The dim lighting cast a murky shadow over the young man’s alcohol-flushed eyes, making them appear dull and cold.
He must have washed his face; his hair was slightly damp and neatly combed back now, revealing his forehead.
In the shadows, his eyes were deeply sunken into their sockets, appearing tired and impatient.
Their eyes met briefly, but Jiang Ran’s expression didn’t change at all.
She even smiled, knowing that outside were her people, ready to rush in at the slightest stomp of her foot—like a bulldozer crushing everything in its path, then like a forklift lifting him away decisively.
Resting her hand against the young man’s tense jawline, she casually hooked her fingertip.
Her neatly trimmed fingertip wasn’t sharp, merely soft as it brushed across his taut jaw.
Before he could fully erupt in anger, her hand silently withdrew.
Yet she didn’t leave; instead, she leaned in closer, bending at the waist and asking, “Are you okay?”
There was no way he could be fine if he was sitting on the floor like a stray dog.
She sounded insincerely polite.
As she leaned in, Bei Jiao now distinctly caught the scent that had been lingering around his nose earlier—it was a mixture of perfume and faint alcohol—
At this moment, the warm breath from her words felt like a sprite fluttering its wings against his cheek, lingering teasingly too long near his nose…
Many university girls wore perfume, and since everyone used the same brands, certain scents had become familiar over time—but this particular fragrance tickling his nose now was unfamiliar.
It was spicy like pepper, yet sweet with a milky warmth.
For a moment, the first thought in his mind was, “A mischievous rich girl.”
And she was exactly that.
In the dim light, the young man’s Adam’s apple bobbed. As Jiang Ran expected him to once again proudly tell her to get lost, he instead stubbornly turned his head slightly, hiding his face in the shadows…
She could barely see one side of his prominent nose.
Then she heard him softly huff, almost inaudibly.
He sounded quite uncomfortable.
“…”
A beat passed before Jiang Ran reacted; his unexpected silence left her momentarily unsure how to respond, so she let her smile fade slightly and awkwardly said, “Guess you’re not okay.”
His eyelashes fluttered.
But he still refused to look at her.
She, however, remained persistent, perfectly fine with standing there talking to herself.
Lifting her skirt slightly, she widened her eyes and stared at him, not leaving, showing remarkable patience—as if determined to prove that the guy right in front of her absolutely wasn’t mute.
Jiang Ran had also been drinking. Her hand, which had been braced on her knee, slipped slightly, and when she spoke again, her tone was more relaxed. “What’s wrong? Still upset? Why won’t you look at me? Because I made you drink? Well, you sure have a temper. Was it my fault your alcohol tolerance is so bad?”
She was surprisingly self-aware.
And hadn’t forgotten to flip the blame around.
Bei Jiao turned his head back.
Those eyes, which should have been clouded by alcohol, stared at her—brighter than the useless light above him.
A brief silence passed. Jiang Ran watched as his pale, thin lips curled into an absurd, mocking curve.
“…”
Jiang Ran blinked, momentarily thrown off by his expression.
“Seriously drunk?”
As she pressed him further, he turned his face away again, feigning annoyance.
Same as before, seemingly unwilling to spare her even a glance.
The good news was that, at the same time, the burning gaze he had been directing at her disappeared.
“Hmm?”
She stubbornly pressed for an answer.
Extremely annoying.
“Don’t talk,” he raised a hand to press lightly at his temple, letting out a subtle sigh that barely concealed his impatience. “My head hurts.”
He finally spoke.
Not mute.
His voice was hoarse and deep, the boyish tone only recently changed, not yet fully saturated with testosterone, yet oddly pleasant.
At this moment, a certain wicked, drunken rich girl’s heart skipped a beat—she admitted she wasn’t a good person—but seeing a rabbit trapped in a cage, quietly and obediently staring with wide, confused eyes, well, anyone would want to tug its ears a little. So right now, the rich girl thought, if she didn’t do something, didn’t tease someone, she might end up lying awake all night from sheer regret.
So she unceremoniously pulled out her phone halfway through pretending to care about him.
Photos and videos—nothing was spared.
……………………And following the principle of “sharing the good stuff,” she sent everything to a group chat she couldn’t even remember the name of.
…
The next day.
Bei Jiao woke up on the bar’s sofa.
The 7:00 AM alarm he had set rang as usual, like someone had placed a nuclear bomb inside his head, counting down until it exploded in a colorful burst.
The last group of customers had probably left around five in the morning. By dawn, the bar was empty except for Bei Jiao. Thoughtfully, the owner had left the front door slightly ajar, allowing the first rays of sunlight to pour in.
“…”
His memory was blank.
He couldn’t remember anything after downing an entire bottle of liquor last night—it was like the movie of the night had abruptly stopped playing.
Sitting alone in the empty bar, he looked like a drowned dog, staring blankly for a while before finally admitting he couldn’t recall a single thing… and gave up.
