Chapter 38: The Alternate Character

When Zhou Anning walked back toward the campus from the tavern, she saw Jiang Ying standing under a tree, head lowered, as if deep in thought.

"What's wrong?" she asked with a trace of concern.

Jiang Ying raised her head and smiled at her. "Nothing. Let's go back."

Back in the dormitory, Jiang Ying maintained a relatively calm composure.

She didn't mention the episode at the school gates to anyone. She washed up as usual, said goodnight to Yu Siyan, climbed into bed, and pulled the quilt over herself.

Yet when she finally closed her eyes, ready to fall asleep, Lu Zhixi's soft, murmuring voice seemed to echo in her ears once more.

What kind of feeling was it to know that someone was hiding in the shadows, observing you from every possible angle?

If it were merely stalking or peeping, she could simply call the police.

However, Lu Zhixi was evidently well-versed in all the rules. He walked the fine line of safety; the people he arranged stayed far away in public places, watching over her quietly under the guise of protection, while the sudden appearance of that foreigner conveniently proved that she indeed needed such protection right now.

Jiang Ying even suspected that Lu Zhixi knew she had been spending her days with Yu Siyan, and therefore used tonight's opportunity to let her know he was always there, and that he had infinite patience.

Yet where the boundary of his patience lay, and when it might run out, he left for her to guess.

Lu Zhixi seemed to have transformed into the quilt wrapped tightly around her, into the heavy darkness enveloping her entire body, silently and pervasively seeping into her life, as effortlessly as he had walked out of it back then.

No matter how gentle or soothing his attitude might be, it could not mask his condescending stance—the arrogant assumption that he could easily control her.

Jiang Ying abruptly pulled the quilt over her head, burying herself inside as a fierce surge of irritation and vexation washed over her once more. When she woke up the next morning, that emotion still lingered in her chest, as if she had spent the entire night fuming.

By the time she walked alone to the school gates at noon to pick up her takeout, she discovered that though she had only ordered stir-fried rice noodles, the delivery person had thoughtfully included a complimentary package of sugar-roasted chestnuts in a delicate, cute paper box, claiming it was a promotional store giveaway. This anger finally reached its boiling point.

She indeed liked sugar-roasted chestnuts. When she went out with Yu Siyan over the past few days, he always bought her a bag by the roadside, but that did not mean she was willing to accept anything sent by Lu Zhixi.

—Lu Zhixi was taking advantage of the fact that she now knew someone was keeping watch nearby to test her attitude once more.

Seething with anger, Jiang Ying tossed the steaming box of chestnuts straight into a street-side trash can, and then tried calling Lu Zhixi to tell him to stop pulling such stunts.

This time, however, the number was marked as nonexistent.

Driven by impulse, she downloaded Weibo again, logged into her burner account, and sure enough, found Lu Zhixi's persistent, lingering footprint among yesterday's visitors.

"I hate everything sent by an ex-boyfriend!!!"

She finished editing and clicked send.

Whether someone had informed Lu Zhixi that the roasted chestnuts had been unceremoniously thrown away, or he had seen the post on her burner account himself, when Jiang Ying and Zhou Anning went to the school gates again that evening to pick up their dessert delivery, there were no strange freebies in the bag.

Even the personnel sent by Lu Zhixi to intercept reporters while posing as ordinary citizens seemed to have hidden themselves even more thoroughly.

Last night's events vanished like water leaving no trace, as if nothing had happened at all.

Jiang Ying was somewhat surprised, followed by a sense of relief, because judging by Lu Zhixi's past temperament, he was far more likely to use all sorts of high-sounding excuses and methods to persuade her to accept.

The lingering anger in her chest finally dissipated a little. Chatting and laughing, Jiang Ying and Zhou Anning returned to the dormitory and began tidying up the gift she had prepared for Yu Siyan.

During this period, Yu Siyan had given her many things. In contrast, she had only given him a small gift on Christmas Day, followed by a mountain of trouble afterward.

Knowing that Yu Siyan enjoyed science fiction books, she bought him a complete collection of Sergei Lukyanenko's sci-fi works for his collection and found a top-tier freelance designer online to craft a custom cover.

Furthermore, since Yu Siyan had once given her a handmade gingerbread man pendant, Jiang Ying used her spare time to craft a loose-leaf notebook cover embroidered with numerous cartoon patterns as a return gesture.

As researchers, when occasional inspirations struck, they preferred scribbling and sketching on paper; physical notebooks were sometimes even more important than computers, making this a rather practical gift.

Logically speaking, the embroidery on the cover could have been finished yesterday, but she had been so infuriated by Lu Zhixi that she completely forgot about it.

As Jiang Ying followed the tutorial to stitch the final pattern, she couldn't help but reflect—

She was naturally a good-tempered person, but upon careful calculation, she had actually gotten angry three times this year, and every single time was because of Lu Zhixi.

The first time was back in September when she discovered that during their relationship, he had secretly used money behind her back to solve problems; the second time was when she found out he was lurking on her burner account; and this time, he had gone even further.

Who knew what new trick he would pull next.

She sighed.

