Chapter 83

After Liang Yuan's reminder, Xia Xi twisted her neck to look to the right.

Liang Yuan's vision went dark, and she corrected her: "Left, left, big sis, can't you tell left from right?"

Xia Xi really thought about which side was left and which was right, then turned her head 180 degrees, from right to left; the shop was bustling with people, three or five gathered at a table, yet Xia Xi still noticed Xu Yanfeng at a glance.

He was so dazzling, in this smoky, fire‑filled shop full of market‑town atmosphere, he stood out like a clear breeze and bright moon, easily separating himself from those people.

At the moment their eyes met, Xia Xi clearly heard an echo in her mind, a sharp buzzing.

"I… he… not… how is he here?" She wondered what she had just shouted.

"—Just you wait, I'll catch Xu Yanfeng sooner or later."

"What is this? Dying before even achieving success?"

"Does Heaven have to joke with her like this?"

Xia Xi rarely felt flustered; a momentary lapse made her forget she was standing on a chair, her heel slipped, and she fell straight down. If she had landed headfirst, she'd have bled on the spot. As Xia Xi imagined her grim fate, luckily she had two close friends, Zhou Du and Liang Yuan, who each threw an iron skewer and a beer bottle, one on the left, one on the right, to shield her.

Xia Xi landed safely, still shaken, she plopped onto the chair, the cheeks beneath her glasses turning a little pale.

Liang Yuan spoke: "Big sis, you didn't wipe the chair, and you're wearing white pants."

Xia Xi couldn't bother wiping the chair; her mind was full of Xu Yanfeng. She didn't dare turn her head, grabbed Liang Yuan's hand, leaned against her head, and whispered: "Is that Xu Yanfeng on the left?"

Liang Yuan was puzzled by the question: "Could it be not him?" After a pause, she couldn't help questioning Xia Xi's intellect: "Come on, he's your male god—if you can't recognize him, how can I? But I think he's exactly the person in the photo."

Xia Xi didn't fail to recognize Xu Yanfeng; she just wished the person sitting there weren't him…

Liang Yuan gradually understood her psychology and smirked wickedly: "It's fine; as long as you don't feel embarrassed, the embarrassment is his."

Xia Xi: "……Thanks for comforting me."

Liang Yuan patted her shoulder: "Besides, you've publicly said in your department's group that you'll pursue Xu Yanfeng; with so many people in the group, surely some are close to him—maybe that comment already reached his ears, so what's the harm if he hears it himself?"

Xia Xi was indeed comforted by her; she straightened her upper body and boldly turned her head to look in the direction where Xu Yanfeng was.

That table no longer had any trace of Xu Yanfeng; it had been taken over by another group, who were now calling the waiter to order food.

Xu Yanfeng didn't know when he had left.

*Xia Xi returned to the dormitory; only Wu Qinglu was there, while Zhao Lei and Wang Qiuyu were supposedly out pressing the sports field.

Wu Qinglu had just finished showering, wearing a nightgown while drying her hair, and was praising the new campus's shower facilities—great water flow, very comfortable shower—seeing Xia Xi listlessly sitting on the chair, she recalled a campus news item she had seen while eating dinner, related to Xia Xi, and said: "Xi Xi, you're famous, you know that?"

"What famous?" Xia Xi picked up the mineral water on the table, twisted it open, and took a sip.

"Wait a sec." Wu Qinglu had a towel on her head, tiptoed to reach the phone on the bed, and handed it to Xia Xi: "Several groups, and even the campus bulletin board, are posting your photos."

"Ah?"

Xia Xi guessed maybe her comments in the Architecture Department big group had been screenshotted and spread, but after taking Wu Qinglu's phone, she saw it wasn't that—someone had posted her photo asking others who she was.

