Chapter 12: Sigh! Jealousy & Capitalism

Lin Zhiyan felt deeply confused—confused about why Le Mans had already bought her a house, yet still arranged school housing for her. Did he think everyone should be like him, with both a place to stay and a home?

But seriously, what was with these people refusing to just transfer her money directly?

What exactly was going wrong here?

Forget it. No matter what, not spending money was still the best outcome.

Lin Zhiyan comforted herself and decided she’d ask Le Mans in person later.

Some things had to be discussed face-to-face. Text always carried too much room for concealment, while spoken words were easier to pick apart.

She was in a great mood, packed the books she needed, and headed straight to school to claim her reward. On the way, she even bought herself an ice cream bread—a luxury she normally would never consider.

The moment she arrived at school, before even entering the administrative district, she ran into Aiwen.

Aiwen was sitting in the academy plaza drinking coffee with friends. The first thing that caught Lin Zhiyan’s eye wasn’t her striking red hair, but the glittering gemstones decorating her neck, wrists, fingers, and arms.

The jewelry dazzled Lin Zhiyan so much her vision blurred. She couldn’t help sighing in realization that she’d almost forgotten Aiwen was a wealthy socialite skilled at networking.

Sigh… why is everyone so rich?!

She felt indignant.

Before Lin Zhiyan could decide whether or not to greet her, Aiwen spotted her first and immediately smiled. After saying something to the people around her, she hurried over. Her face held a trace of excitement; even her freckles seemed lively.

“Why are you here so early?” Aiwen asked in surprise.

“The academic affairs office sent me a notice telling me to come over.” Lin Zhiyan paused for a few seconds before adding, “It seems related to the apartment, but I’m not very sure yet.”

She intentionally kept things vague.

“I see…” Aiwen sounded like she was laying groundwork for something. A few seconds later, she asked, “Have you prepared your books yet?”

Lin Zhiyan stared at her in shock.

Don’t tell me…?

Her brain immediately started spinning at full speed.

Aiwen interpreted that shocked expression as a signal. Her voice instantly rose in enthusiasm as she said earnestly, “I was just talking with my friends about the books. Turns out a lot of people already own the ones you need! They all said if you need them, they can lend them to you directly.”

As she spoke, she linked arms with Lin Zhiyan, eyes full of eager attentiveness.

“Do you want to meet them? If you don’t want to, I can borrow the books for you instead. At the latest, we could gather all of them by tonight—”

She spoke rapidly, eyes fixed tightly on Lin Zhiyan.

Lin Zhiyan grabbed her wrist in return and looked directly at her.

“No need.”

Aiwen’s eyes widened slightly. Her lips parted as though startled, maybe even disappointed. But a few seconds later, she asked:

“Did Le Mans prepare them for you?”

The moment she finished speaking, she seemed to realize she’d misspoken and hurriedly added:

“I’m just guessing. Don’t take it seriously.”

“You seem very concerned about Le Mans,” Lin Zhiyan said after thinking for a moment. “Is it because he treats you badly, so seeing me close to him makes you feel isolated?”

Aiwen paused, then shook her head without speaking.

Lin Zhiyan rested one hand on her shoulder and softly asked,

“Then why?”

She genuinely didn’t understand. Aiwen had plenty of friends, so her possessiveness toward her shouldn’t have been strong. In fact, that was exactly why Lin Zhiyan chose to be friends with her. She didn’t need some singular, exclusive affection, because exclusivity led to possession, and possession created a tiny world with only two people trapped inside.

“I… it’s hard for me to explain.” Aiwen’s gaze darted away before she finally said, “Maybe I’ll tell you in the future.”

She continued awkwardly:

“As for Le Mans… even though his personality is annoying and he orders me around all the time, we’re just not close. He’s never bullied me, so don’t misunderstand him because of that.”

After saying that, Aiwen smiled again, as though smiling was all she knew how to do.

…Why is she so uneasy?

It can’t possibly be love, right?

Please no, that’s way too weird!

Lin Zhiyan’s whole body stiffened for several seconds. She carefully studied Aiwen again before saying:

“I’ve told you before—I might not be as aloof as you imagine, nor as detached from ordinary life. I’m just a normal person. If there’s anything you want to talk to me about, you can. Maybe I won’t fail to understand.”

Aiwen still smiled, but let out a soft sigh.

“You should go take care of your business.”

Lin Zhiyan relaxed slightly. Aiwen definitely had something on her mind, but she was being honest about it. It didn’t seem like the kind of feelings Lin Zhiyan had worried about.

So she simply nodded and headed toward the academic affairs office.

Aiwen also returned to her friends and sat down.

She took a sip of coffee when one of them asked:

“I thought you were going to invite her over for us to meet?”

