The song ended quickly. Honestly, the guy sang pretty well. He had the high notes, the low notes, everything. Shu Yuxin guessed he was probably a student from the arts academy.

The song wasn’t especially long, but it wasn’t short either. And the guy still hadn’t said who he was confessing to. After a few minutes of all this fuss, quite a few girls had appeared on the dorm balconies. Some had probably just finished showering, their hair still damp. More and more people had gathered around too. Some, like Shu Yuxin, had been drawn over on their way back to the dorms. But most had rushed over after hearing about it, just to watch the drama unfold. Most of them were guys.

At the dorm entrance, the dorm auntie was reclining in a lounge chair with her eyes closed, resting as if none of this concerned her. She didn’t bother with the students at all, basically pretending she saw nothing. The guy had probably pulled some strings. The sign beside her that read “Male Students Keep Away” was still standing there, but its presence was weaker than a roadside ant’s.

Oh, and that ant had almost gotten stepped on by Shu Yuxin.

Seeing that the mood had been built up enough, the artsy young man flicked his guitar and started singing again.

This time it was another love song, but bolder in style. Paired with the way he shook his head around, it gave off a strong youthful, hot-blooded vibe. Maybe Shu Yuxin just wasn’t on the same wavelength as them. She only found it funny. At most, she was a little worried he’d lean back too far and crack his head on the ground.

That didn’t happen.

The young man finished a hysterical climax, strummed the strings hard, then suddenly lifted his head and looked toward a certain spot on the dorm building. He took a deep breath.

The moment everyone realized the real show was starting, all the chatter around them vanished. Every eye locked onto the guy. Plenty of people were guessing who he was trying to confess to. Some of the guys were even worrying whether the girl he wanted was also the one they wanted.

He didn’t keep the crowd waiting long. The artsy young man gathered his breath, then shouted at the top of his lungs:

“Shu Yuxin from Software Engineering 2001—! I’m Liu Haoran from Media 1703! Will you be my girlfriend?!”

“From the very first moment I saw you, I fell deeply in love with you!”

“That cold, distant expression of yours is like a flower blooming high above the world! Like a fierce poison! It intoxicates me! It drags me in so deep I can’t escape!”

“Be my girlfriend, okay?! I promise you a lifetime of happiness!”

...

The guy went on with his love confession for a full minute.

The sheer cheesiness of it was enough to make Shu Yuxin break out in goosebumps. She asked herself honestly and knew she could never say anything like that. No wonder she’d never managed to get a girlfriend before. Just look at this guy. He was pouring his heart out with such passion, practically in tears. Anyone who didn’t know better might’ve thought she was his mom.

So why the hell had this little brat picked her to confess to? Was he blind?

From what he’d just blurted out, he seemed to be from the 2017 class. That made him a junior, didn’t it? The problem was, she’d never even seen him before.

While Shu Yuxin was still dumbfounded, the artsy young man had already finished his speech. The scene was still a little quiet. A lot of people were probably wondering who exactly this Shu Yuxin was. Naturally, the male lead of this little drama didn’t care what the crowd was thinking. He was staring eagerly at the balcony of Dorm 213. The light inside was on, but no one came out.

Of course no one was coming out. The other main character was right here in the crowd, watching the show.

Shu Yuxin knew her dorm situation pretty well. At this hour, Su Ya was probably still in the library studying. Cheng Xiaonan never came back before closing time, and it was obviously still early. Shu Yuxin herself was standing here watching the fun, so it wasn’t hard to guess who was left in the dorm. As a qualified shut-in girl, Peng Xiaoxiao lived by one principle: if nothing was wrong, she’d rather die than leave the dorm. Not to mention she was a shut-in girl who had just survived over twenty days of military training torture. She was probably drowning in the tender embrace of video games right now.

Shu Yuxin had once heard Peng Xiaoxiao say her computer gear was pretty expensive, especially her headphones. They’d cost a full 2,500 yuan. Shu Yuxin’s ears couldn’t tell the difference between those and a 25-yuan pair, but at least the soundproofing was insanely good. They could practically be used as earplugs. Sometimes Shu Yuxin could talk right next to her face and she still wouldn’t hear a thing. So there was no way some ghostly howling from outside the dorm was going to move her even a little.

Seeing the atmosphere turn awkward, the young man clearly still wasn’t willing to give up. He played another short bit, then called out with deep feeling, “Shu Yuxin! I love you! I know you disdain the pursuit of ordinary people! But at least give me a chance! Give me a chance to pursue you! Could you come out and see me just once?!”

Shu Yuxin twitched the corner of her mouth.

There was still no movement from Balcony 213. The young man looked deflated, pitiful as an abandoned dog. He could barely hold the guitar anymore. It had already slipped halfway down.

And now it was time for the best bro to make his entrance. A skinny stick of a guy squeezed out from the crowd. Conservatively speaking, he was about in the same weight class as the old Shu Yuxin. He pushed up the glasses that were about to slide off, then raised his hand and shouted, “Shu Yuxin! Say yes to him! Shu Yuxin! Say yes to him! ...”

People were like that. They followed the crowd. And the atmosphere was pretty good right now too. With a “the bigger the mess, the better the show” mindset, once someone took the lead, plenty of the onlookers started joining in:

“Shu Yuxin! Say yes to him! Shu Yuxin! Say yes to him!”

Shu Yuxin could guarantee that more than half of them didn’t even know what she looked like.

After maybe a minute or two, some of the girls watching from the balconies got bored and went back inside, since the other main character still hadn’t shown up. Balcony 213 remained completely still. By then, the crowd’s chanting had died down a lot, replaced by all kinds of discussion.

Mixed in among them, Shu Yuxin heard something interesting—

“That Shu Yuxin or whatever? She won’t even come out and show her face? She that badass?”

“Of course. You know that cold goddess among this year’s freshmen?”

“Who?”

“Who else? Shu Yuxin. I saw her once the other day. Gotta admit, she’s really pretty. She just keeps a deadpan face all the time, like everyone owes her money.”

...

Shu Yuxin thought back a little about what they were talking about.

Then she realized she really had looked like that during training.

She couldn’t help it. She had no girls to chat with. Other than keeping a blank face, what expression was she supposed to have? It’s not like she could be training while making cutesy flirty faces.

Still, hearing the gossip start drifting in weird directions, Shu Yuxin felt like she should probably do something. She thought for a few seconds, took out her phone, and after making sure no one around her was paying attention, sent Peng Xiaoxiao a window nudge along with a message:

“There’s someone outside the dorm looking for me. Help me come out and say I went out to get a room.”

After putting her phone away again, Shu Yuxin looked at the artsy young man in the center and laughed once more.

If she didn’t have to worry about her reputation, she actually wanted Peng Xiaoxiao to tell the guy she’d gone with some other dudes too.

She really wondered what kind of face he’d make after hearing that.