Chapter 7 Trying to Move On
I thought cutting ties with my online crush would take a long time to get over.
But the endless stream of research assignments and Graduate Recommendation preparations filled every minute.
When you don’t even have enough time to sleep, how can you afford to mope over romance?
My dorm mates were stunned by my “brand new” routine.
They even thought something major had happened and offered to send me money.
“If we’re real sisters, we’ll carry it together! Don’t bottle it up!”
I wanted to cry but had no tears. “Why does everyone think something’s wrong with me? Isn’t this just a normal schedule?”
Roommate: “You’re going this hard... are you aiming for grad school at another university?”
“Could your target be K University’s Physics Department?”
K University. Number one in physics nationwide.
Also the school where Shen Xiuming worked.
Two weeks had passed.
Thinking of Brand still felt like a thorn stuck deep in my flesh—touch it and it ached.
I heard that due to urgent work, Shen Xiuming had been temporarily reassigned, and his elective course got a substitute teacher.
On the surface my days were calm.
Underneath, everything felt dead.
I went through the motions every day, but my grades kept climbing steadily.
No distractions, progress comes faster.
Until one day Tao Zi suddenly yanked the book out of my hands.
“Cen Cen! You can’t keep going like this!”
“I’m studying hard and preparing seriously—how can you say I can’t go on? What’s your motive!”
She flicked my forehead. “Your book has been upside down for an hour! I was waiting to see when you’d notice!”
My eyes refocused on the page. The inverted cosmic illustrations seemed to mock my stubbornness.
“Cen Cen, you mentioned your online friend last time... did she run into some trouble? You can tell me. You know I’m an emotional vlogger—people pay me by the minute to chat.”
I hesitated. But facing Tao Zi’s sincere eyes, I still confessed.
“It’s nothing big. My friend just realized the gap between them was too huge.”
“Your friend... got rejected when they tried to meet in person?” Tao Zi turned my face left and right, muttering softly, “No way.”
“We didn’t meet...”
“Then what are you even talking about!”
“But she accidentally overheard his real thoughts and cut her losses in time.”
I lowered my head, avoiding Tao Zi’s gaze.
A pair of arms pulled me into a hug.
“I don’t know what your friend heard to feel so sad. But I’ll hug you—and pretend I’m hugging her too.”
“Mm.”
I was grateful Tao Zi didn’t call me out.
It was my first love, after all. Ending like this was too embarrassing.
A moment later, Tao Zi suddenly stood up and slapped her forehead.
“Ah! How did I forget about this!”
“Cen Cen, my little brother has a mixer with your school tonight. He begged me to bring people to fill seats and cheer him on. He’s covering all the costs.”
A familiar wave of unease rose in my chest...
“Tao Zi, what are you planning...”
“Come with me!” She grabbed my hand excitedly.
Me: “No thanks, I need to review.”
Tao Zi leaned close to my ear, voice mysterious:
“You know which university my brother got into last year, right?”
Me: ?
“Sports institute! Full of 180 cm guys with eight-pack abs!”
...
If I had known what would happen tonight,
I would have stayed in the dorm staring at my upside-down copy of A Brief History of Time.