“2018.09.03 Weather was hot and dry”
Liars grow carrot noses.
—Excerpt from Tao Shuran’s Diary
The surroundings fell silent.
Tao Shuran’s eyelashes trembled violently. She kept her head low, using her drooping lashes to hide all her emotions.
“Of course.”
She looked at him. “When you like someone, you definitely like them for a long time.”
In this fast-paced society where romance was like fast food, few people actually had such a simple and unadorned relationship.
For some reason, Liang Yuanjing detected a hint of reluctance in the arc of her lips.
Perhaps she had heard some things about it.
A sour feeling suddenly welled up in his heart.
Even though he always adhered to the principle of not interfering in others’ relationships, when faced with the girl’s clear and transparent eyes, Liang Yuanjing couldn’t help but slightly yield to his principles.
He weighed his words carefully. Finally, he looked into her eyes and spoke in an extremely gentle tone.
“What if the person you like… isn’t that great?”
“Impossible.” Tao Shuran answered him without hesitation.
“The person I like is the best.”
Liang Yuanjing tsked, his drawn-out tone tinged with irritation as he laid it all out plainly.
“What if I said the person you like isn’t as excellent as you imagine? What if he only wants to date you for your beauty, and once the novelty wears off, he pats his butt and moves on to the next one? The result of you chasing him would probably be your rose-tinted glasses shattering, turning your fairy tale into a horror movie.”
“None of that will happen. I know what the person I like is like. He has the courage to charge toward the clouds, and he possesses the purest youthful spirit in the world.”
Tao Shuran looked at him resolutely. “I like him. No one is allowed to slander him.”
She rarely got angry, but anger tinged her face now.
Liang Yuanjing was stunned for a moment. His words abruptly stopped, and he realized he had spoken out of turn.
“I was just saying it offhand. Don’t take it to heart.”
Tao Shuran calmed down at that moment too. She swallowed, and her pounding heart felt like it had been doused with a bucket of cold water.
She didn’t know why she had suddenly refuted him.
The person she liked was clearly him, and she knew the problematic guy he described wasn’t him.
Yet she couldn’t help but argue back.
It turned out her favoritism toward him had reached this extent.
“It’s fine. I just got a bit worked up too.” Tao Shuran took a deep breath, her words tumbling out rapidly. “But the person I like really isn’t like that.”
Liang Yuanjing hummed in acknowledgment. His gaze dropped lazily, and he resolved not to meddle anymore.
Within his sight, her departing figure gradually receded, her steps large as if she couldn’t wait to leave.
But for some reason, Liang Yuanjing’s mind lingered on that previous instant—
The usually serene and gentle girl looked up in anger, her firm and bright eyes sparkling on her palm-sized face, vivid and radiant, impossible to look away from.
Liang Yuanjing tilted his head just right.
Letting that splash of brightness linger
in the depths of his eyes.
No sooner had she joked with Liang Yuanjing than retribution came knocking.
Just a few days into the university semester, Tao Shuran became a “celebrity” on campus.
It wasn’t because she had done anything earth-shattering. She gained fame at Qing University entirely because of one person.
“He’s still downstairs.”
Luo Jingya had climbed six flights of stairs in one go. Still catching her breath, she excitedly shared the latest “battle report” with them.
“He brought a bouquet of roses today too. I swear there were 33 stems.”
“No way, that’s the fifth bouquet this week, right? Xu Yanyang’s really going all out to chase someone?”
Lin Shuang stood by the dorm window looking down. She tsked several times. “Don’t say it, but Xu Yanyang’s kinda handsome. He’s been through professional training, after all—his posture is so straight.”
“I think it’s not good at all. Too high-profile.”
Tan Yueyi kept her head low and said softly, “Now the whole school knows. Ranran won’t be able to refuse without losing face.”
Their gazes turned back to Tao Shuran.
The three dorm mates looked at her in unison.
“What do you think, Ranran?”
Tao Shuran glanced at them. “I only learned his name yesterday.”
“But now I finally understand what it’s like to be troubled by being pursued.” She propped her chin on her hand in distress, her furrowed brows full of regret.
She shouldn’t have mocked Liang Yuanjing a few days ago. Now retribution had come for her.
Thanks to Xu Yanyang, wherever Tao Shuran went now, people recognized her.
University campuses were full of gossip. Overly enthusiastic classmates sometimes stopped her midway, grinning as they asked, “You’re Tao Shuran, right? Have you agreed to go out with Xu Yanyang yet?”
Even after she said many times, “I’m not familiar with him and have no plans to date,” because of Xu Yanyang’s daily pursuits under the dorm building, her rejections seemed to need daily updates to be effective.
And their effect was gradually weakening.
When she ran into Xu Yanyang’s friends, they advised her, “Little sister, playing hard to get for too long gets boring. A-Yang’s sincere enough— just agree already.”
It was annoying.
Tao Shuran decided to make things clear with him one last time today.
Because of the ongoing military training, lunchtime was precious. Tao Shuran hadn’t even changed out of her camouflage uniform before heading back downstairs.
When he saw her appear, Xu Yanyang’s eyes lit up.