"【A beautiful woman encountered by chance at the Nan Da campus gate—didn't dare go up to say hello; does anyone know who she is? Probably not from our school, I've never seen her before.】"

The attached photo showed Xia Xi drinking soda at the campus gate while waiting for someone. Below, many people discussed—

"Maybe from the neighboring Media University—there are lots of beauties there; judging by her height and looks, she's either studying performance or dance."

"You've got a beauty right in front of you and you don't flirt, forcing us to go to Haidilao."

"Her natural look is that stunning? I don't believe it. Unless I see the real person."

"My face is covered in abacus beads."

"Isn't this Xia Xi? How come she's not from our Nan Da? Doesn't anyone in the Architecture Department recognize this academic star? I thought she was famous!"

"When did the Architecture Department get this person?!! Stop making things up."

"No, it's not made up—she's the goddess of our old campus, already famous since freshman military training at the start of the year."

"I've deeply felt the barrier between the old and new campuses—same Nan Da, yet information doesn't flow. Today I also ran into someone in the Architecture Department big group asking who Xu Yanfeng is."

"I was in that group too, fortunate to witness the scene, and there was a girl saying she'd pursue Xu Yanfeng, hahaha. Eh, wait—her name sounds like… Xia Xi? Could it be the same person?"

Xia Xi suddenly had an idea, returned the phone to Wu Qinglu, grabbed her own phone, found the Nancheng University bulletin board, and opened it.

How could she have forgotten about the bulletin board? She'd never browsed it before, but since Xu Yanfeng is a big figure on the new campus, there must be posts related to him.

Xia Xi entered the three keywords "Xu Yanfeng" in the forum and indeed found plenty of good stuff—photos of him at the sports meet, photos of him giving a speech on stage, those are fairly formal; also some slightly private ones, like him playing basketball, pulling up his jersey hem to wipe sweat, revealing thin muscles, and him in the library, tired from studying, tilting his neck to stretch, his evenly proportioned fingers resting just so on his Adam's apple… The candid photographer really knows how to angle; an otherwise ordinary motion comes out with a hint of erotic allure.

Xia Xi frantically clicked save, her phone storage nearly running out.

Wang Qiuyu and Zhao Lei returned from outside, carrying two bags of snacks, handing Wu Qinglu and Xia Xi each an ice cream.

Wu Qinglu said "thanks," took it and started eating. When it was Xia Xi's turn, she didn't react for a while, so Zhao Lei placed the ice cream on her desk and took the chance to lean over and sneak a glance at her phone—the screen showed Xu Yanfeng tilting his neck to touch his Adam's apple, a strikingly sexy image.

Zhao Lei made a series of "tsk tsk" sounds, meaningfully saying: "Such long fingers, such a high nose, such a big Adam's apple."

Xia Xi coughed: "I really don't want to be the kind of girl who gets it instantly."

Zhao Lei: "You get this and that instantly, why don't you get math problems instantly?"

Xia Xi felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her; she instantly calmed, her face numb, and said: "What good does it do you to poke my sore spot?"

She tore open the ice cream wrapper, eating while scrolling the bulletin board; unfortunately, besides Xu Yanfeng's photos, there was no other useful information, such as his contact details. She tilted her head back and sighed longingly, wondering why getting a contact method was so hard.

How can we advance our feelings without contacting each other!

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration streaked across her mind like a meteor, which she seized precisely.

She and Xu Yanfeng had met today at the swimming pool—did that mean he often goes there to swim? Definitely! There aren't many swimming pools near Nan Da; Lan Jing Youyong Guan is the largest and best-equipped one.

Xia Xi took a big bite of ice cream, so cold her eyes narrowed. She decided to stake out and wait like a hunter waiting for a rabbit.

Thinking further, she realized her closet only held competitive swimwear, mainly black and white, bought for comfort and performance, not appearance. Xia Xi decisively opened Taobao, selected a pretty, sexy swimsuit, and placed the order.

She privately messaged customer service: "Please use SF Express; I'll pay the shipping, I need it urgently, thanks!"

"(End of chapter)"