Seeing Song Xiaomi's shy demeanor, Xu Xiuwen gave a faint smile.
In fact, the moment he opened the door and saw Song Xiaomi, he noticed the girl's cool attire.
However, he didn't immediately point it out, intending to see if she would notice it herself.
But the girl's reaction was incredibly slow.
Xu Xiuwen placed the food he had brought on the living room table and then went to Lu Xinyao's room door.
He knocked on it.
"Knock knock knock…"
The knocking sound was especially clear in the quiet night.
However, there was no response from inside the room.
Xu Xiuwen did not wait any longer and opened the door to enter.
When Xu Xiuwen was knocking on the door outside, Lu Xinyao had heard it and knew he was back.
Therefore, she was aware that the person knocking was Xu Xiuwen, not Song Xiaomi.
She deliberately chose to ignore him.
She didn't expect Xu Xiuwen to enter the room without her permission.
Lu Xinyao did not want to see Xu Xiuwen or speak with him.
So, she chose to pretend to be asleep.
After all, as long as she didn't open her eyes, no one would know whether she was truly asleep or just pretending.
Once Xu Xiuwen entered the room, everything came into view.
He quickly noticed that the dinner he bought in the afternoon was still in place, untouched.
Besides that, Lu Xinyao was lying on her side with her back to the door.
He knew she was definitely awake.
Even if she were asleep, she couldn't possibly have missed the loud knocking.
Xu Xiuwen sighed.
"Lu Xinyao, I brought you some late-night snacks—fried rice and grilled skewers. I've left them on the table in the living room. If you want to eat, just come down and help yourself."
There was no response from Lu Xinyao.
"I know you don't want to see me right now. I'll leave immediately and I won't disturb you again tomorrow. Don't worry."
Before leaving, Xu Xiuwen casually took out the trash from Lu Xinyao's room, including the food he had brought earlier.
The food had long gone cold as Lu Xinyao hadn't touched it.
As Xu Xiuwen's footsteps grew fainter, until they disappeared, Lu Xinyao knew he had left.
What happened last night was something any girl would find hard to accept calmly.
Lu Xinyao felt she had done well enough.
She tried hard to move on but still felt miserable all day.
However, no matter how upset she was, her body still needed sustenance.
Just now, she had smelled the aroma of grilled skewers and couldn't help but swallow.
This simple action seemed to trigger her hunger.
Hunger surged like an unstoppable flood.
Lu Xinyao hesitated for a moment but decided not to continue resisting her hunger.
She decided to eat first and then deal with her feelings.
At least she needed to be full to have the strength to keep feeling upset and crying.
She put on her slippers, got out of bed, walked out of her room, and went to the living room to find the late-night snacks Xu Xiuwen had brought.
The grilled skewers smelled delightful.
Just the smell made her ravenously hungry.
She eagerly took a bite of the lamb skewer.
She hadn't even had a chance to chew.
Suddenly, there was a noise behind her.
She turned around.
It was Xu Xiuwen.
At that moment, Lu Xinyao felt utterly embarrassed.
In the dimly lit living room, she was eating lamb skewers in disheveled clothing like a thief.
And Xu Xiuwen had just happened to catch her in this state.
Lu Xinyao was so embarrassed she wanted to find a hole to hide in.
"You said you were leaving!"
Her voice, filled with embarrassment, had a hint of grievance.
"Oh, I just wanted to come back and tell you that you should take some time off from work and rest for a while. Um, I'm done now… You can eat, I'm leaving right away."
Xu Xiuwen, being perceptive, noticed Lu Xinyao's discomfort.
After explaining, he didn't linger but turned around and left directly.
After leaving the company dorm, Xu Xiuwen felt a bit relieved.
Whether Lu Xinyao forgave him or not, at least she was willing to eat the food he bought.
That was a good sign.
Xu Xiuwen left.
But Lu Xinyao's mood remained far from good.
"Why, why, why did he have to see me?" Lu Xinyao nearly fainted from frustration.
She wanted to throw away the lamb skewer in her hand, but after some thought, she didn't.
There was no way she could throw it away; the lamb skewer smelled too good.
Especially after being hungry all day, it was a huge temptation.
That night, lying on the bed, Xu Xiuwen reflected on the recent events.
The incident from last night had really caught him off guard.
From the current situation, it seemed Lu Xinyao wouldn't report it to the police.
But not reporting it didn't mean the incident hadn't happened.
