Chapter 78

Xiang Wan didn't reply to Chen Yan's message until she returned to her apartment that evening.

Her reply was brief: "I've already eaten."

Less than half a minute later, she received Chen Yan's reply: [Are you going to sleep now?]

【Um. 】

【Good evening. 】

After replying to the message, Xiang Wan went to wash up. Her apartment near the school had been cleaned up, so she no longer stayed in the villa but moved into the apartment alone again.

She put her phone on the bedside table, put on an eye mask, and lay down on the bed. She tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep, until the early hours of the morning.

The next day, Xiang Wan woke up to a room full of sunlight. After a moment of confusion, she realized that she seemed to have forgotten to close the curtains again yesterday.

She stood on the balcony and glanced around; her driver, Uncle Zhang, had already arrived.

When she finished changing her clothes and got into the car, Uncle Zhang handed her breakfast. Xiang Wan was a little surprised to see the breakfast, but when she saw the familiar lunchbox, she raised her eyebrows and looked at him.

Uncle Zhang's explanation was also very concise: "Wang Yidong said that since you've been unconscious for so long, you need to take good care of yourself."

"..." Xiang Wan took the lunchbox and glanced at it casually. Eating such a lavish meal so early in the morning, she must be going to get a nosebleed, right?

But she didn't say anything, and silently finished eating with her spoon.

It's only seven o'clock now. If Wang Yidong finishes all this, he'll probably be up and busy by four in the morning.

After finishing her meal, Xiang Wan didn't rush to put away the lunchbox. Instead, she took a picture of the empty lunchbox and sent it to Wang Yidong.

Wang Yidong hadn't replied, so she guessed that she was probably too tired and taking a nap.

When Xiang Wan arrived at the office, she looked at the mountain of documents on her desk and the schedule sent by Secretary Huang for this morning, and fell silent.

However, perhaps because of the breakfast Wang Yidong made, she was very efficient at work from the start of the morning.

When lunch break arrived, Secretary Huang came in and asked her which restaurant she wanted to eat at. Xiang Wan thought for a moment and said, "Zhai Ji's red bean and lotus seed soup. You can order some other staple food as you see fit."

"OK."

After the chief secretary left, Xiang Wan was still looking at the company's financial statements from the previous month when she felt her phone vibrate on the table.

She glanced at it and saw it was a video call from Xia Yueshen. She answered the call and then propped the phone up against the computer next to her: "What's wrong?"

"Xiang Shuhan, I called you precisely when you were taking your lunch break. Why are you still working?"

"I'm looking at the financial statements."

"..." Xia Yueshen looked at Xiang Wan, who was wearing glasses and working on the other end of the video, and felt a strange sense of relief, like looking at a daughter. "Then you should work hard."

"?" Xiang Wan's eyes froze for a moment, and she turned her gaze from the report to Xia Yueshen on the other end of the video call. "So why did you call?"

Xia Yueshen then realized he had forgotten the important matter: "I called to ask you when you plan to come to the hospital for a check-up this month?"

"Didn't I just have a physical exam two months ago?"

"Although you are almost fully recovered, you still need to have a follow-up examination. If you are completely cured, you will not need to go again."

Xiang Wan glanced at her packed schedule: "Let's talk about it at the end of the month then."

"Okay, I'll remind you again later."

"good."

After hanging up with Xia Yueshen, Xiang Wan continued reading the documents when her phone vibrated again.

She glanced at it; this time it was Chen Yan.

Tonight was our first date, do you remember? I'll be waiting for you by the wishing well.

When Xiang Wan saw the message, she simply replied "okay" and put her phone into Do Not Disturb mode...

In the evening, Xiang Wan did not go to the apartment to change her clothes, but went directly from the company to the school.

She got off the bus at the school gate, closed the door, and told Uncle Zhang that she could go home now.

The wishing well is right next to the artificial lake at Beiyi University. Xiang Wan walked along the lake for a short while before she saw Chen Yan waving at her.

