Chapter 52

Neither of them knew that the video of their “fight” outside the lab building had already been uploaded online, and was going viral again.
Though the footage was a bit blurry, it was obvious who the pair were: both impossibly good-looking, both unmistakably them.
In under half an hour, the thirty-second clip was spreading through the entire campus like wildfire.
Everyone in the university city, especially at T University, knew who they were. And given that both Yan Xiao and Qiu Li had been confessed to earlier that same day, speculation was immediate.
Could their fight have been because of that?
But that didn’t make sense, they’d both rejected their confessors. Why would they suddenly argue hours later about it?
Besides, photos of them eating lunch together had already been circulating since noon. There was no way they’d been fighting over that.
When it came to gossip about romance, the public’s curiosity was endless.
So naturally, beneath the viral video, the comments section exploded with speculation about what had happened between the famously inseparable pair.
[Senior Qiu Li actually made Senior Yan Xiao cry!]
[I’m shocked to my core! I thought Qiu Li would listen to Yan Xiao for the rest of his life!]
[ Nonsense. It’s clearly Senior Yan scolding him! She yelled so hard she made herself cry!]
[Freshman above, don’t talk nonsense. Senior Yan is super gentle, she never scolds anyone.]
[But what did she say while crying? I could swear I heard her shout something!]
[I said she doesn’t scold people! What year are you from? Come out and I’ll fight you!]
[Still, she did look angry. Maybe she was yelling at him? What on earth did Qiu Li do?!]
[Repeat after me: Senior Yan. Does. Not. Scold. People!]
[She shook off his hand though, right? I swear I heard her yell “get lost!”]
[Senior! Yan! Does! Not! Swear!]
[Relax, kiddo. Nobody said she did anything wrong. People get emotional sometimes, that’s all!]
[“Get lost”? Never! Senior Yan doesn’t curse!]
[You’re impossible!]
Before long, that furious little Yan Xiao fangirl was arguing with half the comment section.
Then someone finally decoded the muffled audio,
[Breaking news! The crying line was, “Don’t spoil me anymore.” Someone from the next building lip-read it!]
And that only made everyone more excited.
[Oh my god, wait, ‘Don’t spoil me anymore’? Does that mean what I think it means?!]
[Real-life prince and princess alert!]
[But seriously, is no one wondering why she cried? I’ve never seen her even frown before, and now she’s crying?]
[I’m curious!]
[Same here!]
[Also, can we talk about how tender Qiu Li looked when he wiped her tears? My god. That’s literal prince energy.]
[And when he held her hand and walked her away? Ugh, the care. I’m gonna cry.]
[This couple is locked. I’ve swallowed the key.]

