Chapter 14 Is she the exception? So, in a world without me…

Unwilling to give up, Lin Yuwei couldn't sleep all night. She tossed and turned until midnight, then sat up and started looking through her phone's photo album. As luck would have it, she finally found Gu Qingyan's class schedule. Now that he was ignoring her, going to his classroom to wait for him was the only way she could see him. As the saying goes, seeing each other once again can change things. Maybe if he saw her, things would take a turn for the better.

As dawn broke, Lin Yuwei got up and rushed to Mingchuan University with dark circles under her eyes, earlier than usual for her major classes. However, since she was not familiar with the location of the teaching buildings at Mingchuan University, she had to ask several people for directions before she finally found her way. She arrived at the teaching building, panting, just as the bell rang when she reached the floor where the classroom was located. She slipped in through the back door and crouched down to find a seat in the back row.

The classroom was crowded. Lin Yuwei's gaze swept eagerly across the front row and quickly found Gu Qingyan's familiar figure. He was sitting in the second seat of the third row, looking down at his textbook, his slender fingers occasionally making a few marks on the pages.

Beside him, a girl with a ponytail leaned close and said something to him. Gu Qingyan smiled slightly and nodded gently.

Lin Yuwei immediately recognized the girl as Qi Xueqing from the photo. Her nails dug into her palms instantly. Lin Yuwei really wanted to rush up and grab the girl's hair to keep her away from Gu Qingyan, but at this moment the professor walked in, and the classroom immediately fell silent.

For the entire forty-five minutes of the first half of the class, Lin Yuwei's eyes were fixed on the front row. She saw Qi Xueqing occasionally go up to Gu Qingyan, pointing at his notes and talking to him, while also smiling at him...

Finally, the break between classes arrived. As soon as the bell rang, Lin Yuwei immediately stood up, intending to go to the front row to find Gu Qingyan. However, she saw the professor beckoning to Gu Qingyan. Gu Qingyan stood up, and Qi Xueqing, who was sitting near the aisle, also quickly stood up to ask him to leave. As Gu Qingyan passed by Qi Xueqing, he nodded gently to her.

Gu Qingyan and the professor then walked out of the classroom in hushed tones, while Qi Xueqing returned to her seat, took out her thermos and breakfast from her bag, took a sip of hot water, and casually placed the uncapped thermos on the corner of the table, with wisps of steam rising from the rim.

Lin Yuwei squinted at the light pink thermos, then suddenly got up and walked to the front row.

"Ouch—" Lin Yuwei accidentally knocked over a thermos as she passed by Qi Xueqing, spilling hot water all over Qi Xueqing, who screamed.

Hearing Qi Xueqing's screams of pain, Lin Yuwei felt a surge of pleasure, but put on a fake expression of concern: "Classmate, you put that cup way too far to the side! Luckily I dodged quickly and nothing happened. Remember to be more careful next time, or you might burn someone!"

"You fucking did that on purpose, didn't you?" A boy behind Qi Xueqing suddenly stood up, his chair scraping against the floor with a screeching sound. "You bumped into someone and you're still being sarcastic! Apologize to me right now!"

Qi Xueqing quickly waved her hand: "Li Peng, I'm fine..." She took out a tissue to wipe the water stains off her clothes, and a small red patch was burned on her collarbone.

Lin Yuwei crossed her arms and glared defiantly at the boy named Li Peng: "Who do you think you are? Everyone says it's nothing, why are you jumping out here trying to get attention?"

Li Peng was angered by her words and grabbed Lin Yuwei's wrist: "You look like a seductive woman, you're not in our class, are you? You're not leaving today unless you apologize!"

He was very strong, and Lin Yuwei tried to shake his wrist off twice but couldn't. Just as they were locked in a stalemate, someone whispered a reminder: "The professor is here."

The classroom quickly quieted down. Lin Yuwei turned around and saw Gu Qingyan and the professor walk into the classroom one after the other. The moment their eyes met, she clearly saw the surprise that flashed in his eyes and the furrowed brows.

"What happened? I could hear you all making a fuss from far away," the professor asked, frowning. Qi Xueqing quickly replied, "It's nothing, teacher, I accidentally knocked over my water glass."

The professor's expression softened, and he gently instructed Qi Xueqing, "Hey, be careful, the finals are tomorrow." He then pointed at Li Peng, "Let go quickly, class is starting, everyone go back to your seats."

Before Li Peng could say anything more, Lin Yuwei seized the opportunity to shake off his hand and, like a proud peacock, head held high, walked towards the back seat. As she passed Gu Qingyan, she deliberately bumped into his shoulder, but he acted as if he didn't see her at all, his eyes fixed straight ahead.

Lin Yuwei saw Qi Xueqing get up and let Gu Qingyan walk to her seat. During class, Qi Xueqing sneezed. Li Peng, who was behind her, peeked forward and actually reached out and took Gu Qingyan's coat from the chair, handing it to Qi Xueqing! Qi Xueqing took the coat, glanced at Gu Qingyan beside her, and Gu Qingyan didn't say anything, just nodded and continued listening to the lesson.

Lin Yuwei could see it clearly. Qi Xueqing blushed as she put on that familiar coat. This woman really did have impure thoughts about Gu Qingyan. Lin Yuwei's chest heaved violently, and she didn't even realize that the mineral water bottle in her hand was deformed from being squeezed.

The bell finally rang, and Lin Yuwei wanted to rush to Gu Qingyan in the front row, but she was blocked by the crowd surging towards the door. She gritted her teeth, turned to the back door, and ran all the way to the main entrance of the teaching building to block the crowd.