"Xiang Shuhan, over here."

Xiang Wan looked at Chen Yan, who was wearing a white shirt, her gaze much calmer than usual. She slowly walked to his side and asked, "Have you been waiting long?"

"No, I just arrived too."

She chuckled softly and followed him along the lakeside.

"Xiang Shuhan, have you eaten?"

Xiang Wan shook her head: "No."

"Shall we go eat Hainanese chicken rice on Friday?" Chen Yan always wanted to go with Xiang Wan whenever he and his roommates ate at a good restaurant.

In the past, Xiang Wan would always smile and tacitly agree, but this time she inexplicably asked, "Did you go with anyone?"

Chen Yan, however, was basking in the secret pleasure of walking with Xiang Wan and didn't think much of it: "With Ni Zhen and Zhao Luyu."

"Okay, let's go then."

Since their last meeting in the hospital ward, the two have implicitly acknowledged their relationship.

However, both of them were busy with their own careers, so it was more like a nominal relationship. This walk was their first date in two months.

Although it was already autumn, there were quite a few mosquitoes by the lake, probably because it had rained in the early morning. Although Chen Yan wanted to prolong the walk, considering that Xiang Wan was wearing cropped pants, he suggested going to the restaurant now.

Hearing this, she did not refuse, and the two got into a taxi and headed straight for Friday.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Xiang Wan hung her coat on the back of the chair and let Chen Yan order first, while she went to the restroom.

After Chen Yan ordered the food, the waiter came over and set out two sets of tableware.

Before she returned, Chen Yan rinsed their dishes with tea. He had just placed one of the rinsed sets of tableware on her seat when he saw her phone screen light up.

Chen Yan didn't intend to peek at her phone, but he still inadvertently caught a glimpse of the message.

Jiang Juncang: [I tried the red bean and lotus seed soup you recommended yesterday. Zhai Ji's red bean and lotus seed soup is indeed not very sweet and is delicious.]

It was just an ordinary text message, but it revealed a lot of information.

For example—they ate dinner together yesterday.

But yesterday afternoon he clearly asked Xiang Shuhan, but she didn't reply until 10 p.m. that she said, "I've already eaten."

They even exchanged contact information, and Xiang Wan recommended some of her favorite desserts to him.

Chen Yan suddenly didn't know how to react.

Should I confront her about it? But if I do, will she take the opportunity to break up with me?

Or will people think he's making a mountain out of a molehill?

He placed the rinsed dishes in front of Xiang Wan, then straightened his body, as if he could deceive himself into thinking that he hadn't seen anything.

When the waiter came to serve the dishes, Xiang Wan had already returned, but Chen Yan seemed completely unaware of her presence, staring blankly at the dishes that were being served with his head down.

Exquisite dishes were served one after another, but he found them all tasteless.

Xiang Wan didn't notice anything unusual about him. She rinsed the tableware with tea again. Chen Yan didn't mention that he had already rinsed it once, but instead buried his head in his food.

It felt like I hadn't eaten for a long time.

He knew who Jiang Juncang was: the president of Shida and the older brother of Xiang Wan's friend, Jiang Zhuochun.

What Chen Yan really minded was Xiang Wan sharing her favorite dishes with others, rather than having dinner together the night before.

She never even told him that Zhai Ji's red bean and lotus seed soup was delicious.

He didn't even know she liked vegetarian food, and the thought of it always made him feel a dull ache in a corner of his heart.

But Chen Yan didn't dare to show that he had seen the message, so he pretended to be nonchalant and introduced the dishes to her.

But whenever his gaze fell on the dishes, he couldn't help but wonder if Jiang Juncang introduced the dishes to her in the same way when they ate together.

Chen Yan appeared calm, but felt extremely pained inside. He didn't want to speculate about Xiang Wan, but he couldn't deny that the message Jiang Juncang sent had been a huge blow to him.