Meanwhile, outside of campus, netizens who didn’t know much about their daily lives jumped to their own conclusions, naturally assuming they were a couple having a lovers’ spat.
[AHHHH they’re so sweet!! The ship I’ve been rooting for actually set sail!!]
[My baby Xiao crying while scolding him is gorgeous, and Qiu Li’s aura? Sharper than ever, but he’s so damn handsome! That moment when he wiped her tears, I died, revived, and died again!]
[Forget wiping tears, just hug her already! Girls need comfort, not tissues!]
[Hug? No, pin her against the wall and kiss!]
[Wrong, waist grab and then kiss!]
[You two have clearly read too many smut novels. →_→]
[Just got back from snooping around campus, she really said, ‘Don’t spoil me anymore!’ My god, what kind of divine dialogue is this?! I’m deceased.]
[As an aging flower, I’m melting.]
[None of these campus couples are innocent! My ship is thriving, and I’m fed!]
[My old heart is pounding again! AHHH when are they getting married? I need to prep my red envelope!]
[Red envelope +1]
[+2]
[+10086]
[I’m not giving a red envelope, I’m adding dowry money (^▽^)]
By this point, the entire internet was in chaos.
And Yan Xiao? She had no idea that the scene in front of the lab had gone viral, or that the whole country was watching her cry.
At that moment, she sat quietly, staring at Qiu Li’s lowered lashes as he carefully wiped the cream off her fingers. Her mind was a total blank, occupied by only one thought:
His side profile is insane.
007: [Of course it is. You really hit the jackpot this time.]
Yan Xiao frowned. “You can shut up now.”
007: […]
By the time she snapped out of it and tried to pull her hand back, Qiu Li had already finished cleaning her up. Tilting his head, he looked at her with soft eyes full of concern.
“Still mad at me?”
His voice was low and slightly hoarse, thick with unspoken guilt and, was that hurt?
Yan Xiao’s heart gave a painful twist.
From any outsider’s perspective, Qiu Li hadn’t done anything wrong.
He hadn’t done anything wrong.
It was her who’d lashed out, her who’d blamed him for no reason.
Thinking of how tenderly he always treated her, Yan Xiao’s chest ached like her heartbeat itself had bruised.
His lips were pressed tight from nervousness, and she couldn’t take it anymore, she actually felt sorry for him.
She opened her mouth, meaning to say she wasn’t mad, that she’d just lost her mind for a bit, but instead, because she was too tense and emotional, what came out was,
“Hiccup!”
Qiu Li: “…”
Yan Xiao: “…”
Qiu Li: “…”
She was stunned.
What the hell?!
First, she learned she’d been collecting love points instead of hate points, meaning all her hard work had gone to waste, and now this humiliation?! Did the universe have it out for her?
“Hiccup”
Another one. Her face turned beet red. Mortified, she turned away and buried her face in her arms on the table. Kill me now.
From above her head, where her hair stuck up in a little messy tuft, Qiu Li blinked. Then, after a second of stunned silence, the corner of his lips curved upward.
But only slightly, just one brief, soft laugh, before he schooled his expression back into calm seriousness.
“Drink some water,” he said, pouring her a glass of honey-lemon water and nudging her arm gently. “It’ll pass soon.”
Without looking up, she groped for the cup on the table, grabbed it, and turned her back to him to chug it down like a hamster stuffing its cheeks.
When she finished, Qiu Li refilled it. “Don’t drink so fast, you’ll choke”
He didn’t even finish before she started choking.
Panicked, he reached out to pat her back until her breathing steadied.
The sheer embarrassment was too much. That coughing fit was the last straw. Yan Xiao snapped.
Once she’d finally stopped coughing, she slammed the cup down on the table, glaring.
Qiu Li, knowing her too well, didn’t comment, he just pretended nothing had happened and asked softly, “It’s six already. What do you want for dinner?”
“Chicken tendons!” Yan Xiao gritted her teeth. “And spicy beef tendons!”
She needed to vent somehow.
Qiu Li glanced at her, his tone calm as ever. “Alright. I’ll book a table. Let’s go.”
Yan Xiao didn’t want to stay in that tiny two-person booth any longer. His presence was just too much, even though he sat like a gentleman, keeping a polite distance, the sheer awareness of him made it hard for her to breathe.
As soon as they stepped out of the dessert shop, she took in a deep breath of fresh air. The tension in her chest finally eased a little. She glanced at Qiu Li walking beside her, then at the road ahead. “Where are we eating? Isn’t this the way back to, hic!”
Yan Xiao: “…”
He didn’t even need her to finish. “Not back to campus,” Qiu Li replied, amused. “We’ll go to the back street. You like the beef tendons there.”
Yan Xiao wanted to crawl into the nearest sewer.
Just when she thought she’d regained a shred of dignity, hic!, gone again.
She glared at Qiu Li’s back as he walked ahead, deliberately not looking at her. That made her even more annoyed. She stomped forward and poked him in the waist. “You’re laughing at me, aren’t you?”
Qiu Li suppressed a chuckle. “No.”
Yan Xiao bared her teeth and poked harder. “Liar! You are laughing at me!”
But no matter how much strength she used, it didn’t hurt him at all, he only twitched slightly, clearly ticklish but refusing to react.
That only made her more determined. Two hands now. If she couldn’t reclaim her dignity, she could at least avenge it!
So as they walked, Qiu Li moved forward while Yan Xiao poked at his waist from behind, half-bickering, half-playing around.
Then, her finger hit something sensitive. Qiu Li froze on the spot.
Yan Xiao’s eyes lit up. Jackpot. She redoubled her attack, ready to tickle him until he begged for mercy, except before she could, Qiu Li turned abruptly, laughing as he caught her wrists.
Finally, she’d found his weak spot, and there was no way she was giving up now! Yan Xiao struggled, trying to wriggle free to tickle him again.
But the street was crowded. As they dodged passersby, they accidentally collided, Qiu Li reacted instantly, wrapping an arm around her waist to steady her.
And suddenly, her entire world was filled with him, his scent, his warmth, his heartbeat pressed against her ear.
Her scalp tingled, her brain short-circuited.
She wanted to push him away, but another wave of pedestrians rushed past, forcing him to pull her even closer to shield her.
Now she was completely in his arms.
If she pushed him away now, she’d look heartless.
And somehow, she couldn’t stop remembering the look on his face back at the lab, the hurt, shocked eyes when she’d shaken off his hand.
Just as her mind spiraled into panic, Qiu Li let her go.
Yan Xiao: “…” Finally, air!
But even though he released her, he didn’t let go of her hand.
“Let’s go,” he said.
Her hand was completely enclosed in his, warm, steady, unyielding. It made her a little self-conscious, but also strangely safe.
“Mm,” she murmured softly, not daring to tease him anymore.
The restaurant wasn’t far, so they walked.
While waiting at a crosswalk, Qiu Li turned his head toward her. “Xiao-xiao”
She looked up. “Hm?”
His lashes trembled slightly. “Can you promise me one thing?”
“Go ahead.”
“If one day you decide you want to fall in love,” he said quietly, “can you consider me first?”
Yan Xiao: “…”
The light turned green.
People flowed past them in waves, but she stood frozen in place.
Qiu Li hadn’t asked that question lightly. He’d thought about it long and hard. No one else might know, but he did, his Xiao-xiao was softhearted, kind, and always gentle with him.
And besides, she’d held his hand all this way without letting go.
She didn’t dislike him. She just didn’t realize yet what that meant.
He couldn’t wait forever for her to figure it out, so maybe it was time to help her realize it.
After a long silence, Yan Xiao finally murmured a dazed, “Oh.”
“What does ‘oh’ mean?” Qiu Li pressed gently, eyes fixed on her. “Does that mean you agree?”
His gaze was soft, but the intensity behind it made her heart trip over itself. She looked away, flustered, and nodded vaguely. “Yeah.”
The corner of Qiu Li’s mouth lifted, satisfaction flickering in his eyes.
They’d hesitated too long; by then, the light had turned red again. They stayed where they were, waiting.
With only ten seconds left on the countdown, Qiu Li suddenly asked, “Then, do you want to fall in love now?”
Yan Xiao’s head snapped up, stunned.
He tilted his head, smiling faintly. “Do you?”
Yan Xiao: “…”

Author’s Note:
Yan Xiao: Y-you, you, stop flirting with me already!!!
Scheming Qiu (smirking): Letting go? Not in this lifetime. Never ever. ︿(￣︶￣)︿