Free Web NovelChapter 255: Chapter 255: Beautiful
Song Zhizhou, shuffling in his slippers, wobbled around a corner. His eyes went wide when he saw the scene before him. "Holy crap, are you two filming a TV drama this early in the morning?"
Not far away, the young man had one hand on the girl’s back, helping her stand steady.
Then, a sharp glare shot in his direction.
Song Zhizhou threw his hands up in mock surrender. "What I meant was, that hug just now was so beautiful! So pure and refreshing, it was like a scene from a blockbuster romance!"
Jiang Youchen didn’t say a word, his gaze shifting to the girl beside him.
Jiang Qingli steadied herself and turned her head to look out at the sea, her expression remarkably composed.
But her hand clutching the railing tightened inch by inch, with enough force to shatter the metal.
Jiang Youchen’s lips thinned. He took a step back, putting even more distance between them than before.
The silence between them was strange.
Meanwhile, the third party, Song Zhizhou, remained completely oblivious to the odd vibe. He jogged over with a grin. "I can’t believe you guys came to see the sunrise too. How romantic."
He pulled out his terminal and started showing off to his single buddies. "My female master asked me to film the sunrise for her last night. You know what they say—love is for sharing. She’s so in love with me."
As he spoke, he walked over to them, turning this way and that to find the perfect camera angle.
Although Jiang Qingli had known since they were kids that Song Zhizhou had this... eccentric personality, she found it hard to adjust to right now.
’It’s like something was forced to a screeching halt.’
But for some reason, she also breathed a sigh of relief.
’The atmosphere just now was just... too strange...’
The thin blanket on her shoulders was suddenly pulled up.
Jiang Qingli froze, watching as the stern-faced young man gathered the blanket snugly around her, covering every inch of exposed skin.
He kept his eyes down, avoiding her gaze. His voice was slightly hoarse. "The sea breeze is strong. It’s easy to catch a cold."
"Mm... thank you."
Jiang Qingli clutched the edge of the blanket, lowered her head, and nodded.
He took another step back.
Jiang Qingli stared down at the churning waves, her mind momentarily blank.
The sea breeze was still blowing, yet she felt hotter than she had in her room.
「A short while later.」
Golden sunlight scattered across the water’s surface, where flecks of gold seemed to float and shimmer with a dazzling light.
The whole world became bright and clear.
Song Zhizhou started a video call, spewing a torrent of gibberish at the person on the other end—a cringe-worthy stream of "Wifey," "Baby," and "Darling."
But his exaggerated voice somehow helped Jiang Qingli’s racing heart slowly return to normal.
Jiang Qingli glanced to her side. Their eyes met, then quickly darted away. Her voice was taut as she said, "The sunrise is quite beautiful."
A gentle gaze lingered on her face for a moment before slowly pulling away.
After a moment, she heard a low chuckle.
"Yes. Beautiful."
...
After the sunrise, Jiang Qingli was hungry.
Jiang Youchen was on a call, so she didn’t disturb him and walked toward the dining hall, wrapped in the blanket.
On the way, she ran into Lin Xiyue, who was just coming out with a yawn.
The sight of her instantly energized Lin Xiyue. She grinned mischievously, hooking an arm through Jiang Qingli’s and wiggling her eyebrows. "So? How was it? Last night must have been good, right? Your room has the biggest bathroom, and it has a waterbed. I specifically had Ai Li and the others install it! You two didn’t let me down, did you~"
Jiang Qingli was speechless. "..."
’So that’s why the perfectly fine bed from when I first saw the room suddenly turned into a waterbed!’
’The culprit was right here all along!’
Jiang Qingli reached out and pinched Lin Xiyue’s cheeks, pulling them. Lin Xiyue suddenly grabbed her ear and gave it a rub.
Jiang Qingli flinched away. "Your hand is freezing."
"What are you talking about?" Lin Xiyue said with a sly grin. "It’s clearly your ears that are red."
Jiang Qingli froze.
Lin Xiyue leaned in, giggling as she blew on her ear. "Don’t tell me your little bunny isn’t just good at night, but also helps you out in the morning by—"
Jiang Qingli slapped a hand over her friend’s face. "If you say one more filthy thing like that, believe me, you’re not borrowing my notes to copy."