Once the seed of doubt is planted, it will be difficult to stop.

In the spacious private room, the two sat next to each other, but their hearts had already begun to drift further apart...

After finishing their meal, Chen Yan escorted Xiang Wan to her apartment building. Downstairs, as they were about to part ways, they both appeared somewhat indifferent.

"good evening."

"Be careful on the road."

The two turned around and walked in opposite directions.

Although he was feeling down, Chen Yan waited until the lights in Xiang Wan's apartment came on before returning to his dormitory.

However, as soon as he took out his key and opened the dormitory door, he was greeted by salutes fired at him by Ni Zhen and Zhao Luyu.

"Bang—bang—bang—"

"Oh~~~"

"Let's congratulate Chen Ruilin on June 15th on leaving the ranks of single dogs."

Chen Yan: "..."

He had no interest in the two men's antics. He walked past them without a word to his bed and lay down without even changing his clothes.

Ni Zhen: "..."

Zhao Luyu: "..."

The remaining two looked at the cannons scattered on the ground, exchanged a glance, and winked at each other:

'What's wrong with Yan Ge? He's usually so germaphobic, yet he just lay down on it??'

"I don't know." Zhao Luyu rubbed his chin with his fingertips. "But something's definitely fishy."

'Did Xiang Wan change her mind? So she dumped him?'

'You know what, it's actually quite possible.'

Ni Zhen blushed, and as if suddenly veerging off-topic, looked at him and asked, "What about the cannons on the ground?"

Zhao Luyu shrugged: 'You sweep.'

Ni Zhen raised an eyebrow: 'Why should I sweep?'

The two stared at each other for a long time, until Zhao Luyu couldn't help but blink first. Ni Zhen's eyes were filled with schadenfreude as she glared at him defiantly: 'You lost. You blinked first. You lose.'

'...Damn it.'

After sweeping the floor, the two stopped playing games and climbed into bed to play on their phones.

Dormitory 615, which is usually brightly lit up in the early hours of the morning, was dark at just past nine o'clock tonight.

The entire dormitory was completely silent except for the sound of the air conditioner. However, in the chat box across from Ni Zhen and Zhao Luyu, the two were typing at lightning speed, and they were still analyzing the conversation at one o'clock in the morning.

The conclusion is that it must be related to Dongguan.

*

Although yesterday, June 15th, was unusually nighttime with lights out at 9 PM, none of the three of them were asleep before 4 AM.

Fortunately, there was no 8 a.m. the next day; by the time the three of them woke up, the sun was already high in the sky.

Zhao Luyu was the first to wake up. He glanced at his two roommates who were still sleeping across from him and realized that he was probably the first one to fall asleep last night.

But he clearly only fell asleep at 5 a.m.

He sat up with a yawn, but as soon as he opened his phone, he was stunned to see 99+ unread messages.

Is there an 8 AM start date today?

He clearly remembered not having it. Could it be that there was a class rescheduling but they didn't know about it?

Until he clicked on the top message, which was a picture that looked like a handwritten letter.

Zhao Luyu had just woken up early in the morning, his mind still foggy. He zoomed in with two fingers for several minutes before realizing that something big had happened!

Realizing what had happened, he instantly sobered up, threw off the covers, and jumped off the bed onto the floor.

He went to each of his two roommates' beds and violently woke them up with his hands.

"Wake up—something terrible has happened!!!"

Ni Zhen was the first to be woken up by the smell of his stinky socks, and rolled her eyes at him: "What are you doing, you stinky idiot?"

It wasn't until Zhao Luyu zoomed in on the photo on his phone and handed it to him that Ni Zhen instantly snapped out of her daze, looking down at him and saying, "This is such a big deal, you should wake Chen Yan up already!!!"

"you go."

"You cowardly, spineless coward, I'll go."

"Chen Yan, wake up! Something terrible has happened!!!"