Oh no! I've only been a freshman and I've already been targeted by a mean upperclassman.

Li Chen stood still.

He touched his chin.

The warmth of her lips still lingered in that spot.

My phone vibrated in my pocket.

News about Chen Mo.

[Chen Mo: Based on the length of time you lingered when you parted (12 seconds) and the frequency of video calls (3 times), tonight's intimacy index has exceeded the historical average upper limit. Congratulations.]

Li Chen locked the screen.

He turned and walked towards the boys' dormitory.

I took three steps.

My phone vibrated again.

News about Yan Xi.

[Yan Xi: Let me know when you arrive.]

He looked down and typed.

[Li Chen: We haven't arrived yet.]

[Yan Xi: Then let's hurry up.]

[Yan Xi: I need to make sure you've arrived before I can take a shower.]

Li Chen quickened his pace by two beats.

Li Chen pushed open the door to 302, and three faces turned around at the same time.

Wang Qiang sat on the edge of the bed, holding a pillow in her hands, her posture like that of a woman left behind waiting for her husband to come home.

Zhao Zixuan leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and twirled a pen in his hand.

A notebook lay open in front of Chen Mo, the pen cap already removed.

"What time is it?" Wang Qiang asked.

"9:12."

"How long did it take you to get her home?"

"Not counted."

"I've done the math." Chen Mo marked it off on the notebook. "The walking distance from the hot pot restaurant to the girls' dormitory is about 800 meters. At a normal walking pace, it takes six minutes, but you took nineteen minutes."

We chatted for a while on the way.

"They talked for thirteen minutes?"

"Um."

Chen Mo's pen stopped on the paper. He adjusted his glasses.

"You're not planning to share the thirteen-minute conversation, are you?"

"I don't plan to."

"As expected." Chen Mo wrote a line in his notebook and closed it.

Li Chen took out his phone and replied to Yan Xi's message.

[Li Chen: We've arrived.]

Three seconds later.

Yan Xi: Mm.

[Yan Xi: Don't forget to bring jianbing guozi tomorrow morning.]

Li Chen was stunned for a moment.

[Li Chen: ? For whom?]

[Yan Xi: Wang Qiang. He wants two eggs.]

Li Chen turned and glanced at Wang Qiang.

Wang Qiang's expression changed from curiosity to guilt.

"During dinner tonight... she told me I could contact her if I needed anything..."

Li Chen frowned slightly.

"What were her exact words?"

"His exact words were—'If you have anything to do with Li Chen, you can come directly to me.'" Wang Qiang's voice trailed off. "That's roughly the gist of it."

Zhao Zixuan stopped writing.

"Is she referring to 'Li Chen's matter'?"

"right."

"So her goal is to have another channel of information to monitor Li Chen."

Wang Qiang's face turned pale for a moment.

"No—she's trying to get on our good side—"

"The two objectives aren't contradictory," Chen Mo interjected. "She gained your favor and trust through her goodwill, while simultaneously establishing an information channel independent of Li Chen. From now on, she'll see your posts on WeChat Moments immediately. Efficient. Precise."

Wang Qiang hugged the pillow even tighter.

"Could you guys please stop portraying Senior Yan as some kind of intelligence chief?"

"Not the intelligence chief." Zhao Zixuan tossed his pen onto the table. "It's my girlfriend. Normal procedure."

Li Chen sat on his bed and placed his phone next to his pillow.

He did not join the discussion.

From the moment she served each of her three roommates a shrimp paste at the hot pot restaurant, he knew that she wasn't just dealing with his friends; she was embedding herself into his life.

Every node, every line.

She remembers everything about Jianbing Guozi (a type of Chinese crepe).

Two eggs.

He said he would only give one.

She added the second one back for Wang Qiang.

The phone lit up again.

[Yan Xi: I'm done washing. Goodnight.]

He typed.

[Li Chen: Goodnight. See you tomorrow.]

After sending it out, I added another message.

[Li Chen: Two eggs for a jianbing (Chinese crepe), received.]

ten seconds.

[Yan Xi: Good girl.]

Li Chen locked the screen.

He buried his face in his scarf.

And her scent.

Wang Qiang, who was in the next bed, suddenly leaned over.

"Li Chen".

"Um."

"How many times did you bump into each other under the table today?"

"What's it to you?"

"I counted," Wang Qiang said, holding up four fingers. "At least four times."

"You looked down?"

"I didn't lower my head. I looked at the chopsticks. Every time she touched them, the angle of the chopsticks would shift by two or three degrees."

Li Chen stared at him for two seconds.

"When did your observation skills become so sharp?"

"I learned it from Chen Mo."

Chen Mo pushed up his glasses on the other side, remaining noncommittal.

Zhao Zixuan rolled over on the top bunk.

"Can you all be quiet? Some of you have to get up at 8 a.m. tomorrow."

"When have you ever been 8 a.m.?"

"It will be available starting tomorrow."

Why?

Zhao Zixuan remained silent for three seconds.

"Because I want to go to the cafeteria to watch Li Chen peel tea eggs for Senior Yan."

302 was silent for four seconds.

"You just said we should be quiet so we could get some sleep and watch the live stream tomorrow?"

"Is there a problem?"

"No problem." Wang Qiang pulled the blanket up to his chin. "Then I'll be up at eight too."

"Me too." Chen Mo closed his notebook. "We need to collect baseline data for the breakfast scenario."

The lights went out.

Li Chen lay in the darkness.

A beam of streetlight light shone through the gap in the curtains onto the ceiling.

He took out his phone and opened his chat history with Yan Xi.

Scroll to the very top.

The first message was from her.

[Yan Xi: See you tomorrow.]

That was more than four months ago.

His response at the time was—

[Li Chen: Okay, senior.]

He smiled.

Back then, he still called her "senior sister".

Now he calls her Xixi.

Sometimes they call me by my name.

Sometimes I don't call out to her at all, I just look at her.

She didn't say anything, she just looked at him.

This feeling is strange.

Like an equation that has no explicit solution, but you know the answer is there.

If we continue along each set of known conditions, there will only be one endpoint.

He locked the screen.

Close your eyes.

The scarf was still wrapped around her neck.

He didn't pick it.

The next morning at 6:50.

The alarm clock rang.

Li Chen turned over and turned off his phone alarm.

Breathing sounds of different frequencies could be heard coming from the three beds.

No one woke up.

He quietly got out of bed, washed up, and changed his clothes.

Before leaving, I looked back once.

Wang Qiang had drool at the corner of his mouth. Zhao Zixuan had kicked the blanket below his knees. Chen Mo's sleeping posture was as upright as during the day, his glasses neatly folded and placed next to his pillow.

He closed the door gently.

There were already seven or eight people queuing at the pancake stall near the school gate.

The boss was a middle-aged man in his forties, and he was very fast.

Pour the batter in, turn the scraper, and spread out a sheet in fifteen seconds.

"One jianbing guozi, with two eggs."

"Okay!"

"Add one more, and an egg. No spice."