After the Lantern Festival ended, they changed back into their regular clothes, packed their costumes into bags, and headed back.
Xia Tao exchanged contact information with Shen Guoguo so they could share photos later, then hurried off.
All she wanted now was to get home, hug her blanket, and sleep like the dead.
Today had been exhausting.
The group strolled through the streets of Yanjing, the streetlights stretching their shadows long across the ground.
What time was it now?
Jiang Linyuan didn't check his phone, so he wasn't sure. All he knew was that snow was falling on the flagstones, Su Muzhi was skipping along while holding his hand, and Shen Wanyu and Shen Guoguo were walking ahead without looking back.
Ever since the Lantern Festival ended, the Department Head seemed unwilling to talk to me.
"Did I mess things up? Heh."
Su Muzhi's voice held a laugh. She deliberately leaned her face in front of Jiang Linyuan's, wanting to see his expression.
"Actually, it doesn't have much to do with you, Little Su."
Jiang Linyuan glanced up at the girl in front of him, whose lips were curved in a smile and whose eyes glimmered faintly, then continued walking.
"Oh..."
Su Muzhi drew out the word, her eyes narrowing again.
"Looks like you don't like Shen Wanyu all that much after all."
"How did you come to that conclusion?"
"By rights, if you really liked her, you should be mad at me."
"What rights? What could a self-deluding romantic like you know about love?"
Jiang Linyuan said irritably.
"At the very least, I think if someone you like hates you, you'd feel miserable. Especially if it was because someone else got in the way—you'd take it out on them, wouldn't you?"
Su Muzhi wore the seductive, foxlike expression of