Yun Jiumo strolled along the edge of the flower bed, her fingers gently brushing over the delicate petals.

The osmanthus trees on campus had bloomed one after another. Their branches were lush, and everywhere she looked was a brilliant golden yellow.

Cluster after cluster hung overhead. Just walking beneath them gave her the strange feeling that melted gold was flowing over her body.

Mo Xuan walked behind her, keeping a distance that was neither too close nor too far. His hands were tucked in his pockets, his face calm and indifferent.

Steady as hell on the outside, panicking like crazy on the inside.

That line fit him perfectly right now. The only thing he still clearly remembered was Yun Jiumo telling him not long ago, “Let’s go take a walk outside together.”

He’d said yes.

And then... there was no then.

Now the two of them were walking here, back to their usual state of seeming to have nothing to do with each other. Neither of them spoke. They just circled this small garden again and again, as if killing time.

Ahead of him, the girl’s figure was graceful, her back slender and elegant.

Even in that loose school uniform, her curves couldn’t be hidden. Her long legs, wrapped in school pants, moved lightly, her steps brisk, like a pure butterfly dancing in the air.

He didn’t need to guess to know she had to be in a good mood right now.

But Mo Xuan had no idea where that good mood was coming from.

He really wanted to ask what that guy had said to her. But Yun Jiumo kept walking ahead, maintaining that elusive distance, with no intention of talking about it at all.

Luckily, that bastard had been driven off. From the way Yun Jiumo had looked at him like he was trash, Mo Xuan knew that guy had no chance anymore. At least that kept him from getting too worked up.

The girl stopped walking. She slowly turned back, the corners of her lips lifting slightly, her smile blooming like a flower.

She stood beneath the flourishing osmanthus tree, graceful and poised. The ever-present breeze teased the ends of her hair, curling them into ripples that were strangely captivating.

“Let me guess. You’re wondering what that person said to me, aren’t you?”

She was smiling as she spoke, and her voice snapped Mo Xuan out of his daze.

Mo Xuan stared at her blankly, then quickly came back to himself.

His expression turned a little unnatural.

Even though neither of them had said anything, and they hadn’t exchanged a single look, Yun Jiumo still seemed to know him inside out. One glance was enough for her to guess what he was thinking. It left him both amazed and uneasy.

If he didn’t know mind-reading didn’t exist, he might’ve thought she actually had that kind of power.

But on the other hand, that only proved how unusually well Yun Jiumo understood him. It was like she had dissected him inside and out. Every expression, every little movement, she had analyzed them all clearly enough to make such a confident judgment.

“How did you know?”

Mo Xuan didn’t deny it. He kept that faint smile on his face.

Hearing that, Yun Jiumo looked delighted. At this moment, she had none of the cold, untouchable aura everyone usually associated with her. She looked more like a little girl who had guessed the answer to a riddle, her eyes brimming with pride.

That smile left Mo Xuan dazed for a moment too.

For that instant, he almost thought this was the real Yun Jiumo underneath it all.

But the very next second, he shook his head hard. He forced down the emotions that had nearly slipped out of control, reminding himself again and again that the girl in front of him was only pretending. She was deliberately using this face to lower his guard, then slowly drawing closer. Once the time was right, she’d reveal her true form. And by then, even if he wanted to run, he wouldn’t be able to.

Thinking about it carefully, that was exactly how he had been deeply drawn in by her in his previous life.

In other people’s eyes, Yun Jiumo had always been outstanding, excellent, cold, and mature. But in private, she would occasionally show him a sweet, girlish side. That sharp contrast had pulled him in without him even realizing it. It had even made him develop the narcissistic delusion that he alone was special to her.

And in that smug state of self-satisfaction, he had chased Yun Jiumo for three whole years like a stubborn porcupine. In the end, she had seemed moved by his sincerity. After shy consideration and repeated hesitation, she had carefully and timidly taken his hand, and with that enchanting smile, captured his whole heart.

Then, right after that, she had pulled out a pair of handcuffs and locked their wrists tightly together.

From then on, Mo Xuan had never been able to slip away again.

The boy swallowed nervously and couldn’t help taking a step back.

