The flirtatious girl is done flirting; Mr. He is now obsessed with her.

Looking at Bai Yishu with her head down, all of He Yun Shen's anger crumbled at that moment, leaving only a deep sense of helplessness.

"You succeeded, so what?"

He reached out to lift Bai Yishu's face, but stopped in mid-air.

"I've told you everything you wanted. Are you satisfied now?"

Bai Yishu remained silent, and a brief, suffocating silence fell between them.

"say!"

Seeing that Bai Yishu remained silent, He Yunshen felt a sudden unease. He withdrew his hand and clenched it into a fist, trying his best to maintain his composure.

"Bai Yishu, stop being silent, what exactly do you want?"

The chill of the night seeped into her body through her thin clothes, and Bai Yishu couldn't help but shiver, though she didn't know if it was from the cold or something else.

"I……"

Bai Yishu's words were stuck in her throat, and she couldn't say them no matter what she tried.

She knew she had won.

She forced the aloof and self-possessed man in front of her to utter the confession she had longed for day and night.

The perfect ending we imagined did not arrive as expected; instead, a huge and sudden panic ensued.

Seeing Bai Yishu hesitate to speak, He Yunshen felt a growing unease in his heart and let out a heavy sigh.

"Stop torturing me..."

He Yun Shen suppressed the pain in his heart, his eyes reddening in a rare way.

"Either say you love me too, or... say you're just playing around and then let me go."

Every word He Yun Shen spoke was like a heavy hammer, striking Bai Yi Shu's heart hard.

She had never seen He Yun Shen like this before, so out of control, so vulnerable.

Under his pained gaze, all her scheming seemed so naive and cruel.

Bai Yishu opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

"What, is this answer hard to choose?"

He Yun Shen looked at her in silence, the light in his eyes gradually dimming, leaving only endless exhaustion and hurt.

"Bai Yishu, I'll ask you one last time: are you serious about me, or is this just a game?"

Bai Yishu dared not look at him; a dense, throbbing pain surged in her heart, making it almost impossible for her to breathe.

She bit her lower lip tightly until she tasted a slightly metallic sweetness, which allowed her to barely maintain her voice.

"sorry."

She shoved He Yun Shen away abruptly and ran out of the courtyard as if fleeing.

She left He Yun Shen alone, along with his heart that had just been revealed but which she had personally extinguished, in the cold night.

Bai Yishu ran all the way to the main road, where the cold air kept pouring into her nasal cavity, causing her to cough in pain.

Tears kept welling up in her eyes, and Bai Yishu just wiped them away haphazardly with the back of her hand, her once exquisite appearance now looking disheveled.

They were just one step away from being together.

But she backed down at this last step.

She was afraid.

I fear this hasty confession is just He Yun Shen's momentary impulse of jealousy, and I fear this relationship, obtained through testing, will not last long.

As the end of her senior year approached, Bai Yishu flipped through her schedule. In addition to her graduation thesis and a bunch of final exams, her elective course in economics was also coming to its last session.

This was also the last class He Yunshen taught as a visiting professor.

His classmates spontaneously prepared a bouquet of flowers and a small gift for him, intending to give them to him at the end of the course.

When it came to sending a representative to deliver the flowers, everyone pointed to Bai Yishu.

The reason is self-evident.

Back then, Bai Yishu and He Yunshen's relationship wasn't like it is now.

Since she ran away that night, she hasn't heard a single word about He Yun Shen.

She picked up her phone several times to send him a message, but deleted it all after editing a long message.

She wanted to explain to him, but she didn't dare to face him.

On Friday afternoon, Bai Yishu arrived at the classroom a dozen minutes before class and placed the prepared flowers and gifts under her seat.

Soon, the classroom gradually filled with students, and He Yun Shen entered as the bell rang.

Bai Yishu pursed her lips and secretly looked up from her book to peek at him.

He looked as meticulous and composed as ever, though a hint of weariness lingered in his eyes.

"This is the last class today. If you have any questions, please ask them now."

Bai Yishu sat in her seat, pen in hand, the events of that night still lingering in her mind.

After the bell rang, He Yun Shen began to pack his things.

"I will upload the relevant materials for this course to the learning system."

His tone was businesslike, his face was expressionless, and his gaze remained fixed on the books on the podium.

The students in the class all looked at Bai Yishu, gesturing with their eyes for her to hurry up and go on stage.

Bai Yishu knew she couldn't avoid it, so she had no choice but to get up from her seat and bring the flowers and gifts to the podium.

"Professor He."

She tried to speak calmly, but her voice trembled slightly, and she never dared to look He Yun Shen in the eye.

He Yun Shen paused slightly when he saw the flowers and gifts, his gaze following the flowers in Bai Yi Shu's hand upwards to her face.

"This is a small token of our appreciation prepared by the students themselves. We hope Professor He will accept it and thank you for your careful guidance during this time."

Bai Yishu handed the flowers to He Yunshen, her heart racing and the tips of her ears turning red involuntarily.

"Thanks."

He Yun Shen took the flowers, and his fingertips accidentally touched Bai Yi Shu's hand, but he did not show any unusual reaction.

Bai Yishu, somewhat at a loss, withdrew her hand and silently returned to her seat.

Thank you for the gifts, classmates.

He Yun Shen gently placed the flowers on the podium and began to speak in a steady voice.

"This is my first time serving as a professor, and I am very happy to meet each and every one of you here today."

He Yun Shen's gaze briefly swept over Bai Yi Shu's location before subtly withdrawing it.

"University life flies by. I hope all students can find their own direction and live up to their youth."

After he finished speaking, applause rang out from below the stage. He Yun Shen bowed slightly to the audience, then picked up his things and left the classroom.

Bai Yishu watched his figure disappear through the classroom door, feeling a deep sense of loss.

Soon, the students all left one after another, leaving Bai Yishu alone in her seat in the once noisy classroom.

She leaned back in her chair, staring blankly out the window until the sun began to set and a beam of warm yellow light shone through the window onto her face.

Bai Yishu came to her senses and looked at the podium where He Yunshen had once stood. He would never appear there again, and a huge fear suddenly swept over her.

She suddenly stood up, completely ignoring the books and pens she had knocked over, and ran out of the classroom.

She ran to the door of He Yun Shen's former office, pushed it open, and found it empty; there wasn't even a trace of him.

Without pausing, Bai Yishu immediately sprinted towards the parking lot.