Chapter 2
“Tap—”
A pale red holly berry fell into the hood of Lu Zhiying’s jacket. She stood by the door without moving, thinking she ought to offer a polite greeting. Although she rarely paid attention to the university forums, as a first-year biological sciences student, she had watched a presentation about the artificial gland project that her professor had shown during one of her major courses.
Besides, Social Moments had mentioned that…
While her thoughts were still wandering, the people who had been barbecuing surged toward the entrance. The once-spacious area suddenly became crowded, and Lu Zhiying instinctively stepped backward, putting even more distance between herself and the others.
She watched everyone enthusiastically exchange greetings, pleasantries, and conversation, then shrank back into her role as the little black mushroom in the corner.
Just as she was wondering whether she should find somewhere else to stay, the phone in her pocket began vibrating. Lu Zhiying took it out, and after seeing the name displayed on the screen, her entire demeanor became a little more animated.
Like a mushroom sensing the arrival of refreshing rain, she gave her cap a little wiggle.
She turned and left, walking around to the deserted back of the courtyard residence. After sitting down on a swing, she answered the call.
A smiling voice came from the other end. “What are you doing, A-Ying?”
“I’m attending a club gathering.” Lu Zhiying gently rocked the swing. “Mom, have you had dinner?”
“I have.” Lu Jing asked, “Are you accompanying your roommates to their club gathering?”
“Mm.”
Persimmon Garden sold its persimmons to the public, and the fruit was fresh and plump. But Lu Zhiying knew her mother didn’t like persimmons, so she didn’t bother mentioning it. She gripped the ropes and gradually slowed the swing.
“Mom, when are you taking time off?”
Lu Jing kept her answer mysterious. “I’m not sure yet, but soon.”
After she spoke, other voices could be heard on the other end of the line. Lu Jing gave her a few reminders before hurriedly hanging up. The mountain breeze swept past. Lu Zhiying put away her phone, and when she lowered her head, she was pleasantly surprised to discover the tabby cat she had encountered at the main entrance.
Its fur had a mixture of brown and black markings, with a touch of orange at the tip of its tail.
Lu Zhiying thought it looked wary, so she didn’t try to approach it. But the standoff lasted less than five seconds before the supposedly “wary” tabby came closer to her pant leg, rolled over in front of her, and exposed its soft belly.
“Meow~”
The sounds of laughter and cheerful conversation drifted over from the front courtyard. In the unnoticed corner of the backyard, Lu Zhiying looked at the affectionate tabby cat, and a subtle change appeared in her expression.
She crouched down and reached out to stroke its head. When her fingers brushed against the collar around its neck, she saw the identification number and name Persimmon Garden had assigned to the cat.
—013, Little Orange.
Lu Zhiying scratched beneath its chin. “Little Orange?”
The cat flicked its tail. “Mew!”
As though answering her.
Besides its number and name, the collar also had a QR code. Lu Zhiying scanned it with her phone, and with a beep, Little Orange’s profile appeared on the screen.
[Profile 013:
Species: Chinese tabby cat Age: 2 years old Hobbies: Loves hiding fruit in its nest and waiting for the staff to collect it. Never gets tired of doing this. Personality: Appears very intelligent, cautious, and somewhat fierce, but is actually the gentlest cat in Persimmon Garden’s feline community. It’s even rather affectionate and clingy. … Friendly Reminder: Please do not feed the cats without permission. Life is fragile, so please trust the garden staff to take good care of them. ^^]
In just one minute, Lu Zhiying had finished reading Little Orange’s entire profile and given it a like. When she lowered her head, Little Orange looked up at her, meowing affectionately.
Perhaps it had caught the aroma of barbecue drifting over from the front courtyard, because Little Orange began meowing even more enthusiastically.
Although Lu Zhiying wasn’t good at socializing, she loved small animals and had both dogs and cats at home. Compared to trying to understand the meanings behind human behavior and words during social interactions, she found animals much easier to understand.
“Sorry, I can’t feed you any of that,” she said apologetically.
Little Orange rubbed against the back of her hand. “Meow.”
Lu Zhiying firmly insisted, “I really can’t.”
After several more rounds of this standoff, Little Orange seemed to accept the outcome and continued rubbing against her palm. It wasn’t until footsteps sounded nearby that the cat returned to its cautious state.
“Zhiying! So you’re here!”
Gu Ling appeared from around the corner, carrying a plate of fragrant grilled skewers. She set the plate on the wooden table and sat down on the neighboring swing. Throughout the entire process, she wore a smile, clearly in an excellent mood.
