Do not buy it.

"Weiyu, this sprite picture is for you."

"Really? Mumu, you’re the best! Love you to death!"

As soon as Mu Qingxi saw Qin Yu lean in with puckered lips, she quickly raised her hand to block her, wearing a look of utter distaste. "Don’t be disgusting! We may be in the twenty-first century, but I still have no intention of being kissed by a woman."

Qin Yu put on a pitiable expression, making a show of being wronged. "Mumu, you’re despising me!"

Tidying up the scattered drawings on the table, Mu Qingxi nodded and replied, "As you should know. I’m saving myself for when my boyfriend kisses me in the future."

In the short time they’d known each other, she had grown quite close with Xiao Gang and Shen Bin, and her relationship with Xi Haifei was no longer stiff. Now, everyone could openly discuss their studies.

There was a daily ritual in the classroom where Mu Qingxi, unashamed of asking questions, would say, "Xi Haifei, I don’t understand this step you explained."

Xi Haifei, always patient, would explain once more: "Let’s go through it again. See, this is the magnetic field. You broke down the forces here correctly. Now this is the electric field, and the forces should go like this, see..." This scene played out nearly every day after they’d sat together for a week. Xi Haifei would earnestly explain the problems to Mu Qingxi, and her previous coldness toward him gradually faded, though a hint of distance remained.

His breakfast offensive never ceased. Occasionally, she would accept it—usually when she was memorizing English and couldn’t suppress her nausea, forcing herself to endure until she’d be sick. With no other choice, she’d eat the breakfast Xi Haifei brought. In the past, she would have simply given up, but Qin Yu insisted she push through. She, too, wanted to conquer this psychological barrier, but it always ended the same way—with her retching miserably.

To her surprise, he later switched from steamed buns to bread and milk.

One morning, beneath the plane trees, Mu Qingxi finally couldn’t hold back as she watched him arrive with breakfast. "Xi Haifei, I bring my own breakfast every day now; you don’t need to buy it anymore."

"You have gastritis. Drink more milk—it’s good for you," Xi Haifei replied, dodging the point entirely.

She felt exasperated. How could someone be so stubborn? Clearly, she had to be firmer. "Don’t buy breakfast for me again, or I’ll really fall out with you."

She had no choice but to issue her final warning. He was a boarding student—though not short of money, his allowance still came from his family, and it shouldn’t be spent so carelessly. She, too, had once spent without a second thought, feeling that money from her parents was easily come by, so she spent generously and never felt the pinch. But after two months of working during the holidays, she had learned how hard it was to earn money, and she’d come to appreciate how difficult things were for her father working away from home.

"Seriously, Xi Haifei, it’s not easy for our parents to earn money. They give you plenty so you can eat well and stay warm, not so you can buy food for me." Mu Qingxi spoke softly, her tone tinged with a kind of desolate sorrow, as if she had experienced something unforgettable, and her words carried a weight of melancholy.

Qin Yu patted her shoulder, urging her not to dwell on such feelings. With a smile at Qin Yu, she seamlessly returned to her monumental task of studying English. Persevering in the fight against evil—keep it up!

At six in the evening, Lu called to ask how she was doing, how her mood was, whether she was studying hard, and how she was sleeping lately. She advised her to take less of the "goddess’s medicine," or better yet, none at all.

Mu Qingxi replied that she was doing well, her mood was fine, her studies just so-so. Her current grades weren’t enough of a shock to spur her on, and her sleep was as poor as ever—sometimes she’d wake and be unable to fall back asleep.

She talked with Lu for an hour that time. Lu said things weren’t easy for her either; there was so much to memorize, and she simply couldn’t slack off. If she had studied like this in high school, she definitely wouldn’t be at her current school, though she did like everything about it and looked forward to her future position.

Mu Qingxi knew Lu was trying to encourage her to study hard now and get into a good university.

"Alright," Mu Qingxi said. "When the time comes, you must see me off—and welcome me back, too."

With Lu’s blessings, she knew her path ahead would be smooth.