Seeing Bai Weixi’s reaction to the news, Xu Beibei wore an expression that said, "I knew it."
With a soft huff, she tugged on Bai Weixi’s arm and whispered, "Bai, you and Li Yuan still have feelings for each other. I think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding between you two."
Wang Yuchen frowned slightly. Thinking of Li Yuan’s repeatedly cold attitude, she couldn’t help but complain, "Li Yuan used to be so warm. How did he change so much? He’s so icy every day, like someone owes him millions."
As she spoke, she took Bai Weixi’s small hand and warned, "Bai, this is a classic hard-to-get tactic from guys. Just ignore him and see what other tricks Li Scumbag can pull."
A smile blossomed on Bai Weixi’s flawless face. With her shoulder-length hair spread out in the sunlight, she looked like a delicate porcelain doll. She smiled shyly and said, "Yuchen, Beibei, don’t call him a scumbag. He’s actually very good to me."
Wang Yuchen was confused. "Then why did you reject his confession?"
Bai Weixi thought for a moment, her gaze very serious. "I don’t know. I just felt like something was missing. Maybe I don’t know him well enough. I’m not certain about our future, and I’m afraid if I invest myself, I’ll end up terribly hurt... We used to have a deal, that we’d go to the same city and attend the same university..."
Wang Yuchen pouted. "Isn’t that just like me and Xu Zhi? I haven’t accepted his confession either, but he still eagerly messages me every day to see how I’m doing."
"You can’t spoil men; they need to be properly trained."
"Bai, you’re still too naive. With someone like Li Yuan, if he doesn’t reach out to you, don’t you bother with him. With your qualities, who knows how many lousy men will be falling for you when you get to university. Let Yuan regret it!"
Bai Weixi was silent. Her intuition told her that Li Yuan really had changed. If she didn’t take the initiative, she might actually lose this good friend.
Curiously, Xu Beibei asked, "Bai, your exam score was much higher than his. You applied to Daxia University, right?"
Bai Weixi nodded. "Mhm, that’s right. I applied to the accounting program at Daxia University."
Xu Beibei added, "Daxia University is a Project 985 school. Li Yuan probably can’t get in, can he? His score was 40 points lower than yours."
Wang Yuchen said cheerfully, "What does that matter? They’re both in Modu, so it’s a quick trip by bus. The university I applied to isn’t far from Bai’s, so we can see each other often."
Xu Beibei teased, "You and your man will be even closer, won’t you? Did you apply to the same university?"
"Beibei, what do you mean, ’my man’? I haven’t even said yes to him yet. I have to test him properly," Wang Yuchen said, her face flushing slightly. "But he insisted on applying to the same university as me. I couldn’t stop him."
She and Xu Zhi already shared mutual affection, a situation somewhat similar to that of Bai Weixi and Li Yuan, only their story was developing very differently.
Bai Weixi felt a pang of envy. This was the fantasy she once had for herself.
She suddenly remembered what Li Yuan had told her at the class meeting: *People always change. You will, and I will too.*
But I haven’t changed at all. So why have you?
* * *
At Chunlei Driving School, Li Yuan and his three friends were practicing for their driving test. They had already passed Subject Two and were now practicing for Subject Three.
Wang Shuai sat in the passenger seat, watching Li Yuan drive with a steady hand. He was full of admiration. "Yuan, your driving skills are amazing. I think you’re even better than our instructor."
Li Yuan raised an eyebrow. His ability to learn had indeed improved dramatically.
"I get so nervous when I drive. Whenever another car passes by, I’m terrified I’m going to crash into it, and I stall the engine all the time..." Wang Shuai muttered under his breath.
Li Yuan smiled. "Driving is simple. Just be attentive, steady, and calm. You’ll get it once you’re used to it."
Wang Shuai glanced at the back seat, where Xu Zhi was furiously tapping away on his phone. He teased him with an envious tone, "Now that Dazhi has a girlfriend, he’s forgotten all about us brothers. He’s just chatting away all day long."
Xu Zhi chuckled. "Hey, handsome guy, you’re just mad you didn’t try harder in high school. There were plenty of pretty girls in our class. Whose fault is it that you didn’t seize the opportunity?"
