Stop acting on impulse.

Luo Yixia was showing Zhou Yun around the campus.

On their way to the cafeteria, they happened to run into a few of her roommates.

Everyone exchanged greetings very politely.

Only Xu Jiayu looked completely clueless.

"Xiaxia's mom is so young! They look like sisters."

Then everyone turned to look at her at the same time, leaving Xu Jiayu feeling rather awkward.

"Ahem... Didn't you go home early last time? This is Senior Song's mom," Gan Yanyan explained.

Xu Jiayu: "!!!"

Is it trendy nowadays for mothers-in-law to send their children off on the first day of school?

After taking a brief tour, Zhou Yun left.

The first day of the semester was quite busy, and Luo Yixia couldn't find a spare moment to send Song Chenyi a text message.

Instead, Song Chenyi called her first.

Luo Yixia had just finished tidying up and stood momentarily dazed when her phone rang.

Lately, the two of them had maintained a tacit understanding, with neither calling the other.

Luo Yixia didn't dare to hear his voice, afraid she wouldn't be able to control herself.

After a brief hesitation, she immediately answered the call.

"It's the first day of school. Are you all set?" Song Chenyi's voice came through.

"Yes, I just finished and I'm lying in bed now. What about you?"

"I just got off work." Song Chenyi's voice was as captivating as ever.

"Have you had dinner?" Luo Yixia lay prone on her bed.

"Xiaxia, I want to see you."

The sudden declaration completely stunned Luo Yixia.

She froze...

"Xiaxia?" Hearing no response, Song Chenyi called out again.

Luo Yixia flipped over into a sitting position, straightened her hair and clothes, and turned on her camera squarely.

The other end connected almost instantly.

The familiar face filled the screen at first glance.

Song Chenyi appeared to be in his dorm room, which was narrow and packed with bunk beds.

However, the room was currently empty.

"Xiaxia, do you miss me?" Song Chenyi gazed intently at the person on the screen.

"And do you miss me?" Luo Yixia asked with a bright smile.

Beneath the surface, however, her heart was in turmoil. She hadn't seen him or heard his voice for ten full days.

Right now, she felt utterly unable to restrain herself; she wished she could be right in front of him, to hold him and kiss him immediately.

"What do you think?" Eschewing his usual teasing tone, Song Chenyi answered with blunt honesty: "I miss you. So, so much."

Perhaps those words struck too deep a chord; Luo Yixia lowered her gaze, and in an instant, all the longing welled up in her heart and filled her eyes.

"I miss you too," Luo Yixia murmured softly.

"Come see me during the upcoming break, okay?" Song Chenyi asked in a low voice.

Suppressing her emotions, Luo Yixia raised her head and looked back at the screen.

"Xiaxia, stop being stubborn, okay? Call me every day from now on, okay?"

Luo Yixia wanted to retort, but she didn't know how. Song Chenyi was right—she was indeed being stubborn. But she wasn't stubborn with him; she was stubborn with herself, terrified that she lacked resolve and could not bear to be apart from him.

That was why she hadn't called or gone to see him lately, holding out against her own desires.

"Okay," Luo Yixia heard her own hoarse voice reply.

Her throat felt as though it were blocked.

Song Chenyi understood her far too well.

Then she heard him say, "Xiaxia, I am just like you, thinking of you every single second."

Really? Song Chenyi felt the exact same way she did.

"I have a break in a couple of days, I'll go see you then." Luo Yixia tilted her head, her eyes curving into crescents.

"Okay." Seeing her smile at last, Song Chenyi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

They didn't chat for long before someone returned to the dorm.

Someone even chimed in to speak to Song Chenyi.

Knowing he had just finished work, Luo Yixia said, "You should go unpack and get some rest early. I'll call you tomorrow night, okay?"

"Okay."

"You better not find me annoying. I can be very clingy, as you probably already know," Luo Yixia said with a smile.

The screen showed his face softening into a doting smile.

Luo Yixia clutched her phone after the call ended and smiled involuntarily.

Ever since their phone calls the previous night, Luo Yixia spent the entire next day walking around with a silly grin on her face.

She had two classes in the morning, so she had hurried over without delay.

Resting her chin on the desk, she stared at her phone. She had just texted Song Chenyi to ask if he was at work yet. Not having received a reply, she figured he must already be busy.

"Luo Yixia!" someone called out crisply.

The voice sounded unfamiliar, prompting Luo Yixia to look up.

A girl was standing before her, and Luo Yixia blanked for a few seconds.

Then she stood up in sudden delight, "He... He Die?"

"Yep, it's me." He Die walked over with a smile.

"Why are you here?" Luo Yixia was pleasantly surprised.

At that moment, a boy walked up behind He Die, slung an arm casually over her shoulder, and stood there with a roguish posture.

Luo Yixia realized she hadn't seen him for over a month.

Ever since the awkward ending to the New Year's Eve party, Luo Yixia had intentionally been avoiding him.

"Happy New Year," He Zhen greeted with a smile.

"Pfft, Ah Zhen, you didn't have to wait until now to greet her, did you?" He Die smiled faintly.

"You guys... know each other?" Luo Yixia asked, somewhat surprised. At the same time, she wondered: when she met He Die last time, He Die's relationship with her boyfriend seemed great. Why was she with He Zhen now? They looked very close, and she even called him Ah Zhen.

