It was just past 6 AM. The girls' dormitory building was quiet, with the front door left open and the dorm auntie nowhere to be seen.
Zhen Bao tiptoed up to the third floor. She didn't run into anyone along the way. When she reached the door of her dorm room, she opened it as gently as possible and closed it just as carefully. The other three girls were still asleep. Zhen Bao quietly walked over to her bed and sat down to read a book.
Of course she couldn't focus on reading. Her mind was filled with Fu Ming Shi.
What had once seemed so distant was now happening so naturally - thrilling and embarrassing, but wonderful all the same.
"Ah, Zhen Bao, when did you come back?"
Jia Xiao Yu had drank too much water the previous night and now urgently needed the bathroom. When she looked up and saw someone sitting there who shouldn't be, she was quite startled. Her exclamation woke up Qian LeLe and Fan Xuan as well, and they all peered out to look at Zhen Bao.
Zhen Bao pretended to calmly turn a page in her book and said softly, "Just got back. Watched a late movie last night..."
Before she could finish, Qian LeLe giggled and said, "No need to explain, we understand."
Zhen Bao closed her mouth.
Jia Xiao Yu crawled out of bed and draped herself over Zhen Bao's back, asking suggestively, "Did Fu give you a nice time?"
Zhen Bao pushed her away. "Don't talk nonsense..."
Jia Xiao Yu was only teasing her friend. Whether something happened or not didn't matter. It was bound to happen sooner or later anyway. Fan Xuan and Qian LeLe also knew Zhen Bao was shy. Some topics could remain as ongoing jokes, but intimate matters like these weren't suitable for teasing Zhen Bao about yet. After joking around for a bit, the two girls lay back down, though they didn't forget to ask Zhen Bao and Jia Xiao Yu to bring them breakfast later.
Seeing that her roommates reacted just as Fu Ming Shi had guessed, Zhen Bao felt relieved and went about her morning routine as usual before class.
The weekend was Zhen Bao and Fu Ming Shi's designated date time. As long as Fu Ming Shi was free, he would come to University A on Saturdays to see Zhen Bao. Sometimes they would go out to play, and other times he would accompany Zhen Bao while she studied. Since Zhen Bao had a part-time job, Fu Ming Shi would usually send her back to campus by the afternoon.
That Saturday, Fu Ming Shi was quite busy and could only stay until lunchtime. The two of them went to eat at the school cafeteria.
It was their first date after becoming intimate. Zhen Bao still felt a little awkward.
"Don't seduce me," Fu Ming Shi said as he peeled a shrimp and placed it in her bowl, then used Zhen Bao's napkin to wipe his hands. Looking at her, he continued, "Seeing your face flushed red makes me unable to resist thinking back to that night."
Zhen Bao's face grew even redder.
Fu Ming Shi liked seeing her blush. It made him want to take a bite of her. He was about to pinch her cheek when he noticed someone he'd met a few times before walking over with a food tray. Fu Ming Shi's smile faded and he continued eating as if he hadn't seen the person.
Feng Yue thought Fu Ming Shi really hadn't noticed her and felt a little disappointed. But she quickly walked over to Zhen Bao's side and greeted her with a smile, "Zhen Bao."
Zhen Bao looked up in surprise to see Feng Yue.
Feng Yue looked especially beautiful today. Her hair was styled in big waves, her make-up was meticulous, her eyebrows were finely drawn, and her lips brightly colored, giving her a very glamorous look. She wore a light gray cropped coat and high heels that showed off her long legs encased in body-hugging pants...
It seemed she was also wearing perfume.
Ever since Feng Yue started wearing make-up, Zhen Bao felt this person was becoming more and more unfamiliar.
"You're here for a meal too," Zhen Bao said stiffly. Her attitude towards Feng Yue after their supposed reconciliation was like this - treating her just like any other ordinary classmate, offering only basic courtesy and no extra words.
"Mm, didn't expect to run into you two," Feng Yue said breezily as she set her tray down next to Zhen Bao and took a seat. Smiling at Fu Ming Shi, she asked, "Time, are you here for Zhen Bao or for University A's cafeteria food?"
