Their eyes met, and Wen Yan felt her cheeks flush again. She hummed in acknowledgment.

“No.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. If something had happened to me, I wouldn’t be standing here in front of you now.”

“Oh.”

The air fell silent. Fu Lanzhuo walked over and pulled the window shut. The billowing curtain finally stilled.

The hawthorn roll had whetted her appetite. After finishing it, Wen Yan felt hungry again. Her eyes hopped over the pile of snacks, noticing that Fu Lanzhuo had bought five different flavors of bread alone. She picked up a mulberry cream bun.

“By the way, how much did all this cost? I’ll transfer it to you,” Wen Yan said as she tore open the bread wrapper.

“No need. It wasn’t much.”

“Then I’d feel bad—I’ve already put you through so much trouble today.”

Fu Lanzhuo was silent for a moment, then pulled out his phone and opened WeChat. Half a second later, he turned off the screen and said to Wen Yan, “Just consider it my treat. I’m technically your senior, aren’t I? A senior buying a junior a little something—that’s not too much, is it?”

“…”

“But that’s a lot. I can’t finish it all.”

“Then share it with your roommates, or save it for snacks tomorrow.”

“All right…”

Fu Lanzhuo clearly wasn’t short on money, so Wen Yan didn’t insist.

Her phone, resting by her pillow, buzzed—a WeChat call from Xiao Xinrui. Wen Yan answered.

“Hello?”

“Yan Yan! Why aren’t you back at the dorm yet? Youyou and I have already showered. Qiu Xue isn’t back either—are you two together?”

“No, I’m… heading back soon.”

“It’s raining out there! Did you bring an umbrella? It’s coming down pretty hard.”

“I did.”

“Good, good. Stay safe, then. Oh, and, um… well… that is… uh…”

Xiao Xinrui hemmed and hawed without getting to the point. Wen Yan asked, “What is it, Ruirui?”

Xiao Xinrui suddenly lowered her voice. “Yan Yan, I want Zhou Jinyu’s WeChat—can you send it to me?”

“Zhou Jinyu? I don’t have his WeChat—just his QQ.”

Fu Lanzhuo’s gaze shifted over.

“Huh? You two haven’t added each other on WeChat? QQ’s fine too—send it to me. Um… I just think he’s pretty handsome, and his voice is nice too. I’d like to get to know him as a friend.”

“Okay, I’ll send it to you.” Wen Yan agreed readily.

“You’re the best, Yan Yan! Love you!”

After hanging up with Xiao Xinrui, Wen Yan opened QQ. The teacher in charge of the gala had only set up a QQ group, not a WeChat one. She and Zhou Jinyu, along with the other two hosts, had been using QQ to coordinate their lines. Wen Yan found Zhou Jinyu’s profile in QQ, copied it, and pasted it to Xiao Xinrui.

“This Zhou Jinyu—are you close with him?” Wen Yan had just sent the message when she heard Fu Lanzhuo ask.

His voice was deep and cool. Wen Yan paused.

“We’re okay… not that close. He and I were both hosts for the welcome gala.”

Fu Lanzhuo didn’t ask anything else.

As if to show that “your treat won’t go to waste,” Wen Yan’s appetite suddenly improved. After finishing the bread, she also ate a pack of beef jerky and drank a bottle of orange juice.

Full and rested for a while, Wen Yan had mostly recovered. She pushed back the blanket and got out of bed.

Fu Lanzhuo rose from the chair by the window. “It hasn’t been half an hour yet.”

“That’s okay, Mr. Fu. I feel better now. It’s late—I should go back to the dorm and rest. The infirmary is probably closing soon anyway.”

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

Wen Yan nodded.

Fu Lanzhuo walked over to the bed. “Alright. Then I’ll walk you back to your dorm.”

Wen Yan blinked and looked up.

She’d just slipped her feet into her black leather shoes, her navy blue midi skirt falling to her knees. “That’s not necessary, Mr. Fu. I don’t want to trouble you further.”

“It’s no trouble.”

“…”

“Really, it’s fine.”

Fu Lanzhuo’s brow furrowed. “My car is parked outside. It’s still raining. Do you want to walk back in the rain and faint again?”

Wen Yan simply felt they had no real connection—and besides, why was he speaking so sternly, like he was disciplining a child?

Realizing his tone might have overstepped, Fu Lanzhuo said, “Sorry. If you don’t want me to see you back, at least wait until the rain stops. It’s coming down heavily right now.”

Wen Yan pinched her skirt. “It’s not that I don’t want you to…”

“Okay. Then I’ll see you back, Mr. Fu.”

—

The rain showed no sign of letting up, at least for now. Droplets fell indiscriminately onto the plane trees outside the infirmary and the black Maybach parked at the entrance.

