Chapter 10, The Last Wasteland

She couldn't help but tease Li Qian while looking at those chat records: "To be honest, I can't get through these shoujo mangas at all. It's hard to imagine how he managed to digest so many in such a short time and still discuss the plot with you so seriously."

He said her handwriting was really beautiful and asked if she had practiced it intentionally, and if she had any good calligraphy books to recommend to him. She recommended two calligraphy books to him. He said he went to the bookstore over the weekend to take a look but couldn't find them, and asked her which bookstore she bought them from, suggesting it would be nice to go buy them together. As a thank you, he offered to treat her to dinner. Li Qian replied that she bought them online and then sent him a Taobao link. He responded with a smiling emoji and said thank you

She thought that Li Qian must not be so dull as to have never considered that Sun Ming was pursuing her, nor was she deliberately keeping it a secret from them. Perhaps she just could not believe that the god of love had quietly favored her, that the senior she secretly liked actually liked her back.

Xiao Xiao sighed, saying: "It is still because Jiang Ning is too timid and too lukewarm. Liking you from such a distance, if only he were a bit braver and pursued you passionately, I wouldn't believe that you wouldn't have any feelings."

In fact, Sun Ming does not seem to be the type that Li Qian has mentioned liking. She said she does not like boys who wear glasses, yet Sun Ming wears glasses. She mentioned that she does not like boys who are too fair, but Sun Ming is very fair, the kind that cannot even get tanned. She expressed a preference for domineering CEOs or energetic young men who frequently engage in wall-slamming moments in novels and comics, while Sun Ming is gentle and composed, exuding an air of scholarly elegance.

After more than three months of being single, Guan Yijing started a new relationship with a young white-collar worker. According to her, they met while waiting for a bus, and shortly after getting to know each other, they established a relationship and became intimate. Guan Yijing occasionally stays at his place, and when she returns, she cannot help but share some intimate details about their time together. However, noticing that her three friends seem less interested, she has started to share less, focusing more on exchanging experiences with a girl from the neighboring dormitory who also has sexual experience.

Xiao Xiao feigned a tearful expression and sighed with a hint of theatricality, "Heaven has no eyes."

In the second semester of her sophomore year, Li Qian unexpectedly announced that she was in a relationship. Because she had kept it a secret so well, the other three roommates were taken aback.

Wow..." Before Xu Ruofan could finish speaking, he was interrupted by the other three, who said, "Brother Fang Zhe, what a close call."

Guan Yijing said: "Why are all the handsome guys either your brother or your younger brother? What kind of physique do you have!"

Xiao Xiao exclaimed: "You are really too picky. Is it because your brother and younger brother are both so handsome that you have a misunderstanding of the looks of ordinary boys?"

"Anyway, I don't think she is that kind of person," Xu Ruofan said. "If she weren't a good person, Brother Fang Zhe wouldn't love her so much, right? You haven't seen..." Xu Ruofan continued.

Xiao Xiao then said: "Quickly introduce your younger brother to me, to make up for your mistake of taking my position as the older brother."

"Looking at her facial features, she doesn't seem like a fickle woman who plays both sides," Li Qian said

Xu Ruofan said: "What little brother, he is younger than us, he is my younger brother"

Regardless of appearance, talent, or social connections, Li Qian is truly quite ordinary. She is even somewhat reclusive due to her obsession with the two-dimensional world, rarely participating in various class and college activities, resulting in her low presence in the class. Her relationship with Sun Ming is not particularly dramatic or passionate, but just hearing some snippets from her makes her feel especially warm and envious

Perhaps she also feels that she is the last piece of barren land in the dormitory, and in helping her to find a partner, Xiao Xiao is particularly proactive. She said that you cannot always hang out with someone like Li Qian, who is such a homebody. The fact that she, being so reclusive, could end up with Sun Ming is purely a low-probability event. You need to participate in more social activities to meet people

Xu Ruofan glanced and said: "This is the child of my parents' classmates"

Xu Ruofan feels somewhat wronged; she is truly not reclusive and enjoys making new friends. However, almost all of her friends are female, and her male friends are indeed few and far between

Xu Ruofan merely shrugged noncommittally. If it were not for her dormitory mates often joking about it, and if Xiao Xiao did not always speak with such certainty, she might not even believe that Jiang Ning truly liked her. Even now, she remains only half-convinced.