Fu Ming Shi looked aloof, but he didn't actually have the arrogant attitude speculated by the media. In the past when accompanying Zhen Bao around campus, if they ran into her classmates and Zhen Bao greeted them, Fu Ming Shi would also smile politely. The only exception was Feng Yue - after a brief interaction, Fu Ming Shi had already put Feng Yue on his "don't need to entertain" blacklist.
"Let's go," Fu Ming Shi said directly to Zhen Bao, putting down his chopsticks.
They had only sat down for a few minutes and had barely started on their food when he said this. Zhen Bao didn't know why Fu Ming Shi disliked Feng Yue, since she'd never told him about their prior unpleasantness. But since Fu Ming Shi didn't like Feng Yue, Zhen Bao would naturally choose her boyfriend.
Picking up her bag, Zhen Bao wanted to come up with an excuse for leaving, but Fu Ming Shi had already wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her away.
Feng Yue didn't turn to watch them leave. Still facing Fu Ming Shi's seat, her face flushed red before quickly turning pale again. She had guessed Fu Ming Shi would likely come today and had been sneakily keeping watch from the balcony, then followed from afar to the cafeteria. Feng Yue had dressed up meticulously and was confident in her makeup, but she hadn't expected Fu Ming Shi to be so dismissive, not even glancing her way before directly leaving.
"Miss, can I take these trays away?"
A cafeteria cleaner came over and gestured at Fu Ming Shi and Zhen Bao's trays as he asked Feng Yue.
When Feng Yue looked up, she felt this cafeteria auntie was mocking her no matter how she looked at it.
Without a word, Feng Yue left as well, exiting the cafeteria from a different doorway. She walked quickly, nearly bumping into someone.
Fu Ming Shi's good mood was restored after leaving the most crowded cafeteria exit. Holding Zhen Bao's hand, he asked her, "How about the bakery?"
He still wasn't full.
Zhen Bao nodded and couldn't help asking as they walked, "What was that about?"
Fu Ming Shi knew what she meant. Squeezing her hand, he said, "I've seen plenty of women like that, whether in school or at work." No need to interact much - one look was enough to guess what they were thinking.
"What kind?" Zhen Bao had an inkling, but wasn't too sure.
"She wants to attract me," Fu Ming Shi said in a lowered voice. His lips seemed to unintentionally brush her earlobe. "Keep your distance from her in the future."
Having her guess of the target of seduction confirmed, Zhen Bao felt very uncomfortable in her chest. Jia Xiao Yu had said Feng Yue most likely guessed Fu Ming Shi's identity and hoped to gain some material advantages from reconciling with her. Zhen Bao had thought similarly, which was why she was so cold to Feng Yue, never taking the initiative to say more than basic courtesy. She hadn't expected Feng Yue to want even more.
Didn't she like Meng Ji Ning?
"Are you angry?" Fu Ming Shi asked her.
Zhen Bao shook her head. She no longer considered Feng Yue a friend. If not friends, she didn't need to care so much.
But Zhen Bao felt a little sour and grumbled, "Are there a lot of beauties trying to attract you?" She emphasized the word "attract".
Fu Ming Shi nearly laughed out loud but held it in because there were too many passing students around them. He didn't answer her question first, only gripped her small hand tighter to gradually dispel the sourness in Zhen Bao's heart.
When they reached the bakery, Zhen Bao accidentally caught sight of those long French baguettes and felt guilty, with a reddening face.
What was there to blush about when picking bread?
Fu Ming Shi found it strange and glanced over the bread counter, quickly identifying the suspicious target. Looking at those baguettes, he suddenly understood and felt a flame ignite in his lower abdomen. Leaning to her ear, he said, "So your thoughts aren't so innocent."
There were indeed some similarities.
Seeing Zhen Bao's embarrassed appearance amused Fu Ming Shi for some inexplicable reason.
After selecting bread and juice, Fu Ming Shi rode his bike and brought Zhen Bao to eat by the lake near the west side of the library.
