So many people pursuing her

Just as he had told Zhao Li, he really had only asked Wen Ce to show him around campus. After all, Wen Ce wasn't responsible for any of this.

The main reason he had come to explain the situation to Wen Ce this time was that Uncle Chou was worried Wen Ce might have some connection with the other party, so he had asked Zhao Li to stop by and tell him.

Although Wen Ce had always been well protected, Uncle Chou treasured him like the apple of his eye, so he always kept a close watch, afraid something unexpected might happen.

When Zhao Li said goodbye to Wen Ce, he still sounded a little sour. "Feels like you're Uncle Chou's biological son, and the rest of us are adopted."

Wen Ce glanced up at him. "Probably because I cause less trouble."

Zhao Li coughed guiltily.

Then he felt his phone vibrate. Wen Ce waved. "Sent you the good takeout places nearby. I'm off."

"Hey," Zhao Li called. "You're not buying me lunch?"

"You don't have time anyway, and I'm going home to cook." With that, Wen Ce left.

Zhao Li let out a speechless "Fuck." That made so much sense. Takeout was all he deserved.

Wen Ce checked the time. It was still early; he could go to the supermarket for some ingredients.

He opened WeChat. There were quite a few messages he hadn't replied to, along with a new friend request.

Wen Ce checked the messages first. They were all from Qin Yanran, leaving him a little helpless.

He wasn't stupid. Of course he knew Qin Yanran was interested in him, but unlike the girls before her, she hadn't confessed or dropped hints.

She never said anything, just offered a word or two of concern now and then. Wen Ce wanted to turn her down, but doing so felt as though he might be flattering himself.

Besides, apart from occasionally overstepping, Qin Yanran was usually a girl with a good sense of boundaries, and she wasn't particularly annoying.

The main thing was that Wen Ce had already rejected her many times, both openly and indirectly.

He didn't know whether the girl was just stubborn or what, but she kept acting as if nothing had happened.

So Wen Ce didn't reply to her messages and opened the new friend request instead.

It read: Luo Lianqing.

He paused, then accepted the request.

The screen displayed the system message saying they were now friends and could start chatting.

She didn't send a message, and Wen Ce didn't take the initiative either.

He just couldn't help tapping her profile picture. It was a cute little cat.

Only afterward did he realize that this behavior seemed a little inappropriate.

In the end, he turned off his screen, put his phone away, and went straight into the supermarket to buy ingredients.

This was the supermarket downstairs from their residential complex. It was usually busier in the morning, but there were actually very few people close to noon.

With so few people around, Wen Ce spotted Luo Lianqing checking out at a glance.

Really, running into each other when they lived in the same complex was perfectly normal.

But for some reason, Wen Ce felt a little guilty.

At that moment, Luo Lianqing keenly raised her head and looked over.

Him again?

For a moment, she didn't know what expression to make.

Luo Lianqing must have gone home already. She had changed into loungewear and let her hair down, casually slipped on a pair of white sneakers, and removed her makeup, making her look a little more fresh and innocent.

Wen Ce's Adam's apple bobbed, but he still chose to walk over.

He went to the self-checkout beside Luo Lianqing.

He wondered whether other people had experienced this: running into someone they didn't know very well and wanting to avoid them, only for that person to spot them.

They hadn't wanted to say hello, but now they had no choice but to smile and greet them. It was painfully awkward.

"Tea-" Wen Ce had barely started when Luo Lianqing interrupted him. "I'd rather you called me senior. Makes me sound less old."

As she spoke, she glanced at Wen Ce's shopping cart and was a little surprised to see the ingredients. "You can cook?"

Her tone sounded quite natural, but Luo Lianqing's heart was actually beating a little fast. It was all an act.

Mostly, she wanted what had happened before to be completely behind them, so getting awkward every time wouldn't do.

Just act as naturally as possible, and everything will be fine!

Just ordinary neighbors! An ordinary teacher and student! An ordinary senior and junior!

Luo Lianqing's gaze flickered, and she felt a little conflicted. When she put it that way, their relationship was rather complicated...

Seeing how natural she seemed, Wen Ce actually felt relieved. "Yes, I can cook."

He deftly began checking out. Luo Lianqing had already bagged her purchases, and Wen Ce glanced over. Yogurt, snacks, and the like made up more than half.

"I'll head off, then. Bye." Luo Lianqing gave a slight nod.

Wen Ce nodded too and took out his phone. "Bye."

But as Luo Lianqing walked past, she happened to see him unlock his phone, and there was her profile picture, enlarged on the screen.

Wen Ce froze, and Luo Lianqing's steps faltered.

The air seemed filled with awkwardness.

Finally, Wen Ce heard Luo Lianqing's footsteps receding.

He lowered his head and looked at his phone, his expression unreadable.

At last, he exhaled and opened his WeChat wallet. Just social death. It's fine. We barely know each other anyway.

In the end, Wen Ce picked up his purchases and left with a blank expression.

Luo Lianqing walked out of the supermarket, returned to the complex, and stepped into the elevator.

She was alone in the elevator. Taking out her phone, she opened her WeChat profile picture. Good. It was her cat, nothing strange.

It was no exaggeration to say that after suffering social death in front of Wen Ce so many times, she had developed something of a conditioned reflex. She had almost thought there was something in her profile picture that would cause another social death.

She opened her Moments too. Good. Nothing strange there.

Only after checking did she belatedly realize she was being a little too nervous.

At the same time, she was somewhat baffled by how, spurred on by Wen Ce running away the moment he saw her at school earlier, she had actually added him on WeChat.

Luo Lianqing's face was full of frustration and a little flushed. "Is there something wrong with you? Wasn't it awkward enough already?"

The elevator arrived, and she sighed as she stepped out. It was fine. They didn't see each other often anyway.

Besides, judging by Wen Ce's reaction, he didn't want to see her often either. That was good.

And so, Wen Ce found that after he and Luo Lianqing added each other, they neither saw each other nor had any contact.

By the time he noticed, a week had already passed.

It was when Lin Fan complained to him. "Wen, our counselor is so hard to add! Even after she accepts, you can't see her Moments. So aloof."

Wen Ce was filling out a form at the time. They had a basketball game against another department in a couple of days, and Lin Fan had dragged him into participating.

Hearing Lin Fan's words, Wen Ce finally remembered that Luo Lianqing seemed to have posted on Moments a few days ago.

Seeing no response from him, Lin Fan didn't expect one. He lowered his voice and said, "Listen, remember Zhou Chi from our class? Apparently, he's pursuing our counselor."

Only then did Wen Ce look up at him. "The university allows teacher-student relationships?"

"That doesn't really count as a teacher-student relationship. Luo Lianqing's only filling in for one semester. Essentially, she's our senior, right?" Lin Fan thought for a moment, then said, "She has loads of people pursuing her. I also know she didn't do her undergraduate degree here. No idea why she came to our university for graduate school."