Gu Chenxi had only managed to build up a tiny bit of favorable impression in Kong Liu's heart with great difficulty, and a single phone call this morning completely wiped it out.
Kong Liu speechlessly hung up, conveniently turned off his phone, and went back to sleep.
Yet he seemed to underestimate Gu Chenxi. Originally, he thought that once she couldn't get through, she wouldn't continue to harass him, but reality did not go as he hoped.
Ten minutes later, Gu Chenxi actually dragged her best friend straight downstairs to the boys' dormitory.
Shen Xia was also somewhat baffled about what wind had possessed this young lady early in the morning. The moment she woke up, she urged Shen Xia to help find Kong Liu's contact information, and as soon as the call ended, she dragged her straight down to the boys' dormitory building.
Kong Liu's phone was turned off, and when Gu Chenxi couldn't reach him, she had almost wanted to forcefully break into the boys' dormitory.
Fortunately, Shen Xia stopped her, and then, using her status as vice president, Shen Xia found two male students from the student union to go up to Kong Liu's room and call him out.
Kong Liu was just drifting off to sleep when a round of knocking woke him up again. He sat up from his bed, looked at the other three guys in the room who were sleeping like logs and completely dead to the world, and had no choice but to get down and open the door himself.
Seeing two unfamiliar male students standing at the dormitory entrance, Kong Liu asked, "Who are you looking for?"
One of the boys asked politely, "Excuse me, is Senior Kong Liu in this dorm?"
Kong Liu frowned slightly, puzzled. "I am. What's up?"
The other boy immediately chimed in, "Senior Kong Liu, someone is looking for you downstairs."
"Tsk... This is never-ending, is it?"
Without even thinking, the person downstairs had to be Gu Chenxi.
With some annoyance, Kong Liu waved a hand and said, "Tell her I'm busy."
Kong Liu made to close the door as he spoke, but the doorknob was grabbed by the two boys.
They looked imploringly at Kong Liu and said, "Senior, if you don't go down, the two of us are going to get chewed out. Do us a favor, please."
"I..."
Kong Liu was about to curse, but looking at the two innocent junior students, his heart ultimately softened.
"Give me a minute."
Even though he really didn't want to go downstairs, Kong Liu still agreed.
Changing his clothes, Kong Liu followed the two juniors downstairs. From a distance, he spotted Gu Chenxi and Shen Xia standing at the entrance of the boys' dormitory, along with the dormitory manager auntie—who was keeping a hawk-eye guard to prevent them from storming the building—and a scattering of curious onlookers.
The dormitory manager had seen plenty of young couples making a scene downstairs over the years, but a pretty young girl like Gu Chenxi coming to cause a ruckus at the boys' dorm was truly a rare sight.
So she couldn't help wondering: which scoundrel of a man had broken the heart of such a pretty young thing, making her run all the way to the boys' dorm to trap him bright and early in the morning?
Before Kong Liu even reached the entrance, Gu Chenxi hurried over and demanded, "Sing to me!"
Under the strange gaze of the dormitory manager, Kong Liu smiled wryly at Gu Chenxi and said, "Young lady, I'm a living, breathing person and I'm not going to run away. Did you really have to drag me down here first thing in the morning just to sing?"
Gu Chenxi genuinely hadn't been in a rush originally. After all, she and Kong Liu were in the same class, seeing each other day in and day out, and every evening he even came to her house to tutor her younger sister. If she wanted to hear him sing, she could do it anytime.
Yet last night, she had that dream again, where the little boy kept singing "Bugs Flit" to her. So waking up with the dream's memories still vivid, she couldn't wait to find Kong Liu and verify whether he was truly the little boy who had saved her when she was young.
Now, looking at Kong Liu standing before her, Gu Chenxi froze, seeming to finally realize how uncomposed she had been.
After a moment of thought, she said, "Sing 'Bugs Flit' for me, and I'll treat you to breakfast."
"'Bugs Flit'?"
Kong Liu furrowed his brow slightly and retorted, "Why that song?"
Gu Chenxi gave an imperious wave of her hand. "Never mind why, just sing it."
Kong Liu glanced around the surroundings and asked, "Right here?"
Nodding, Gu Chenxi urged, "You sang on stage yesterday, didn't you? There are hardly any people here. Hurry up and sing."
"Fine, fine."
Too lazy to question further, Kong Liu cleared his throat and sang the requested "Bugs Flit".
