Lin Shen, that person was the former synonym for "A day without you feels like an eternity" to Xu Ai.
But now, if there was the last person Xu Ai ever wanted to see, that would be Lin Shen.
When she saw him, all those annoying events that happened within the last two days came haunting her. Xu Ai's body stiffened instantly, and she wanted to walk away. But when he looked in her direction, her feet couldn't move the slightest as if they were filled with lead.
She adored Lin Shen. She adored him to the point that every pore on her body and every drop of her blood would get excited whenever she saw him.
She had had that realization since forever!
Perhaps it was because of the same realization, the feeling of defeat from the bottom of her heart was even more apparent. She spent the past three years trying to get her hooks into him but failed miserably. Now, he had grown more distant from her. She could never pass the short distance between them.
Sadness engulfed her as she looked at him.
Lin Shen also looked at Xu Ai for a little while, then he started moving towards her.
"Lin Shen!" Cheng Yanyan popped up from the cafeteria's doorway and ran to him.
Lin Shen stopped and turned around.
"You left your phone on the table." Cheng Yanyan was panting as she gave Lin Shen his phone and chided playfully, "Why are you so careless? Thankfully…" Suddenly, she noticed Xu Ai standing not far away from them and was stunned. "Xu Ai?"
Xu Ai came back to her senses and smiled at her before she turned around to go to her classroom building.
Lin Shen took the cellphone and thanked Chen Yanyan, then he ran after Xu Ai.
Cheng Yanyan grabbed him. "Lin Shen, aren't you done with your courses? That way is where the classroom building is."
Lin Shen was forced to a stop. He turned around slowly to look at Cheng Yanyan.
Cheng Yanyan's eyes met his gaze and felt a little nervous. Her face slowly turned red.
"I'm done with my courses! Now, it is my freedom to be wherever I want." Lin Shen retrieved his sleeve that was grasped by her hand and walked towards the classroom building.
Cheng Yanyan's face turned pale.
Lin Shen's figure slowly disappeared into the distance.
Violet stepped outside the cafeteria and saw Lin Shen walking away, then she saw how Cheng Yanyan couldn't take her eyes from Lin Shen's back. She sneered as she approached her, "Yo, isn't this the famous beauty queen Ms. Cheng? What? Beauty Queen Cheng couldn't tear away from Scholar Lin?"
Cheng Yanyan hid the expression on her face and glared at Violet, then she went back inside the cafeteria.
"There is no smoke without fire! Lin Shen and Cheng Yanyan really are a couple." Violet stomped her foot in rage. "Thank God our Ai-Ai has Su Xuan! Can't believe I used to think Lin Shen was the best man at our school. Damn, I was blind as a bat."
"You weren't the only one who is as blind as a bat! Hurry! We can't find Ai-Ai anymore." Autumn pushed her.
"She went to hold seats for us. It's still early, so what's the rush?" Violet's gaze pinned on Lil' Wen, then she came close to her. "I heard He Tao stood in front of our dorm building until midnight before fainting. The gatekeeper lady took him to the doctor's office. You're so cruel, Lil' Wen. Why did you two break up after dating for so long?"
Lil' Wen didn't speak.
"Oh boy, I really don't understand you. If I had a boyfriend like He Tao, I'd hold on to him for the rest of my life." Violet started listing He Tao's merits with her fingers, "He waits in line to get you breakfast every morning, he saves you a seat during self-study periods, he gets hot water for you, he buys you medications whenever you're sick…"
"He's going to study abroad!" Lil' Wen cut her off.
Violet's eyes opened wide.
Lil' Wen didn't say anything more; she carried her bag and walked away.
"No wonder, it's because He Tao is going to be out of the country." Violet turned to look at Autumn with confused eyes. "Even if he is going to study abroad, Lil' Wen can go with him! If she doesn't want to leave the country, she can wait for him until he comes back; why did she have to break up with him? Where else is she ever going to find an amazing boyfriend like him?"
For the first time, Autumn did not agree with Violet's mindset. She pulled her closer and whispered, "You can't survive with only love. Young Madam, you really shouldn't fall in love. Because if you ever get into a relationship, it will be explosive."
Violet laughed at that. "Even more explosive than Ai-Ai's relationship? Are you saying I can find a man like Su Xuan?"
Autumn was left speechless and stared at her helplessly.
Xu Ai walked towards the classroom building with imbalanced posture. She wondered, Cheng Yanyan even brought Lin Shen his forgotten cellphone; how close would they have to be?
