After ninety-nine online romances, I finally met my ex in person when school started.

The location is shown inside Kyoto University.

It's not a teaching area, not a cafeteria, and not a library.

It's the boys' dormitory area.

Zhu Xun Chuan stared at the red location icon on the screen, zooming in twice to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

The location of "Sweet Strawberry" is in the graduate student apartment building next to his dormitory building.

Immediately afterwards, a message popped up.

"I've found a great place, I'm moving next door to you right away."

Zhu Xun Chuan's first reaction was not shock.

It's confusion.

That building has been empty for over half a year. The school said they were going to renovate it, and they put up construction barriers, but nothing has started. How did a girl move into an empty building in the boys' dormitory area?

Just as he was about to reply, "Sweet Strawberry" sent another message.

"The best room is reserved for you. Come whenever you want, no need to knock."

It ends with a strawberry emoji.

Zhu Xun Chuan put his phone in his pocket, deciding to pretend he hadn't seen it.

He left the School of Arts and walked along the tree-lined path toward his dormitory.

From a distance, he sensed something was wrong.

Six black minivans, all Mercedes-Benz V-Class, were parked at the entrance of the dormitory area. The doors were open, and people in black suits were going in and out, carrying various equipment and building materials.

The students who had gathered to watch had blocked half the road.

Zhu Xun Chuan pushed through the crowd and entered the dormitory building. As he went up the stairs, he heard Lin Yuan shouting on the balcony.

"Xun Chuan! Come and see!"

Lin Yuan leaned his entire upper body out over the balcony railing, pointed at the building next door, and looked like he had seen an alien.

Zhu Xunchuan walked to the edge of the balcony and looked down.

The construction barriers have all been removed. In front of the six-story graduate student dormitory next door, at least thirty construction workers are working simultaneously. They are not ordinary construction teams... their uniform gray work clothes are printed with the "Dinghe Construction" logo.

Dinghe Construction.

The top domestic luxury home customization and construction team, specializing in decorating private residences for the ultra-wealthy.

"Guess what?" Lin Yuan lowered his voice, his eyes wide like saucers. "This building has been bought!"

"What do you mean by 'bought'? This is a school building."

"They bought it! Wang the Fatty from the next dorm just asked around, and the security guards said it's because of connections with a member of the school's board of directors; they signed a long-term lease agreement directly with the school. Fifty years! The whole building!"

Lin Yuan pointed down to the second floor, "Look at that room, the workers are carrying a bathtub in. It's not an ordinary bathtub... I looked up the brand online, it's called Boffi, from Italy, and it costs 800,000."

Zhu Xun Chuan remained silent.

"There's a third floor too!" Lin Yuan's voice trembled. "I heard they're going to build a private heated swimming pool. The sixth floor is going to be converted into a sky garden. The fourth floor is going to be a home theater. The fifth floor is going to be a dressing room and a private gym."

He turned his head, looking as if his worldview had been shattered.

"An entire building has been converted into one person's private residence. It's right next to ours. What level of wealth does this person possess?"

Zhu Xunchuan's phone vibrated in his pocket.

He took it out and glanced at it.

"Sweet Strawberry" posted a photo.

The photo was taken from a window of the building across the street. It shows... the balcony of their dormitory room 621.

In the photo, he and Lin Yuan are standing on the balcony, clearly visible.

The accompanying text consisted of only one line.

I saw you :)

Zhu Xun Chuan slowly turned his phone over and placed it face down on the railing.

Lin Yuan was still muttering to himself, "If only she were a beautiful, rich woman, lol, I'd pay her myself..."

Zhu Xun Chuan glanced at him but didn't say anything.

You have no idea how dangerous that statement is.

He went back to bed and lay there for ten minutes, then scrolled through the chat history with "Sweet Strawberry".

When she first added me, she said she was "an ordinary high school student whose family runs a small business."

A small business.

Zhu Xun Chuan had already guessed half of it; there couldn't be such a coincidence.

I just posted my location saying I was moving next door, and then the place next door got bought.

Buying a building to live in as dormitories is a small business.

He recalled her unanswered post on her WeChat Moments: "Some people aren't worth it," accompanied by a clenched fist emoji.

In retrospect, that clenched fist wasn't out of anger.

He was preparing to throw a punch.

……

Noon, canteen.

Zhu Xunchuan had just entered the second canteen with his tray when he saw Shen Tianxi.

She sat at a long table by the window, wearing a floral print skirt and a white T-shirt, her hair tied in a low ponytail with a few stray strands falling from her ears.

There were two meals on the table.

In front of her was a small bowl of mixed noodles, with chopsticks neatly placed on the rim of the bowl.

Across from Zhu Xun Chuan, there was a set meal... braised pork ribs, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, seaweed and egg drop soup, plus a bowl of rice.

The scallions on the ribs were still steaming.

Shen Tianxi looked up and saw him, her eyes curving into two crescent moons.

"I'll get it for you at the window, it's just out of the pot."

Zhu Xun Chuan sat down and placed his schoolbag beside his feet. "How did you know what I ate?"

"You got some spare ribs at the cafeteria last week, and you smiled when you took your first bite." Shen Tianxi bent down, opened a pack of tissues, and handed it to him. "You don't smile often, but I remember."

Zhu Xun Chuan took the tissue and wiped his chopsticks, but didn't say anything.