["The dark, dark sky hangs low, followed by bright, bright stars..."]
Gu Chenxi closed her eyes and listened intently to the singing.
Though Shen Xia had no idea what kind of idol drama these two were acting out here so early in the morning, she dared not interrupt. She simply stood by as a quiet spectator, silently praising Kong Liu's pleasant singing voice in her heart.
By now, quite a few onlookers had already whipped out their phones to start recording videos. The video of Kong Liu singing "Bugs Flit" to Campus Belle Gu outside the boys' dorm early in the morning was promptly posted to the campus wall.
She was certain that before long, this video, much like the viral duet from the previous night, would become headline news at JiaoDa.
In just these few short days, Kong Liu and Gu Chenxi had almost become celebrities; eight out of ten campus headlines were about them.
Gu Chenxi listened very carefully as Kong Liu sang, trying hard to match his voice with the little boy's voice from her dream. At first, she felt they were very similar, but the more she listened, the less alike they seemed, until she grew completely confused herself. By the time Kong Liu finished singing, she was still lost in her own thoughts, failing to snap back to reality.
***
The Moon in the Water Is the Moon in the Sky
When Kong Liu sang "Dimples" last night, it really gave Gu Chenxi a familiar sense of reassurance. Yet today, when Kong Liu sang "Bugs Flit," she found his voice entirely unfamiliar.
She could not understand where things had gone wrong.
When she opened her eyes again and looked at Kong Liu standing before her, she calmed down and suddenly found her behavior today rather absurd.
Actually, her parents had sought out the investigating police officers back then to get the little boy's contact information, but the boy's records had vanished as if into thin air—even the police couldn't find them. Later, her family used personal connections to investigate, still with no results, and eventually the matter was dropped.
Someone even the police couldn't find, yet she had naively hoped to track him down purely by trusting her gut over a simple nursery rhyme. She felt her thoughts had been so foolish and rash.
"Clap, clap, clap, clap—"
Someone started applauding, and the surrounding onlookers joined in.
In the end, even the dormitory manager began to clap, saying, "The young man has a really nice voice. Why go and make your girlfriend angry?"
Hearing the manager's words, Kong Liu was left speechless, not knowing how to explain the situation at all.
With a disappointed look in her eyes, Gu Chenxi said to Kong Liu, "Open your payment code."
"Huh?"
Puzzled, Kong Liu nonetheless followed her instructions, turned his phone back on, and pulled up his payment code. Gu Chenxi directly transferred five hundred yuan to him.
"Thanks for the song, treat yourself to breakfast, sorry for the bother."
With that, Gu Chenxi grabbed Shen Xia's hand and left the scene, leaving Kong Liu holding his phone and staring blankly at their retreating figures.
"Unbelievable," Kong Liu muttered, slipping his phone into his pocket.
Having been woken up twice, there was no way he could fall back asleep. He decided to head to the cafeteria for breakfast.
Watching Gu Chenxi, whose mood had suddenly plummeted, Shen Xia asked with concern, "Xiaoxi, what's wrong?"
"Nothing."
Gu Chenxi pressed her lips together, shook her head, and lost herself in thought.
Truth be told, she felt rather lost at this moment.
Whether it was her online boyfriend or making Kong Liu sing, the root of it all was that in certain specific moments, they gave her a feeling of "reassurance."
Now, several vital questions lay before her:
"What I've been searching for all this time—is it an actual 'person' who saved me, or am I just looking for a psychological 'sense of reassurance'?"
"If Kong Liu really is the boy who saved me when I was young, would I like him? Of course I would!"
"So do I like him from the bottom of my heart, or simply because he saved me as a child, wrapping him in a life-saver's filter?"
"Besides, if I really do fall for Kong Liu, what does that make my online boyfriend?"
Gu Chenxi thus found herself caught in an inescapable whirlpool of doubt.
Returning to her dormitory, Gu Chenxi tidied up her things, grabbed the new cross-body bag her sister had given her along with her car keys, and, in her foul mood, decided to head home for a couple of days to clear her head.
As soon as she walked in, Gu Chenxi saw her younger sister sitting on the sofa playing video games.
In her bad mood, she decided to use her younger sister as a punching bag, reprimanding her: "Playing games again! Have you finished your homework?"
"Done ages ago! Big Brother Kong helped me finish it last night!"
Gu Chenxi's sister straightened her back, looking at her older sister with a confident, "I'm right and I'm not afraid of you" expression.