“She looks like she only likes hanging out with Aiwen anyway. Why would she come over?”
Another person laughed.

Aiwen only smiled in response. Lowering her head, she took out her terminal and sent a message.

[Aiwen: Take back the used books you prepared.]
[Aiwen: They’re not needed anymore. She already has books.]
[Aiwen: Thank you.]

A few minutes later:

[Li Siheng: Did she save up enough money already?]

Aiwen lowered her eyes and didn’t answer.

[Aiwen: Even if you can’t give her the books anymore…]
[Aiwen: I still think it’d be better if you apologized in person.]

A long time passed before the other party replied.

[Li Siheng: I will.]
[Li Siheng: After school, I plan to formally apologize to her.]
[Li Siheng: I don’t want meaningless rumors spreading around. I hope only Le Mans, her, and I will be present.]

[Aiwen: Le Mans took leave today.]
[Li Siheng: Then please be there instead.]
[Aiwen: …Alright. I hope you’re sincere.]
[Li Siheng: ^ ^]

Aiwen set down her terminal, feeling strangely melancholy.

---

The midday sunlight shone brilliantly golden without being harsh. Thanks to the excellent climate regulation systems, the Central District maintained pleasant temperatures year-round while still preserving a sense of seasonal atmosphere.

Jiang Yi’s car slowly entered the parking area of the public rest building. Floating light indicators flickered on and off as the car door opened.

This time, Jiang Yi subconsciously glanced behind him.

Lu Weixi’s earlier outburst was still vivid in his mind, making him extra cautious.

They had never gotten along. His vigilance wasn’t without reason.

From birth onward, Jiang Yi had demanded excellence and perfection from himself in every aspect of life—study, training, official work, missions. Every task handled under him followed reasonable procedure, prioritized efficiency, and achieved correct results.

Lu Weixi was the complete opposite.

His command talent and physical potential were exceptional, but ever since childhood he’d been a chaos-loving menace: fighting, cheating, skipping class, violent-tempered, constantly full of crooked shortcut ideas.

A perfect example was their status as students from military-political families. Such students were called Special Excellence Qualification students within the academy.

They received higher-level military and political theory and practical training. Most completed their credits within two years before returning to military or political systems.

Under that background, Jiang Yi completed all credits in two years, spent his third year taking additional courses, and graduated with perfect GPA results.

Meanwhile, Lu Weixi was somehow still a fourth-year student because he’d failed seven courses in a single year.

Jiang Yi entered the private elevator for the rest area, preparing to change into casual clothes before heading to the academic affairs office.

As he walked, he unbuttoned his clothes. His coat and shirt slid from his body, revealing a strong physique.

Opening the locker, the first thing he saw was his academy uniform jacket, freshly cleaned and ironed.

Jiang Yi froze for several seconds before realizing the intelligent housekeeper had automatically returned it.

He reached into the pocket.

Soon, his fingers touched a thin, rigid poker card.

It was only a card, but the memory in his mind suddenly began replaying like a video—

Under a sky filled with glowing cards, her eyes had been indifferent yet crystal clear.

Jiang Yi withdrew his hand, took out the uniform, and changed clothes.

He didn’t know whether the fact that the card was still there counted as expected or unexpected.

He shut the locker and walked out directly. But after a few steps, he still took the poker card out again.

The thin card rotated clumsily between his long, sharply defined fingers.

Awkwardly.

He tried imitating the motion of dealing cards while simultaneously feeling his own actions looked ridiculous.

The academy plaza bustled with students. Laughter, chatter, birds, insects.

Yet amid that noisy summer atmosphere, a voice—not particularly loud—cut through everything else with impossible precision and rang directly beside Jiang Yi’s ears:

“Mhm, okay, I received the notice. I’m already at school. Alright, thank you for reminding me, teacher.”

Almost instantly, Jiang Yi stuffed the card back into his pocket.

Only then did he follow the direction of the voice.

Not far away, someone stood with her back to him, bent over while rummaging through a sling bag.

Her black hair wasn’t straight. It was fluffy, slightly messy with uneven curls. As she bent over, the hair spilled over her shoulders, exposing a pale sweat-dampened stretch of neck.

Jiang Yi looked away.

Several seconds later, he looked back again.

She’d moved beneath a tree’s shade, leaning against it while eating a bread roll.

She seemed to be eating very happily.

Because after taking the first bite, her head even swayed gently from side to side a few times.

Jiang Yi found this extremely strange.

Nothing in his overall impression of her matched the feeling produced by this scene.

But what exactly that feeling was…

After thinking about it with a cold expression, he still couldn’t figure it out.

