"Thud... Thud..."
Song Xilai kept banging her forehead against the bed's railing, her fever-reddened face clouded with a faint aura of despair.
Chen Qingyan said, "Alright, Xilai, stop hitting your head."
Fang Xiaoting added, "You're still running a fever!"
Chen Qingyan tried to console her earnestly, "As long as you're not embarrassed, the embarrassment belongs to others! Your best strategy now is to stay calm and pretend everything is fine. Act as if you're actually dating Jiang Fengcheng, and then after a while, say you've broken up. Smooth and discreet—the awkwardness will fade away."
Fang Xiaoting chimed in, "I agree, staying silent is the best move. Whatever you do, don't admit you were lying. Otherwise, people might label you as a delusional fangirl of the campus heartthrob, and you'll get attacked and ridiculed. Worse, it could spread online and become a big joke…"
Chen Qingyan frowned and said, "But this only works under one condition: as long as Jiang Fengcheng doesn't personally respond, you're safe."
Fang Xiaoting reassured, "I heard the campus heartthrob has been busy preparing for a swimming competition. He probably doesn't even have time to go online. So, let's toughen up! Thick skin solves all problems."
The two friends took turns comforting Song Xilai, who was still knocking her head against the bed.
Burying her face into her pillow, Song Xilai let out a deep sigh, utterly defeated.
How was she supposed to know that photo of abs belonged to Jiang Fengcheng? Worse, she had made such outrageous remarks about it!
Now the entire campus thought she was not only dating Jiang Fengcheng but had also spent the night with him.
Ugh! If only she were actually capable of pulling that off!
In reality, her connection with Jiang Fengcheng was superficial—they'd only exchanged a few words.
Thinking back to sophomore year, she had taken an elective swimming class but couldn't swim properly even before the final exam. Determined to pass, she trained diligently every morning at the pool.
One day, just as she emerged from the water, she heard a clear, magnetic male voice from the poolside. The owner of the voice chuckled lightly.
"You're doing it wrong."
Song Xilai pouted, dolphin-like, as she blew out water bubbles. "Then how should I swim?"
The guy on the poolside took off his jacket and entered the water, giving her a quick demonstration.
At that time, she was so focused on learning to swim and infatuated with someone else—Xu Huai—that she barely paid attention to the guy helping her.
All she remembered was his sharp, well-defined features, comic-like shoulder-to-head proportions, and a muscular yet elegant physique. Droplets of water glided along his chest muscles, creating ripples in the pool.
Before leaving, Jiang Fengcheng's teammate called him away, and he threw a casual line over his shoulder: "I'm here every Wednesday and Saturday morning at seven. If you want help with swimming, you can find me."
Splashing water playfully, Song Xilai waved with a sweet smile. "Okay, thanks! I'll definitely find you!"
But in the end, she never sought him out because Xu Huai offered to teach her.
From then on, her relationship with Jiang Fengcheng dwindled to polite nods and greetings when passing each other on campus—just acquaintances who knew each other's names.
...
Now, Song Xilai regretted it so much her intestines felt tied in knots!
If she'd only admired Jiang Fengcheng's abs more back then, this whole embarrassing mix-up could've been avoided.
In her spiral of despair, Song Xilai didn't even notice that her attention had shifted. Xu Huai's relationship status—something that once felt monumental—no longer seemed that important.
Realizing the mess she was in, Song Xilai resorted to asking Chen Qingyan for help. By noon, she managed to get Jiang Fengcheng's WeChat contact.
Sending a friend request, she wrote the note: "Hi, I'm Song Xilai."
Five minutes passed without approval, so she joined her friends for lunch.
She had taken fever medicine earlier, but her temperature stubbornly refused to drop. Feeling weak, she sat upright across from her two friends, quietly eating her meal.
Unbeknownst to her, in a corner of the cafeteria sat Xu Huai and his friend, Kong Huizhou.
Xu Huai sprawled out casually, his handsome features cold and aloof. His eyes flickered toward Song Xilai before indifferently looking away.
Kong Huizhou shook his head, resolute. "No way Xilai would hook up with someone as unrelated as Jiang Fengcheng. She must've said that to mess with you. After all, she's tried everything to get your attention. This must be some kind of reverse-psychology move."
Xu Huai didn't respond, his slender fingers twirling a cup of water.
Kong Huizhou frowned and pressed on. "Seriously though, she's gorgeous and treats you so well. You really don't feel anything for her?"
A faint smirk tugged at Xu Huai's lips. His brows furrowed slightly as he replied in a low, magnetic voice, "What is there to feel?"
His gaze flitted briefly to Song Xilai, who was wearing a light pink sweater and a delicate pearl necklace. Her slightly curly hair was pinned up loosely with a claw clip. Cheeks flushed, lips red and glossy, she focused earnestly on eating, looking exceptionally innocent.
Xu Huai's heart inexplicably tensed for a moment before he spoke coldly, "Honestly, sometimes, she's just plain annoying."
Kong Huizhou: "..."
