Everything felt so carefree.
Yet Tao Shuran looked at him seriously and said, “You said to boil over, to be fervent, to never give up.”
Liang Yuanjing tilted his head, his gaze fully on her face. He suddenly laughed.
He looked up and sighed, “The person you like must be very fortunate.”
Tao Shuran said nothing. Her gaze naturally fell on his slender, jade-like fingers resting on the counter.
In that moment of deep emotion, a thought flashed through Liang Yuanjing’s mind—
If someone liked him this purely too.
Perhaps because of this, one day later, he suddenly asked her, “Tao Shuran, does it have to be Qing University?”
She was stunned for a long time. In that instant, the way she looked at him almost gave Liang Yuanjing the illusion that the person she liked was him.
As soon as this thought surfaced, he couldn’t help but scoff at himself.
Tao Shuran nodded and said, “Yes, it has to be Qing University.”
Many years later, Liang Yuanjing finally understood the true meaning of those words.
“Does it have to be Qing University?”
“Does it have to be liking Liang Yuanjing?”
“It has to be.”
…
For some reason, whenever “Qing University” was mentioned, the corners of her lips always curved into a smile.
It was at this moment that Liang Yuanjing realized she looked very beautiful when she smiled, her eyes bending like crescent moons.
He was infected by her brightness. The wind blew the hem of his shirt, disturbing his thoughts. Liang Yuanjing also lifted his head slightly and said to her very seriously—
“Tao Shuran, I’ll take you to Qing University with me.”
There was no special reason.
Liang Yuanjing simply suddenly yearned for the day they would meet again at Qing University.
This was the first time the footsteps of love paused at his door.
But he was too obtuse and didn’t realize it.
Because their majors were different, Liang Yuanjing arrived at Qing University earlier than everyone else.
On the first day of school, those in the flight major acted as volunteers, helping the new students move their luggage and guiding them to the right places to report.
Still in the dorm, Xu Yanyang started complaining, “I’m not saying, but why? We’re new students too. Why are we doing hard labor?”
“Anyway, I’m not carrying guys’ suitcases. For girls… if they’re beauties, I might consider it.”
At the school gate, the crowded crowd blocked the entrance completely. Parents coming and going to drop off students took up a large space.
Liang Yuanjing kept his head down, sending a message to Tao Shuran. He didn’t know if she was busy, but she hadn’t replied.
He was too lazy to pay attention to Xu Yanyang. He put away his phone and turned to leave.
Just as he took a step, Xu Yanyang called out to him.
“Right, did Tao Shuran get into Qing University too?” Xu Yanyang said with a grin. “To be honest, she’s a dumb bird that flies first. Without you, I really think she wouldn’t have made it.”
“She worked hard herself. What does it have to do with me?”
“Really? I thought you had a thing for her.” Xu Yanyang laughed. “Bro, if you’re not interested, then I’ll chase her for fun.”
Liang Yuanjing lifted his eyelids to look at him. “You want to chase her. What does that have to do with me?”
Xu Yanyang grinned cheekily. “This is me not taking what’s yours. Besides, if you chased her, would she even look at me?”
“I’m asking in advance to avoid rejection and self-humiliation.”
Liang Yuanjing gave a faint “Mm.” “You know that’s good.”
Xu Yanyang paused for a second, then asked, “Know what?”
“Self-humiliation.”
Liang Yuanjing laughed lightly, the curve of his lips carrying a bit of mockery. The look he gave Xu Yanyang was very cold, with undisguised disgust.
After saying that, Liang Yuanjing turned and left, his posture carefree.
But on the way to the Broadcast Station, he kept thinking that if Tao Shuran liked someone like that, he probably couldn’t wish her success.
「Fang Qingyi」: We’re at Qing University, hello, hello, Captain Liang, want to grab dinner tonight?
「Liang Yuanjing」: I’m at the broadcast station.
「Liang Yuanjing」: Keep an eye on Tao Shuran. She doesn’t remember directions.
After replying to the messages, Liang Yuanjing arrived at the broadcast station.
Everything was a new beginning. The broadcast station was short on people. Wang Shiyu, the station head, somehow found out about him through various connections. She even asked a senior from the school basketball team to put in a good word and invited him to help at the broadcast station.
Liang Yuanjing had experience at a broadcast station in high school. To be fair, he was quite interested.
But he hadn’t expected Wang Shiyu to express her interest so directly.
To avoid trouble, the broadcast station application form that was about to be handed over was folded back by Liang Yuanjing and stuffed into his pocket.
“You wouldn’t have someone you like already, would you?”
Liang Yuanjing was stunned for a moment. Soon, his expression returned to normal. He raised his eyebrows slightly, maintaining his usual cold arrogance.
“This has nothing to do with you.”
Wang Shiyu’s hands at her sides clenched into fists. She wanted to say something but held back. Her chest only heaved.
The friends around her clicked their tongues secretly and whispered beside her, “Senior, he’s not giving you any face.”
Wang Shiyu forced a smile. “It’s fine. He’s always like this.”
He was almost emotionless to all girls, but she just liked his cold, arrogant demeanor, always looking down from above.
Wang Shiyu thought Liang Yuanjing would always remain so proud.
His love didn’t go to her, and at least it wouldn’t go to anyone else.
