Lin Xiaoguai was walking out of the library with a few books in her arms when she heard someone calling her from behind. Turning around, she saw Wang Han coming towards her, sweating profusely.
"Is there something?" Lin Xiaoguai asked with a smile, tucking back the strands of hair that the wind had blown onto her face.
Known as Zhu Huixi’s boyfriend, Lin Xiaoguai had become acquainted with Wang Han over several years.
"Can you give this to Huixi for me, and tell her that I need to go home today? If there’s anything urgent, she can call my home number." Wang Han handed over a big bag of stuff.
Lin Xiaoguai quickly glanced at the bag, which seemed to contain cookies and fruits, and took it, asking, "Is something wrong?"
"My grandfather has passed away; I need to go back for the funeral," Wang Han replied, his lips pressed together.
Only then did Lin Xiaoguai realize that Wang Han, who usually never stopped smiling, had been expressionless all day today.
"... my condolences."
Wang Han nodded without saying anything more and left.
Standing there, Lin Xiaoguai sighed. The emotions of this era were indeed much purer than in later times; Wang Han, obviously heartbroken and grievous, still remembered to buy snacks for Zhu Huixi, looking just like a fragile scholar.
But soon she smiled; after all, she had Shen Chi, right?
In the distance, a group of freshmen saw her smile and immediately buzzed with excitement.
"Look, that’s Philosophy Department’s Senior Sister Lin Xiaoguai!"
"She looks so beautiful when she smiles..."
"Such a graceful demeanor..."
"By the way, does the senior sister have a significant other?"
"I don’t know, but I heard she’s already married and even has a child."
"That can’t be true. Senior Sister Lin looks only about twenty years old; she couldn’t possibly be of marriageable age yet."
"True, I heard that our batchmate Fang Jie has been pursuing her. The marriage thing must be fake."
"Speaking of which, hasn’t Fang Jie been chasing her for a year now? Has he not succeeded?"
"Unlikely; with so many outstanding seniors in the third and fourth years interested in Senior Sister Lin, despite Fang Jie’s good qualities, standing out is still difficult."
"Let it go, why do we care? It’s not like the senior sister would consider any of us."
Lin Xiaoguai was unaware of this conversation related to her. She checked both the classroom and the dormitory and couldn’t find Zhu Huixi, finally realizing why Wang Han had asked for her help.
— Because Lu Rong left, Lin Xiaoguai and the two others had continued to live off-campus, but they had kept the dormitory intact.
Returning to the classroom, she found a spot by the window and began writing her graduation thesis. She hadn’t written many words before she saw Zhu Huixi and Yang Xiaoli enter with flushed cheeks and dodgy eyes, looking like they were guilty of something bad.
"Did you guys commit a theft or have an affair?" Lin Xiaoguai asked teasingly, her eyebrows raised softly.
She was only joking, but Zhu Huixi and Yang Xiaoli nervously looked around and, finding no one else in the classroom, visibly relaxed.
"You did?" Lin Xiaoguai widened her eyes.
"What are you talking about?" Zhu Huixi whispered in her ear, "Today, we took a shortcut through the woods and bumped into Li Zhijiang and He Xiang having an affair."
"Isn’t this something you’ve seen before? Why the nervousness?" Lin Xiaoguai asked, puzzled.
Despite conservative times, when young men and women fell in love, controlling their emotions wasn’t easy. It was quite normal to steal a kiss or hold hands in a secluded place when love was intense. Thus, Lin Xiaoguai had encountered similar scenes several times over the years.
"The thing is, those two almost went all the way; they even started undressing," Yang Xiaoli said softly.
Lin Xiaoguai blushed, her jaw dropping, "No way? Having sex in the wild? People are so bold in this era?"
"They stopped themselves in time," Zhu Huixi said, looking embarrassed, "We were absolutely shocked when we saw it." There was also some excitement, of course.
Lin Xiaoguai shook her head, handing the bag next to her to Zhu Huixi, "This is from Wang Han."
"What is it?" Zhu Huixi opened the bag as she spoke. After inspecting its content, she looked up and asked, "Where is he?"
"His grandfather passed away; he went back for the funeral," Lin Xiaoguai relayed the message.
"What?" Zhu Huixi was stunned, exclaiming agitatedly, "What happened?"
"I don’t know; I’m just passing on his message."
"I need to find him," Zhu Huixi bit her lip, suddenly standing up and quickly leaving after saying, "Please put these things in the cupboard for me."
Lin Xiaoguai and Yang Xiaoli exchanged glances.
"There won’t be anything wrong, right?" Yang Xiaoli asked.