Perhaps, over time, Lu Xinyao would slowly accept it and gradually return to normal.
However, Xu Xiuwen had to consider how he would face Lu Xinyao in the future.
Of course, firing her and never seeing her again was one way to handle it.
But Xu Xiuwen couldn't bring himself to be so heartless.
After all, Lu Xinyao hadn't done anything wrong.
Some might blame her entirely, but her reactions were just those of a normal girl.
How could he truly blame her?
Xu Xiuwen became increasingly agitated as he thought about it.
He didn't dare count, but he had certainly entangled with a lot of girls recently.
Was it that heaven was punishing him for being a scumbag and this was his minor punishment?
Xu Xiuwen realized that his life seemed to have deviated from its normal course.
After being reborn, he initially only wanted to pursue his past life's white moonlight.
Then he met Tang Weiwei and, attracted by her, couldn't resist pursuing her and couldn't let go.
Then came An Shishi, Xiao Youran, Li Haimei, and now Lu Xinyao.
Xu Xiuwen thought and thought.
He decided to correct the course of his life.
The best approach was to temporarily return to campus.
Fortunately, the semester was almost over, and exam week was approaching soon.
Xu Xiuwen decided to focus on studying for now.
He wanted to shut out all external distractions and concentrate solely on his studies.
So the next morning.
On June 16th.
Xu Xiuwen suddenly appeared in his dorm room and then went to class with his roommates.
Yet, sometimes fate just loves to play tricks on people…
June 16th was a Friday.
Xu Xiuwen learned from his roommates that today was the last day of classes for the spring semester.
After today, there would be two more weeks: review week and exam week.
Early in the morning, after Xu Xiuwen arrived at the classroom, he did not draw any attention.
He entered the room with his roommates through the back door and then sat in the last row.
As the campus heartthrob of Jiangling, even if Xu Xiuwen wanted to stay low-key, it was clearly impossible.
Soon, some classmates noticed him, and the news spread quickly.
Before long, almost the entire class knew Xu Xiuwen was attending class today.
Many people kept glancing back at him and whispering to those around them.
Some more outgoing students directly walked over to greet Xu Xiuwen in person.
Upon entering the classroom and sitting down, Xu Xiuwen saw Tang Weiwei, who was sitting in the front row and appeared to be the model student.
Alongside her was her roommate, Su Yanyan.
Bai Yue'er was not present.
With the completion of the post-production for the TV drama, Hang Fei had begun promoting the show.
As the lead actress, Bai Yue'er was naturally involved in the promotional activities.
Unlike Xu Xiuwen, who had no long-term aspirations of being an actor, this was Bai Yue'er's second drama.
She had put in a lot of effort for this role.
Xu Xiuwen had been keeping an eye on her progress.
Many media outlets had also contacted Bai Yue'er for interviews, and some large shopping malls had invited her to participate in events.
Although Bai Yue'er still had a student identity, she had one foot in the entertainment industry.
Her fame wasn't high enough yet, and her status wasn't very elevated.
Xu Xiuwen knew about Bai Yue'er's recent situation.
So, seeing her absence from class felt quite normal.
However, not seeing Shen Minyao surprised Xu Xiuwen a little, but he didn't dwell on it.
At this point, almost everyone in the classroom knew he was attending.
But the front-row students, Tang Weiwei and Su Yanyan, were unaware.
The two were currently engaged in a conversation.
Though Xu Xiuwen didn't know what they were talking about, he could tell from Tang Weiwei's smiling profile that she was in a good mood.
Xu Xiuwen had always felt a bit guilty towards Tang Weiwei.
Among his girlfriends, excluding the newly involved Li Haimei and the unexpected encounter with Lu Xinyao.
He had seen Tang Weiwei the least and spent the least time with her.
Their main mode of contact was through phone calls and texts.
Usually, Xu Xiuwen would take time before bed to chat with Tang Weiwei.
Initially, they exchanged more texts, but gradually Tang Weiwei got used to long phone calls.
Xu Xiuwen often expressed his affection and desire for her candidly during these calls, sometimes touching on more explicit content.
For Tang Weiwei, who was inexperienced, these topics were a huge challenge.
She would often become flustered and shy, and would end the call in a hurry due to Xu Xiuwen's barrage of affectionate remarks.
Even though they couldn't meet in person, the way Tang Weiwei's voice conveyed her shyness and urgency always satisfied Xu Xiuwen.
