Song Qiuyu entered the men’s restroom; everything seemed normal.
But as soon as she stepped out, she looked ahead and saw the entire room filled with Jiang Xiao.
And all kinds of Jiang Xiao!
Certain parts of her body, warmed by the alcohol, had some switches that had been tightly shut for a long time quietly flick back on.
Uncontrollable thoughts surged from her mind, those desires buried deep within her body spreading outward like the autumn rain swelling at night.
For example, the urge to be hugged, to act spoiled, to confide, to get close.
It was as if Jiang Xiao was the only choice she truly wanted, so all she saw were Jiang Xiaos—no one else could possibly fit in.
Surrounded by so many versions of Jiang Xiao, a sense of happiness washed over her intoxicated mind, overriding logic and explaining the situation with the purest, most innocent thoughts.
The Shadow Successor was actually beside her!
Jiang Xiao didn’t watch anime and couldn’t understand.
So when it came to the Shadow Clone Technique mentioned in the text, he could only interpret it roughly by its literal meaning.
Perhaps this meant that Song Qiuyu had seen many versions of him at the barbecue place?
Suddenly, the drunk girl beside him showed a look of surprise, took a long stride, and walked straight toward a table of girls gathered there.
Coincidentally, they were all fans of their short videos.
Song Qiuyu’s drunkenness was undeniably linked to them.
Seeing this, Jiang Xiao just followed without immediately questioning the clone technique.
“Isn’t this Teacher Lemon?”
The girls quickly noticed Song Qiuyu and, glancing at Jiang Xiao who followed, were clearly delighted by their arrival.
“You can’t eat seafood, right? You’re allergic to seafood!”
Song Qiuyu’s next words immediately silenced everyone.
“Ah?”
Before the girls could sort out what she meant, Jiang Xiao stepped forward and grabbed the drunk girl, who was about to stop them from eating seafood.
“Sorry, don’t mind him, he’s drunk.”
“I’m not drunk!”
Jiang Xiao glanced at her, sighed slightly, then reached out to rub her head.
As he rubbed, many strands of hair fell down, covering half of her delicate, rosy face.
“Mm.”
Feeling the head rub, Song Qiuyu swayed a little and completely forgot what she had just wanted to do.
She simply obediently tilted her face up and stood still.
Jiang Xiao lowered his eyes and caught sight of the half-exposed face beneath the hair.
Her lips, soft and full like March cherry blossoms, parted slightly in a small gap.
For some reason, he suddenly had the illusion that this pose looked like she was asking for a kiss…
Once such an illusion appeared, a certain part of his body began to ache painfully.
Of course, he wasn’t stupid enough to show this discomfort openly; he cleverly concealed it immediately so no one would notice.
His hand stopped rubbing her head, but the little head with messy hair moved on its own, nestling deeper into his palm and actively nuzzling it.
His palm itched, and his heart itched even more.
Drunk Song Qiuyu was truly clingy.
But she wasn’t the only one drunk—he was pretty tipsy too.
If not for that, how could he have mistaken her clinginess for her being clingy specifically to Jiang Xiao?
“Wow, can we even watch this?”
The girls at the table blushed and stared at them in awe.
Someone couldn’t resist picking up their phone to secretly record a video for posting online, but Jiang Xiao shot a cold glare at them, so they wisely put their phones away.
Such a pity. Drunk Teacher Lemon was soft and cute, so perfect for petting. Recording a video to share would have been wonderful, but now she was being monopolized.
That said, were these two perhaps a little too affectionate?
They played the roles of Lady White and Xu Xian as a married couple in their short videos, but did they really have to keep up the act outside of filming?
That level of professionalism was impressive.
The girls at the table stared at them without blinking, their eyes shining.
“Sorry to bother you.” Jiang Xiao bowed his head slightly.
“Let’s go.”
He grabbed Song Qiuyu’s arm and effortlessly pulled her away.
Unintentionally, he caught sight of a slash fan girl also blushing and staring at them, which made him pause briefly.
The suggestive words on his notebook flashed before his eyes.
With his imagination adding fuel, the scene constructed by those words seemed even more vivid, as if the other person had recorded a real event in writing.
Jiang Xiao glanced at the oblivious drunk girl and pondered for a moment before reaching out to touch her head again.
Then he lowered his voice and leaned closer.
“Song Qiuyu, don’t act spoiled anymore. The way we are now, to outsiders, we look just like a real couple.”
“That’ll cause misunderstandings.”
“Hm?”
Song Qiuyu looked up at Jiang Xiao, still drunk, her mind slow to respond, while her neck flushed a faint red with embarrassment.
“Mm, what do you mean ‘like a couple’? Are you running a fever again? Is your brain fried, Jiang Xiao?”
Her small hand reached toward his forehead.
Her drooping, messy hair framed her pretty apricot eyes, half-open and clouded with moisture—likely from the alcohol.
Her eyes showed worry that anyone could see.
Looking into those eyes, Jiang Xiao’s heart skipped a few beats.
“Let’s go.”
He grabbed her soft, boneless little hand, unwilling to let her touch his forehead, and kept pulling her toward the seats.
The slash fan girl smiled broadly.
She clasped her hands, closed her eyes, and looked like she was bathed in holy light, thanking God for such a blessing.
