A tragedy strewn across the ground?!

Back then, his parents had yet to come for him, so every Saturday and Sunday, Shangguan Xiao would drag him from his warm bed to accompany her shopping.

Shangguan Xiao had a unique eye for fashion; almost every piece of clothing she picked for him fit perfectly. Although he had long since outgrown those garments, Ouyang Xianyu still kept them neatly folded in his wardrobe. Sometimes, when he opened the closet and caught sight of them, he would drift into a daze for ages. Memories would wash over his mind and heart like a rising tide, again and again.

At times, waking in the middle of the night, he would wonder what Xiao was doing now. Was she doing well? Even without him in her life, she must still be living happily, right? His heart would fill with a quiet loneliness, yet he had no one to tell. It felt like such a failure; while his grades always ranked at the top, his social life seemed utterly disconnected. Whenever he looked at his classmates, their eyes were always filled with nothing but admiration.

But it was only admiration; no one else treated his achievements with the same nonchalant disregard that Xiao did. He thought to himself that the night was so long. The night stretches on, and one must learn to cherish each step along the way.

Dawn gradually replaced the darkness. For the first-year students, exhausted from the previous day, the night had passed far too quickly. Before they could truly rest, the moon and stars began to fade away.

Just as the sky began to gray, the instructor started hollering at the doors. With a sharp click, he flung the door open and began pounding on it incessantly. A chorus of groans erupted from the dormitory. How could it be that they had only just fallen asleep before the instructor arrived? Was it an illusion? Checking their alarm clocks, they realized in horror that it was only five o’clock.

How was a person supposed to survive this? Shangguan Xiao forced her eyes open, staring blankly at the ceiling. Despite the grumbling, most of the students crawled out of bed, resigned to brushing their teeth and washing their faces.

Xiao sat on her bed for a long time before she finally shook off the fog, struggling to climb down. Grabbing her toothbrush and towel, she trudged toward the washroom, feeling thoroughly unwilling. Whether it was fate or just bad luck, she collided head-on with Ouyang Xianyu, who was just exiting the washroom. A sharp cry escaped Shangguan Xiao, and though Ouyang Xianyu caught her, her toiletries clattered to the floor.

Languishing in Ouyang Xianyu’s arms, Shangguan Xiao felt too drained to move. He stood so solidly; she felt tempted to just stay like this forever. She was so incredibly sleepy—her eyes refused to stay open, and just getting out of bed had exhausted her. She felt like she was losing her mind. Why was she always so unlucky? It happened every time—she was the one who suffered, while Ouyang Xianyu remained completely unscathed.

Little did she know, had Ouyang Xianyu not caught her, she would likely be lying in the infirmary right now. Given the gravel scattered across the ground, she would have ended up looking like a cactus had she fallen.

Seeing that Shangguan Xiao showed no signs of getting up, Ouyang Xianyu leaned down and whispered in her ear, "If you don't get up now, everyone else is going to come out."

Shangguan Xiao sprang up instantly, glaring at him with a pout. "Jerk!"

She bent down to retrieve her things, and Ouyang Xianyu reached out to pick up her towel, offering it to her. She snatched it from his hand and stomped into the dilapidated washroom. Inside, she was met with a sea of heads—a dense, dark crowd.