Under his influence, Tang Weiwei gradually adapted.
Sometimes, under Xu Xiuwen's mix of soft and hard persuasion, Tang Weiwei would attempt to express her most sincere feelings as a young girl.
Xu Xiuwen could clearly feel that, amidst his sweet talk, Tang Weiwei had fallen deeply in love and was finding it hard to escape.
Xu Xiuwen watched Tang Weiwei for a while.
He suddenly averted his gaze, took out his phone from his pocket, and sent a text message to Tang Weiwei.
After receiving the message, Tang Weiwei glanced at its content and immediately turned her head towards the back of the classroom.
She soon spotted Xu Xiuwen sitting with his roommates.
A smile instantly blossomed on her beautiful face.
Xu Xiuwen motioned for her with his hand.
Tang Weiwei suddenly became bashful, gently shaking her head as if to refuse.
Xu Xiuwen frowned, his expression turning serious.
Seeing this, Tang Weiwei immediately came over obediently, like a small animal.
Xu Xiuwen said to his nearby roommate, "Move over a bit; Weiwei is coming over."
Yang Baishan muttered, "A guy who values romance over friends."
Xu Xiuwen also shifted his position, making room by vacating the outermost seat.
As Tang Weiwei approached, she shyly lowered her head and asked softly, "Why did you call me over?"
"Just sit down first."
Tang Weiwei wasn't good at rejecting Xu Xiuwen.
She obediently sat down.
Xu Xiuwen immediately took her small hand and asked, "Have you missed me recently?"
Tang Weiwei nodded.
She wasn't quite used to being affectionate with Xu Xiuwen in the classroom.
She tried to pull her hand back but didn't succeed.
"Can you let go? The classmates are all here."
Xu Xiuwen smiled and said, "I'm not letting go. If they see, they see. It's not illegal for me to hold my girlfriend's hand."
Although Tang Weiwei was shy, her heart felt as sweet as honey.
She glanced up at Xu Xiuwen.
He was still as handsome as ever.
His straight nose and sharp jawline gave him a very distinctive look.
His smile was Tang Weiwei's favorite.
Though it had a bit of a rogue charm, it was very gentle, making her heart race and feel like a fluttering fawn.
The two chatted briefly before the class bell rang.
Tang Weiwei was about to get up to return to her seat.
Xu Xiuwen firmly said, "Don't go back. Sit next to me and stay for the class."
"Oh."
Tang Weiwei, who wasn't good at rejecting, found it even harder to refuse when it was Xu Xiuwen.
When the class bell rang, the teacher at the podium also stopped.
This class was a specialized course, and only students from their major attended it.
The teacher was a balding man in his fifties.
He scanned the room and suddenly exclaimed in surprise.
The teacher asked, "Why aren't the two major campus belles, Shen Minyao and Tang Weiwei, here today?"
After the teacher's question, there was a sudden burst of noise in the classroom.
The class monitor, Dong Jun, said, "Teacher Tang, Shen Minyao is absent because she's not feeling well."
"Then why isn't Tang Weiwei here too?"
There was another burst of laughter in the classroom.
Someone interjected, "Teacher Tang, Tang Weiwei is here; she's in the classroom."
"How come I didn't see her if she's here?"
At this point, the students in the class all laughed heartily.
Hearing the laughter, Tang Weiwei's face turned red instantly.
"What are you laughing at?"
Teacher Tang on the podium looked confused.
It was the same student who spoke up earlier.
"Teacher Tang, Tang Weiwei is sitting with her boyfriend."
"Where is Tang Weiwei?"
Seated next to Xu Xiuwen, Tang Weiwei shyly raised her hand and said softly, "Teacher, I'm here."
The male teacher said, "Let me see what kind of guy managed to win over our Tang family member and whether he's worthy of her."
He was clearly joking and teasing Tang Weiwei and her boyfriend.
The classmates immediately caught on and laughed together.
The teacher surveyed Xu Xiuwen next to Tang Weiwei and commented, "He does look quite good; no wonder he managed to win Tang Weiwei over."
He suddenly said, "Oh, are you a student in our class? I don't think I've ever seen you before."
Dong Jun quickly replied, "Teacher Tang, he's Xu Xiuwen, the one who took a long leave."
"Oh, him." Teacher Tang immediately remembered.
"Not bad, not bad, a good match of talent and beauty," Teacher Tang said with a smile.
But then, Teacher Tang's tone shifted...