“Shen Guang, open the door!” Lin Qingqian stared at Shen Guang through the front door.

Who would’ve thought a key would be my downfall this time!

“Oh—you don’t have your key.” Shen Guang caught on quickly. Leaning against the wall, he looked at the girl outside with a mischievous grin.

The girl’s face was furious. She pressed both hands against the door and glared at Shen Guang.

“Hurry up and open the door!”

“Hey, if I remember right, you keep your front door key with your room key, don’t you? So that means you’ll have to come to my place for the spare key later.”

“You! Open the door, and we can talk this out.” Lin Qingqian swallowed her anger. She knew Shen Guang was just pulling a prank on her.

But Shen Guang tilted his head and pressed his lips together, as if he was in a bit of a bind.

“Come on, we’re classmates. How can you look at me like that? I’m not asking you for anything, am I?”

“What do you want from me, anyway!” Lin Qingqian could feel the sweat on her skin drying, leaving her sticky and deeply uncomfortable.

The thing was, Shen Guang was doing this on purpose!

“I don’t want anything else. I just want to know what your relationship with Shen Guang is. That’s not an unreasonable request, is it? After all, I’m Shen Guang now. If something happens later, I’ll know how to handle it.”

So that was what he was after! Lin Qingqian had guessed Shen Guang’s intentions. But just as he’d said, no matter how much she tried to hide it, she couldn’t conceal the truth forever.

She took a deep breath and steadied herself. Only then did she look Shen Guang in the eye and speak.

“Shen Guang is the young master of a wealthy family. You’ll find out just how powerful they are in time. I hope it doesn’t come as too much of a shock. As for me, I’m the daughter of the Shen Family’s butler. That’s one reason I look after Shen Guang. But he’s never liked me. Even when I face him with this appearance, he still keeps his distance.”

She spoke as if she were stating the most ordinary fact in the world. Lin Qingqian folded her arms across her chest, not a flicker of emotion in her eyes.

At last, Shen Guang understood why Lin Qingqian had been the first person by his side after he was hospitalized, and why she’d taken such meticulous care of him.

He didn’t know why Shen Guang disliked the girl in front of him, but he was fairly sure Lin Qingqian was telling the truth.

“So, you go to school here because of Shen Guang?”

“Not entirely. I do enjoy the atmosphere at school, at least.”

“??? How can you say that with a straight face? Besides that girl who hangs around you, who else at school dares go near you?” Shen Guang found it a little funny, but Lin Qingqian remained perfectly serious.

“That’s because I command enough authority. I enjoy the atmosphere at school because I believe that, under my guidance, the students can keep their instincts in check and avoid crossing the line.”

Shen Guang had never agreed with Lin Qingqian’s way of thinking.

If the students really never crossed the line, as she claimed, then why had Zhu Youting met with disaster in the end?

He knew that after what happened to Zhu Youting, Lin Qingqian had stayed silent for a long time. Eventually, she’d asked him if everything she’d done had been wrong.

Clearly, Zhu Youting’s death had hit her hard, too.

She’d said she regretted not saving that girl. She’d watched with her own eyes as the girl fell from a high-rise.

The sight of her mangled body had burned itself into Lin Qingqian’s eyes. Her classmates’ screams kept ringing in her ears, but she still couldn’t accept what had happened.

“Don’t take all the blame on yourself. You’re only one person. You can’t save the whole world.” Those were Shen Guang’s words back then. Now he said them to Lin Qingqian again—but this time, they were face-to-face.

Lin Qingqian was clearly caught off guard by Shen Guang’s words.

Was he warning her, or comforting her?

Still not sure what Shen Guang meant, she heard the door in front of her click open.

With his hands in his pockets, Shen Guang lowered his head and walked into the elevator lobby. Lin Qingqian hurried after him.

Shen Guang was silent now. The air around him felt frighteningly heavy, as if he were holding back some emotion.

Lin Qingqian didn’t care for this kind of atmosphere, though she hadn’t noticed that she often created the same one herself.

“Shen Guang, what have you been eating lately? Still getting takeout?”

“What else? I tried making myself a late-night snack once, and nearly blew up the kitchen. I haven’t cooked since.”

“You really have no talent for cooking at all?”

“I put my skill points in the wrong place. If I could remake my build, I’d definitely put some into cooking next time!”

Shen Guang sounded genuinely envious, so Lin Qingqian didn’t press him to cook for himself.

But if he kept eating junk food every day, he’d end up in the hospital sooner or later. And if he did, she’d be the one stuck dealing with the trouble.

After thinking it over, Lin Qingqian made a decision!

“From now on, come over to my place for dinner after school. I’ll cook for you myself.”

“You said that last time.” Shen Guang clearly hadn’t taken her seriously. But Lin Qingqian stared at him and spoke in earnest.

“I’m serious. You’re a grown man, after all. This stuff has no nutrition at all. Shen Guang used to have a healthy complexion and tons of energy. Just look at you now—your complexion is much worse than before. If you die alone at home, I’ll have a lot of trouble on my hands!”

“Ding!” The elevator doors opened, and Shen Guang bolted toward his room as if he were fleeing for his life. Lin Qingqian chased after him, refusing to let him get away.

“You don’t even want me to cook for you?”

“It’s not that I don’t want you to. I just feel bad asking you to cook for me, Lin.”

“It’s just one extra serving. And if you’re willing to eat it, I’d be really happy.”

That was a lie!

Lin Qingqian couldn’t help thinking that to herself. But she had a feeling it would work on Shen Guang.

Sure enough, Shen Guang stopped in his tracks and gave Lin Qingqian a strange look, as if she’d just said something outrageous.

“You’d really be happy about something like that?”

“It feels great when someone appreciates your cooking. Like when you woke up in the hospital and praised my food.”

Waaah, how could there be a girl this nice? She’d even made up a story to convince him to stop eating takeout.

Shen Guang had to admit, he was touched.

Whatever her reasons, what Lin Qingqian had done really had moved him.

“All right, come in. I’ll show you something amazing!” The moment Shen Guang opened his room door, Lin Qingqian instinctively took a step back.

Not because of what Shen Guang had just said, but because his room was... a complete mess!