When Ling Xiao pushed open the door to the dorm, Li Yang was slumped in his chair playing a video game, the sound of intense gunfire crackling from his headset.
"Back already?" Li Yang asked without looking up, his fingers clacking furiously on the keyboard. "Weren't you going on a date with Su Yao today? How come you're back so early?"
Ling Xiao didn't speak. He simply tossed his backpack onto the bed and sat down heavily.
Finally sensing something was wrong, Li Yang took off his headset and turned to look at him. "What's wrong? Did you guys fight?"
Ling Xiao remained silent for a moment before saying in a low voice, "Her necklace is gone."
"Huh? The one you worked three months to buy?" Li Yang frowned. "Didn't she say she lost it?"
"Yeah." Ling Xiao stared at the floor. "But today I saw it in Lin Yu's WeChat Moments."
Li Yang's expression froze instantly. "What?"
Ling Xiao pulled out his phone and opened Lin Yu's latest post—a casual snapshot taken at a high-end restaurant. In the corner of the frame, a slender hand was holding a wine glass, and the familiar silver chain was unmistakably wrapped around the wrist, the pendant gleaming brightly under the lights.
The caption read: "The moonlight is lovely tonight."
Li Yang cursed, "What the hell..."
Ling Xiao turned off his phone, his voice hoarse. "She told me last week that she lost the necklace, and I even comforted her and told her it was no big deal."
Li Yang opened his mouth, seeming as though he wanted to say something, but ultimately just sighed. "Xiao-ge, what are you planning to do?"
Ling Xiao didn't answer.
He was just wondering, when did Su Yao start to change?
Actually, there had been signs all along.
For instance, Su Yao had been absent-minded lately. She used to reply to his messages very quickly, but now she often waited hours to respond, with the eternal excuse of "being at rehearsal."
For another, her style of dress had suddenly changed. She used to love simple T-shirts and jeans, but now she had started wearing short skirts, high heels, and even spraying expensive perfume.
And then there was the way she constantly brought up a certain name—Lin Yu.
"Lin Yu bought bubble tea for our dance club today."
"Lin Yu said my dance performance was exceptionally good."
"There's an amazing restaurant on the top floor of Lin Yu's family's hotel..."
At first, Ling Xiao hadn't thought much of it. Lin Yu was a well-known rich kid at school whose family was in the hotel business; he had a flamboyant personality and was never short of female company. Ling Xiao had never imagined Su Yao would be interested in him.
Until the day he saw Su Yao step out of a black Porsche right outside the library.
The person driving was none of the others—it was Lin Yu.
Su Yao had clearly been startled when she saw him, but she quickly smiled, ran over, and linked her arm through his. "Xiao-xiao! What are you doing here?"
Ling Xiao stared at the luxury car as it slowly pulled away, his voice somewhat dry. "Was that Lin Yu?"
"Yeah, their club happened to be heading this way, so he gave me a lift." Su Yao blinked, her tone casual. "Don't overthink it, okay?"
Ling Xiao nodded and didn't ask any further.
Yet he remembered that Su Yao's dance club and Lin Yu's finance club were on opposite sides of the campus—one in the east, one in the west.
Heading the same way?
Su Yao's birthday was coming up.
Ling Xiao had started preparing two months in advance. He didn't have much money, so he decided to make a gift with his own hands—a silver bookmark with the top carved into the shape of a ballet dancer, every detail meticulously polished to match Su Yao's dancing posture.
He pulled several all-nighters to finally finish it the day before her birthday.
When Li Yang saw the finished product, he couldn't help exclaiming, "Damn, your craftsmanship is incredible. Su Yao is definitely going to love this."
Ling Xiao smiled and carefully placed the bookmark inside a blue velvet box.
On her birthday, he sent Su Yao a message: "Seven o'clock tonight, our usual spot. I've prepared a surprise for you."
Su Yao replied very quickly: "Okay~ But I might be a little late, the club has some stuff going on today."
Ling Xiao didn't mind. He arrived at the restaurant early, ordered her favorite dishes, placed the gift by the edge of the table, and waited quietly.
At seven-thirty, Su Yao hadn't arrived.
At eight o'clock, still no word.
At eight-thirty, the restaurant staff had already started looking at him with sympathetic eyes.
It wasn't until nine o'clock that his phone finally rang.
It was a voice message from Su Yao.
"Xiao-xiao, I'm so sorry! There's an impromptu club dinner tonight, I really can't get away... Can we make it up another day, okay?"
In the background, he heard a burst of laughter, followed by a man's deep voice: "Yao-yao, it's time to cut the cake."
—It was Lin Yu's voice.
Ling Xiao sat in front of the empty dining table, looking at the food that had already gone cold and the un-presented gift, and suddenly laughed.
He tapped open WeChat Moments and refreshed his feed.
The latest post was one Su Yao had published ten minutes ago—
In the photo, she was standing in a lavish hotel private dining room in front of a three-tier cake, while Lin Yu stood right beside her, his arm resting naturally over her shoulder.
The caption read: "The best birthday, thank you for all the love~"
All the love.
—Which naturally did not include him.