Jiang Yi thought neither of them would have reason to cross paths again anyway. So he decided to walk past her without looking sideways, like parallel lines.

He took a step—

Only to see she’d already finished the bread in just a few bites.

Still reluctant, she held up the wrapper and stared at it for several seconds before carefully folding it and throwing it into the recycling device.

…Was it really that good?

Jiang Yi looked away and took another route.

The birds and insects continued chirping endlessly. He couldn’t tell whether they were noisy, or summer itself was noisy.

Lin Zhiyan tilted her head back and let out an ice-cream-scented burp, feeling suddenly melancholy.

Sigh… it’s already bad enough the Central District currency has exchange rates compared to District 16. Why does satisfaction apparently have exchange rates too? In District 16, eating bread feels satisfying. In the Central District, bread doesn’t fill you up, but it doesn’t leave you starving either.

Sighing all the way, she finally trekked to the administrative building and swiped her card into the academic affairs office.

The office was fully automated. Massive machinery connected to intelligent systems while robotic arms busily worked across various stations.

One teacher leaned against a desk sipping tea while admiring the eye-protection scenery display outside the window.

Another person in academy uniform stood at a separate desk with his back facing her, one hand supporting himself on the table while reading documents in the other.

Lin Zhiyan secretly decided she would start preparing for a teaching license next semester.

“You’re Student Lin, right?”

The teacher turned around and smiled calmly, his voice weak and soft.

“Just sit down there, follow the intelligent system instructions to verify your identity, sign everything, and fill out the information archive.”

After speaking, he leisurely turned back to admire the scenery.

“How long will it take? I still have classes this afternoon,” Lin Zhiyan asked.

“Just follow the instructions first.”

Lin Zhiyan: “…”

So you don’t understand human language, huh?

Forget it. She endured.

After all, the hardest people to deal with were never the teachers—it was always these administrative staff.

She walked toward the desk and was just about to drag over a chair when the teacher suddenly said:

“You can stand while doing it. That chair’s broken.”

Hearing this, she glanced at the chair.

A coat and bag were draped over it. The seat even had velvet cushions with a luxury brand logo, custom-made armrests and curves completely different from ordinary models.

Lin Zhiyan: “…”

No way. Did this guy become emperor inside this lousy office?!

He can’t even bear letting someone else sit in his chair?!

Is the chair more valuable than my life?!

She raged internally but didn’t dare ask. She feared the answer might genuinely be “yes.”

In the end, the only thing visible on her face was obedience.

“Understood, teacher.”

“Ah, young people should stand more.” The teacher seemed very pleased with his own humor. “Look at me—I like standing.”

Lin Zhiyan: “…”

Enough already. One more sentence and I’m seriously going to explode.

Taking a deep breath, she bent toward the intelligent terminal to input information—

Only to hear a calm voice behind her.

“Standing is indeed healthier. Sitting too long can cause back problems.”

…What is this, coordinated bullying with a supporting actor?!

And why does the supporting actor’s voice sound familiar?

Lin Zhiyan turned around.

The person who had previously been facing away from her had now turned around as well. One hand still rested against the desk while the other held documents. His dark eyes met hers.

—It was Jiang Yi.

Lin Zhiyan couldn’t be bothered dealing with him. She turned back to continue filling out documents.

Then the teacher’s airy voice landed again, now tinged with flattering laughter:

“Exactly. Young people should exercise more instead of being lazy.”

Jiang Yi put down the documents and walked over beside Lin Zhiyan.

Then he pulled the chair directly in front of himself.

The teacher froze.

Lin Zhiyan also turned around blankly.

Jiang Yi shoved the chair over, raised one leg, and crushed the armrest beneath his heavy military boot.

A dull crack echoed through the office.

First the armrest.

Then the chair legs.

Within moments, he’d completely smashed the chair apart.

The clothes on top fell into the debris. The bag was crushed beneath the remains as well.

“You—you—what are you doing?!”

The teacher was furious. He pointed at Jiang Yi with a trembling hand, shaking so badly he couldn’t finish his sentence.

Lin Zhiyan was utterly stunned.

Heroic rescues happened often enough.

But ultra-violent rescues? Those were rare.

Even though Jiang Yi’s expression remained calm the entire time, as though he were simply carrying out a mission, and his movements were clean and efficient, she was still shocked by his behavior.

Jiang Yi brushed debris from himself.

“Since you think standing is so good, and the chair was already broken, what’s the point of keeping it?”

The teacher’s arm trembled again. Tea spilled from his prop-like teacup.

His face flushed bright red with grievance, as though he’d suffered immense injustice. Furious yet utterly stifled, he grabbed the terminal from the desk and stormed out.

