Bian Li’s brain froze for a moment.
Then, after a twitch of thought, she opened the door, stepped aside, and half-heartedly gestured them in. “…Is that so.”
Ning Xuechu didn’t bother with formalities and grinned. “Fei Fei, you’re the best. We’re just borrowing a place to crash for a bit. The power suddenly went out, and I can’t even watch videos.”
He Xuyi, who had been silent this whole time, simply nodded at Bian Li, then pushed Ning Xuechu aside and stepped in first.
“What’s with that guy? People with no patience are the worst,” Ning Xuechu muttered, frowning.
Just earlier, when he suggested coming over to the opposite dorm, not a single one of these guys objected. In fact, they seemed to be competing over who could get here first.
Yet now, after he knocked, it felt like he’d been used and discarded—without even getting any benefits.
Still grumbling to himself, he followed inside.
Meanwhile, He Yunxing remained standing outside the door, his head slightly lowered, his gaze fixed on the ground for a long time.
“…Did you drop your money?” Bian Li finally asked, breaking the silence.
He Yunxing slowly lifted his gaze and locked eyes with hers. His voice was calm but direct. “You don’t want the lollipop anymore?”
Hearing the word “lollipop” come out of this big guy’s mouth was downright strange.
Bian Li blinked, then followed his line of sight.
Only then did she remember—the lollipop she had dropped in shock earlier.
She bent down to pick it up. Fortunately, the wrapper was still intact. If it had gotten dirty, she would’ve been depressed for at least an hour—she cherished candy like her life depended on it.
The heating was on inside the dorm, so despite the winter chill, she was only wearing a light, low-necked sweater. The edges were lined with soft duck down, fluffy and delicate.
When she leaned forward slightly, her long black hair slid over her shoulder, half-concealing her collarbone.
From this angle, He Yunxing’s eyes unintentionally followed the curve of her jaw down to the subtle rise and fall of her breath.
He averted his gaze immediately, inexplicably flustered.
Bian Li dusted off the lollipop, then glanced up at him. “Senior, aren’t you coming in? It’s freezing outside.”
She had been inside all day, enjoying the warmth. Now, with the door open, cold wind snaked through, chilling her legs and making her shiver involuntarily.
When she looked up again, she noticed something—He Yunxing’s ears were slightly red.
She thought to herself, ‘Damn, it must be freezing out there.’
He Yunxing nodded slightly, then finally stepped in.
Just as Bian Li closed the door, a sudden commotion from the living room caught her attention.
She turned the corner just in time to hear the heated exchange.
“What does your power outage have to do with us? I despise freeloaders!” Ruan Xiangyi, who had been lazily slouched on the sofa, was now standing on it, looking down at Ning Xuechu like some battle-hardened general.
“Who’s freeloading?! I haven’t even eaten anything yet, and you’re already accusing me! I’m being wronged here, okay?” Ning Xuechu shot back, equally aggrieved.
“Oh? Then since you feel so wronged, why don’t you just leave?” Ruan Xiangyi smirked, arms crossed.
Catching sight of Bian Li approaching, she casually threw in, “Seriously, why do you let all sorts of animals in?”
Bian Li, now absentmindedly sucking on her lollipop, mumbled, “Honestly? I thought it was the delivery guy. But since the door was already open, I felt too awkward to refuse.”
Ning Xuechu nearly spat blood.
But, faced with no other options, he suddenly turned to He Yunxing for backup. “We didn’t come empty-handed, okay? We brought gifts when we visited! If you don’t believe me, look—”
His words trailed off as he turned around. Then, after a pause, his expression changed.
“…Hey, Boss, where’s the beer I asked you to bring?”
Everyone’s attention snapped to He Yunxing.
But he remained unbothered, his face utterly calm.
“Oh,” he said lazily. “I forgot.”
To be fair, He Yunxing had genuinely forgotten. But he wasn’t about to explain why.
He certainly wasn’t about to admit that after seeing a certain… unexpected scene earlier, his brain had short-circuited. Everything— including the beer—had simply vanished from his mind.
“Didn’t you just leave it outside the door? How do you forget something like that?” Ning Xuechu was dumbfounded.
But words once spoken are like water spilled—there was no taking them back.
In the end, Ning Xuechu had no choice but to go retrieve the beer himself. “Forget it, forget it. If I rely on you guys, I’ll starve. I’ll go get it myself.”
Meanwhile, He Xuyi had been standing silently on the side. His mind was still replaying that earlier moment—Ruan Xiangyi’s sharp, fiery attitude, so different from how she acted around him.
Two completely different versions of her.
A strange, dull ache settled in his chest, spreading little by little, making his heart inexplicably restless.
Before he knew it, he blurted out, “You have a really bad temper.”
The room fell silent.
