Wang Hao patted him on the shoulder and lowered his voice. “Song Ze, are you all right? It’s not like getting rejected is the end of the world. Anyone would feel bad in your shoes, but don’t take it too hard.”
Li Yang chimed in, slipping an arm around his. “Exactly. Tengyuan University is huge, and there are plenty of beautiful, talented girls around. If she doesn’t like you, that’s her loss. Don’t stand here brooding over it.
“Come on, let’s head back to the dorm. I’ve still got a couple cans of beer in my locker. We can have a drink and cheer you up.”
Another boy from their dorm, Zhao Peng, joined in. “That’s right. You’re not exactly lacking in qualifications. You’re decent-looking, your grades are good, and plenty of girls are interested in you. Why fixate on just one? She looks cold, anyway. Maybe she wouldn’t suit you.”
Song Ze slowly lifted his head. The urgency on his face was gone, replaced by a strained smile. He raised a hand and rubbed his brow, then tossed the bottle of lychee drink into the nearby trash can. His tone was deliberately carefree.
“It’s fine. I was too hasty and didn’t consider her feelings. Since she isn’t interested, there’s no point in pestering her. Forget it. I’m done pursuing her.”
His words left the others momentarily stunned. None of them had expected him to take it so well. Wang Hao blinked, then laughed. “Not bad, Song Ze. You’re taking it pretty well! That’s the right attitude. There are plenty of fish in the sea. We don’t need to cling to just one.”
“Come on, let’s go back to the dorm and drink,” Li Yang said, pulling him toward the men’s dormitory.
The group chatted and joked around as they walked, and no one mentioned Zhang Yanyan again.
Song Ze followed behind them with a smile on his face, but a trace of gloom lingered in his eyes.
It didn’t take long for Song Ze to find a new target: Zhou Nian.
Zhou Nian was in Class One of the Computer Science Department, in the same major as Song Ze but a different class. During the placement exams at the beginning of the semester, she had ranked eighth in the entire year. She had excellent grades, delicate features, and a gentle, soft-spoken personality. She was the kind of girl who naturally made people want to protect her.
Song Ze had noticed her before, but at the time, he had been completely focused on pursuing Zhang Yanyan and hadn’t paid her much attention. Now that Zhang Yanyan had rejected him without hesitation, Zhou Nian became the most suitable new target.
She had good grades, a simple personality, an ordinary family background, and no connections or influential backing. A girl like that would be much easier to manipulate than Zhang Yanyan, and she would also satisfy his vanity more effectively.
After returning to the dorm, the boys dug out the beer and snacks and gathered around the table to drink.
Song Ze only took an occasional sip, listening to his roommates talk about everything under the sun and chiming in from time to time. After that day, he never brought up Zhang Yanyan again, as though he had truly put her behind him.
But only Song Ze knew that he hadn’t let go at all. The humiliation of being rejected had already taken root in his heart. He simply understood that Zhang Yanyan had no taste. Rather than continue pestering her and end up making a fool of himself, it was better to cut his losses and find a new target.
From that day onward, Song Ze completely disappeared from Zhang Yanyan’s sight. He no longer deliberately engineered encounters with her or took the initiative to speak to her, as though the brief connection between them had never existed.
Zhang Yanyan didn’t care in the slightest. To her, Song Ze’s disappearance merely meant one less nuisance. Her life continued in its usual orderly fashion.
Every morning, she arrived early to claim a seat in the classroom. She listened attentively and took notes during lectures, then spent her breaks buried in thick finance textbooks at the library. Every now and then, she would eat in the cafeteria with Lin Yue and Zhou Yutong, discussing difficult problems from their major and chatting about amusing things happening around campus.
Her days were plain, but fulfilling.
The university had officially begun teaching major courses. The Finance Department’s curriculum was more demanding than that of most other departments, and the endless theoretical knowledge was enough to give anyone a headache. Yet Zhang Yanyan found the material remarkably easy.
The original host’s regrets from her previous life made her treasure this opportunity to study. On top of that, she was intelligent by nature and understood nearly everything at once. Whenever a professor called on her in class, her answers earned approving nods. Before long, she had become one of the top students in Class One of the Finance Department.
