She was looking at her surroundings, so she did not notice a man walking towards her. He was carrying a stack of books in his arms, so that had obscured his vision.
Suddenly, a ball came flying from the court and straight at Shen Qinglan. She stopped walking and moved her body out of the way, barely evading it. The ball flew past her and fell into the patch of grass nearby.
She missed the ball, but did not manage to evade the person approaching her. Or, one could say that the person in question had not expected Shen Qinglan would appear so suddenly. He crashed into her, and the books he had been carrying dropped to the ground.
“I’m sorry, are you hurt?” The person did not pick up his books. Instead, he checked on Shen Qinglan first.
She shook her head and muttered, “I’m fine.” It was then she managed to see the person’s face clearly.
It was Yan Shengyu. He was the one who came to fetch Yan Xi last time, and Shen Qinglan had watched him from afar. She had a pretty good memory. She could tell who he was even though they had only met once.
She eyed at the books on the ground. It seemed Yan Shengyu was a student at University B too.
The reason why Shen Qinglan did not know about him was because she had been oblivious of the outside world. Yan Shengyu was quite a big shot in the university. If Shen Qinglan had been paying a little more attention, she would not have been unaware of him.
It was a pity that Shen Qinglan had little curiosity towards anything outside her own world, therefore she was not familiar with this local celebrity.
She crouched down and helped him pick up the scattered books.
“Thanks,” Yan Shengyu took the books from her. He recognized her as the campus belle, Shen Qinglan. “Good day to you, Miss Shen. I’m Yan Shengyu.”
“You know me?” Shen Qinglan expressed her surprise.
Yan Shengyu grinned. “You’re quite the big shot here, campus belle. There’s probably only a handful of students who don’t you who you are.” Wow, she’s seriously unaware of her own status.
Shen Qinglan simply nodded in acknowledgement and left.
Yan Shengyu watched her leave. He shook his head, smirking, “Just like they said, she’s a cold and distant campus belle.”
Perhaps their little run-in was meant to be. The two of them, who had never crossed paths before, kept bumping into each other in the next few days.
“What a coincidence, Miss Shen. We meet again.” With a smile on his face, Yan Shengyu looked down and greeted the girl lying on the grass.
A large shadow cast over her. It could not have gone unnoticed. Shen Qinglan opened her eyes and recognized the intruder. An unknown emotion spread across her face. This was the fourth time they came across each other in three days. She refused to believe it was all a mere coincidence.
Yan Shengyu was quite a dashing young man himself. His smile made him even more so. It was like sunlight, brilliant and warm, but it apparently had no effect on Shen Qinglan.
“It’s not a coincidence. Go on, you’ve been following me for a while. What do you want?” Shen Qinglan did not like beating around the bush and went straight to the point.
Yan Shengyu froze. His face turned scornful. Ah, she’s seen right through me.
He scratched his nose, “Was I that obvious? I thought I had it all planned out.”
Shen Qinglan locked her gaze on him, giving him a cold stare.
Yan Shengyu felt awkward, having been stared at, so he told her what he had been up to in the last few days. “You see, the Chinese Department and the Computer Science Department are having a mixer this weekend. I would like to invite you.”
“As far as I remember, you’re a research student, aren’t you?” What does the university’s mixer event have to do with you?
She left out the second half of her statement, but Yan Shengyu miraculously understood what she meant. “I’m still a student here, after all. My junior invited me, and I’m free anyway, so I decided to check it out. Are you coming?”
Shen Qinglan stood up and turned to leave, “No.” Mixers are for the freshmen. She was a final year student now, and would graduate soon. She would not participate. Moreover, she had no interest in these activities to begin with.
Yan Shengyu caught up to her, “Miss Shen, this is a rare opportunity. You’re graduating next year. You won’t have a chance to do this much longer. Why not take this opportunity to have fun?”
Unmoved, Shen Qinglan only quickened her steps.
“Miss Shen, do you always behave so coldly towards others?”
Shen Qinglan stopped in her tracks and gave him a serious look for the first time. Her cold eyes locked onto his, as though she could looked into his soul through his eyes.
“I don’t behave nicely to anyone who approaches me with ulterior motives. I don’t care what your intentions are, but please don’t follow me anymore. I’m not interested in these games you rich boys are playing.”
With that in mind, she glanced intentionally at the bushes not far behind Yan Shengyu. Some people were sneaking up on her.
Yan Shengyu froze. Things had really gotten awkward this time. He watched her leave, no longer catching up to her.
It was only when she was completely out of sight that several men came out of their hiding place in behind the bushes.