Chapter 98

Come over and chat for a bit.

"Hey, you haven't added the confession wall yet? Should I recommend it to you?"

"No need," Zhan Xinyue said. "I'll just take a look."

Taking the phone from Dudu, she easily found the photo of the missing person in the library.

The photo does indeed show Shi Ziqian. He's looking down at a tablet, his hair obscuring most of his face. Whether it's low resolution or shaky hand, the photo is blurry and slightly overexposed, but even so, the half of his face that's visible in the picture is still stunning.

A girl sat half a body length away from him in the next seat. Her curly hair fell over her chest, and she was reading a thick textbook with her arm propped up on her hand. The pages were marked with colorful markers.

The two were not far apart, and the atmosphere was quite natural and harmonious.

Zhan Xinyue glanced at the photo a few times, then swiped her finger towards the comments section below.

There were indeed many comments below, stretching as far as the eye could see. She quickly browsed through them and finally spotted a long comment amidst a sea of ​​texts desperately asking for contact information.

"Don't even think about it. This guy is a freshman in our department, and he really is handsome. I've seen him in person, and he's even more handsome than in the photos. But he has a girlfriend. See that girl next to him in the photo? He only went to the library to accompany his girlfriend. She came with him to register on the first day of school. His girlfriend is also amazing. She's from the same place as him, a junior in the law school, and not only is she beautiful, but she also got in as the top liberal arts student in the province. They have a great relationship, and she often comes to our department to accompany him to class. You guys can forget about it."

After this comment was posted, the comments section gradually shifted to a flood of "I'm so envious! What an evenly matched, perfect couple!" and "I'm getting fed dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing public displays of affection)! May they last a lifetime!"...

"Having a girlfriend in freshman year, and a top-scoring student in the humanities, that's impressive." Yi Qing also came over to look and exclaimed in admiration. Even though everyone in this school is either a genius or a top student, there are only so many top scorers in each province every year, so everyone still has to express their respect when they meet them.

"Speaking of which, didn't Crescent Moon claim she wasn't interested in handsome guys? Why is she suddenly paying attention to this one? Did she just see him in person and realize she was just being too stubborn, haha?" Dudu said.

"I'm just a little curious." Zhan Xinyue handed the phone back to her. "Let's go for a walk."

That girl is nothing like her, neither in appearance nor in personality.

Even in that brief encounter when they just brushed past each other, Zhan Xinyue could see the bright and lively spirit in her that was so different from her own.

Everyone has moved on from the past and started a new life.

That's wonderful.

She always believed that Shi Ziqian deserved better, a girl who loved him wholeheartedly. He really did meet her, and that's wonderful.

She no longer had to dwell on what Dai Yun had said, and life returned to normal, continuing its busy yet peaceful existence.

Dai Yun kept saying she would ask her out again next time, but she was too busy to make time, so the matter was put on hold for the time being.

That evening, Zhan Xinyue didn't eat with her dormmates, but instead joined a group of club members for a meal. It was a restaurant on campus, usually very popular. Today, since they couldn't get a private room, they sat at three or four tables in the main hall, enjoying a lively atmosphere.

After so long since the start of the semester, the skateboarding club she joined finally had its first team-building activity of the semester. The upperclassmen were very enthusiastic, and Zhan Xinyue sat among a group of newcomers like herself, listening to the upperclassmen's antics while sipping her juice.

"Speaking of which, when you first signed up for our club, we all thought you'd come to the wrong place," a senior student said with a smile as she came to refill everyone's juice.

"Why?"

The senior poured her juice, saying, "Because your temperament doesn't seem like that of someone who likes skateboarding. I feel like you'd be more suited to a traditional Chinese culture club or a Hanfu club. I don't mean anything by it, I just find it quite novel. After all, most people who like skateboarding are very outgoing. Look at me, I'm a tomboy, but you seem quite quiet."

Zhan Xinyue said, "Sometimes, it's quite interesting to try things that you didn't think were suitable for you."

"That's true." The senior student nodded, clinking her juice glass against the other's. "Welcome to join us."

Zhan Xinyue smiled and responded, then looked at the others at the table: "This meal is on us old folks, so don't worry, everyone can eat as much as you like."

The large furniture was met with a burst of laughter.

