In our sophomore year, Chen Tao started dating a freshman who looked a bit like Lixue. He was thrilled and brought her to our group hangout.
That night, Lixue was oddly critical, nitpicking the girl for everything. She even mentioned Chen Tao’s past crush on her, joking about their resemblance.
Anyone with half a brain could tell what she was implying.
The girl got upset and left in tears. Chen Tao chased after her, but she wouldn’t come back. Their relationship ended before it really began.
But he didn’t blame Lixue. In fact, he seemed excited, thinking her jealousy meant she cared.
I asked Lixue if she liked him. She insisted she was just blunt and didn’t mean anything by it.
Throughout college, Chen Tao never dated anyone else. All his energy went into Lixue, convinced that if he tried hard enough, he’d win her over.
Junior year, another roommate, Xu Sen, found a girlfriend through gaming. We often played together, with Lixue always playing support.
But when Xu Sen started duo-queuing with his girlfriend, we had to play with randoms, and Lixue started losing. She got frustrated and blamed Xu Sen’s girlfriend for being bad at the game, even though the stats said otherwise.
When we didn’t back her up, she threw a tantrum and started sabotaging the game.
Despite her antics, we managed to win. But after the game, Lixue accused Xu Sen’s girlfriend of ignoring her and lacking team spirit.
The girl stayed silent, but Lixue kept pushing until Xu Sen and his girlfriend left the group.
She later apologized and insisted on treating everyone to dinner to make amends.
The dinner was at our favorite restaurant. Lixue ordered all spicy dishes, even though Xu Sen’s girlfriend couldn’t handle spicy food.
She kept insisting the girl try the food, and when she refused, Lixue acted hurt, accusing her of being petty.
Throughout the meal, Lixue clung to Xu Sen, acting overly familiar.
Xu Sen, inexperienced in relationships, didn’t realize anything was wrong.
Eventually, the girl lost her composure, dumped a glass of water on Lixue, and stormed out.
Xu Sen sided with Lixue, comforting her instead of chasing after his girlfriend.
A few days later, he was single again—and, shockingly, confessed his feelings to Lixue. She rejected him, adding another name to her list of backup admirers.
Of the four of us, only Zhang Wei never fell for her—because he was gay.
Chen Tao and Xu Sen both believed they could win her over if they tried hard enough. She accepted their attention, claiming she valued their friendship too much to risk dating.
She was like the wind—impossible to catch, but always stirring things up. And we loved her for it.
By graduation, both Chen Tao and Xu Sen had proposed to her. She refused, saying she’d rather be friends than risk losing them.
They moved back home, leaving me as her last loyal companion.
After college, her popularity with men never waned, but I always came first in her life.
I was her emergency contact, the one she called when she needed help, the one she trusted enough to crash at my place after a night out.
I asked her why she never dated. She said she hadn’t met the right person—she didn’t want to settle for someone who loved her; she wanted to love them.
She was stubborn when it came to love.
By twenty-eight, she was still single.
Her parents, desperate, started setting her up on blind dates. None of them worked out.
My parents did the same for me, but I only had eyes for her.
Then, a month ago, I was set up with Chen Tao’s ex—the girl who looked like Lixue. After nine years, she was even more graceful and gentle.
We hit it off, and I decided to give it a try.
On our first real date, we ran into Lixue at the mall, out with her own blind date.
She stopped us, eyes red, demanding to know who the girl was.
The atmosphere was tense. Her date left, and so did mine.
Chapter 02
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