Although she decisively rejected him, she actually stayed by his side without moving an inch, as if to tell him that he had a chance, as long as he waited patiently.
But this ambiguous and unclear relationship was a great harm to him.
Like the song of a siren, it bewitched him toward death.
The trigger that night, although it was Qu Yun's excellence and her deliberate provocation, ultimately stemmed from her usual attitude.
She held him reluctantly, but whenever he tried to get any closer, she stopped him with her brother's logo.
So, he, who has always been black and white, could no longer tolerate it and announced his bottom line.
Either he leaves, or he is given the opportunity to compete.
Even if you lose, you still have to leave.
But at least, that was fair to him.
Perhaps, this is also giving myself a chance.
Someone once said, who would be foolish enough to marry the person they love most?
Is love the same?
She's already been foolish once, and was heartbroken. This time, with her being loved, will things be different?
Under the orange light, Long Xiang's features were not very clear, but the unease and determination in his eyes were obvious.
So, whatever, let's love first and see what happens.
The slightly blurry, heavy shadow on the ground nodded.
"good."
And so, You Ran and Long Xiang began dating.
Long Xiang returned to school and, as usual, waited for You Ran outside the dormitory every morning to have breakfast together. After class, he would pick her up at the classroom door and have lunch together. When he didn't have classes, he would go to the library or the study room.
As usual, but observant bystanders could see that the atmosphere between them was different.
There are fewer brains, and conversations have become less frequent.
Longxiang seems to be getting further and further away from Xiaoxin.
The most obvious example is that when he was leisurely reading, he stopped playing on the computer and reading comics, and instead picked up his professional books to study.
However, it would probably take at least half an hour to finish just one page.
I calmly reassured myself that I would get used to these abnormalities.
After eating Qu Yun's braised pickled cabbage, it takes some getting used to eating this spicy pickled cabbage.
But before she could even adjust for two days, Qu Yun found out.
You Ran was called to the college office, told that her counselor wanted to see her.
You Ran went there as instructed, and as expected, only Qu Yun was in the office.
When You Ran arrived, Qu Yun was preparing a PowerPoint presentation for the college gathering. Recently, in order to prepare for the Education Bureau's inspection, the various colleges have been holding frequent meetings.
The screen's blue words were faintly reflected in Qu Yun's non-prescription glasses, while ten gleaming white fingers flew rapidly across the keyboard.
On Qu Yun's desk, his items are always neatly arranged in the same place, not even an inch of space is moved.
Others had to admit that this arrangement was the most suitable, elegant, and tidy.
It is just that the constant meticulousness gives people a sense of alienation.
"What do you want to know?" You Ran asked directly.
"Why are you still playing this game with him? Wasn't the lesson from that night enough?" Qu Yun didn't stop working.
“This time,” You Ran paused, then said, “it’s true between me and Long Xiang.”
The sound of typing stopped, and Qu Yun raised her eyes to look at You Ran through her thin, non-prescription glasses.
You Ran decided to make things clear to him once and for all: "This time, Long Xiang and I are seriously dating."
"Did he threaten you?" Qu Yun asked.
“No, no one can force me. The reason I agreed is because…” You Ran put one hand behind her back and lightly pinched her index finger with her thumb: “Because I feel that I should come out of this. I have to see for myself what’s on the other side of the mountain.”
After speaking, she lowered her eyes leisurely, and her bangs fell down naturally.
She couldn't see Qu Yun's expression, and... didn't want to see it.
After a while, the tapping sound resumed, and Qu Yun's slightly cold voice came through.
"I understand, you can go out now."
It seemed calm, which was good. You Ran didn't stay a second longer and turned to walk out the door.
Looking at the time, it was 3:45. You Ran remembered that there was a meeting at 4 o'clock, so she was too lazy to run back to the dormitory and went straight to the lecture hall to read.
The efficiency was quite high; I flipped through the pages of the English book one by one.
Students from the same college arrived one after another, but You Ran didn't pay much attention to them and sat in the corner of the last row, pretending to be a good student.
Even though I was focused on studying, I could still feel the changes around me.
When the girls in the front row faintly exclaimed "Wow!", You Ran realized that Counselor Qu had arrived.
Basically, it was just a series of statements emphasizing that the bigwigs from the Ministry of Education were coming to inspect, and that the girls and boys should behave well and not embarrass their alma mater, or they would be in for a beating.
You Ran found it incredibly boring, so she put on her earphones, listened to music, and buried herself in her postgraduate entrance exam preparation.
Finally, to the tune of the Black Eyed Peas' song, You Ran finished memorizing the words in column H.
My ears hurt a little, so I casually took out my earplugs and noticed something—no, a lot of something was wrong.
The students around were whispering among themselves.
Although it's normal for there to be whispers when Qu Yun is on the podium, this time the whispers weren't praises like "Teacher Qu is so beautiful," "Teacher Qu has such long legs," or "Teacher Qu has such a nice butt."
At that moment, the whispers went something like this: "Is Teacher Qu possessed?!"
Looking up leisurely, I noticed that Qu Yun on the podium was staring at his computer, and had even forgotten to put down the projector screen.
Finally, someone in the first row, seemingly unafraid of death, whispered a reminder: "Teacher Qu, um... you've been standing up there for ten minutes now."
