When the Villain Falls Madly in Love with Me - Chapter 18

Chapter 18: University Life

As September approached, the afternoon sun streamed through the glass windows, casting dappled light in the quiet coffee shop. Jiang Le held a cup of coffee, casually flipping through a financial magazine.

Just then, a furry little bear bag landed with a thud on the table in front of her. Looking up, Li Yan rushed in, pulled out a chair, and sat down, fine beads of sweat still on her forehead.

“Phew, I almost died of heat halfway here.” She pulled out a tissue and haphazardly wiped her face.

Jiang Le glanced at her, then pushed a glass of iced juice toward her. “You asked me out, and you still have the nerve to be late.”

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Li Yan clapped her hands together and blinked mischievously. “There was traffic; I couldn’t help it.” With that, she picked up the cup and took a big gulp, shivering from the cold, then let out a satisfied sigh, “I’m alive again!”

The waiter timely served a few desserts. Li Yan ate a small bite of Tiramisu, mumbling indistinctly: “It’s almost time for school to start. Once you go to X University, it’ll be hard to meet up.”

Jiang Le had undoubtedly been admitted to the top-tier X University, while Li Yan was guaranteed admission to a 985 university in the city.

Jiang Le gently stirred her coffee and suddenly asked, “What exactly did she say to you that day?”

Li Yan paused, holding her fork, and awkwardly looked away. “What else could she say… just explained that her mom sent the breakup text and asked me to wait for her to return to the country and stuff.”

“Mm,” Jiang Le seemed to have anticipated it. “So, what do you think?”

The person who always wore a passionate, sun-like smile was now full of worry, mixed with a hint of pain. “To be honest, I feel like ever since I got together with her, the power of choice hasn’t been in my hands. I like her, and I can wait for her. But for her, a little bit of liking is too insignificant in the face of her family background. Her parents are still so young. Five, ten years—I’m willing to wait, but will she still have the strength?”

“I don’t want anyone to suffer silently because of this relationship. But I’m also afraid… she held on so bitterly for so long, and I’m the one who turned and left first…”

Li Yan was always like this. When emotional, her speech became incoherent. The more she tried to express herself clearly, the more tangled it became.

But Jiang Le understood. She put down her coffee cup and looked directly into Li Yan’s eyes: “If your pain stems from the gap in family backgrounds, then from today on, that reason no longer exists.”

Li Yan was stunned and smiled bitterly. “Jiang Le, it’s not just that. There’s Chen Ting, she…”

“Do you believe her?” Jiang Le interrupted her. “If it were the person I loved, I would trust unconditionally. Li Yan, what exactly do you like about Chen Ting?”

Li Yan was speechless, opening her mouth but unable to utter a sound.

“Do you only like how good she is to you? Don’t you like her ability, her spirit, her feelings for you? If you do, why can’t you trust her wholeheartedly?” Jiang Le’s questions came one after another, hitting the crucial points.

She didn’t understand what Li Yan was hesitating about. Li Yan seemingly always placed herself in a subordinate position, passive in everything, but in reality, she always held the dominant power in this relationship.

“You think she’s struggling, so why aren’t you firmer, Li Yan? You’ve never been a coward,” Jiang Le’s gaze was piercing, as if it could illuminate the deepest cowardice in her heart.

Li Yan clenched her palms, her gaze flickering. Chen Ting was still holding on ahead, but she was the first to retreat.

The next second, she abruptly grabbed her backpack, her expression flustered: “I…”

Jiang Le understood and waved her hand. “Go.”

In fact, the only reason Li Yan specifically asked her out this afternoon was because she didn’t dare to go to the airport to see Chen Ting off. She was afraid of getting badly hurt, only to end up with nothing to show for it.

“You are much younger than her parents.”

Watching Li Yan’s hurried departure, Jiang Le chuckled softly, lighting up her phone and texting the person opposite: “I hope you can help her fix her habit of always being late, or she almost missed your flight.”

Amidst the noisy background sound of the airport, the other person was silent for a few seconds before a raw-sounding “Thank you” came through.

Hanging up the phone, Jiang Le’s mood was quite good, and she ordered another matcha cake. She had just forced herself to drink several sips of black coffee to match the mood. The bitterness made her tongue numb, and she urgently needed something sweet to balance it out.

While savoring the dessert, she lamented the bumpy road of relationships. The sweetness and bitterness between people in life truly never align.

–

On the eve of her enrollment, Jiang Congyue absolutely refused to leave Jiang Le’s room, circling around her again and again.

“I bought an apartment near your university. If you don’t get used to the dorm, you can move there. The setup inside is exactly the same as here. If I hadn’t been so busy lately, I would have…”

Jiang Congyue, who had been pacing for a while, suddenly stopped and looked sideways at Jiang Le, who hadn’t moved for a long time and was looking at her with a teasing expression.

After a moment, Jiang Le slowly spoke: “Jiang Congyue, did you forget where I came from?”

Jiang Congyue’s spirit instantly deflated. Worry truly leads to confusion. She rubbed Jiang Le’s hair. “I’ll come to Beishi to see you once I get over this busy period.”

Jiang Le really couldn’t stand her clinginess anymore and pushed her out with a smile: “I know, I know. If you keep nagging, I really won’t finish packing my luggage.”

Only after the door closed did Jiang Le squat down and continue organizing her luggage.

Since Jiang Congyue gave her the longevity lock, dresses were rare in her closet. Even if she had one, it was a style with pockets. Thus, Jiang Le’s suitcase was packed with various T-shirts and long pants.

