Chapter 113: Xu Yanfeng Proactively Sat Beside Her

Xia Xi pushed open the dorm door and shouted, 'I'm back!' She took off her canvas bag from her shoulder, threw it onto the table, and stretched out a big yawn, 'Great, tomorrow is Friday, just hold out one more day and we can rest.'

'Have you eaten?' Zhao Lei tapped twice on the tablet screen, paused the variety show she was watching, turned her neck and asked her, 'How can a meeting take this long?'

Xia Xi said: 'After the meeting I ran into Su Yuanjia, we ate together in the cafeteria and chatted.'

Zhao Lei's eyes lit up, she dragged her chair over to Xia Xi, rested her elbows on the table, cupped her face with both hands, and put on the standard gossip‑lover expression: 'So how did your chat with him go?'

She said this while winking, unable to suppress her laughter.

The result disappointed her—Xia Xi spread her fingers, covered Zhao Lei's face, and pushed her away: 'I've already made it clear to him.'

Zhao Lei's mind was a bit slow: 'What do you mean by making it clear?'

It means I told him clearly that I won't like him; if he insists on pursuing me, the only result would be wasting each other's time. It's better for both of us to stop now before we get too deep.

No, you…… you put it so bluntly? That's hurtful.' Zhao Lei felt a little sorry for Su Yuanjia.

That's not the case.' Xia Xi poured a cup of hot water, took a sip at the rim, 'I know the art of speaking. I talked to him in a tactful way.'

What was his reaction?

He was a bit sad, but otherwise okay.

Wang Qiuyu was hanging clothes on the balcony, came in with a plastic basin, and jumped into their conversation: 'Compared to that Su Yuanjia, I'd rather know whether you, Xi Xi, had your defenses shattered when you saw Xu Yanfeng at today's meeting.'

Exactly, I want to ask that too.' Zhao Lei regained her gossip expression, no longer feeling sorry for Su Yuanjia.

Xi Xi leaned her head back against the chair, replaying in her mind the scenes of seeing Xu Yanfeng in the meeting room, the corners of her mouth unconsciously turning up: 'How could my defenses be shattered? It's just one failed confession, no big deal.'

Bringing up the meeting, Xia Xi had a lot to say: 'You don't know, today our department head… oh wait, I should say former department head, that's Zhou Xiaoyu, whom I've mentioned before—she was picking on me, and Xu Yanfeng, who just walked in, heard it. Although he didn't say anything, he slammed the documents on the table, making a huge commotion, as if he were angry. I think he was defending me in his own way; you weren't there, you didn't see how scared Zhou Xiaoyu became.'

As Xia Xi spoke, she started shaking her body to demonstrate how Zhou Xiaoyu trembled all over: 'She was shaking like a sieve, it was hilarious.'

Hearing her description, Wang Qiuyu and Zhao Lei thought she might be a bit obsessed.

Zhao Lei, who is always quick‑tongued, said: 'Could it be that Xu Yanfeng, as Chairman of the Student Union, just dislikes people causing trouble and it has nothing to do with you?'

Wang Qiuyu agreed with her.

The foolish smile on Xia Xi's face vanished, she narrowed her eyes at them: 'Are you doubting a woman's sixth sense?'

With that threatening gaze, it seemed that if anyone among them dared say 'yes,' she would jump up and fight them. Knowing the times makes a hero, Zhao Lei quickly shook her head: 'No, no.'

Wang Qiuyu shook her head too, then whispered to Zhao Lei: 'I'm an experienced veteran, I understand. Xi Xi is currently at the stage where even a sneeze makes her suspect the person she likes is thinking of her, and moreover, when the person she likes yells at someone who scolded her, it's not strange for her to think he's standing up for her.'

Zhao Lei realized: 'Or maybe you just understand more.'

Xia Xi sipped hot water mouthful by mouthful, the curve of her smiling mouth growing more exaggerated, her apple cheeks lifting: 'You say, I've been sneezing a lot lately—is it because Xu Yanfeng keeps thinking of me?'