Ruan Xiangyi’s eyes narrowed as she stared at him, her posture still, her gaze cold.
Seconds passed, stretching into a tense stillness.
Then, she let out a soft chuckle. The corner of her mouth lifted in a slow smirk, and she raised her chin proudly—like a sly little fox standing victorious on a snowy peak.
“Yeah,” she said, voice light but piercing. “As you can see, my temper is really bad. Satisfied?”
The entire living room was suddenly filled with an indescribable tension.
Bian Li, who had tucked herself into a corner of the sofa, nestled deeper into Ying Xuelai’s arms. At this point, she was completely baffled by this unexpected shift in mood.
Everyone was lost in their own thoughts.
Fortunately, Ning Xuechu’s return finally broke the suffocating silence. “What are you all standing around for? Come on, let’s split the beer.”
Bian Li immediately latched onto the lifeline he threw. “Brother Ning, let’s do that later. We ordered takeout, so we’re planning to eat while watching the show.”
Ning Xuechu nodded, “Ah, nice, nice. It’s rare to stumble upon such a good thing.”
Bian Li, ever the realist, responded without hesitation, “If you want to go AA, that’s also an option. WeChat transfer works.”
Ning Xuechu: “…”
—
While waiting for the takeout, everyone settled into the living room.
After that earlier cold tension, Ruan Xiangyi was now back to her usual relaxed self—cross-legged on the sofa, casually swinging her legs as she scrolled through her phone.
It was as if the whole exchange with He Xuyi had never even happened.
She lazily turned to Bian Li. “Bian Xiao Li, what time does your variety show air?”
The living room was packed with people, yet the atmosphere was unusually quiet. When Ruan Xiangyi spoke, her voice rang clearly in everyone’s ears.
Ning Xuechu was glued to the TV, watching a soap opera with great interest. He Xuyi sat beside him, holding his phone in one hand, occupied with something unknown.
Meanwhile, He Yunxing sat close to Bian Li, but his mind seemed elsewhere.
Bian Li stretched her legs and massaged her shoulder with one hand. “It’s almost time. I calculated it—we can start when the takeout arrives.”
True to her words, the takeout arrived right on time.
Ning Xuechu pulled out a few bottles of beer and handed them around. When it was Ying Xuelai’s turn, she waved a hand. “I have filming tomorrow and the day after. I won’t drink.”
“Ah? You’re not on holiday like us? Why are you still filming?” Ning Xuechu asked.
Bian Li took over the explanation. “Lailai has an idol drama schedule. It’s different from us—she has to be busy for a long time.”
Ning Xuechu nodded in understanding, then passed by the others and tossed a bottle to Ruan Xiangyi. Smiling, he turned to Bian Li. “Fei Fei, how many bottles are you ordering tonight?”
Before she could answer, two voices spoke at the same time—
“She can’t drink.”
The first voice was thin and crisp—Ruan Xiangyi’s. The second was deep—He Yunxing’s.
Bian Li blinked in confusion. “Why can’t I drink?”
She’d never liked beer much—it was too bitter—but it wasn’t as if she couldn’t drink it. Yet when she saw the tray Ning Xuechu had brought over, a brand she had never seen before, the urge to try it arose again.
Of course, this wasn’t the first time. Every time she was eager to try, she swore she’d never drink again. It was okay once or twice, but after so many times, the group had long since gotten used to her back-and-forth.
Ruan Xiangyi didn’t understand why He Yunxing was interfering, but she added, “Fei Fei only likes sweet drinks. Besides, she gets drunk the moment she touches beer. Who’s going to bathe her, then?”
The emphasis was on that last part.
Ning Xuechu suddenly felt inexplicably embarrassed, though he wasn’t sure why. He scratched his head. “Boss, what do you mean by that? You don’t know?”
He Yunxing met Bian Li’s puzzled gaze. “It’s not good for kids to drink.”
Ning Xuechu’s heart skipped a beat. He instinctively glanced at Ruan Xiangyi. He Yunxing’s words were vague—dangerously ambiguous. He half-expected Ruan Xiangyi to get up and kick him out.
But instead, she simply smiled, raised an eyebrow, and sat there as quiet as a chicken.
Bian Li, mid-bite on a lamb skewer, choked violently upon hearing He Yunxing’s words. She coughed again and again, her face flushing red.
She wanted everything this “kid” was using. Sorry, but no.
He Yunxing was truly unpredictable.
Desperate to change the topic, she seized the moment. The variety show’s live broadcast had already started on the big screen. She pointed at it. “Watch the show, watch the show.”
Ning Xuechu immediately went along with it. “Oh, okay.”
As soon as the host appeared, a barrage of bullet comments flooded the screen, covering it densely.
When the introductions began, two members of Ace were practically buried under a sea of colorful comments.