Wang Shuai pouted. "I’m not as thick-skinned as you guys, thinking about romance instead of studying hard."
"But even though Yuanzi and I were thinking about romance, it didn’t stop us from studying, did it?"
Xu Zhi clapped Li Yuan on the shoulder and added, "Right, Yuanzi? Encouraging each other, tutoring each other, pushing each other forward with Bai... that helps improve your grades, doesn’t it?"
Li Yuan didn’t refute it. In fact, during his three years of pursuing Bai Weixi in high school, he really had studied incredibly hard and diligently in order to build his confidence and be a better tutor for her.
Those tender, naive feelings could sometimes be a powerful motivation.
Seeing Li Yuan’s silence, Xu Zhi looked smug. "See? Yuanzi admits it. Hey, handsome guy, the reason you didn’t get into a top-tier university is because you didn’t have a girlfriend in high school..."
Wang Shuai glanced at Li Yuan, Yang Zhen, and Xu Zhi. He thought about it seriously and realized that all three of them seemed to have been in relationships in high school, and all three of them had scored better than him on the college entrance exams.
Could it be that dating in high school really helps with studying?
In that case, I’m definitely going to find a serious girlfriend in college. Preferably a gentle, beautiful, kind, and graceful upperclassman. We’ll read together, study together, go for walks together... Just thinking about it is wonderful!
Li Yuan couldn’t help but chuckle. He didn’t want to shatter Wang Shuai’s fantasy. Finding a girlfriend in college was easy enough, but chasing a beautiful upperclassman who ticked all those boxes was not going to be so simple.
Suddenly, a phone rang inside the car:
*I hope you’ll be my exclusive memory...*
*Kept deep in my heart, no matter what awful things they say...*
*What I have now... is half the love that you gave me...*
The song was "Exclusive Memory" by Jordan Chan.
It was an unfamiliar local number. This was before anti-fraud call ID, so Li Yuan pulled the car over and answered it directly.
"Hello, who is this?"
"Hello, Mr. Li. My name is Wang Yue, from Chengxin Real Estate," a voice said from the other end.
Another telemarketer selling property. Li Yuan muttered to himself, preparing to hang up.
Then he suddenly remembered that he had visited this very agency over a month ago. He had wanted to scoop up a bargain on a house slated for demolition. In the past month, he had been so busy with college applications, driving practice, writing his novel, and playing the stock market that he had completely forgotten about it.
Before Li Yuan could say anything, the voice on the phone continued, "Mr. Li, you mentioned last time that you were interested in buying a house. We’ve managed to negotiate the price down. I was wondering if you had some time to come by the office to discuss the details."
Li Yuan asked calmly, "You negotiated it down? What’s their asking price now?"
At this time, the county’s property sales volume was very low, so Wang Yue tried to secure every potential customer, even if it might lead to nothing. Her tone was very serious.
"Mr. Li, for the house in Ba Liyang, the owner is willing to drop the price to 300,000. The one in Liu Liwang, they’re willing to go down to 250,000."
After saying this, Wang Yue worried that Li Yuan would still think the price was too high and quickly added, "Mr. Li, we weren’t sure how serious your intent to purchase was, so we needed to confirm with you first. If you’re truly interested, I can still negotiate the price down a little more."
Li Yuan’s mind raced. In his previous life, after he entered the government system, he had seen documents related to the development of the South City New District. A three-story house in Ba Liyang could receive nearly two million in compensation if the owner opted for cash instead of a resettlement home. That was an astronomical sum for the time. This deal was incredibly tempting. If he bought it now and it was demolished around the Spring Festival, he could flip it in just over half a year for a profit of six to seven times his investment.
After weighing his options, Li Yuan spoke. "I am genuinely interested in the house. But 300,000 is still a bit steep. I’ll come by this afternoon to discuss the price further."
Wang Yue’s voice brightened with unconcealed delight. "Wonderful! I will be waiting for your arrival this afternoon, then."
After hanging up, Li Yuan suddenly noticed the strange atmosphere in the car. Wang Shuai, Xu Zhi, and Yang Zhen were all gaping at him in stunned disbelief.
"What’s with those looks? Is there something on my face?"
"Yuan... you’re buying a house?" Wang Shuai stammered. "And what kind of business are you in, casually talking about hundreds of thousands?"