Because of the bread, Zhen Bao forgot about Fu Ming Shi's history of being seduced. But Fu Ming Shi remembered. After eating and drinking their fill, he pressed Zhen Bao against a tree, his handsome face nearly touching hers. "There are many who want to seduce me, but until now, only you have succeeded."
Zhen Bao turned her face away. "I didn't seduce you."
"Hmm, I successfully seduced you," Fu Ming Shi said with a laugh. He cupped her face with one hand and kissed her.
Having tasted half of the forbidden fruit, this kiss clearly contained more of a sense of desire.
Zhen Bao was overwhelmed and timely grabbed his arm. He was too passionate, but they were still at school right now.
Fu Ming Shi released her and silently calmed himself for a bit before cleaning up their trash and sending Zhen Bao back to her dorm.
When they reached the first floor lobby of the dorm building, they somehow coincidentally bumped into Feng Yue again. She was holding a bag of bread from the bakery - one look and you could tell she also hadn't finished eating at the cafeteria.
Meeting face-to-face, Feng Yue paused in her steps and looked directly at Fu Ming Shi.
Fu Ming Shi lowered his head to speak to Zhen Bao. "See you tomorrow night."
Zhen Bao gave a wry smile. She would wait until Fu Ming Shi left before responding.
Zhen Bao looked back, Feng Yue was already gone. Thinking about having to be classmates with her for a few more years, Zhen Bao felt a little troubled and went upstairs absent-mindedly. When she reached the third floor, she suddenly saw Feng Yue standing at the top of the stairs.
Their eyes met, Feng Yue moved to the side, pointing to the balcony on the left side of the hallway, "Come here, I want to ask you something."
Zhen Bao didn't move, "What's the matter?"
Feng Yue looked at her in surprise, pursed her lips, and asked grievously, "Did you tell Ming Shi about our falling out?"
Zhen Bao shook her head.
Feng Yue didn't believe her, "Then why does he dislike me so much?" It was as if she was a fly and he avoided her whenever he saw her.
Zhen Bao looked at Feng Yue complicatedly, "Why do you care so much what he thinks?"
Feng Yue was rendered speechless. Zhen Bao was easy-going and had never made anyone feel awkward. She didn't expect Zhen Bao to see right through her. But Feng Yue couldn't admit she had ulterior motives, so she coquettishly said like a good friend, "We're good friends. If my boyfriend doesn't like you, wouldn't you want to know why?"
Zhen Bao wasn't used to making others feel awkward, but Feng Yue wasn't truly sincere about being friends with her. She still wanted to...
Since Feng Yue was like this, Zhen Bao didn't even want to keep up superficial pleasantries, it was too tiring.
"Let's just be ordinary classmates."
Zhen Bao walked past Feng Yue without looking back and went into the dormitory.
Feng Yue stood in place, watching until Zhen Bao entered the dorm before frowning slightly. She had never considered Zhen Bao a friend. At first, it was to have a fellow townsman to go with her to find Meng Ji Ning. Now it was to get close to Fu Ming Shi. As long as she could get in with Fu Ming Shi, she didn't care one bit what Zhen Bao thought of her.
That night, Feng Yue leaned against her bed scrolling nonstop through her social media feed.
Zhen Bao hadn't updated any status, but "Ming Shi" had liked everything she had posted before. Ming Shi was obviously a small account with no content, created solely for Zhen Bao.
As she looked at Ming Shi's profile picture, Feng Yue gritted her teeth and sent a friend request.
She wanted to know why Fu Ming Shi disliked her. If it was because Zhen Bao had said bad things about her that led to Fu Ming Shi's misunderstanding, then as long as she explained clearly, there was still a chance to salvage things. Otherwise...
The friend request was sent, and after waiting ten minutes, there was no reply.
Feng Yue thought for a bit, then opened Zhen Bao's microblog where Ming Shi's small account was also present.
Feng Yue composed a private message and sent it out.
