Don’t Come to the Library!

Everyone was stunned for a full two seconds, then burst into even louder laughter. Jiang Shangyu slapped the back of the sofa, nearly doubling over: “No way? Bro Ci, you actually watched that stuff?”

Wen Zhaoci twirled his glass between his fingers, the smile at the corners of his eyes still lingering. He didn’t respond, just took a slow sip of his drink.

Gu Yanshi laughed so hard his white teeth showed: “No wonder you suddenly got it together—you were copying homework! You actually used a love guide.”

Chi Nanli: “What? I thought Muze was just joking when he sent that the other day. Who knew it could actually get you a girlfriend? I’m going to try it too!”

Zhao Muze held back his laughter and asked: “So what did the girl do? Didn’t slap you?”

At the mention of Sang Jiuning, the warmth in Wen Zhaoci’s eyes returned, and his voice softened: “She was… pretty well-behaved.”

That set off another round of teasing in the private room. Jiang Shangyu raised his full glass and leaned over: “Alright, alright—today we’ve had our fill of dog food. This toast is for you—to our Bro Ci winning the beauty’s heart!”

* * * *

The next morning, on Sunday, Tang Tongtong—at Sang Jiuning’s request—climbed up to her bunk at 6 AM, pulled open the bed curtain, and called her to get up.

Tang Tongtong poked Sang Jiuning’s cheek: “Lazybones, time to get up and study vocabulary.”

Sang Jiuning grumbled into her blanket, sinking deeper into her pillow, mumbling vaguely: “Five more minutes… just five…”

She’d tossed and turned all night, only falling asleep in the wee hours. Now her eyelids felt weighted down with lead—no way she had the strength to get up.

Tang Tongtong wasn’t having it. She reached out and tickled Sang Jiuning’s waist: “No way, no way! You said we’d get up early to grab library spots. You were the one who said last night you needed to cram for CET-4. If you sleep any longer, all the good seats will be gone!”

Sang Jiuning laughed helplessly, squirming and rolling half a turn before finally sitting up with a head full of messy bed hair, eyes still half-lidded, looking thoroughly disoriented. She fumbled blindly for her phone on the nightstand.

Tapping the screen, she saw it was only 6:10. She slumped her shoulders with a yawn, sitting there in a daze: “Mmm… okay, okay. I’m up.”

She shuffled to the bathroom in her slippers to wash up. The cold water splashed on her face finally shook off most of the drowsiness. Looking at her slightly reddened lips in the mirror, last night’s memories came flooding back unbidden, and her ears heated up again.

“AHHHHH—”

She quickly cupped two handfuls of cold water and pressed them to her ears, cursing herself for being so pathetic. It was just a kiss—why couldn’t she stop thinking about it?

Tang Tongtong heard the sudden yell from outside and poked half her head in curiously: “What’s wrong? What’s wrong? It’s early morning—what’s gotten into you?”

Sang Jiuning quickly covered her face with a towel and mumbled: “N-nothing! The water was just too cold—it startled me!”

By the time she’d finished getting ready, Tang Tongtong had already packed both their canvas bags and was leaning by the bed scrolling through her phone. She looked up and said: “Yanyan and Xiaoying were up at 5:30. We’re really lagging behind.”

Sang Jiuning tugged at the straps of her canvas bag, chewing on half a piece of bread as she mumbled: “Up even earlier than us? That’s some next-level discipline. I can’t compete, I can’t compete.”

She wiped her mouth. “Come on, come on, let’s go. If we’re going to grind, we’re going to grind hard—if it doesn’t kill us, we’ll just grind harder.”

Tang Tongtong laughed, tucked both their water bottles into the side pockets of the bags, locked the door, and followed her downstairs.

The moment they stepped into the library, they saw that most of the seats were already taken. Sang Jiuning had never seen the library this crowded this early. Everyone was really going all out.

She had to admire these people—grinding through high school, grinding through college, and after graduation, they’d go to companies and keep grinding as corporate drones.

Tang Tongtong scanned the room, spotted Qin Ying and Su Qingyan in the third row—they’d saved seats—and pulled the dazed Sang Jiuning over: “Come on, seats are saved here. Window seats too—great lighting.”

Sang Jiuning followed and sat down, pulling out her books and settling in to study.

By 8 AM, Tang Tongtong suggested: “Let’s go grab breakfast now.”

Qin Ying closed her book: “I’ve been hungry for a while. Let’s go—shouldn’t be too crowded at the cafeteria now.”

Su Qingyan capped her pen: “I won’t join you guys.”

Sang Jiuning: “Got a date?”

Su Qingyan shook her head. “Weng Zhicheng’s bringing me breakfast. I’ll eat with him.”

Tang Tongtong’s eyes lit up immediately. She raised an eyebrow and winked: “Nice, Yanyan! You two finally got together? We won’t be third wheels then—let’s go, let’s go.”

With that, she pushed Sang Jiuning toward the door, Qin Ying following behind with a suppressed smile.

Su Qingyan tossed out a “We’re not together yet” and walked out of the library first.

The three of them slowed their pace and headed to the cafeteria.

Qin Ying couldn’t resist her gossipy curiosity: “So what’s the deal with Yanyan and that Weng Zhicheng anyway? He’s been chasing her for a month and a half—bringing food every other day—and she still won’t accept him.”

Tang Tongtong bit her chopsticks and laughed: “You don’t just say yes right away. You’ve got to drag it out, test his sincerity. I wouldn’t give in that fast either.”

Qin Ying: “True. But a month and a half is pretty long. How long does she need to test him?”

Sang Jiuning made a mental ‘tsk’ but didn’t respond to the question. The female lead’s devoted suitor—of course he’s going to keep pining forever.

Tang Tongtong nodded in agreement: “Yeah, a month and a half is a while. If it’s right, get together. If not, just be clear about it. Yanyan’s handling this kind of poorly. What do you think, Ningning?”

Sang Jiuning took a sip of her soy milk and said slowly: “Qingyan knows what she’s doing. Let’s not meddle too much. Can eating breakfast shut you two up already?”

Just as she finished speaking, she saw Su Qingyan walking over with her tray, followed by Weng Zhicheng, who was holding a warm bag of milk. He greeted them before finding a seat nearby.

Sang Jiuning glanced at their table from the corner of her eye. Weng Zhicheng was carefully placing a peeled boiled egg onto Su Qingyan’s plate, his movements natural and practiced. She raised an eyebrow and bit into her bun, thinking: The female lead is definitely meant for the male lead. I really need to break up with Wen Zhaoci as soon as possible.

Just then, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out—a WeChat message from Wen Zhaoci.

Z.C: [Have you eaten breakfast?]

Fluffy Little Chinchilla: [Eating now.]

Z.C: [What are you doing after?]

Fluffy Little Chinchilla: [Library. Studying for CET-4. Exam’s in two weeks.]

About five minutes later, Wen Zhaoci replied.

Z.C: [I’ll come find you at the library in an hour. I’ll bring two sets of CET-4 practice tests. I’ll time you and see how many points you can get.]

Fluffy Little Chinchilla: [Don’t come! A husky with angry wide-open mouth.Jpg]