Meanwhile, Song Ze was busy figuring out how to get closer to Zhou Nian.
He continued to wear clean white shirts and speak in a gentle, considerate manner. With his attentive behavior and sunny, upright appearance, he quickly won over the innocent Zhou Nian.
No one had ever treated Zhou Nian with such care before, and she gradually developed feelings for Song Ze. However, held back by a young woman’s reserve, she never revealed them.
Song Ze could tell that Zhou Nian liked him, but he didn’t confess right away. He was waiting for the right opportunity—one that would make Zhou Nian completely devoted to him.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye. The leaves of the plane trees had fallen all over the campus, turning the ground a sea of gold.
After lunch, Zhang Yanyan took a walk with Lin Yue to aid their digestion. When they reached the bend in the plane-tree avenue, a hearty male voice suddenly called out, “Yanyan! Long time no see!”
Zhang Yanyan turned around and saw Gu Yao striding toward them.
Gu Yao was the Young Master Gu. The Gu family was one of Rongcheng’s four great families, equal in standing to the Zhang family, and he had grown up with the original host.
Gu Yao was two years older than Zhang Yanyan and was now pursuing a graduate degree in the School of Law at Tengyuan University. He was usually busy with his studies and family affairs, so the two rarely saw each other.
“Gu Yao, what brings you back to campus?” Zhang Yanyan asked, the corners of her lips lifting into a faint smile. The usual coolness in her expression had faded, replaced by a touch of familiarity.
“I just finished helping my supervisor with a case. I came back to submit some documents and thought I’d stop by to see you.”
Gu Yao reached them and glanced at Lin Yue beside her, smiling and nodding in greeting before turning back to Zhang Yanyan. “I heard you became the freshman representative for the Finance Department. Not bad. You haven’t embarrassed the Zhang family.”
“It was just good luck.” Zhang Yanyan paused, then asked, “Are Grandpa and your parents doing well?”
“They’re all doing fine. Grandpa keeps saying you should come over to the Gu family’s house for dinner this weekend.”
Gu Yao nodded. When he mentioned business, his tone grew more serious. “The project in the east side of the city is indeed being negotiated, but our competitors are proving difficult. My uncle and my father are both getting a headache over it.
“By the way, isn’t your father negotiating for the commercial and residential development land in the west? My father said the Zhang Corporation’s proposal was quite impressive, but you’ll need to watch out for the Li family. They’ve always liked swooping in and stealing deals.”
“Uncle Chen mentioned it to me briefly. The finer details are still being worked out.”
They continued chatting beside the plane-tree avenue, moving from family business to their studies at school. Little by little, Zhang Yanyan connected the Gu Yao before her with the Gu Yao in the original host’s memories.
As it happened, Song Ze and Zhou Nian saw the scene from not far away.
Song Ze was walking along the plane-tree avenue with Zhou Nian’s hand in his. The two had just entered an ambiguous stage in their relationship and were still getting to know each other. When they reached the bend, Song Ze spotted Zhang Yanyan and Gu Yao at once.
Gu Yao wore a well-tailored black casual suit and carried himself with an aristocratic air. A black Bentley was parked beside him, making it obvious that he was a wealthy heir from an established family. And the gentle smile Zhang Yanyan directed at him was something Song Ze had never seen before.
A vicious glint flashed through Song Ze’s eyes, but he immediately concealed it. His grip on Zhou Nian’s hand tightened unconsciously. His face instantly took on a desolate, wounded expression, and he lowered his head toward the ground. Even the smile at the corners of his lips vanished without a trace.
The sudden movement caused Zhou Nian pain, and her brows drew together at once.
When she looked up and saw the loneliness in Song Ze’s eyes, her concern for him eclipsed the discomfort in her palm, though she couldn’t help feeling a faint pang of jealousy.
She gave Song Ze’s hand a gentle tug. Her voice held a hint of hurt and accusation, mingled with a trace of unease. “Song Ze, what’s wrong? You’re hurting me. Is it because… because you still can’t forget Zhang Yanyan?”