Zhou Anning, who was watching a variety show nearby, finally couldn't help asking, "Did you and your little Yu get into a fight? Why are you sighing so much while making a gift?"

"No," Jiang Ying muttered.

She put down what she was holding and asked Zhou Anning, "When someone exhibits high neuroticism, low extraversion, low openness, low agreeableness, and an undetermined level of conscientiousness, and is currently doing something unpleasant, how do you think one should deal with him?"

Zhou Anning thought about it seriously for a moment, then looked at Jiang Ying and said, "Why don't you just say Lu Zhixi's name?"

Seeing Jiang Ying cover her face in frustration, she knew she had guessed correctly and asked in disbelief:

"Did he come looking for you again? I thought he'd given up after his bribery failed last time. With a guy like him, what doesn't he have? Why is he so obsessed with you? Besides, if he's dead set on tearing you two apart, why endure for so many days instead of striking while the iron was hot last time... It's really strange."

Hearing Zhou Anning say this, Jiang Ying suddenly connected it back to the roasted chestnuts from earlier that noon, realizing that his approach had indeed changed in obvious ways.

Lu Zhixi seemed to have turned into a snake coiled in the dark, no longer making flagrantly infuriating moves, but instead tentatively poking out his tail, only to quickly pull it back obediently when she bristled.

Why was that?

Ever since the day he suddenly returned to the country, her repeated rejections had proven entirely useless.

What had made him back down?

Jiang Ying suddenly recalled that on the night she had a fever, she had broken down emotionally and cried during her phone call with Lu Zhixi.

For her, crying while talking to an ex-boyfriend was somewhat humiliating, to the point that she still felt embarrassed recalling that day's events.

Yet if Lu Zhixi had reined in his attitude precisely because of this...

Jiang Ying fell silent, her gaze landing on the notebook cover she had prepared for Yu Siyan.

The soft cotton fabric cover was already covered with the patterns she had stitched, leaving only a single heart in the corner that needed a few more stitches.

She was quiet for a moment, pulled herself out of her thoughts, then picked up the needle again and slowly completed that final heart.

These two days marked the final examination period for Tsinghua University's Department of Psychology. Yu Siyan was helping his advisor handle some professional coursework affairs, so the two of them hadn't had time to meet. When Jiang Ying went to the Tsinghua school gates to deliver the gift the next day, she took the opportunity to mention that she was planning to head home.

She hadn't originally intended to leave school so early, but the research group she was participating in had shifted to online meetings due to the finals and the upcoming Lunar New Year, and fearing that Lu Zhixi might pull another stunt, she decided to return home early for some peace and quiet.

Yu Siyan still had to go back to his department to busy himself later, so after chatting with him for a few moments, Jiang Ying prepared to head back.

However, she had barely taken a few steps back when she vaguely heard someone nearby asking, "Classmate, is your girlfriend giving you a gift? What good stuff did she bring?"

Alarm bells rang in Jiang Ying's heart. She spun around, quickly retraced her steps, rushed to Yu Siyan's side, and stared hard at the passerby.

Yu Siyan was startled by her as well and asked, "What's wrong?"

Seeing Jiang Ying's guarded expression, a look of guilty conscience instantly crossed the passerby uncle's face.

The uncle had probably heard from his colleagues that the target they were protecting was a spirited young lady, but their employer happened to be a spirited employer as well.

Seeing Jiang Ying looking at him like that, the expression on the uncle's face quickly shifted from guilt to something far more complex, which could be summarized in a single sentence:

"Please, little sister, don't say anything that might provoke our boss! Working outdoors in the dead of winter isn't easy for anyone!"

Ignoring the pleading look on the uncle's face, Jiang Ying said stiffly, "I can't tell you. That's our privacy."

The notebook she had made for Yu Siyan was placed inside a small pink gift bag. Just moments earlier, she had playfully kept it a secret, telling him to open it only after returning.

Right now, Jiang Ying's face was taut and visibly defensive, making the contents of that small gift bag look as though they weren't quite suitable to be opened in broad daylight.

Even Yu Siyan felt a trace of suspicion rising in his heart, his face turning thoroughly red.

After offering an apology, the passerby uncle silently walked to the roadside, rested his elbows on the newsstand counter, feigned reading a newspaper for a moment, and then pulled out a dedicated phone to reply to the person on the other end:

"A young couple's gift, wouldn't say what it is... Yeah, the young guy's face is quite red. You go report it, I don't dare..."

*

Two days later, Jiang Ying caught a flight back to Chengdu.

Perhaps because the previous semester in Beijing had been far from smooth, the moment she set foot on her hometown soil, she felt a sense of ease and freedom for the first time.

The winter here was much milder than in Beijing, and even the damp chill in the air felt welcoming.

Jiang Ying boarded a taxi, gave the driver her address, and the car slowly drove into the urban area.

The destination of this journey was a residential complex near a commercial district—their new home, which she had only learned about a few days ago during a phone call with her father.

When bringing it up during the call, the amusement in her father's voice had not faded at all as he babbled on about how wonderful the new neighborhood's environment was, how there were plenty of milk tea shops, dessert shops, and shopping malls nearby that young girls loved, and how she would definitely adore it.