Gu Qingyan appeared quickly as expected, walking briskly as if he were in a hurry to get somewhere. "Stop!" Lin Yuwei stepped forward to block his way.

Gu Qingyan paused, but his eyes were fixed on the distance. "Is something wrong?" "Can't I talk to you if there's nothing wrong?" She reached out to grab his sleeve, but he dodged her.

"I'm very busy right now." His voice was eerily calm. "We can talk on the phone later if you need anything."

"Qingyan!" A clear female voice came from behind. Qi Xueqing jogged to catch up, followed by Li Peng and another boy: "The professor told us to come to his office in ten minutes."

Li Peng exploded the moment he saw Lin Yuwei: "Captain, do you know this woman? She was the one who bullied Xueqing just now." Gu Qingyan didn't reply, turning her head and walking forward: "Let's go, don't keep the professor waiting."

Lin Yuwei tried to chase after him, but Li Peng blocked her way. She was so angry that she was trembling all over. She shouted at Gu Qingyan's back, "Gu Qingyan! Have you forgotten what you promised me? You liar!"

Her voice echoed in front of the teaching building, but the boy who used to dote on her didn't even turn his head this time.

Lin Yuwei returned to her apartment in a daze, downing several glasses of alcohol. The high alcohol numbed her senses and the pain in her heart. Today's meeting with Gu Qingyan did not bring the expected turning point. Instead, it made her even more convinced that Gu Qingyan had changed. He was no longer the Gu Qingyan who only had her in his eyes and heart. Moreover, he had betrayed his promise to her.

Lin Yuwei slumped onto the sofa, lost in thought. To be fair, whether she admitted it or not, Gu Qingyan had always been handsome. Starting in the second year of junior high, many bold girls, just beginning to experience romantic feelings, confessed their love to him and slipped him love letters. One time, the prettiest girl from the next class gave him chocolates and a love letter, which Lin Yuwei intercepted. That evening, she slammed the pink envelope on the dinner table and glanced at Gu Qingyan sideways: "This is the third one this week!" Young Gu Qingyan stood awkwardly in front of the table: "I...I didn't accept it."

"Of course I know you didn't accept it, otherwise you wouldn't be sitting at the table eating. Remember this, you're not allowed to accept it again!" Lin Yuwei grabbed his collar forcefully. "And you're not allowed to smile at them. You're only allowed to be nice to me, do you hear me?"

Gu Qingyan, who was being strangled and struggling to breathe, laughed and said, "Okay."

For the next twelve years, he did indeed do it, ignoring the intense pursuit of all sorts of girls, only smiling at her, only being good to her. But now, Qi Xueqing has entered his life like an exception, standing beside him, even wearing his coat. Gu Qingyan no longer pays attention to her. Lin Yuwei is really scared; she is afraid that she will really lose him.

Lin Yuwei had a splitting headache after a hangover, but she still forced herself to get up, went to a nearby shopping mall and bought a simple white shirt and jeans, then went to the hair salon to straighten her carefully styled curly hair and tie it up in a high ponytail.

The girl in the mirror was slender and graceful, with beautiful features and a youthful glow. Although her features and figure were much better than Qi Xueqing's, Lin Yuwei always felt that something was missing. She frowned as she looked at herself in the mirror and finally realized what she lacked compared to Qi Xueqing.

Her beautiful eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of gray, unlike Qi Xueqing's clear and bright eyes, which were filled with unfathomable sorrow. If Qi Xueqing was the vibrant early spring, she was the lifeless late winter.

Lin Yuwei stared at herself in the mirror for a long time, and finally laughed self-deprecatingly: "No matter how much I imitate her, I can never become her."

She managed to get tickets to the National Web Design Competition finals through someone and sat alone in a corner of the audience. The arena was bustling with noise. Gu Qingyan stood under the spotlight, wearing a simple white shirt with the cuffs rolled up to his elbows, revealing his well-defined forearms. His long fingers tapped on the keyboard, his eyes focused and calm.

Qi Xueqing sat beside him, and the two whispered to each other from time to time, their tacit understanding as if they had been fighting side by side for many years. The moment they smiled at each other, Lin Yuwei crushed the admission ticket in her hand, and her heart, which was tightly gripped by bitterness, also broke.

Lin Yuwei's eyes welled up with tears, but she bit her lip tightly to keep them from falling. She was going to see Gu Qingyan later, and she didn't want to ruin her makeup or look even more disheveled.

The competition ended, and Gu Qingyan's team won the championship without any suspense. Surrounded by his teammates, Gu Qingyan raised the championship trophy high, and the whole audience cheered and applauded. His teammates hugged each other excitedly, and Qi Xueqing even jumped up and hugged Gu Qingyan's neck, and he didn't push her away.

Lin Yuwei stood up, and the people around her also stood up. The crowd surged toward the stage like a tide, leaving their respective teams behind. The huge venue was empty in the blink of an eye, leaving only her and the trampled ribbons on the ground.

Lin Yuwei slumped into her seat, her mind rehearsing the congratulatory lines countless times, but in the end, she couldn't utter a single word, swallowing back bitter tears.

"So, he was doing so well in a world without me."

In the empty stadium, she was the only one left until the security guard impatiently urged them to clear the area: "Miss, we're locking up now." Only then did she get up and leave in a daze.

Back in her apartment, Lin Yuwei stared at Gu Qingyan's chat window on her phone for three whole hours before finally sending the message: "I'm at home. Can we see each other one last time?"

After sending the message, Lin Yuwei immediately turned off her phone. She was afraid of seeing Gu Qingyan's rejection message, and even more afraid of the chat box that remained unanswered for a long time.