Although Li Qian spoke nonchalantly, Xu Ruofan knew that she must also have a fondness for Sun Ming, which is why she agreed; it was certainly not a matter of merely trying it out. This was because she and Li Qian shared some similarities, particularly in their emotional cleanliness. They held greater fantasies and expectations for their first love compared to others. The reason for their prolonged single status was not due to a lack of affection or admirers, but rather because they had yet to encounter someone they truly liked, who also happened to genuinely like them in return. They were unwilling to compromise for the sake of being in a relationship with those who were merely "acceptable," "passable," "worth a try," or "seemingly okay."

In the midst of laughter among several people, Xiao Xiao's one-year-long unrequited love for Fang Zhe came to an end. Later, they encountered Fang Zhe a few times on campus. Watching Xu Ruofan greet and chat with Fang Zhe with a smile, Xiao Xiao would still display a demeanor of frustration, but she would quickly turn around and energetically seek out new crushes. She continued to engage warmly with the boys, yet all interactions remained at the level of casual dining and playful banter, with no substantial progress in any relationship.

Xiao Xiao and Guan Yijing took a look and both said that the young man is quite good-looking

Li Qianzhai, apart from attending classes, spends almost all her time in the dormitory and rarely goes to the library. She loves to write and draw, and the only activities she is willing to participate in are those related to the publicity department. Sun Ming is not one to seek out excitement either; it is said that when he first entered his sophomore year, he wanted to leave the publicity department to focus on studying for the graduate entrance examination. However, at that time, he developed an interest in Li Qian, and in order to stay in touch with her, he decided to remain in the publicity department.

When she went out to play with her classmates, sometimes Jiang Ning was also there, but he did not show excessive enthusiasm towards her. He did indeed ask for her phone number and had sent her messages, but the content of their conversations was quite ordinary. Perhaps she was not interested in Jiang Ning and was also afraid that he genuinely liked her, so she intentionally kept a cool demeanor during their chats, not giving him any room for imagination. As a result, Jiang Ning had never shown any intention of pursuing her.

Li Qian held Xu Ruofan's phone, swiped to the next photo, and pointed at Xu Haibo, asking Xu Ruofan: "Who is this guy? He looks quite handsome."

Xiao Xiao often teases her about her cup size, saying that she actually has quite an advantage in terms of appearance. If she were to lower her standards a bit, there would be plenty of boys for her to choose from. Xiao Xiao has also mentioned that junior students from their college, as well as boys from other colleges, have privately inquired about her. She is unsure whether Xiao Xiao is joking or being serious. Xiao Xiao has quietly pointed out boys on campus who are said to be interested in her, but to be honest, they all fall below her aesthetic standards, the kind of faces that make her not want to look a second time.

After the eleven-day holiday, the first thing Xu Ruofan did upon returning to school was to show the selfie taken with Fang Zhe Anran to the dormitory mates, to prove that he was not joking with them

Xiao Xiao said that her mindset is not right, as love at first sight can only happen with handsome men, while most of the boys around us are ordinary people. One should not always think about a sudden spark of romance; it is better to start as friends and take things slowly. Even if a romantic relationship does not develop, having one more friend is still a good thing.

The others all laughed, and Guan Yijing said: "His girlfriend isn't that pretty either."

Xu Ruofan thought, love truly makes no sense

Guan Yijing said: "If I had such a handsome boyfriend, I would also be willing to take pictures everywhere. Moreover, to be fair, she was cheating when she was with Fang Zhe."

