Pursuing Her Best Friend after Confession Failed-Chapter 74 - 73: The Topic Center of the Girls’ Dorm (Fourth Update, Please Subscribe)
"Xiyu, who is that guy outside? His voice sounds somewhat familiar."
"Li Yuan? What are you doing here?"
The other girls in dorm A-6608 came out curiously to see what was going on. Seeing Li Yuan standing at their door, their expressions turned to pure shock. Wide-eyed, they sized him up from head to toe. Their gazes fell on the laptop and the large bag of snacks at his feet, and they immediately peppered him with questions.
"Li Yuan, are you and Zhijin already together? Is all this for her?"
"Wow, a Lenovo laptop! And it’s the Y730 model! That has to be nearly 10,000 yuan, right?"
"And so many snacks, too! Is this your way of showering Zhijin with affection? Li Yuan, you’re so sweet."
"Come on, fess up! How did you win Zhijin over? You lucky dog..."
Faced with the relentless barrage from Xia Zhijin’s roommates, Li Yuan remained perfectly calm. He looked at Shen Xiyu and the other girls and said nonchalantly, "Ladies, aren’t you going to invite me in for a bit?"
Shen Xiyu finally snapped back to reality. She glanced around the dorm—thankfully, it was reasonably clean—and quickly invited him in. "Li Yuan, come in, quick! Tell us everything about you and Zhijin."
Li Lanrong covered her mouth and snickered. "That’s right. We were just wondering where on earth that girl Zhijin had gone. We haven’t seen her for half the day. Turns out she went shopping with Handsome Li."
Shen Xiyu teased, "Li Yuan, I’m really curious. How did you notice how beautiful Zhijin is? This is the first time you’ve really met, isn’t it? Of all the guys in our class, you were the first to see it, and you made a move so fast! It’s only the first day of school..."
Nearby, Xia Zhijin looked mortified, her cheeks blushing crimson as she fidgeted, completely at a loss for words.
"Xiyu, Rongrong, please stop. It’s not what you think."
Shen Xiyu took Xia Zhijin’s hand, gave her a little wink, and teased, "Well then, Zhijin, tell us what’s really going on."
Xia Zhijin subconsciously glanced at Li Yuan and stammered, "I... and him... we’re..."
Li Yuan carried the items into the room, looked at Shen Xiyu, Li Lanrong, and the other girls, and said frankly, "You guessed right. The first moment I saw Zhijin, I fell for her. I’m pursuing her now, but she hasn’t said yes yet."
"As for all this stuff, it was bought with Zhijin’s own money."
Shen Xiyu, Li Lanrong, and the other girls stared at Li Yuan, dumbfounded.
Are guys these days all this bold? He not only pulled that stunt during the freshman class meeting, openly declaring his feelings for a classmate, but in such a short time, they’re already shopping together and he’s walking her back to her dorm.
They could also roughly guess Xia Zhijin’s family background, and they knew she was much less well-off than they were. None of them could afford these things, let alone Xia Zhijin.
Li Yuan seemed to understand their confusion. He looked at the anxious Xia Zhijin and explained with a smile, "This afternoon, Zhijin and I went to the nearby Longyu Mall for a while, and it turns out she’s a real lucky star. She casually bought a scratch-off and won 30,000 yuan... so we bought all this."
Shen Xiyu, Li Lanrong, and the others listened with stunned disbelief, their eyes instinctively turning to the nervous and shy Xia Zhijin. Could her luck really be that good? Just go to a mall, buy a random scratch-off ticket, and win tens of thousands of yuan? That seems a little too incredible.
Shen Xiyu mumbled to herself, "Is that true? I just don’t believe it. My gut tells me you bought all of this."
Li Yuan glanced at her. He had used this excuse for Xia Zhijin’s sake. Even if nothing had happened between us, if I, merely to pursue her, bought her gifts worth tens of thousands of yuan, it would make her a public enemy. People who were envious, jealous, and didn’t know the truth would cook up all sorts of stories behind her back, maybe even ostracize her. The saying ’three women make a drama’ is no joke, and a single dorm room can have countless private chat groups.
Li Yuan spread his hands. "I caught some of Zhijin’s good luck and won a few thousand myself. If you ever plan to buy lottery tickets, you might want to touch Zhijin’s hand for some of her good fortune..."
Shen Xiyu, Li Lanrong, and the others exchanged glances. Li Yuan seemed so sincere; it didn’t sound like he was lying.
Besides, even if Li Yuan really is some rich heir, it’s unlikely he’d spend tens of thousands of yuan on gifts for someone he just met, right?