Ning Xuechu, sensitive to the bright lights, got up and switched off the living room lights. Instantly, the surroundings dimmed, and the viewing experience improved.
As Bian Li had expected, the broadcast had been heavily edited. They had recorded for five or six hours, yet only two hours had made the final cut.
Still, she was lucky—better off than those idols who didn’t even get camera time. Since she had been in the same group as He Yunxing, the camera had naturally caught many moments featuring her.
The production team clearly knew what fans cared about. When He Yunxing was picking his cast, they had zoomed in with a big close-up.
And then—
A crazy fan’s bullet comment appeared, extra large and in glaring red, thanks to their super membership.
[ I CAN’T LIVE ANYMORE. JUST THAT ONE LINE—“I WANT BIAN LI”—I CAN ALREADY IMAGINE A 10,000-CHAPTER NOVEL PLOT!!! ]
Bian Li was certain that everyone in the living room had seen it.
All at once, the group turned to stare at her and He Yunxing.
Ning Xuechu, who hadn’t participated in this variety show, was so mad he pounded his chest and stomped his feet.
Their boss was really such a… bitch.
Thinking about how he couldn’t witness it in person, Ning Xuechu felt a little wronged.
That super crazy fan from earlier was still active in the live broadcast room, their comments continuously getting liked by other fans.
When it was time to pop balloons, the red bullet comment read:
[Ahhh, how did I just happen to get Bian Li’s favorite soft candy? This is fate!]
Then, during the third round of competition:
[Wow, so spoiled.]
[Fuck, why did you choose the big bucket spoon? It’s literally a ladle. No way, I still see a hint of spoiling in this.]
Bian Li’s mood unconsciously swayed with the fan’s red bullet comments.
After watching for a while, she almost started doubting herself. How did picking a big bucket spoon count as spoiling?
As she mulled it over, her gaze inevitably drifted sideways. He Yunxing wasn’t too far, nor too close. He sat on the sofa at an angle, facing her diagonally.
Because of his sitting posture, his long legs were slightly bent. If he leaned forward just a little, he’d touch her legs.
And just as Bian Li was thinking about that—
His leg slowly brushed against hers.
Huh?
She blinked, momentarily puzzled.
With the lights turned off, her vision was limited to the faint glow from the big screen.
He Yunxing sat sideways, half of his gaunt face hidden in the mix of light and shadow.
But Bian Li could still catch the look in his eyes.
In the darkness, his gaze was as deep as the sea.
He picked up a can of beer, his slender fingers hooking around it. With a smooth motion, he popped it open, then slowly brought it toward her.
“For me?” Bian Li’s voice was soft, blending into the variety show’s background music. It sounded almost unreal.
He Yunxing stated matter-of-factly, “You were staring at me just now.”
“So now you think I can drink it?” Bian Li was clearly confused.
“There are good kids and bad kids. You can choose which one you want to be.”
His voice was slow, but those words—those same three words—echoed in her mind.
A tingling sensation spread through her limbs. Bian Li suddenly felt a little drunk before she had even taken a sip.
Her face heated up, the feeling wrapping around her tightly, like a lingering warmth that refused to fade.
She glanced around—no one was paying attention to their corner. Quickly, she grabbed the can and took a sip.
It was sweet and refreshing, with a hint of pineapple, completely different from the usual bitter taste of beer. Bian Li found herself enjoying it a little too much and ended up taking several more sips.
The variety show continued playing, and the atmosphere in the living room was growing sluggish. Ning Xuechu was laughing at He Xuyi, Ruan Xiangyi was curled up at the end of the couch, seemingly asleep, and Ying Xuelai had already gone up to the attic.
Only Bian Li was still sipping.
By the time the can was empty, she had slumped down against the sofa cushions, letting out soft hiccups.
Her fair face had taken on a faint flush, carrying a light scent of alcohol. She looked like a newly ripened peach—sweet and juicy.
When He Yunxing leaned in slightly, her thick lashes trembled, and she gazed at him, wide-eyed and unblinking.
She murmured something under her breath. He leaned in closer, voice low and patient, “Hmm?”
That small response seemed to give Bian Li a surge of courage. She took a breath, her slightly drunken eyes locking onto his. Then, in a slow, deliberate voice, she asked, “…Why do you call me little friend?”
He Yunxing paused for two seconds, then chuckled.
“What do you think?”
His deliberately lowered voice carried a deep magnetic pull, his tone trailing upward ever so slightly—lingering, seductive.
Bian Li blinked. “I’m not a kid… I’m an adult…”
He Yunxing’s gaze fell to her lips.
Soft and pink, like cherry blossoms, tempting to touch.
Lips that were born to be kissed.
“I know,” he murmured, voice husky.
Then, he leaned in closer.
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