She mumbled to herself while folding clothes: “Why doesn’t anyone design more pockets for dresses? I look much better in a dress…”

On the actual day of departure, Jiang Congyue tightly held Jiang Le’s hand at the airport, her voice full of reluctance: “Take good care of yourself when you’re alone, don’t forget to eat when you’re studying like you used to…”

An uninformed passerby seeing this scene would probably praise their deep grandmother-granddaughter affection.

“…” Jiang Le felt somewhat exasperated and amused. A two-hour flight was being played out as if it were a life-and-death separation. “I’m just going to school. I’m not not coming back.”

Who knew Jiang Congyue’s acting bug was even stronger? She took out a handkerchief and dabbed the corner of her eye: “Call me if you don’t have enough money. Don’t shortchange yourself. Don’t worry, our family can still afford to support one university student…”

If she hadn’t just seen that sky-high inheritance a few days ago, Jiang Le might have actually believed her.

After much lingering, Jiang Le finally boarded the plane. Once seated, a touch of melancholy arose in her. She looked out the window at the terminal building, as if trying to see the person inside through the thick glass.

It wasn’t until the plane took off and the massive airport shrunk to the size of a sesame seed in her view that she slowly leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.

–

X University certainly lived up to its reputation as one of the country’s top institutions of higher learning. The campus was lush with trees, well-arranged, and the academic and dormitory buildings each had their own distinct character.

However, the only drawback was…

Jiang Le silently dragged her suitcase, walking for half a day, drenched in sweat as if she had just been pulled out of the water, yet she hadn’t even found a trace of the dormitory building.

The dormitories were scattered in the four corners of the campus, and by chance, the one she was assigned to was in the most remote corner.

Enduring the heat and the occasional person who came up to chat, she finally reached her destination.

Fortunately, the dorm was on the first floor. She carried her luggage, got the key, and headed straight to the room.

Two people had already arrived in the quad room and were individually unpacking, chatting awkwardly and intermittently. Jiang Le’s arrival perfectly broke this delicate balance.

Both of them seemed relieved and began to introduce themselves.

One was called Mi Lin, and the other Wen Qiqi, both slightly introverted.

Mi “Qi” Lin, quite an interesting combination.

Jiang Le nodded, gave her name, and said no more. With her arrival, the other two were even more unsure what to say.

Jiang Le, however, seemed oblivious to the awkwardness and quietly began to organize her desk.

This deadlock was completely broken until the arrival of the last person.

A girl wearing a bright, long dress skipped in, her face flushed with excitement, and she distributed local specialties to everyone, one by one.

Jiang Le held the seemingly tough beef jerky and said softly, “Thank you.”

With Guli acting as the atmosphere creator, the dorm environment immediately livened up. Everyone gave detailed self-introductions. They came from all corners of the country and majored in different fields.

Jiang Le was studying Finance, Guli was in International Economics and Trade, and Mi Lin and Wen Qiqi were in Computer Science and Law, respectively.

Someone joked that the four of them together could start a company. Guli even seriously pondered the feasibility of the suggestion.

Jiang Le felt that the eagerly anticipated university life was no different from her high school days—classes, lectures, meals, the library. Everything proceeded in an orderly manner.

Of course, life was not simple for Jiang Le, who garnered significant attention from the start of the semester.

In this campus full of top students, most people were somewhat arrogant.

Therefore, when Jiang Le refused someone’s overture for the hundredth time, she was intercepted by several people right after leaving the library.

She frowned slightly, holding her school bag. The other party looked aggressive, but she didn’t want a confrontation, so she moved a step to the side.

“Hey!” One person slid forward, blocking her path with outstretched arms. “Student Jiang Le, wait a moment.”

Jiang Le lifted her eyelids and said faintly, “Move.”

The person looked back at the people behind him and said stiffly, “Wait. My brother has something to say to you.”

Subsequently, a tall, sunny, handsome boy was pushed forward. He held a large bouquet of flowers, blushing as he hesitantly spoke: “Student Jiang, the first day of school when I saw you, I liked you. It was indeed too rushed for me to confess abruptly at noon, so now I’ve prepared a bouquet of flowers as a fresh start. Can we?”

“…” It was already autumn, and she had forgotten to wear a few extra layers of clothes. Now, hearing this speech, she felt even colder.

“I’m sorry, I don’t like you.” Seeing that the other person didn’t seem to have malicious intent, Jiang Le politely refused and turned to leave.

“How can you be like that!” Someone behind the boy shouted discontentedly.

Jiang Le was a little surprised. This boy seemed nice, and his inner feelings seemed quite sincere, but the people around him were less than satisfactory.

But she had not foreseen the iron law of birds of a feather flock together.

The next day, a rumor was rampant on the campus forum that the X University Goddess was in a relationship, accompanied by a blurry photo. Under the dim light, the two people seemed very close.

A suspicious account claiming to be the person involved even replied to the post: “Thank you all for the blessings.”

When Jiang Le was eating in the cafeteria, Guli pushed her phone in front of her. The screen displayed that very post.

“What’s going on?” Guli shook her phone. “Has our High Mountain Flower finally had a youthful crush?”

Jiang Le’s face darkened, and she immediately denied it: “Fake.”

“Hmph!” Guli instantly became energized. “I knew it! They don’t have a single truthful word. I’m going to curse these rumor-mongering idiots to death!”

Guli was so agitated that she blurted out a few strange phrases from her hometown dialect.

Before Jiang Le could react, Mi Lin and Wen Qiqi had also joined the fray in righteous indignation. Their fingers flew, furiously spewing insults across eight hundred floor levels in the post.

“…”

…

Jiang Congyue: 7