The true dragon shatters the false dragon throne in rage; the monkey king sadly encounters the tiger king’s return.

Lin Zhiyan silently narrated in her head.

Jiang Yi didn’t seem to care at all. He returned to the desk and continued reading his documents.

Lin Zhiyan quickly looked away, not daring to keep staring.

She feared Jiang Yi might decide she was also broken and casually crush her too.

Lowering her head, she continued identity verification.

But after only filling out the first form, Jiang Yi suddenly spoke again.

He sounded genuinely puzzled.

“Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

“What was there to say?” Lin Zhiyan replied.

Jiang Yi frowned as he stared at her thin hunched back.

“Aren’t you usually very articulate? Or could you not tell he was deliberately making things difficult?”

“So what?” Lin Zhiyan found it funny. Straightening up, she turned to look at him.

“You think I should resist every single time? Get angry every single time? Debate people for eight rounds every single time? My throat would’ve become hoarse like a duck’s ages ago.”

Jiang Yi stared directly at her, still frowning.

He genuinely couldn’t understand.

Lin Zhiyan noticed and found it amusing.

“You’re wondering why I don’t dare argue back against some tiny teacher, yet when you interrogated me, I refused to lower my head and even mocked you?”

Jiang Yi said nothing, but lowered his dark eyes slightly.

It resembled a proud, unwilling nod.

“Because you never hide anything,” Lin Zhiyan said with a smile—not mocking, but sincerely.

“A lot of people make things difficult for me in tiny ways, hidden ways, from the shadows. I got used to living uncomfortably a long time ago. No matter how much they stab at me indirectly, I can ignore it.”

“But you…” She paused for several seconds before continuing, “whether it’s hostility, contempt, or deliberate intimidation—you never conceal it.”

“Like the way you smashed that chair just now. It’s not the sort of thing people can pretend not to notice. It makes people realize you have enough power to do anything—including trampling over someone else’s dignity.”

Jiang Yi raised an eyebrow.

“The world has never been fair. What a person possesses is always obvious. Covering things up won’t change reality.”

Lin Zhiyan asked:

“Then can you tell what I possess?”

“No,” Jiang Yi answered. His dark eyes flickered slightly. “But I can tell what you don’t possess—money, power, status, connections.”

Lin Zhiyan: “…”

You damn dragon aristocrat. I’m trying to maintain my character setup here and you’re straight-up insulting me?!

She laughed.

Jiang Yi tilted his head slightly. Confusion appeared on his handsome face, but he didn’t ask anything.

After several seconds, Lin Zhiyan finally said:

“You’re right.”

Jiang Yi asked:

“Then why not say what you do possess?”

Lin Zhiyan thought deeply.

Sometimes her mouth moved faster than her brain. It troubled her greatly.

What answer would make her seem like someone worth befriending and paying attention to?

Jiang Yi currently looked like someone she could potentially get close to and rely on, so she needed to answer carefully.

A heart? A soul? Self-respect?

Excellent grades? Noble character? An unyielding will?

Every answer felt too cliché.

It seemed that trying to be unconventional with one’s persona was itself an extremely common thing.

Looking directly at him, she finally answered:

“Agreement.”

Jiang Yi couldn’t understand.

“What?”

“No matter the reason, that chair deserved to be smashed.” Lin Zhiyan smiled again. “Apparently, human emotions aren’t something you can understand at a glance. Or maybe you simply don’t care.”

Jiang Yi pressed his lips together and returned to reading documents.

Lin Zhiyan also ended the conversation and bent over her forms again.

But several minutes later, she heard him respond quietly.

“Mhm,” Jiang Yi said. “Interpret it however you want.”

It sounded like a reply.

And also like resistance to replying.

Lin Zhiyan merely continued filling out paperwork. She knew the conversation was over.

Sure enough, soon after came the mechanical sounds of documents passing review scanners, followed by footsteps and a closing door.

She stopped paying attention and focused entirely on finishing the forms.

Roughly ten minutes later, she finally reached the last step: the signature section.

Then her eyes slowly widened.

Because she clearly saw the name listed under “payer”:

Li Siheng.

Lin Zhiyan: “……”

She nearly broke down.

Why is it him again?!

What exactly does he want?! Why is this absurd drama still going on?!

Should she even live in this apartment or not?

If she moved in, would her carefully built persona collapse? Was Li Siheng scheming against her?

But if she didn’t move in, wasn’t that just making life unnecessarily hard for herself?

Rubbing her hair violently, she finally gritted her teeth and signed.

Forget it. If something happens while living at school, at least I can extort compensation. Outside school, there’s nobody to extort.

Outside the window, clouds drifted past while sunlight shone over a car slowly leaving the academy.

