Chapter 171

Liang Yuan observed Xia Xi's grim expression from the side, exchanged a glance with Zhou Du, still clueless, and kept asking him: "What's wrong? What's wrong?"

Zhou Du remained silent, watching Xia Xi.

Xia Xi's call to Xu Yanfeng went unanswered, so she sent a WeChat message; she was also flustered, her stream of words illogical, missing the point. When one is agitated and heated, staying calm is truly hard.

"Xu Yanfeng, why won't you answer my call?"

"Can you at least let me finish speaking before you pass judgment?"

"I don't deny the bet; if this makes you uncomfortable I'll apologize, but I don't think I'm wrong."

"Xu Yanfeng, answer the phone!"

"I like you—can't you feel it? Are you mad at me just because of this?"

The sent message vanished like a stone in the sea; Xu Yanfeng didn't reply.

Xia Xi, furious, wanted to smash her phone; she dug her fingers into her scalp, grabbed a handful of hair, not knowing whether to smooth it or mess it up further. She bit her lip, unwilling to give up, and called him again.

It was the same— the "beep-beep" tone continued until it stopped automatically.

Xia Xi had no intention of waiting passively; she hurriedly bade farewell to Liang Yuan and Zhou Du: "Let's leave it at that for today, you two grab something to eat, we'll meet again another time—I'm heading out." Since they get along well, she didn't need to apologize; a brief explanation would suffice, and they'd understand.

Before Liang Yuan could finish her plea to stay, Xia Xi grabbed her bag and left, starting to run once out of the private room.

"Who can tell me what's going on?" Liang Yuan seized Zhou Du's arm, as if grabbing a sturdy laborer, and called his name: "You speak."

Zhou Du shrugged: "Look at me—do I seem like I know the truth?"

Liang Yuan furrowed her brows, pondered for a long time, still no answer, and muttered to herself: "Are they having a disagreement? That shouldn't be. Xu Yanfeng came, the two spoke a few words outside, then he left, and Xi Xi shouted his name loudly, looking nervous. Could… the problem lie in what they said?"

Liang Yuan scratched her head, racking her brains but still couldn't figure out the cause.

By comparison, Zhou Du was much more at ease: "Don't trouble yourself needlessly—first eat, then later call Xia Xi."

He said nothing aloud, but mentally noted Xu Yanfeng: as expected of the Young Master of the Xu Clan Group, he's indeed difficult to get along with, his temper foul to the point of being unbearable for ordinary people.

What surprised him was Xia Xi—she appears carefree and unconcerned, yet actually has edges and corners, quite sharp; yet she willingly lowered her head before Xu Yanfeng, doing so naturally and willingly.

Regarding matters of the heart, Zhou Du didn't want to interfere; he trusted Xia Xi's ability to sort it out herself. If it were other aspects—if she were bullied or wronged—he would certainly be the first to stand up for her.

Xia Xi guessed Xu Yanfeng had driven here, taken the elevator straight down to the underground parking lot, searched around, and didn't see his familiar Mercedes—he had already driven off.

She turned and entered the elevator, exited the first-floor lobby, hailed a taxi, and gave the address of Nan Da.

In the car, she repeatedly called Xu Yanfeng and sent messages.

The phone grew hot, warming her palm and ear—what good was that when the call went unanswered and the message unreturned?

Truly, this is Xu Yanfeng's usual modus operandi.

She both loved and hated him.

Nan Da arrived; Xia Xi paid the fare, sprinted all the way to the male dormitory building where Xu Yanfeng lived, paced outside the fence gate, worrying how to find him, when she ran into Chen Mian returning from a basketball game.

"Xia Xi, junior." Chen Mian held a basketball tucked under one arm, sweat dripping from his head and face, saw her first and greeted her: "What are you doing here?"

Xia Xi's eyes lit up, like grasping a lifeline: "Senior Chen, I can't find Xu Yanfeng; could you please go up and pass a message for me—just say I'm waiting downstairs for him, I have something to say."

Seeing her urgency, Chen Mian asked nothing and readily agreed: "Okay, okay, okay, I'll go up and tell him now."

To facilitate communication, Chen Mian added Xia Xi on WeChat. He never told her that, in fact, they had chatted many times before on the tieba forum, where he was the enthusiastic senior who repeatedly supplied her with private information about Xu Yanfeng.