The senior student was right. Most of the members of the skateboarding club were quite cheerful and outgoing, and the atmosphere at the dinner table was great, joyful and lively.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, the senior students went to the front desk to pay the bill. When they returned, their faces were filled with doubt: "Which comrade was so generous as to secretly pay the bill? We just went over and they said our bill had already been settled."

"Have all of us tables bought tickets?" someone in the crowd asked.

"Yeah, right. The seniors were supposed to treat us today, so who is it? They should confess! Did our club recruit a rich kid? They have too much money to spend, don't they?"

After all that commotion, the large furniture looked completely innocent.

The group even went to the front desk again to confirm, and were told that they hadn't made a mistake and that someone had indeed paid.

"Am I already that influential at school?" The club president stroked his chin, pondering for a moment. "Never mind, let's thank that unknown good brother!"

"Thanks, brothers!" The group chuckled and bowed to the air in the shop, laughing and joking for a while before heading out.

As she was about to leave the restaurant, Zhan Xinyue whispered to the people beside her, "You guys go ahead, I'm going to the restroom," and quietly left the crowd.

She wondered if she was overthinking things, but the scene about paying the bill just now gave her an extremely familiar feeling, making her think of someone.

The restaurant was located on the second floor and was quite spacious, with a large main hall and several private rooms. She walked around alone but didn't see anything unusual. The doors to the private rooms were all ajar, so she couldn't discern anything amiss.

She chuckled inwardly at her overreaction and prepared to go downstairs. Before reaching the stairwell, she glanced at the balcony door beside the stairs, hesitated for a moment, and then reached out and pushed the door open.

There are people on the balcony.

It was just a silhouette in the dim light, but Zhan Xinyue immediately recognized it as Shi Ziqian.

He was leaning against the balcony railing, his tall figure slightly hunched over, staring into the distance. His lips were pursed, and he looked quite upset.

Just as Dai Yun had said, his demeanor was different from before; he had become cold and hard, and the message of "keep away" was clearly written on his face.

Zhan Xinyue stood at the door for a long time without moving. She had just subconsciously wanted to look around and verify her guess, but when she found out that it really was Shi Ziqian, she didn't know what to do.

Just as they were hesitating, Shi Ziqian seemed to sense the movement and glanced sideways in their direction.

His gaze paused briefly before quickly returning to its previous direction, calmly looking down at the area below.

His gaze was devoid of emotion, as if he were looking at a complete stranger.

Zhan Xinyue hesitated for a moment, just as he was about to say something, when Shi Ziqian spoke first.

"Aren't you going to say hello?" Shi Ziqian's voice rang out in the night. "It's been so long since we last met."

Zhan Xinyue seemed to have made up her mind, and waved to him, saying, "Long time no see, Shi Ziqian."

"Yes, it's been a long time." He smiled faintly, and said nothing more.

After a while, he gestured with his chin towards the ground floor and asked, "Why didn't you leave with them?"

Zhan Xinyue took a step forward and leaned against the railing two meters away from him. She noticed that he was looking at the large group of people walking downstairs. They were the club members who had gone down a little while earlier than her.

Zhan Xinyue didn't answer, but instead asked, "Was it you who just paid our bill?"

"Hmm." Shi Ziqian uttered a cold sound. "I was eating here, and when I was paying the bill, I saw you there too. We're old classmates, so we paid together."

“No need for that. It’s a club dinner, and we usually split the bill,” Zhan Xinyue said. “How much is it? I’ll transfer it to you.”

Shi Ziqian said in a calm tone, "There's no need to draw a line as soon as we meet. After all, we used to be deskmates."

"That's not what I meant. It's just that there are so many of us eating, and it's not a small amount of money, so it's not really nice for you to spend it..."

Shi Ziqian interrupted her, "Don't mention this again."

Zhan Xinyue looked at his face and saw his indifferent expression, and didn't know how to continue.

This version of Shi Ziqian was quite unfamiliar to her.

Having said what she wanted to say, she tightened her grip on the hem of her dress and said softly, "In that case, thank you. I'll treat you to a meal sometime. I'll be going now..."

Before she could finish speaking, Shi Ziqian frowned and interrupted her: "Zhan Xinyue, I don't like you anymore."

Zhan Xinyue was taken aback, not understanding where his sudden remark came from. After staring at him for a while, she smiled gently: "I know."

"Just as you hoped, I don't like you anymore." Shi Ziqian repeated, a self-deprecating smile playing on his lips. "So there's no need to be so wary, standing so far away. Since we've run into each other, let's chat for a bit."