Jiang Xiao threw off the blanket and quilt covering him, immediately got up from the sofa, and strode toward the kitchen.
Song Qiuyu sat dazedly on the sofa, zoning out for a long while.
She clenched her fists and knocked her head, her mind a total blank—she couldn’t remember anything about last night at all.
“We… what on earth are we…”
“You’re asking about last night, huh? You drank too much, insisted that I hold you, wouldn’t let me take you to bed, so in the end, I had to sleep with you on the sofa.”
Jiang Xiao explained.
Song Qiuyu grabbed the blanket and quilt, covering her head in embarrassment.
But the whole blanket was filled with Jiang Xiao’s scent.
She had to hold her breath, but she couldn’t manage it for long and ended up taking several deep breaths instead, her entire face burning fiercely.
“But you sure said a lot while drunk. You kept saying how much you liked me, and you also said—”
Hearing this, Song Qiuyu pricked up her ears.
“You also said you wanted to have children for me, five of them!”
“?”
Song Qiuyu’s brows knitted together. She stuck her head out from under the quilt, “Recording? Video? With your personality, you’d definitely record it. If there’s no evidence, then it never happened.”
“All right, you got me.”
Jiang Xiao sighed, carrying the freshly made Hangover Soup back to her.
“Besides, I’m a guy, how could I possibly have children?” Song Qiuyu shot Jiang Xiao a reproachful look.
“Hurry up and drink. We still have to rehearse the Stage Play later.”
Jiang Xiao handed her the spoon, not about to bicker with her now while she was emotional.
After teasing her enough, the hedgehog would flare up.
Song Qiuyu wanted to say something but stopped herself.
After taking the spoon, she reflexively began looking for where she’d gone wrong and sighed.
“No matter what, thank you for last night.” “You’re welcome. Hurry and finish the Hangover Soup, or your head will hurt again.”
“What about you?”
“There’s more in the pot.”
“Oh.”
Watching the Girl in front of him obediently drinking the soup he’d made, Jiang Xiao’s lips curled up slightly.
In the days that followed, they tacitly never brought up what had happened that night again.
Instead, they focused on preparing for exams, filming the Group Assignment, and rehearsing for the Stage Play.
They were quite lucky.
The heavy rain brought by the first snow stopped quickly, and the weather was rather nice for the next few days.
The Group Assignment filming wrapped up in three days, finishing just in time to hand in on the fourth day.
Though they had rushed, they were still the first to submit.
Jiang Xiao’s Text Messages returned to their usual banter, but even more important was that every day he would go out showing off the Scarf.
During this time, Song Qiuyu kept looking for a new Rental Apartment nearby whenever she had free time. It didn’t go very smoothly.
Finally, on the eve of New Year’s Day—in other words, the last day of 2025—arrived.
This was also the last day of their countdown to living together.
So, after finishing the morning rehearsal, Song Qiuyu quickly set out to look for a new place again.
Fortunately, just before four in the afternoon, she found one in pretty good condition.
The monthly rent was still around six thousand, but the appliances were brand new, it was on the third floor, and close to School.
After signing the contract and paying the deposit and a quarter’s rent, she took the key and, feeling joyful, headed home.
There were still three hours before the Stage Play went on.
Now, she needed to go back, take a shower, and eat dinner.
After returning to the Rental Apartment where she lived with Jiang Xiao, Song Qiuyu noticed the phone on the table buzzing.
Following the sound of running water, she glanced toward the bathroom.
“Jiang Xiao, you have a call!”
“Mm, can you get it for me? I’m busy right now…” Jiang Xiao’s voice was low.
“Okay!”
Song Qiuyu smiled, changed her shoes, and went to pick up the phone.
Contact name: Jiang Li.
Hm?
Jiang Xiao’s family?
Holding the phone, Song Qiuyu suddenly felt nervous for no reason.
She took a deep breath and answered immediately.
“Hello, I’m Song Qiuyu, Jiang Xiao’s classmate. He’s taking a shower right now and can’t answer. Is there something you’d like to tell him?”
“Hello.”
The voice on the other end was a rather cool-sounding Girl.
After a bit of conversation, she more or less figured out the other party’s identity.
It turned out to be Jiang Xiao’s younger sister, one of the siblings he’d mentioned before.
She was in her second year of high school now.
Jiang Li called today to let Jiang Xiao know she’d be bringing their younger brother, Jiang Yu—who’d just started junior high—to visit their Brother for a couple of days over New Year’s.
“Wait a second, let me tell Jiang Xiao first…”
Song Qiuyu felt she had to be careful. This concerned the safety of Jiang Xiao’s siblings.
But Jiang Li interrupted her, “Before that, may I ask about how my Brother is doing at School?”
Song Qiuyu was taken aback.
It sounded like a sister’s concern for her Brother, but for some reason, she felt something strange.
“Of course you can.”
“My Brother, is he still gloomy and lethargic every day? Not interested in talking to people, terrible social skills, hardly any friends at all?”
Jiang Li’s voice was calm, as if just stating some ordinary fact, almost without any emotional fluctuation.
Song Qiuyu couldn’t help but give a wry smile.
Wasn’t this exactly how Jiang Xiao was at the start of the semester?
Though she felt a bit guilty and anxious, she still braced herself and truthfully reported Jiang Xiao’s current situation to his younger sister.
She only left out the part about Jiang Xiao falling for her—their male roommate.
“Huh?”
Jiang Li’s calm voice, for the first time, wavered with emotion.
“Sounds like you’re making it up.”
“I’m telling the truth! Did you and him not keep in touch for a while after school started?”
Song Qiuyu tilted her head, puzzled.
“Mm. Even if we did contact him, he wouldn’t say much. After a while, we just stopped talking.”
Jiang Li paused. “This time, it’s only because Jiang Yu missed him so much that I made this decision.”
Song Qiuyu fell silent. Jiang Xiao’s sister’s words were hard not to be moved by.
The impact Shen Xi had on Jiang Xiao was probably far greater than she’d ever imagined.
Just think: a former academic star, guaranteed admission to Tsinghua or Peking University, suddenly saw his grades collapse, turning into a gloomy shut-in who came to study directing instead. Wouldn’t his family be in chaos?
Maybe her childish and thoughtless actions had already caused a mess in Jiang Xiao’s family!
What’s more, Jiang Xiao now liked an impossible male roommate, stuck in a forbidden love!
This…
“By the way, can I call you Autumn Rain Bro?”
Hearing Jiang Li’s voice again, Song Qiuyu nodded and smiled, “Of course!”
“Autumn Rain Bro, to be honest, my Brother only became like this after his ex-girlfriend passed away. But now he seems to be doing better.”
Jiang Li was perceptive: “Does he have someone else he likes at School now?”
Song Qiuyu’s lips parted slightly.