Another girl, dressed very fashionably, came out of the bathroom. She eyed the gifts Li Yuan had brought in and clicked her tongue in wonder. "A Lenovo Y730 laptop, a Nokia N95, an SK-II Facial Treatment Essence set... Tsk tsk! I’ve been wanting these, but my own mother isn’t willing to buy them for me."
Li Yuan smiled. The girl who spoke was named Ge Chenchen, and her accent suggested she was a local from Modu. During her self-introduction, she had exuded a certain unspoken sense of superiority.
"Ladies, the dorm matron only gave me ten minutes," Li Yuan announced. "I’ve safely escorted Classmate Zhijin back to her room, so my mission is complete."
Shen Xiyu courteously tried to get him to stay. "Li Yuan, won’t you stay a bit longer?"
Li Yuan shook his head. "I can’t. Military training starts tomorrow, so I need to get some rest."
With that, Li Yuan winked at the bashful Xia Zhijin and made a ’call me’ gesture by his ear. "Zhijin, I’m taking off now."
Xia Zhijin nodded shyly. "Mm!"
Li Yuan wasn’t bothered by her brief reply and turned to leave.
Seeing Xia Zhijin still lost in a daze, Shen Xiyu teased her, "Zhijin, Handsome Li has already left. Aren’t you going to see him out?"
"Ah? D-do I need to see him out?" Xia Zhijin asked with dazed innocence.
"Never mind that, Zhijin," Li Lanrong said, laughing. "Now, spill the beans. What’s really going on between you and Li Yuan?"
* * *
Li Yuan went downstairs to the front desk and greeted the dorm matron.
"Miss, I didn’t go over, did I? Exactly ten minutes, no more, no less."
The dorm matron laughed heartily, giving Li Yuan a long look. "Young man, you sure are punctual. I thought you’d linger a little longer. You have good taste, too."
"Of course," Li Yuan nodded frankly. "I wouldn’t look twice at an ordinary girl."
The dorm matron rolled her eyes. "Give you an inch and you’ll take a mile. Hurry up and go. This is a one-time exception."
"Goodbye, miss. I’ll bring you milk tea next time."
"Scram. Don’t even think about a next time."
Li Yuan chuckled to himself. Once a rule is broken, it’s bound to be broken again. The first exception just paves the way for the next; it’s a natural progression. It’s like that common lie girls tell: once there’s a first time, there will be countless more. Anyone who actually believes it is a complete moron!
* * *
What Li Yuan didn’t know was that after he left, under the "harsh interrogation" from her roommates Shen Xiyu and Li Lanrong, the endearingly naive Xia Zhijin quickly spilled the beans.
Ge Chenchen only had to ask Xia Zhijin one question before she was certain that Li Yuan was lying.
Because Xia Zhijin couldn’t even say how much a scratch-off cost, how it was played, or where exactly one would buy them.
This Li Yuan... he’s really interesting. Could he actually be a rich heir? I’m starting to get interested in him!
* * *
After Fang Yanni and Zhou Dan got back to their dorm, they immediately shared the explosive news with their other roommates.
"Tsk tsk, so Li Yuan is actually serious. I thought he and Liu Jia were just putting on a show for effect."
"I just passed by Xia Zhijin’s dorm and heard them all cheerfully talking about it. It sounds like Li Yuan didn’t just buy her a laptop but the newest model of smartphone too. All together, that’s got to be 10,000 or 20,000 yuan."
"But I heard a rumor that Xia Zhijin won big in the lottery?"
"That’s just an excuse, and you fell for it? Winning the lottery isn’t that easy. The odds are astronomical..."
Wang Jierong was watching a TV drama when she heard their discussion. Her expression soured, and she grew particularly irritable. She slapped her desk. "Can you guys stop gossiping? What’s so interesting about a little rumor?"
Fang Yanni and the others knew exactly why Wang Jierong was so upset. As the proud swan of the class, Wang Jierong had always carried herself with an air of superiority, enjoying the attention of all the male students.
But this morning, during the freshman class meeting, she had suffered an embarrassing incident that made her lose face.
Zhou Dan, who was from the northeast and had a very direct personality, said sarcastically, "Oh? Is this a case of sour grapes?"
Wang Jierong stood up in a huff and glared at Zhou Dan. "Zhou Dan, what did you just say?"
Zhou Dan didn’t back down an inch. "I’ll say it again. Sour grapes. What are you going to do about it?"
Seeing that a fight was about to break out, Fang Yanni hurriedly stepped in to mediate. "Dandan, Jierong, both of you calm down. Is it really worth it, over a guy?"