Fu Ming Shi was a busy man without leisure time to play on microblogs every day. But after getting to know Zhen Bao, Fu Ming Shi developed the habit of browsing Zhen Bao's various circles before going to bed. After finishing WeChat, he logged onto microblog and saw an encrypted private message from an unfollowed person. Fu Ming Shi paused before casually opening it.
It was from Feng Yue. Her profile picture was made up like an internet celebrity.
The content of the private message was encrypted. Fu Ming Shi was too lazy to open it and directly blocked the person.
Feng Yue had just composed one sentence when she suddenly found she could no longer send anything.
Guessing that Fu Ming Shi had blocked her, Feng Yue immediately switched to a small account and continued sending. This time, to avoid being blocked again, Feng Yue got straight to the point: I'm good friends with Zhen Bao. If you have any misunderstandings about me, I hope you'll tell me so I can explain things clearly.
Fu Ming Shi was looking at pictures of Zhen Bao's cat when he saw another private message. He frowned and opened it.
This time Feng Yue didn't encrypt it. Fu Ming Shi read through it in one glance.
Looking at the private message box, Fu Ming Shi, before blocking again, replied with four words: Know yourself and your place.
Without even a period, unwilling to waste more effort.
Being told this by the man she was determined to get close to was like a slap in the face to Feng Yue. She wanted to ask if it was because Zhen Bao had said something bad about her that led to Fu Ming Shi's misunderstanding. But she found the message could no longer be sent. This time, Feng Yue didn't have the courage to contact Fu Ming Shi again using a different small account.
Feng Yue didn't sleep the entire night and spent Sunday moping around in the dorm. Her roommates thought she was reading a novel and didn't ask much. On Monday morning Feng Yue got up early to put on makeup as usual. After class in the afternoon, she saw Fu Ming Shi waiting for Zhen Bao under the classroom building. Feng Yue walked by without glancing their way.
About a week later, after finishing PE class, Jia Xiao Yu excitedly ran back to the dorm. "Guess what I just saw downstairs!"
The other three looked at her.
Jia Xiao Yu mysteriously said, "Feng Yue has a boyfriend now, Li Jian from Class 4. I saw them walking hand in hand outside."
They were all from the School of Animal Medicine so a male classmate immediately popped into Zhen Bao's mind. There weren't many good-looking guys in their school of medicine. Li Jian from Class 4 had average features but was 1.8 meters tall, hard to miss wherever he went. Their circle was so small that from hearing others mention him so often, Zhen Bao remembered this person.
"I heard Li Jian is quite the playboy. He was with two girls from our school last year. Don't know how Feng Yue got together with him," Jia Xiao Yu gossiped.
Qian LeLe sighed, "Obviously a fickle playboy carrot, how could Feng Yue be so foolish?"
Fan Xuan seriously said, "You can't judge these things. Maybe they really love each other."
Jia Xiao Yu turned to Zhen Bao.
Zhen Bao didn't have much to say. Li Jian was not as outstanding as Meng Ji Ning, but apart from his rumored playboy ways, his personal conditions were still decent. It was normal for Feng Yue to choose him if Li Jian truly liked her. Though it was a bit strange how Feng Yue seemed so infatuated with Meng Ji Ning before and now suddenly moved on to someone new so quickly.
Right after finding out about Feng Yue's new relationship, Fu Ming Shi came to see Zhen Bao the next day. The two ate out off campus and on the way back they happened to run into Feng Yue and Li Jian.
Zhen Bao was also gossipy. She lightly nudged Fu Ming Shi's arm to get him to look ahead.
Fu Ming Shi lifted his head but in the dimly lit campus, he didn't see anything special up front.
He looked at Zhen Bao puzzledly.
Zhen Bao whispered to remind him, "That's Feng Yue."
Fu Ming Shi lifted his head again.
Zhen Bao guessed he might not recognize Feng Yue from behind, so purposely pointed her out. Feng Yue was wearing a long skirt, arm hooked with Li Jian's as they walked towards the dorm building ahead of them. There was a noticeable height difference between them. Li Jian was tall and strong, making Feng Yue look like a little bird relying on him. They did look quite well-matched.
