1:00 PM.

Hua Xin and Xia Yan sat together, as usual, in the very last row of the classroom. Hua Xin had slowly grown accustomed to attending lectures—no longer as terrified as she’d been at first.

The teacher never called on her, thanks to an arrangement between the counselor and Xia Yan.  
Her classmates paid her no mind, mostly because her entire aura screamed “impoverished loner.”

(Spiky aura ✔️, frayed pant hems, an old, oversized black hoodie.)  
(She basically looked like a serial killer waiting to snap 😨…)

As for the lesson itself?  
All she needed was two rounds of “Teamfight Tactics” or a quick nap to breeze through it happily 😋.

↓

*Just one more card… one more card to get 3-star Kassadin!*  
*I D! I D! I D! I D! 😡…*

Hua Xin’s eyes burned with determination—her face twisted into a fierce grimace as she hammered the “2-gold refresh” button again and again. Her emotions surged with every flicker of the rotating champions in the shop.

Through her bangs, her eyes—reddened with desperation—stared as her gold dwindled to zero. She looked ready to blast the game’s “dog of a developer” with laser eyes like Homelander, punishing them for rigging the odds.

(*God, please—let Kassadin appear!*)  
(*GIVE ME THE CARD ALREADY!!! 😡!!!!!*)

*Ding* 😇

Somewhere in the universe, Cow Cow (Niu Niu 🐮🐮)—a divine bovine deity seemingly tuned into her deepest pleas—answered her prayers just as she used up her final chance at redemption.

A golden, shimmering 5-cost champion appeared before her eyes.

**Cow Cow:** *Child… this is the second-to-last time I’ll fulfill your wish.*

God hadn’t listened.  
But Cow Cow had.

(*WOW!!!!!*)  
(*You’re dead. You’re so dead…*)

Relief washed over her. With smug arrogance, she glanced at the top-ranked player—who’d been sneakily watching her—and lifted her feet from her oversized shoes, stretching her legs out onto the crossbar under the desk.

Her delicate feet were wrapped in thin, pure-white cotton socks—adorably petite and innocent-looking 😋.

If Xia Yan had glanced down right then, he’d instantly recognize those feet as the very same ones he’d quietly set as his QQ chat background.

Alas… *studying ruins everything…*

*Still watching, huh?*  
*I’m gonna stomp you into the ground. Don’t you dare run—if you’re a real man, stand and fight…*

With supreme confidence, Hua Xin tapped the final card. A triumphant smirk curled her lips. The rush of a miraculous comeback was… absolutely euphoric!!

*Come forth—my glorious 3-star 5-cost—*

…?

Her eyes widened in horror 😨.

Nothing happened.

On her screen: **“Connecting to network… 1/10”**.

Her finger froze on the scorching-hot Xiaomi phone—feeling more like a C4 explosive than a device.

She tapped again.  
No response.

*Did… did I just lose connection?!*

Sweating profusely, she frantically toggled between Wi-Fi and mobile data, ducking her head like a fruit fly desperately scanning for survival 👁.

(*This can’t be happening…*)

Thirty seconds later—

The moment her connection finally stabilized, she watched helplessly as her health bar hit zero. The enemy’s chat message—“Is that all you’ve got?”—echoed in her mind like a mocking voice, shattering the last thread of her composure.

…

Hua Xin quit the game in utter humiliation, cheeks flushed crimson.

She sank against the wall, head bowed, silently weeping tiny, glistening tears.

(*I need a new phone… WAAAAH 😭😭*)  
(*I want an iPhone 15 Pro Max, 1TB, Cold Front Blue… I can’t take this C4-aka-PoopA5 device anymore 😭*)

“Done playing?”  
“Want to play together next time?”  
“We could try the co-op mode.”

Xia Yan spoke softly, a hint of hopeful anticipation in his voice as he glanced at her.

Though he’d been diligently taking notes during class, he’d also been quietly monitoring Hua Xin’s mood.  
She seemed far less resistant to being in class now.

Next step: help her ease into socializing—and maybe even make a few friends. As for candidates… 🤔  
His dormmates—the two chaotic goofballs—might just do.

(*Play… with me?*)  
(*He’s asking me?*)  
(*Must be my god-tier skills that awed him… Fine. I’ll tolerate carrying him for a few rounds.*)

Prideful yet secretly thrilled, Hua Xin lifted her chin and gave a tiny nod.

