Chapter Thirty-Three: No Milk Tea Today

“Thank you,” Yang Xiaofan said as he dashed upstairs to the girls’ dormitory, where some of the residents were already awake.

His sudden appearance left many of the girls in astonishment—a boy had actually run into the girls’ dormitory.

But Yang Xiaofan paid no mind to their bewildered stares and hurried straight to Qin Nuanyu’s room, where he knocked gently on the door.

“Who is it?” came a voice from within.

Yun Yiyi opened the door a crack. Upon seeing Yang Xiaofan, she was momentarily taken aback before lowering her voice to whisper, “What are you doing here?”

Yang Xiaofan stole a glance inside; Qin Nuanyu was still asleep.

“How’s Nuanyu?” he asked.

“Not well at all! She cried for ages last night and only fell asleep just before dawn. She’s still not awake. What happened between you two?”

“I was busy setting up the company yesterday. I was so caught up with everything that I forgot to check my phone.”

As he spoke, Yang Xiaofan slipped a few thousand yuan into Yun Yiyi’s hand.

“Sister Yun, help me out, will you? You girls go have breakfast and give me a bit of privacy.”

Yun Yiyi’s eyes turned to cheerful crescents as she grinned. “No problem. I’ll wake Fang Nan and Chen Wanyi—we’ll head out for breakfast right away.”

The three girls, delighted with the money, quickly dressed and left the room.

At last, Yang Xiaofan had his wish. He locked the door immediately, determined to avoid any unwelcome interruptions.

He quietly approached Qin Nuanyu’s bed. Seeing her eyes, still puffy and red from crying, made his heart ache.

Qin Nuanyu wasn’t the first girl he had fallen for, but she was the one he cherished most—his only official girlfriend. She was like a ball of cotton candy: pure, innocent, and endearingly naive.

Since becoming his girlfriend, she’d thought of little else but him; he was, in many ways, her entire world.

Yet yesterday, he’d been so absorbed in work that he’d neglected her for an entire day. She must have been heartbroken.

It seemed Qin Nuanyu sensed his presence. Her long lashes trembled slightly as she slowly opened her eyes. The moment she saw Yang Xiaofan, her previously dull gaze lit up, and an involuntary smile played at her lips.

But almost immediately, she remembered how she’d been forgotten by this rascal for a whole day. With a cold huff, she turned her back and pulled the covers over her head, refusing to acknowledge him.

Yang Xiaofan couldn’t help but feel both amused and helpless.

This girl—so contradictory, so adorably stubborn.

She had been delighted to see him, but for the sake of her pride, she insisted on feigning anger. Truly, girls needed to be coaxed.

Yang Xiaofan leaned over, resting atop the covers, and whispered, “Nuanyu, I’m sorry. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have ignored your calls and messages. I was just too busy yesterday and forgot to check my phone.”

“Go away! Don’t pretend to be nice. You don’t care about me at all. Otherwise, you wouldn’t ignore your phone for a whole day.”

“It’s not like that, I swear. I was really busy the whole day. This morning, as soon as I saw your messages, I dropped everything and ran over here.”

“Liar! I don’t believe a word you say. Leave—I don’t want to see you.”

Yang Xiaofan’s eyes twinkled mischievously as he cleared his throat. “Well... since you don’t want to see me, I’ll go then?”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Qin Nuanyu burst from beneath the covers.

“No!”

But when she saw the sly smile on Yang Xiaofan’s lips, she realized she’d been tricked.

“You scoundrel! You tricked me again!” she exclaimed, furious, and started pummeling him with her tiny fists.

Yang Xiaofan laughed and begged for mercy. “Ow—okay, stop, that hurts! I was wrong...”

As she struck him, Qin Nuanyu suddenly let out a wail and began to sob uncontrollably, startling Yang Xiaofan. He hurriedly gathered her into his arms, his heart aching for her.

In truth, the moment she’d seen him, all her anger had melted away. She only pretended to be angry for the sake of her pride. She’d hoped he would coax her a little, give her a way to forgive him gracefully, but instead, he’d teased her, leaving her feeling even more aggrieved.

“You bully me just because you know I like you,” she whimpered.

Yang Xiaofan sighed deeply. At that moment, he even felt ashamed of himself.

It took quite some time before he managed to soothe Qin Nuanyu’s wounded heart.

“Hmph! Listen, if you ever ignore me for an entire day again, I’ll never speak to you again,” she warned.

Yang Xiaofan hurriedly swore, “I swear to the heavens, I’ll never make this mistake again. If I do, may I—”

“Enough, enough, you don’t need to finish that,” Qin Nuanyu interrupted, pressing her hand to his mouth.

To her, Yang Xiaofan was incredibly important—she didn’t want anything bad to happen to him.

Her care warmed Yang Xiaofan’s heart immensely. He took her delicate hand and kissed it. Qin Nuanyu blushed furiously and lowered her head. Even dressed in adorable lemon-yellow cotton pajamas with delicate embroidery, nothing could hide her beauty or the captivating charm that made her the campus belle.

He swallowed hard and whispered, “Nuanyu, do you still want milk tea today?”

Her cheeks grew even redder, and she nearly buried her face in her chest.

“Today... there’s no need for milk tea.”

A realization dawned in Yang Xiaofan’s mind, and his heart skipped a beat. He gripped her hand tighter, his pulse quickening.

“When did your ‘guest’ leave?” he asked quietly.

“It was just yesterday. I called you to tell you, but you didn’t answer all day,” she replied with a hint of accusation.

Now, Yang Xiaofan felt even more ashamed. How could he have missed his girlfriend’s call and failed to celebrate with her at such a moment? He was truly a negligent boyfriend.

He took a deep breath, lifted Qin Nuanyu’s face in his hands, and said solemnly, “For the ticket I missed yesterday, I’ll make it up to you today—twice over.”

A flicker of apprehension passed through her eyes.

“Isn’t that too much? Once is enough.”

Yang Xiaofan shook his head earnestly. “That won’t do. Skipping fares is wrong. We must resolutely oppose such uncivilized behavior.”

“I’m not civilized,” she protested.

“Class president, how can you say that? You’re the class president—you should uphold the spirit of civilized progress! We must crack down on fare-dodging!”

“It’s fine. We’re a couple. I’ll let you off once.”

“No way. A few hundred million is nothing. I, Yang Xiaofan, can earn that back in no time—you don’t have to let me off. I’ve got it covered.”

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