Xu Huai was Xu Huai, alright. Was his heart carved from ice? If he had someone like Song Xilai treating him well, Kong Huizhou would've melted ages ago!
—
Song Xilai's phone vibrated suddenly on the table. A new chat notification popped up.
She immediately put down her chopsticks and opened WeChat. A profile picture of a dark pool with a black figure emerged.
[You are now friends with Jiang Fengcheng. You can start chatting.]
Taking a deep breath, Song Xilai composed an earnest message.
Rich Auntie:
"Hello, Jiang Fengcheng, I'm Song Xilai, a junior in Media Studies. I don't know if you've seen the posts on the forum, but I owe you an apology. My drunken ramblings last night have caused damage to your reputation. I am deeply sorry! Please forgive me!"
Determined to fix things, she added:
"To be honest, I've had a crush on you since our first meeting. You're my ideal type, and... well, I've had some dreams about you. Last night's nonsense came from those dreams. I truly didn't expect our private conversation to be leaked. I'm really sorry again!"
She sent the message and held her breath as Jiang Fengcheng's typing indicator appeared intermittently.
Song Xilai quickly followed up:
"I promise to handle this mess. Just give me a month to clear up the rumors without causing you further trouble."
His reply came soon after.
Jiang Fengcheng:
"Okay."
Her heart leapt with relief at the short response.
She quickly added a playful line but immediately retracted it out of embarrassment.
Finally, she wrote:
"Thank you for trusting me."
Jiang Fengcheng:
"OK."
Unexpectedly, the famous school heartthrob Jiang Fengcheng turned out to be a pretty good guy...
While feeling a tinge of guilt, Song Xilai also felt a sense of relief.
From now on, as long as she followed Chen Qingyan's advice—stay unresponsive, handle it coldly, and let the issue slowly fade away—eventually, some new gossip would emerge, and everyone would forget about her.
Wouldn't this crisis be resolved just like that?
After communicating well with Jiang Fengcheng, Song Xilai, feeling particularly clever, finally felt as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
It was only later that she realized her body temperature seemed to be getting higher, with a throbbing pain in her temples.
Her two best friends were busy that afternoon—one had a group discussion, and the other had street dance club training.
They were reluctant to leave Song Xilai alone. "Are you sure you don't need us to stay with you?"
Song Xilai, enduring her headache, waved them off. "Really, no need. I've taken some medicine, and I'll just head back to the dorm to sleep for a bit."
"Alright, but call us if you need anything."
Song Xilai gave them an "OK" gesture before walking off nonchalantly.
As she walked, her steps became increasingly unsteady. The path from the dining hall to her dorm wasn't long, but her lips were pale and tightly pursed. The strap of her shoulder bag had left red marks on her palms.
Halfway there, a fresh, clean scent of lemon and mint wafted by on the breeze.
She brushed past a tall boy wearing a dark, vintage-style hoodie. His American-style textured hairstyle and height of over 1.9 meters gave him a sharp, athletic presence. If Song Xilai hadn't been feeling so unwell, she would've surely commented, "This is the epitome of a trendy, youthful male heartthrob!"
But due to her discomfort, Song Xilai kept her eyes half-lidded and lacked the energy to look up, entirely missing the slightly complex gaze Jiang Fengcheng cast her way.
Jiang Fengcheng's brows furrowed ever so slightly as he let out a faint laugh of disbelief.
This girl usually seemed so honest and well-behaved. Yet ten minutes ago, she'd been lying blatantly in WeChat, saying things like love at first sight, calling him her ideal type, and even claiming to have dreamed about him.
What a cunning little liar.
His gaze lingered briefly on her flushed side profile before pausing.
Her face was unusually red, as were her ears—abnormally so.
Jiang Fengcheng stopped in his tracks and turned around.
He called out to her, his voice clear and magnetic, "Song Xilai."
Startled by the sudden call of her name, Song Xilai turned around, looking a little dazed.
"Ah, what is it?"
She saw the boy standing a few meters away. Due to his impressive height, she had to start at his chest and look up.
She noticed his prominent Adam's apple, the sharp, defined jawline, thin lips exuding a reserved allure, a tall and striking nose bridge—his features exuded a natural aloofness, yet under the dappled sunlight, there was an unexpected warmth.
She hadn't anticipated this chance encounter. Thinking back to last night's events and her bold words earlier, she nervously lowered her head, fiddling with her fingers, wishing she could just vanish on the spot.
This is it. I'm done for.
Did he stop me just now to call me out for being a delusional creep?
The bold Song Xilai from WeChat was now meekly staring at Jiang Fengcheng's hands, which hung loosely by his side. His fingers were long and clean, veins faintly visible along the back of his hands. He wore a black sports watch on his wrist.
Lying always comes at a price. Song Xilai's fever-clouded brain desperately tried to come up with an excuse, but it was too sluggish to cooperate.
As she silently contemplated her next move, Jiang Fengcheng's cool, low voice broke the silence.
"You don't look too well. Are you sick?"