Lifting her head, she found the man’s chin almost resting against her head. Without his arm supporting her, she would have been completely leaning into his embrace…

  Realizing this, Su Yumian quickly stepped back two paces.

  Shao Wenbai’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly as he withdrew his hand, then, in a rare moment, spoke:

  “…High heels are easy to trip in. Ft shoes are just fine.”

  Su Yumian let out a soft ugh and took a while before replying, “Thanks.”

  Not hearing from her for a while, Shao Yuwei, who was waiting inside, called out curiously, “Mianmian? Is that you?”

  Su Yumian gnced outside. “I have to go now. Goodbye.”

  “…Mm.”

  Shao Wenbai clenched his fists slightly and headed upstairs. Even as he walked, he could still hear the conversation drifting from below.

  “You’re finally here?”

  “Had a bit of an accident.”

  “Did you run into my cousin?”

  Shao Yuwei only knew that Shao Wenbai lived nearby, but she had no idea the two were actually neighbors.

  Su Yumian responded simply, her expression open and calm. Shao Yuwei didn’t press further, instead changing the subject to dinner pns. They eventually decided on a Thai restaurant.

  During the meal, Shao Yuwei brought up the aftermath of her recent blind date:

  “…All of them were so arrogant, acting like their chins were pointing at the sky. Why hasn’t someone just bsted these good-for-nothing rich second-generation brats out of existence already?”

  Everyone in their circle knew she had always been a free spirit. Now that she was suddenly taking blind dates seriously, they were all waiting to see a joke. The guys who showed up weren’t any better. They either looked down on her or subtly suggested she should just settle down, stay out of the spotlight, and manage the household.

  She was so pissed she ughed. These idiots had no talent or ambition, yet they assumed everyone else was as useless as they were?

  “So, out of spite, I exposed all their dirty secrets.” Shao Yuwei snorted. After all, in their circle, everyone knew each other’s skeletons.

  Su Yumian wasn’t surprised. Shao Yuwei has always been bold and straightforward. “No wonder the trending searches have been so lively tely.”

  From high-profile cheating scandals in elite families to tax evasion investigations, even someone buried in exam prep like her had heard the gossip.

  “They brought it on themselves.” Shao Yuwei sighed. “Our family is already at the top of the social dder, and I still get nagged by my parents to get married every day. It’s exhausting.”

  “But forget about me—did you know my aunt is just as stressed over my cousin? She’s constantly scheming up ways to push him into marriage.”

  Su Yumian thought for a moment. Shao Wenbai? Being pressured to marry?

  That was hard to imagine.

  “But since my cousin is never home, my aunt doesn’t even get the chance.” Shao Yuwei shrugged. “I’m really curious, though. My cousin, who’s basically a god descended from the heavens and has never dated, what kind of sister-in-w will he bring home one day?”

  For some reason, Su Yumian suddenly thought back to that moment in the stairwell.

  He appeared cold and distant, but in reality, he wasn’t detached from the world. He was considerate, attentive, and carried a quiet warmth.

  Whoever he falls for must be an exceptional person too, right?

  —

  Time passed like a fleeting shadow. In the blink of an eye, December arrived. The graduate entrance exams were right on schedule.

  Beijing’s winter was damp and bone-chilling. A week ago, the forecast had predicted snow, but it never came—just a bit of freezing rain at night, leaving the roads icy in the morning.

  On exam day, Su Yumian bundled up in a thick down jacket, cashmere scarf, and gloves. She even switched to insuted snow boots before leaving home.

  Before entering the exam hall, she carefully checked her admission ticket, pens, and essential calcutors to make sure nothing was missing.

  Shao Yuwei had joked about wearing a qipao to send her off, saying it symbolized “victory from the first battle,” but Su Yumian knew she had been pulling all-nighters for two big projects—there was no way she’d wake up in time. Plus, wearing a qipao in this weather was just…

  As expected, a quick gnce around the exam venue confirmed Shao Yuwei was nowhere to be seen. But that didn’t disappoint her. Some friendships didn’t need constant texts or daily check-ins. You always kept each other in mind, even in silence.

  The internet called it a “no-response-needed” kind of friendship.

  The exam sted two hours. When it was over, some people left the hall excited, others dejected. Su Yumian, however, remained calm. As soon as she stepped outside, she found it was drizzling. With taxis hard to come by, she decided to take the subway home.

  She had barely taken a few steps when someone called out to her.

  “Su Yumian?”

  She looked up and saw Jiang Qiting standing under the eaves. “It really is you.”

  Since the st time Jiang Qiting had stormed into Su Yumian’s house but failed to drag her to the hospital, she hadn’t seen her again. Half a year had passed, and as far as she knew, her brother and Su Yumian had not gotten back together.

  This breakup had sted so long that even Shu Yuqin, who had initially refused to believe it, was starting to waver. Jiang Qiting had overheard her mother muttering at home—

  “Why is Yihuai always having stomach issues tely? He never used to be in and out of the hospital like this when he was with Su Yumian.”

  “…Tingting, do you think they really broke up this time?”

  “…Is Su Yumian out of her mind?! Throwing a tantrum is one thing, but she’s taking it too far. Does she not want to marry into the Jiang family anymore?”

  For years, Shu Yuqin had looked down on Su Yumian, thinking she wasn’t good enough for her son. She had tried to break them up countless times. Now that they had actually broken up, she seemed… a little unaccustomed to it?

  Not just her—Jiang Qiting also found it hard to accept. It wasn’t that she had ever supported their retionship. What bothered her was that, in this breakup, Su Yumian had been the more decisive and unyielding one.

  She had asked Cheng Zhou about the details. Her brother had paraded his new fling right in front of Su Yumian. No wonder she had snapped. Now, Jiang Qiting was starting to believe they really weren’t getting back together.

  “Tingting.” Su Yumian smiled as she greeted her.

  Jiang Qiting gnced at the clear stationery bag in her hand, spotting the admission ticket and ID inside. Remembering the st time she had seen her in the library, she asked, “So you really are taking the graduate entrance exam…”

  Like her mother, she had assumed it was just for show, a desperate move to win her brother back. She hadn’t expected her to be serious about it.

  Su Yumian nodded. “Getting my master’s has always been something I wanted. I was too immature before and missed my chance. I just hope it’s not too te now.”

  Jiang Qiting frowned slightly as she looked her up and down. “You only started studying after breaking up with my brother, right?”

  “Mhm.”

  “That’s a really short time…” She hesitated, reluctant to say outright that her chances weren’t great.

  This year’s graduate exam had hit a record-high number of applicants, and top-tier schools like B University were only getting more competitive.

  Su Yumian had been out of school for years, with no professional experience. Trying to cram everything at the st minute? The odds weren’t in her favor.

  Her story of post-breakup self-improvement was inspiring, sure—but exams weren’t something you could just brute-force your way through.

  Not wanting to discourage her, Jiang Qiting left her sentence unfinished.