Chapter 33

On October 30th, Yan Sui, who had been missing for a long time, suddenly popped up in the dormitory group chat and accepted Xu Bin's invitation to go to the hot spring resort to celebrate Xu Bin and Yu Li's birthdays.

November 3rd is Yu Li's birthday.

It happened to be a Saturday, so the group decided to stay overnight at the hot spring resort.

The night before their departure, Yu Li pulled Yan Shiting to sit in a rocking chair by the French windows and told him about her birthday plans for the weekend.

The double rocking chair is wide, and the two people tacitly maintain a little distance between them when they sit down.

Yan Shiting was reading a book when he heard this and paused slightly in his work.

"Celebrate your birthday together?"

Yu Li nodded, "Yes, our birthdays are only one day apart, so we've been celebrating like this for the past few years. Celebrating our birthdays together saves us from having to share a cake."

Yan Shiting remained silent for a while, then turned the pages of his book: "Okay."

He paused for a moment, then asked, "Is there anything you want for your birthday?"

Yu Li shook her head: "No."

He doesn't have many hobbies, so he couldn't think of anything for the time being.

Yan Shiting twirled the pages of the book with his fingers, and asked no further questions.

The next day at noon, Yu Li took a car to the hot spring resort.

The resort is located on the mountainside. You can either climb the slope to get there or take a sightseeing bus directly up.

When Yu Li arrived by sightseeing bus, Yan Sui and the other two were already waiting in the lobby of the resort hotel.

The hotel rooms are all in a retro courtyard style, which blends harmoniously with a nearby ancient temple.

After checking in and the four of them split into rooms, Yan Sui suggested going to the resort's water park.

At this time of year, with the low temperatures, water parks are generally deserted.

But the three roommates, relying on their youth and good health, insisted on playing in the water.

Yu Li is afraid of the cold, so she didn't go into the water at first. Instead, she sat on a deck chair on the shore, basking in the weak sun and enjoying the scenery.

Next to the water park is a path, surrounded by some trees.

As Yu Li looked around, she caught a glimpse of several people walking along the path, and one of them looked somewhat familiar.

It seems to be Yan Shiting.

But after only a glimpse, the group was blocked by a tree.

Therefore, Yu Li was not sure if it was Yan Shiting.

He slowly withdrew his gaze and turned to look at the bamboo forest not far away.

An hour later, Yan Sui and the other two could not stand the icy water temperature and shivered as they climbed ashore.

Even Yan Sui, who was in the best physical condition, had lips that turned slightly purple from the cold, while Liu Cong and Xu Bin were shivering incessantly, wrapped in bath towels.

Liu Cong rubbed his hands together and said, "It's so cold, so cold. It's a good thing you didn't come down, Si'er, or you would have caught a cold."

Seeing this, Yu Li said, "Go back and take a hot bath, be careful not to catch a cold."

The group nodded and hurried back to the hotel.

After all that commotion, Yan Sui and the others stayed indoors and played games in the afternoon.

Dinner was at a Chinese restaurant in the resort. After dinner, the four of them went to the hot spring pool they had booked and found that the waiter had prepared a cake on the table next to the hot spring pool as requested by Xu Bin.

Liu Cong opened a can of beer and raised it: "Third brother, fourth brother, happy birthday to you both."

"After graduation, we'll all go our separate ways. Now Yan Sui has gone back home, and Si'er, you're renting a place outside too, so it's just me and Lao San left in the dorm."

"I don't know if we'll ever have another chance to get together, so I'll treat this as our last gathering."

As Liu Cong spoke, his eyes reddened slightly: "It's my blessing to have been your roommate for the past four years of university."

After he finished speaking, he tilted his head back and drank most of the can of beer.

Xu Bin patted him on the shoulder silently and opened a can of beer.

Yu Li felt somewhat sad.

Every emotion is easily magnified after pregnancy. As Liu Cong finished speaking, his eyes silently reddened.

Yan Sui sighed, "Graduation is still a long way off, and we'll have plenty of opportunities to get together before then."

He clinked glasses with Liu Cong and said, "So, boss, don't get sentimental beforehand."

Yu Li picked up the juice from the side and said, "Boss, thank you for taking care of us all these years. We still have time, so there's no rush to break up."

Over the past three years, Liu Cong has also secretly helped him a lot, often treating him to meals and even helping him find a good tutoring job.

Liu Cong wiped his face, realizing he had been too sentimental.

He looked at his three roommates and nodded, saying, "Okay, Si'er is right, we're not in a hurry to break up."

The group smiled and clinked glasses.

You shouldn't drink too much alcohol before soaking in a hot spring, so Liu Cong and the others only drank one can.

Xu Bin and Yu Li took turns cutting the cake, and the four of them sat in the courtyard chatting. When they had almost finished eating the cake, they went into the hot spring pool to soak in the hot spring.

Yu Li was pregnant and couldn't soak in the water, so she sat on the shore and occasionally dipped her feet in.

It's not advisable to soak in a hot spring for too long. Before long, the cake and snacks on the table were all eaten, and the wine was all drunk. The four of them then left the hot spring and prepared to return to their rooms.

Liu Cong had drunk a lot and was somewhat excited. He grabbed Yan Sui and rushed forward while singing.

On the path through the mountain villa, Xu Bin lagged behind for a step before gradually catching up with Yu Li.

He turned to look at Yu Li.

Under the hazy moonlight, the young man's handsome face seemed even more captivating; once the gaze fell upon it, it was as if one could never look away.

Xu Bin said calmly, "Fourth Brother, I have something to say to you."

