It Seems Like My Senior Seems to Like Me - Chapter 34

The etiquette team interview went very well. Ye Wanjia became a banner-holding etiquette volunteer at Nanzhou University of Science and Technology. After the competition, she received a certificate for “Most Beautiful Volunteer” and a 100-yuan stipend.

On the day she got the money, she went to the North Gate to buy Wei Xiaoxiao her favorite meat floss pastry, and she also ordered a hairpin online—the one she had picked out on the day of the interview.

That year, the junior-year lab class ran ten minutes long. The students came out wearing white lab coats, each looking elegant, upright, like doctors on rounds.

“Yo, Ye Wanjia?” Xu Qian immediately saw someone waiting by the back door. “Here to see Old Bei?”

Ye Wanjia lied without missing a beat: “Yeah, just some matters for the Literature Club.”

If Xu Qian continued asking what kind of matters, Ye Wanjia would simply say they were personal.

The group walked away, laughing. As expected, Pei Suye was the last to come out, wearing a white lab coat. Just like on the day of the freshman ceremony, she exuded a pure aura; her features were like a painting, and her entire presence shone with moonlight-like clarity.

Pei Suye paused. “What’s up?”

Meeting those calm eyes, Ye Wanjia felt a little dazed, but thankfully she had rehearsed her lines in her mind countless times. So, naturally, she smoothly pulled a long, rectangular box from her bag.

“This hairpin… it’s for you, senior.”

Pei Suye noticed her gaze fixed on the box, and a smile curved on her lips as she teased, “For me? Is it my birthday today? How did I forget?”

This exact exchange had been rehearsed dozens of times in Ye Wanjia’s mind, so the question was well within her expectations.

“That day, thanks to you, I passed the interview. You rode me there and back for so long, so I wanted to give you a small gift. I hope you like it.”

She said it more confidently than before. Pei Suye’s heart warmed as she picked up the box. Through the transparent side, she could see the hairpin itself: black body with a jade pendant, a tassel half a finger long, understated yet elegant—the style she liked.

“Thank you, I really like it.”

“Hey.” Ye Wanjia instinctively let out a shy laugh and quickly recovered. “I’m glad you like it, senior.”

Time flew, and it was suddenly finals week. The entire semester’s subjects were compressed into one week of exams. Still stuck in a high school mindset, Ye Wanjia went to the library early.

Nanzhou University had two libraries: Building A, near the graduate dorms and lab buildings, and Building B, near the undergraduate dorms.

“The library is too competitive. I went at 6:30, and there were no seats.”

That day, Ye Wanjia left empty-handed again.

Sitting on her bed, chewing a lollipop, she said, “Then go to the South Campus one. Grad students are mostly in the labs, so the library won’t be crowded. Also…”

Scrolling through her WeChat chat history from last night, she added: “The president is also there.”

As the class’s academic weakling, her only “strong hand” for finals was the top student Jiang Shiyu. After a whole semester of observation, Jiang Shiyu finally deigned to join their little CP base. Yesterday, she had spotted Pei Suye at the South Campus library and dutifully reported it to Wei Xiaoxiao.

“Even though Xiaoyu usually seems spacey and just reads books, she still thinks highly of you two!” Her friend began to chatter excitedly. “For instance, last time, you know, the president was taking photos, and we two were at the entrance…”

Before she could finish, Ye Wanjia packed her bag and dashed out, leaving Wei Xiaoxiao startled. “Where are you going?”

Her eyes gleamed with determination. “Seize every minute.”

The graduate library was much less crowded than the undergraduate one. Even at 8 a.m., the reading room still had seats available.

Pei Suye sat by the window on the third floor, her down jacket draped over the chair. Her long hair was pinned up, and her turtleneck sweater revealed her collarbone, making her neck look slender and graceful, like a white swan on a lake.

Ye Wanjia’s heart lifted.

Perhaps liking someone really was like this: no words, no interaction, yet just seeing them made one happy.

She found a seat in the far corner and dived into advanced math derivations, covering four chapters in one morning.

Pei Suye returned around 2 p.m., likely after a short nap since Ye Wanjia hadn’t gone back. In the meantime, a female classmate of Pei Suye secretly left a cup of milk tea and two bags of snacks on Ye Wanjia’s desk, with a little note pressed underneath.

From afar, Ye Wanjia watched. On one hand, she admired that the girl openly pursued Pei Suye. On the other, she wanted to see Pei Suye’s reaction to the note and the milk tea. If Pei Suye liked it, then it probably meant she had feelings for that girl too.

“Entering the door of my longing, knowing my longing’s pain,” Ye Wanjia thought.

The ancients weren’t wrong—love really was cruel.

Determined to turn her feelings into motivation, Ye Wanjia spent the entire afternoon and evening studying, only taking half an hour to eat in the cafeteria. She either scribbled notes or derived formulas, and didn’t see the subtle relief on Pei Suye’s face when the library staff took away the milk tea and snacks.

“Pei Suye.”

Pei Suye was called from behind while going to the restroom by a classmate, Du Qing. Apologetically, she ran up and said:

“Sorry! I forgot you can’t eat in the library. I wanted to give you a snack while you studied, but it ended up causing trouble. Really sorry.”

Pei Suye smiled. The curve of her lips was different from how she looked at Ye Wanjia—her eyes were calm, like still water, neither cold nor distant, keeping a polite distance.

“No need to apologize. On the contrary, I wasted your thoughtfulness.”

Du Qing quickly replied, “Not wasted, not wasted. I’ll buy it again tomorrow.”

Pei Suye asked, “Tomorrow, ‘buying another one’?”

“Well, not exactly. I recently got a coupon. Might as well use it. So, what flavor do you like?”

“Sorry, I don’t like milk tea. Perhaps, in the future, your thoughtfulness will continue to be wasted.”

The word “wasted” was gentle, leaving some space for discretion. The rest depended on whether the other person knew to take the hint.

“I won’t give up,” Du Qing said.

Pei Suye left it at that. From then on, what others chose or did was for adults to decide.

Ye Wanjia suddenly felt happier. When Pei Suye got up to go to the restroom, she noticed she was wearing the hairpin she had given her.

Her gray-brown curls were pinned into a fist-sized bun, with natural ends falling loosely, giving a casual look. The hairpin’s white jade pendant swayed gently as she walked, graceful and charming.

The library’s closing music played, snapping Ye Wanjia back to reality. On her desk were her advanced math book and formulas, repeatedly scribbled in her usual obsessive way:

“Untie your black hair with me, binding it into a knot of unity.”

She thought of cutting a lock of Pei Suye’s hair and tying it into a knot of unity.

Ye Wanjia, so greedy.

Lost in thought, she packed her books and notebooks slower than others, following the crowd downstairs. At the first-floor corner, she saw that tall, elegant figure from the side of the staircase.

Holding a laptop bag in one hand, wearing a checkered long coat over a long skirt, Pei Suye’s beautiful eyes curved slightly upon seeing Ye Wanjia.  she called.

Ye Wanjia squeezed through the crowd, thrilled. She stopped in front of her.

“Senior, what a coincidence.”

Pei Suye raised her brown, arched brows, her voice like silk:

“Not a coincidence. I was waiting for you.”

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