She was curious. When did they even start?
She had only known about this just now!
Her cellphone's ringtone scrambled her thoughts. She took out her phone from her pocket and realized it was Sun Pinting, then she picked it up and said, "Hello?"
"Several school's websites got hacked yesterday; was it you?" Sun Pinting opened up with a bang.
"Mhm," Xu Ai uttered. She really couldn't hide anything from this woman who had been her best friend since they were little.
"Damn, Sis, you got balls. You aren't scared of getting caught?" Sun Pinting asked.
"I am scared! But didn't you remind me yesterday? I'm scared of getting caught, but I'm even more scared of being the trending news headline." Xu Ai got nothing to lose. What was done had been done, and she had no regrets.
Sun Pinting started laughing. "That's more like my Ai-Ai. You gotta show them that this kitty got claws. I thought Lin Shen had declawed you after all these years of torture."
Xu Ai's lips twitched.
"But, I forgot to tell you that those paparazzi don't just sit on their *sses. They can make up news out of nothing. And not just news; they can dig up information from everywhere, especially about Su Xuan, especially if it also involves Lin Shen, so…" She coughed and continued seriously, "You can't extinguish the fire even if you hacked all those school's official websites. You already are in the tabloids."
"What?" Xu Ai was shocked, "Don't try to scare me!"
"Why would I scare you? Use your phone and check the news," Sun Pinting said leisurely, "It's literally everywhere."
Xu Ai hung up her phone immediately and searched on the internet for news. Several latest news jumped up, and she clicked on one of them and saw the title [God's Gift Su Xuan Loses His Heart to a University Girl, Steals the Girlfriend of Three Years from Lin Shen of the Lin Corporation.] Her brain went numb, and her entire world turned black.
Bang! Her cellphone kissed the ground unapologetically, the cellphone case cracked and the screen shattered.
Even that couldn't bring Xu Ai's lost soul back to her body. She stood on the ground and suddenly felt that the summer breeze was bone-chillingly cold.
"What's wrong?" A familiar voice came from behind.
Xu Ai's blood stopped circulating when she heard that voice, and her limbs turned icy.
Lin Shen came in front of her. He looked at her before picking up the broken phone on the ground. He checked it quickly and said, "The case is cracked, and the screen is shattered. You're better off buying a new phone than fixing this one."
Xu Ai looked at him and didn't speak.
"What happened?" Lin Shen had just noticed how horrendous her countenance looked and couldn't help but ask, "Do you still have a cold? Why do you look so miserable?" Then, he reached over to touch her forehead.
And just as he was about to touch her, Xu Ai came back to her senses and stepped back.
Lin Shen's hand froze.
Xu Ai tried to calm her nerves. Her lips moved, but it took a while for her to find her normal voice. "Did you check the news?"
"What news?" Lin Shen moved his hand back.
"The latest news. Check your phone, and you'll see." Xu Ai tried to make her voice sound calm and tried to smile, to smile as relaxed as she possibly could. "The updated version of the school's article. I just saw it."
Lin Shen was confused, but perhaps he realized something when he heard her last sentence. His face turned grim as he checked his phone.
Xu Ai saw him launching the internet browser on his phone to check for that particular news, and she wanted to walk away. But she thought this issue didn't only concern her. If he could come up with ideas to resolve this issue, then that could make her life easier.
Then, she stared at Lin Shen's facial expressions. Too bad, after all her staring, Lin Shen's face only changed when she told him about this tidbit. But other than that, his expression kept its usual cool as he continued to scroll down his cellphone screen.
Xu Ai thought, he looks so calm; does he not care about this?
Perhaps, yes, he is interested in Cheng Yanyan. He doesn't have to care about me.
Shortly after, Lin Shen lifted his head to look at her. "The day before yesterday, you said Su Xuan…" His tone was normal as usual.
Xu Ai lowered her head.
Lin Shen stopped talking and changed his tone. "The company hasn't been featured in the news for a while; now Su Xuan has done me a nice favor this time. The project we just took over needs exposure, but now that the company is on the news, we have saved our advertisement budget."
Xu Ai sighed in relief. That was more like Lin Shen. It didn't matter when or where, he never forgot about his company's benefits. She used to think this messy issue all started with her using Su Xuan as a shield, therefore if he was embarrassed by the news, she would've apologized to him sincerely. But now that he said this, perhaps she didn't have to apologize after all.