“Here. Shuiqiu and Wen Tao asked me to bring these over. They said they grilled them with a whole, whole lot of care, and there’s no chili.”
After saying that, she lowered her head to look at Little Orange on the ground. “What an adorable kitty.”
Lu Zhiying wanted to pick Little Orange up, but the cat seemed to remember that it wasn’t allowed to eat the skewers. As though afraid it wouldn’t be able to resist the temptation of food no matter how hard it tried, it meowed twice, darted into the grass, and disappeared.
“The kitty ran away.” Gu Ling asked, “I saw its collar. Is it one of the cats the garden takes care of?”
“Mm.” Lu Zhiying sat down. “Have you eaten?”
“I have!”
After answering, the smile on Gu Ling’s face visibly grew even brighter, like a splendid sunflower in full bloom. Lu Zhiying didn’t quite understand the change. She didn’t ask, but Gu Ling couldn’t keep it to herself and started talking without prompting.
“Hehe.” She smiled and said, “The plate I ate was grilled by Senior Qin.”
Lu Zhiying understood.
The Senior Qin Gu Ling was referring to was Qin Jia, a finance major in the School of Economics and one year above them. On the morning of their first day at university, Qin Jia had given directions to Gu Ling when she got lost. That afternoon, she had helped Gu Ling find her missing wallet, cardholder, phone, and other belongings. As a result, Qin Jia had become Gu Ling’s love-at-first-sight crush on the very first day of university.
Everyone in their dormitory knew about it.
However, in the nearly four months since the semester began, Gu Ling and Qin Jia had rarely seen each other.
Thinking that tonight was one of their few opportunities to meet, Lu Zhiying nibbled on a skewer, thought it over for a moment, and offered a word of encouragement.
“Then… good luck.”
Hearing this, Gu Ling burst into laughter, rocking so hard that she nearly fell off the swing. Fortunately, the person beside her reached out in time to steady her. Once she regained her balance, she said with a smile,
“Okay! Thank you for cheering me on, Zhiying.”
After four months together, Gu Ling had more or less figured out each of her roommates’ personalities. The first time she heard someone describe Lu Zhiying, the youngest in their dormitory, as a dull and boring bookworm, she had immediately disagreed.
She still remembered that Lu Zhiying hadn’t been there at the time. Two students from another dormitory had come over to visit, and their words had carried a somewhat derogatory tone. When Gu Ling and Ren Shuiqiu heard what they said, both expressed confusion and disagreement.
“Huh? Not at all. Zhiying has such a good temper, and little animals absolutely love her. People like that are usually really kind.”
Ren Shuiqiu was more straightforward. With a serious expression, she corrected them. “Everyone at this university knows how prestigious the 3+4 program is. Only students with the highest entrance examination scores can choose that academic track. How does that make her some kind of bookworm? She’s practically a future pillar of society, one of the university’s most precious treasures.”
That had happened during their second month at university. Since then, those two students had never come over to visit again.
Even now, Gu Ling still held the same opinion.
The evening had grown late. Looking at Lu Zhiying, who seemed to be pondering how she should respond, Gu Ling picked up a beef skewer from the plate and took a couple of bites. “Not bad. It’s really delicious.”
Lu Zhiying nodded. “Mm, it’s good. Try this dried tofu.”
Because they had planned to eat a late-night snack tonight, the three of them had gone straight to the university athletic field after their afternoon classes without having dinner. Now, the two quickly polished off the entire plate of grilled skewers.
The food was still a little salty toward the end. Gu Ling picked up the plate and said, “The kitty’s gone to find its friends, so let’s go find Shuiqiu and Taozi too.”
“Okay.”
–
Unlike the peaceful backyard, the front courtyard was bustling with excitement following the arrival of Teng Ran and Fu Rongyue.
The weather in Jiahua City had been extremely unpredictable lately. After nine consecutive hours of clear skies, a sudden downpour struck the entire garden at 8:50 that evening.
Although there was an overhead canopy, the rain was too heavy, so the outdoor barbecue had to be put on hold.
Lu Zhiying helped gather the barbecue equipment, getting a little rain on her shoulders in the process. She went to the first-floor bathroom and quickly dried herself with a towel. When she returned to the main hall, she sat beside Ren Shuiqiu and Gu Ling, quietly watching everyone play cards and sing.
