At this moment in the Yanda campus, Molly Zimmerman walked out of the library with a fellow female student with a backpack on her shoulders.
The girl looked at her ingratiatingly, her face full of anticipation, "Molly, for this speech contest organized by our department’s student council, could you help us out and ask your fellow hometown friend Kenneth Osborne to be one of the judges?"
Molly Zimmerman was nicknamed the Benevolent Molly. Few in the department called her by her real name unless they sought her help.
She gave a slight smile and said nonchalantly, "Him? He’s in the computer science department, not humanities. Why do you need him as a judge? Isn’t the law department good enough? Can’t our public relations people speak for themselves?"
"That’s not the point." The girl leaned in mysteriously towards Molly Zimmerman, "You know, any event at our school that features Kenneth the Scholar is bound to become wildly popular across the campus! Even students from other schools would come to participate..."
"So what if the talented ones from the law department are great? They’ve already lost half the battle if their looks don’t measure up." She spread her hands, "As for the guys in our department, they’re only fit to be background extras in livestreams off-camera, like burnt exam papers, with no one interested to look at them..."
"It would be better if they didn’t participate in our events at all!"
Molly Zimmerman laughed heartily, "You have such a sharp tongue; no wonder you’re responsible for the speech contest in our department."
"Alright, I’ll talk to him. But I can’t guarantee he’ll agree. You know, we’ve all been very busy lately, last night we stayed at the library studying until closing."
"You’re so diligent, school’s just started, and you’re already burning the midnight oil!" The girl showered her with compliments, "Of course, if I had the chance to study with Kenneth the Scholar, I’d gladly stay up all night every day!"
Molly Zimmerman laughed, covering her mouth, "Stop making things up. When was I ever up all night with Kenneth? We’re just from the same hometown, so we hang out a bit more than others, that’s all. Don’t overthink it."
"Oh, I wasn’t overthinking! I wouldn’t dare say, and I wouldn’t dare ask..." The girl covered her mouth with a look that screamed, "I know everything, but I won’t say," yet her eyes darted around quickly.
Molly Zimmerman lightly nudged her, "Alright, don’t spread rumors in front of classmates. There’s really nothing between me and Kenneth. We’re just a bit closer."
"Got it, got it!" The girl nodded smilingly, suddenly recalling something and exclaiming, "Yesterday was the fifteenth of the lunar month, our traditional Valentine’s Day, right?! You actually had a late study session with Kenneth the Scholar?! By rounding things up, that’s a date for sure!"
Molly Zimmerman pursed her lips and smiled, the amusement spreading across her fair apricot-shaped face, reaching her eyes.
She quickly covered the girl’s mouth, playfully chiding, "What nonsense are you talking about? Since when did the fifteenth of the lunar month become our traditional Valentine’s Day? Isn’t our traditional Valentine’s Day the Qixi Festival?"
"...The fifteenth of the lunar month counts too. Look, our ancestors said, ’The moon at the tip of the willow, people meet after dusk.’ Isn’t that a Lantern Festival date between lovers?" The girl was quite eloquent, her words flowed smoothly.
Molly Zimmerman was amused by her, laughing all the way back to the dormitory building.
The sky had already darkened, and there was an unusual number of people in front of the girls’ dormitory.
They gathered in threes and twos, all centered around their mobile phones, nobody knew what had happened.
Molly Zimmerman curiously observed, muttering to herself, "...What’s going on? Why stand at the entrance in the middle of winter?"
"Hey! Benevolent Molly! You still don’t know, do you!" A girl from the neighboring department on their floor suddenly turned around and beckoned her over, "Come see this!"
Molly Zimmerman took a quick glance at the mobile phone in the girl’s hand and was nearly blinded by the huge "Breaking" news alert on her phone app.
"...Breaking news? What happened?" She said, pulling out her own phone to open the school’s campus app.
[Breaking: Campus heartthrob Kenneth Osborne spotted having dinner with unidentified girl, rumored to be taken!] Molly Zimmerman: "..."
Suddenly, it felt even colder.
She wrapped her coat around herself, her smile gradually vanishing, she remarked emotionlessly, "...They’re calling this breaking news? Don’t those students managing the school news have serious work to do?"
The girl who was walking with her earlier immediately chimed in, "Exactly! How can they use such a sensational headline? Just because two people had a meal together, it’s immediately assumed he’s taken?—That woman at best is just a side chick!"