She still remembered last time, when she’d tried to cozy up to Chu Ge by taking him the bottle of water Fang Huai had passed over for him to drink. Fang Huai stopped her, saying it was his, and she even called him stingy! In the end, Chu Ge took one gulp of that water and spat it right back out! He glared at her fiercely; Fang Huai had already bolted without a trace, and she, with a totally clueless face, watched Chu Ge’s reaction and even asked him if he was sick.

Haha, thinking back on it now, it was hilarious. That was a cup of pure lemon water, sour as hell, that Fang Huai had prepared to prank her with, but she delivered it straight to Chu Ge. Later, Su Ke told her that Chu Ge hated anything sour, and after drinking that cup she’d given him, he only ate thin porridge for three whole days. No wonder he’d looked so pale then. Because of that, she got back at Fang Huai pretty ruthlessly once.

Fang Huai said he was their great matchmaker, that he’d put in a lot of good words for her in front of Chu Ge. She didn’t buy it at all.

Hearing noise from inside the basketball gym, she pushed the door open faster and went in. A few people were playing against the coach; Mu Bingtong quietly sat down on the sideline. The coach noticed her, told them to keep playing, then came over and sat down next to her.

"No classes today? I heard from Chu Ge that your schedule’s really busy. How come you have time to come by today?"

Her schedule was busy? Not really.

"Your leg okay now?" the coach asked again.

"It’s fine, thank you for your concern, Coach."

"It’s okay if you can’t play. Just come hang out when you’re free, everyone kind of misses you."

Can’t play?

"Coach, why can’t I play basketball?"

"Chu Ge said so. He said your leg injury means you can’t play anymore!"

"..."

She clearly could play, but Huang Puyang was saying she couldn’t. Mu Bingtong decided to go find him and ask what exactly he meant by that.

When she went over it was just after class; she stood at the door searching for Chu Ge’s figure. Class just ended and he already disappeared?

"Su Ke, where’s Chu Ge?" She ran into Su Ke coming out the back door and asked him.

Su Ke pointed at the crowd in the classroom. "Go see for yourself."

What were they all crowded around to look at?

"Senior, I don’t know how to do this question. Can you explain it to me?"

"And this one."

"The teacher went too fast just now, I didn’t understand the meaning of this part. Could you help us explain it?"

Huang Puyang had his arms crossed over his chest. Looked like her boyfriend was really in high demand. Should she be happy about that, or kind of depressed?

Everyone in that crowd was dressed up all flashy, and so revealing! Her eyes literally hurt!

Five minutes passed...

Chu Ge suddenly stood up, picked up his backpack and got ready to leave. He spotted Mu Bingtong standing outside the crowd, froze for a few seconds, then grabbed her hand and, under everyone’s gaze, pulled her out of the classroom.

"Why did you say my leg’s injured so I can’t play basketball anymore!"

"Why did you skip class!"

They spoke at the same time. Huh? How did he know she skipped class?

"A junior just called and said he saw you at the basketball gym."

"..."

"Why did you skip class?"

"...·"

"You’re a girl. Stop acting like some tomboy all day, always running between the basketball gym and the Taekwondo Academy."

He was already starting to dislike her that fast? Not even two months in, was her road to love about to be cut off?

"Then I’ll change, isn’t that okay?"

Change. This weekend I’m buying skirts!

"You think just putting on a skirt makes you a lady? Look at the way you walk, like thunder rolling in."

"How am I supposed to change that!"

"We’ll work on it slowly from now on."

"Oh."

"Let’s go."

"Go where?"

"The library."

The library again!

"You still haven’t told me why you said I can’t go play basketball!"

"I already told you just now."

"Then why can other girls go?"

"Because with them, I don’t have ownership."

Ownership? So because he has ownership over her, he has the right to enforce a no-basketball clause?

"That’s not all. You’re an accounting major. Don’t you learn this kind of stuff? Tsk tsk, looks like your professional skills really need work. My decision was the right one!"

With the end of finals, the campus slowly returned to its quiet state, students heading home on break or off to graduate one after another.

On the very day finals ended, Chu Ge was picked up and whisked away by his family’s driver. Fang Huai and Xiao Meng stuck together for another two days, and she, the third wheel, suffered through popping over from time to time to provide some unwanted lighting. She and Xiao Meng were from the same hometown, so they planned to go back together.

"If we don’t go now, the train’s going to leave!" she urged the couple.

"You jealous watching us be lovey-dovey? If you wanna blame someone, blame your Chu Ge. Tsk, just up and left like that," Fang Huai said.

"Psh! Xiao Meng, let’s go." She rolled her eyes at Fang Huai and dragged Xiao Meng into the waiting hall.

Summer vacation was two whole months. Before, she’d loved long breaks the most. Now she didn’t like them at all!

"What are you planning for summer?" Xiao Meng asked.

"No idea." How did she even spend her summer breaks before? Why couldn’t she remember a thing?

"Maybe you could use the summer to reinvent yourself!"

Reinvent herself? Chu Ge had said she didn’t have a shred of the temperament a girl should have, that she was exuding tomboy vibes from head to toe!

How was she supposed to change? She’d said she’d buy skirts, and now she’d already come home and still hadn’t bought any! Every time she put one on, she felt super awkward, like she didn’t know how to walk without wearing pants. Xiao Meng was even worse—she directly handed her a short skirt! Looking at herself in the mirror, she felt uncomfortable all over!

After a day of tossing around, she finally made it home.

Over the next few days, she video chatted with Chu Ge every day. Chu Ge actually said she’d gotten fatter again. Well, yeah—ever since she came back, every meal her mom made was all her favorites. Eating like this every day, how could she not get fat? Once, when she accompanied her mom shopping in their little town, she saw one of those ankle-length maxi skirts. She stared at it for a long time, and her mom asked, "You want to wear a skirt?"

She shook her head hard like a conditioned reflex. I don’t want to wear a skirt!

Chu Ge had said that wearing a skirt didn’t necessarily mean you’d radiate femininity.

She even went to ask Baidu specially: How do you make yourself more elegant? The answers were all the same old clichés.

Stand straight with your chest out and head up—her back was already really straight. She stared at herself in the mirror for a long, long time, so long that her mom couldn’t stand it anymore and secretly asked her dad if she was in love!

Dad gave her a wary look, then finally said in a low voice, "Relax, no one would like a girl who’s like a boy."

"..."

Under the blazing summer sun, she’d been pacing back and forth outside the dance studio for half an hour, looking at the girls inside with their slender, willow-waist figures, and in the end lost her nerve.

Dad watched her dash out all fiery and come back all dejected, and couldn’t help asking if she really was in love.

"Of course not!" It was better not to tell her parents yet.

Every day, all she did was eat and sleep, then sleep and eat!

Just like that, she muddled through half a month. She missed Chu Ge so much. Their video calls got shorter and shorter, and he got busier and busier. His reply time to her texts went from one hour to three, and then finally to seven...

It felt like they were getting farther and farther apart. Every time she worked up the courage to call him, the words she’d rehearsed would get stuck in her throat. Sigh, maybe she should ask Xiao Meng?