At that, Lin Xiyue panicked. "No, no! I’ll stop joking! Don’t be so cruel, my lady!"
After all, Jiang Qingli’s notes were personally guided, step-by-step, by the study god himself, senior Yuan Shimo.
With final exams next month, their whole friend group was counting on Yuan Shimo to highlight the key topics for Jiang Qingli, which they would then copy from her notes.
As the two of them were playfully wrestling in the hallway, footsteps sounded from behind.
Jiang Qingli turned to see Song Zhizhou and Jiang Youchen walking toward them.
Lin Xiyue was also intimidated by Jiang Youchen. Afraid he’d think she was a bad influence on Jiang Qingli, she snapped to attention and offered a polite greeting.
Jiang Qingli suddenly felt very awkward and stared down at the tips of her shoes.
She heard him respond with a murmur as his long legs slowly passed by in her peripheral vision.
A moment later, the two girls walked to the dining hall, arm in arm.
A strand of hair brushed against her ear, making it itch.
Jiang Qingli thought of what Lin Xiyue had done earlier and reached up to pinch her ear.
It was burning hot.
-
During breakfast, Lin Xiyue asked Jiang Qingli if she wanted to study together at the library next week when classes ended.
She heavily implied that they could invite Yuan Shimo along.
Jiang Qingli laughed. "You just want to piggyback on my tutor, don’t you?"
But Yuan Shimo had asked her a few days ago if she wanted him to help her study. Jiang Qingli opened her terminal, intending to ask if he minded adding two more people.
Just the other day, Ai Li had invited them to her vacation estate in the Second District for the holidays. If they failed their exams, they’d have to spend the break retaking them.
As Jiang Qingli opened her terminal, she noticed that the usually taciturn Ye Linyuan had sent her a message just after midnight. Curious, she opened it and saw three glaring words: [Today is Monday.]
Jiang Qingli was speechless. "..."
’Is this all that snake thinks about? Sending a message right after midnight!’
Jiang Qingli: [Got it, you pervy snake.]
Ye Linyuan: [Mm.]
He now tacitly accepted her using that nickname for him.
There was no helping it; it was the truth.
Jiang Qingli also replied to Qin Muye’s messages.
Qin Muye’s messages were mostly selfies and daily reports, but because his training was so busy, they were all sent during his lunch and evening breaks.
Every time she saw how well-behaved her little puppy was, Jiang Qingli’s heart would soften.
Que Feiling had sent a message not long ago: [Miss Jiang, good morning.]
[I’m almost at the Sixth District. I should be able to reach the Twelve Cities by Tuesday or Wednesday to meet up with my good buddy.]
Jiang Qingli noticed that Que Feiling seemed to really like mentioning this "good buddy" of his.
’They seem pretty close, huh?’
’I hope he and this good buddy don’t run into Qin Muye.’
’It’d be pretty tough for Qin Muye to take on both of them by himself.’
After replying to all her messages, Jiang Qingli sent one to Gu Nian, asking him what he wanted to eat.
Gu Nian didn’t respond.
"He must be exhausted from last night," Lin Xiyue said knowingly. "I get it. The day after our wedding, my Xiao Yan was so tired he could barely stand. Herbivore males just tend to be weaker."
Jiang Qingli thought to herself, ’If someone like Gu Nian is considered weak, then there’s no one strong left in the world...’
She figured he was still sleeping, so she got a serving of breakfast to-go to bring back to him.
But when she pushed open the door, she saw Gu Nian sitting on the edge of the sofa, his cheeks bulging.
The floor by the young man’s feet was littered with candy wrappers. He was struggling to chew and swallow the candy, his expression filled with pain.
His senses seemed to have become dull; he didn’t even notice Jiang Qingli come in.
It wasn’t until Jiang Qingli was standing right in front of him that he abruptly looked up.
After a few seconds of stunned silence, Gu Nian’s first instinct was to use the tip of his shoe to kick the wrappers aside.
But it was too late.
Jiang Qingli’s brow furrowed. She grabbed his chin, forcing him to look her directly in the eye.
She asked, enunciating each word, "What exactly are the ingredients in this candy?"
