Chapter 1 Chapter 1 What, is someone here?

Little Stutterer

By Qingfang

The downpour came suddenly and quickly.

The distant rumble of thunder trapped everyone inside the teaching building.

The four people in Wenling's dormitory could only pool together one umbrella, so they decided that two of them would go back first with the umbrella, and then come back to pick up the person with the umbrella.

Winter has arrived.

The already bone-chilling cold, combined with the dampness of the rain, made Wenling's face turn pale with cold, and she silently hugged herself tighter.

Just then, a few inexplicable cheers came from behind her. She was confused when suddenly a black umbrella appeared in her arms. Her roommate, Yang Lan, saw it, took the umbrella, and opened it up, saying, "I'm getting VIP treatment from this beautiful lady too."

Wen Ling looked at the boy standing next to her, who was both nervous and expectant. She gave a shy smile but couldn't speak. It wasn't that she didn't want to, but she was instinctively nervous in this situation where so many people were watching her. She knew that she would stutter if she opened her mouth, so she simply kept her mouth shut.

She developed stress-induced speech disorder at a very young age.

Suddenly, the black figure rushed out into the pouring rain. She opened her mouth in disbelief, and the jeers from under the eaves grew louder. Wen Ling could feel more and more gazes fixed on her face.

The probing gaze swept over her with a hint of scrutiny, as if to say: Everyone else braved the pouring rain in the dead of winter to leave their umbrellas for you, and you don't even offer a little thanks? You should at least say thank you.

"Thank you, Jia Xinquan!" Yang Lan turned her head and said loudly for her, then took her arm with her other free hand, stamped her feet, and stepped into the rain. "Lingling, let's go, I'm freezing to death."

Wen Ling breathed a sigh of relief.

There was also a lingering sense of unease…

…

"Isn't this Wen He's sister? Looks like she forgot her umbrella."

"Wow, what a Casanova! He dared to go that far? He's got a death wish, bro."

"Wen Ling must be incredibly moved..."

A cool gaze came from beside him, and the talkative guy felt a chill run down his spine. He immediately stopped chattering and made a zipping gesture to his lips. He stood up straight and said, "Brother Chen."

Before turning around, Shang Chen glanced at the slightly thin figure again, his eyes darkened, his eyebrows furrowed slightly, as if he was a little displeased, and he clicked his tongue.

Beautiful girls always attract countless brave souls who would sacrifice themselves for them.

In the classroom, Wen He arrived early and secured a spot in the back row. He was controlling his game character and engaging in a close battle when suddenly someone slammed their hand on the table in front of him.

My eardrums almost burst: "Holy crap."

He looked up, his hand still working on his skills under the table, and glared at the newcomer through gritted teeth: "You'd better have something very important to say, or I'll punch you!"

"Wen He, you're going to have a brother-in-law soon!"

"What?" Wen He froze, his character just getting killed by the opponent's club. He realized what was happening and immediately quit the game. "You're talking nonsense."

"Really, a lot of people saw it at the main gate." The talkative guy even tried to find his accomplice, "If you don't believe me, ask Brother Chen. He saw it too, right, Brother Chen?"

The other person, with one hand in his pocket, coldly uttered a sentence that could freeze him to death: "You talk too much today."

The talkative guy awkwardly touched his nose and sat down obediently, feeling that Shang Chen must be in a bad mood today, as he hadn't given him a kind look since leaving the house.

Meanwhile, back in her dorm, Wen Ling had just changed out of her sleet-covered fleece coat and snuggled into her warm blankets. She was about to add Jia Xinquan on her phone to ask about his situation when she saw a message from Wen He from a few minutes earlier.

[Wen He]: Sis, what's going on? Why are they all saying you're going to have a boyfriend?

Wen He didn't think Wen Ling wouldn't tell him if she found a boyfriend; he just felt that since so many people saw it, someone must have done something to his sister.

[Wen Ling]: I forgot to bring my umbrella today, and a male classmate lent it to me. He walked home in the rain by himself.

Wen He sent an angry emoji.

[Wenhe]: He really likes to play the hero.

[Wen He]: Sis, why didn't you ask me if I brought an umbrella?

[Wen Ling]: ...I didn't know you also had classes in this teaching building.

[Wen He]: It's alright, I'll handle this. Let's have lunch together.

[Wen He]: Could you bring the umbrella over with you? I'll return it and explain it to him. By the way, what's his name again?

To be honest, almost a semester into her freshman year, Wen Ling hadn't even gotten to know everyone in her class yet, while Wen He could already accurately name her classmates just by looking at their faces.

Not knowing the exact three characters of Jia Xinquan's name, Wen Ling checked the pronunciation in the class group's contacts before sending the name to Wen He.

【Wen He】/Why is it him?

-

The school cafeteria is only busiest in winter because you can eat hot pot. When Wenling went downstairs after catching up on her sleep, it had stopped raining and started snowing instead.

Frost had formed on the ground, and she walked carefully.

When I arrived at the clinic, I bought some medicine to prevent colds and treat fevers. Only when I was paying did I notice that there was an extra number 1 in my contacts.

