"You're Qin Mu, the campus heartthrob of Xinghe."
Meng Ruozhao tilted her head back to look at him.
"When I came up just now, I heard some people making a bet around the corner."
"They bet that you would give in."
She paused, then turned to look at him, smiling faintly.
"I, however, don't think you will."
"Because you don't seem like someone who would bow their head easily."
Meng Ruozhao didn't ask him many questions, nor did she say much.
With just a few words, she made Qin Mu almost forget those noisy gossips.
He lowered his eyes and looked at the girl in front of him.
The setting sun shone on the tip of her hair, making that faint smile all the more distinct.
It was clearly their first meeting.
Yet she seemed to see through the stubbornness in his heart that refused to yield.
With a simple "won't give in", she easily dispelled the malicious speculations around him.
Qin Mu's Adam's apple twitched. The cold response he had prepared got stuck in his throat.
In the end, it only turned into an almost inaudible snort, but he no longer put on the aloof attitude he had before.
After that, they didn't say much more.
Meng Ruozhao ate two candies, stood on the rooftop, took a couple of photos, and sent them to someone.
Then she put away her phone and smiled at him again.
"Well, I'll be off then, Mr. Campus Heartthrob. Beauty is not a sin."
"Those who covet beauty, and then slander when they can't have it, are the ones who are guilty."
After saying that, she strode off the rooftop.
It was a long time later, so long that they had become friends.
Only then did Qin Mu learn that she actually hadn't planned to come to the rooftop that day.
She had heard the gossip about him and happened to see him on the rooftop. She was afraid he might do something stupid.
After that, he never went to the rooftop again, nor did he heed the "suggestion" of the campus belle.
He started to study desperately, staying up late to solve problems under the lamp until dawn and devoting all his energy to textbooks at school during the day.
Some people mocked him for "still pretending to be high - and - mighty even in this situation", but he just buried his head in doing the exercises.
Whenever he remembered Meng Ruozhao's words "you don't seem like someone who would bow their head easily", those taunts didn't seem so harsh.
To be honest, he was actually quite gifted in studying.
After working hard for a semester, he could rank among the top twenty in the school.
At this time, he added Meng Ruozhao as a friend under the pretext of studying together.
Most of the time, they discussed problems online. Occasionally, they would go to a bookstore offline to buy teaching materials.
Later, he accidentally saw Meng Ruozhao and Yan Sisi reading comics in the library and only then learned that they were good friends.
He didn't go up to say hello but just watched from afar.
He saw Meng Ruozhao scoop a big spoonful of her ice - cream for Yan Sisi, and when Yan Sisi laughed, Meng Ruozhao laughed too.
It was then that he understood that Meng Ruozhao's warmth wasn't only for him.
She was just such a person, like a little sun. No matter who was in a rainy day, she was willing to offer a little light.
So when Meng Ruozhao disappeared five years ago, he lost control more than anyone else.
He searched every corner of Haicheng, went to the park she had once mentioned, and the bookstore she often went to.
But there was not even a trace of her.
Later, he went to find Yan Sisi, but Yan Sisi cried and asked him first, "Where on earth has Meng Ruozhao gone?"
It was then that he realized that Meng Ruozhao's disappearance wasn't just for him; she had completely cut off contact with everyone in Haicheng.
He forgot how he got through that period.
He didn't go abroad to study.
Actually, his family's situation improved when he was a sophomore in college.
But by then, he had already entered the entertainment industry and gave up the idea of going abroad for further study.
His father once asked him why he wanted to be a star. Did he think it was a quick way to make money? The family didn't need him to earn money.
He said no. Someone had told him that he was really good - looking and had a natural star - face.
He wanted to stand in the most dazzling place so that she could see him.
Since he couldn't find her, he could only wait for her to come back and find him.
Until now.
Seeing Meng Ruozhao again, seeing her standing there safe and sound.
Even if she didn't remember him or their past, he felt it was enough.
The silence in the carriage continued to spread. Yan Sisi looked at the profile of Qin Mu's face and suddenly said,
"Qin Mu, you really like her, don't you?"
Qin Mu didn't say a word. He just reached into his pocket.
There was a candy wrapper in it. It was from the candy Meng Ruozhao had given him back then but he hadn't taken.
After she left, he was like a madman and found this candy wrapper, washed it clean, and carefully preserved it.
Even after so many years, he had changed countless wallets, but he always kept this wrapper with him.
"Many people like her. You probably don't have a chance."
Yan Sisi snorted again.
Qin Mu's movement paused.
Yes, Meng Ruozhao was a little sun, always equally shining on everyone around her.
So there really were a lot of people who liked her.
But she didn't know that some people simply didn't deserve the light.
Because once they felt the warmth, they couldn't bear the cold anymore.
So they would do whatever it took to keep the warmth by their side and let the sun shine only on them.
He was such a person.
Yan Sisi was such a person.
Pei Jiangmu was even more so.
Qin Mu knew Pei Jiangmu, but not much. He only knew that Pei Jiangmu was very mysterious and had a close relationship with Meng Ruozhao.
The way Pei Jiangmu looked at him wasn't friendly either.
It was the look of mutual repulsion between the same kind.
It was as if two sensitive lone wolves in the same forest smelled the similar possessiveness and defensiveness on each other.
They were both like hunters lurking in the dark, carefully observing the distance between the other and Meng Ruozhao, and quietly marking out their own territory.
Qin Mu could even feel it.
When Pei Jiangmu looked at Meng Ruozhao, the possessiveness hidden in his eyes was exactly the same as the unspoken affection in his heart.
This secret competition was silent but real.
It was like a thin layer of ice covering the calm lake. No one knew when a crack would appear.
Until Meng Ruozhao disappeared.
He didn't know if she had been with Pei Jiangmu during these years of her disappearance.
Did she still remember Pei Jiangmu?
If he had no chance, did Pei Jiangmu have one?
Qin Mu didn't think any further.
The last thing he said to Yan Sisi before entering the security check was,
"I'll come back as soon as possible. During this time, get to know the present her better."
Yan Sisi had already told him.
Meng Ruozhao had broken off her engagement with Yan Qiubai and was now single.
So once he dealt with the troubles on him, he would come back immediately and re - enter her life.
This time, he wouldn't lose her so easily again.
Yan Sisi was so angry that she laughed at his words. "Dude, where did you get the confidence that I would help you?"
"If I were to help, I'd help my brother. Wouldn't it be better for me if she became my sister - in - law?"
Qin Mu didn't say anything else. He just gave her a deep look.
Yan Sisi closed her mouth grudgingly.
Yes, she would never help Yan Qiubai.
The Yan family was like a den of tigers and dragons. It simply didn't deserve Meng Ruozhao.
If she really married into the Yan family, she would only be educated, oppressed, and shaped into an image the Yan family needed.
But she should have been free and lived a wanton life.