Chapter 52

She said I treated her poorly in the past.

Then I’ll treat her better from now on.

—Zhang Lurang

—

His face was still buried in Su Zai Zai’s neck, his hot breath erratic.

Cold wind swept in from all directions, forming a stark contrast against the warmth at her nape.

The chill sobered Su Zai Zai up a little.

She suddenly felt puzzled and tilted her head, her lips brushing against his ear as she spoke. “Who are you even talking about? I don’t have any close guy friends.”

Before Zhang Lurang could answer, she immediately came up with a guess. “The department head?”

At her words, Zhang Lurang lifted his head and looked down at her.

His lips were pressed together, brows furrowed, and his displeasure was written all over his face.

“You’re jealous of him?” Su Zai Zai licked the corner of her lips and murmured softly, “Not even sure if you’re the one who should be jealous here.”

Zhang Lurang didn’t catch that. His voice was still a little low. “What?”

Su Zai Zai didn’t repeat herself and instead brought up another matter.

“My roommate told me she saw a girl asking for your contact info at the library.”

Zhang Lurang nodded, thought for a moment, and then honestly admitted, “Happens every day.”

“…”

Su Zai Zai fell silent for a moment, staring at him unblinkingly.

Then, she spoke in a slow, deliberate tone.

“Why did you have to emphasize ‘every day’?”

Zhang Lurang froze for a second, then answered seriously, “I didn’t give it to them.”

A surge of jealousy instantly flooded Su Zai Zai’s heart, as if she had been possessed by a jealous lover.

“Then how did you respond?”

“I said ‘I can’t.’”

“That’s all? Just ‘I can’t’?”

“Mm.”

Su Zai Zai didn’t say anything else. She lowered her head, lost in thought.

After a long pause, curiosity got the better of her. “Do you remember how you rejected me back then?”

At her words, Zhang Lurang’s expression stiffened, and he didn’t answer.

“You lied and said you didn’t have WeChat.”

“…”

Recalling this, Su Zai Zai completely forgot about being upset over other girls asking for his WeChat. “Back then, all you ever did was reject me. Your whole life revolved around finding ways to reject me.”

Zhang Lurang’s lips moved slightly, but he still didn’t say anything.

“Sigh, because of you, I secretly cried thousands of times.”

This time, Zhang Lurang couldn’t hold back his confusion. “Was I really that bad to you?”

Hearing that, Su Zai Zai didn’t hesitate at all and shamelessly admitted, “Yes.”

Her expression made it seem like he had committed some unforgivable crime. After a brief pause, she added:

“You should go back and reflect on your mistakes.”

Zhang Lurang: “…”

—

Back at the dorm, Su Zai Zai hung the scarf she had carried the whole way on a hook in the wardrobe.

She couldn’t help but touch her neck. The lingering warmth was still there, radiating a slight heat.

The sensation he had left on her skin was still vividly clear.

Good thing she hadn’t put the scarf back on after leaving the grilled fish restaurant. Su Zai Zai curled her lips at the thought.

She quickly took a shower, then opened her suitcase to unpack her things.

Cui Yuxuan sat on a chair, watching Su Zai Zai organize her stuff.

After a while, she suddenly remembered something. “Oh right, Zai Zai, have you finished your social practice report?”

“Ah, yeah, I did.”

Su Zai Zai placed her laptop on the desk and pressed the power button. The screen showed that the battery was dead. Just as she was about to plug it in, the originally well-lit dormitory was suddenly plunged into darkness.

The girls instinctively let out a startled cry.

Then, Su Zai Zai turned on her phone flashlight and asked, “Power outage?”

“Let me check.” Lin Ke opened the dormitory door and peeked outside. “Looks like it’s just our dorm…”

Cui Yuxuan let out an “Ah” and suddenly recalled something. “Did we forget to pay the electricity bill?”

Su Zai Zai gloomily watched her laptop screen turn completely dark. She turned on her phone light and asked, “What’s the deadline for submitting the social practice report?”

“I think before midnight tonight.”

Su Zai Zai nodded and sent a message to Zhang Lurang.

