What if Bei Weiwei fled the gym when Xiao Nai started going toward her in the bleachers? What if Xiao Nai has to work a little harder than he expected to win over Weiwei? That's where our Love O2O alternate universe starts...
First chapter published...
When you can't win a battle, the next best tactic is to flee, Weiwei told her self. She was still lost in thought when her roommates returned. They burst into the room, glowing like fireflies.
"Weiwei—" Er Xi cried happily, then paused from whatever she was about to say. A skeptical look interrupted her face. "Did you finish that paper?"
"Er, no. How was the game?"
Er Xi squealed. "Weiwei! Shouldn't your question be: What happened when Senior Xiao Nai started walking toward the spectators?"
Without waiting for Weiwei reply, Erxi answered her own question. "He stopped half-way to the bleachers, then turn around and left the auditorium. He didn't come back until the end of the game."
Xiaoling ate some cashews and tilted her head thoughtfully. "He must have been thinking something the rest of us mortals don't understand," she said. "He looked almost ... disappointed. But then he smiled."
Weiwei: "Hm."
"Well we're going out for dinner to celebrate the Computer Science department's basketball win," said Er Xi. "But I'm guessing you won't want to join us."
"I have to tutor tonight," sighed Weiwei. "More like back-up babysitting. Xiao Yang's mother told me she has to work late, but she's not sure how late."
Er Xi made a face. "So you might commute all the way over there, just to work three minutes and get paid a measly 30 yuan, and then lose it back in bus fare?"
"The woman's not abusive," Weiwei replied. "She's actually quite generous. She promised to pay me for 3 hours tonight, no matter what."
When they left, Weiwei turned to her laptop. One new message.
From Xiao Nai.
>>>>> Hey. Where did you go?
She puffed out her cheeks with alarm.
"Come to think of it," Weiwei said to herself indignantly, "It was a bit unfair for him to unleash his fan mob into my life. Without my prior approval!"
Plus, she thought further. There was something mysterious. She quite couldn't pin it down. How did he know who she was at the moment they met by the bridge? He had zero doubt. What was going on?
Though the thought of facing him made her heart beat disturbingly faster.
Even kissing him in the future...
Don't think about that now!
She needed answers to some questions first.
She took a sip of orange juice to fortify herself.
I need to be forthright with him.
She wrote:
________________________________________________
It's no secret that Luwei Weiwei likes Yixiao Naihe.
But I don't know you yet. How much are you Naihe? You don't know me yet either. How much do you think I am like Luwei Weiwei?
These are a lot of unknowns. And the price I pay is schoolwide gossip. I don't mind all that. But it takes up lots of time. And my roommates worry themselves sick. Is there some way we can just get to know each other. Not in front of the whole school? Not by jumping straight into a relationship?
________________________________________________
She signed off with a cute emoji 🤗 and then clicked send.
Your move, Naihe.
* * * * * * * *
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
At his desk, a certain senior reads an incoming message, and a look of distress disturbs an otherwise perfect set of features. After just an afternoon together with his wife, Xiao Nai is more than ready for everyone on campus to see their relationship. They've been married for so long anyway.
Earlier that day, they ate their fish soup almost in silence. Xiao Nai couldn't believe his luck at meeting Weiwei. Just across the table there, all afternoon! Her beautiful, shy face.
How quiet and nervous she was... it just made her more striking.
There are many kinds of beauty, but this is beauty that can scramble people's minds until they can no longer tell north from south.
Not to mention, their bike ride together! Feeling one hand of hers on his back. Nevermind-- he won't go down that thought-path now.
The pit of his stomach hurts at the thought that he can't stake his claim on his wife in front of the whole university right away. So many other boys will keep asking her out!
Meanwhile, will Bei Weiwei only meet him in secret, off-campus? Like he's someone she's ashamed of?
Will she take him to eat at terrible hole-in-the-wall restaurants far from their dorms only because no other students eat there?
Will they have to pretend to be strangers on campus?
So you won't smile at me when we pass each other in a hallway? ... Or run up next to me in the cafeteria and take my hand, without thinking much about it..
Just in the CompSci department alone, he hears all kinds of male students saying to each other that they're going to ask "the Second-Place Beauty" on this or that date. They joke about it to build up their courage. As if any of them have a shot!
Beside none of them know about her talent or her fierceness. They've got no idea how quickly she can problem solve. They have no idea how loyal she is to friends.
Or how patient she is with kids. Like the pupil she tutors, who she encouraged to play in a quest with Yixiao Naihe.
When they see her, they just see a beautiful face ... and urgh... three ... body measurements that get them all flustered ...
Xiao Nai makes an estimate: for all the boys talking about how they'll pursue his wife, maybe 10 percent of them will follow through.
10 percent? That's 10 percent too many!
You all have no chance!
Still, it's not a fun thought: these male students all throwing themselves at his Weiwei, like a school of fish trying to jump over a high wall.
