story, she would seek interaction with Mu Nanqiu again, and Su Yao’s brow remained furrowed.
She followed them to the front of a Teaching Building and stopped, deciding not to continue.
She took a long look at the entrance where the group disappeared, pressed her lips together, then turned and left.
After wandering around, there was no time left for the library.
She would just wait inside the classroom for the afternoon Professional Course.
After the afternoon class ended, Su Yao went to the library.
It was noticeably more crowded than before—everyone came prepared with books, notebooks, and pens; many even brought laptops to study diligently.
Such was the charm of finals.
Su Yao became one of them, settling in at her usual spot, which was still unoccupied.
Just as she opened a book to review, someone sat down across from her.
Su Yao looked up, her gaze landing on a beautiful, delicate face, feeling a bit happy.
“Yao Yao, are you studying?”
“Yes, if I don’t review now, I might fail and have to take a Makeup Exam…”
Admitting her poor grades in front of Mu Nanqiu took some courage.
Su Yao turned her head shyly, avoiding Mu Nanqiu’s eyes.
Though she knew Mu Nanqiu wouldn’t look down on her for her bad grades, she herself couldn’t accept resigning to failure.
She mumbled softly, “Just a little review should be enough.”
“Hehe.”
Mu Nanqiu smiled and glanced at the math book in Su Yao’s hands.
“How about I teach you?”
Su Yao looked up at Mu Nanqiu, then slowly looked down again.
After a pause, she lifted her eyes, her big eyes meeting Mu Nanqiu’s, and said sweetly, “Really?”
“Of course. Why not? I’m not busy right now.”
Hearing Mu Nanqiu’s confident reply, Su Yao felt a bit joyful, though the memory of Mu Nanqiu with that woman from noon made her inexplicably uneasy.
But she pushed the feeling down and shyly smiled at Mu Nanqiu.
“Then, thank you, senior.”
“Mm.”
Mu Nanqiu was perceptive and sensed Su Yao hadn’t shared everything on her mind.
Seeing Su Yao reminded her of that woman named Bai Jianlian, so she asked, “Did that person cause you any trouble today?”
Mentioning Bai Jianlian made Su Yao a little confused.
After carefully recalling the day’s events, she shook her head, indicating no trouble.
Relieved, Mu Nanqiu reached out and ruffled Su Yao’s hair, saying,
“If she tries to cause trouble, just have her come find me. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.”
Su Yao nodded.
Then Mu Nanqiu explained the points Su Yao didn’t understand.
With her gentle voice guiding her, Su Yao felt a sudden clarity as many previously puzzling problems became clear.
Evening self-study, then the usual escort home.
Su Yao opened the door and ran to her bedroom to turn on the air conditioner, sitting on the bed.
She took out her phone and opened the chat window with Mu Nanqiu.
After thinking for a moment, she exited and then opened the chat with Oyster Sauce, beginning to compose a message…
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