The car drove for a long time before stopping outside the Military Committee conference hall.

Jiang Yi stepped out and looked toward his subordinate.

“I’m hungry,” he said.

Then added:

“Buy some bread.”

The subordinate nodded.

“Understood.”

Jiang Yi paused for several seconds.

“Wait. Not energy supplement bread.”

“Ah… then dessert bread?” the subordinate asked.

Jiang Yi thought for a moment.

“Something with ice cream or cream inside. Probably.”

The subordinate nodded again.

Soon afterward, an ice cream bread was delivered to Jiang Yi’s office.

He took one bite.

His lips moved slightly.

Terrible.

Too greasy.

Too sticky.

He tossed the bread directly into the recycling unit.

“Bzzzz—”

A file popped up on the intelligent terminal.

【Detailed School Apartment Application Form】

Jiang Yi skimmed through it rapidly.

At the end, he saw Li Siheng’s signature.

Raising an eyebrow, he thought for a few seconds before understanding.

A cold laugh nearly escaped him.

Jiang Yi concluded that Lin Zhiyan’s taste was terrible—whether in bread or in people.

For a moment, he became curious.

When facing that pathetic younger brother from the Zefi family, what kind of attitude would she show?

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He thought for a while before opening another school file.

His GPA was excellent, and his performance within the committee outstanding. Because of this, the academy occasionally invited him to act as a teaching assistant for military-political courses.

Last year, Jiang Yi had served as assistant instructor and examiner for the combat airship course.

That course was also the reason Lu Weixi stabbed him.

Using perfectly reasonable procedures, Jiang Yi had assigned Lu Weixi the oldest aircraft system available and applied for the highest-difficulty route, ensuring Lu Weixi failed the course.

The reason behind that was because Lu Weixi had previously gotten tech students to hack Jiang Yi’s school email and upload his photos and contact information onto the academy forum under a post titled:

“Single and seeking love, gender irrelevant. Photos attached. Awaiting contact.”

Even now, thinking about it still infuriated Jiang Yi.

Time gradually passed as he browsed through courses.

The golden-yellow sky slowly shifted toward sticky orange-red like maple leaves.

Students gradually streamed out from the Cultural Studies building.

Lin Zhiyan locked the books she’d brought into a preparation room cabinet. But the moment she stepped outside, she saw Aiwen and Li Siheng standing in the hallway, apparently waiting for her.

…Since when did the three of them become some kind of little group?

Why didn’t she know about this?

Though confused, she still walked toward them.

Looking first at Aiwen, she asked:

“I’m heading home now. Did something happen?”

“Ah, it’s just—”

Aiwen grabbed her hand tightly, seriousness in her eyes, before glancing toward Li Siheng.

“He wants to apologize to you in person.”

Lin Zhiyan suddenly understood and turned toward Li Siheng.

Li Siheng remained silent.

Beneath his gray-black hair, his eyes seemed to hide some kind of undercurrent. It looked like he was struggling internally or preparing himself for something.

Finally, he spoke:

“Perhaps I could drive you home, and we could find a private place near your house to talk.”

What, are you afraid other people might overhear your apology and make you lose money or something?

Lin Zhiyan’s irritation toward Li Siheng had already surpassed her appreciation for his appearance.

But considering he’d just paid her housing fees, she could only say:

“If you don’t want to say it because it’s hard to say aloud, then honestly you don’t have to. I already received the notification about you paying my housing fee. Thank you for the compensation. That’s enough for me to forgive you—and honestly it already makes me feel indebted instead.”

She tried making her words sound as dignified as possible.

“Besides, what happened was a long time ago.”

If he hadn’t publicly provoked her back then, she never would’ve exposed the matter.

Aiwen looked at Li Siheng.

“So you even used that as compensation? Then why do you still want to…”

She trailed off awkwardly.

She had no experience being a mediator and was afraid of offending someone.

“Precisely because I want to say it, I think we need to talk properly,” Li Siheng replied after a moment of silence.

Lowering his head, he looked at her.

“I’ll drive you home. Aiwen will come too. I’ll have the driver leave, and we’ll talk inside the car.”

“…Are you about to reveal some earth-shattering secret? Why do you need so much privacy?” Lin Zhiyan sighed helplessly. “At this point, just come to my house. No need to trouble the driver.”

Aiwen looked surprised.

“Is that okay?”

“It’s fine.” Lin Zhiyan let out a long breath, feeling hopeless. “But my house is dirt poor, so don’t be shocked.”

Li Siheng’s brows moved slightly before he nodded.

Aiwen looked excited and immediately began chattering while pulling Lin Zhiyan along.

Dragged left and right, Lin Zhiyan’s hair fluttered in the wind.

