My online dating circle has millions of followers, why would she put a collar on me?

Gu Qinghan let out a long breath, and the tension she hadn't even realized she was feeling completely relaxed at that moment.

She put her phone face down on the table and picked up her chopsticks again.

This time, her gaze towards Jiang Yi changed. It went from "scrutinizing" to "casually glancing," from "verifying authenticity" to "this is my best friend's boyfriend; it's best to keep a polite distance."

"Qinghan, why aren't you eating?" Su Xiaoyue noticed that she hadn't touched her chopsticks much and asked with concern, "Is the food not to your liking? I'll tell the housekeeper..."

"No, it's quite delicious." Gu Qinghan picked up a piece of fish and put it in her mouth, saying indistinctly, "I'm just not very hungry, so I ate something on the plane."

"The food on the plane was awful, and you barely ate anything." Su Xiaoyue frowned, then turned to Jiang Yi, "Honey, eat more, you're too thin."

"You already said that," Jiang Yi said.

"Didn't I already say I couldn't say it again?" Su Xiaoyue said matter-of-factly. "I'm going to say it anyway, you're too thin, too thin, too thin—"

"Okay, okay, I'll eat." Jiang Yi picked up another piece of pork rib with his chopsticks, and the awkward feeling in his heart gradually subsided.

He could sense that Gu Qinghan's gaze towards him had changed.

He didn't know what had happened, only that the feeling of being stared at had disappeared, and his shoulders unconsciously relaxed a little.

Jiang Yi ate a few more bites of food, while Su Xiaoyue kept watching him with her chin resting on her hand, her eyes curving into two crescent moons.

"Husband," she suddenly said.

"Um?"

"I have something to tell you."

Jiang Yi paused, his hand gripping the food he was picking up paused, a bad premonition rising in his heart. "What is it?"

Su Xiaoyue bit her lip, as if hesitating whether to speak or not, but finally spoke, her voice a little softer than before: "I may only be able to stay here for three days."

Jiang Yi looked up at her: "Three days?"

"Hmm." Su Xiaoyue's fingers unconsciously traced circles on the tablecloth.

"I have some things to take care of with my parents, so I have to go back. They're negotiating a big project recently, and they need my signature. I don't know why they need my signature, but the lawyer said I need to be there in person."

Three days.

Jiang Yi quickly did the math in his head. Today is Wednesday, and Saturday is three days from now.

In other words, Su Xiaoyue will be returning to Shanghai on Saturday.

"However!" Su Xiaoyue's voice suddenly rose a octave, her eyes brightening again, "I'll be back as soon as I've finished dealing with things! It won't be long, at most a week!"

Jiang Yi nodded, but before he could speak, Su Xiaoyue spoke again. This time her voice was even softer, with a cautious, tentative tone.

"Honey, there's one more thing..."

Jiang Yi's chopsticks froze in mid-air. He looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

Su Xiaoyue lowered her head, her fingers twisting the edge of the tablecloth, a faint blush slowly rising on her cheeks.

She was silent for a few seconds, as if she was preparing herself mentally, then she looked up at Jiang Yi and said, word by word, "My parents... have arranged a place for me at Tsinghua or Peking University."

His fingers suddenly lost strength, and the chopsticks slipped from his fingers, first falling on the rim of the bowl with a crisp sound, then bouncing onto the table, rolling twice, and finally coming to rest in the folds of the tablecloth.

He didn't pick it up.

He seemed to have been put on pause, maintaining the posture of picking up food, but his hands were no longer holding chopsticks.

His gaze was fixed on Su Xiaoyue, his expression shifting from confusion to shock, and then from shock to something deeper, something indescribable.

despair.

Tsinghua University and Peking University.

The school he attended.

This is where he goes to class, eats, sleeps, and dates every day.

"Honey? What's wrong?" Su Xiaoyue was startled by his sudden reaction. She quickly stood up from her seat, walked around to his side, and bent down to look at his face.

"You look terrible, are you feeling unwell?"

Jiang Yi mechanically bent down, picked up the chopsticks that had fallen on the table, and placed them next to the plate.

His movements were very slow, as if the scene was in slow motion.

"No." His voice was dry, like sandpaper scraping against glass. "It's just... a little unexpected. You didn't mention before that you wanted to study at Tsinghua or Peking University."

"Because it wasn't decided yet." Seeing that he wasn't in any serious trouble, Su Xiaoyue breathed a sigh of relief, sat back down in her seat, and spoke with a hint of smugness in her tone.

"My parents originally wanted me to go abroad, but I didn't want to go. It's too far, and I'm scared to be alone."

"Later they said, 'Then come to Kyoto. The international departments of Tsinghua and Peking Universities have already made arrangements. You can go when the next semester starts.'"

Next semester.

Jiang Yi mentally went over this point in time.

Next semester, Su Xiaoyue will appear on the campus of Tsinghua and Peking Universities.

Although the university is large, there is a significant gap between the international department and his computer science department.

But since we're in the same school, what if we run into each other?

Jiang Yi simply couldn't believe it.

She could be in broad daylight, on the campus of Tsinghua or Peking University, anywhere his girlfriend Xia Anmian might be. And then she would call him "husband."

Jiang Yi picked up the water glass in front of him and took a big gulp.

The water temperature was just right, neither too hot nor too cold.

"Honey, are you unhappy?" Su Xiaoyue tilted her head to look at him, her voice tinged with unease. "You don't seem to really want me to study at Tsinghua or Peking University..."

"No." Jiang Yi put down his water glass and forced a smile. "It's just a bit sudden. I didn't expect you to come to my city to study."

His city.

When he said that, he was thinking about something else entirely.

If Su Xiaoyue knew his true identity, and knew that he wasn't actually the programmer at the internet company.

But what would she think if she were a third-year student at Tsinghua or Peking University?

Would she think it was a coincidence?

Or will you accept it calmly?

Or perhaps there are other suspicions?

"Hehe." Su Xiaoyue laughed, laughing like a child who had received candy.

"I knew my husband was the best. Now we can see each other every day, and I don't have to say 'I miss you' over the phone anymore."

We see each other every day.

These four words were like four knives, stabbing Jiang Yi's heart one by one.

He lowered his head, pretending to pick up food, but actually stirred the dish with his chopsticks for a long time without picking anything up.

Gu Qinghan sat opposite him, quietly finished the last bite of rice in her bowl, and put down her chopsticks.

She noticed Jiang Yi's reaction just now.

But she couldn't quite describe what that feeling was like.

Perhaps this was just a normal reaction for the guy; after all, anyone would be startled if their girlfriend suddenly said she wanted to study in their city.

She picked up her phone and sent a message to Xia Anmian: "Anmian, have you landed yet?"

No reply.

Xia Anmian should still be on the plane.

Gu Qinghan put down her phone and was about to pick up her glass to drink water when the butler's voice came from the doorway. It wasn't loud, but it was clear, traveling down the long corridor into the dining room:

"Miss, there's a young lady at the door who says she's looking for Mr. Jiang."