He found disposable toiletries in the staff lounge and did a quick wash-up before preparing to return to campus for some much-needed sleep… The bar was a bit of a distance from school, but normally he didn’t mind walking back and forth. Today, however, his head was pounding, so outside the bar, he took out his phone to scan for a shared electric scooter.
As the payment screen popped up—“6 yuan/hour”—the young man’s long fingers hesitated over the confirmation button. After a moment’s pause, he looked up at the shared bicycles nearby.
The temperature today was around 35°C.
…But the bike only cost two yuan.
In the end, he cycled back to campus with a pounding head.
It was a little after eight when he arrived. Most of the students hadn’t left campus yet, and the cafeteria was still open. Remembering there was still some money on his meal card, he locked his bike and headed toward the cafeteria.
That was when Bei Jiao noticed something was off with the atmosphere in the cafeteria today.
……………………………………How to put it?
It felt like everyone was staring at him.
That didn’t make sense.
University campuses weren’t like high schools, where every tiny incident—like who farted in physics class—would spread like wildfire. In real life, for most college students, once you left your dorm, nobody knew you, and you didn’t know them either…
Unless you gave a multilingual anti-war peace speech at the United Nations, it was unlikely for anyone to become widely known on campus—
Even the so-called student union presidents in romantic dramas rarely left an impression on most students, who often graduated without ever knowing their names.
So Bei Jiao hadn’t had people staring at him for a long time.
One girl was so distracted by staring that she walked straight into him while carrying her tray.
She let out a startled “Oops!” and Bei Jiao instinctively reached out to steady her.
He lifted his eyes slightly, helped her regain her balance, then silently stepped aside.
In the past, all she would have needed to do was look at him once to be scared away three meters by the cold, aloof expression on his face.
But not today.
She started by nervously apologizing, but then her voice abruptly stopped as she looked up and met his gaze—
Bei Jiao: ?
Under his puzzled stare, the unfamiliar girl first turned bright red, then, after a moment of staring into his eyes, suddenly burst into laughter.
Bei Jiao: ?
Like someone had flipped a switch.
The girls around him, who had previously been whispering and sneaking glances, now openly laughed. One girl nearby couldn’t contain her laughter and said, “He’s so cute.”
Bei Jiao: ?
What? Who was cute?
This clumsy girl who couldn’t walk straight?
The fried dough sticks on her tray?
His soy milk?
Him?
?
Him?
?
In the past nineteen years, even compared to the mangy stray dog on the street back home that bit everyone it saw, Bei Jiao had never been described as “cute.”
He tilted his head slightly, scanning the source of the voice. Just then, a hand reached toward him, carrying the faint scent of sweet perfume—
He slightly frowned and instinctively leaned back.
Looking closely, it was the girl who had bumped into him. Probably a senior, she held her tray, looking both nervous and confused as she quickly retracted her hand, as if she had reached out to touch him…
Bei Jiao was stunned.
“Er… junior, your dumpling fell! Let me buy you another one—!”
She stared at him, speaking at an unnecessarily loud volume.
The handsome young man, however, remained completely expressionless the entire time. He didn’t even glance down at the plastic bag in his hand to confirm whether she was telling the truth…
“No need.”
Still too confused to form a proper sentence, he finally muttered out these numb words after a long pause.
He glanced at her, then turned and walked away in the direction he had previously backed up, avoiding her hand.
…
The atmosphere in the cafeteria was strange.
Bei Jiao had no idea what was going on.
So he decided to pack his breakfast and eat it back in his dorm. At this point, the way everyone in the cafeteria was smiling at him like they wanted to eat him alive was seriously affecting his appetite.
Bei Jiao arrived at the dormitory entrance but hadn’t yet stepped inside when he heard Zhang Liang’s loud voice coming from the open door—
“Never thought it, Bei Jiao looks fierce but actually… You won’t believe why I started calling him ‘Ge’ first. It wasn’t because he’s the oldest in the dorm. It was the first day of school, I opened the door, he peeked down from the top bunk, didn’t say a word, and then! I shamefully lost the strength in my legs!”
Bei Jiao: …
A burst of laughter came from inside the dorm.
Another roommate who was still around chuckled, “Wow, you sure are impressive.”
Zhang Liang sighed, “Didn’t expect him to be like this.”
The other guy asked, “Like what?”
Zhang Liang: “Looks tough but actually soft and easily bullied.”
Bei Jiao: ?
Bei Jiao raised his hand and pushed the door open.
The room fell silent for a second.
Zhang Liang, sitting on the top bunk, stuck his head out, expression calm and composed, “Oh, you’re back? Did you hear what I just said?”
Bei Jiao: “Yeah.”
He hadn’t even asked yet.
Zhang Liang, sitting cross-legged and picking his feet, said, “So from today on, you’re not Bei Ge anymore.”
Bei Jiao lifted his eyes to glance at him.
Zhang Liang said seriously, “Bei Di.”
Bei Jiao: …
Zhang Liang declared with deep emotion, “Bei Di, don’t worry, I’ll protect you from now on. No one will bully you again.”
Bei Jiao: …
What the hell was wrong with this guy?
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