Chapter Five: An Encounter by the Roadside

After a morning of busy activity, as noon approached, the school leaders finally finished reading their speeches. Qin Xuan felt a parched dryness in his throat from listening for so long.

"Hey there, beautiful." Just as Qin Xuan's mind began to wander, a somewhat frivolous voice interrupted his thoughts.

Only then did he notice that at some point, a male student had appeared in front of Liu Ruoxi. He tossed his golden hair with exaggerated flair. Qin Xuan recognized him; during introductions last night, he had bragged about his family's business, calling it some sort of family enterprise—if he remembered correctly, his name was Li Wentao.

Qin Xuan was genuinely surprised to find someone so pretentious even in college.

Liu Ruoxi glanced at Li Wentao but paid him no further attention.

Li Wentao, mistaking her indifference for shyness, grew bolder, completely ignoring Qin Xuan, who stood by.

"So, you're Liu Ruoxi, right? We're all classmates, and we've got four years together. Why not get to know each other?"

Liu Ruoxi's face showed clear disdain as she reached out and took Qin Xuan's hand, her meaning unmistakable.

Li Wentao's expression darkened, and he struggled to conceal his embarrassment.

"I just thought, since we're classmates, we could get acquainted, that's all," he sighed. "But if Liu Ruoxi doesn't appreciate the gesture, I suppose it's just me being overly friendly."

"You!" Liu Ruoxi fumed inwardly—how shameless could he possibly be?

Qin Xuan, too, found the man's manipulative words nauseating.

"Li Wentao, what are you doing?" Their counselor, Liu Qin, approached, having noticed the commotion. She had seen Li Wentao arrive at the school—his family butler had insisted she look after him, even attempting to slip her a red envelope, which she flatly refused, assuring them she would care for her students regardless.

With some concern that he might cause trouble, she kept a close eye on him.

Sure enough, here he was, harassing a pretty girl at the first opportunity—it was almost a tradition among the wealthy, she thought.

"Ms. Liu, you've misunderstood," Li Wentao tried to salvage his image. "We're just classmates getting to know each other."

"Save it. I've seen too many like you. You think I don't know what's going on in that head of yours?" Liu Qin fixed him with a stern look and launched into a lecture.

Unable to save face, Li Wentao abandoned all pretense and stormed off. No one stopped him.

Liu Qin watched his retreating figure with a slight frown, then turned to Qin Xuan, Liu Ruoxi, and the still-sleeping Qin Lin'er. Seeing that Qin Xuan seemed calm, she didn't dwell on it.

"Don't worry," she said, "he won't dare to do anything here at school."

Qin Xuan was momentarily taken aback, but Liu Ruoxi spoke first. "Thank you, Sister Qin."

Liu Qin nodded at her and left.

As he watched Liu Qin's departing figure, Qin Xuan felt a sense of comfort, as if an elder sister was looking out for them.

Liu Ruoxi noticed Qin Xuan staring absentmindedly after her and gave his waist a sharp twist.

"Ow!" Qin Xuan sucked in a breath, quickly swatting her hand away and massaging his side. "What was that for?"

"Why were you staring at Sister Qin? You've got two beautiful girls right here, and you don't even look," she said, shaking the drowsy Qin Lin'er awake. Qin Lin'er blinked in confusion, glancing around.

"Don't get the wrong idea," Qin Xuan protested. "I just think Ms. Liu is like a caring older sister."

"That's true," Liu Ruoxi played along, "though I do wonder if she has a boyfriend."

She shot Qin Xuan a mocking glance. "After all, men are all big jerks."

"Is there really a connection?" Qin Xuan couldn't follow her logic.

"Of course there is," Liu Ruoxi replied, looking him up and down. "Some people don't realize they're big jerks themselves!"

Qin Xuan thought: I suspect you're talking about me—and I have proof.

"Let's go. How about we try hot pot today?" Liu Ruoxi suggested.

Qin Xuan immediately remembered that terrifying night and swallowed nervously. "Are you sure hot pot isn't too spicy?"

"It should be fine. I heard there's a really good place by the North Gate," Liu Ruoxi said, excitement sparkling in her eyes as she grabbed Qin Xuan's hand. "Come on, let's try it!"

Qin Xuan had no choice but to rouse the now-awake Qin Lin'er and shepherd her out of the auditorium.

A while later, the three of them reached the restaurant, only to find it packed with students—couples, groups of friends, everyone was there.

But the scent in the air was truly mouthwatering, enough to awaken Qin Lin'er from her grogginess.

Once their food arrived, Qin Xuan immediately spotted the fiery red chili peppers floating in the broth and tensed with dread.

"This is your idea of 'not spicy'?" he demanded, wounded to the core.

Liu Ruoxi, seeing the scene, began to doubt herself, but the tantalizing aroma made her want to try. She picked up a slice of potato with her chopsticks.

"Hmm?" She tasted it carefully. "It's not that spicy—it's quite good!"

Half an hour later, Liu Ruoxi cast a look of scorn at the two siblings beside her, who were both gulping down water desperately.

She even found herself thinking she could handle even spicier food now. Clearly, the gene for enjoying spice had awakened within her.

By the time the three of them left, it was close to nine o'clock.

Halfway back, as Liu Ruoxi clutched her overfull stomach and complained about needing to diet—prompting laughter from Qin Lin'er—Qin Xuan suddenly spotted a couple quarreling ahead, tugging at each other and talking about breaking up. At first, he thought it was just a typical lovers' spat.

But as they drew closer, he realized the woman was none other than their counselor, Liu Qin.

"Ms. Liu!"

"Sister Qin!"

The three hurried over. Qin Xuan stepped in front of Liu Qin, blocking the man. The man, half a head shorter than Qin Xuan, was not especially handsome—his features were delicate, almost effeminate. Now, in anger, his face twisted with hostility, and several buttons on his shirt had been torn off during the struggle.

Liu Qin's purse strap had been yanked off, and her mirror, lipstick, and pens were scattered on the ground.

Only then did they realize that the man appeared to be a teacher at Sichuan University as well—apparently, he was Liu Qin's boyfriend. Frankly, based on appearances alone, he didn't seem well-matched with her.

The man made a move to shove Qin Xuan aside, but Qin Xuan stood his ground. The man muttered something indistinct in protest.

"Qin Xuan," Liu Qin called, regaining her composure. "Step aside, I'm fine."

Only then did Qin Xuan notice the red handprint on her cheek—it was obvious who had inflicted it.

"Qin, I..."

"Yang Sheng!" Liu Qin drew a deep breath. "There's nothing more to say. We're breaking up."

Yang Sheng opened his mouth, but no words came.

Liu Qin pushed away the hands of Qin Lin'er and Liu Ruoxi, who had tried to steady her, gathered up her torn bag, and—ever the professional—collected her scattered belongings. But instead of putting them back in her purse, she tossed them into a nearby trash bin, glancing once more at Yang Sheng as she did so.

Without another word, she walked away in the opposite direction. The three watched her retreating figure, each caught up in their own thoughts.

Liu Ruoxi glared daggers at Yang Sheng and, wanting nothing more to do with him, pulled Qin Lin'er away.

Qin Xuan, who brought up the rear, turned slowly and said, "I don't know what happened between you two, but as a man, using violence against your girlfriend to vent your emotions is truly pathetic."

With that, he strode off, leaving Yang Sheng standing there, stunned.