—Lurang, can I borrow your laptop? I’ll submit your social practice report too while I’m at it.

Zhang Lurang replied quickly: Mm, it’s in a folder on my desktop.

Su Zai Zai set her own laptop aside and placed Zhang Lurang’s on the desk.

She plugged her desk lamp’s USB into a power bank and switched it on. The dorm room instantly brightened.

Su Zai Zai took a USB drive from her bag and inserted it into the laptop.

As she waited for the files to load, she glanced at the desktop and opened the only folder there.

Inside, there were dozens of Word documents and Excel spreadsheets. She skimmed through them and found Zhang Lurang’s social practice report in the second-to-last row.

Just as she was about to open it to confirm, another document caught her eye.

The document name read: UCL University Application Form

Su Zai Zai froze for a moment. She licked her lips, then instinctively clicked on it.

The moment she did, she suddenly felt a pang of guilt. She was about to close it and ask Zhang Lurang directly when she saw the applicant’s name.

Zhang Luli

She stared at the name for two or three seconds, double-checking that it wasn’t Zhang Lurang’s. Only then did she let out a breath of relief.

Her eyes flickered as she skimmed further down. Her gaze suddenly landed on the words Master’s Degree Application.

Slowly, her eyes moved down the page.

Date of Birth: September 1997.

Her pupils shook.

Younger brother, 19 years old, pursuing a master’s degree.

—”My parents don’t like me.”

Su Zai Zai lowered her eyes, lost in thought.

Soon, she lifted her head again and quietly closed the document.

A few seconds later, she hesitated, then reopened it.

She navigated to the recent files, deleted the access history, and then closed it for good.

—

By late April, the temperature had begun to rise.

The sky remained overcast, with fine, slanted rain falling frequently.

Withered branches and dead leaves were replaced by lush green foliage, looking full of life and energy.

Half of the semester had already passed, and various clubs were beginning to prepare for their leadership transition meetings.

At the start of the semester, during a department meeting, Xie Linnan had also brought up the topic of electing a new department head.

Su Zai Zai had no interest in running for the position or staying on.

Her focus was entirely on the upcoming department trip.

…How should she bring it up to Zhang Lurang?

She didn’t really want to opt out of group activities.

If everyone tried to avoid them, then what would be the point of having them in the first place?

Su Zai Zai stood on the pathway outside the library, waiting for him to come out while mulling over how to broach the topic.

Feeling restless, she nudged a small stone in front of her with the tip of her shoe.

The stone rolled forward and happened to bump against someone’s shoe.

Su Zai Zai instinctively looked up, about to apologize—only to meet Zhang Lurang’s face.

The “sorry” on the tip of her tongue was immediately swallowed back.

He didn’t even pause, simply walked up, took her hand, and led her toward the cafeteria.

After a few steps, Su Zai Zai suddenly called out, “Lurang.”

“Mm.”

“You look really good today!”

Hearing that, Zhang Lurang turned to glance at her, looking slightly puzzled.

“…Fine, you look good every day,” she added weakly.

Noticing her conflicted expression, Zhang Lurang asked in a soft voice, “What is it you want to say?”

Su Zai Zai scratched her head. Deciding to just get it over with, she blurted out, “Isn’t the May Day holiday coming up? The department is planning a trip to W City—just two days and one night.”

Silence.

The quiet made Su Zai Zai feel incredibly antsy.

Before long, Zhang Lurang nodded, his expression unchanged. “Then go.”

His lack of strong opposition left Su Zai Zai feeling oddly unsatisfied.

“You’re not even…” She hadn’t finished her sentence when—

In the next second, he casually said, “I also have plans in W City.”

After saying that, Zhang Lurang remained calm and composed, even leisurely rubbing his neck.

Now it was Su Zai Zai’s turn to fall silent.

A moment later, she licked the corner of her lips, pushing her luck. “If you’re coming with me, then you have to stay in the same hotel room as me.”

Zhang Lurang’s expression froze. He looked at her in disbelief.

Su Zai Zai lifted her chin and threatened, “Otherwise, forget it.”