Li Siheng silently walked behind them, watching her dark hair and the smile on her face—a smile that somehow still appeared cold.

Aiwen’s bright red hair bounced vividly beside her, yet somehow seemed increasingly dull in comparison.

He suddenly smiled.

Under the sunset glow, his gray-black eyes seemed rusted with traces of blood-red light.

---

The orange-red sunset dyed the evening air heavy and gloomy.

The car remained quiet except for Aiwen occasionally chatting with Lin Zhiyan. As for Li Siheng, he seemed capable of losing all presence no matter where he was, as though fading directly into the air itself.

Finally, the car stopped.

Lin Zhiyan led Aiwen and Li Siheng upstairs.

Watching them pretend they’d seen poor people before while obviously trying hard to stay calm amused her greatly.

Honestly, it’d be easier if they were like Le Mans and just said what they were thinking directly. Then she could at least argue back and display some superiority.

The atmosphere stayed quiet for a while.

Aiwen tried appearing interested in the surroundings without seeming offensive.

Li Siheng, meanwhile, kept staring at Lin Zhiyan so intensely it made the back of her neck itch.

Turning around, she looked at him and said:

“Watch the class divide. Stay safe.”

Raising an eyebrow, she corrected herself:

“Sorry, I meant watch the stairs.”

Li Siheng lowered his eyes and looked away.

Soon, they reached the second floor.

The door unlocked with a click.

The instant Lin Zhiyan opened the door—

She slammed it shut again.

Aiwen looked puzzled.

“What’s wrong?”

“We went to the wrong place,” Lin Zhiyan answered.

“But the door opened,” Aiwen pointed out.

Lin Zhiyan’s eyes remained wide. Her brain was completely blank.

Mechanically, she twisted the key again and reopened the door.

Very quickly, Aiwen and Li Siheng saw the full interior.

The wall between her apartment and the neighboring one had apparently been completely removed. Thick carpets covered the floor. Elegant coffee tables sat before beautiful sofas. Decorative lamps and potted plants filled the room. A huge wardrobe stood beside bookshelves, while screens divided sections of the space.

No matter how one looked at it, compared to the run-down building outside, the inside was astonishingly refined.

Aiwen said:

“You live much better than I imagined.”

Lin Zhiyan tiptoed inside nervously, like a thief.

“I just found out too.”

She walked carefully through the suddenly spacious apartment, afraid to inspect things too closely lest her imagination prove too weak and the dream disappear.

Dear heavens, hasn’t her luck been way too good lately?!

She wanted to laugh wildly while forcing herself to remain calm.

“I really like your interior design,” Aiwen praised.

“I—”

“So noisy…”

A voice suddenly interrupted.

Aiwen and Li Siheng both jumped.

Then a hand suddenly appeared over the back of the sofa.

The next moment, Le Mans crawled up from behind it, messy red hair sticking everywhere and green eyes full of sleepiness.

Aiwen’s eyes widened slowly.

“Le Mans?”

Lin Zhiyan silently held her forehead.

Wonderful.

Now Aiwen and Li Siheng probably thought she and Le Mans were close enough to sleep in the same bed.

Le Mans’s voice sounded hoarse and nasal with sleepiness.

After looking over the two guests, he finally focused on Lin Zhiyan.

“I’m the landlord now. I have the right to renovate my property!”

Lin Zhiyan replied:

“This doesn’t look like a place I can afford to rent.”

“Which is why you should listen to your boss properly.” Le Mans lifted his chin proudly. “If I’m happy, I’ll reduce your rent. If I’m really happy, I’ll waive it completely.”

Then he looked toward Aiwen and Li Siheng.

“What are you two doing here?”

Li Siheng paused before answering:

“I wanted to apologize to her in person, but hoped for a private setting.”

“That’s weird. Couldn’t you just find some club near school?” Le Mans frowned suspiciously. “Why follow her all the way home?”

“I thought I could conveniently drive her back too.” Li Siheng’s expression didn’t change. “To avoid misunderstandings, I also brought Aiwen along.”

“…Fine.” Le Mans sounded too lazy to argue and seemed convinced enough. “Then hurry up. I have something to discuss with her too—something way more private than your apology.”

He stood and headed toward another room.

Lin Zhiyan felt shaken.

Her home actually had separate rooms now.

She’d always assumed anyone entering this place could only stand around awkwardly facing one another.

Aiwen quietly stepped back a little too.

Li Siheng glanced around before opening the balcony door.

Lin Zhiyan was stunned once again.

Her home actually had a balcony too.

She’d always assumed her only scenery would forever be ceiling cracks and insects trapped in lamps.

Central District technology really was advanced. Renovating houses this quickly was unbelievable.