Qu Yun remained as if she hadn't heard him, staring at her computer screen, motionless. Her eyes were unfocused, as if her thoughts had drifted into the universe, aimless and adrift.
After a long pause, his brows twitched slightly: "Sorry, the presentation slides aren't finished yet. Let's reschedule for tomorrow's meeting."
His speaking speed was half a beat faster than usual.
Then, ignoring the entire classroom full of people, he walked straight out.
As he moved, the hem of his robe fluttered a few pages of lecture notes off the table, which then drifted down to the floor below the podium.
She lowered her eyes leisurely, put her earplugs back in, and stopped listening to the discussions of her classmates.
It's none of her business, You Ran told herself.
"You Ran, your Long Xiang bought you fried dough sticks and soy milk again and is standing downstairs." Roommate A shouted loudly, making sure the whole building could hear her.
You Ran quickly crawled out of bed, put on her slippers, and rushed downstairs to Xiao Xin's side.
"Why are you here?" You Ran pulled him aside. "Didn't I tell you I wasn't going to study today?"
"You said you wanted soy milk and fried dough sticks yesterday, so I got up early today and bought them." Xiaoxin handed You Ran the steaming hot soy milk and the golden-brown, crispy fried dough sticks.
"Ah, thank you." You Ran was flattered and surprised. She really didn't expect that a casual remark she made yesterday would be remembered so fondly by Xiao Xin.
"Go back to sleep." Shin-chan put his hands into his pockets.
Nodding leisurely, she suddenly had an idea as she turned around. Her hand moved on its own, reaching out to ruffle Shin-chan's hair, just like she used to.
But before they could even touch, Shin-chan grabbed her hand.
“I’m not a child anymore,” she emphasized.
With this sudden obstruction, You Ran felt somewhat embarrassed and had no choice but to withdraw her hand.
Shin-chan seemed to realize his mistake and then laughed to smooth things over, saying, "Wait until I get a perm, then you can touch it. I guarantee your hands will bleed, it'll be incredibly exciting."
You Ran wanted to say something back, but when she opened her mouth, she didn't know what to say.
So, she could only wave goodbye to her current boyfriend and go back to her dorm.
Once the items were back in the dorm, they were naturally to be divided equally.
You Ran only managed to grab half a fried dough stick, licked her fingers, and went back to bed.
As the saying goes, "He who eats another's food is bound to do his bidding," and the roommates, still chewing on fried dough sticks, began to shower Xiaoxin with praise.
"Look how good they are to you, they even bring you breakfast. You must have been blessed in your past life."
"He's always around you, acting as your bodyguard, tutor, and janitor. Where can you find such a devoted boyfriend these days?"
"What's most touching is that this guy is none other than Long Xiang, the invincible volcano who can kill gods and Buddhas alike, yet you've tamed him into a little lamb. Tell me, how did you manage to win him over?"
She sat up leisurely, leaned against the bed railing, covered her face in a very artistic manner, and said in a blissful manner, "When you grow up to be beautiful, there's just nothing you can do about it."
"Smack! Smack! Smack!" Three pillows hit You Ran's face simultaneously.
After months of chaotic activity, the officials from the Education Bureau finally came to inspect the area for a week.
The entire school is on high alert.
The leader's rules are abnormally strict.
Regardless of whether there were classes or not, students had to attend morning self-study in designated classrooms at 7:30 every morning. If they were late, they would be publicly announced throughout the school. During that period, the self-study classrooms were filled with groups of sleepy students; at first glance, it looked like a zoo.
Hair had to be black and straight, and boys' hair had to be short, down to their earlobes. Anyone who violated these rules would be dragged to the leader for a forced haircut. It's said that the talented art student who had just dyed his hair all sorts of colors and was very individualistic threatened to commit suicide because of this. Unfortunately, he stood on the rooftop, scattered some flower petals, and didn't dare to jump. He was still caught and forced to have his hair shaved.
The couples needed to exercise restraint for the time being. Kissing and hugging were absolutely forbidden, and even being seen holding hands was a warning. During that period, the older, unmarried female teachers at the school, all like Li Mochou, were incredibly excited, lurking in the woods every day, ready to jump out at the first sign of trouble, catch the restless young couples, and punish them without mercy.
Except for a few hours of lunch break and nighttime sleep, students were not allowed to stay in the dormitory at other times. The dormitory aunties would check each student one by one. Even You Ran, who was hiding under the bed, was dragged out. During that period, the corner of the library was always filled with sleeping bags, where clumps of homeless students slept.
Even more perversely, in order to create the illusion that the whole school was studying diligently, the leaders stipulated that each class must send 5 people every day to loudly read English aloud on the school's tree-lined paths.
The time is 6:00 AM.
This rule was nothing short of hellish for You Ran, a lazybones who wouldn't get out of bed until the school bell rang.
On the day it was her turn to perform, You Ran finally opened her eyes a crack after being repeatedly pushed and shoved by her three roommates and bombarded with a barrage of phone calls from Xiao Xin.
With only a sliver of vision, she sleepwalked out of bed, washed up, went downstairs to meet Xiaoxin, and together they came to the tree-lined path.