Chapter 49

After a stunned pause, Yan Xiao took the box back from Qiu Li and peeked inside. It was a bracelet.
There wasn’t even a note saying who it was from.
She found that strange. How had she not noticed someone slipping this into her desk?
She couldn’t just toss it, so she decided to hold onto it for now and return it later once she found the sender.
Turned out, she didn’t even need to look.
As soon as she walked out of the lecture hall, she spotted him, a sophomore from her lab, standing out front with a heart made of flowers on the ground and a bouquet in his hands, staring straight at her.
Yan Xiao: “…”
Qiu Li: “…”
Already in a bad mood, Qiu Li’s expression went completely dark.
But when he glanced at Yan Xiao and saw she wasn’t smiling or flustered, just looking vaguely uncomfortable, his face eased slightly.
Before the sophomore could even speak, Yan Xiao walked straight up to him and held out the box. “This from you?”
The boy, with his clean, youthful face, beamed at her. “Yeah.”
“Thank you,” Yan Xiao said with a polite, perfectly professional smile, “but I’m not looking to date anyone. You should take this back.”
The poor sophomore, who hadn’t even managed to finish his confession, stood there clutching his bouquet and bracelet as he watched Yan Xiao and Qiu Li walk away.
Qiu Li, who should’ve been pleased with the outcome, still wasn’t happy. He changed their plans on the spot, steering her right past the cafeteria and out of campus.
Yan Xiao didn’t think much of it at first. It wasn’t until they reached the south gate that she blinked in confusion. “Huh? Weren’t we going to the cafeteria?”
Usually they ate there, it was fast and convenient. If they ever had restaurant food, it was always takeout.
“Let’s eat out today,” Qiu Li said calmly. “You don’t have class this afternoon, right?”
“No, but I have a lab meeting,” she answered between bites of her oatmeal milk.
“Isn’t that on Friday?” he asked, checking his watch. It was only Thursday.
“They moved it up,” she explained with a small smile. “Senior Sister’s going with our professor to a conference at Z University tomorrow.”
He looked at the time again. “We’ll make it.”
She hadn’t really been arguing, and since the meeting wasn’t until two, there was plenty of time.
It wasn’t until after lunch that Yan Xiao noticed Qiu Li’s odd mood. His brows kept twitching, sometimes furrowing, sometimes relaxing, as if he were wrestling with himself.
Regretting rejecting the department beauty already?
Yan Xiao pressed her lips together, feeling that same strange heaviness from earlier.
“You look upset,” she finally said. “What’s wrong?”
“Do I?” Qiu Li seemed momentarily surprised, then smiled.
Yan Xiao nodded solemnly.
He raised a brow. “That obvious?”
She nodded again.
He gave a soft laugh. “I’m fine.”
You’re so not fine, she thought, glaring at him. Out loud, she said bluntly, “You’re not regretting rejecting that senior, are you?”
Qiu Li: “…”
His silence said nothing, and everything.
Thinking she’d guessed right, Yan Xiao tried to sound casual, even though something inside her twisted uncomfortably. “Well, you’re at the age where it’s perfectly fine to date, you know.”
Qiu Li: “…”
“In high school, you were all cold and focused, no time for puppy love.” she went on. “Of course, that was the right call. But now you’ve graduated, started three companies, and you’re still single. Maybe it’s time to experience a little romance while you’re young.”
His brows drew together tightly. “Are you saying you want to date someone?”
Yan Xiao: “…”
“So that’s why you’re saying all this?” he asked, eyes narrowing slightly.
Yan Xiao: “…”
This manipulative man! Can’t he just take good advice at face value? I’m trying to be nice here!
The two of them fell silent, staring each other down, her fuming, him unreadable, until she was the first to look away.
They walked to the lab building in silence after that.
But just as they reached the steps, Qiu Li suddenly spoke again. “Do you really not want to date someone?”
Over the years, plenty of people had confessed to Yan Xiao. But never before had she reacted like today, talking about love and youth and “sweet memories” as if she’d been possessed.
Her steps faltered. She frowned, baffled and a little offended. “No!”
He clearly didn’t believe her.
Seeing that look on his face, irritation flared up. “I said no!” she repeated firmly.
Qiu Li stopped walking, turned to her, and looked straight into her eyes.
The air between them shifted, subtle, tense, charged.
Yan Xiao suddenly felt nervous. She took half a step back, about to dart for the lab entrance, when she heard him say quietly:
“If you ever do want to date someone, consider me.”
Yan Xiao: “…”
Her scalp went numb. She froze completely, staring at Qiu Li as if she’d just been struck by lightning.
Qiu Li licked his lips nervously and said again, “I mean it.”
Yan Xiao: “…”
Her brain went blank.
And then,
[Ding!]
Yan Xiao: “!!!”
She snapped back to herself, every nerve stretched tight. It’s happening, it’s finally happening!
All that buildup, all that scheming, finally, the villain was making his move!
He’d laid this trap for years, inch by inch, hiding in plain sight, waiting for this exact moment. Truly worthy of the title mastermind villain!
Now came the question, should she reject him immediately, or play along to see what he’d do next?
If she accepted him, he might push things even further. But if she refused, who knew what more devious tricks he’d come up with to get back at her?
She was torn!
Her face must have been a mess of changing expressions, because Qiu Li began to panic.
He hadn’t planned any of this, his brain had just short-circuited and the words had come out before he could stop them. But now, facing her silence, his heart thudded painfully in his chest.
Still, on the surface, he forced himself to stay calm.
“Have you thought about it?” he asked, trying to sound casual, though his throat had gone dry.
Yan Xiao: “…”
[Ding!]
Then a brilliant idea struck her,
Run.
When in doubt, run first, decide later.
“The lab meeting’s about to start,” she blurted, waving her phone in front of his face. “Senior Sister’s calling me, I, uh, have to go!”
Before he could respond, she turned and bolted.
“Xiao-xiao!”
She’d barely made it a few steps when he called her name. Her first instinct was to pretend she didn’t hear him, but guilt won out. She stopped and turned around.
He was holding out her backpack.
Yan Xiao: “…”
She took it, ready to flee again, when she suddenly felt a warm weight press lightly on her head.
Heat flooded her face instantly.
“I like you,” came his low, slightly hoarse voice from above. “I forgot to say that just now.”

Author’s Note:
007: Ding!