The balcony wasn’t large, only enough for two or three people.

Looking toward the distant garbage processing plant, Lin Zhiyan asked:

“What exactly do you want? I don’t think you’re here just to apologize. This whole thing shouldn’t have dragged on for this long.”

Li Siheng smiled slightly, leaning against the railing while slowly tracing every inch of her face with his eyes.

“Maybe I simply care very much.”

Lin Zhiyan turned toward him.

“Care that I stole your friends’ attention? Care about my first-place ranking? Or are you blaming all the consequences of your own incompetence on me?”

Li Siheng suddenly raised a hand and gripped her shoulder.

His fingers were cold and thin, but very strong.

Lin Zhiyan immediately frowned. Suspicion rose that he might try something strange, while the pain in her shoulder irritated her further.

“Let go. This is only the second floor. Even if you push me down, I won’t die.”

“None of those reasons,” Li Siheng said with a smile. “You don’t remember.”

Lin Zhiyan: “…Remember what?”

Li Siheng released her shoulder and instead gripped the balcony railing with both hands, turning sideways to look at her silently.

To be honest, perhaps because of the dim sunset, or perhaps because he’d revealed some hidden side of himself, his normally dull and wooden face now seemed layered with mist. Beneath the haze existed a cold, striking classical beauty. Even his gray-black eyes resembled polished jade.

For one brief instant, Lin Zhiyan was genuinely dazzled by him.

Then she heard his flat voice:

“When you were in the second year of high school… weren’t there several exchange students who transferred into your class?”

Hearing that, she nodded.

Then her eyes suddenly widened.

“Wait… don’t tell me you—”

“That’s right.” Li Siheng paused. “It was actually a social practice project designed by several professors. We had to observe and record the lives of schools, teachers, and students, and how those environments affected us. That project record was extremely important.”

Lin Zhiyan fell silent.

She hadn’t known any of that.

All she remembered was that most of the exchange students had left within a week.

Only one stayed for an entire semester.

His name had been Li Heng.

Though now that she thought about it, Li Heng was probably Li Siheng, she still struggled connecting the two.

Back then, he’d been her deskmate.

He constantly slept through class, never spoke to anyone, and sat gloomily molding away in the corner. Meanwhile, Lin Zhiyan had been maintaining her cold loner persona too seriously, isolating herself from everyone and never paying much attention to her transfer-student seatmate.

The first time they ever talked was after a quiz one week later.

Lin Zhiyan scored first place.

At the time, she’d been puzzled how someone who slept through class every day could somehow score second.

Meanwhile Li Heng—well, Li Siheng—had clearly been equally puzzled about losing to some District 16 “untouchable.”

For an entire class period, he kept staring between the rankings and her.

Eventually she got annoyed and turned to him with the first sentence she’d ever spoken:

“No matter how much you look, second place is still second place.”

Ah, back then she hadn’t yet suffered through psychological evaluations.

She’d still been a cold lone wolf from the mountains.

Li Siheng frowned silently while looking at her.

Then he turned away as though angry.

High school exams in District 16 happened constantly.

Missing one day of class and returning to find dozens of test papers piled up was normal.

Some were official exams; others were classroom quizzes.

After spending an entire month perpetually ranking second behind her in every subject and every test, Li Siheng’s mental state had visibly deteriorated.

Specifically:

During class, he stared at her.

After class, he stared at her.

Even after school, he stared at her.

Every time Lin Zhiyan caught his gloomy gaze attacking her, she felt like rats were crawling all over her body.

Finally, one day she couldn’t endure it anymore and told him:

“If there’s something you don’t understand, you can ask me. Stop…”

She didn’t dare finish harshly, afraid he might stab her if angered.

If he’d been some ordinary malicious stranger, she’d already have cornered him in an alley and slapped him.

She couldn’t remember what expression Li Siheng wore back then.

Or rather—

She couldn’t even remember his face.

Back then, she worked morning jobs, noon jobs, and night jobs.

She had no spare mental capacity to store information about a transfer student.

The only thing she remembered was that afterward, he still stared gloomily at her, but their relationship improved somewhat.

Or maybe since neither of them interacted with other people, simply exchanging a few words occasionally already counted as major improvement.

Li Siheng never asked her a single academic question.

Instead, he asked strange things.

Like whether she felt unwilling to accept living in District 16.

Or why she didn’t speak to other people.

Or how much money she needed before it would finally be enough.

Whenever she didn’t feel like listening in class, she’d answer selectively.

Later on, he seemed to develop appetite problems and often brought extra lunchboxes for her.

Lin Zhiyan remembered his food tasting especially good.

Thinking about it now, it had probably all been expensive luxury food.

