The two were speaking in low voices, but their conversation drifted right to Song Ze just as he stepped up to the stairwell.
He paused in his steps, did not step into the room, and instead leaned against the corridor railing, watching their backs as he mentally plotted that next time, he could probably come up with a more natural excuse to strike up a conversation.
The library was exceptionally quiet in the afternoon. Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, dappling the wooden floor with patches of light and shadow. Between the bookshelves, only the soft rustle of turning pages and faint footsteps could be heard.
Zhang Yanyan held the call number she had printed from the retrieval machine, standing in the finance section on the third floor, her brows slightly furrowed.
She was looking for a reference book. She had been searching for nearly ten minutes following the call number, rummaging through every marked shelf layer, but there was no sign of the book anywhere.
"Did someone already check it out?" Zhang Yanyan murmured quietly to herself, then double-checked the call number to confirm she was looking at the correct shelf.
Just as she was about to turn around to head to the information desk, a familiar voice rang out beside her, soft and slightly tentative: "Are you looking for this book?"
Zhang Yanyan turned around and saw Song Ze standing by the adjacent bookshelf, holding a deep blue covered book in his hand — it was exactly the one she was looking for.
He was wearing a plain white T-shirt and black sweatpants, a pair of black-rimmed glasses resting on his face, which gave him far more of a scholarly air than when he was in his camouflage uniform.
"Yeah, I've been looking for ages and couldn't find it." Zhang Yanyan nodded, her tone still polite.
"I just finished reading it, and I was on my way to return it." Song Ze held the book out to her, his fingers only touching the spine without any unnecessary contact. "This book is really in high demand. There are only two copies in the library, and the other one seems to have been checked out already."
"Thank you so much. Otherwise, I would have had to make an extra trip to the information desk." Zhang Yanyan took the book and held it to her chest, though she felt a touch of helplessness in her heart. He really was persistent, not giving up even now. Could it be that her refusal wasn't obvious enough, and had accidentally given him some sort of wrong impression?
"You're welcome." Song Ze smiled, his gaze falling on the book in her arms before he added, "The case studies in this book are really classic, especially the equity incentive section in Chapter Eight. You might want to focus on that part."
"I will, thanks for the reminder." Zhang Yanyan nodded, holding the book as she started walking toward the checkout counter. "I'm going to go process the checkout now, I won't keep you."
"I was just about to return a book too, let's go together." Song Ze fell into step beside her, and the two walked side by side down the aisle between the bookshelves, their steps light so as not to break the library's quiet atmosphere.
When they reached the self-service checkout machine, Zhang Yanyan swiped her campus card to complete the checkout process, while Song Ze returned his book at the machine next to hers.
"Well, I'm heading back to the classroom first, I still have things to take care of." Zhang Yanyan picked up her book, said a quick goodbye to Song Ze, then turned and left the library.
Song Ze stood where he was, watching her figure disappear through the library entrance. He pulled out his phone and sent a message to his roommate Wang Hao: "Finally made some progress today. I helped her find her reference book, she said thank you to me, and we even chatted a bit. At this rate, I'm going to win her over soon, right?"
It didn't take long before Wang Hao replied: "Nice going Song Ze, great progress! Next time find another chance to talk to her about your professional class work, that's definitely going to bring you two closer."
Song Ze smiled as he read the message, put his phone away, and already had a new plan forming in his mind.
It was dismissal time once more. Lin Yue and her roommates lived in the campus dormitory, so their route home did not overlap with Zhang Yanyan's. The two groups parted ways at a street intersection.
As the sky grew dim, the street lamps on campus flickered to life one after another. Their amber glow seeped through the plane tree leaves, dappling the tree-lined path. Zhang Yanyan slung her backpack over her shoulder and walked slowly. Just as she rounded the corner of the tree-lined path outside the Second Canteen, she spotted Song Ze waiting for her by a stone bench.
He had changed into a crisp white shirt and black casual trousers that accentuated his tall, lean frame. He set a bottle of iced lychee drink on the stone bench, and did not step forward to greet her right away when he saw Zhang Yanyan approaching.
