"I'm sorry!"
Outside the study hall, the lights were on, making the hallway blindingly bright.
Several large floodlights installed on the roof of the academic building illuminated the area below. The thick beams of light were like giant hands, stroking the dust motes floating in the air.
Quan Yafeng's apology was so loud it was more like a roar. Behind him, Chen Yuan and the others couldn't help but facepalm and sigh.
'Our boss is such a brute. Why can't he learn to speak gently to a girl?'
'Right? He apologizes like he's robbing someone. I hope he doesn't scare Li Bing.'
"Sigh."
Even Wu Lanlan let out a soft sigh.
A few minutes earlier, the four of them had arrived on the fifth floor. They were just about to push open the door to the study hall.
Suddenly, they noticed that it wasn't just Wu Lanlan and a few other students inside. The female lead of this whole affair—Li Bing—was there too.
The two girls were reading together, their expressions serious.
Li Bing, who always had the quiet air of a good student, was still as petite as a high schooler even now in university. The sight of her with her head down, taking notes, was enough to soften anyone's heart.
Her fair cheeks, her round-framed glasses, her short hair tucked behind her ears, the end of her pen quivering nonstop.
The scene was truly like a painting.
For anyone with a preference for her type, the painting's destructive power was off the charts.
Quan Yafeng only glanced into the classroom for a second before his gaze froze, locking onto Li Bing as he stared blankly.
"Why is Li Bing here? Wu Lanlan didn't say anything."
"I thought it would just be her."
"No," Chen Yuan tugged on Wei Zhen's shirt and whispered to the three of them, "Since Li Bing is here, Wu Lanlan probably meant for this to be settled tonight. She might have even told Li Bing in advance. This is the perfect opportunity."
"Opportunity for what?" Quan Yafeng asked, confused.
"To apologize!"
"Right, right, she brought Li Bing here, isn't it because she wants you two to talk? If you ask me, boss, you have zero social skills. Confessing out of the blue is dumb enough, but doing it on Green Bubble is even dumber!" Liu Nan nudged Wei Zhen. "If it were you, would you confess on Green Bubble?"
"I wouldn't," Wei Zhen shook his head frantically.
"To be honest, I wouldn't either. Boss, if you don't believe me, ask Third Brother... Hey, Third Brother, would you confess on Green Bubble?"
"I'm usually the one who gets confessed to," Chen Yuan said with a straight face.
"...Fine, whatever. The point is, it's not official. Some things have to be said face-to-face to be sincere. Confessions and apologies are the same in that regard!"
Swayed by his friends' back-and-forth, Quan Yafeng thought about it and realized he had indeed been too hasty.
"So what do I do now?"
"I'll call Wu Lanlan out and have her convince Li Bing to come over. When the time comes, you damn well better be brave! If you try to run, don't blame us for slapping you silly."
"I... I can't. At least let me prepare. I..."
The boss was stammering, hesitating, but Chen Yuan and the others didn't give him any time to think.
They pushed the door open and walked straight in. To avoid disturbing the other students, they exchanged a few quiet words with Wu Lanlan.
Then, Wu Lanlan nodded and poked Li Bing, who was sitting in front of her.
It seemed the two best friends had already talked things over. Li Bing turned her head, saw Chen Yuan and his friends, and then glanced out the window. She silently put down her pen, pulled on her jacket, and calmly walked out.
"Quan, let's talk over here," she even said, taking the initiative.
Quan Yafeng stood there dumbly for a few seconds before hastily replying, "Okay."
He walked over like an android, his steps stiff and robotic.
...
Looking at the sincerely bowing Quan Yafeng, Li Bing's gaze softened slightly as she spoke in a gentle voice.
Her voice was very pleasant, with a hint of a cutesy, doll-like quality.
But the conversation that followed was utterly chilling.
"No, I should be the one apologizing. I blocked you without much thought, Quan. I shouldn't have done that."
"How can you be the one apologizing? This is all my fault!" Quan Yafeng looked up in surprise, waving his hands frantically. "Honestly, I just wanted to get to know you a little better, Li Bing. I didn't mean anything else."
