Spicy Hot Pot

"I didn't pad it, feel for yourself if you don’t believe me!"

Li Shenyu continued to protest loudly at Jiang Liu.

How dare you say I padded! My natural gifts are right here! Why would I need to pad anything!

"So many people are watching! Stop talking nonsense!"

Jiang Liu quickly covered her mouth.

He glanced around at the onlookers still enjoying the spectacle.

"Hurry up and deal with your admirer, then let’s go eat."

Jiang Liu looked over and accidentally locked eyes with Ma Fei.

There was no electric tension as one might expect.

Because Jiang Liu didn’t particularly care—whether Li Shenyu’s "girlfriend" title was real or not didn’t matter to him.

Even if she really were his girlfriend, Jiang Liu wasn’t insecure enough to get confrontational with someone who just confessed to her.

"But he’s said everything he needed to, and he still won’t leave." Li Shenyu was getting annoyed, so she simply gathered her just-right-length skirt and sat in the bike basket.

With her long legs, slender waist, and petite frame, she actually fit.

"Driver, start the engine! The boss’s time is precious. If you don’t pedal faster, these two hours will be gone in a flash!"

Jiang Liu scratched his head and plopped a helmet onto Li Shenyu’s head.

Then he slowly rode away, turning his back to the crowd.

"Jiang Liu, guess how I rejected him!"

"By saying I’m your boyfriend?"

"Well, duh! But I had another reason too!"

Li Shenyu sniffed exaggeratedly, lying back proudly, her hair fluttering against Jiang Liu’s hands as he steered:

"I told him I’m a materialistic woman!"

"A materialistic woman who skips a BMW to ride my shared bike?"

"Because Jiang Liu is the most valuable thing in the whole world!"

"Shut up, where did you learn such corny pickup lines?"

Li Shenyu pouted and quieted down for a moment, but her chattering nature was inevitable.

When she spotted couples strolling by, she’d deliberately make noise to ensure they noticed her and Jiang Liu’s sweet bike ride.

When she saw a stray cat leap over a wall, she’d click her tongue and tell Jiang Liu she wanted a kitten too.

And Jiang Liu just indulged her, letting her chatter away.

...

The entrance to the girls’ dormitory fell silent.

Ma Fei wasn’t sure what expression to wear.

Right now, he almost wished Li Shenyu really were a materialistic woman.

But Ma Fei wasn’t that bitter—just a little disheartened.

He’d already prepared himself for the high likelihood of rejection. Shaking his head, he pulled out a broom he’d brought in advance to clean up the aftermath.

Ma Fei might not have anything to say.

But that didn’t mean others didn’t.

"Are Li Shenyu and Jiang Liu dating now?"

"But didn’t Li Shenyu’s family come and warn Jiang Liu before? After all that drama, they’re still together?"

"Stuff like this still happens in college?"

"Who knows? Rumor has it Jiang Liu got called ‘cheap trash.’ I wouldn’t have taken that."

It was unclear whether the gossip was true, but it seemed only a small group had heard it.

Still, with so many idle college students gathered around, word spread fast—and mutated even faster.

"Jiang Liu got too close to Li Shenyu, and her family warned him off."

"Li Shenyu got pregnant with Jiang Liu’s kid, but they couldn’t afford the abortion, so her family found out and stepped in."

"Hey, did you hear? Jiang Liu’s family is broke—he’s working as a male escort!"

...

Time moves slowly for young lovers, like the sluggish drift of clouds across the sky.

The campus seemed to have its own strange temporal magnetism, where even the wind and time slowed down.

The shared bike had long been returned to its designated spot.

The bike itself was light, but with an extra person perched on the handlebars, pedaling was exhausting.

Under the sunset, Li Shenyu leaned in nervously toward Jiang Liu’s face:

"Jiang Liu, don’t be upset. Want me to bite a lighter to cheer you up?"

"Stop changing the subject. I’m asking what we did the night before the accident."

"I don’t remember! Give me a hint?"

"It’s only been about ten days, and you already forgot?"

"Oh no! There’s a giant bug in my brain eating all my memories—and then pooping them out everywhere!"

Li Shenyu clutched her head in fake agony, peeking at Jiang Liu with one eye.

After an awkward stare-off, she grinned shamelessly and looped her arm through his like it was second nature.

"Just tell me what you remember, and I’ll fill in the gaps!"

"Just answer—did we meet that day or not?"

"Of course we did! We see each other every day." Sensing her answer wasn’t convincing enough, Li Shenyu pulled up her phone as proof.

"Look at the chat logs! One night you texted that you missed me, and I snuck out of the dorm to see you!"

She shoved the screen in Jiang Liu’s face, but the messages read:

23:05

Li Shenyu: Do you miss me?

23:10

Li Shenyu: ? Why aren’t you replying? Watching websites again?

23:15

Li Shenyu: Say you miss me, now!

Jiang Liu: Just got out of the shower. Miss you.

Li Shenyu: Knew you’d say that! Already left the dorm—send your location, hurry!

Li Shenyu: Majesty Internet Café (Hope Street branch)

Jiang Liu was speechless. He wanted her to scroll further to the logs from the day he supposedly confessed.

Evidence never lied—just one look at that day’s chat history would clear everything up.

But Li Shenyu reflexively locked her phone and stuffed it back into her pocket.

Then she looked up at Jiang Liu.

"I want to see the chat logs from the day before the accident."

"I’ll show you later, okay?"

Their position was undeniably intimate. The phone screen was small, the text even smaller.

To read it properly, they’d have to press their heads together.

The height difference didn’t help—167 cm versus 185 cm.

So when Li Shenyu looked up, she met Jiang Liu’s gaze directly, a strand of her platinum hair brushing his neck.

Her wide eyes, gilded by the sunset, seemed to hold the entire sky.

"Let’s go eat, Jiang Liu. I want a kids’ meal!"

"You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?"

"You already found out about the padding scam—what else could I possibly hide?"

"Then show me."

"Not now. Be good."

Jiang Liu stared straight into those golden-lit eyes.

Li Shenyu was beautiful, her personality infectious.

At the very least, Jiang Liu loved being around her—it was like they existed in their own little world, shutting everyone else out.

If, after his accident, she was the only one who stuck by him, he’d accept her as his girlfriend 100%, no questions asked.

But she was keeping secrets.

Seeing she couldn’t dodge the issue, Li Shenyu blushed and tugged at Jiang Liu’s sleeve.

"Don’t be mad. It’s just… that day, you confessed to me, and I got a little shy."

???