She could never outmatch the main characters—two straight guys tossing out such sweet moments.
Oh God, today must be her lucky day.
She’d stay up late tonight.
More eating and drinking ahead.
Back in the dormitory, Song Qiuyu flopped onto her bed, her eyes half-closed, utterly exhausted.
On the way back, she kept mistaking people for Jiang Xiao, and several times almost got taken away by someone disguised as Jiang Xiao, which had thoroughly worn her out.
Once in bed, she quickly fell into a deep sleep.
Naturally, she wasn’t the only one exhausted.
Xie Zhuran and Lin An were both utterly worn out and fell asleep the moment they lay down.
At the same time, they both silently resolved never to let Song Qiuyu get that drunk again.
When she was that wasted, she could easily leave with strangers—too terrifying!
They wouldn’t allow their dorm mate to be taken away—boys had to protect themselves even more when outside.
Like a priest who doesn’t mess with little girls, only with little boys.
It was obvious how dangerous it was for a beautiful boy like Song Qiuyu to be out alone.
The most tired one was Jiang Xiao.
He was physically and emotionally drained from dealing with Song Qiuyu but lay in bed for half a day without a hint of sleepiness.
Realizing he was probably suffering from insomnia, he quietly sat up and glanced at the bed beside him.
The sound of Song Qiuyu’s deep, peaceful breathing clearly drifted through the bed curtain into his ear.
Unlike him, she was sleeping soundly.
He stared at the adjacent bed through the curtain for a while, now feeling that the once-familiar curtain was incredibly annoying, yet also a little comforting.
Thinking about how clingy she had been when drunk made him feel a bit restless, and his hand that had touched her hair clenched.
He couldn’t figure out what Song Qiuyu was thinking, including how she had clearly been a boy in his memory but now, three years later, had turned into a girl…
Troubled by this, he picked up his phone and opened QQ.
Staring at the chat screen with Shen Xi, who had been offline for three years, he frowned.
From their three years together in middle school, Song Qiuyu’s performance had been flawless—Song Qiuyu and Shen Xi were completely different people.
Meeting again in college, he realized Song Qiuyu’s acting skills were exceptional—exceptionally good.
Thinking of this, his eyes darkened slightly, and his grip on the phone tightened.
The next moment, something unexpected happened, leaving Jiang Xiao stunned.
Shen Xi was online?
And in a state of excitement.
Halfway through her sleep, Song Qiuyu suddenly remembered her usual task and woke up with a start.
She lay there, half-drunk, half-sleepy, struggling to open her left eye, opened QQ, and switched accounts.
Lying on her side, squinting, her heavy eyelids felt like lead, but she forced herself to open Jiang Xiao’s chat window and looked at the messages.
[Jiang Xiao]: Xi’er, I’ve already rented a place off-campus.
I believe that once I move out, everything will return to normal.
The weather is getting colder, and maybe this year we’ll see snow.
I hope the snow is heavy because then I want to build a snowman for you…
Reading this, Song Qiuyu squinted, her muddled mind unable to process too much information.
Still, she sensed something was off.
She looked back at the beginning of the message.
Huh?
Renting a place? Moving out? Jiang Xiao was moving out of the dorm?
Such a fast move!
She couldn’t understand the reason for him moving and briefly felt a little annoyed.
She was the one who most wanted to move out, yet hadn’t even found a place.
Annoying.
She pressed her lips and forced herself to stop reading the day’s messages here, continuing onward.
[Jiang Xiao]: No, three snowmen actually.
One for you, one for me, and one for a white cat.
By the way, I wonder how your cat at home is doing.
It’s been three years, so maybe you’ve already seen it.
I’m a little jealous.
Song Qiuyu squinted her eyes.
Her thoughts were few and her mind sluggish, so she decided to switch back to her own account.
While switching accounts, her fingers accidentally tapped the wrong spot and changed her status.
But overwhelmed by sleepiness, she didn’t notice, successfully switching back before putting down the phone and falling into a deep sleep again.
Jiang Xiao, meanwhile, fell into long silence.
Then he glanced at the bed beside him and raised an eyebrow casually.
He could fully imagine how that drunk girl would react upon sobering up and discovering what had happened.
He was kind of looking forward to it.
It was bound to be something.
This thought cheered him up quite a bit.
He put down his phone, lay back on the bed, and the corners of his mouth curved into a smile that wouldn’t go away.
Maybe this was karma.
The morning breeze swept across the land, passing over the bodies of the morning runners, carrying away the warm sweat and bringing a chill.
Even though winter had arrived, the campus still occasionally saw five or six runners in the morning.
Jiang Xiao was one of them.
Though, in reality, he hadn’t slept all night and got up early to run.
After finishing his run, he didn’t return to the dorm but went straight to the off-campus rental apartment.
Checking the time, it was already around nine in the morning.
He grabbed a change of clothes and entered the bathroom.
The sound of water flowing echoed steadily.
Hot water streamed over his toned chest as he closed his eyes and relaxed his body.
Once he was thoroughly soaked, he ran his long fingers through his wet hair, pushing it back.
Only then did he open his eyes, his gaze firm.
Song Qiuyu might not be very smart, but she wasn’t an idiot.
If she were in her own situation…
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