The cafeteria was very noisy. Several boys at the surrounding tables kept glancing over, their eyes all looking at the same thing... first at Shen Tianxi, then at Zhu Xunchuan, and finally with an expression that said, "Why him?"

Shen Tianxi sat across from me, quietly eating her noodles, her posture so elegant it didn't seem like she was in a cafeteria. When she looked down, the neckline of her T-shirt loosened slightly, revealing a small mole below her left collarbone.

Zhu Xun Chuan took a bite of the rib.

It's really delicious.

"Is it good?" Shen Tianxi asked, resting her chin on her hand as she looked at him.

"tasty."

"From now on, I'll get you lunch every day at noon."

"There's no need to go to such lengths."

"It's no trouble at all." Shen Tianxi tilted her head, her voice soft. "I like watching you eat."

After she finished speaking, she took a carton of yogurt from the bag next to the plate, bit open the straw, inserted it, and handed it over.

"Drinking yogurt after meals aids digestion."

Zhu Xun Chuan looked at the yogurt she handed him, then at her smiling face as she rested her chin on her hand.

The boys at the three surrounding tables all sighed at the same time.

Shen Tianxi's knee bumped against his calf under the table.

It seemed like an unintentional action. But after touching it, he didn't pull it back.

Her calves were pressed against his legs, warm and cozy through the fabric of her skirt and his trousers.

Zhu Xunchuan paused for half a second.

Shen Tianxi seemed unaware of her actions. She picked up a peeled shrimp from the plate, held it to Zhu Xunchuan's lips, and fed it to him.

Open your mouth.

"I can do it myself..."

"Open your mouth."

Her fingers gripped the chopsticks, the tender white shrimp meat dangling ten centimeters from his lips. Her body leaned slightly forward, making the looseness of her T-shirt collar even more pronounced.

People in the cafeteria were already taking out their phones to take pictures.

Zhu Xunchuan opened his mouth and ate the shrimp.

Shen Tianxi smiled with satisfaction and began peeling the second one.

She peeled the shrimp with great care, her fingers long, slender, and fair, her nails neatly trimmed. After peeling all the shells, she carefully wiped her fingers with a tissue before picking up the shrimp meat.

"Brother Chuan".

"Um?"

"Does Professor Fu's office smell good?"

His tone seemed casual, yet it carried a hint of sourness.

Zhu Xunchuan slowed down his pace of chewing shrimp.

Shen Tianxi rubbed her calf slightly under the table.

"Do you smell like me?"

She raised her wrist and waved it near his nose.

Peach scent. A sweet, warm peach fragrance.

"What kind of perfume is this?" Zhu Xunchuan changed the subject.

You didn't answer my question.

"Professor Fu's office has agarwood incense," Zhu Xunchuan said, picking up a piece of pork rib. "It's completely different from the flavor you have."

"so what?"

Therefore, there is no basis for comparison.

Shen Tianxi narrowed her eyes.

Which one do you prefer?

"I prefer pork ribs."

Shen Tianxi choked for a moment. Then she laughed and gently poked the back of his hand with her chopsticks.

"Still as talkative as ever."

She put two more pieces of pork ribs into his bowl, rubbed her knee against his leg under the table, and then moved to a different position.

"Then I'll make you pork ribs every day from now on. I'll make them until you don't want to eat anything but my pork ribs."

Her calves tightened slightly under the table, her soft skin pressed against him through the thin fabric of her skirt, the temperature rising all the way up.

Zhu Xun Chuan held his chopsticks, his face expressionless, but his mind was working on advanced mathematics.

Don't look down. Absolutely don't look. The cafeteria is too crowded.

"You're blushing." Shen Tianxi smiled, her eyes full of sweetness, but there was something else mixed in with that sweetness—the subtle smugness of someone who had succeeded in their scheme.

"Too much chili."

Shen Tianxi hummed in agreement and didn't press the matter further. She pulled her legs back, sat up straight quietly, like a good student who hadn't done anything wrong.

Sunlight streamed in through the cafeteria window, falling on her profile, and the small silver stud earring on her earlobe reflected a sliver of light.

She ate her noodles quietly with her head down.

But she gently hooked Zhu Xun Chuan's little finger with the chopsticks under the table with her right hand.

I touched it and then pulled it back.

It was as fast as stealing candy.

Just as Zhu Xun Chuan was about to say something, a loud noise came from directly in front of him.

boom.

A hand slammed onto their dining table.

The plate of pork ribs bounced, the yogurt container tipped over, and white liquid dripped down the table.

Shen Tianxi's chopsticks stopped in mid-air.

Zhu Xunchuan raises his head.

A young man wearing a black bespoke casual jacket stood across the table.

He was in his early twenties, with sharp features, high cheekbones, thin lips, and a faint scar above his brow. His eyes held an arrogance born of childhood indulgence.

He was followed by three people.

Shen Tianxi put down her chopsticks, and the smile on her face gradually disappeared.

The young man didn't look at Zhu Xunchuan.

He was looking at Shen Tianxi.

"Shen Tianxi." His voice wasn't loud, but it silenced the entire cafeteria. "What kind of behavior is this, you two being all lovey-dovey here?"

Shen Tianxi's expression turned cold, and she put down the chopsticks in her hand.

"Who are you? I don't know you."