"Didn't mean anything else?" She adjusted her glasses. Her rhetorical question silenced him. Then she continued, "I'm not looking to date, nor am I looking to make more friends. I just want to finish university quietly and find a good job. I have a lot I need to do. You can understand that, can't you, Quan?"
"I can... Of course I can."
"In that case, I hope you'll try not to disturb my life, Quan. And please refrain from things like impulsively calling someone multiple times to rush them into replying to a message. I appreciate that you like me."
Li Bing gave a slight nod, then averted her gaze. Without a hint of reluctance, she opened the door to the study hall and went back to her books.
...
'Judging by his expression, it's over.'
'Beyond over. Completely toast.'
'One bold move and he's going to be an introvert for life. My poor Yafeng.'
The three of them stood with their arms around each other's shoulders. They didn't go over to comfort him right away, instead letting Quan Yafeng hide in the corner with his head down in silence.
A moment later, Liu Nan clapped his hands. "Alright, that's enough of that. Time to take our boy back to the dorm and cheer him up. I need to give Yafeng a warm, motherly embrace to heal his wounds."
"Can the male mothers just die already?"
Chen Yuan backed away from Liu Nan in disgust. The guys were about to go pull Quan Yafeng over, but just then, Wu Lanlan called out softly from behind them, "Chen Yuan?"
"Hm?"
"Can we talk for a minute?"
Wei Zhen and Liu Nan exchanged a look. They turned back and, with an air of complete understanding, chuckled, "Well then, you two talk. We'll head back to the dorm first."
The two treacherous bastards sold Chen Yuan out in an instant.
He hadn't even said a word, and in a flash, they had disappeared around the corner of the hallway with Quan Yafeng in tow.
Leaving just him and Wu Lanlan.
The atmosphere was a little awkward.
Fortunately, Wu Lanlan was a cheerful and lively girl, her personality the complete opposite of Li Bing's. They had only taken a few steps together before she started a conversation.
They took the elevator down together and went for a walk under the lights of the academic building.
A cold wind blew. Beneath the tall plane trees were rust-spotted benches. They walked aimlessly from one streetlight to the next, their shadows stretching and shrinking.
Wu Lanlan looked up, a shy smile on her lips.
"Quan won't be too heartbroken, will he?"
"Probably. He's a very sincere guy. When he says he likes a girl, he really means it. I'm afraid he's been hurt this time."
"There's nothing to be done about it. I've known Li Bing for a long time; we're from the same area back in high school. She's incredibly hardworking and diligent. She has goals she wants to achieve and is willing to do whatever it takes to reach them. Dating is something she almost never considers, at least not until she can escape her difficult family situation. I think that's about it."
"That's good. You can't force someone to like you."
"So, Chen, is there anyone you like?"
Wu Lanlan suddenly stopped walking. They had been walking side-by-side, but now she turned to face him. Because of their height difference, she had to tilt her face up to look at him.
She asked.
Under the soft glow of the streetlights, her eyes sparkled with a hint of expectation.
"Yes."
Chen Yuan could clearly see her expression freeze for a moment after his answer. The light in her eyes immediately dimmed.
"That's nice." Wu Lanlan started walking again and asked in a low voice, "Are you two together?"
"I guess so."
"What's it like?"
"Liking someone... I can't really explain it well. It's pretty much just... you're really happy when you see them, and when you don't, you can't help but think about them... something like that."
...
The trip home took an hour.
In that time, Chen Yuan's face appeared in Jiang Ning's mind a total of one hundred and twenty-three times.
She tried her best not to think about him, but the moment her mind wandered...
Chen Yuan turning back to ask her, "Aren't you cold?" then pulling her trench coat tighter and buttoning it up.
The scene would immediately appear before her eyes, crystal clear.
She began to wonder, 'Am I going crazy?'
Because she wasn't just thinking about it; she would find herself smiling involuntarily...
'I must be going crazy.'