Earlier he refrained due to awe of Xu Yanfeng's dignity; later he simply hadn't found a suitable moment to speak.

Chen Mian climbed to the fifth floor, panting, pushed open the dorm door—Yu Tingbo and Fang Huaiyuan sat at their respective desks. Indoor lighting was insufficient, so both had turned on desk lamps; white light fell on the spread-out blueprints, dense lines and annotations crisscrossing, all bearing the heart and soul of the one who drew them.

Chen Mian glanced at Xu Yanfeng's bed and desk—empty. Unwilling to give up, he checked the balcony and bathroom, but found no trace of him.

He was about to ask the other two whether they knew Xu Yanfeng's whereabouts when Yu Tingbo spoke first: "What are you looking for?"

Chen Mian: "Where's Xu Yanfeng?"

Yu Tingbo spread his hands: "Old Fang and I have been in the dorm the whole time; we haven't seen him return."

Fang Huaiyuan nodded.

Xia Xi was still waiting downstairs; Chen Mian sent her a WeChat: "Xu Yanfeng isn't in the dorm; he hasn't come back."

Xia Xi's reply came quickly: "I see. Thank you, Senior Chen."

Chen Mian recalled the scene of seeing Xia Xi just then—she was quite anxious, her face blanched by the wind, her eye sockets reddened, looking somewhat disheveled and pitiable. Usually when she appeared in public she was radiant and full of vitality; rarely did one see her like this.

After a moment's thought, Chen Mian tried calling Xu Yanfeng; it rang a long time before someone answered, asking what he needed. Chen Mian's expression eased a little—being able to connect was good: "Where are you? Xia Xi, junior, came looking for you. Didn't she call you?"

"Don't bother."

Xu Yanfeng's voice was cold, as if chilled with ice. Chen Mian startled, and by the time he regained his composure, the call had been cut off.

Downstairs of the dorm, Xia Xi felt utter disappointment, wearily leaving. Thinking of Xu Yanfeng's off-campus apartment, a ten- to twenty-minute walk away, she didn't want to walk, so she took a car; a few minutes later she reached the residential gate, only to be barred from entering.

She asked the guard whether Xu Yanfeng had come by; the guard coldly refused to disclose any resident information.

Xia Xi had no recourse; she covered her forehead with one hand, turning in circles, then suddenly recalled the villa where the Student Union had held a party last time—would Xu Yanfeng go there? She wasn't sure.

Xu Yanfeng was far from calm, unsuited to drive, yet his Mercedes sped down the road, that female voice replaying over and over in his mind.

"I still remember when you made a bet with us, declaring you'd win Xu Yanfeng within three months."

"Back then we thought you couldn't pull it off—not just three months, even five or ten months would be plenty. Zhou Du thought the same, and he even helped you extend the deadline to a full semester."

"Although you didn't succeed in the end, it doesn't stop me from admiring you. Xu Yanfeng is clearly a tough nut to crack at first glance."

"Is Xia Xi chasing him so fiercely only because of a bet?"

"Does she truly like him, or is it merely the urge to win?"

"Even if she does like him, how much is genuine and how much is feigned?"

"He step by step sank deeper, while she treated him as a conquest target, an object to be 'won'—how ironic. After she got him, did she boast to others: 'Look, Xu Yanfeng is so hard to handle, no one else can get close, yet he's not bowing at my feet'?"

Xu Yanfeng's grip on the steering wheel kept tightening, the leather rubbing against his palm, making a creaking sound.

He couldn't dwell on it; thinking further would make him doubt that this feeling was fake from start to finish.

It couldn't be—Xia Xi likes him; her every expression couldn't be feigned, the affection in her eyes when she looks at him couldn't be an act. He tries to convince himself, yet deep down another voice keeps interfering, denying him.

Just as he once personally witnessed what he believed to be the world's most sincere affection, only to find it was false, a mere illusion.

After that, he could no longer believe in such a thing as feelings.

Xia Xi was the exception; he shattered his ingrained beliefs, but now...

Xu Yanfeng couldn't continue driving; he stepped on the brake, the car pulled over and stopped, his face pressed against the steering wheel as he drew a deep breath, still feeling as if he were drowning in the deep sea, unable to catch his breath.