Fine, thanks for gracing me with your presence, little princess

Some refusals could only be spoken once.

Jiang Lan had actually thought afterward that if Wen Zhiyan had asked for his contact information in a different tone the first time, or if he had said a little more back then...

As an alpha with normal aesthetic tastes and plenty of hot blood, Jiang Lan probably would not have turned Wen Zhiyan down so decisively.

As for whether anything would have happened after they exchanged contact information, Jiang Lan had never thought about that. In any case, he certainly would not have gone out of his way to get involved with Wen Zhiyan back then.

But now, more than a month later, when Wen Zhiyan asked the same question again, Jiang Lan suddenly felt something strange.

It was as though two moments in time had overlapped, yet also as though everything familiar had changed.

He took out his phone, about to say, "Fine, thanks for gracing me with your presence, little princess."

But when he looked down, he discovered that his phone had run out of battery and shut down at some point.

He showed Wen Zhiyan the black screen.

"It's dead. I'll tell you my number. Add me."

Wen Zhiyan nodded, but did not move.

Jiang Lan looked at him. "What are you waiting for?"

Wen Zhiyan raised his eyes to Jiang Lan. "For you to tell me your number."

"Aren't you going to use your phone to save it?" Jiang Lan raised his eyebrows.

Wen Zhiyan shook his head. "My phone's dead too. Go ahead. I can remember it."

An eleven-digit number was actually easy for Jiang Lan to remember too.

Any student who had fought their way through the fierce competition to get into S University would definitely have a good memory, regardless of their IQ.

Yet at that moment, Jiang Lan instinctively worried that Wen Zhiyan would not remember his number.

He said, "Why don't you give me yours? I'll add you when I get back."

Wen Zhiyan pressed his lips together and fell briefly silent.

It was not because he did not want to tell Jiang Lan, but because after his bank card had been frozen, he had simply cut off contact with his family and changed his number.

At the time, apart from updating the number linked to a few apps, he had never intended to exchange contact information with anyone.

At least for now, more than a month into university, he still had not learned who all his classmates were. Of his three roommates, he had only added the dorm leader by scanning his QR code.

In any case, he never troubled anyone else when something came up, and the dorm leader had added him to both the class and dorm group chats.

Any important matters would naturally be announced in the groups.

So he had unconsciously overlooked the matter, and even now, he could not quite remember whether the last four digits of his new number were 6730 or 3760.

He was afraid that if he gave the wrong number, Jiang Lan would not be able to add him later.

So after thinking it over, he said frankly:

"I just changed my number. I haven't memorized it."

At that, Jiang Lan was briefly speechless. He asked skeptically, "You haven't even memorized your own, but you can remember mine?"

Wen Zhiyan nodded. "Don't worry. I can remember it."

Although Jiang Lan was doubtful, there was no other option at that point.

He could only recite his number three times in a strong, clear voice, enunciating every digit.

Wen Zhiyan said, "You sound like you're playing a listening comprehension question."

Jiang Lan asked him, "Got it?"

Wen Zhiyan hummed an affirmative.

"If you haven't, I can say it another couple of times," Jiang Lan said.

Wen Zhiyan took a deep breath and waved him away.

"Go on. You're taking forever. I'm dead tired."

Despite his words, he stood at the dorm entrance and watched until Jiang Lan was out of sight before slowly turning and heading upstairs.

The first thing Jiang Lan did when he returned to his room was charge his phone.

Fortunately, he had no classes that morning, so he did not have to go to the trouble of contacting his counselor to ask for leave.

S University had private bathrooms where students could shower, but hot water was not available around the clock. It was supplied during three periods: morning, noon, and evening.

Jiang Lan had just missed the morning supply period. He stripped, took a quick cold shower, then changed into shorts and came out of the bathroom bare-chested, drying his hair as he walked.

He was just about to climb into bed to catch up on sleep when Lang Yu poked his head out from across the room, his hair a bird's nest and his eyes bleary.

"Made up with your little junior?"

Jiang Lan could no longer be bothered to explain.

Giving up, he said, "No."

Lang Yu instantly woke up at that. "You haven't, and you stayed out all night? What a scumbag."

Jiang Lan tried to clarify. "Something happened to him last night. I went to the police station with him."

Lang Yu frowned. "You spent all night at the police station?"

Jiang Lan climbed into bed. "No. We went hiking."

Lang Yu did not believe him. "Stop lying. What decent alpha stays out in the middle of the night to take an omega hiking?"

Jiang Lan did not care what people thought of him, but he did not want them imagining whatever they pleased about Wen Zhiyan.

"I said we went hiking, so we went hiking. We went to watch the sunrise. Gou-ge, don't spout nonsense and spread rumors about an omega."

There was nothing wrong with Jiang Lan's character. He did not usually make jokes about omegas, nor did he ever brag to them about the omegas who had pursued him.

Seeing how serious Jiang Lan was, Lang Yu more or less believed him.

But his appetite for gossip still burned fiercely.

The fact that it involved his good friend and roommate was only part of it. More importantly, Wen Zhiyan had already become famous in the short month since he had enrolled.

"Fine, fine, no rumors. If you say nothing happened, then nothing happened. But as your buddy, I have to remind you of something, Lan-ge."

"You two lovebirds shouldn't keep squabbling. Your guy's gorgeous, and he's in high demand. When it's time to soothe him, swallow your pride and do it. Plenty of people out there have their eyes on him. If he runs off with someone else, you'll be crying."

Lying in bed with just a corner of the blanket over him and his long, smoothly contoured legs exposed, Jiang Lan paused in the act of turning on his phone and looked at Lang Yu.

"Who's got their eyes on him?"

Lang Yu took out his phone, found a post on the campus forum, and held it up for Jiang Lan to see.

"See this? This post went up yesterday morning and blew up in a single day. Last night, when Xiao Fei and I went to play ball, we even heard some people from the physical education department making bets. One of them had the nerve to claim he'd win this omega over in a week."

Jiang Lan had good eyesight, but from that far away, he could barely make out two photos on Lang Yu's phone screen.

He was about to reach out and snatch Lang Yu's phone, but after a moment's thought, he changed his mind.

"Send me the link."