But one day, she witnessed something with her own eyes and discovered a secret no one else knew.
It was a drizzly evening. The sky was very overcast. Fuqing’s autumns always loved to rain, one shower after another, and before one knew it, it was deep winter.
Having learned in advance that Liang Yuanjing’s off-campus gathering had ended, Wang Shiyu paced casually under the dorm building.
She hoped to see him.
But that day, she not only saw Liang Yuanjing but also another girl.
It was a very quiet and reserved girl. Under the night, her pale face, long lashes gently drooping, her gaze quietly and silently fixed on Liang Yuanjing in front of her.
The kind of temperament that completely hid herself in a crowd.
But Wang Shiyu, standing behind, immediately caught the way she secretly looked at Liang Yuanjing.
Her sharp intuition made her focus intently on the two in front of her. The girl’s eyes were red, very much like the scene after a failed confession.
Wang Shiyu thought she would see the scene she wanted.
But unexpectedly, Liang Yuanjing suddenly raised his hand helplessly. He slowly bent down, gently lifted his hand, and brushed away the tear at the corner of her eye.
His voice carried over on the wind, sounding very gentle.
“Tao Shuran, you’re very pretty.”
Liang Yuanjing patiently said to her over and over, “You’re the prettiest little girl in the whole world.”
“Don’t mind what others think. Didn’t you say you’d never admit defeat?”
In that instant, Wang Shiyu thought she was hallucinating.
Liang Yuanjing, who showed no false courtesy to anyone, who avoided all girls, actually one day bent down halfway to patiently coax a girl.
So this was what he looked like when he liked someone.
Wang Shiyu shrugged, laughed, and left dashingly.
Meanwhile, Liang Yuanjing found that the more he wiped this girl’s tears, the more they flowed. The tear stains on his fingertip hadn’t dried before new ones pattered onto the back of his hand.
The scalding temperature startled him. He didn’t care about anything else and hurriedly searched his pocket for tissue to wipe her tears.
But at this moment, he couldn’t find anything. Liang Yuanjing “tsked,” simply took off his jacket and draped it entirely over her face.
At the same time, he held her face with both hands. The soft fabric rubbed messily on her face as he deliberately threatened in a gruff voice—
“Tao Shuran, if you keep crying, I won’t be polite.”
The girl’s crying gradually stopped.
In the close breath, Tao Shuran barely pulled open a gap from under his jacket. Her wet lashes peeked out as she muttered softly, “What are you going to do that’s not polite?”
Liang Yuanjing lowered his head and caught sight of her lips, white where she bit them but flushed red, like a nearly ripe water honey peach.
His Adam’s apple bobbed. He shifted his gaze and reached out to pinch her lip.
“I’ll manually silence you.”
Tao Shuran burst out laughing. All her sad emotions were dispelled.
If Liang Yuanjing hadn’t shifted his gaze at that moment, he would surely have seen the adoring look she gave him as she looked up.
He would also have seen how her cheeks flushed red the moment his fingertip touched her lips.
On the way back, he ran into Zhao Zhengnian, who was still as unserious as ever. Even in the rain, he had to go play basketball.
At that moment, he was excitedly talking to him about the game he’d watched all night.
Liang Yuanjing listened absentmindedly. Suddenly, he asked—
“Do you have someone you like?”
Zhao Zhengnian “ah”ed.
In that second, Liang Yuanjing immediately asked, “Who’s the first person you think of when it comes to this question?”
Zhao Zhengnian answered without thinking, “Fang Qingyi.”
Liang Yuanjing lowered his eyes, thoughtful.
He recalled the scene a few days ago when Wang Shiyu asked who he liked. The name that had surfaced in his mind back then—even he himself couldn’t believe it.
Seeing him act out of character, Zhao Zhengnian chased after him. “What do you mean, Liang Yuanjing? Are you blooming like an iron tree?”
“Who do you like? Or who’ve you got your eye on?”
Liang Yuanjing didn’t answer.
He shoved his hands in his pockets. His deep black trench coat almost blended into the night. He shrugged indifferently.
He only said, “You’re an exception. This reaction isn’t accurate.”
Zhao Zhengnian laughed. “What, did you think of someone?”
“No one.”
Zhao Zhengnian half-jokingly said, “Not Tao Shuran, right? She has someone she likes.”
Unexpectedly, this sentence made Liang Yuanjing stop in his tracks.
He turned, his gaze looking over, chin slightly raised, every gesture naturally noble.
With a hint of disdain, he said, “If even someone like Xu Yanyang can, why can’t I?”
Five minutes later, Zhao Zhengnian asked again.
“Do you like Tao Shuran?”
Liang Yuanjing tilted his head slightly, his gaze faintly on the distance ahead.
This time, he didn’t give an immediate answer. The always rejecting posture was no longer firm. Instead, he adopted a careless demeanor.
He said somewhat casually—
“Maybe.”
At that moment, Liang Yuanjing knew he was probably done for.
Love’s footsteps came and went. Years later, Liang Yuanjing was certain that love had truly arrived.
When the day they reunited came, the stalled clock hands turned again.
Liang Yuanjing had long prepared what to say to Tao Shuran on the day he confessed.
He had to tell her, “Liang Yuanjing from Flight Class 1 likes you.”
“I’ve liked you since a very, very long time ago.”