Afterward, he apparently also worked part-time nearby, and sometimes they’d walk home together after finishing shifts.

Most of the time, they’d exchange stupid jokes.

For example—

“What has five fingers but isn’t your hand?”

Li Siheng grabbed her wrist and lifted it, staring into her eyes while threading his fingers through hers.

“My hand.”

Lin Zhiyan: “…”

Her old jokes had really been unbelievably lame.

She twitched her fingers slightly.

Li Siheng let go, and she pulled her hand back.

Lowering his eyes, he said:

“You remembered. Makes sense. Your own tricks should naturally be memorable to you.”

“So what?” Lin Zhiyan asked in confusion. “That was a long time ago. I think it’s normal not to remember a classmate.”

Li Siheng repeated softly:

“Classmate?”

He turned his head aside as though amused—or perhaps unwilling to look at her.

Several seconds later, he finally said:

“The university you chose, this major… I helped you choose them all. You said you hoped you’d see me here.”

Lin Zhiyan stared at him for a long time.

At this point, if she still couldn’t tell what this meant, she might as well ask why cats meowed.

“First of all, you did give me very good advice. I simply accepted it among many options.” She paused awkwardly, carefully choosing words. After all, this was her first time in life experiencing some sudden ‘childhood-friend romance plot.’ “And when I said I hoped to see you again, I meant I hoped we’d both get accepted.”

She added sincerely:

“See? You did get accepted. That blessing worked pretty well, right?”

Li Siheng’s Adam’s apple moved several times, as though he’d been angered into laughter.

But after several seconds, he simply answered:

“Mhm.”

Then he said:

“I thought we were going to become good friends. But you didn’t remember me. Because of that, I wanted you to be isolated and helpless. That was my selfish revenge.”

Lin Zhiyan’s feelings became extremely complicated.

His gray-black hair looked drained of light.

That strikingly beautiful face held no expression whatsoever, yet his voice remained gentle.

Looking at her, he said:

“Thinking about it now, it was all very meaningless. I didn’t actually value it that much. But my pride made me do stupid things just to get your attention. So I came here to explain everything and apologize.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It won’t happen again.”

Li Siheng extended his hand.

“I wish you and Le Mans happiness together. I’ll help keep it secret.”

“Whether we’re happy or not, isn’t that a little…” Lin Zhiyan felt everything was progressing too fast for her brain to keep up. Still, she shook his hand. “Sorry. My high school life isn’t something worth remembering for me.”

She immediately began playing the tragedy card.

“The overwhelming schoolwork, lack of sleep, endless part-time jobs, all kinds of pressure… a lot of things have already become blurry in my memory. Sorry.”

Li Siheng smiled slightly without speaking.

Then he released her hand.

“I won’t disturb you anymore.”

Opening the balcony door, he walked out.

Aiwen looked at them nervously.

“How did it go?”

Li Siheng answered softly:

“I think the result was quite good.”

Lin Zhiyan could only nod silently.

Click.

The room door opened.

Le Mans poked out his fluffy red head, green eyes blazing.

“If you’re done talking then hurry up and leave! I need to discuss important business with her!”

Lin Zhiyan immediately pushed the door open.

“Let me see what this room looks like!”

“Hey, don’t squeeze me!”

Le Mans shouted from behind the door.

Their voices intertwined.

The living room lights illuminated Le Mans’s brilliantly vivid red hair. Leaning lazily against the doorway, he openly showed her the room.

Lin Zhiyan tilted her head upward while talking.

He lowered his head to reply.

The distance between them wasn’t intimate.

Yet somehow it still became impossible to look away from.

Li Siheng lowered his eyes and turned toward Aiwen.

“We should leave.”

Aiwen also snapped out of the scene before hurriedly nodding.

The door shut behind them.

They descended the steep staircase together.

Within the dim corridor atmosphere, everything felt strangely eerie.

Li Siheng slowly walked behind Aiwen.

He noticed her unconsciously smoothing her red hair with her hand and curved his lips slightly.

Then, almost like casual reflection, he murmured softly:

“They really do seem close to dating now. They’re already glued together.”

He saw Aiwen’s footsteps pause briefly.

Then came her deliberately light voice:

“That’s good.”

Was it really good?

Did she truly think so?

The answer was no.

When someone that dazzling existed as comparison—someone who possessed everything—even the important friend you believed you’d discovered first could be stolen away by him.

And in the end, all you’d have left was your impure red hair, your unremarkable personality, your unimpressive family background, standing among a crowd of equally ordinary people.

Could you truly accept that?

Li Siheng found it amusing again.

He trusted human jealousy completely.

Aiwen’s jealousy probably wouldn’t need long to ferment at all.

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