Chapter 153: Let Me Sleep

Arriving at the main gate of University A, Lin Luyou offered a polite "thank you" to Qin Shishen, stepped out of the car, and walked straight into the campus without once looking back.

For some inexplicable reason, as Qin Shishen sat in the car and watched her retreating figure, a poignant feeling crept into the depths of his heart—the sensation that they, too, were drifting further and further apart.

Yet, wasn't this precisely what he had wanted?

Qin Shishen tried to smile, but found that he could not lift the corners of his mouth no matter how hard he tried. Giving up, he slowly shifted into reverse, backed the car out onto the main road, and drove away in the direction of the coffee shop.

Lin Luyou had not gone to meet anyone, contrary to what she had told Qin Shishen outside the pet store to brush him off. Instead, she walked into the cafeteria alone and simply ordered a small bowl of wontons.

Given her usual appetite, such a meager portion would hardly be enough to satisfy her, yet today, she found herself unable to eat even half of it.

Staring at the leftover wontons, Lin Luyou could only chant inwardly, "To waste food is a shame, a sin indeed," before heartlessly dumping the bowl into the dish return bin.

She dragged her weary, listless body back to the dormitory. With a double kick of her feet, she managed to slip off her shoes without bending down or using her hands, and too lazy to even change her clothes, she threw herself straight onto the bed.

"What on earth is wrong with you? Did you go out and lose your soul along the way?"

Jiang Xiaohan was busy at her study desk. Seeing her best friend drift in like a wandering spirit and collapse face-first onto the mattress, she could not help tossing out the question.

In the past, even if this mischievous friend of hers was genuinely exhausted and wanted to lie down without changing, she would still tease her by deliberately picking a prime spot—such as Jiang Xiaohan's own bed.

A day like today, when Lin Luyou retreated to her own bed in absolute silence and prepared to sleep with her head covered, was something that happened perhaps once a year.

"I'm fine, just feeling a bit down... I'll pull myself together in a little while."

Lin Luyou merely lifted her eyelids, rolled over, and grabbed her blanket, eager to wrap herself up completely.

"Hey, hey, hey! At least get up and take off your outer jacket before you sleep! Do you have any idea how filthy outdoor clothes are?"

Seeing this, Jiang Xiaohan quickly stood up, rushed over to stop her, and tried to pull her up so she could change into loungewear.

"Forget it, just let me sleep for a bit," Lin Luyou said, refusing to be pulled up by Jiang Xiaohan's strength as she shook her head. "I'll just wash this entire set of bedding when I wake up."

Hearing her say that, Jiang Xiaohan dropped the matter and let her be.

"Oh, right," Lin Luyou murmured, remembering Wen Chuan's reminder just as she was about to bury herself beneath the quilt. "Wen Chuan asked me to remind you to submit your report quickly. He said you're the only one left in the whole group."

"Alright, alright, I know. You're tired, so hurry up and get some sleep. Don't worry about anything else for now."

Jiang Xiaohan tucked the blanket around her and urged her to rest. Then, glancing at the sunlight streaming in from the balcony, she softened her footsteps, walked over, and pulled the curtains shut with a swift motion.

Once the curtains were drawn, the light inside the dormitory plunged into sudden darkness, as if night had already fallen.

Jiang Xiaohan knew Lin Luyou's temperament too well. Never mind that she usually seemed to overflow with endless energy every single day, acting like a natural-born optimist devoid of all worries.

In reality, she was simply keeping herself tightly wound by a single thread. But the moment her mood soured, that thread would snap.

Of course, it was also possible that the pressure had simply grown too great, causing the thread to break first, which in turn ruined her mood... Though that logical sequence was probably something only Lin Luyou could sort out herself.

In any case, whenever moments like this arrived, the exhaustion she had suppressed for so long would suddenly erupt all at once.

Yet, once she woke up from her sleep, she would transform right back into University A's perpetual motion machine—busy, cheerful, and tireless.

Even though she liked to shoulder everything on her own and never confided in her closest friends, she still had one quality superior to Jiang Xiaohan's.

Jiang Xiaohan watched Lin Luyou, now curled into a tight ball and fast asleep, and could not help pondering.

Gentle and sensible.

Unlike herself, who always managed to make some earth-shattering, face-palming blunder whenever she was in a bad mood.

Even when she was feeling down, Lin Luyou remained this well-behaved—so wonderfully obedient that it made one want to reach out and give her a fierce, affectionate tousle.