Chapter 64: Gu Shiyan Mentions Luo Xing in the Group Chat

After returning, Luo Xing didn't go anywhere else; she simply stayed at the Gu family home, keeping Grandpa Gu and Grandma company for a few days. During these days, she began consulting Shen Que about the physics competition. Besides buying books online to read, Luo Xing also made sure to visit the library in Jing City every afternoon. Shen Que had sent her some documents about the contest, and if she wanted to join him, she had to thoroughly analyze the entries from the past few years.

She hadn't run into Gu Shiyan in the last few days. It was only when Song, the assistant, happened to mention him that she learned Gu Shiyan had gone to North City. There was no word on whether he would return. Luo Xing thought it rather tragic—she had stayed at Grandpa Gu's place for quite some time, and apart from Gu Shiyan and Song, she'd met none of the other relatives. But that was their family affair, and she had no right to question it.

Time slipped by, and soon it was mid-August. Luo Xing had just left the library, heading to the airport to pick up Shen Que. Her phone vibrated—a message on VB. Qi Zhi was fine and had started working again. Luo Xing couldn't quite name the feeling in her heart. She opened the post, scrolled through the comments, and guessed that the company had hired people to praise Qi Zhi; the fans asking about the lake incident must have been suppressed. Only a few such comments popped up occasionally.

Luo Xing exited the post, only to spot another trending topic. The son of Gu Liang, chairman of the Gu Group, publicly clarified his relationship with the heiress of Wan Zhong Group. Recalling Song's mention that Gu Shiyan had gone to North City to handle some matters, she now realized it was this issue he had gone to deal with. Her fingertips twitched; she didn't open the post. She could guess what it was about: Gu Shiyan's father wanted him to get engaged to Liu Mingyue. With Gu Shiyan's temperament, if he didn't want something, not even ten oxen could drag him. Drawing a line with Liu Mingyue was something Luo Xing had anticipated; after all, he had to make room for Su Mo. He couldn't possibly pursue Su Mo while carrying someone else's fiancé status.

She closed her phone and was about to slip it into her bag when someone bumped into her; the phone fell to the ground. The faint scent of gardenia filled the air, followed by a gentle voice, “Sorry.” The girl picked up the phone ahead of Luo Xing and handed it to her. Luo Xing took the phone and looked up. The girl wore a medical mask, revealing only a pair of crescent-shaped smiling eyes. Luo Xing felt a sense of familiarity but couldn't recall where she'd seen her before.

“Thank you.” She glanced down—the phone had only picked up a bit of dust, nothing serious. The girl pulled a green-packaged wet wipe from her bag, tore it open, and handed it to Luo Xing. “Sorry for bumping into you.” Luo Xing shook her head. “It's nothing.” She took the wipe and cleaned her phone.

Neither girl paid much attention to the minor collision. Luo Xing slipped her phone into her bag and moved on. Yet after walking some distance, she glanced back, frowning. Was she some celebrity? Otherwise, Luo Xing wouldn't feel this sense of familiarity yet fail to recognize her.

Outside the library, Luo Xing's taxi was waiting at the curb. She got in and gave her phone number.

Looking at her phone, Luo Xing saw her level-six exam results—she’d passed, as expected.

Jing City International Airport.

Shen Que was accompanied by four boys, all attending the competition together.

“Hey, let’s have dinner together? At Lanting, I’ll book a private room?”

Shen Que lowered his eyes. “I already promised someone I’d eat with them, so I’ll pass.”

The guys teased him about saving money again. The school had covered all expenses for this trip, but if they went out alone, they'd have to pay themselves, so Shen Que’s reluctance was understandable.

Shen Que shook his head, but his attention was drawn by a figure.

“What are you staring at so intently?”

The guy next to Shen Que followed his gaze. “Hey, isn't that Gu Shiyan from your class?”

In the bustling airport, not far away, Gu Shiyan stood in black, holding a jacket, with no other luggage.

The group got excited at the mention of Gu Shiyan. “Isn't his family super rich? Shen Que, do you know him? Should we go say hi?”

Shen Que frowned and shook his head, but then said to the guy who’d suggested dinner, “I’ll eat with you all.”

...

Her phone chimed—a message popped up from Shen Que.

Luo Xing opened it; Shen Que explained that his senior teammates wanted to dine together. He hadn’t managed to decline and asked Luo Xing where she was, telling her not to bother coming to the airport.

Luo Xing glanced at her route—she was almost at her destination. She replied that she hadn't set out yet and told him not to worry.

She called Grandma to say she wouldn't be home for dinner, she'd eat out instead.

She realized she hadn’t dined out alone since arriving in Jing City.

“You’re not coming home? Xiao Song said Shiyan is supposed to return today...”

The voice on the other end faded, seeming to recall the situation between the two and falling silent.

Luo Xing didn’t mind and answered lightly, “Oh, I thought he wasn’t coming back. It’s been half a month; he’s actually returning.”

She arrived, got out of the car, and wandered aimlessly, not looking for any direction. There were countless places to eat nearby anyway.

“Grandma, I’ll hang up now.”

She opened QQ; Gu Shiyan had tried to add her, but she hadn't accepted.

A small red note appeared—“The other party has attempted to add you too frequently. Please consider carefully before accepting.”

Luo Xing ignored it.

The class group chat had ninety-nine new messages.

Luo Xing’s eyes trembled—someone had tagged her.

She frowned; her phone had been on silent in the library. Had the counselor posted something? Even if everyone replied, it shouldn’t be this many messages.

She opened the group and found a flood of emojis: sighing pandas biting their lips, blushing monkeys drooling...

Scrolling up, there were too many.

What on earth was all this?

Luo Xing stopped scrolling and tapped the tag, which took her straight to the top.

A black avatar, ID: Gu Shiyan, followed by his phone number.

“@Luo Xing 132****** Please approve my friend request.”

What?

Luo Xing had never known Gu Shiyan could be so shameless.

She took a deep breath.

She sent a screenshot to her group chat with Yun Cai and the others.

[Luo Xing: He sent this this afternoon. None of you thought to warn me?]

[Yao Xiangming: I’m jet-lagged in New York. Just woke up.]

[Yun Cai: Damn? No idea! Just woke up myself.]

[Ming An: I muted the group...]

[Shen Que: Just saw it. My phone was in airplane mode.]

Luo Xing rolled her eyes.

How could five people not see the group messages?

Then Yao Xiangming tagged Yun Cai, asking if she’d gone abroad too.

Yun Cai replied: Nope, I just keep foreign hours.

Luo Xing: ...

She checked the class group again, saw the barrage of indecent emojis, and felt aggrieved—couldn’t the counselor do something?

So much time had passed, she didn’t know how to respond. She might as well play blind, like the counselor.

Yun Cai posted a thread from Xingda’s forum in their little group.

Within just a few hours, Gu Shiyan’s tag to Luo Xing in the group chat had hit number one.

Everyone knew Gu Shiyan—a top figure at Xingda. Luo Xing’s infamous pursuit of him was campus-wide gossip. What was going on now?

Had Luo Xing deleted Gu Shiyan? And Gu Shiyan had gone so far as to tag her in the class group, asking her to add him back.

Scrolling through the comments, most people guessed—Luo Xing must have stolen Gu Shiyan's phone to post.

Luo Xing: ...

Unbelievable.

Speechless.

Luo Xing took a deep breath, exhaled, and kicked the air!

“Who are you kicking?”

A deep, magnetic voice, tinged with weariness, sounded behind her.