She looked up and gave Lin Shen a big smile that had her eyes squint. "How did I not think of that? I was mad as hell when I saw the news, and I broke my phone. Now that I think of it, my phone was sacrificed for no reason."
Those smiling eyes etched onto Lin Shen's eyes. He said with little hesitation, "I'll compensate for a new phone."
Xu Ai's smile froze for a minute, then it turned to lively laughter. "Sure! I saved you from spending money on advertising, so you should compensate me with a cellphone."
"You have class the entire day. I remember you don't have class tomorrow afternoon, so we can buy one together tomorrow afternoon," Lin Shen thought as he said.
Xu Ai shook her head. "You're a busy man; I can go by myself tomorrow! You can reimburse me the money when I come back."
"We can go out to eat tomorrow at noon when your class ends and then buy a cellphone for you. That's set and done." It was like Lin Shen didn't hear her and made up his own decision. "I have an old cell phone in my dorm; I'll get it for you in a bit for you to use now."
Xu Ai looked up at the sky.
Lin Shen also looked up at the sky, then he retrieved his gaze to check for the time. "You have ten minutes before class starts. You're going to be late. I'll bring the phone to your classroom when your class is over."
Xu Ai retrieved her gaze and blinked. "Okay!"
Lin Shen didn't say more. He turned around and headed towards the male student dormitory building.
Xu Ai stood silently. She stared at him for a little longer, then she walked to her classroom.
When class was over, Lin Shen was indeed waiting by the classroom door and handed her an old cellphone. "I already put in the SIM card inside. It doesn't connect to the internet, but other than that, it has no problems with phone calls or text messages."
Xu Ai looked at the phone as he handed it to her. "I remember this cell phone. I bought it for you when we first met. Can't believe you still kept it."
"Mhm." Lin Shen made a sound. "I kept it in my drawer when I stopped using it."
Xu Ai still remembered how they first met. It was the very beginning of freshman year, and Sun Pinting dragged her to a bar. They partied hard the night before, which made her oversleep the next day. When she dashed to her classroom building with all her force, and with a cup of soymilk in her hand, she bumped into someone. He was making a phone call at that time, and the sudden run-in made his cellphone drop to the ground while the whole cup of soymilk poured over his body.
That person was Lin Shen.
That was the first time they met.
She kept apologizing, yet he stared at her with a somber expression in silence. Then, he picked up the broken cellphone, turned around, and walked away.
She always believed she was a good girl. She bumped into him, so it was her fault. She dismissed the classroom bells and chased after him.
Had she known that she'd be chasing after him for three years, she may or may not have chased him to the male student dormitory building without any hesitation. She shamelessly asked around about his major, the classes he was in, and his name. Eventually, she bought a cellphone and ambushed him at all the places he appeared.
Her younger self seemed so far away from now.
Sun Pinting was absolutely right. She kept her kitty claws retracted for all those years because of Lin Shen. Sometimes, she had changed so much that she couldn't even recognize herself.
It all began with a cellphone. Right now, she held it in her hands and felt it burning, and it made her want to throw it away.
"Go in! Don't forget about tomorrow noon." Lin Shen turned around and left.
Xu Ai entered the classroom with the cellphone in her hand. Just as her butt touched her seat, the school's announcement came blasting. She vaguely heard her name in the announcement and asked her classmate beside her, "Did the announcement call my name?"
"Yup, pretty sure it said that you have to report to the principal's office." Her classmate nodded.
Xu Ai was puzzled. She grabbed her bag and exited the classroom.
When she arrived at the principal's office, she saw some other people who were also called in: Cheng Yanyan, Zhao Yang, and Lin Shen, who just parted with her.
Xu Ai might have guessed the purpose of this visit to the principal's office when she saw the other three. It probably had something to do with the school's website hacking. She braced herself and thought, What would happen if I denied all accusations?
Zhao Yang's eyes glowed when he saw Xu Ai. "Xu Ai?"
Xu Ai peered at him. "Did you write that article? Did you post that on our school's website?" Her face was emotionless.
Zhao Yang scratched his head. "I didn't write that. My buddy in the journalism major wrote that after he heard it, but he used my computer to post it." He noticed the pale look on her face and apologized immediately, "I'm so sorry; I didn't think it would blow up like this."
Xu Ai accepted his apology. "I heard your computer got hacked?"
Zhao Yang's expression turned grim. "Yeah, I have no clue who did it. I asked the professors in the computer science department, but they weren't even able to fix it. I might need to buy a new one."
