The more he thought about it, the more he felt like a complete fool.
The occasional glances from those around him seemed to be laughing at him.
No.
He couldn't just let this go.
Even if he really had been played, he had to get to the bottom of it.
Wang Xiaoliang clenched his fists, the resentment in his heart overpowering all his shame and fear.
He headed straight through the entrance of the Women's Dormitory.
As soon as he stepped inside, a mixture of shampoos, shower gels, and a faint musty smell hit him.
The lobby was a little busier than outside.
He immediately spotted several guys crowding around the dorm supervisor's little window.
They all looked anxious, holding either flowers or beautifully wrapped gift boxes.
Wang Xiaoliang paused, then realized what was going on.
He found an inconspicuous corner and stood there, quietly watching.
He heard a tall, handsome guy say something to the dorm supervisor inside, smiling ingratiatingly as he passed her a drink.
A moment later, the old-fashioned loudspeaker above the lobby crackled twice, and a somewhat impatient woman's voice rang through the space.
"Chen Xiaoying in Room 303, someone's downstairs to see you!"
The call echoed through the spacious lobby, with a roughness peculiar to a bygone era.
Wang Xiaoliang was puzzled.
What century was this? Why were they still using such an outdated way of calling people down?
Were phones just for decoration? Or breathing into?
But then he reconsidered. Looking at the gifts in those guys' hands and their nervous, almost fearful expressions, perhaps they didn't even have their crushes' phone numbers.
Or perhaps they couldn't reach them by phone and had resorted to this.
Before long, footsteps sounded from the stairwell, and a pretty, carefully dressed girl came clattering down.
She looked at the handsome guy holding the gift box and gave him an apologetic smile.
"Oh, sorry! My phone ran out of battery and shut itself off. I didn't even notice."
The handsome guy shook his head, and the two walked out of the dorm building hand in hand, looking blissfully happy.
Wang Xiaoliang watched them leave, a jumble of emotions stirring inside him.
Immediately afterward, another guy approached the window.
The loudspeaker sounded again.
"Liu Hongyan in Room 215, someone's downstairs to see you!"
This time, the girl who came down said nothing when she saw the guy. She merely gave him a cold glance, turned around, and went clattering straight back upstairs.
She left him rooted to the spot with a bouquet in his arms, as awkward and motionless as a weathered stone statue.
Whether they were a couple having a spat or he was a hopeless, lovesick simp was anyone's guess.
Wang Xiaoliang understood now.
So this was an option too.
A spark rekindled the hope that had died inside him.
He followed their example.
Mustering his courage, he approached the little window too.
A plump, middle-aged woman sat inside, knitting with her head lowered, impatience written all over her face.
Wang Xiaoliang tried to keep his voice calm.
"Ma'am, sorry for the trouble. Could you call a student down for me?"
Without even looking up, the woman grunted out a reply.
"Name and room number."
"Wei Zijin," Wang Xiaoliang said softly. "Her room number... I don't know."
At the name Wei Zijin, the plump woman finally raised her head, her little eyes looking Wang Xiaoliang over.
She took in his new clothes, his new shoes, and his face, which was stiff with nerves.
She seemed to understand something. Without asking any more questions, she picked up the microphone beside her and called into it.
"Wei Zijin in Room 303, someone's downstairs to see you."
Room 303.
She shared a room with that Chen Xiaoying from earlier, so they must have gone to Hongbin Tower.
Once the announcement ended, the lobby fell quiet again.
Wang Xiaoliang stepped aside, pressing his back firmly against the cool wall as though it could give him some support.
His entire attention was focused on the one and only stairwell.
Time became unbearably slow.
Every passing second felt like torture in a vat of boiling oil.
Girls kept going up and down the stairs, but none of them was the person he was waiting for.
Every time someone else came down, his heart sank a little further.
With every minute that passed, Wang Xiaoliang grew more convinced that he had been played.
The thought that this was a prank once again took over his mind.
Perhaps Wei Zijin and her roommates were in Room 303 right now, talking about what a fool he was and laughing themselves silly.
They might even be making bets.
"Think that big idiot's still waiting?"
"Of course he is. Just look at him. He's like a wooden post."
"Hahaha! Should we go down and tell him our Zijin doesn't feel like seeing him today?"
Shame crashed over him in waves, making him want to turn around and flee at once.
Yet his feet felt weighted with lead, unable to move.
He kept waiting.
Waiting for the final verdict.
Just as he was about to give up and accept this utterly humiliating outcome, the light at the stairwell seemed to shift.
A familiar figure appeared at the turn of the stairs.
It was her.
Wei Zijin.
She wore a simple, elegant white dress, her long hair falling over her shoulders. Her delicate, subtle makeup gave her beauty a maturity he didn't usually see.
As she descended, she looked toward him with a faint, apologetic smile.
Wang Xiaoliang felt his breathing stop in that instant.
The whole world, all its noise and all the people coming and going, blurred into the background.
Only she remained, emerging from light and shadow, each clear step landing on the beat of his heart.
"Sorry, I was doing my makeup. My roommate was sleeping earlier, so I put my phone on silent and didn't hear it."
She stopped in front of him, tilting her head slightly, her voice sweet and clear.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
Wang Xiaoliang stared blankly at her, his mind completely empty.
All the humiliation, anger, and resentment that had been raging through his head just minutes earlier vanished with one smile and a few words from her.
He opened his mouth but found himself unable to say anything. In the end, he merely shook his head vigorously.
They left the dorm building side by side and headed toward Hongbin Tower by the campus gates.
The evening light on campus was soft, the breeze gentle.
Yet Wang Xiaoliang felt uncomfortable all over.
Neither of them spoke along the way.
Silence spread between them like a thin film of awkwardness.
He felt he had to say something to break it.
But when the words reached his lips, he didn't know where to begin.
He stole a glance at Wei Zijin beside him. Her profile was as beautiful as a painting in the sunset.
In a moment of impulse, Wang Xiaoliang blurted out the most clichéd line imaginable.
"You look... really pretty today."
The moment he said it, he wanted to crawl into a hole.
What kind of opening line was that? So awkward. So corny.
Wei Zijin seemed momentarily taken aback too, then burst into a little laugh and turned to look at him earnestly.
"Thank you."
After saying that, she looked Wang Xiaoliang up and down.
"You look very handsome today too."
That simple sentence instantly dispelled all of Wang Xiaoliang's embarrassment.
He felt his taut nerves relax at once, leaving him considerably more at ease.
He scratched his head and laughed along with her, making a slightly self-deprecating joke.
"Then how about we skip every other topic tonight and just keep complimenting each other? That sounds pretty good too."
Wei Zijin's smile deepened, and she lifted a finger to point playfully at him.
"I told you you were a smooth talker. You wouldn't admit it last time."
Hongbin Tower's golden sign came into view in the distance.
The closer they got, the faster Wang Xiaoliang's heart beat.
Her three roommates were sitting inside. It would be an entirely new, unknown "battlefield."
His palms began to sweat, and his steps grew unsteady.
The moment he entered Hongbin Tower's revolving door, his nerves reached their peak.
Just then, a small, soft, warm hand suddenly took his cold one.
It was Wei Zijin.
She had taken his hand.
She tilted her face up and gave him a radiant smile with a hint of mischief.
"Don't be nervous."
Her voice was so low that only the two of them could hear.
"If we're putting on an act, we might as well go all the way."
Wang Xiaoliang nodded dazedly, letting her hold his hand.
But the instant he nodded, he distinctly felt that Wei Zijin's hand around his was also covered in a fine sheen of sweat.
She was nervous too.
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