Wen Tao sat on the other side, surrounded by senior students from the university student council. Not only did Lu Zhiying have some social anxiety, but she also had trouble recognizing unfamiliar faces. So even though the seniors had all introduced themselves, she still couldn’t quite tell them apart.
“Zhiying,” Ren Shuiqiu called.
“Mm?”
Ren Shuiqiu brought her a dessert and some juice. “Want to try this blueberry cake? I think it tastes pretty good.”
“Okay.”
Lu Zhiying took out her phone, put on her earphones, and began eating enthusiastically while watching a video.
She quite liked desserts and ate one bite after another. Ren Shuiqiu leaned over to take a look and discovered that she was watching an online physics lecture. Not wanting to disturb her, Ren Shuiqiu turned around and fetched a small slice of matcha mango mille crepe, placing it on the table beside her before going off to play.
The noisy surroundings didn’t really affect Lu Zhiying. All she could hear was the professor lecturing through her earphones. She watched attentively, even pausing twice to switch screens and take notes.
The forty-minute online lecture finally ended.
She put down her phone and glanced out the window. It was still raining, and the night scenery was blurred by the curtain of rain. She remembered Little Orange, whom she hadn’t seen since it disappeared into the grass.
With such heavy rain, it must have given up hiding today’s persimmons and returned to its cat house early, right?
I hope it didn’t get caught in the rain, she thought.
A sudden clap of thunder tore through the night. Most of the people attending the gathering were seated in the sofa area ahead, seemingly playing a game. Lu Zhiying had originally intended to get a drink from the bar counter and return to her corner to continue watching videos. However, just as she reached for a drink garnished with a mint leaf, she happened to come face-to-face with Teng Ran, the current student council president, who had just come downstairs from the second floor.
And… Fu Rongyue, who was standing behind her.
Teng Ran smiled. “Junior, I noticed you sitting over there by yourself earlier. Would you like to join us for a game?”
The two women attracted attention simply by standing together. Everyone nearby turned to look, most of their gazes lingering on the two of them. A few briefly swept over Lu Zhiying before moving away again.
With so many people looking in their direction, Lu Zhiying felt somewhat uncomfortable. “Okay.”
She wasn’t particularly interested in games, but she didn’t want to seem like a spoilsport. Fortunately, there was still room beside Ren Shuiqiu and Gu Ling. She sat down next to them, intending to do nothing more than make up the numbers.
The sofas in the hall were spacious, but even they couldn’t accommodate fifteen people. The three roommates sat on some upholstered stools that had been brought over, their heads lowered as they whispered to one another.
“Don’t be nervous. Just relax and try to have fun,” Gu Ling whispered. “If you happen to get picked, we’ll help you.”
Ren Shuiqiu agreed. “Exactly. We can hold our liquor.”
They were playing the very common game of Truth or Dare. Lu Zhiying had heard of it but had never played before. She glanced at the table and saw numerous cups arranged across its glass surface, all filled with… juice?
She asked quietly, “Are those drinks?”
Gu Ling replied, “You could say that, but strictly speaking, they’re alcoholic beverages. By the official standards, they count as alcohol.”
Lu Zhiying asked another question. “Then when do we have to drink them?”
“If you refuse to answer a question, you have to drink one cup. If you get picked a second time and still refuse to answer, you have to drink two cups. The number keeps increasing by one each time, following an N+1 progression.”
Just as Lu Zhiying understood the rules, the game began.
Teng Ran was responsible for spinning the empty wine bottle placed in the center of the glass table. She pointed the mouth of the bottle toward herself, then spun it clockwise. The bottle went around several times, making everyone’s hearts jump with every rotation. Finally, it wobbled and gradually slowed between Wen Tao and the head of the university student council’s publicity department.
Wen Tao immediately pressed her palms together, praying that she wouldn’t be picked.
Unfortunately—
The bottle’s mouth ultimately pointed toward her, missing the other person by just one centimeter.
“AAAAAAAH!!!! WHY AM I!!! THE VERY FIRST ONE?!”
Lu Zhiying, Gu Ling, and Ren Shuiqiu all gave her sympathetic looks. Wen Tao was naturally outgoing and confident. After letting out a dramatic wail, she walked to the open space and spun the Truth or Dare penalty wheel.
The orange-yellow pointer stopped on Truth—When was the last time your heart fluttered for someone?
Seeing this, Wen Tao answered without hesitation, “With no women in my heart, my artistic skills soar off the charts.”
Everyone burst out laughing.
“Hahahahaha! Wen Tao, are you serious?”
The publicity department head said, “I just saw you eating out with a junior girl last week.”