As Wen Yan climbed into the passenger seat, she caught a faint scent of citrus. Her gaze instinctively went to the dashboard, where she spotted an open dark blue leather cigar case. It had four slots for cigars, and now only one remained—a finger-thick cigar lying quietly inside. Beside the case sat an ice-gray lighter and a book of poetry—Stray Birds.

“I’ve been reading Stray Birds too, recently,” Wen Yan said, hugging her backpack as she waited for Fu Lanzhuo to get in the car.

He turned to her. “Oh? Where are you up to?”

“Almost finished.”

“And I can recite it all.”

Fu Lanzhuo’s lips curved. “Then recite number 252.”

“Around the sunny island of life swells day and night death’s limitless song of the sea.” Wen Yan recited it smoothly, without a pause.

Raindrops streamed down the windshield. Fu Lanzhuo turned on the wipers, the view alternating between clarity and blur.

After reciting the line, Wen Yan squeezed the little Rilakkuma charm on her backpack.

“No wonder you’re the provincial top scorer—your memory is that good.” She heard Fu Lanzhuo praise her, turned to look at him, and felt a flicker of curiosity.

“How do you know I’m the top scorer?”

The air went quiet for a couple of seconds.

Fu Lanzhuo answered, “Your president told me.”

Wen Yan didn’t question it much. She was one of the hosts for tonight’s welcome gala, and Fu Lanzhuo, as a guest of honor, had been seated in the audience. The university president had been sitting right next to him—it was entirely plausible the president had mentioned her.

“Oh…”

“I asked you to recite number 252 because I’d just reached that page.”

The car felt a little stuffy, with a faint hint of sweet white peach in the air. Fu Lanzhuo turned on the humidifier.

—

Author’s Note:
“Around the sunny island of life swells day and night death’s limitless song of the sea.”
“Death’s limitless song of the sea swells day and night around the sunny island of life.” — Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds, No. 252

Early update!!! There’s a bonus chapter tonight—wait for me to finish work, revise it, and post it around midnight.

—

Chapter 6: Aurora – I Don’t Mind, One More Time

The school infirmary wasn’t far from Lanxuan Apartments—it took only ten minutes by car. When Wen Yan got out, Fu Lanzhuo also stepped out, retrieving the bag of snacks from the back seat.

“Can you carry it?” He hadn’t thought it was too much earlier—now he realized.

Wen Yan nodded, taking the bag from Fu Lanzhuo. It was indeed heavy, the handles digging into her hands. “I’m going in now, Mr. Fu. Goodbye.”

Fu Lanzhuo hummed in acknowledgment.

Wen Yan opened her umbrella and walked through the rain, quickly climbing the steps to the entrance, swiping her card, and going inside.

Through the rain, the sleek Maybach stood still for a moment, then drove off.

—

“Wow! Why did you buy so many snacks, Yan Yan? Something’s going on—did some guy give these to you?” Wen Yan walked into the dorm carrying the big bag of snacks just as Xiao Xinrui came out of the bathroom.

Wen Yan wondered how she’d guessed so accurately, but she denied it anyway. “No… I bought them myself… Do you want some, Ruirui? Pick whatever you like.”

“Yes, yes, yes! Wow, this blueberry cake and these squid tentacles—I love these! They’re expensive! You little rich girl, Yan Yan—I love you so much, wuwu.” Xiao Xinrui excitedly grabbed two items.

The praise made Wen Yan a little embarrassed, and also made her feel like she’d taken way too much advantage of Fu Lanzhuo—and that she was “borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha.” Zhong Youyou was in bed, so she took some snacks over to her too.

“Qiu Xue still isn’t back yet?” Wen Yan asked.

“Oh, I asked her—she went home.”

“Didn’t she say she wasn’t going back this week?” After dividing up the snacks, there was still plenty left. Wen Yan carried them to her desk and asked.

Qiu Xue, like Wen Yan, had applied for the student union. There were interviews tomorrow, and Qiu Xue had originally planned to stay at the dorm tonight to prepare.

Xiao Xinrui said, “She said she missed home and wanted to go back anyway. Lucky locals—they can go home whenever they want, unlike us, who have to travel all this way for school and only go back during winter and summer breaks.”

Zhong Youyou poked her head out from behind her bed curtain. “Yeah, Qiu Xue is so lucky. I’ve been missing home like crazy these past few nights!” She was holding a bottle of milk Wen Yan had given her, drinking it—even though she’d already brushed her teeth, she was thirsty, and the drink delivered to her door was too tempting to resist.

Wen Yan was completely exhausted. All she wanted now was to shower and get into bed. She set her backpack down, listening to Xiao Xinrui and Zhong Youyou chat without chiming in much, and went to her closet to grab her pajamas.

After her shower, the rain was still falling outside. Xiao Xinrui and Zhong Youyou were both in bed. The dorm was quiet. Wen Yan checked the time—almost midnight. She took her hairdryer from the drawer and went to the bathroom to dry her hair.