During this time, Li Shu and Ruan Muyan became the focus of the school. Now that the two have met, it seems like there’s something big going on. People around them have already stopped and watched, and there are even those who don’t mind their own business and stir up trouble nearby.
“Even the goddess came to apologize in person. If you’re a man, be generous.”
“What’s the big deal? Making the girl come over to apologize?”
“Look, the girl is about to cry. Hurry up and comfort her. Only then can you bring the beauty home.”
Several roommates were irritated by the people stirring up trouble nearby. They weren’t speaking out of kindness but to watch the excitement. They looked fiercely around, and a few thin-faced ones just closed their mouths directly.
Li Shu remained unmoved, simply repeating, “Are you here to apologize to me?”
“I… I didn’t expect such a thing to happen. If I had known, I wouldn’t have let Yao Yan come find you,” Ruan Muyan’s voice choked up. She reached out as if to grab Li Shu’s arm. “Are you hurt? Is it serious?”
Li Shu leaned slightly away, evading Ruan Muyan’s hand. “I’m fine. You don’t need to apologize for what happened that day.”
Ruan Muyan’s eyes lit up upon hearing this. Did Li Shu’s words mean he didn’t blame her?
Meanwhile, Ren Yuan, who stood beside Li Shu, wanted to say something, but in the current situation, he couldn’t directly speak up. Looking at the other two, sure enough, worry was faintly visible on their faces.
Just a moment ago, Li Shu vowed to himself to sever all thoughts of Ruan Muyan. Now that he’s faced with her, will he revert to his previous ways?
The crowd around seemed to be increasing subtly. This pathway is a must-pass route to the male dormitories, and with many people coming and going, some even synchronized live broadcasting the situation on the school forum, attracting quite a few curious onlookers.
Without saying anything, Li Shu was already a well-known figure at school. While Ruan Muyan’s name might not have been familiar to everyone before, recently it had become thunderous. A large portion of the recent gossip circulating among the students stemmed from her.
Li Shu’s name was often linked with hers. Since the series of events following his pursuit of Ruan Muyan, his popularity at school had declined significantly.
Upon hearing Li Shu say “No need to apologize,” they all felt that this was as expected. After all, judging by Li Shu’s infatuation with Ruan Muyan, how could he bear to see her sad?
34l: I thought I would see a good show, but it seems it’s the same as before. Let’s disperse.
35l: Honestly, I’m really disappointed. The idol is no longer my idol.
36l: It’s a joke. Do you think she cares about what you think? What she really cares about is probably whether she can win RMY.
55l: Can someone explain what’s going on now? Didn’t LS always protect RMY? Why would he let her cry this time?
56l: In response to the above, didn’t LS have a fight with someone before? His injuries haven’t healed yet. There’s a dedicated thread next door if you’re interested; you can go check it out.
The topic quickly became hot, and bored people even started betting on what the outcome of this incident would be. Most people believed it would end just like before, with the two reconciling.
Ruan Muyan thought the same way. She took a step forward again, her eyes red as she looked at Li Shu, hope shining in them. “Then, should I have Yao Yan apologize to you? What happened last time was indeed her fault, but I believe she didn’t do it on purpose. It would be really great if you two could reconcile.”
The girl was half a head shorter than Li Shu and had to look up to meet his eyes. There were still traces of tears on her face, making her pitiful. They were standing a bit close, and a gust of wind brought a faint fragrance from the girl. Li Shu discreetly stepped back.
His voice remained cold, “Excuse me, did you misunderstand something?”
Ruan Muyan let out a puzzled “Ah.”
Without giving her a chance to question him, Li Shu continued, “I said it’s not your fault because this has nothing to do with you. It’s between me and Yao Yan. How we resolve it doesn’t require interference from an outsider like you.”
His voice was calm, delivering the statement without any fluctuation, unknowingly dropping a bombshell. After saying this, he turned to leave.
“If you came for this matter, then there’s nothing more to say between us.”
Now, not only Ruan Muyan but also the students watching were stunned.
Everyone had witnessed Li Shu’s attitude towards Ruan Muyan before. Now, hearing him say these words, their first reaction was disbelief.
Could it be true? Has he really changed?
Li Shu didn’t care how these people thought. He pulled his stunned roommate, “Let’s go.”
Unexplainably, everyone felt that Li Shu was different today. When they walked over, no one dared to intercept or joke around. The scene was momentarily quiet, completely unlike the initial atmosphere.
Once one of the main characters was completely out of sight, people began to discuss in whispers with their companions. Naturally, the topic was Ruan Muyan, who was still among the crowd.
Ruan Muyan had never felt as helpless as she did now. She looked around blankly, hoping to find some comfort in the faces of those around her, but she was destined to be disappointed. The onlookers either looked excited at the spectacle or were reveling in schadenfreude, the latter mostly being girls.