Wen Tao explained, “She was a model I’d arranged to meet. Don’t get the wrong idea.”
“Fine, next round! Next round!”
The person picked in the second round was a senior Lu Zhiying didn’t know. She lowered her head and took a sip of the drink she’d brought from the bar counter. A refreshing sweetness of pomegranate greeted her tongue, followed by the faint, sweet aftertaste of jasmine tea after she swallowed.
She thought it tasted pretty good and took another sip.
Meanwhile, the senior who had been selected also landed on Truth and chose to drink a cup of alcohol instead.
Lu Zhiying turned to Gu Ling and asked, “How many rounds are we playing altogether?”
“Ten rounds.” Gu Ling glanced at her phone. “Once we’re done, it’ll be about time to head back.”
C University’s dormitories had an 11 p.m. curfew, and the trip back from Persimmon Garden took around twenty minutes. It was only 9:20, so they still had plenty of time.
The bottle began spinning for the third round. Lu Zhiying took everything she did seriously, so she watched the empty bottle with complete concentration, entirely unaware that someone was looking at her.
The heavy rain outside seemed to have eased a little, but the person selected looked as though she’d just been drenched by the downpour.
Qin Jia looked at the bottle pointing toward her and said somewhat helplessly, “All right. Hopefully I’ll get Truth.”
Ten seconds later, the pointer stopped on Dare.
—Please choose someone present and share a drink with them from the same cup.
The slightly suggestive dare immediately made the atmosphere more exciting. Lu Zhiying instinctively glanced at Gu Ling beside her. Gu Ling was staring at Qin Jia without blinking, while Ren Shuiqiu, sitting to her left, lowered her head and began sending messages to their dormitory group chat.
[Ren Shuiqiu-qiu-qiu: Could your eyes make it any more obvious? o.o]
[Ren Shuiqiu-qiu-qiu: Stop hiding it, Gu Ling. Your crush is right there. Just go for it.]
[Tao, Who Has No Women in Her Heart: Gentle and Steady, Irresistibly Charming Ling, please step forward and tell Senior Qin that you want to be the person she chooses.]
…
Lu Zhiying was reading the messages in the group chat and was just about to type a reply when she heard Senior Qin Jia declare firmly,
“—I choose Gu Ling.”
Everyone erupted into cheers and teasing. Although their reactions were a little exaggerated, Lu Zhiying, who was sitting beside Gu Ling, genuinely felt that Gu Ling had turned red from head to toe in that instant.
She patted Gu Ling’s shoulder, a few sparks of amusement shining in her eyes. “Go on, Dorm Leader.”
Gu Ling nodded. Her very first step was so awkward that she moved the arm and leg on the same side together. Ren Shuiqiu couldn’t help laughing at the sight. By the time the two women approached each other at the table and began sharing a drink through two straws, Gu Ling’s ears were redder than a pomegranate.
[Tao, Who Has No Women in Her Heart: Is this what happens when you plan to secretly pine for someone, only to discover the feelings are mutual?]
[Ren Shuiqiu-qiu-qiu: Dorm Leader is definitely going to be too excited to sleep tonight.]
[Lu Zhiying: (Kitten Agrees Too.jpg)]
After the dare ended, Gu Ling went straight to the bathroom instead of returning to her seat.
[Tao, Who Has No Women in Her Heart: What are you doing? @Gu Ling]
[Lu Zhiying: Are you feeling unwell somewhere?]
Lu Zhiying was a little worried and had already begun searching online for possible reasons why a Beta’s entire body might turn red and hot. However, Gu Ling quickly replied.
[Gu Ling: Washing my face with cold water to calm down.]
[Gu Ling: Cold water doesn’t seem to be helping much. I think I’ll go outside and let the cold wind cool me down.]
[Ren Shuiqiu-qiu-qiu: Don’t make me laugh at you. Get back here.]
Lu Zhiying only half understood, but as long as Gu Ling was all right, that was enough. The fourth round began, and Gu Ling didn’t return to her seat until the sixth. Fortunately, all three roommates were lucky. Even by the eighth round, the bottle still hadn’t landed on any of them.
The senior selected in the eighth round landed on Truth but chose to drink instead.
The person selected in the ninth round was a senior who had already been picked during the fifth. After she answered her Truth question, the game was finally approaching its conclusion.
Perhaps the indoor heating had been turned up too high, because Lu Zhiying inexplicably began feeling hot and stuffy, even a little dizzy. But there was only one round left, and nobody else seemed bothered, so she didn’t touch the heating controls.