No wonder his taste was good. Even the rough military training uniform looked perfectly fitted and beautiful on Tao Shuran. She seemed to naturally carry a settled, gentle aura, like fine jade, exceptionally unique.
And he, Xu Yanyang, was born to possess all the beautiful things in the world.
“Xu Yanyang.”
“Why are you under our dorm building?”
The girl’s voice was calm and flat, without a trace of emotional fluctuation. Those who knew Tao Shuran well knew she had an exceedingly good temper. For her to wear this cold expression meant she was a bit angry.
But Xu Yanyang didn’t know.
He leaned in with a smile, his tone generous. “Tao Shuran, are you pretending not to know?”
“I’m confessing to you.”
With those words, paired with the vividly red roses, cheers and applause erupted around them.
Tao Shuran’s face flushed almost blood-red, but not from shyness or any flutter of emotion. She oddly found that those adolescent sensations had vanished with Liang Yuanjing’s departure.
At this moment, she felt only irritation and unease at being the center of attention and gossip.
“We’ve only met once, right?”
Xu Yanyang raised a brow, nodding nonchalantly.
“Yeah, it was love at first sight.”
Was love such a casual thing?
Tao Shuran suddenly felt angry and didn’t want to spare any face.
Her voice was delicate but firm as she told him, “I don’t like you.”
“We have no possibility of dating.”
Later, the incident spread like wildfire and was posted on the campus confession wall by busybodies.
The two photos were of Xu Yanyang holding flowers and waiting under the dorm to confess, and Tao Shuran standing in front of him.
At first, clueless commenters showered it with confetti.
“Wow, did the confession succeed? This freshman girl’s so pretty. They look great together.”
“Downstairs, you weren’t there? Xu Yanyang failed. The girl said she’s not interested.”
“No, Xu Yanyang from the Flight Technology Major, right? Heard he’s got a solid family background. What’s this girl’s deal, so picky?”
“She knows Liang Yuanjing, so naturally she looks down on Xu Yanyang. After all, no matter how great Xu Yanyang is, he can’t beat Liang Yuanjing in the Flight Class?”
“Liang Yuanjing?! The Liang Yuanjing I’m in love with? The one who flew solo first at the freshman welcome ceremony? Super romantic—plane exhaust drew a five-pointed star in the sky.”
“Guys, I was from Linchuan Affiliated Middle School. I’ve got insider info… Heard this girl transferred in senior year, couldn’t keep up academically, then got to know Liang Yuanjing, who personally tutored her into Qing University.”
With Liang Yuanjing, the campus heartthrob, thrown in, the post’s views exploded at an unbelievable rate.
Former Linchuan Middle School alumni popped up, spreading detailed rumors.
Suddenly, compared to Xu Yanyang’s failed confession, the ambiguous gossip about Liang Yuanjing and Tao Shuran sparked even more curiosity.
Tao Shuran saw these things during a mid-training break.
The military training was more intense than she imagined, with temperatures nearing thirty-five degrees. After a grueling high-knee drill, she could barely hold on.
Luo Qiuya helped her to the side of the plastic track to rest. She pulled out her phone from her camouflage pocket and asked curiously, “You really know Liang Yuanjing?”
“Yeah.” Tao Shuran nodded hesitantly and said slowly, “We were briefly in the same class during senior year.”
Luo Qiuya: “So you’re close then?”
“Not really.” Tao Shuran took a sip of water, pondering her words to avoid misunderstandings.
A wave of sorrow suddenly filled her heart. More than the misunderstandings, those comments linking her tightly to Liang Yuanjing terrified her.
Because she knew Liang Yuanjing wouldn’t like or allow such baseless speculation.
He was such a pure person, with clear distinctions between love and hate.
And she had to act different from other girls, act like she didn’t like him at all, just to stay by his side like this.
With that thought, Tao Shuran lowered her head and turned down the hesitant invitation.
“I’m not feeling well tonight, so I won’t join for dinner. Have fun.”
Fang Qingyi replied in disbelief: “Really? Not even with Liang Yuanjing there?”
“Yeah, I think we should keep some distance.”
On the way to the cafeteria after training, several girls from the same squad ran over to ask Tao Shuran.
They meant no harm—just pure curiosity. Some were there for Liang Yuanjing, probing his preferences, just like Tao Shuran’s secret crush on him; they just wanted to know more about him.
To their disappointment, Tao Shuran always responded with silence or shakes of the head to most questions.
“You don’t know anything!”
One girl said unhappily, “Net says you two are dating, even got caught by the grade director in high school.”
“That’s all fake.”
Training ended all at once, so meals meant rushing or long lines. Even blocked at the cafeteria door, Tao Shuran didn’t get annoyed and patiently answered their questions.
Hoping to clear things up.
Finally, someone asked the key question: “So, do you like Liang Yuanjing or not?”
Tao Shuran’s heart skipped a beat.
This direct and sharp question instantly quieted her world, leaving only the sound of her heartbeat.
Tao Shuran closed her eyes and answered softly in a way that let her evade.
The instant she closed her eyes, wind rustled through the leaves, and she caught a clear, familiar scent.
Tao Shuran opened her eyes and saw Liang Yuanjing brushing past her.
Just as he passed—
“I won’t like him.”