“Which server are you on?”  
“QQ or WeChat?”

To everyone’s surprise, she didn’t fall silent. Instead, in a slightly boyish voice, she replied: “WeChat.”

She disliked adding people on QQ.  
In fact, she only had one contact there—*that shrimp-headed guy.*

“Got it,” Xia Yan smiled, reaching for his phone to create a new account right away.

*BRRRRIIING!*

The dismissal bell chose that exact moment to blare—startling them both.

Uh oh…

Xia Yan inwardly groaned. 😧  
For him, staying till the end of class was no big deal.  
But for Hua Xin?  
It was pure torture.

“Class rep Xia Yan~”  
“Yan-Yan!”  
“Yan-ge~”  
“We never catch you after class lately! Are you *that* busy, Mr. Class Rep? 😍”  
“Yeah! I wanted to talk to you about the upcoming student council elections 😍.”  
“And that soccer match against Civil Engineering Class 3 this morning—SO HOT! Those concrete-mixing nerds got absolutely wrecked! Your last-second goal was insane! 😍”

The moment class ended, a flock of girls swarmed around Xia Yan.

Several “pure-hearted freshman” types made no effort to mask their possessiveness, their eyes crackling with electric yearning.

In the Management Department—the campus program with the highest ratio of female students—beauty was abundant, standing in stark contrast to departments like Civil Engineering or Computer Science. And right in the middle of this den of vixens sat Xia Yan: gentle, charming, polite, never arrogant, with a perfect build and striking looks. He’d been marked as the #1 dating target since Day 1 of military training. 😋

“I’m not busy! Just message me on WeChat—I’m friends with all of you there,” Xia Yan replied smoothly, casually slipping his notebook into his bag.  
“And the goal wasn’t just me—it was Xiang, Guan, and Mu Feng who set me up perfectly.”

“Yan…” A raven-haired beauty with bold red waves shoved the “freshmen” aside and approached with predatory confidence. Her tone was far more intimate than the others’.  
“How about grabbing coffee this afternoon?”

The younger girls glared—until their eyes drifted downward… and upward.  
Confronted with the senior’s height and, well… *generous curves*—they instantly wilted like defeated strays.  
*Losers with no ammo.*

“Sorry, Tian Yue—I’ve got plans this afternoon,” Xia Yan declined politely, not even glancing at the… *assets* on display.

He turned slightly, ready to craft an excuse to whisk Hua Xin away—only to find her seat empty.

*That kid…*

“Sorry, I’ve got to go,” he said, heart tightening. He grabbed his bag and bolted from the classroom—ignoring the disappointed sighs of both the sweet freshmen and the sultry senpai.

Meanwhile…

Hua Xin trembled in hiding inside the **boys’ restroom**.

She’d bolted the second the girls closed in.

(*“Friends,” my ass 😭…*)  
(*The second girls show up, you forget all about me, huh? 😭😭…*)  
(*Men’s words are lies straight from hell 😭😭…*)

*Hmph. “Yan-ge.”*  
*Hmph. “Yan-Yan.”*  
*Hmph. “SO HOT~” (in that fake cutesy voice).*  

**F*** you.**

Leaning against the cold tiles, she wiped her tears, heart icy.

Of course she envied Xia Yan’s popularity—but more than that, she ached from being ignored.

*Guess… I’m meant to be alone.*

She checked her phone. Ten minutes had passed—so why were there STILL so many people outside? 😰

*I just want to go home… 😭*

*Knock knock knock.*

A sharp rap on the door made her jump.

*WHO?! WHO IS IT?! 😨*

She ducked her head. There was only one pair of shoes in the stall—no chance of some scandalous discovery… right? 😨

“Hua Xin?”

That familiar voice stunned her.

*He… came looking for me??*  
*He didn’t stay with those awful girls??* 🥺

She unlocked the door—and sure enough, there stood Xia Yan, visibly anxious.

“How… how did you find me?” she asked, unusually flustered (classic tsundere energy).  

“Well… every other classroom was full. Only the restroom was empty,” he said simply.  
“Come on. Let me walk you home?”

He smiled gently, then added—with the solemnity of a righteous scholar—  
**“Women? Pfft. Bros come first.”**

His sincere gaze pierced through Hua Xin’s icy shell, melting layers of solitude she’d built over years.

She didn’t answer.  
Instead, she quietly reached out and clutched his arm.

*Then…*  
*I’ll trust you—just one more time.*