He said that the paintings she created were also very beautiful and asked her if she had studied art. She replied that she had not, but had simply drawn a lot after looking at comics. He mentioned that he actually enjoyed reading comics as well and asked her what she usually read. She mentioned a few titles of comics, and he did not say anything at that moment. Later, he probably did some catching up, and in subsequent conversations, he would intentionally or unintentionally bring up some characters and plots from those comics.

I am not picky about Jiang Ning's appearance; he is quite good in many aspects. The truth is, I just have no feelings for him.

Also, because Jiang Ning has never behaved excessively, she never had the opportunity or reason to clearly tell him "no". For two years, they have maintained this distant yet close relationship. She secretly hopes that Jiang Ning will find a girlfriend soon, so that Xiao Xiao and Li Qian will no longer associate the two of them together, making her feel as if she is holding someone back and wasting their time.

Li Qian's boyfriend is named Sun Ming, who is one year her senior and also works in the publicity department with her. The two of them interact quite frequently during publicity activities, but she has never mentioned him, and they have never observed any signs of a relationship. This is largely because Li Qian appears to be completely absorbed in her two-dimensional novels and comics, showing no interest in three-dimensional individuals or, indeed, anything in the three-dimensional world. During their usual conversations, they often remark that Li Qian will definitely be the last one in the dormitory to find a boyfriend. Even Li Qian herself expressed surprise that Sun Ming would like her. When he confessed his feelings to her, she agreed without much thought, saying they could try dating.

Regardless of the circumstances, after Li Qian entered a relationship, Xu Ruofan became the only person in the dormitory who had never had a boyfriend. On the surface, she laughed it off with self-deprecating humor, seemingly indifferent, yet deep down, she still felt a twinge of sadness.

Guan Yijing raised her hand and nudged Xiao Xiao: "Are you jealous? You've been chasing after her for a whole year, yet she doesn't even remember who you are. Ruofan went out for a trip, and when he came back, they were already like brother and sister."

Xu Ruofan said: "It's not that picky, right? The few people you mentioned are indeed a bit too much... Do you really think highly of them? To be honest, they are far inferior compared to Jiang Ning."

Xiao Xiao said: "Then Jiang Ning, didn't you also not watch it?"

Xiao Xiao looked at the photo of her aloof male god, who was smiling and making funny faces, with an expression of disbelief, dramatically sighing: "It seems that he and his girlfriend are truly in love, I wish him well"

He used the excuse of the publicity department's work to obtain Li Qian's phone number, but fearing that he might scare her away, he was initially hesitant to discuss other topics. Li Qian had shown her the chat records between the two of them; for the first six months, their conversations were indeed all related to the activities of the publicity department. However, he could talk for a long time about even a trivial matter, and upon closer inspection, one could discern some ulterior motives. It was only after six months that their chat records gradually began to take on a different flavor.

She has also gone out to have fun with Xiao Xiao a few times, singing and playing escape rooms with classmates, both familiar and unfamiliar. However, she has yet to encounter a boy who makes her heart flutter, and there hasn't even been a single opposite sex that caught her eye, someone she would want to befriend first

Li Qian listened and could not help but smile, her face radiating happiness

"Can the dregs be written on the face?" Guan Yijing asked

I think she is quite beautiful said Xu Ruofan and she is really a nice person, especially the kind who is very friendly. These photos were taken at her initiative, knowing that I would feel shy to suggest it myself

She does not envy Guan Yijing's countless romantic encounters, where a quick meal or waiting for a bus could lead to a love affair. Three months without a boyfriend is considered a long dry spell. She also does not envy Xiao Xiao, who is adored by boys and has female friends of the opposite sex all over campus, but she does feel a bit envious of Li Qian.

Xu Ruofan said uncertainly: "This must be a misunderstanding. I am not that close to her, and I didn't have the courage to ask. However, it seems that it may not be as the outside world has been saying. Didn't her ex-boyfriend have a new girlfriend when he fought with Fang Zhe? In matters of love, outsiders do not know the inner details, so it is difficult to say whose fault it is"