The dinner lasted only an hour and ended before 7 p.m.

Xiang Zhilan left early because she had something to do.

Ni Sitian wanted to go back to her dorm to get her laptop, and Yu Mingliang also wanted to go back to school.

So the two walked back side by side.

As dusk settles and a cool evening breeze blows, many young couples stroll along the tree-lined paths of the campus.

Ni Sitian had already made things clear in a tactful way, so she didn't feel embarrassed. When she was almost at the fork in the road between the boys' and girls' dormitories, she waved to Yu Mingliang and said, "Bye-bye."

"Wait a minute." Yu Mingliang called out to Ni Sitian, paused for a moment, then looked up with a somber smile: "Congratulations."

Ni Sitian smiled and thanked him.

Yu Mingliang still didn't say goodbye. She looked at him as if he had something to say to her, and patiently waited for him to speak.

“Um…” Yu Mingliang felt a little awkward, hesitated, and finally pursed his lips: “I didn’t know you were married. You probably haven’t seen that letter yet. Even if you have, please pretend you didn’t see it.”

Ni Sitian was stunned, completely confused. What letter?

"That's all, goodbye." Yu Mingliang said, waved to her, and turned to stride down another road.

Confused, Ni Sitian walked towards the dormitory. After taking only a few steps, she saw a figure dart out from behind a tree, which startled her.

She looked closely and saw it was Zhao Jiajia.

"You enjoy Yu Mingliang's flattery, don't you?" Zhao Jiajia looked at Ni Sitian with a sinister gaze.

Ni Sitian suddenly understood what Li Xin meant by what she hadn't finished saying yesterday, and frowned: "If you like Yu Mingliang, just confess to him. Do you think he'll know how you feel by doing these little tricks behind his back?"

"You make it sound so easy! We're from the same small town and have looked after each other for over three years. What makes you think you deserve his affection?" Zhao Jiajia exclaimed, reaching out to push her.

Ni Sitian dodged and stepped back, but unexpectedly stepped on a stone, twisted her ankle, and fell to the ground.

"Serves you right!" Zhao Jiajia said, then turned and ran away.

Ni Sitian winced in pain, trying to stand up while bracing herself on the ground, but a piercing pain shot through her ankle.

She took out her phone, scrolled through her contacts, paused at Qin Mubei's name, swiped to Xu Tingchuan's name, and dialed.

When Xu Tingchuan received Ni Sitian's call, he was in a meeting with an important business partner.

"Are you busy?" Ni Sitian asked, enduring the pain.

"Hmm," Xu Tingchuan replied casually.

When Ni Sitian heard that he was busy, she said, "Then you go ahead and do your work."

"What's wrong?" Xu Tingchuan noticed something was off about her voice.

"It's nothing." Ni Sitian didn't want to bother him, so she didn't say anything more.

"Are you at school?" Xu Tingchuan asked.

"Um."

"Fifteen minutes," Xu Tingchuan said, then hung up the phone.

Ni Sitian was stunned for a moment, looking at the darkened screen. Did he mean he was coming to find her?

Xu Tingchuan apologized to his partner and hurriedly left first.

Ni Sitian forced herself to stand up and sat on a nearby bench to wait for Xu Tingchuan.

Less than fifteen minutes later, a beam of light shone on her, and she tilted her head to look in that direction.

She saw Xu Tingchuan as if he had stepped out of a halo; he was tall, imposing, and incredibly handsome.

For a moment, she had the illusion that he was her savior.

Suddenly, her eyes reddened slightly.

Xu Tingchuan stopped in front of Ni Sitian. Seeing her red eyes under the streetlight, he squatted down to look her in the eye and asked, "What are you doing here? What happened?"

Ni Sitian pursed her lips, her voice soft and sweet: "I sprained my ankle."

She probably didn't even realize that her tone sounded like she was flirting with him.