Wang Qiuyu rubbed her forehead: 'Big sis, you just haven't gotten over your cold—drink your hot water honestly!'

'Oh.'

Xia Xi finished a cup of hot water and poured herself another.

She was actually a little angry, angry that they didn't trust her intuition. When Xu Yanfeng walked into the meeting room, his expression wasn't his usual aloofness but a cold, restrained fury; his later action of slamming the folder indeed confirmed her guess—he was angry.

At that moment, apart from Zhou Xiaoyu mocking her, what else could have provoked his anger?

All the evidence shows she didn't overthink it.

Too bad nobody believed her.

Saturday, Xia Xi slept in, only getting up after nine in the morning; her cold still hadn't cleared, her nose ran nonstop, accompanied by coughing, destined to not be able to go swim a few laps at the pool.

She dazed for a while, then got up, stripped the bedsheets and duvet cover, took a clean set from the closet to put on, and carried the removed ones to the laundry room to wash.

When the sheets and duvet cover were washed and dried, it was almost lunchtime.

Xia Xi combed her hair in front of the mirror and asked if anyone was going to the cafeteria; Wu Qinglu raised her hand to say she'd go with her. The other two were lounging in bed, as if they'd grown into the mattress, disheveled, crawling out from behind the curtains, asking them to bring back food.

After figuring out what the two wanted to eat, Xia Xi and Wu Qinglu went to the cafeteria, ate, and brought back two portions.

Only then did Wang Qiuyu and Zhao Lei crawl out of bed, go to the bathroom to wash up, and prepare to eat their dry rations.

Xia Xi took the canvas bag from beside the bed, packed the laptop, drawings, and pencil case from the table into it, and also stuffed in a pack of tissues.

Zhao Lei came out of the bathroom in pajamas, her face still tired from washing, yawning with her mouth open as she asked Xia Xi: 'You're…… where are you going?'

'Can't go swimming, so I'll head to the library to study.' Xia Xi slung her heavy bag onto her shoulder, unplugged the phone that was charging, 'Are you coming? If you are, I'll wait for you.'

Zhao Lei drew out her 'um' with many twists, full of refusal: 'No, go yourself. Let me just laze around in the dorm by myself. Bye, remember to dress warmly.'

Wang Qiuyu: 'Don't forget I'm also lazing around in the dorm.'

Wu Qinglu: 'And me.'

Xia Xi laughed, put on her leather boots, went out, and helped them close the door.

On the weekend the library was crowded; some had gone out to eat at noon, leaving their belongings on the tables to hold seats. Xia Xi wandered through a few study rooms and finally found an empty spot.

She sat down, took everything out of her bag and placed it on the table. The seat next to her was empty, but a stack of books sat there; she glanced at them—they weren't professional texts, but some biographical novels.

Xia Xi plugged in her computer, opened a document, and began writing the short paper assigned by her elective teacher.

After typing a few paragraphs, someone beside her spoke: 'Excuse me, is anyone sitting next to you?'

'Seems like there is…' Xia Xi's attention was wholly on her paper, she answered absently, but halfway through she realized the voice was extremely familiar, even though the speaker had deliberately lowered their tone.

Xia Xi's ten slender fingers hovered over the keyboard in a natural curve, her head turning to the left.

Her whole person suddenly seemed foolish, eyes wide, mouth slightly open.

She hadn't misheard; the voice's owner was Xu Yanfeng, really Xu Yanfeng.

Xu Yanfeng proactively offered to sit beside her?

It sounds fantastical; she couldn't be dreaming, could she?

Xia Xi, feeling worthless, took the hand hovering above the keyboard down under the table and pinched her thigh; the sharp pain reminded her that what was before her was reality, not a dream.

'Is there… or isn't there?' Xia Xi's words did a 180‑degree turn: 'I think there isn't!'

Xu Yanfeng: '……'