Xu Ai thought he deserved it, but she said compassionately, "Computers aren't that expensive nowadays."
Zhao Yang's face was bitter. "They aren't expensive, but if I buy a new computer, I have to let go of my dream of buying a new cell phone."
Xu Ai nodded. "I saw the news today and dropped my phone as it slipped through my hands. I have to get a new phone too."
"We're on the same boat then!" Zhao Yang suddenly felt that losing a computer didn't seem so bad. Cellphones weren't much cheaper than computers these days.
Xu Ai smiled and didn't speak more.
Cheng Yanyan looked at them. "You two seem happy with the conversation." Her tone was a little weird.
Xu Ai ignored her and didn't continue with the conversation.
Zhao Yang peered at her and then peered at Lin Shen. Just as he was about to say something, a teacher came out from the principal's office and called them to go inside.
When they stepped inside the principal's office, Xu Ai looked around and saw that several university officials were present, as well as a few professors of the computer science department.
The four of them stood in line. Xu Ai acted as the most well-behaved student. She looked down at her feet, but her mind was making up ideas on how to get through this safe and sound. If she really couldn't, um, then she might have to beg Sun Pinting's dad to take care of this.
"The reason I called you guys here is for an article that caused the school website to get hacked. All of you are involved in the article; do you have any explanations? Who hacked the school's website?" an official asked them.
Zhao Yang and Cheng Yanyan shook their heads.
Xu Ai thought maybe she better shake her head. But Lin Shen didn't shake his head, so neither did she.
"From what I heard, our school's website isn't the only one that got hacked. Several other schools' official websites were also hacked. And it was all because they have reposted an article." Another official opened his mouth and looked at Lin Shen. "Lin Shen, you are the most stellar student at our business school. Your own company is also prospering. Not even our school's computer science professors are able to rescue our hacked website. You're a smart guy, do you want to venture a guess?"
Lin Shen tucked in his lips and appeared to be thinking.
Suddenly, Xu Ai felt it would be very unkind of her to involve all these people because of her own actions, especially Lin Shen, who was graduating. Therefore, if she denied all accusations and caused Lin Shen to be disqualified from graduation, she would blame herself forever. She gathered all her courage and lifted her head. "Dear university officials, I am…"
"Xu Ai!" Lin Shen interrupted her and opened his mouth. "I am the hacker."
The university officials were all stunned.
Xu Ai was shocked. She turned her head to look at him with disbelief. "What are you talking about?" How is it possible that he was the hacker?
"Exactly! Dear officials, I am so sorry. I hacked the school website," Lin Shen apologized sincerely.
Xu Ai's face turned dark instantly. She pushed him and glowered at him. "What are you doing? I am the hacker. You don't have to take the blame for me."
Lin Shen stumbled at Xu Ai's push. Then, he frowned and looked at her.
Xu Ai took a deep breath, turned around, and bowed down to the officials. "Someone posted a distasteful article on the school's website and stirred up rumors. I hacked the poster's computer out of anger. But someone posted it again, and I had no choice but to hack the school's website.
Zhao Yang's eyes opened wide as he looked at Xu Ai.
"What the heck are you talking about?" Lin Shen walked towards her.
Xu Ai glared at him and stood straight in front of him. "It was really me. I can restore the official website. Just give me… um, one day." She wanted to say just give her a short while, but she didn't want to knock those computer science professors' self-confidence, so she said one day.
Lin Shen's expression changed. "No, she…"
"Would you shut up!" Xu Ai interrupted angrily.
Lin Shen's words got stuck in his throat. He tightened his lips and looked at her.
Xu Ai turned around. "Dear officials, this has nothing to do with these three. You can let them go now, and I will confess everything."
The university officials looked at each other, and eventually, the principal shrugged. "If it doesn't involve you, then you can leave now!"
Cheng Yanyan and Zhao Yang were the first ones to leave. Lin Shen paused for a few seconds and then left the office.
"Your name is Xu Ai?" The principal wasn't angry. Instead, he looked at her and laughed, "Did you really hack the school's website?"
Xu Ai's head drooped down. She thought she was only one year away from graduating, and this issue was quite viral. Would this be on her record? Or would she be expelled? Or would the school send her to the police? None of the possibilities looked good. Her mind worked quickly and remembered that Su Xuan also happened to be involved in this mess. How come he wasn't affected?
She looked up and looked at the university officials with serious eyes. "Actually, I didn't really do the hacking. Um, it was Su Xuan. He hacked it."