Fu Ming Shi glanced once before withdrawing his gaze, asking his fiancée, "What about it?"
Zhen Bao didn't really have a specific reason, just ordinary gossip since Feng Yue was someone they knew.
Fu Ming Shi smiled and put his arm around her.
He hadn't told Zhen Bao about Feng Yue messaging him, no need to bring it up. Feng Yue finding a boyfriend so quickly likely involved some indignant pride. This was just another way to show him and Zhen Bao that she, Feng Yue, was also liked by others.
But Feng Yue overestimated herself. In his and Zhen Bao's lives, Feng Yue as a person was not that important at all.
Zhen Bao's lunar birthday was on the 17th day of the 3rd month. It just so happened to fall on a Saturday this year.
On Friday night, Fu Ming Shi came to pick up Zhen Bao. They would spend the night at the villa and tomorrow he would take Zhen Bao somewhere else to celebrate her birthday.
After dinner, the two watched a movie in the living room with Fu Ming Shi holding Zhen Bao's hand in his lap, fingers rubbing back and forth on the back of her hand. When Zhen Bao did this action herself there was no issue, but when it was Fu Ming Shi, it elicited a kind of ticklish sensation that made her feel uneasy.
She tried to withdraw her hand.
Fu Ming Shi smiled and let go, thinking he would enjoy anything she did tomorrow on their date.
When the movie ended, past 10 pm, Fu Ming Shi walked Zhen Bao upstairs, all the way into her room, all the way to her bed.
His kisses were too passionate. Just when Zhen Bao thought he wanted to advance things one night early, Fu Ming Shi instead stopped at her neck. His hot lips slowly trailed back up to her face, pecking her lightly again and again, not with desire but more like fooling around. Zhen Bao gradually realized this man was using light kisses to express his elation.
Zhen Bao wanted to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Fu Ming Shi keenly caught her suppressed laugh and promptly asked her about it.
Zhen Bao closed her eyes and didn't say.
Fu Ming Shi looked at the upturned corners of her mouth that she couldn't hide. His big hand suddenly went to her trouser waist.
Zhen Bao was startled.
"What were you laughing about just now?" Fu Ming Shi asked threateningly.
Zhen Bao was afraid of him and obediently answered, "You seem really happy."
Fu Ming Shi's gaze instantly turned dangerous. Pressing her mouth corner, he said, "Tomorrow night, I'll be even happier."
Unable to outtalk him, Zhen Bao raised her hand to cover her eyes.
Fu Ming Shi kissed her once more before reluctantly returning to his own room, still not fully satisfied.
Lying alone on the comfortable big bed, Zhen Bao couldn't fall asleep as Fu Ming Shi's handsome face caressing her mouth corner floated through her mind over and over. He said he would be even happier. Zhen Bao hadn't seen his "even happier" state before, but she remembered his breathing and muffled groans when he reached that point.
It sounded really nice, and also very...tempting.
Her heartbeat quickened. She found herself actually vaguely looking forward to it.
As the clock struck midnight, Zhen Bao's phone dinged with birthday wishes from her roommates, arriving almost simultaneously. Lying on her side, she scrolled through the messages on her phone, all conveying similar birthday greetings - except for Fu Ming Shi's. His read more like a salacious adult birthday wish. Zhen Bao replied to three of her roommates but ignored his message.
Yet as she drifted off to sleep, he was all she could think about.
The next morning after washing up, as Zhen Bao opened her door, Fu Ming Shi was indeed waiting outside.
"Happy birthday," he said, producing a huge bouquet of fiery red roses he'd hidden behind his back.
Zhen Bao's cheeks flushed crimson. "Thank you."
"I should be thanking you," Fu Ming Shi murmured, bowing his head meaningfully.
Zhen Bao turned to go put the flowers in water.
After breakfast, the two immediately set off, with Fu Ming Shi driving. As they left the villa, a sudden flash came from the distance.
Fu Ming Shi's expression darkened instantly.
Puzzled, Zhen Bao glanced back to see someone wielding a camera, snapping photos of them.
