Was He Really Overthinking It?

Wen Ce stayed in the dorm here for a night, then went back early the next morning.

He even woke Zhao Li up to drive him back, since he couldn't get a cab.

Zhao Li looked speechless but couldn't contain his curiosity. "Seriously, tell me, when did you meet this girl who made your heart flutter? A shut-in like you can actually make female friends?"

Wen Ce glanced at him and sighed. "Zhao Li, that jealous look on your face is really ugly."

Zhao Li: (*￣︶￣) Until I'm no longer single, I'm jealous of everyone who has a partner, thank you very much.

"How am I ugly?" Zhao Li gave a dry laugh and deliberately said in a sour tone, "Just because you like her doesn't mean she likes you back."

Wen Ce thought of Luo Lianqing, of those clumsy, obvious touches. "I feel like she probably likes me."

"One of life's three great illusions: she likes me!" Zhao Li glanced at him in the rearview mirror. "It's really easy for that to be an illusion. Because you like her, you blow certain meaningless gestures out of proportion, you know?"

At those words, a rare look of hesitation appeared on Wen Ce's face. "Really?"

He was very smart, but only when it came to IQ.

In his twenty-one years of life, he had never met anyone he liked, let alone dated anyone, so Zhao Li's words left him a little uncertain.

Zhao Li sighed. "I'm not trying to dampen your enthusiasm, but with my first love, I thought she liked me. We were friends, and when I confessed, she didn't turn me down. Then, after we'd been together for over a year, she apologized and said she really didn't feel anything. She hadn't rejected me because she didn't want to lose me as a friend. Fuck, it was such bullshit. Before that, I'd always thought we liked each other."

Wen Ce: ...Great, that situation was a lot like his current one.

He suddenly wanted a cigarette.

After saying that, Zhao Li saw Wen Ce silently looking out the window and asked quietly, "So, you two are friends too, huh?"

Wen Ce glanced at him. "Obviously. Would I fall for a stranger?"

"Who knows? You're such a shut-in, I'd even believe you if you said you were dating someone online," Zhao Li said without thinking.

Afterward, he glanced at Wen Ce again and felt he had withdrawn even further into his shell, so he said quietly, "Well, you could test the waters. Actually, you could just confess. Worst case, you stop being friends. It's just that I'd be worried about you ending up in the situation I was in. That really sucked."

Wen Ce was speechless. "You'd have been better off not giving that advice."

A little while after saying that, he asked, "How should I test the waters?"

After asking, he felt Zhao Li wasn't a reliable person to ask either. "Forget it. I'll just search Baidu myself."

"What can Baidu do besides push ads at you?" Zhao Li protested. "I might not have loads of relationship experience, but at least I've dated someone."

"Oh, you mean that first love who thought of you as a friend?" Wen Ce's "oh" was cold.

Zhao Li: If I talk to you again, I'm a dog.

Wen Ce picked up his phone and opened the browser, but after remembering that unreliable answer from last time, he gave up.

He breathed out. He had thought Luo Lianqing treated him differently, but he felt there was some sense in what Zhao Li had just said.

He didn't have any other romantic experience to use as a reference, either.

Besides, he suddenly remembered Luo Lianqing saying she had never liked anyone of the opposite sex, or anyone of the same sex.

She had even said she was a non-marriage advocate.

Wen Ce suddenly began to wonder whether he really had been overthinking it.

As he was thinking, his phone vibrated. He opened it and saw a new friend request, with a name on it: Zhou Chi.

Wen Ce rejected it without expression.

Back in his school dorm, Zhou Chi: ??? What's with this guy?

He clicked his tongue and asked, "Which of you has Wen Ce on WeChat?"

The roommate beside him said, "I do. Why?"

"Why did he reject me?" Zhou Chi was a little speechless. A flyer for a five-school campus basketball tournament lay on his desk.

He had only seen it that morning, and the prize money was as high as 250,000. Although Zhou Chi was a young master, who would complain about having more money?

The format allowed players to form their own teams. Zhou Chi had arranged it with a few friends, only to discover they were one person short, and he thought of Wen Ce.

Credit where credit was due, that guy really was good.

So Zhou Chi had sent Wen Ce a friend request through the class group chat, only for him to reject it outright.

Somewhat speechless, Zhou Chi sent another friend request, writing, [I'm not pestering Teacher Luo anymore. I gave up ages ago!]

Then, as his roommate said in surprise, "No, he accepted as soon as I added him," he was rejected again.

Zhou Chi: ...Great, he was being singled out.

Meanwhile, Wen Ce had no idea what had gotten into Zhou Chi or why he was trying to add him.

Whatever it was, he wasn't interested in the slightest.

He didn't have many contacts on WeChat, and he barely chatted with any of them.

Other than occasionally exchanging a few words with Lin Fan.

The person he chatted with most was actually Luo Lianqing, whom he had only met this semester.

It was strange, really. They hadn't known each other long, but their conversations seemed to have never stopped.

Mostly because of Luo Lianqing. There was never an awkward silence.

And based on the time they had spent together lately, Wen Ce was certain Luo Lianqing acted this way because he was her "friend."

Everything hinged on him being a friend. Once he wasn't anymore...

He figured he would be like the other students or her suitors, only ever receiving polite and courteous replies.

The thought made Wen Ce even more hesitant.

Fuck, thinking about it this way, maybe Luo Lianqing really did just see her as an ordinary friend!

Zhao Li snuck a glance at Wen Ce through the rearview mirror and noticed his expression growing uglier and uglier.

He felt a little regretful. Had he spoken too absolutely?

He opened his mouth, about to offer some comfort. "Look, Ce, sometimes..."

"Just shut up, or you won't get a single bite to eat." Wen Ce let out a long sigh. What an aggravating friend.

Zhao Li shut up, feeling a little aggrieved. He hadn't done anything.

Knowing Wen Ce was coming back today put Luo Lianqing in a very good mood, but she had a class meeting first thing in the morning and had to dutifully attend. Her advisor had also asked them to come by.

When she arrived at her advisor's office, she heard several senior students discussing something quietly. "Why did that old professor suddenly resign? My friend was one of his students and said there hadn't been any warning. When he didn't come in a couple of days ago, they thought he wasn't feeling well."

Luo Lianqing caught a little of their conversation and realized they were talking about an elderly professor in the biology department whom she had seen just last month.

He had looked quite healthy and had been all smiles.

Yet he had suddenly resigned over the past few days, supposedly because he was unwell.

He was an elderly professor who had been rehired after retirement anyway, so although everyone was a little curious about that explanation, they didn't think much of it.

They treated it as a passing topic and moved on.

One of the female seniors noticed her, however, and called out with a smile, "Luoluo."

Luo Lianqing smiled and greeted them.

The senior came over and asked quietly, "Luoluo, I'm really curious. Who's that boyfriend they're talking about on their school forum?"