"We've known each other since we were kids," He Die said, as if the question made no sense.

Still, she immediately added, "Let me introduce you. He's my younger brother."

"Oh, I see." Luo Yixia understood in a flash; they weren't in the kind of relationship she had assumed.

"When I went back home for the New Year, I found out Ah Zhen was in your class. When the semester started, I came to City A with him, and I happened to want to see you." He Die pushed He Zhen's arm away and grabbed Luo Yixia's hand.

"Ah, what a coincidence," Luo Yixia smiled.

"Yeah. By the way, where's your husband?" He Die was always blunt.

Quite a few classmates around them turned to look.

"Haha... You mean Song Chenyi? He went off for his internship," Luo Yixia laughed awkwardly.

"Oh, he's not around? And here I was hoping to squeeze a free meal out of him," He Die said, looking somewhat disappointed.

"Squeezing me works just as well."

"Great!" He Die's spirits instantly rebounded.

"We have class in a bit. Do you want to sit in, or would you rather look around the school first? I'll find you when class is over. I don't have afternoon classes, so I can show you around City A."

"I definitely don't want to go to class. Since I'm finally about to graduate, I'd rather just wander around the campus."

As the bell rang, He Die patted Luo Yixia on the shoulder, then patted He Zhen's as well.

"Ah Zhen, I'm heading out."

"Okay."

After seeing He Die off, Luo Yixia returned to her seat, feeling that some lingering tension needed easing, and certain misunderstandings and awkwardness needed to be cleared up.

"So you and He Die are relatives," Luo Yixia remarked. She knew He Zhen only had a half-brother, so He Die must be a paternal cousin or something similar.

"Yeah, a cousin," He Zhen nodded.

Once she asked that, Luo Yixia ran out of things to say and fell silent.

"It seems like you haven't spoken to me since New Year's Day?" He Zhen's tone carried a hint of a smile.

Luo Yixia pressed her lips together, unsure of how to respond.

"I might have been too abrupt that day, solely focused on giving you flowers and ending up causing you trouble. I never got around to apologizing."

Luo Yixia immediately shook her head. "It wasn't your fault, you don't need to apologize. It was all a misunderstanding that day."

"I thought you were mad at me, that you were holding a grudge," He Zhen lowered his head, looking somewhat dejected.

"No, not at all, I really wasn't mad," Luo Yixia explained with a smile.

Her mind was entirely occupied by Song Chenyi; she simply didn't have the time to be angry with anyone else or dwell on what others did.

"That's good." He Zhen smiled.

After class ended, they found He Die waiting by the school gate. With lunchtime approaching, He Zhen drove the two of them to a restaurant.

As He Zhen was ordering dishes, He Die leaned in close to whisper in her ear, "What do you think of my brother?"

"He's very handsome," Luo Yixia glanced at He Zhen and answered honestly.

He Die sighed. "If only you didn't have Song Chenyi..."

"Huh?"

"Song Chenyi is just too outstanding. I knew my brother wouldn't stand a chance," He Die clicked her tongue.

"He Zhen and I are classmates and friends." She had originally just wanted to say "classmates," but saying that right in front of his older sister felt too hurtful.

"He Zhen has a great temper and looks decent, it's just that he's not as exceptional as Song Chenyi." He Die cupped her face and stared at her brother.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit her, and she giggled, "How about you dump Song Chenyi? I think my brother has his merits. He'd definitely spoil you just as much, if not more than Song Chenyi. Besides, our family has money, you can have whatever you want. Even if you wanted stars from the sky, my brother would find a way to get them for you."

He Die chattered on, rattling off a long speech.

At that exact moment, Song Chenyi, who was eating lunch in the hospital cafeteria, suddenly sneezed twice.

A male colleague sharing his dorm room laughed and asked, "Are your girlfriend's thoughts of you reaching you?"

Song Chenyi smiled and shook his head, "Maybe I'm catching a cold."

He Die was still chattering away relentlessly. Luo Yixia had no idea how to interrupt her and sat there awkwardly, at a loss.

Having finished ordering, He Zhen finally couldn't take it anymore and said with helpless resignation, "Sis, enough. You're talking so loudly, am I deaf?"

"Hey, aren't I helping you out here?" He Die glared at him.

"Sis, Luo Yixia and I really are just friends, the ordinary kind. Talking like this makes things really awkward for us."

Luo Yixia didn't know what to say, but since she felt He Zhen was entirely in the right, she just nodded repeatedly.

"Are you really just friends? Xiaxia is so nice and looks so pretty, aren't you even a little tempted?" He Die refused to give up.

"Sis, can we just eat?"

Seeing that neither of them showed any romantic interest, He Die looked genuinely crestfallen.

Yet she still had a sneaking suspicion that her brother felt differently about Luo Yixia.

Just take how she found out he was in the same class as Luo Yixia in the first place: she had been looking at his phone and accidentally saw a photo in his gallery—it was a girl in a red dance costume gracefully dancing.

At the time, He Die had thought the girl was gorgeous and pressed him about it, only to find out she was a classmate of his. She was surprised when she heard the name, and upon taking a closer look at the photo, she realized the girl looked very familiar.