It was a feeling difficult to describe with words—a restless, pounding sensation in his chest. Pei Xingyan felt as if his heart was about to explode.
Lin Xiaoyu held a book in her hand. At first glance, it seemed she hadn’t been paying attention to what was happening on the stage. But Su Shanshan’s loud shout was so clear and piercing that it drew everyone’s attention to the front.
Yet, the culprit showed no sign of guilt. She happily waved her hand, as if wanting to announce to the entire world that the person standing in the middle was her beloved “baby.”
Pei Xingyan felt as if a ton of heavy gazes were fixed on him, including those from the important figures standing right before his eyes.
One could only say it was fortunate that this was a university campus—no one would bother to interfere with youthful romance. Otherwise, Pei Xingyan truly had no idea what fate awaited him now.
Still, he was feeling quite uncomfortable. Su Shanshan’s lively waving hadn’t stopped, and the surprised Lin Xiaoyu had begun to express her feelings as well.
She stood up too. Although still a bit shy and reserved, she couldn’t help but be encouraged by the surrounding atmosphere, silently calling out Pei Xingyan’s name and waving at him.
Luckily, Lin Xiaoyu was a girl who didn’t like to show off.
Fortunately, she only mouthed the words without making a sound. Otherwise, Pei Xingyan was sure he would have seen Su Shanshan’s face turn hostile as she grabbed Lin Xiaoyu’s shoulder, ready to start a bloody one-on-one unlimited fight.
But even so, Pei Xingyan couldn’t relax. The two girls kept waving at him, showing no intention of stopping. They were definitely waiting for a response.
What could Pei Xingyan do?
Wave back at them?
No way. That would be like openly telling everyone—especially Lin Xiaoyu—that the “baby” Su Shanshan referred to was him.
He felt like crying but had no tears to shed. He felt like a scoundrel on the verge of being exposed, flickering like a candle in the wind.
He hadn’t actually done anything truly shameful—
Well, okay, the closeness with Su Shanshan probably wasn’t exactly above reproach.
And now that he thought about it, Lin Xiaoyu’s kiss seemed a bit problematic too.
It seemed Su Shanshan had also… done something as well. Twice, in fact.
Fine, fine. Pei Xingyan silently admitted that he had crossed some lines, but he really didn’t want to be punished!
His mind raced, thinking faster than it had since the college entrance exam.
Fortunately, it hadn’t rusted yet, and he found a way to dodge the situation.
Pei Xingyan turned around and greeted the boys who had just joined his team, suggesting they warmly respond to the enthusiastic classmates in the stands.
This was the captain’s first speech, and it couldn’t have been more appropriate. The girls’ shouts had ignited the atmosphere, and now the entire audience was lively, whistles sounding continuously. Judging from the satisfied expressions on the leaders’ faces, it was clear how energetic the students were.
So, all the students saw the players standing on the field waving their hands.
They greeted here and thanked there.
Pei Xingyan blended in, smiling in the direction of the two girls. Although he was extremely guilty inside, that only added a certain meaning to his smile.
Both girls thought it was a response to them and cheered even louder, their smiles radiant, their hearts flying like liberated birds.
The cheers continued for quite some time—until the campus reporters had taken enough promotional photos, until the leaders’ satisfied smiles creased their faces, and until Pei Xingyan and his group left the stage.
Pei Xingyan lowered his head, looking at the ground as he walked on the rubber track. They were now headed to a small room near the stands to collect their clothes. It was said to be a competition perk—everyone would have their own baseball uniform.
But the direction they were headed just happened to pass right in front of Lin Xiaoyu and Su Shanshan’s section of the stands. Pei Xingyan even suspected that the small room he was about to enter was the very one beneath the eaves where they were standing. Today, fate had toyed with him too many times; he couldn’t help but think that way.
And he was right.
The team was led right to their front.
Su Shanshan enthusiastically called out “baby” repeatedly, not caring about her image at all. She looked a bit like a fanatic idol fan.
Pei Xingyan didn’t dare look back, pretending to be busy. Suddenly, he grabbed the arm of a boy walking beside him, feigning the need to discuss something.
But what was there to discuss? He could only stammer incoherently for a long time.
“Dude, Su Shanshan is your girlfriend, right?” the boy he grabbed suddenly asked.
Pei Xingyan paused and looked up at his face.
“You’re…”
“I’m a student from the School of Arts,” the boy said. “Su Shanshan is in my class. She was calling you just now, wasn’t she?”
“Sort of…”
“No wonder,” the boy’s interest piqued, and he grabbed Pei Xingyan’s shoulder like he’d found a hero. “Bro, you’re really something! Your taste in partners is so unique—you must’ve suffered a lot, huh?”
“Not to that extent…” Pei Xingyan’s mouth twitched. He felt that what came out of this boy’s mouth wasn’t the cute girl named Su Shanshan but a T-Rex capable of uprooting trees.
“Huh?” The boy looked puzzled but then suddenly realized something. “No wonder she hasn’t been so terrifying lately. She doesn’t talk as fiercely as before. Turns out she’s been tamed by you. Bro, enough chit-chat—let me pay my respects first!”
“……”
“Actually, talking behind someone’s back like this isn’t great, but I just can’t help it. My girlfriend’s Su Shanshan’s roommate, and she’s been tortured by her more than once. You have no idea. Su Shanshan’s personality is…,” the boy paused, “kind of strange. She explodes at the slightest thing. One moment she’s fine, and the next she’s blowing up. My girlfriend got splashed with water by her once and didn’t even know why.”
“Uh…” Pei Xingyan thought, “That’s just bad luck for your girlfriend. I’ve even gotten death threats.”
“So I’m telling you, you really are something,” the boy said sincerely. “Bro, you have to treat her well. It’d be best if you two lived happily ever after. Don’t break up over trivial matters.”
Though the words sounded a bit rude, the boy’s expression was earnest.
Pei Xingyan laughed awkwardly and nodded, promising to try to talk to her nicely in the future.
From pretending to have something to talk about, Pei Xingyan really did have something to do. He passed the most dangerous area and slipped inside a building—exactly the blind spot in the two girls’ view. They wouldn’t know he was here.
He finally exhaled deeply and temporarily relaxed.
Here, he should be safe from—
“Hello, classmate. Just now… were you calling for your boyfriend?”
A familiar voice floated in from outside the window. It was Lin Xiaoyu’s voice, and she was sitting right next to this small room embedded in the stands.
Pei Xingyan’s heart, which had just calmed, jumped again as he pricked up his ears.
“Ah! It’s you! You’re the girl who makes iced red bean soup!”
That surprised voice was Su Shanshan’s. Her memory was impressive—she had only met Lin Xiaoyu once but remembered her clearly.
Pei Xingyan dropped heavily onto a square stool casually placed inside the room, his eyes dull as he stared straight ahead.
Good luck or bad, bad luck… this was really unavoidable.