"Even if you finished, you're not allowed to play!"
Gu Chenxi tapped her sister on the head. "Playing games ruins your eyes."
She then snatched her phone away and continued playing that exact match herself.
To Gu Chenxi's surprise, despite being a high-tier player, she found it somewhat strenuous playing on her sister's account, and ultimately lost the match.
She asked, "You didn't even unlock ranked play, so why are your matched opponents so strong?"
Gu Chenxi's sister proudly lifted her chin. "Well of course! Big Brother Kong has been carrying me lately!"
"Kong Liu carries you in games?"
Hearing this, Gu Chenxi immediately frowned.
"Ah! No, I didn't mean that." Her sister slapped a hand over her mouth. Kong Liu had explicitly warned her not to mention to her older sister that he carried her in games, and she had just let it slip.
Looking suspiciously at her sister, Gu Chenxi exited the game's settlement screen and directly opened her profile to check her match history.
Her sister tried to snatch the phone back, but it was too late.
Upon looking, Gu Chenxi saw that her sister's recent history consisted entirely of duo queues. Just as anger flared up within her, she suddenly noticed something crucial.
The account ID of the person carrying her sister was actually named 【Don't Be Afraid I'm Here】.
"!?"
Staring at that familiar ID, Gu Chenxi suddenly widened her eyes and tapped on its profile page.
The next second, Gu Chenxi trembled all over: "This is Kong Liu's account?"
Seeing her older sister's reaction and assuming she was genuinely furious, Gu Chenxi's sister immediately lowered her head and said honestly, "Mm. Sister, please don't kick Brother Kong out. He only plays games with me after school..."
Even at a time like this, her sister was trying to intercede for Kong Liu, showing just how much she truly liked this older brother.
Yet Gu Chenxi could no longer register a single word. In her mind, the memories of her "online boyfriend," the "annoying male classmate," and the "little boy" from her childhood converged like three illusory bubbles coming together at last.
The illusory bubbles shattered the instant they merged, and the confusion in her heart vanished along with those bubbles, leaving a single figure standing amidst the fragments.
This time, she finally saw that person's face clearly!
Trembling uncontrollably with excitement, Gu Chenxi understood. She understood completely.
Perhaps this was what they called being too clever for one's own good!
Only now did she realize that the questions she had pondered that morning were entirely contradictory and nonexistent.
Because from beginning to end, she had loved the exact same person all along!
Returning the phone to her sister, Gu Chenxi said, "Don't worry, I won't chase him away. I finally found him after all this time—how could I possibly chase him away?"
"Mwah!"
Gu Chenxi planted a heavy kiss on her sister's forehead and declared, "Thank you, my good sister, Big Sis loves you to death."
With that, Gu Chenxi grabbed her phone, bolted out the door, slammed her foot on the accelerator of her Porsche, and sped straight back toward the school.
"Ah? Huh? What!?"
Left standing there with the kiss still fresh, Gu Chenxi's sister was in shock. Touching the spot where she had been kissed and watching the car's exhaust fumes, she muttered to herself, "Didn't she just get back here? Is my sister crazy, or am I?"
***
The Person Before You Is the One in Your Heart
Fearing that her sister might go to school to cause trouble for Kong Liu, she immediately sent him a message: "Big Brother Kong, my sister's gone crazy, you'd better hide from her today!"
Reading the message while studying in the library, Kong Liu was utterly bewildered. He slowly typed back a "?", but Gu Chenxi's sister did not reply.
Feeling a bit guilty, she didn't dare tell Kong Liu that their gaming sessions had been discovered by her sister, fearing that once he found out, he would stop carrying her in games, so she kept quiet.
Just as Kong Liu finished messaging her, another message popped up. It was sent by Gu Chenxi using her 【Xixi】 account: "Babe, why on earth are you so unwilling to meet me in person?"
Hesitating for a few seconds, Kong Liu replied: "Didn't I say it long ago? In real life I'm just a total loser, the exact kind of guy you hate. With guys chasing you, you can't look that bad—you wouldn't like a guy like me."
This was the most reasonable explanation he could come up with at the moment.
In truth, even Kong Liu himself didn't know why he was reluctant to confess their online relationship to Gu Chenxi...
Perhaps it was simply the fear of awkwardness. After all, the two of them still had to spend the remaining three years together in the same class, running into each other constantly—how awkward would that be?
