A single encounter

When the elevator opened, the people inside stepped out, and the people outside stepped in.

Someone caught Yao Tao by the arm.

Yao Tao had drunk the hangover soup. Although she was a little dizzy, it wasn't the kind of dizziness that felt lethal.

She had drunk fruit wine and thrown up food, so her head wasn't nearly as muddled as someone suffering from a real hangover.

Yao Tao raised an eyebrow at the person holding her. She hadn't known until she looked, and the sight gave her a fright.

Literally.

It was Fu Xin.

"You..." Fu Xin looked at Yao Tao in surprise. "I remember you."

Yao Tao was surprised too. The esteemed female lead actually remembered her!

"Hello, Fu Xin." Yao Tao pulled her arm free as she greeted her.

Fu Xin looked awful. She spoke with some urgency. "Do you live here too?"

Yao Tao watched her flustered expression. She's really panicking. What's she panicking about? Is it because her simp is gone!?!

So she's here to find He Zhen!

It dawned on Yao Tao. Oh, right. This romantic showdown isn't over yet.

Although He Zhen had ended up like a drowned dog, he had received a call from Fu Xin that evening. Fu Xin and Qin Zhen had gotten into another huge argument at the hospital, and Fu Xin had gone to find He Zhen.

But yesterday, He Zhen and Yao Tao had done this and that together!

Yao Tao wanted to savor the memory, but unfortunately, her mind had blacked out.

Sorry, I can't dredge up even the tiniest scrap of a memory.

"Sorry, Fu Xin." Yao Tao certainly wasn't going to give her an answer. "I've got something to do, so I'll be going."

I'm not Fu Xin's simp. Bye-bye!

Fu Xin looked as though she wanted to say something, but held back, staring at Yao Tao as the elevator doors closed and she headed down.

Once the elevator doors shut, Yao Tao dropped the act.

She rolled her eyes and looked at her phone.

Zeng Rou had already added her to the gossip group.

The group was buzzing. Her phone had been chiming and vibrating nonstop in her hand.

Yao Tao skimmed through it. Everyone in the gossip group was talking over one another, and there wasn't any fresh gossip.

But it was still enough to make Yao Tao happy.

Fu Xin stood outside He Zhen's door, hesitating.

She pressed her lips together and was just about to knock when the door opened from inside.

"That girl's so forgetful. Take it to her when school starts!" Aunt Zhang had just finished speaking when she spotted Fu Xin's deathly pale face outside the door. She jumped in fright. "Oh, Miss Fu."

As far as Aunt Zhang remembered, Fu Xin only ever came when she needed something.

Every time she came, He Zhen was happier than anyone.

"Aunt Zhang." Fu Xin greeted her weakly. "I'm here to see Zhen."

"Oh," Aunt Zhang said. "Xiao He, Miss Fu is here."

Aunt Zhang found it rather strange. Normally, whenever Fu Xin arrived, He Zhen came running faster than anyone. Why wasn't he reacting today?

He Zhen's head was full of the nonsense Yao Tao had left behind. She had left a hair clip on the sofa, all glittery and sparkling, and for some inexplicable reason, it had made him think of her eyes.

Whenever he thought of Yao Tao, He Zhen's mind began to go fuzzy, filling with all sorts of nonsense.

He Zhen felt he ought to see a doctor that afternoon.

He had only been around Yao Tao for two days, and he already felt like he was becoming as messed up as she was!

"Xiao He?" Aunt Zhang chuckled when she saw him holding Yao Tao's hair clip. "Xiao He, Miss Fu is here."

Only then did He Zhen come back to his senses.

But the first thing he said was, "What's she doing here?"

His voice held none of its usual excitement or anticipation.

It was a questioning response.

Wasn't she hospitalized after falling into the water?

He Zhen had called Fu Xin's parents to keep her company. Why wasn't she staying put at the hospital?

"Zhen..." Fu Xin came inside, her eyes red. "What's wrong?"

He Zhen put the hair clip in his pocket and looked at the utterly forlorn Fu Xin.

He couldn't quite understand it. Fu Xin didn't look like someone who had fallen into the water.

She looked as though she had some terminal illness.

"How did you end up like this?" He Zhen couldn't understand.

Fu Xin ran over, trying to throw herself into his arms.

Just as the tears in her eyes were about to fall, He Zhen stepped aside.

He stuffed a cushion into Fu Xin's arms. "Calm down. Sit down first."

"Aunt Zhang, could you get Fu Xin a glass of water?" He Zhen felt that something was off with Fu Xin's mental state.

Aunt Zhang had gone from shock to surprise to sheer joy. The boy she had watched grow up was finally thinking straight!

He had even learned to turn Fu Xin away when she threw herself at him!

Even the way he addressed her had changed!!!

"Of course." Aunt Zhang wasn't leaving anymore. She was staying to help Yao Tao keep an eye on He Zhen.

"Zhen?" Unlike Aunt Zhang, Fu Xin looked utterly bewildered. He Zhen had actually pushed her away.

Not only that, he had called her by her full name.

Fu Xin thought of that glittering hair clip.

She had her answer, and the tears swirled even more fiercely in her eyes. "Are you angry with me?"

"We grew up together."

"Do you know what happened yesterday?"

"Zhen, I'm so scared all on my own."

In the end, He Zhen couldn't be too cold toward Fu Xin. But after listening to her talk about herself for half an hour, then plaintively ask why he hadn't come to keep her company and had called her parents instead, his feelings for her instantly diminished.

"Wasn't Liang Zhizhi with you?"

"Wasn't Qin Zhen with you?"

"And that younger student?"

He Zhen felt he was being somewhat irrational, but his emotions wouldn't obey him.

The hair clip in his pocket poked his thigh as he moved.

He Zhen touched the hair clip, and his unraveling emotions settled a little.

Across from him, Fu Xin's eyes widened. "Th-they're different from you."

"Zhen, are you angry because I couldn't make a choice?"

"I'm sorry I kept wavering before."

"Qin Zhen is like the blazing sun. His feelings are passionate and bold. I... I didn't know what to do at the time."

"But I've figured it out. Too many people like Qin Zhen."

"It's so scary."

"And he's been betrothed since childhood, but he never told me."

"When his fiancée was looking at me yesterday, I felt awful."

"And then there are that younger student's fan clubs. I've only met him a few times, but those girls cornered me and Zhizhi, while Qin Zhen was busy with his fiancée."

"Zhen..."

"I..."

He Zhen didn't want to hear any more.

"Fu Xin, do I have no self-respect?" After listening to her pour it all out, impatience had crept onto He Zhen's face.

So I'm her last resort.

The moment she discovered problems with Qin Zhen, she turned to me.

Do I really have no self-respect?

Am I supposed to catch Fu Xin the moment she comes running?

"?" It was the first time Fu Xin had ever seen He Zhen look impatient with her, and for once, panic rose inside her.

Not He Zhen. I can't lose him.

The thought was stubborn and strange.

"Sorry." He Zhen knew he had lost his composure. "I'm not feeling myself today."

"Because you spent all night taking care of Yao Tao?" Fu Xin asked slowly, her tone faintly accusatory.

He Zhen laughed. "So?"

Fu Xin thought for a moment. "I don't mind that you spent all night taking care of another girl, so can you understand why I didn't turn Qin Zhen down?"

"We're even."

"Don't be angry with me anymore. I want to be with you."