Volume One, Chapter 21: How could she have been holding Liang Jinmo? What was she thinking at that moment?

Yang Xue leaned in, curiosity lighting her face. “What kind of short video are you watching?”

Xu Zhi quickly turned off her phone screen. “Nothing!”

Her reaction was so exaggerated that Yang Xue stared at her in surprise, frowning. “What’s with you? Are you sneaking around with someone?”

Xu Zhi bit her lip. “Really… it’s nothing.”

“If it’s nothing, why are you blushing?” Yang Xue suddenly lowered her voice and grinned. “Don’t tell me—you just finished reading some spicy ABO fanfiction and now you’re watching something even more risqué.”

“It’s not that!” Xu Zhi was on the verge of losing her mind. She ran a hand through her hair. “That night, after I got drunk… someone filmed a video of me. I think I acted really out of control…”

Yang Xue’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “Let me see.”

“No way, it’s humiliating,” Xu Zhi protested. “I…”

Despair filled her eyes. “I might have to move to a different planet.”

Yang Xue shrugged. “Is it really that bad? So you got a little wild when you were drunk? As long as you didn’t end up in bed with some random guy, there’s nothing to worry about. Come on, show me.”

With such a mischievous friend, Xu Zhi felt even more flustered. “I… I’m going back to the dorm. You can listen to the lecture on your own.”

There were still a few minutes left on the break. Glancing toward the front, she spotted Liang Jinmo on stage.

There were several people standing up there, but he was the first she noticed.

He hadn't seen her—his attention was on the professor beside him. From this angle, she could see the sharp lines of his profile: his forehead, the bridge of his nose, his lips, his jaw… every feature perfectly chiseled.

Xu Zhi’s heart suddenly raced. Abruptly, she tore her gaze away and began gathering her things.

Yang Xue tried to stop her, but Xu Zhi slipped away.

Before the break ended, she left the lecture hall and made her way back to the dorm alone.

Her roommates were out, leaving the place deserted and quiet.

She set down her things and lay on her bed. Her fingertips brushed her cheek—it was still burning hot.

How could she have hugged Liang Jinmo? What had she been thinking? She had no memory of it at all.

After a while, she picked up her phone again and played the video.

No one was around, so she turned the volume up, hoping she might catch some of the conversation.

But maybe it was the distance from which the video was shot—she still couldn’t make out the words.

She watched the video all the way through this time, and it only made her feel worse.

She hadn’t just clung to Liang Jinmo for ages… she’d also thrown up on him.

Lying face down, she pressed her phone into the mattress and buried her face in the pillow, holding her breath until she had to come up for air. Agitated, she thought, What am I supposed to do? Moving to another planet isn’t realistic. At this rate, short of jumping off a building, I don’t see a way out…

She tugged at her hair, mumbling softly to herself, “What should I do…”

She glanced at her hands. It was these very hands, so shameless that night, that had tightly embraced Liang Jinmo.

What did it feel like to hold him? She couldn’t remember at all. As far as she could recall, she’d never hugged any man like that before.

On video, she looked completely out of her mind, while Liang Jinmo, surprisingly, didn’t seem repulsed. Even when she threw up on him, he simply wore a grim expression and dragged her to the restroom.

He must have been furious… Yet the next morning at the hotel, she hadn’t sensed anything amiss.

She’d even told him with confidence that even drunk, she wouldn’t turn into a different person.

Once more, she buried her face in the pillow and rubbed it hard.

And that Zhou He actually recorded it all…

It was mortifying.

She didn’t know how much time had passed before she picked up her phone again and replayed the video, pausing at a particular moment.

In the frame, Liang Jinmo’s hand was resting atop her head.

He ruffled her hair gently, an action filled with a kind of comfort.

It was a side of Liang Jinmo she had never seen.

He rarely spoke to her, sometimes even seemed a little cold, but thinking back, he’d helped her more than once.

She suspected that if she’d thrown up on someone like Liang Muzhi, that young master would have killed her on the spot.

Mesmerized, she watched those few seconds of Liang Jinmo ruffling her hair over and over.

The video, despite all its embarrassment, left her with another kind of feeling—subtle, hard to name. She felt as if she had glimpsed a tenderness in Liang Jinmo, something he rarely showed.

At dusk, Xu Zhi received a call from Yang Xue.

Yang Xue was bubbling with excitement. “I’m going to dinner with Cheng Yu!”

“Congratulations,” said Xu Zhi.

“Come join us,” Yang Xue urged.

“I don’t want to be a third wheel,” Xu Zhi replied.

“You can’t say no,” Yang Xue insisted. “Do you know how we got this dinner tonight?”

Before Xu Zhi could answer, Yang Xue continued, “I told Zhou He today was your birthday, and he was determined to throw a party for you. Cheng Yu will be there, and so will their company’s manager, Director Liang. Zhou He said if you want to bring any other classmates, you’re welcome to invite them.”

Director Liang? Xu Zhi puzzled for a moment before realizing Yang Xue must mean Liang Jinmo.

She clutched her phone, her feelings conflicted. Part of her dreaded seeing him, feeling utterly embarrassed. But there was also a small part—just a little—that wanted to see him.

After all, it was her birthday. She’d already planned to invite him to dinner, and she had accepted his gift.

Yang Xue urged her, “We’re already waiting downstairs at your dorm. Hurry up!”

Xu Zhi was stunned—she hadn’t expected them to move so quickly. “I… I haven’t even agreed yet!”

“You can’t back out!” Yang Xue’s voice dropped conspiratorially. “This is probably my one and only chance to have dinner at the same table with Cheng Yu. If you don’t come down, I’ll wait for you till the end of time.”

Xu Zhi was exasperated; Yang Xue had already hung up.

She scrambled out of bed, rushed to fix her hair and change her clothes.

Downstairs, as soon as she stepped out, she saw Yang Xue waving from afar.

Xu Zhi steeled herself and walked over, greeting Yang Xue, Cheng Yu, and Zhou He. Only at the end did she glance at Liang Jinmo.

She opened her mouth, but still didn’t know how to address him.

Luckily, Yang Xue grabbed her and led the way.

Xu Zhi hadn’t managed to say a word to him, and though she felt relieved, she was also just a little disappointed.

Zhou He had already booked a private room at a high-end Chinese restaurant downtown. They piled into the car: Zhou He at the wheel, Liang Jinmo in the passenger seat, with Cheng Yu, Yang Xue, and Xu Zhi in the back. The drive was mostly filled with work talk between Cheng Yu and Liang Jinmo; Xu Zhi barely spoke.

She hadn’t greeted Liang Jinmo, so he hadn’t spoken to her either. It was only natural—he was never one for small talk. But now, she couldn’t help but wonder, was he still angry?

After all, she’d insisted on getting out of the car as soon as she saw Liang Muzhi that day.

And the night before, she’d made such a spectacle of herself because of her drunkenness…

Her feelings were tangled, and she couldn’t help but steal glances at him out of the corner of her eye.