Before spinning the bottle, Teng Ran flashed a radiant smile. “It’s the final round, and no one’s landed on the hidden dare yet.”
Someone chimed in, “Senior Teng, what’s the hidden dare?”
“Yeah, yeah! I’m getting curious too.”
Lu Zhiying listened without feeling the slightest curiosity. She only hoped that none of her roommates would be chosen. As the bottle began spinning, Teng Ran finally answered leisurely.
“I don’t know either.”
Her words faded away as the bottle gradually slowed, moving at an agonizingly sluggish pace. Finally, under everyone’s watchful gaze, it stopped in front of Lu Zhiying, who had barely made her presence known throughout the entire evening.
Teng Ran smiled. “Junior, come over and spin the wheel.”
Under Teng Ran’s gaze, Lu Zhiying nodded. She tried her best to ignore everyone staring at her. With the thought that the sooner she finished, the sooner she could return to campus, she stepped forward and approached the wheel.
As she gripped the wheel and spun it, the antique-style wall clock in the hall continued swinging rhythmically.
Round and round the wheel went. The hour hand of the clock followed its orderly, familiar path, just as it did day after day, until it reached ten. Yet the result of the spinning wheel seemed to signal that order itself was about to unravel, sending everything off its predetermined course.
Lu Zhiying stared at the pointer, which had stopped on the final hidden dare, and froze in place.
“Wow~” Teng Ran walked over and peeled away the covering strip, revealing the dare’s contents. “Distribute playing cards to everyone present, then confess your feelings and ask the person holding the Queen of Hearts to go out with you.”
She looked at Lu Zhiying. “Junior, I’ll help you deal the cards.”
Lu Zhiying was still physically standing there, but mentally, she’d already checked out for a while. Unlike Truth, there was no option to avoid the dare by drinking, so she could only accept it. Her head was spinning terribly. She pressed her lips together, struggling to recover her senses and find her voice.
“Okay. Thank you, Senior.”
Teng Ran replied, “You’re welcome.”
The fifty-two cards were dealt in about three rounds. Ren Shuiqiu and Gu Ling immediately checked their cards, but neither had the Queen of Hearts, so there was nothing they could do to help.
The entire room fell silent. Lu Zhiying stood beside the wheel, waiting for the result.
Teng Ran showed her own card. “Who has the Queen of Hearts?”
Everyone began revealing their cards, looking from one person to another. Ren Shuiqiu and Gu Ling searched around but couldn’t find it anywhere. Just as they were practically about to sprout question marks over their heads, a single voice stirred up a thousand waves.
“I do.”
Beautiful, cool, and dignified, as distant and unattainable as a clear, cold moon—Fu Rongyue, who hadn’t spoken a word since taking her seat, held the striking Queen of Hearts between her fingertips. Her face was so breathtakingly beautiful that even such a simple gesture looked like a scene straight out of a painting.
She was so beautiful that it was impossible to look away.
But the room grew even quieter, so silent that a falling needle could have been heard. Everyone had simply assumed Fu Rongyue wouldn’t participate in this kind of game. Lu Zhiying had never imagined she would become involved with the legendary unattainable beauty in such a way either. She stared at the Queen of Hearts, her heart pounding in time with the swinging clock. Nervousness, unease, embarrassment, and countless other emotions crowded her chest.
Tick-tock.
Tick-tock.
Thump.
Thump.
Outside, the wind and rain raged. Her heart was beating too quickly, as though she were running out of oxygen. Unable to retreat, Lu Zhiying tried to recall the handful of romance novels she’d read before. Yet the feeling of suffocation only grew stronger. Her thoughts completely derailed, all sense of order collapsing. Both her ears turned scarlet, and even her words came out in stammers.
“Senior, I—I like you.”
“W-would you be willing to go out with me?”
After a silence so complete it seemed almost unbearable, the atmosphere in the room suddenly reached a boiling point again. Everyone except Ren Shuiqiu, who was worried about Lu Zhiying, began cheering and teasing, their eyes filled with playful amusement. After all, everyone assumed that the campus belle, who always kept others at arm’s length, would undoubtedly reject her with cold indifference.
But in the very next moment—
As the lights shifted, Fu Rongyue, who had always been cold and aloof, met the gaze of the bright-red-faced Lu Zhiying amid the room’s uproar. The sounds of wind and rain seemed to stop abruptly as she spoke, enunciating every word clearly.
“Okay. I accept.”
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