He waited until she was right in front of him before he spoke, his voice softer than usual and laced with earnestness. "Zhang Yanyan, do you have a minute? I just have a few things to say, it will only take a few minutes."
Zhang Yanyan stopped in her tracks, her brows drawing slightly together. It was late, she had just finished a long day at school, and all she wanted was to head home. What could possibly be so important that it could not wait?
"Song Ze, it's already getting pretty late. We can talk about whatever this is some other day. I'm really not in the mood for this right now."
Song Ze did not want to give up, not when he had finally worked up the courage to seize this rare opportunity.
"I've had my eye on you ever since I saw you giving the speech on stage at the opening ceremony."
He stepped in front of her, not keeping the polite distance he had always maintained before, though he did not crowd her either. His gaze was steady and his tone sincere as he continued.
"We've run into each other plenty of times over these two weeks of military training, so I think you know at least a little bit about me. I'd really like to get to know you better. I like you, and I want to try seeing where things go with you. Would you be my girlfriend?"
Right after he finished speaking, a few faint rustles came from the plane tree not far away. It was Wang Hao, Li Yang, and a couple of their friends. They had not dared to come over and tease them, and were just watching from a distance to cheer Song Ze on, keeping their noise as quiet as they could.
Zhang Yanyan looked back at him, her expression completely calm, not a flicker of surprise in her eyes. Her tone was even, but her stance was unshakable. "Song Ze, thank you for liking me, but I really don't see you as anything more than a classmate."
She paused for a moment to make her point crystal clear. "You aren't the kind of person I'm attracted to. Don't waste your time on me anymore."
The faint smile on Song Ze's face faded away in an instant, and clear shock flashed across his eyes. He had not expected her to turn him down so thoroughly, so bluntly.
He pursed his lips, trying to find the right words to change her mind. "I know it's sudden to ask you to accept this right now, but feelings can grow over time. Can't you just give me a chance to show you with my actions—"
"No." Zhang Yanyan cut him off gently, her tone still even.
"I know from the very start whether I have that kind of feeling for someone, and it never changes no matter how much someone does for me. It's better to be clear with you now than to let you keep putting in effort for nothing, it's fair to both of us. I hope you won't go out of your way to run into me on purpose anymore. We can just be regular classmates who don't bother each other."
With that, she did not glance at Song Ze again. She stepped around him and walked straight toward the school gate, her steps not slowing down for even a second.
Song Ze stood frozen in place, watching her figure fade away into the glow of the street lamps. His fingers curled into tight fists until his knuckles turned pale. He was good-looking, and plenty of girls at school had made the first move to show interest in him before. Almost no one had ever rejected him so unsparingly.
This was the first time he had ever put his whole heart into pursuing someone, racking his brain for every possible way to get close to them, only to be turned down so bluntly in the end. It was only natural that a sliver of unwillingness gnawed at him.
Seeing that the mood had turned sour, Wang Hao, Li Yang and the rest of their group hurried over, clapping him on the shoulder. They tried to think of some comforting words to say, but none of them could find the right thing to say.
Song Ze bent down to pick up the lychee drink on the stone bench, twisted the cap off and took a big gulp. The icy liquid slid down his throat, yet it could not suppress the surging bitterness and unwillingness rising from the bottom of his heart. He kept his eyes lowered, standing rooted to the spot, staring blankly in the direction Zhang Yanyan had left.
Meanwhile, Zhang Yanyan walked quickly all the way to the school gate, where a black sedan was already waiting by the roadside. Mr. Li spotted her immediately, got out of the car and pulled open the rear door for her.
She sank into the back seat and let out a long, slow breath.
Song Ze was being led back to the boys' dormitory by his roommates, and he did not head toward the school gate at all. Naturally, he never caught sight of that sedan or the waiting driver. He was too wrapped up in the bitter, unyielding frustration of being rejected, and just followed his roommates forward with his head hung low.