It was Jia Xinquan; he stated his identity frankly.

Wen Ling hesitated for a moment, but still clicked "accept".

The other party replied instantly: Wen Ling, this is Jia Xinquan.

Because she was in a hurry to get a seat in the cafeteria, Wen Ling didn't see the message.

The cafeteria was crowded. After ordering her food at the hot pot window, Wen Ling took her number and weaved through the crowd until she finally found an empty eight-person table in a corner.

Wen He said that several of his classmates also came to eat together, and they ordered quite a lot of food. He wondered if it would be enough.

Amidst the commotion around her, Wen Ling took out her phone, placed it on the table, put one hand in her pocket, and typed with one hand while looking down. She glanced at the time; get out of class was over. She then sent Wen He some food orders.

When she finished chatting and logged out, she noticed that Jia Xinquan had sent her several messages. Wen Ling was subconsciously surprised and murmured, "Why did he send so many?"

Perhaps growing impatient, the other party began bombarding him with messages five minutes after sending the first one.

【hello? 】

Could you please be a little more respectful? What you're doing is quite rude.

Yes, I like you, but that's no reason for you to be so arrogant.

I got soaked in the rain today because of you. It was raining so hard and the temperature was so low. Do you know how heavy and uncomfortable it is to wear wet winter clothes? I'm still shivering in my dorm right now, and you haven't said a word?

If you're not interested in me, why did you accept my umbrella?

Give me back my umbrella.

Wen Ling: "..."

Looking at the umbrella and cold medicine on the table, Wen Ling was momentarily at a loss for words. After thinking for a while, she decided to first thank him for his kindness in lending her the umbrella, and then... thank him for his affection?

I was typing "sorry" in pinyin when my fingernail accidentally poked the screen, causing the phone to shake and accidentally press the '1' key, which I immediately sent.

Before Wen Ling could even pull her hand out of her pocket, the other person had already replied with a simple question mark.

The reply under the long post was a 1, which looked like a provocation. Wen Ling's face grew hot, and she silently withdrew the 'provocative' 1.

Wen Ling: [Sorry, I sent this to the wrong person.]

Wen Ling: [I'll have my brother return the umbrella to you later. I bought you some cold medicine. You can also tell him if you need to pay any medical expenses. And thank you for your kindness.]

The top of the screen always shows that the other person is typing.

Worried that he might not reply to her messages in time, he bombarded her with messages again. Wen Ling stared at her phone screen while looking towards the front door. Two minutes passed.

Jia Xinquan: [Sorry, my roommate was just using my phone to defend me. I didn't mean it that way. I lent you my umbrella willingly. Anyway, catching a cold only means I'll feel uncomfortable for a while, so you don't need to return it.]

Jia Xinquan: [Can I ask you out for dinner this weekend?]

Wen Ling pursed her lips. She never directly refused such invitations; instead, she would say, "Sure, but could my brother come along?"

…

Suddenly, a shadow fell over her. Wen Ling looked up, thinking it was Wen He. Just as she was about to speak, she met a somewhat familiar...and very handsome face. She pursed her lips.

Perhaps she was looking too intently, for the other person, with one hand in their pocket, paused in their sitting motion, raised an eyebrow at her, and asked, "What, is this place taken?"

Wen Ling snapped out of her reverie and nodded slightly.

She thought he would leave, since most people are in a hurry to find a seat and don't want to argue, but Shang Chen sat down directly opposite her and even unconsciously curled his lips: "Then wait for me to finish eating."

Wen Ling: "..."

Three boys came with him.

Wen Ling was a classmate of Wen He and recognized him as soon as she arrived. She was whispering that Wen He was a sister-obsessed brother who always stayed around his sister. If he had a brother-in-law in the future, he would go crazy. Before she could even finish thinking about going crazy, she saw something else that could drive her crazy.

"...Brother Chen, this is Wen He's sister, what are you doing sitting here?"

Lin Xiang, still the talkative guy, whispered information to Shang Chen.

Shang Chen remained silent, only turning his head to look at him, his meaning clear: So what?

What else happened?

Lin Xiang almost yelled out, "If Wen He sees you trying to chat up his sister, he'll have to fight you!"

"It's nothing...hehe."

The parties involved didn't care, and the bystanders cared even less. Instead, they were somewhat looking forward to their upcoming meeting and quietly secured prime front-row seats for watching the drama unfold.

Everyone in the computer science department knows that these two haven't gotten along since the first day of school.

There were no specific conflicts; it was simply because they didn't get along. Perhaps it was because they were equally outstanding, from equally good families, or equally good-looking, that they couldn't stand the other's brilliance invading their own world.

Compared to the others' enjoyment of watching the show.

Wen Ling's feelings were quite complicated. She glanced at the time; normally, Wen He would have arrived long ago: 【Are you here?】

Wen He: [Coming soon. Something came up and I was a little delayed. I told them to go ahead first; they should be here soon.]

Wen Ling: [It's okay if you take your time.]

There are no seats left anyway...

A note from the author:

----------------------