The moment she met Su Xueyi's gaze, the smile on Ji Nuan's face fell. She kept her phone into her pocket and glanced at her mildly. "You didn't go to the club with them?"

"I went, but it wasn't that interesting, so I came back." Su Xueyi raised a delicately crafted box. "I bought a lot of desserts from the shop outside our school gates. Let's have them together!"

Ji Nuan nodded her head and entered the dormitory.

Without Ling Feifei, the room was much quieter.

Su Xueyi opened the box and handed various types of sweets to them. She then naturally sat on the end of Ji Nuan's bed, chatting with Ji Nuan as she ate her little mousse cakes.

Most of the topics were focused on Ji Nuan.

Asking why Ji Nuan decided to open a studio related to the property market.

Asking what else she did at home, aside from working on her studio.

Asking why she decided to study corporate management...

Finally, she casually asked, "Ji Nuan, who were you calling earlier? From the way you were smiling so radiantly, I'm sure you weren't talking to your parents. It must be your boyfriend, right?"

Ji Nuan held her unfinished notes, calmly speaking as she read through it, "You've asked so much. Are you actually interested in me, or interested in my so-called boyfriend?"

Ji Nuan finally glanced up at Su Xueyi. Although she was smiling, her eyes contained an unfathomable distance.

Su Xueyi blinked. "I'm just casually making conversation since there's nothing else to do. I have an elder cousin that I'm close to. Maybe because you and she are of the same age, I feel much closer to you."

Ji Nuan raised her brows. "Elder cousin?"

Su Xueyi nodded but did not continue bringing up her cousin. "And you see, we've all shared our family backgrounds. Ling Feifei's words don't conceal anything, and Bai Wei's company background can be easily found on the internet. You shared that you have a studio in Hai City, but you didn't mention anything else. I'm indeed quite curious about you."

Hearing this, Bai Wei who was sitting across finally glanced up at Ji Nuan.

"I only have a studio. My family background is simple and clean; there's nothing to be curious about." Ji Nuan's words were indifferent. She then took another glance at Su Xueyi. "If we were to talk, wouldn't you, as the young lady from Suan Group that came all the way from America, be much more worthy of my curiosity?"

Su Xueyi immediately smiled bashfully. "I'm not that different from the rest of you. It's only that my home is slightly further way."

"Only?" Ji Nuan raised her brows. "Then it seems like all of us are very simple. What more is there to dredge up?"

"Ji Nuan, I just wanted to get to know you better. I might have asked too much, but that's because I don't have a lot of friends in the country. Don't always be so distant..."

Bai Wei suddenly spoke up, "Everyone has a different personality. Ji Nuan clearly doesn't wish to talk, yet you keep asking. Why are you so senseless?"

Su Xueyi's expression finally faltered. She thought for a moment and suddenly handed Ji Nuan more sweets. "All right, I won't ask anymore. I'll go and read too."

She stood up and returned to her own bed.

Ji Nuan glanced at those sweets Su Xueyi had placed by her bedside and casually handed them over to Bai Wei. "You can have them. Recently, I've strangely lost all interest in sweets. My stomach always feels poor when I have them; I find them disgusting."

Bai Wei glanced at her and joked, "Why would they be disgusting? Don't tell me you're pregnant?"

Since they didn't know each other well, her words were only meant to be teasing. Hearing them, Ji Nuan only smiled.

However, Su Xueyi's gaze abruptly turned to Ji Nuan.

Sensing her gaze, Ji Nuan could not help but be distracted by her. "You're not going to read?"

Su Xueyi faltered, her eyes shifting onto Ji Nuan's stomach. She picked up her book and appeared deep in thought. "Will dessert cause one to feel nauseous..."

"I was joking." Ji Nuan curved her lips and did not pay her any more attention.

—–

Half a month went by quickly. Ji Nuan almost forgot that it was approaching her birthday. By the time she remembered, she realized that it coincided with T University's annual evening bonfire party.

The bonfire party was happening the day before her birthday. Originally, Ji Nuan had intended to book her flight back to Hai City on that very day. After all, not everyone was allowed to attend. Only the students who were personally selected by the professors and leaders of the university could attend.

However, on the day Ji Nuan was preparing to book her flight home, she suddenly received a phone call from Professor Lin.

Professor Lin said he could only offer ten students in his new class the opportunity to attend, and one of the students chosen was her. As the opportunity had been difficult to obtain, he could not make any changes to them now that they were confirmed.

Ji Nuan could only agree to attend.

However, this meant that she would not be able to return to Hai City for her birthday.

She had originally promised Mo Jingshen this but could not fulfill it. Who knew if he would be angered to death by her.

Ji Nuan held her phone and was lost in thought for a long while before she gave Mo Jingshen a call.

After receiving the call, Mo Jingshen heard the woman hemming and hawing away. "What have you done to have a guilty conscience? You can't even speak properly?"

Ji Nuan could only explain honestly, "I just received a call from Professor Lin. He arranged for me to attend T University's annual evening bonfire party. It's already fixed; I can't not attend. So I won't be able to return to Hai City on Saturday..."

"You won't be returning to Hai City this week?" Mo Jingshen stood in his office, flipping through his file without raising his head. He calmly said, "Even if Professor Lin is treating you as his favorite pupil, he can't snatch my people away so brazenly. You plan to spend your twenty-first birthday all the way in the south while I'm in the north?"

"No..."

In fact, she wished to return, too.

This was her first time being away from Mo Jingshen for so long. She was accustomed to married life and was used to being able to embrace him the moment she was home from work. Now that they were separated, she felt that time was really passing too slowly.

Mo Jingshen placed the file down and loosened his tie. After a moment of silence, he asked, "What evening bonfire party? You can't miss it?"

"There are limited spaces. Professor Lin especially left me a seat. I really couldn't reject him. Now that I've said yes, he can't make any changes to it anymore. Why don't we celebrate my birthday according to the Chinese calendar this year instead? I'll go back next month."

Professor Lin gave her so much face; she couldn't refuse his kind intentions.

"Will you have to dress up grandly for the evening bonfire party?"

"No, it's not an evening ball. Although most of Professor Lin's students are part of the higher society, most of the people at T University are regular students. It's not the school's anniversary. It shouldn't be that grand."

"All of T University's students will be attending?"

"Around there. But there should be limited available spaces. Adding it up, there should be several hundred people."

"Several hundred?" The man suddenly asked coldly. "There are already twenty to thirty of those spoiled young boys in Professor Lin's new class. I'm already sufficiently tolerant in allowing them to sit in the same classroom as you. You still wish to attend that bonfire party with several hundred people?"

"...".