Honestly, they hadn’t liked Ruan Muyan for a long time. They would say she wasn’t that pretty, yet plenty of high-quality guys liked her. These boys had admirers all over campus, and if Ruan Muyan devoted herself to any one of them, it would be fine. Instead, she turned down all pursuers, leaving everyone wanting to possess her, even breaking up several well-known couples at school, which was quite annoying.
At the same time, B University’s forum was bustling with discussions about what had just happened.
1st comment: Front row seat, today’s twist really shocked me.
2nd comment: Sisters upstairs are quick! Gotta say, today was so satisfying.
3rd comment: Absolutely, if you weren’t there, you wouldn’t know how the look on his face was…
Below were all discussions about what had just happened. Ruan Muyan was famous at school, even carrying the title of campus belle, but the mocking undertones were clear to everyone.
Finally coming to her senses, Zheng Jiarong hooked his arm around his companion’s neck and sighed, “Looks like our Little Shu Shu has really moved on.”
The person whose neck he had hooked agreed, nodding as he looked at Li Shu, who hadn’t changed at all since meeting Ruan Muyan. His smile seemed more genuine now, “What happened today will spread quickly.”
“What’s there to fear? Little Shu Shu did nothing wrong in this matter. It’s good that it’s spreading; there won’t be as many people trying to pair Shu Shu with that woman in the future.”
As they expected, this incident swept through the campus like a tornado, spreading at the fastest speed.
Campus life was relatively dull, so classmates enjoyed finding entertainment online. This time, gossip hit close to home, involving someone who had been popular at school recently, heightening everyone’s curiosity.
It wasn’t just because the story’s protagonists were Li Shu and Ruan Muyan, but also because of the outcome. What constituted a major turnaround of the year was exactly this: just when everyone thought Li Shu would eagerly return to Ruan Muyan as before, he not only refrained but also calmly ended his relationship with her.
It was a clean break, without any lingering ambiguities. It was said that Ruan Muyan even went to the men’s dorm entrance to confront someone later, only to be completely ignored.
Li Shu’s attitude towards Ruan Muyan had completely turned around, treating her like a stranger. Ruan Muyan couldn’t understand why Li Shu had suddenly changed so much. Was it because someone had said something to Li Shu?
Unable to bear seeing the one she admired upset, the tall boy gently embraced the silently tearful girl, kissing her hair as he restrained himself. “Don’t worry, I’ll talk to him. This has nothing to do with you; there’s no need for him to vent his anger on you.”
Ruan Muyan shook her head slightly, “It’s my fault. I didn’t handle your relationship well, causing both of you to get hurt because of me…”
“No,” his large hand gently stroked her soft hair, “it’s not your fault. Don’t worry, I’ll bring him before you, and we’ll settle this face to face, alright?”
The girl buried her head in the boy’s chest, her voice buzzing softly, “Alright, but Yaoyan, don’t force him. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of me.”
Yao Yan’s eyes darkened, his movements becoming even gentler, as if comforting a ruffled cat. His voice softened unbelievably, “I know what I’m doing. Don’t worry.”
The incident didn’t affect Li Shu much. Except for occasionally encountering some seemingly excited girls on the road, everything was as usual.
On Friday night, Li Shu’s dorm mates went out for a meal together. Considering Li Shu’s injury, they didn’t push him to drink much. Li Shu only took a few sips, but his body seemed to have a low tolerance for alcohol. After a few sips, he felt a bit dizzy. The other three were having fun, so Li Shu didn’t bother them and went to the restroom alone.
It was called a private restaurant, and the decoration inside was nothing like a regular restaurant. With small bridges over flowing water and an ancient style, being there felt like going back hundreds of years.
Li Shu declined the offer of help from the staff and leaned on the railing, looking towards a spot in the void.
He wasn’t quite sober right now, and belatedly, Li Shu sensed that something was wrong. As students, the alcohol they ordered wasn’t too strong, so there was no reason for him to be this drunk after just a few sips.
It seemed like a veil separated him from this world, where what he saw and felt didn’t seem quite real. He shook his head, lifted his hand, and then let it fall weakly onto the railing.
What’s going on?
Li Shu tried to think, but he found he couldn’t even do that now. His vision was clouded, and then a faint fragrance came from behind him, a very familiar scent.
He turned his head, wanting to find the source of the fragrance, but before he could see anything, everything went black in front of him.
A large hand covered his eyes. He blinked, and his long eyelashes brushed against the palm of the man’s hand, causing a tingling sensation.
The source of the fragrance approached, standing just a step away from him.
The last bit of his consciousness told Li Shu that the person standing in front of him wouldn’t harm him.