Kong Liu's message went out, and a reply came back swiftly: "Let's meet up! Even if you're an ugly monster, I still like you!"
"Uh..."
Staring at Gu Chenxi's message, Kong Liu panicked. She was dead set on meeting him face-to-face.
After pondering carefully for a long while, Kong Liu typed back: "Babe, can we slow down a bit? Let's wait until I'm ready before we meet."
The other side immediately asked: "Why?"
Kong Liu continued typing: "I want to earn more money. Once I'm well-off, I'll meet you... You wouldn't want to fall for a guy who can't even afford the cab fare and meal costs on a date, would you?"
Kong Liu felt this was a brilliant excuse. As long as he kept claiming he had no money, she wouldn't press him to meet up in person.
If Gu Chenxi were to say something like, "I have money, I'll pay," Kong Liu was ready to immediately counter with, "I have my dignity, I don't live off women."
At worst, the two of them would have a fight, and the worst-case scenario would be mutual deletion—which was still better than a disastrous first meeting in real life.
Anyway, Kong Liu simply didn't believe Gu Chenxi could ever like him, especially recalling her cold attitude toward him that very morning—making him even more firmly convinced that she still loathed him.
Parked by the roadside and texting Kong Liu, Gu Chenxi's very first thought upon seeing that message had indeed been: "I have money, I'll pay!"
She had already typed out the words and was about to send them when she suddenly realized something.
At that moment, Gu Chenxi's inner thoughts were intensely active and complex:
"Kong Liu saved me when we were kids, so he must remember me too... Is it possible that he recognized me all the way back at the freshman welcome party?!"
"He originally wanted to acknowledge me, but suddenly realized I wasn't an ordinary girl, so he didn't dare admit it. Instead, he purposely disparaged me in front of others to make me resent him, preventing me from falling in love with him."
"Yet... yet deep down he actually still likes me, so he approached me by playing games together and secretly started an online relationship with me, using this method to quietly care for and protect me."
"The reason he's unwilling to meet me must be because he's worried about the huge gap in our backgrounds, which is why he's working so desperately to make money!"
"Good heavens, so the reason he's working so hard for money is just so he can take me on a proper date without losing face, while I previously thought he was just someone obsessed with money..."
"Come to think of it, him tutoring my sister was also a deliberate way to get closer to me, right?"
"Right!"
"It has to be!"
"He must have his reasons for not revealing his identity. Since that's the case, I'll just pretend I know nothing for now."
After a wild bout of self-rationalization, Gu Chenxi finally found a seemingly self-consistent logic to convince herself why Kong Liu was reluctant to meet her in person.
Yet she seemed to have forgotten a few crucial points—it was she who had proactively dragged Kong Liu into playing games, she who had insisted on being his girlfriend, and even the tutoring advertisement that had been anonymously posted on the campus wall by her.
From start to finish, Kong Liu had been the passive party.
However, Gu Chenxi was in no state to dwell on that anymore. Emotion had completely taken over her brain; she now firmly believed that Kong Liu was deliberately hiding his identity to watch over her in secret.
Since Kong Liu had reservations about meeting, Gu Chenxi decided not to pierce this paper window just yet. Anyway, now that she knew Kong Liu was her "destined one," she would leave the rest to time!
After pondering for a long time, she replied to him: "Okay, I'll wait for you."
Seeing Gu Chenxi's reply, Kong Liu genuinely hadn't expected her to agree so easily, so he sent back a sticker of 【Making Money to Support the Family】.
"Love you, hubby 💕> <💕!"
After sending that message, Gu Chenxi closed her app and started her car once more.
"Hubby?"
Kong Liu read the two words aloud in a daze.
This was the first time Gu Chenxi had ever called him "hubby"; prior to this, she had always called him babe.
Well, if she was willing to wait, let her wait.
Meeting her in person was something best delayed as long as possible. Who could predict the future? But meeting right now was out of the question—at the very least, he needed their relationship to warm up a bit before considering coming clean.
With these thoughts in mind, Kong Liu put down his phone and resumed reading the book on his desk.
At this moment, he had no inkling whatsoever that Gu Chenxi had already discovered his true identity.
***
"Senior Kong, is anyone sitting in the empty seat next to you?"
After who knows how long, Kong Liu was interrupted once more while reading.
A young girl wearing a JK uniform, tied with a ponytail, and impeccably dressed was holding a book, standing before him with a shy expression on her face.