Yu Li paused, glanced at Liu Cong and Yan Sui who had already run far away, before turning her gaze to Xu Bin:

What are you trying to say?

He was filled with questions.

Xu Bin seemed to have some issues with him recently, and now he wants to talk about it. Is he planning to resolve the conflict before graduation?

Thinking of this, Yu Li straightened his expression and prepared to listen attentively.

However, the next second, Xu Bin chuckled and took out his phone to show him a video.

Yu Li's face suddenly turned pale.

In the video, Yan Shiting picks him up horizontally and carries him to the Bentley parked on the side of the road.

This was the day he found out he was pregnant, when Yan Shiting forcibly took him to the hospital...

The video ends abruptly after the Bentley drives away.

Yu Li frowned in confusion, not understanding what Xu Bin was planning to do by filming this video.

Xu Bin put away his phone, his eyes filled with an emotion that Yu Li couldn't understand.

It seemed to contain a hint of mockery, yet also a hint of excitement.

Xu Bin said, "Si'er, you're being kept by Yan Shiting, aren't you?"

“I’ve observed that many times after you sneaked out and came back, you felt nauseous and unwell, and you were also very sleepy. I’m guessing that Yan Shiting asked you to go over and do that kind of thing, right?”

"Sometimes it's even early in the morning, is it really that urgent?"

He uttered vulgar words in a flat tone, which seemed extremely incongruous with his refined face.

As soon as he finished speaking, the surroundings became so quiet that you could almost hear the rustling of insects crawling in the grass.

Yu Li almost thought she was hallucinating, finding it all rather absurd.

It took Yu Li a long time to calm herself down.

He looked at Xu Bin and felt that his roommate of three years was now an absolute stranger.

Yu Li tried her best to remain calm and asked, "You think this video is the evidence that I'm being kept by Yan Shiting?"

Xu Bin shook his head: "And those takeout meals you ate. Although I don't know which restaurants they were from, I could tell from the appearance of the food that they weren't the kind of food you would normally eat."

Yu Li slowly took a few steps back and stood at the crossroads.

His eyes were alert as he reached into his coat pocket, ready to call for help at any moment.

"Now that you have this 'evidence,' what are you planning to do next?"

"Will spreading this ruin my reputation? Or will it be used to blackmail Yan Shiting?"

Xu Bin remained standing still, his eyes filled with sadness as he looked at Yu Li: "Si'er, you don't need to be so afraid. I didn't intend to hurt you."

“I won’t do any of those things you’re talking about. I’m not stupid; spreading gossip about Yan Shiting won’t do me any good. As for blackmail, that’s a crime.”

Yu Li didn't believe her. "Then should I praise you?"

He suddenly remembered the conversation he overheard between Liu Cong and Xu Bin on the day he returned from the county town.

"You said you didn't know how to do it, but you still told the boss, didn't you?"

"The boss saw my phone when he passed by behind me. I tentatively told him my guess, but he didn't believe me at all."

Xu Bin spoke with a hint of disdain in his eyes.

After Liu Cong saw him that day, before he even mentioned the source of the video, Liu Cong simply assumed it was posted by someone else and didn't suspect him at all.

How naive.

Xu Bin sighed and leaned back against a tree.

He looked at Yu Li, his eyes somewhat distorted and unreadable: "Si'er, you might not believe it, but I actually like you a lot."

"It's the kind of liking that comes with love."

Yu Li pursed her lips, her eyes turning cold.

The person who was smearing him one second is now saying they like him the next.

That's ridiculous.

Xu Bin, oblivious to Yu Li's rejection, continued, "I don't know when I started liking you. When I finally realized it, my gaze was involuntarily drawn to you."

"but……"

Xu Bin said with disappointment, "I didn't expect you to have such a good relationship with Yan Sui, and even use this to get involved with Yan Shiting."

On the one hand, he doesn't want to see the person he likes getting close to someone else.

On the other hand, he was also jealous that Yu Li was able to get close to the Yan family, a powerful and influential family.

Yu Li sensed Xu Bin's jealousy.

He knew that since becoming friends with Yan Sui, many people at school had become jealous of him.

Lin Jiafan is a typical example.

He spoke disdainfully, but in reality, he wished he had the best relationship with Yan Sui.

Yu Li never cared about someone like Lin Jiafan, whose malicious thoughts were written all over his face.

But to his surprise, his roommate of three years was also secretly jealous of him.

It's really disgusting.

Yu Li took a deep breath and calmly asked, "What does all this have to do with the video you filmed?"

Xu Bin snapped out of his daze and looked at Yu Li.

"Si'er, I know you moved out to live with Yan Shiting."

"But your relationship is ultimately improper and unhealthy. The gap between your social statuses is too great, and you will never be together."

"If you keep wasting your time like this, you're just going to waste your time."

Xu Bin's tone gradually became somewhat agitated: "But we are the same kind of people, we are from the same world."

"Be with me. Although I can't provide you with the same material comforts as Yan Shiting, being with me will be an equal partnership."

Yu Li shook her head: "You're wrong, I'm not the same kind of person as you."

"My relationship with Yan Shiting is not what you imagine."

Xu Bin looked at him quietly, then sneered, "Are you trying to tell me that you and Yan Shiting are in a normal relationship?"

"Stop deceiving yourself. Would people in a normal relationship not even come to be with you on your birthday?"

Yu Li felt that Xu Bin was just being unreasonable.

He was getting annoyed. "I don't need to explain to you..."

Before he could finish speaking, a familiar voice came from behind him:

"Yu Li".

Yu Li was startled and suddenly turned around.

"Brother Yan?"