In his previous life, he had been so bewitched by her beauty that he had lost the ability to think. One wrong step, and he had fallen straight into the pit and said goodbye to freedom.

This life, he’d learned his lesson. There was no way he’d let himself get charmed so stupidly again. No matter how dazzling her smile was, even if she took another step closer and stripped off her top to seduce him, Mo Xuan firmly believed he could keep his eyes free of her.

...Probably. All of a sudden, he wasn’t feeling so confident.

That tiny movement didn’t escape Yun Jiumo’s notice. Her gaze dimmed for a moment.

Then, without changing her smile, she stepped forward a few paces and said teasingly, “Do you want to know what he came to say to me?”

“I don’t.”

Yun Jiumo froze for a second.

Why aren’t you following the script?

But this time, Mo Xuan wasn’t just refusing to follow the script. He was going to make things even messier. To stop Yun Jiumo from taking the initiative, he decided to strike first and throw the whole situation off balance from the root.

“No matter why that guy came, I can understand it. After all, Yun Jiumo, you’re so outstanding and your grades are so good. There must be plenty of people in school who want to get to know you.”

“If you ask me, he probably just had something to talk to you about. Isn’t he from the disciplinary department? They never do anything useful. It was probably some trivial nonsense again. Honestly, just ignore them. It’s no big deal.”

“I just happened to dislike that guy, that’s all. He messed with us last time, so this time I had to mess with him back. Other than that, I didn’t have any other thoughts. Really, none at all.”

“And also, I’ve always thought—”

He stopped abruptly.

Because Yun Jiumo was staring straight at him, and her face was getting darker and darker.

That look made his scalp crawl. Instinctively, he felt like he must’ve said something wrong just now.

Otherwise, why did her expression look so strange? It was like a painter’s palette, every kind of color mixed together into something twisted and bizarre.

Crap. She looks pissed!

Mo Xuan inwardly screamed that things were bad. But he couldn’t exactly turn around and run now. He could only stay rooted in place and brace himself for the storm that was probably about to hit.

The smile slowly faded from the girl’s face, little by little, like eggshell being peeled away bit by bit, until all that remained was smoothness and calm on the surface, without the slightest ripple.

But beneath that lake-still calmness lurked an unimaginable force ready to erupt.

“So that’s what you think?”

The girl’s cool, indifferent voice rose slowly, like falling cold rain pressing down the drifting floral fragrance.

This was basically a death question. If he said yes, then obviously he was done for. But if he said no, then what had all that rambling just now been for? Wouldn’t that only make her more suspicious?

Mo Xuan awkwardly scratched his hair and forced himself to hold on. “Did I misunderstand?”

“Completely wrong!”

“Then...” Mo Xuan carefully lowered his hand and gave an embarrassed smile. “Then let’s just skip this topic.”

For one brief moment, he actually thought Yun Jiumo might pounce on him and go straight from words to action.

But her powerful self-control kept her body in check. Yun Jiumo took a deep breath of air thick with osmanthus fragrance, her eyes full of disappointment.

“Mo Xuan, if that person came over and asked whether he could get to know me, what kind of intention do you think he had?”

What? What?

Mo Xuan was completely dumbfounded.

He had imagined all kinds of questions Yun Jiumo might throw at him. He had even prepared how to answer them. But this was the one thing he had never expected.

No matter how he looked at it, this question didn’t fit Yun Jiumo’s personality at all. There was no way this girl would care about an answer like that, much less want to know it.

It sounded more like the kind of thing someone blurted out in extreme awkwardness, asking whatever came to mind just to break the silence as a last resort.

Why aren’t you following the script either?

All the answers he had prepared were suddenly useless. Mo Xuan felt utterly defeated.

But since Yun Jiumo had already asked, he couldn’t just play dumb or toss out some random excuse. That would only make the consequences worse.

“That means... he just wanted to be friends with you.”

Even he had no idea what he was saying anymore.

The girl’s gaze turned hollow, like a black hole that had swallowed every last trace of emotion.

“If I didn’t want to know him, and you saw that, would you step in to help me?”

“I would.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re friends too.”

Yun Jiumo’s face turned deathly pale in an instant.

Her vision went dark. It felt as if heaven and earth had flipped upside down in that very moment.